by Livia Grant
They were all running a bit low on energy these days. The normally cheerful gems had started complaining that too many of the girls had fallen in love and retired. The gems left were truly working themselves ragged with no end in sight. He kept reminding them how fast their bank accounts were growing and that seemed to quiet them down.
He gobbled breakfast and was taking his empty plate and coffee cup to the kitchen washbasin when Jewel and Gabe arrived, hand in hand. He couldn’t help but smile when he noticed Jewel wince as she slid into her seat at the huge dining table where the gems and staff ate their meals.
Jewel and Gabe’s room was on the first level of the saloon, next door to his own. There were times he could make out snippets of passionate sex nearby, but he could always hear every lick of Gabe’s belt through the too-thin walls when he punished his lady. More nights than he cared to remember, Charlie had found himself with a stiff erection he didn’t know what to do with as he had no choice but to bear witness to the passion between his boss and her man. Sometimes he’d been able to fall sleep, but more often than not, he’d been forced to take matters into his own hand—literally.
Nettie was carrying the conversation for them all that fine morning. “Charlie is gonna pick up the material to redo the chairs. Anything else you need him to pick up at the mercantile?”
Jewel wasn’t paying attention. “Hmm”
Gabe squeezed her hand. “Nettie is talking to you, chiquita. Do you need anything at the mercantile?”
“Uh-no. Nothing. But… well if you could give me a few minutes, you could take the weekly deposit to the bank. It’s Friday after all and I need to pay the gems.”
Gabe looked aggravated. “I told you, I can take the deposit for you if you aren’t feeling well.”
“It’s not that. I just thought… I’d rather have you stay home with me. Charlie can handle the deposit,” Jewel answered with a coy smile on her lips.
Charlie and Nettie grinned at each other, both suddenly feeling like outsiders as Jewel and Gabe made eyes at each other. He decided to tease them.
“Excuse me? You guys still here?”
Jewel blushed pink. “Oh, heavens. Yes, let me go retrieve the deposit slip and money pouch.” She pushed to her feet, yelping when Gabe gave her a playful swat to her bottom.
The bank wasn’t far. It only took a few minutes to walk the few blocks in the California sunshine. It wasn’t quite noon yet, but it was already turning steamy. It never ceased to amaze him just how much money the Red Petticoat took in each week. His own account had ballooned larger than he’d ever thought possible. That he was becoming a rich man doing what he loved to do made him a very happy man, indeed.
He picked up his pace after leaving the bank, hoping to get back to the Red Petticoat before the mid-day heat turned unbearable.
As luck would have it, he saw the stage pulling into town, heading towards the stables. The horse-drawn carriage crossed over Main Street long enough for Charlie to catch a glimpse of pale blue. Surely that wasn’t a woman driver?
Shaking his head, sure he’d been mistaken, he pressed through the front door of the mercantile. The jingle of a bell on the door announced his arrival. Sam Singleton shouted out a welcome from the back of the store. “I’ll be right there.”
Charlie spent a few minutes examining some of the wares of the shop until Sam joined him. With a smile, he picked up a few bath products to restock his shelf in the bathroom, looking forward to the next time he’d use them with his gems.
“Well, Charlie Walker. I’m guessing you’re here to pick up your new sheet music that’s scheduled to arrive today. The shipment should be here any minute if you’d like to wait.”
“Yes, if you don’t mind. Any chance you have Nettie’s bolts of fabric she’s waiting for?”
“Oh yes, that came in on the last shipment. I was going to have my boy drop it by on Monday if she hadn’t had a chance to pick it up. Let me run to the back to grab it.”
Charlie moved to the front bay window to look down Main Street for signs of the delivery. The stage usually dropped off passengers near the Bentley Inn first before driving around town to make parcel deliveries, ending their stop at the stable to refresh the horses before reloading to continue on their way.
When the stage failed to come back to the mercantile within ten minutes, Charlie contemplated walking down to the Bentleys to check on it. As he was about to leave, the stage rounded the corner, driving faster than a sane driver should in the busy streets of summertime Culpepper Cove.
