by Kate Whitsby
“So what did you think of your first day?” Amelia asked Jude. “Was it what you expected it to be?”
“All in all,” Jude replied. “I think it was pretty close to what I expected. I can see this ranch has some unique characteristics that I’m going to have to get used to. But it’s only my first day. I have the rest of my life to deal with the ranch.”
“The next thing you know, you’ll be making supper,” Allegra teased him.
Jude grimaced. “Not likely.”
He slid the barn door closed, and he and the three sisters strolled back to the house. When the two younger sisters went inside, Alma held Jude back with her hand on his arm. “Amelia’s cooking tonight,” she told him. “And Allegra is cleaning up. We have a few minutes before supper’s ready. Would you like to go for a walk now?”
Jude shook his head. “I’m beat. After staying up all night, all I want to do is sit down for a while, eat something, and then go to bed. I’m sure I’ll be more interested after I’ve had a decent night’s sleep. How often do you get the night off?”
“Every three days,” Alma told him. “We can plan on spending some time alone, away from everyone, the next time they’re both working. What do you think of that?”
Jude leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. “It’s a date.” He stooped under the door frame into the dark of the house.
In the one big room, Clarence Goodkind already sat in his chair by the fire, staring into the coals. He paid no attention to Amelia squatting in front of him, stirring up the embers to make their meal.
Jude threw his lanky frame into the nearest chair and sighed. He took off his hat, slapped the dust from it against the side of his leg, and hung it on his knee. Alma stared at him for a moment, trying to decide what to do with herself.
She could sit down next to Jude until Amelia served supper, but she never sat idle in the evenings before. She did some mending or sharpening tools or some other chores in this precious free time. She wasn’t about to start sitting around now. Anyway, Jude just said he didn’t want to spend any time together. He wanted to eat and go to sleep. He wouldn’t appreciate her imposing herself on him now. In all likelihood, he valued the time to sit and rest as much as she did.
Alma sat down on the edge of her bed and kicked off her boots. She hung her hat on the bedpost along with her gun belt. Then, she had a sudden idea. She crossed the room to Allegra’s bed.
Allegra sat in the same position on the edge of her bed, the way they all did when they weren’t sitting at the table for meals. “What are you doing?” she asked.
Alma took hold of one of the leather handles on the side of the trunk and dragged it away from the wall. She opened it and rifled through its contents. “I saw some of Mama’s old dresses in here. I thought I’d get them out and take a look at them.”
“What for?” Allegra asked.
Alma shrugged. “I might want to wear them someday.”
“What would you want to wear them for?” Allegra asked. “They’re no good for riding or range work.”
“I might not want to do range work for the rest of my life,” Alma replied. “I might like to do something else. Then I’ll need different clothes.”
Allegra stared at her. “What would you do that you’d need a dress for?”
“What do you think?” Alma shot back. “I’ll be a wife and mother at home, just like Mama. I’ll be at the house, cooking and cleaning and doing laundry and taking care of my children.”
Allegra’s mouth fell open, and a gasp came out. “You can’t be serious!”
“Why not?” Alma asked. “What do you think is going to happen? I’m married, and I have a husband in my bed. It’s only a matter of time before I wind up pregnant, and then I won’t be able to work on the range anymore. These pants won’t fit me anymore. I’ll need something else to wear.”
Allegra stared at her. The concept didn’t make sense to her.
Alma smiled at her blank face and went back into the trunk. She pulled out two plain cotton dresses with ruffled sleeves. She held one of them up to her body to measure the length from her waist to the hem. She caught a glimpse of Allegra’s face and burst out laughing. “What’s the matter? Don’t you like the way it looks?”
Allegra shook herself out of her trance. “It just doesn’t fit. I just can’t imagine you as a Mexican housewife in that dress.”
“You didn’t mind me in Mama’s wedding dress,” Alma reminded her. “What’s so different about this?”
“That was different,” Allegra told her. “I could understand you wanting to wear a wedding dress to get married. But then you changed back into your regular work clothes. This is different. This….” Her eyes scanned Alma down and back up. “This means something different. It means you’re a different person.”
“Who am I?” Alma asked.
Allegra gulped. Was that the glistening of moisture in the corner of her eyes. “This dress means you’re not the Alma I know anymore. You’re not the cattle puncher I know. You’re someone I’ve never met before.”
Alma considered her words. “You’re right. I’m not the cattle puncher you know. I changed, and it wasn’t the wedding dress that did it or even this dress here. It wasn’t any clothes that did it. I got married. I’m not the Alma you know anymore, because I’m not Alma Goodkind anymore. I’m Alma McCann, like you said yourself, and I’m happy to change into something other than a cattle puncher. I want to be a wife and a mother, and I want my place to be in the home at the fireside, not out in the saddle in all kinds of weather.”
Allegra stared at her. Her voice came out as a husky whisper, and her words pleaded for an irretrievable outcome that slipped through her fingers when she wasn’t looking. “But you’re my sister. I don’t want to lose my sister.”
Chapter 22