by Annie Boone
Zeke blinked uncertainly and shot June a quick glance. She’d dropped her gaze for a moment, shifted her weight, and then straightened back up. Then he noticed her grip on him had tightened, but she was clearly trying to keep calm. Zeke realized that she knew it, too, that her father was trying to tell him something.
He thought about this as the speech wrapped up. Everyone started shouting joyfully about which activities they should attend to, and about the food. As the crowd thinned, Zeke watched the people depart, wondering if they knew what the mayor had really been saying as well.
“I’m sorry about those gibes,” June frowned as she tugged him off to the side. “I didn’t hear him saying any of that earlier. I didn’t know he was going to say those things.”
But Zeke waved it off and tried to grin. “He might have been hoping I’d be too scared to pick you up, or…” he trailed off. Then he realized he should tell her, even though he hadn’t wanted it to come out like this. It wasn’t important that her family was happy about him, only that she knew he had a future. “I want you to know that I’m becoming a partner, you know. At the haberdashery. It’s official already.”
Her eyes brightened. “Are you really?”
That brilliant smile of hers washed him over with a wave of confidence. Zeke invariably straightened his shoulders. “Mr. Prater’s shop has been doing so well, we’re getting ready to expand. And he wants more time with his daughter. And my mother, of course. We’re making the announcement next month. The whole shop is going to be rebranded, and it’s going to be amazing.”
The young woman hung on his every word, nodding along. “That’s just incredible, Zeke! Oh, I’m so happy for you. I know you’re going to be great at this—you have such a brain for business.”
Chapter 31
June didn’t want to say it, but those words Zeke said were perfect. They were exactly what she had hoped for, though she didn’t know it until now. At the thought of her father’s pointed speech, she flushed at how he had tried to hint to Zeke. But now, he’d be a renowned figure in Cutter’s Creek with the partnership. His place—his role, as her father had put it—was set in stone.
She didn’t want to say it, but June was sure her parents would change their opinion about Zeke now. And her heart blossomed. After spending all morning fretting about the day’s activities, she felt silly for not having been more confident.
“Shall we dance?” June found herself asking him, and they hurried back to the dance floor. After a jig, one of the slower songs came on and they remained dancing with a few other couples. A small blush crept on her cheeks as Zeke wound an arm around her for the waltz. As he held her, it reminded her of the several occasions that he had caught her when she fell. His firm hold keeping her steady. She felt like she could close her eyes and fly, with him there to guide her.
Towards the end of the song, they danced their way towards the back corner of the dancing floor near the games. Zeke and June had talked quietly but slowed down eventually to enjoy the dance. This allowed her, however, to hear remarks around them.
When a familiar voice carried over, her eyes widened. She was so startled, she nearly stopped in the middle of a step. That surely would have tripped the two of them up to fall on their faces if she hadn’t recovered. Glancing around, June frowned.
“It’s quite unfortunate, you know,” Mary drawled to the few men who were listening. She was fanning herself and fluttering her eyes, June noted, all eyes on her. “We had planned to come together you see, but what can you do? You have to be careful with desperate women, even your own sister.”
By then, Zeke had noticed, and June felt his footing falter, before straightening up and keeping them in time. “Is that your sister?” He glanced over his shoulder.
Swallowing, she nodded and tried to look, as well. Surely something had to be done. What was her sister doing, gossiping rudely like this? It was innocent enough to share a few secrets with her friends and to bat eyes at the men. But that’s not what Mary was doing anymore.
“Honestly,” her volume was growing. “If only there was an ounce of decency, you know? But I suppose I must have received all of that, as the elder sister. They wouldn’t even bring me with them here to the social. Can you imagine? I had to come along all on my own. Truly, I nearly didn’t make it. At least an hour late, I was.”
June sighed. The social had started just over an hour ago, though it’s true she hadn’t asked Mary to come with them. It would have been acceptable, but Mary had made it clear she would not give Zeke the time of day. She also had been so rude to June that there was no doubt she wasn’t interested in spending time with her sister, either.
The song came to a close, just as Mary was getting louder and ruder. More people were staring, and June blushed at the stir her sister was causing. Shaking her head at Zeke, she sighed. “I need to do something, but I have no idea what.”
Mary’s voice continued to carry, even louder now that the music had stopped. “And to add even more scandal, I’ve heard that this rogue is married. He left a wife behind wherever it is he’s come back from. Can you believe anyone would do such a ghastly thing?”
Zeke looked shocked. He stepped forward and looked back at June. June put a hand on his arm knowing that confronting Mary about her lies right now wasn’t a good idea.
Just then, their attention was diverted as the mayor hurried up to his eldest daughter. Mr. Pershing whispered something in her ear and as Mary turned to him with a frown, their father took her arm and led her away.
“Excuse us, please,” he chuckled. “I need to get my daughter’s help on an issue. I think we need an extra judge for the horseshoe game.”
“I need to follow them. There’s no other way to find out what’s going on. I’m sorry to leave you alone, but hopefully this won’t take too long. And by the way – I never believed the gossip she made up. I don’t think you’re already married.”