As the stage approached, he observed the scowling driver wincing in pain as he pulled the horses to a stop in front of the store. It took the wiry old driver a minute to set the brake and climb down from the driver’s bench. He looked like it was time for him to retire.
Charlie went out to see if he could assist. “Hello there! Glad to see you. Do you have anything I can help carry in?”
He was greeted with a grunt. “Damn good thing you came out. I’m not gonna be able to carry the load in this week.” He’d gone to the back of the stage, pulling back the heavy tarp to uncover large crates of goods. “This first one is for Culpepper Cove. Be careful now. It’s a heavy one.”
Charlie had no problems lifting the bulky crate and carrying it through the door propped open by Sam Singleton.
The shop owner remarked, “You sure must be anxious for that delivery of music. Since when do the customers have to carry in the delivery?”
The driver was hobbling behind them with the paperwork. “I’m right grateful for the young man’s help. I’ve had… well… a bit of an accident. Feels like I broke my damn ribs.”
Sam and Charlie wrestled the heavy crate to the floor before Sam inquired. “Do you need me to fetch Doc Norwood?”
“Nah, I don’t have time for nothing like that. I’m sure it’ll heal up in a day or two.”
“Did you take a tumble from the stage?” The driver presented the invoice to Sam who inspected it while they chatted. Charlie wanted them to cut the small talk and dig out his portion of the delivery. Instead he was held hostage while the old coot complained.
“Nah, I wish. Some people just can’t be grateful for favors. I took a slip of a girl on as an extra passenger because she was so desperate to depart San Francisco and, instead of being grateful, she got a burr in her saddle when she had to sit up front with me.”
Sam wasn’t paying much attention as he inventoried the contents of the delivery, but Charlie watched the old man warily. It wasn’t what he said, but more what he didn’t say that told the real story. He couldn’t help but smile thinking that whoever that slip of a girl was, she’d done a fine job of keeping the driver in check.
It only took ten minutes to finish sorting out the delivery. Charlie eagerly leafed through his dozen brand new pieces of sheet music, picking out the one he’d most been looking forward to, The Blue Juanita. He held the paper to his nose, enjoying the smell of fresh parchment and ink as he left the store, Nettie’s fabric tucked under his arm. He was barely paying attention as he bound down the steps, anxious to get to his piano.
Distracted as he was, he ran smack dab into a young woman he’d never seen in town before coming up the steps to the mercantile. They collided with enough velocity that he dropped one bolt of fabric.
Only once he managed to recover to avoid losing the rest of his load did he turn to apologize for his clumsy gaffe. His gaze fell on the most striking set of blue eyes he’d ever had the pleasure to stare into. They were a pale, cool blue and when she turned her head, the sunlight turned them into a silvery hue.
As memorable as the young woman’s eyes were, the rest of the package they were wrapped in was even more striking. He was struck mute for a long minute, until fear crept into her gaze and he remembered his manners.
“I’m so very sorry, Miss…” She didn’t supply her name. Too bad. “I wasn’t watching where I was going. My sincere apologies for barging into you.”
Her voice was small. “It’s all right.” O
nly when their standoff continued did he realize she was standing still because his dropped load was blocking the stairs leading into the store.
He scrambled to pick up the dropped fabric only to lose his grip on his precious stack of music. To his horror, the pristine new paper fluttered in the slight wind, falling to the dusty sidewalk.
Nettie’s fabric be damned. Charlie threw his load onto the stairs while he chased the errant music. A tuft of wind in the otherwise still air carried several sheets of music up and in the air, headed in different directions. “Damnation!”
He took off towards the sheet floating farthest away and out of the corner of his eye, he could watch the same blue gown he’d seen arriving on the stage earlier now helping to chase down his wayward music.
It only took a few minutes to gather up the missing papers. This time, when he met her magical silver-blue eyes, he saw humor. She’d had fun helping.
