The more he thought about it, the more he realized maybe he was hurting Flo. Or would do eventually. The thought made him sick to his stomach.
“I love Flo,” he said comfortably.
His father nodded. “I know you do, but there’s a difference between loving a friend and loving a woman. They’re different concepts. One hurts a lot more than the other, especially when you’re together for a long time and you know each other well. It means you genuinely care about someone and when they hurt you, it hurts twice as much as it would otherwise.”
Johnny nodded back. “I know, Pa.” He kept his voice low and his eyes on the plate as he pushed the mashed potatoes into a tower and swiped the top with his fork. “I’m really not trying to hurt Flo. I don’t want to do that.”
His father set his fork down on his plate and leaned toward his son. “Listen, son, you just take good care of Flo and don’t even think about Marian anymore. She isn’t the woman for you. Never has been, never will be.”
Johnny wanted desperately to change the subject. But if he did, he knew his pa would know exactly what he was doing. Regardless, he pressed on.
“I heard there’s an old captain from the army in town,” he said, lifting his eyes to gauge his father’s reaction. “Captain Bekker. Didn’t you have some dealings with him at some point a few years ago?”
Johnny was shocked by his father’s response. The moment he said Bekker’s name, John Sr. stiffened visibly. He stared at Johnny for a moment. Johnny read fear on his father’s face and thought it might not have been a good idea to bring up the captain.
“He’s in town?” his father said. “Just him?”
“Gary says he’s got a crew with him. Five other men. Did you know him, Pa? It looks like you did. He’s not your enemy, is he?”
“I don’t think that’s an appropriate topic to have at the dinner table, son. I’ll tell you about that another time. I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
Johnny couldn’t bring himself to say anything more. His father had been having a pleasant dinner and he’d ruined it by bringing up Bekker. He should have left it alone.
“That’s all right, Pa. If you ever want to talk to me about it, I’m here to listen. I hope you know that.”
John Sr. looked upset. Johnny wished he didn’t. He hated seeing a frown on his father’s face. And this one wasn’t caused by the pain he was in - Johnny had done it himself.
Guilt swept over him and he felt the need to say he was sorry. But he didn’t. His father wasn’t blaming him.
He didn’t stop thinking about his father’s reaction to hearing Bekker’s name for the rest of the dinner. John Sr. said he was exhausted from trying to get things done all day and was retiring early. He asked the cook to bring him some warm milk and said he would be off to sleep in no time.
Johnny helped his father go to his room and settled him in his bed with a good book.
“This will help you sleep, Pa,” he said, laying the book beside his father on the bed. John Sr. looked at him gratefully.
“Thank you, son. You’re a good boy. I know you’ll make the right decisions. I just don’t want anyone to get hurt.” His expression turned sour and he grumbled, “Except that Marian girl. I don’t really care for her.”
Johnny pressed his lips together and turned away before his father could see him struggling not to smile. It took a lot for his father not to like someone. Maybe he should reassess his own feelings on the woman.
Chapter 9
Flo moved through the room with a rag as quickly as she could, wiping the dust from every surface. The sun coming through the windows (she was allowed to open the drapes when the Fitzpatricks weren’t home) allowed her to see every speck of dust. It seemed like dusting was an endless job. Once she wiped it off, the dust in the air would settle back down again.
She hummed a tune as she went around the room another time, spinning in a small circle to simulate a dance to the song she was singing. She enjoyed the time when the Fitzpatricks weren’t home more than any other. As much as she liked her employers, they sometimes made her a little crazy. She was fond of them, though, and planned to stay on with them for as long as she could.
She spun around, closing her eyes and lifting her hands in the air, coming to a dizzying stop right in front of the window. She opened her eyes to the bright sunlight and narrowed them when she spotted someone riding toward the house.
Her heart jumped in her chest when she realized it was Johnny. She smiled wide, dropped the rag onto the table in front of her and left the room to go out and greet him.
It wasn’t often that Johnny was the one pulling her away from her work. That was usually her job. She didn’t ever worry about getting him in trouble because his father was one of the kindest men Flo had ever met, and he wouldn’t punish Johnny even if someone paid him a lot of money to do so.
“Johnny!” she called out, lifting one hand. “Yoohoo! Howdy!”
Johnny’s responding smile made her feel warm inside. “Hey there, Flo. You look nice today. Want to stop for a break? Have a snack with me?”
Flo laughed delightedly as he came up to the house and got out of the saddle, jumping down onto the ground with a big grin on his face.
“It seems like that’s all we ever do,” she said. “Stop working to eat.”