June looked at Zeke, barely giving him a shadow of a smile before picking up her skirts and hurrying after her family. As June hurried over to the grove where her father and sister had taken off to, she tried to think of something to say.
She glanced back to Zeke and saw him talking to her grandfather. They were in serious conversation. Another reason for her to be worried. Just what she needed! She had other concerns at the moment so she could only pray that things between Zeke and Portis Pershing remained civil.
Turning back, June searched for the right words to say to her father. Having never been put into such a situation, she didn’t have a single idea how she should approach this situation.
He was just finishing a lecture. His ears were bright red, and Mary was stubbornly staring down with her arms crossed. None of this boded well, and the younger girl worried. What if they thought something ill of Zeke? What if they believed Mary’s story? Had she cooked up further lies? It looked like he was annoyed with Mary, but he was probably just annoyed in general.
“Please,” June gulped as she stepped up to them. Unconsciously, she tried to smooth the wrinkles in her dress as they looked at her. “I don’t know what’s going on, but please know that we, Zeke and I—”
Before she could continue, their father waved a hand, frowning between the two of them. “Child, you don’t need to say a thing. Right now, it’s your sister who needs to provide some answers.”
June looked between the two of them, befuddled. Her father glanced back at her and with a quick nod, turned back to her sister.
“Mary, if I have told you once, then I have told you a hundred times that you are not to make scenes about anything in public. Ever. You harp on and on about being the eldest, but you forget the responsibility that goes with it. As the mayor’s eldest daughter, you have an example to set. I will not have you making a fool of yourself here. Or anywhere, for that matter. You represent the Pershing name, and I won’t let you besmirch it. Do you understand?”
Mary pouted. “But I wasn’t being mean. I just wanted someone to talk to me.�
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As terrible of an excuse as it sounded to be, June knew it could be true. The look on her sister’s face was plain enough. She was miserable. Over the last few years, they had started to grow apart and she hadn’t considered the effect it might have on her sister.
“I didn’t set out to hurt you, Mary,” June sighed. “Zeke and I simply like one another’s company. If you’d wanted to walk with us, we would have loved your company.” This was a lie, but she hoped it would pacify her. Glancing at her father, she thought of his attitude during the welcome he’d given and tried to find something to say that would satisfy him. “Father, honestly. He’s a wonderful young man. And he’s not been married—I’m certain of that. Mary was given faulty information. You would like him, I think. There’s more to him than you know.”
She hoped that covering for the lie her sister made up regarding Zeke’s marital status would go some distance in helping them mend their tattered relationship. She felt like it was the least she could do to give Mary a way to gracefully reconsider her position.
The mayor glanced around with a slight frown, pausing from scolding his eldest daughter.
“I did see the two of you dancing,” he admitted grudgingly. “You looked much happier than you have in quite some time.” Their gazes met and she found herself smiling, thinking about being in Zeke’s arms.
“Does Zeke Miller make you happy, June?” her father asked ruefully.
“Truly,” she nodded.
“And you’re certain he’s not already a married man?”
“Absolutely.”
Chapter 32
It hardly seemed possible, but now she was losing another person to her cause. June’s smile was too bright for their father to resist. More than anything, Mayor Aaron Pershing was a soft-hearted man when it came to his women. It took a lot for him to scold them, unless it involved his duty as the mayor. And now, Mary watched as he softened upon the idea of Zeke Miller being with his younger daughter.
Not, she frowned, his eldest. Crossing her arms, Mary huffed. “After all the time I spent talking about him? This is unbelievable. I claimed him, you know. I talked about him and loved him from the moment I saw him, June. And now you’re taking him from me?”
“Oh, Mary, really. Surely you know you can’t just decide someone is yours and believe they have no say. Why would you even want that for yourself? Don’t you want someone to be with you willingly?”
Mary huffed again and looked away. This question didn’t deserve an answer.
She had to bite the inside of her cheek hard to force back the cruel words piling up. If anything, she had spent the day irritated, but now she was furious. Her sister had torn her away from her best hope of finding a man in Cutter’s Creek—had decimated her future—and she didn’t even feel guilty for it. She acted like she had nothing to do with it.
“Are you certain?” Their father prevented her from saying anything as he stood with his hands clasped behind his back. “You believe this man is worthy of you?”
June’s eyes twinkled, only making Mary feel more upset. “I do believe so, Father.”
As though he knew they spoke of him, Zeke Miller approached. Mary faced the crowd, so she noticed him first. She wasn’t sure what gave it away, but soon her father and sister turned to notice the young man attempting to carry four cups to them.
“Lemonade?” Zeke offered as he reached them. Mary found herself grudgingly accepting one. But she wasn’t going to drink it, she told herself firmly. If anything, she would dump it on the ground. Or maybe she would splash it in her sister’s face.
After expressing his thanks, the mayor cleared his throat and glanced at Zeke and June. Mary’s stomach did a flip and wished she could just walk away. She’d give anything not to be here.
“I see the two of you have been enjoying each other’s company. Say, Mr. Miller, you’ve been working in the haberdashery shop these days, have you? That’s what my June has been saying.”