He held his hand out to take back his music, but instead of handing it over, she glanced down, reading the front page before looking up with tears threatening. “You read music?” Her voice was but a whisper.
“Sure. Do you?” In that moment he didn’t care about her answer. His only objective was to keep her talking.
She nodded slowly. “Yes. I love music.”
Charlie took a chance. “I’m not sure how long you’re staying in town, but you should stop on by to hear me play if you can. I play at the Red Petticoat.” He pointed, “It’s just at the end of the street there. You can’t miss it.”
It looked like it pained her to hand the music back over to him. “I wish I could, but we’re only stopping here for an hour.”
A strange feeling of loss washed over him at realizing she was only passing through. “That’s too bad. I’d have liked to have played for you.”
Suddenly too shy to look him in his eyes, she studied her shuffling feet. “I’d have liked that too.”
Their business concluded, Charlie had no choice but to pick up the dropped fabric, bath products and sheet music and, with a tip of his derby hat, he took off back to the Red Petticoat. He had to fight the urge to turn back to speak with her more. Maybe learn her name or even convince her to have lunch at the saloon before she went on her way.
In the end, he kept putting one foot in front of the other until he passed through the swinging doors to the huge main dining room of the Red Petticoat. Several tables of poker were already underway in the back corner, tucked away from the main thoroughfare and stage. Charlie dropped the fabric off in the kitchen before placing the bath oils in the bathroom and heading to his piano.
He didn’t normally play at this time of day, saving up for the evening and night hours when the crowd expected to be entertained while they waited for their turn upstairs with the gem of their choice. Today, he’d use the lunch hour to practice his new music.
Charlie started quietly plucking out a melody here and harmony there. Taking the time to work through the most complex chords and key changes, enjoying putting the new notes together as if he were putting together a new puzzle.
He lost himself to the music and was surprised when he realized his tinkering had drawn a small crowd in the dining room. The two newest gems, Sapphire and Diamond had brought their plates from the kitchen to sit in the main dining room to listen. Ruby had arrived at work and was behind the bar.
“Don’t stop now. It was sounding like it was coming together,” Ruby teased.
That was the only invitation he needed. Charlie turned the music back to the first page and started playing The Blue Juanita with gusto. He was pleased with the complex rendition and gave it his full attention.
He was used to being ignored much of the time. While he knew patrons enjoyed listening to his tunes, he was under no delusion that they came for music instead of the pleasure of a lay with a curvy gem or even a stomach full of Nettie’s cooking. His music was usually the background sounds of a busy saloon. So when the room broke out clapping when he finished his song, he beamed.
Swinging around on the piano bench to tip his hat, he caught a flash of blue a few feet inside the door.
There she was. She’d come.
He sat frozen, watching as Gabe went to speak with Silver. He realized he’d given her a nickname in his mind. They were too far away for him to hear their conversation, but he could tell Gabe was trying to convince her to come on in, but she was backing away, afraid and looking ready to bolt.
Charlie jumped up, rushing to catch her before she left—not sure why he cared so much.
“Hey, there. You came.” He got to them just as she was backing out the swinging doors. He reached out to brush her arm, pulling back when her eyes widened. “Don’t go. I still have more new songs to play.”
She stopped her departure, but was now blocking the entry. Two burly miners came up behind her, making her yelp with surprise when the taller of the two hauled off and swatted her behind playfully. “Come on, darlin. You’re making it hard for us to pass.”
Charlie moved without thinking, rushing the man who was a few inches taller than him, grabbing his shirt at the collar and pressing him out the door. “Watch it. What gives you the right to touch her?”
The miner raised his hands up as if to surrender. “Hey, I didn’t mean nothing by it. The gems are usually willing to have a little happy-slappy before we go upstairs.”
Charlie kept his voice as calm as possible. “Take a good look at her. Does she look like a gem to you? Does she have on red petticoats? Or even pink?”
