by Sarah Banks
“So did I.”
“I’m glad.”
Daniel started to cry from another part of the house and Will sat up. “Do you want me to get him?”
“No, that’s okay. Margaret will tend to him,” she replied and sure enough, the crying ceased moments later.
“She’s really good with him, huh?”
Elizabeth smiled. “She’s very fond of him. She will make some man very lucky someday as the mother of his children.”
Will nodded and sniffed the air. “I smell something cooking,” he said, and his stomach growled. He laughed.
She smiled. “That would be Margaret as well. I don’t know what I would do without her.”
“I guess I’d better get dressed if I’m going to have time to eat before I have to be at the bar. No doubt Shorty will be there at noon on the dot,” he said, pushing back the covers.
He smiled as she averted her eyes to the opposite side of the room. He wouldn’t at all mind her looking at him. He knew that he wanted to look at her, but all in due time. Once he dressed, he cleaned his teeth and retrieved his watch from the nightstand, slipping it into his pocket. “You’d better hurry or they’ll be nothing left,” he teased. He left the room, giving her privacy to dress for the day.
He found Margaret in the kitchen with Daniel. He was sitting on a blanket on the floor playing with a wooden spoon and a small pot.
“Good morning Margaret. We’ll need to get him his own chair.” He crouched down in front of Daniel and smiled, “Good morning little guy.”
Daniel flapped his arms and cooed.
“Good morning Will. Yes, he’s used to having one. I think it might be why he’s been so fussy this morning. We did have one, but it was lost in the fi…” Her voice tapered off.
“In the fire, yes your sister told me.”
“She did? I’m glad.” She quickly looked away. “I guess it wouldn’t have mattered anyway, we couldn’t have traveled with something so large,” she said with her back to him. “Would you like some breakfast?”
“Yes, please.”
She set a plate, stacked with pancakes topped with butter in front of him along with a steaming cup of coffee and he thought he could get used to this. He was used to fending for himself. He usually grabbed something quick or ate out. If he cooked for himself, and he wasn’t the best cook, it was so much food for one person that he’d be eating the same thing all week long.
“I’m sorry there isn’t anything else to go with it,” Margaret apologized, picking up Daniel from the floor and sitting beside him.
“Don’t apologize, this looks fine. No one’s ever made me flapjacks before.”
Margaret tilted her head. “No?”
He took a huge bite and shook his head. “They’re delicious!” He said, his mouth full.
Margaret smiled and looked over his shoulder. “Did you hear that Elizabeth? Will said no one’s ever made him flapjacks before.”
Will turned his head and watched his wife enter the kitchen. She was even prettier than yesterday despite wearing the same dress. He realized she probably didn’t have much. She said they lost everything in the fire and only repurchased the necessities. They had only arrived with half a dozen medium-sized trunks between the six of them. He wasn’t rich, but neither was he poor. Every year the saloon was doing better than the year before. He could afford to buy a few new outfits for each of them. He would be sure to tell Elizabeth so when they went to the mercantile after breakfast.
“That’s a crying shame,” Elizabeth responded, leaning back against the counter with a cup of coffee she had poured herself. “We’ll make you whatever you want, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
“As long as you don’t mind having a fat husband,” he replied with a grin.
Both women laughed and Daniel chortled as well. A shot of something went through Will. He realized he had a family now. This was his family. He had seen Charles reading on the sofa in the front living room and George and Alice running around outside through the picture window. His house no longer sat empty. From this day forward it would be full of people, laughter and love. He had only been married a single day and yet already felt incredibly blessed.
“Have the children eaten yet Margaret?” Elizabeth asked her sister, setting down her cup of coffee and taking Daniel from her arms. She gave him a kiss on the nose and settled him on her hip.
“At first light. I can’t believe they didn’t wake you up. They were quite rambunctious. I finally had to send them outside to play.”