Johnny laughed with her, nodding. “It’s true. But we’re human and humans gotta eat, right? Are the Fitzpatricks home?”
Flo turned to walk back inside the house with him, shaking her head. “No, they went out. But I can make something for us in the kitchen. They won’t mind.”
“That’s sounds great. It’s getting hot out here and I want to be inside, if that’s okay with you.”
“Yes, that’s fine. It is a bit warm. I know how you don’t like the mid-afternoon hours.”
The two walked comfortably side by side to the kitchen down the hall. Flo went directly to the icebox and pulled out some ham slices prepared for sandwiches. “I’ll slice up some bread and get out the mustard. You like mustard and cheese on your sandwiches, right?”
Johnny grinned. “Yeah, I do. You know me well.”
She giggled. “That’s not hard to remember. You eat this every other day, I suspect. I don’t think there’s anything else in your icebox at home, is there?”
She looked at him, admiring his handsome face when his grin widened. “Is there supposed to be something else in there?”
They both laughed at his joke. She made the sandwiches quickly and brought them on plates to the table before returning for a tea pitcher and two glasses.
“So you’ve heard about this Captain Bekker and his men coming into town, right?” he asked, picking up his sandwich. She nodded, chewing her first bite from her sandwich.
“What about him?” she asked after she swallowed.
“Gary told me about him coming to town. You know anything about him?”
“I think he’s been here before. But I wouldn’t know him. I’m too young to be around men like that without a good reason. I heard them in the saloon when I passed by last night going home from the supply store. They’re really loud. But they didn’t seem dangerous much. Why do you ask? Do you know them?”
Johnny shook his head. “I don’t think so. But when I mentioned it to Pa, he had the strangest reaction.”
Flo held her sandwich in mid-air, staring at her best friend. “Strange how?” she asked, right before tearing off another piece of her sandwich with her teeth.
Johnny was quiet for just a moment, gathering his thoughts. “I don’t know… he looked afraid. Like the man might be out to get him. But why would anyone want to be out against my pa? He never does anything. He ain’t even left the house since Ma died, not for any real length of time. He has friends. He don’t make enemies. What could this man have against him?”
“Well, what makes you think he’s looking to hurt your pa? Maybe they are old friends.”
Johnny contemplated that for a moment.
&n
bsp; “Even if that’s true, I don’t want to bring the man around my pa.” He shook his head, deciding the reaction didn’t warrant that explanation. “They weren’t friends. If they were, Pa would have been ready to meet him; he would have at least looked excited about a friend coming to town. He didn’t look happy at all. He looked scared.”
Flo was at a loss. She shook her head, lifting her glass to take a drink of her tea. “I don’t know what they have against each other. Or what this captain could have against your pa. I like your pa. He’s a real good man. I wouldn’t want to see anything bad happen to him.”
Johnny pulled in a deep breath, sighing heavily. “Me neither. That’s why I thought I should ask about it. Gary made it sound like they were talking about Pa but they never mentioned his name. I don’t know what to do.”
“I don’t think you should worry about things that might happen, Johnny,” Flo said quietly, reaching over and putting one small hand on his arm. “There’s no way for you to predict it. No way to know. Just keep an eye out and listen to what people are saying and you’ll have your answers.”
Flo didn’t recognize the look on Johnny’s face. It was worry and confusion mixed into one. She wished she could comfort him, but his bringing up the captain and the others had thrown her for a loop. She had barely noticed the new men in town and only had because she passed the saloon and saw them in there. The captain was wearing his uniform. That was how she knew who Johnny was talking about.
“Gary said they were here a few years ago,” Johnny said again. She could tell he was trying to sort through it all without enough information. But that was typical for him. He wanted answers as soon as he could get them. Johnny was a quiet man but, like most men, could be very impatient. That led him to drawing conclusions that might not be true. “I wonder if my pa stopped them from doing something wrong.”
Flo thought that was probably unlikely. John Sr. would have had to leave the house more to encounter anyone. And in his debilitated condition, would he even be able to stop an outlaw from doing something wrong?
“If the man is an army captain, why would he need to be stopped from doing something wrong? Aren’t the army good men?”
Johnny surprised her by giving her an amused grin. “The army is good men? That was the poorest grammar I’ve ever heard. I’m sure most of the men in the army are good, yes. But not all. Just like with any large group of people, there are always bad apples.” He was teasing her. Flo didn’t mind. She smiled at him. “But Gary told me that this guy got a bunch of his own men killed. Not sure how or why or when… I’m not sure. Didn’t ask Gary.”