The man got flustered. “Well, I reckon not. My mistake. Ye don’t see many proper ladies hanging around the saloon, well except Miss Jewel.” He rushed to take his hat off and as soon as Charlie released his shirt, he bowed his apology. “My regrets, ma’am. It won’t happen again.”
Charlie turned, taking in how pale she’d become. The way the sun was shining, it bounced off her skin making her look translucent. The look on her face haunted him. She was lost, afraid of the men who surrounded her and unsure how to extricate herself.
Charlie took charge holding his arm out for her in an invitation. “Come on in. You can listen to the music while you eat some lunch. Surely you need to take in some nourishment before you continue on your journey?”
She hesitated, but then did better than answer. She stepped forward, placing her hand through the crook of his arm and allowed him to escort her into the saloon. He took her to an empty table that wasn’t far from the bar. He wouldn’t tell her, but he chose the seat because it would give him the perfect view of her as he played.
After he had her seated, Charlie called out to Ruby. “Can you bring our guest some lunch and something to drink?”
Ruby nodded as she headed to the kitchen, but the young woman pulled at his sleeve, motioning him closer. He leaned in, enjoying the scent of her hair and was distracted wondering how his new bath oils would smell on her.
“I only came to hear the music. I don’t need lunch.”
“Of course you need lunch. A stiff wind could carry you off like it did my music.”
She didn’t smile at his joke. Instead, he noticed her distress. “Maybe there are some scraps I could have.”
That’s when it hit him. She didn’t have money for lunch. “Don’t you worry about it. Lunch is on the house today.”
“But…” she protested.
He held his finger up to shush her. “There’s only one price you need to pay for lunch.” He could have kicked himself as soon as the words left his mouth. Looking around the room, he realized she thought he meant she’d have to go to work there. He rushed to finish his thought. “Your name. I’d have your name in exchange for lunch.”
“My name?” She sounded dubious.
“It’s easy. I’ll start. I’m Charlie Walker. Nice to meet you, Miss…” He held out his hand.
It took her several seconds to slowly place her hand in his, letting him shake it while she whispered, “Emelie. Emelie Svensson.”
He knew he was grinn
ing like a goofball, but he couldn’t help it. “Welcome to The Red Petticoat, Emelie Svensson.” Ruby arrived with a large bowl of ham and split pea soup along with Nettie’s fresh cornbread and butter.
Little Miss Emelie could deny it until her last breath, but the loud growl of her tummy proved she was in definite need of a nutritious, hot meal. Her pale cheeks blushed an adorable pink with embarrassment, but Charlie chuckled, picking up the spoon and handing it to her.
“Now, your job is to sit here and eat and listen. My job is to see if I can entertain you enough that you’ll consider staying in town for a spell.”
The words left his mouth before he even realized he’d said them. Over Emelie’s shoulder he saw Gabe and Jewel watching their interaction with interest—a knowing grin on their faces.
Charlie watched over her until she took her first spoonful of soup, groaning when it tasted as magnificent as he knew it did. He turned and sauntered back to the piano, setting the new music aside, knowing now was not the right time to practice new material.
No, right now he had one job. He needed to play so well that their new guest got lost in the music until she missed her stage leaving town and would be stuck in Culpepper Cove—at least for a few days.
***
Emelie’s stomach hadn’t been this full in what seemed like months. She was ashamed she’d accepted the handout, but she could no more have walked away from the heavenly meal than she could have walked out before hearing more of the piano man’s music.
His name was Charlie. She doubted he knew how truly talented he was. It wasn’t exactly like she was an expert in such matters, but he put Squirrelly’s playing to shame. Bad memories of her time with Albert’s musical troupe returned and she worked to press them away, trying to enjoy the talented musician in the last few minutes she had before she had to leave.
She unfortunately had a perfect view of the grandfather clock, ticking away the time until she had to go. As she listened to the talented musician pound out song after song, she watched the minutes slip by faster and faster. With each minute that passed, her heart beat harder—louder—until the rushing of the blood in her ears drowned out Charlie’s Oh! Susanna.