The young man nodded. “I have been, yes. In fact,” he suddenly grinned, “I’ve just been made partner. Mr. Prater needed the help, and I have the education. Before next winter, we’ll have a grand expansion. I expect great things for the establishment as we grow.”
At these remarks, her father gave a short, incredulous bout of laughter. Mary knew instantly that this meant he was impressed, and she dropped her cup. Of course he was going to be a partner, she wanted to scream. She had known of his potential all along. He was perfect for her! Not June!
“Why, congratulations! That is just something, isn’t it? Well, I’ll be a blown-over cactus. I would never have thought old John would budge. He loves that shop almost as much as he loves his daughter, um, and your mother, of course. Why, congratulations, son! Imagine this, right out of college and being made partner!”
Zeke took a deep breath and Mary looked at him eagerly, having caught his glance for only a moment. Look back at me, she prayed. Decide to court me. Please.
“I’ll be working hard,” Zeke hesitated, “but I know it’s important to have other priorities in your life, as well. Your work, the church, and someone special. Sir, I’d like your blessing because I intend to court your daughter, June. Um, if it’s all right with you, I mean.”
Mary’s heart pounded loudly in her ears. Surely this wasn’t happening.
If only he hadn’t added that name. Now it was all wrong. Mary’s throat closed up and she couldn’t scream if she tried. And a large part of her really, really wanted to. Even then her fists tightened and she could feel her nails digging into her palms.
As a last desperate attempt, Mary turned to her father with a pleading look. Don’t listen to them, she wanted to tell him, they’re just children playing around. He’s meant to be with me, not with her!
But anyone looking at June’s face would take her side. She stole Zeke’s hand with her free one and beamed. Their eyes met and the girl’s smile was so wide it hurt Mary just looking at it. June was nodding, and they both clearly wanted this. She could see that June loved him.
Her father was speaking, saying something. “How could I deny your determination?” he chuckled, and Mary couldn’t believe it. Of course he could deny it! Only now that Zeke had a promising future was he willing to say yes. June definitely didn’t deserve him. And wait a minute! Why was her information about Zeke’s wife been forgotten? Just one word from June and all is fine?
But with one look, Mary knew she’d been defeated. Bitter, she turned and stomped away. As she walked, she wondered how they could have betrayed her. Surely this couldn’t be what she deserved. It had to be some sort of mistake.
The spring social was a disaster, and Mary could hardly believe her misfortune. Angrily she stomped around the edge of the forest, wondering what had gone wrong. Zeke was a fool, she told herself, and June? So was June.
It took another hour for her to gather herself together, as her father had instructed her to. She wasn’t to present herself to society until she was utterly prepared to say nothing rude about anyone else, and speak no gossip or anything even close to it. Biting her tongue, she stood at the edge of the festivities, watching through narrowed eyes.
Zeke and June didn’t notice her by the hedges as they drew away from the crowd. For a minute, she hardly noticed them. They were simply two people taking a walk until suddenly she recognized her sister and the man she’d been attempting to woo for herself. Her throat tightened and she found herself wishing for a large rock to throw.
“But it was impressive,” the young man was reassuring June, pulling her to a stop and taking both of her hands. “You stood up for me as well as yourself. I hadn’t expected anything like it, yet now everything feels perfect.”
June cocked her head. “Perfect?”
“Promising,” Zeke corrected himself. “Like I know how perfect the future is going to be. Does that make sense? I’m afraid I’m talking in circles, especially after all of that dancing.”
It made June giggle. Mary watched them, he
r stomach churning. She was hidden from their view by several tall bushes, so they wouldn’t see her. As much as she wanted to leave, she couldn’t make herself move and look away.
June spoke. “We might need to have you practice your dancing, then.” Anyone could hear the grin in the young woman’s voice. “We’ll need to find time for that. Between all of the um, courting, of course.”
The young man inhaled sharply before chuckling. “Certainly, certainly… June, I didn’t expect to ask him like that, especially not without talking with you first. But the opportunity arrived, and I had to take it. I care for you very much. If you don’t want to—”
“I do want to, Zeke. This makes me happy and so do you.”
June chuckled, and Mary’s smile faded as the two people drew closer. “I look forward to the dancing and everything. The courting, Zeke. I’m quite looking forward to that.”
Before she could look away, Mary was dismayed to watch the young man lean forward, bestowing a kiss on June’s lips. While her sister had been kissed before, she could see on her face that something was different about this one. The final knife had been turned in her back, and the older sister knew in that moment she had to let go.
It was a tidal wave of truth that crashed down on her, and she wished she would drown. Burying her head in her hands, she wished she wasn’t such a fool. Surely, she had known all along that there was little chance of this working out in her favor.
Like the other men, Zeke had never been hers. As angry as Mary was about her younger sister finding someone before her, June’s joy was the turning point.
She couldn’t do this to her own sister, not any longer. Clearly, Zeke cared for her sister, and June cared for him. Mary needed to know when it was time to quit, and it was beyond that moment now. If anything, the older girl sighed, she had some apologies to make.