“Oh, I see,” Flo replied, nodding and pushing the last of her sandwich into her mouth. She listened to him as she chewed, leaving her eyes on his face so he knew she was listening.
“If he’s here to get my pa for some reason, I’m gonna have to stop that from happening. I can’t let him get my pa.”
Flo finished her food and gazed at him, fondly. “You are such a worrywart, Johnny. You immediately think there’s something to this when it could be a complete misunderstanding. I don’t think you should be so concerned, at least not yet.”
“What do you mean?” Johnny was finished with his sandwich and pushed the plate away from him so he could cross his arms on the table in front of him. “I can’t wait until something bad happens. I have to protect him before something bad happens.”
Flo nodded. “I understand that, but you’re jumping to the conclusion that something bad will happen. It’s good to be prepared, trust me. I admire you for that. But you can’t assume a man is bad just because of his past. Maybe he’s turned over a new leaf.”
Johnny narrowed his eyes and gave her a sarcastic look. “Do you think he’s changed, based on what you saw in the saloon?”
He had her there. Flo thought back to walking past the saloon and glancing in through the window at the loud men inside. The man in the captain’s uniform had looked older than John Sr., with salt and pepper hair, a trim beard and sharp, beady eyes.
Flo tried not to giggle. She hadn’t thought of the man as having beady eyes until just that moment, after talking to Johnny about the danger the captain might represent.
“Well, we can’t live in fear, can we?” she asked, patting his arm and returning her hand to her glass of tea and taking a long swallow of the cool drink. She set the glass back down with a satisfied sigh and smiled at him. “It’s no good to live that way. Come on. Let’s go for a walk to get some of this nervous energy out. I could use a little sunshine.”
Johnny pushed his chair back with his legs and stood up, nodding. “Okay, but we’re going to find a big tree. I need my shade.”
Flo laughed as they left the room together.
Chapter 10
Flo watched as Johnny left on his horse, lifting her hand to wave until he turned away in the saddle and faced forward. He was halfway down the path to the main road when she saw the Fitzpatrick buggy turning toward the house.
She stayed where she was so she could greet her employers. Mrs. Fitzpatrick waved at her as they got closer, an excited look on her face.
“Flo!” she called out in her high-pitched voice. “Flo, I must show you this. I must show you this.”
For a moment, Flo thought the woman might jump right out of the buggy before it even stopped. She giggled, taking the steps down to meet them at the bottom.
“Hello, Mrs. Fitz,” she said. “What have you got?”
“It’s a new pattern, a new dress I’m going to make. I’m so excited! Look, look!”
Flo moved her eyes to Mr. Fitzpatrick and nodded a greeting, her smile intact. He grinned back and rolled his eyes, directing them toward his wife’s. He shrugged as if to say, “if she likes it, it can’t be that bad.”
“I’d be glad to take a look.” She waited while the woman fished the pattern book out of the bag she’d brought. Finally, the older woman found it, pulled it out and handed it to her.
“Look at that. See the lacy part? And these buttons? I have the perfect buttons to go on this and I even have some cloth I bought in Paris last year that I want to make the dress with. Do you know what it’s for?”
Flo shook her head, gazing affectionately at the Scottish woman.
Mrs. Fitzpatrick laughed delightedly. “Why, it’s for your wedding, my dear! I’m making you a wedding dress!”
Chills covered Flo’s entire body. She hoped the look of shock and fear on her face wasn’t easily seen. “Oh, Mrs. Fitz, you don’t have to do that! You don’t. I mean, it’s so nice but…”
“Nonsense!” Mrs. Fitzpatrick put up her hand to stop Flo’s words. “I am going to do it and you can’t tell me not to. Not even the spirits in my house can make me change my mind. No more words! You will let me do this for you.”
Flo felt a mixture of gratitude and fear. Mrs. Fitzpatrick was the loveliest woman in the world for wanting to do that for her. But it wasn’t real. She wasn’t really getting married. And it would be a big blow to her employer when she found out she’d made the dress for no reason. For a scheme her employee and her best friend had hatched in order to make another woman jealous.
Flo didn’t even want to think about the deception. How could she be doing this to the only people who really cared about her? She would rather her mother had offered to make the dress. She wouldn’t have cared. But then again, if her mother had loved her enough to make her a dress, their relationship would be totally different than it was. Her mother didn’t give two figs for her.
And the feeling was mutual.
Flo wanted to cry. Instead, she held onto the woman’s arm, helping her up the steps even though she didn’t need help. Mr. Fitzpatrick brought up the rear, closing the door behind the three of them when they got inside.
True Love Leaves no Doubts: An Inspirational Historical Romance Book Page 6