Enchanted Heart

by Brianna Lee McKenzie

  “I’m afraid I’ve lost the skill that I used to have,” Josie argued with a shake of her head.

  “Not so! Why, I would have paid you handsomely for this, but you insisted on it being a gift,” Marty said with an expression that suggested aggravation.

  “And I would not accept a penny for any of the work that I did,” Josie replied with her arms crossed over her ample breasts. “I don’t charge my friends for something that I do out of love.”

  “You should make dresses and sell them again.”

  “And where would you propose I sell these wares?”

  “Why not Tyree’s store? You used to sell them there before…”

  “Before that hound dog bought it. The day he took it over was the day I stopped sewing and I gave all of the dresses that I had made to the theater for costumes! I wouldn’t have my things hanging in that man’s store to save my own life!”

  “Tyree’s not so bad,” Marty argued but her words were waved away with a plump palm.

  “Not a syllable more about it! Now, let’s get your hair set. It’s almost six o’clock!”

  “Aren’t you going to get ready?” Marty asked, to which Josie lifted her hefty shoulders as if it meant little to her what she looked like at a dance for youngsters.

  “I’m just wearing some old frock,” she replied while she peered into the mirror at her reflection. “Not much will help this body anyway. Besides, no one will be looking at me. All eyes will be watching you!”

  “I don’t know about that,” Marty argued. “I’m not going to the dance to be seen. I’m going so that I can keep an eye on the children. It’s my job as their teacher and mentor.”

  “There won’t just be children there, you know,” Josie debated with a wink.

  “I know, but I should just watch.”

  “And waste this dress and all my marvelous work?”

  Marty giggled and then hugged Josie again before she turned to look at herself in the mirror. “You definitely do marvelous work!”

  She turned around again and said, “Now I’ll finish here. You go and get dressed. Wear that beautiful burgundy gown that you showed me! I’ll bet you look fetching in it.”

  “I don’t know…”

  “Please?”

  “I’ll try it on and if it doesn’t fit, I’m wearing my church dress.”

  “I can’t wait to see you in it!” Marty exclaimed with a clap of her hands.

  “I’ll be digging up my corset, that’s for sure!” Josie quipped while she stepped toward the door. “There was a day when I was as trim as you are. Just like you, I had no need for such ridiculous foundation garments. Now, I’d be lucky to fit into a circus tent!”

  “Nonsense!” Marty called as she left the room.

  After she had piled her hair into a curly golden-brown mound on the top of her head and strategically placing baby’s breath flowers among the curls, Josie returned wearing the burgundy gown. Marty sucked air into her lungs in surprise before she walked toward her friend and cried, “You look beautiful, Josie. You truly do!”

  “I can’t breathe!”

  “Tiny breaths,” Marty instructed as she led her friend to the mirror. “See how beautiful you are?”

  “Next to you, I’m horse apples,” Josie argued but her face lit up at the woman in the reflection.

  Marty stepped sideways so that her visage was removed from the mirror’s frame so that Josie could look upon herself standing there alone. Then, she reached for Josie’s hand, assuring her, “I will be proud to accompany you to the cotillion.”

  “Why did you turn down Tyree when he asked you?”

  “I didn’t want to go with Tyree.”

  “You’re still pining for your fiancé aren’t you?”

  Marty nodded and sadly admitted, “I’m afraid that something has happened to him. Caid loves me. He wouldn’t leave me and never come to find me.”

  “I’m sure he will,” Josie reassured her. “In the meantime, you have a wonderful time tonight. Kick your heels up, turn some heads and take a few turns on the dance floor.”

  “It’s been so long since I have danced, I might have forgotten how to.”

  “Naw, I didn’t forget how to sew.”

  “You certainly didn’t!”

  “Well, are you ready to break some hearts?”

  Marty giggled and took Josie’s arm, walking with her to the door of her bedroom where they were forced apart by the doorway that would not accommodate both of them. Then she reclaimed her arm and they pranced down the stairs to the first floor of the house where they picked up their receptacles and then sauntered out the front door.

  To their surprise, Tyree was waiting for them at the bottom of the steps with a guilty grin on his face.

  “What are you doing here?” Josie accused with a growl.

  “I’ve come to escort two beautiful ladies to the dance. I will not allow you two to go without someone to protect you,” he said as he lifted both of his elbows for them to take into their arms.

  Marty looked to Josie, who shook her head in exasperation but she took Tyree’s elbow just the same before she sighed and said, “I guess we can put old differences aside for one night. As long as you behave yourself, Tyree Parnell.”

  “I’ll be the perfect gentleman,” he assured her with a pat on her fingertips. Through his eyelids, he stared at Josie while he walked, his arm aching to pull her closer and to kiss her like she’d never been kissed before.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  When the evening stars began to shine, Caid made his way to the pavilion in the middle of town where he’d been told the dance was being held. Dressed like a dandy and fit to be tied, he planted himself on a bench and waited impatiently for Marty to show her beautiful face. With flowers in his fist and his pocket watch in his other hand; he counted the minutes, looking up at the clock tower on the courthouse to make sure that his watch had the correct time. His heart beat with every click of the second hand on the face of that watch while time stood still.

  Then he saw her! Like a school boy, he stood up and dropped the flowers in his haste. Stumbling on his tongue as well as his feet, he’d lost his grip on the bouquet and his faculties. For some asinine reason, his heart pounded in his chest and perspiration streamed down his face. He bent down to pick up the broken flowers and when he rose again, she was gone. He searched the bodies that milled around the pavilion until finally, he found her again.

  But, when he saw her in the company of another man, he began to fume. He started toward her and the strange man who had taken her onto the dance floor and had twirled her around in an effortless pirouette. But they passed him without so much as a hint that they had seen him gawking at them with his mouth agape and his fists clenched at his sides. And when that man leaned into her, with his hand touching parts of her that even Caid had not dared to touch, his anger flared to untold heights, but still, he was paralyzed by the sight of her giving herself willingly to another man. And then, when the stranger bent to kiss her, to violate the very lips that he had so tenderly caressed with his only a few short months ago, Caid had seen enough.

  He stomped away from the pavilion and strode straight to the saloon where he threw back three shots of whiskey before he took another breath. After a few more, he was madder than he’d ever been in his life and drunk enough to feel as tall as that town tower and equally as indestructible.

  How could she? Why would she find affection with another man after she had professed her love to him? It had only been a few months. How could she forget him after such a short time? Was he nothing more than a passing fling, someone to pass the time with while on a long, boring journey? That and many more questions filled his mind and his heart with every tiny glass of whiskey that he poured down his throat in an effort to wipe the memory of her in the arms of that skinny, insignificant man from his soul.

  Pity the fool who came within spitting distance of the man who had wasted his life, risked his life, thrown away his life for a woman wh
o couldn’t even wait a few measly months for him to find her. He was angry at her, angry at the world and angry at the huge man who stood in the doorway of the saloon and blocked him from leaving to go and kill the man who had taken away the woman that he loved.

  He pushed hard against the rock that stood in his way, growling his rage at him, only to be pushed right back into the room. He reared back and roared and with all his drunken might, he railed on the huge man with fists flying.

  Buck sent the shorter man sailing with one heavy thud of his large fist and then stepped over him to make sure that he did not get up to continue trying to hit him. When he was certain that the stranger was out cold, he sauntered up to the bar and ordered a beer.

  He drained the glass, popped back his head to empty the shot glass of whiskey that the bartender had automatically put in front of him and then he turned to face the man who was slowly regaining consciousness.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Buck warned when the man balled his fists again and began to rise.

  “Well, I’m not you!” Caid growled and got to his feet, lunging into Buck’s belly.

  Buck was pushed against the bar but was otherwise not toppled by Caid’s attack. He grabbed Caid’s hair and pulled with such force that the younger man went flying backwards, almost stumbling on a table. Not deterred in the least, Caid lowered his head and lunged at the big man again.

  Buck sidestepped just enough to let the younger man’s head hit the side of the bar. Then, when Caid was dazed and confused, he took him by the shirt collar and led him to a table where he threw him into a chair and growled, “Now, stay there until I can get some coffee in you!”

  Caid did as he was told, for he had suddenly lost all feeling in his extremities. He shook his hands in front of his body until the feeling slowly came back into them. He glared angrily at the man who towered above him, but accepted the porcelain cup filled with steaming coffee.

  “That’s better,” Buck growled as he stared at the younger man who sat across the table from him. “What’s got you riled up enough to take your anger out on someone twice your size?”

  Caid let the irritation boil throughout his body before he finally answered the giant man. “She didn’t wait for me,” he seethed before he slammed the cup onto the tabletop.

  “Ah,” Buck said with a hint of laughter. “A woman. Always a woman making a man crazy!”

  “Not just any woman,” Caid said with a scowl. “My fiancée. It wasn’t my fault that I was holed up in the mountains until the snow thawed. She said she’d wait for me to find her. It wasn’t easy following those inadequate maps and directions. But, I found her. And there she was, carrying on with another man while I was risking my life to find her.”

  “Maps, you say,” Buck mused, stroking his bare chin in contemplation. “One on a cave wall and the other on my cabin door?”

  Caid’s expression changed from anger to realization when he remembered that Greta had told him that her husband, whose name was Buck, had saved them and brought them to his home in Fredericksburg. He narrowed his eyes at the huge man in front of him, asking, “You wouldn’t happen to be Buck, would you?”

  “Henry ‘Buck’ Buchanan, doctor of medicine and occasional mountain man, at your service,” the large man barked proudly.

  “Caid McAllister,” he said with sudden remorse for taking his anger out on this man, about whom Greta had spoken so endearingly. But, as he rubbed his throbbing jaw, he knew why this man’s sons had called him formidable.

  “Well, slap the crap out of me! If it ain’t the long-lost Caid! I’ve heard so much about you, boy!” Buck yelled as he smacked Caid’s shoulder soundly.

  Caid hid the pain that shot from his shoulder and smiled weakly before he nodded and stuck out his hand, saying, “Pleased to meet you.”

  “Damn proud to know you too, McAllister,” Buck said with a beaming smile. “You saved my wife’s life. I’ll be obliging to you forever.”

  “Well,” Caid said, ducking his head. “I don’t think I saved her. I left her and my fiancée in a cave alone with a boy who couldn’t even protect himself, much less two women.”

  “Now, it wasn’t just his fault,” Buck assured him.

  Caid nodded in agreement before he said, “I know that your Indian boys killed Daniel.” Then, he leaned in to say, “And they attacked me, too. They almost killed me before I told them who I was. If I hadn’t known that they were Comanche and told them in German that I didn’t want to fight, I might be buzzard bait by now.”

  Buck lowered his head and tapped his finger on the table before he said, “I apologize for those two. I’ve told them time and time again to take a minute and think about the situation before they go beating up a body.”

  “Well, they fixed me up,” Caid assured him before he lifted his shirt to show Buck the red scars on his ribcage. “And they stayed with me during the blizzard while I healed. I think they made up for their mistake.”

  Buck whistled through his teeth as he leaned closer to examine the injury, then he admitted, “Those boys are almost as good with a needle as I am.”

  “I’m good as new now,” Caid said with a nod of his head. His expression was serious when he told the man across from him, “They think the world of you.”

  Buck sniffed hard, sucking in a long breath before he said, “I know.”

  Silence prevailed as words could not express the emotions that both of them felt towards the two Comanche boys about which their conversation had turned. Then, Buck sniffed again and slapped his palm onto the tabletop and said, “Damn fine boys!”

  Caid chuckled and agreed with a nod, then he thought of this man’s love for the woman that he had healed and he said, “By the way, thank you for saving Greta’s life. I knew that I couldn’t do anything for her but go to find a doctor and, as luck would have it, you showed up. It’s a good thing, too, because I couldn’t get a doctor to come back to the cave with me.”

  “Yep, I was mighty lucky to find her—and Marty,” Buck said with a smile as he leaned back and put his arms across his barrel chest. “A day or two later and she’d have been dead. If it wasn’t for those boys of mine, I would have kept us walking through the night until we made it back to the cabin. But, they wanted to rest for the night and I let them talk me into heading for that cave.”

  “I guess everything worked out for the best,” Caid managed to say. Then, he thought of the sight of Marty in another man’s arms and he became angry once again. “For you and Greta, at least.”

  “Now don’t go getting your feathers ruffled before you hear her side of the story,” Buck argued while he waved his hands in the air toward him. “All she’s been talking about for the past few months is her Caid and how she would marry him and give him children and how she would finally be happy. Why, just this past Sunday, she was at the church praying that you would find her. You can’t tell me that she has changed her mind that fast.”

  “I suppose you could be right,” Caid conceded. He rubbed his newly shaved chin before he slammed his fist on the table and said, “I’m gonna go over to that dance and find out what’s going on in her mind and why that man was kissing her.”

  “What did I tell you about flying off the handle before you know the truth?” Buck admonished the younger man as he stood to shove him back into his chair. “Now you just calm down. Go and get some sleep and meet us for church in the morning.”

  “I haven’t been to church since I was a boy,” Caid admitted without shame. He had prayed long ago that his father would come back to make his mother happy. But his prayer was answered in the man who married Mother, Caleb’s father and Mother’s true love. When Caleb was born, Caid had been pushed aside, almost forgotten. He’d spent most of his time at Grammy’s mansion where he knew that he was loved. Since then, he’d had no reason to pray. Why waste his breath when his only answer was heartache?

  “Then, it’s about time you go, son,” Buck said with finality before he pulled Caid to his feet a
nd led him to the saloon door. “Meet us at the Lutheran Church steps at ten in the morning. We’ll bring Marty and you can ask her if she still wants to marry you.”

  Sighing and allowing the older man to escort him out the door, he said, “I suppose you’re right, Buck. I’ll talk to her in the morning.”

  Buck clapped Caid on the shoulder and led him out of the saloon. Just as they were easing through the swinging doors a man tried to enter. They had to separate in order to let Tyree Parnell into the saloon and they both looked back at him. Caid’s face changed back into an angry expression and he wheeled around to go back inside to find out that man’s intentions toward his fiancée, but Buck held him back, growling into his ear to wait until he knew all the facts.

  Finally realizing that Buck was right, Caid shook himself free from the older man’s grip and then turned to leave the saloon. One last look at the offending figure at the bar and he stepped out onto the street.

  He left Buck to go to his hotel, but not before he walked over to Josie’s Home for Women to see if he could catch a glimpse of Marty. To his dismay, all of the lamps in the house were out and all was quiet inside. He kicked the steps of the house, taking his fury out on them and then turned to go back to the hotel to stew.

  Upstairs, a curtain was pushed aside and a face peered out to see what or who had made the noise on the front steps. Seeing no one in the shadows below and deciding that it might have been a stray cat, Marty let the curtain fall back into place and then she climbed back into bed to resume her dream of Caid and her happy ending. Because, at this point, since he had not yet found her, he probably would not come after all and her dreams were all that she could rely on. She closed her eyes and, in her mind, she heard the childlike voice of her niece ‘Sera Dear’ when she told her mother, ‘I’ll pray every night that you will find me.’ As she drifted to sleep, she heard herself repeating those words to Caid, hoping that he could hear them.