“I slept better than I have in years,” Elizabeth said, surprise filling her voice. “Well, they better enjoy the extra free time while they can. I’m enrolling them in school today.” She turned to him as he pushed his empty plate away. “Even though we slept late, will you still have time to take me to the mercantile this morning?”
“If we leave now,” he said, draining his cup of coffee. “But you haven’t eaten yet.”
“I’ll eat when I get back. It’s more important that you introduce me to the mercantile owner so that I have charging privileges. Then I can familiarize myself with the store before I come home and Margaret and I can start making our list.”
“I’ve already started one,” Margaret told them, nodding to a notebook on the counter, a pencil tucked inside marking a page.
Elizabeth wrapped her arm around her sister’s waist and hugged her. “I don’t know what I would do without you Margaret. Someday you’ll get married and move away and I’ll probably fall apart.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. I don’t ever plan on getting married,” she said, holding out her arms to Daniel who reached for her. She settled the baby on her hip.
“You might change your mind,” Elizabeth said tentatively.
It almost seemed to Will as if an argument was beginning to brew between the two sisters.
Margaret frowned. She opened her mouth to respond and then looked at Will, as if just remembering his presence. She closed it without a word.
“Well, whatever you end up doing, you’ll have a place here as long as you need it,” Will announced, willing to play the part of peacemaker.
“Thank you Will,” Margaret murmured.
“Especially if your sister kills me,” he said, stacking his cup onto his plate and standing up.
Both sisters’ mouths dropped open in shock and he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Will!” Elizabeth sputtered.
He held up his hands. “Too soon to joke?”
“Yes!”
But he saw the tiny twitch of a smile at the corner of her lips.
“Well, I’m sorry then. Grab your coat and I’ll take you to the mercantile.”
Chapter Seven
“I hope you don’t mind walking,” Will said from beside her.
“Not at all. I love walking,” she said as she navigated the steep hill that led directly from the back of the house straight to the back of the saloon. There was a long sloping driveway, but this was faster. It was a straight shot into town and impossible to miss the well-worn path leading down the side of the hill. She imagined Will walking to and from the house to work each day.
“Do you like working in a saloon?”
“Yes. Why? You aren’t planning on trying to convince me to sell it, are you? I know not every woman is cut out to be the wife of a saloon owner.”
“No, of course not. I was just asking.” She was trying to learn more about her husband.
“Because of your first husband?”
“I’m sensible enough to know that not every man has a drinking problem Will.”
“Well, just so you know I don’t drink much at all. And I never get drunk. I’ve been experimenting with brewing my own beer in the barn, which by the way we’ll need to warn the younger ones they aren’t allowed in there under any circumstances.”
“I’ll do that first thing when I get back,” Elizabeth promised.
Will nodded. “That’s the extent of my drinking. T
asting my own creations.” He wrinkled his nose. “Some batches are better than others.”
“Think I might try some sometime?”
“If you want.”
“Your letters said you inherited the bar from Hank?” She had reread his letters over and over again. He was her knight in shining armor and she spent much of her time daydreaming about the life they would have together. Despite how badly her first two marriages ended, she realized there was still a little part inside of her that thought maybe, just maybe she could finally get her own happy ending.
Will nodded and stooped to move a large branch from the path.
“And your pocket watch, did you inherit that from him as well?”
Will dusted his hands off on his pants. “How did you know?”
“Just a guess. He was like a father-figure to you, wasn’t he?”
“Sort of, not really. Nothing against my actual father, he did the best he could. I suppose between the two of them, I had a decent father,” he said with a self-depreciating laugh. He stopped and turned to her. “I promise to be a better father to our children Elizabeth. The very best I possibly can.”
“I know you will Will,” she said softly.
And that was when he gave her her first kiss. At the end of their wedding ceremony he had only kissed her ring, although the sweet gesture had made her heart leap nonetheless. This time he placed his hands lightly on her shoulders, gently pulled her forward and brushed a soft kiss against her lips.
They stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment and she wondered if he would kiss her again. She couldn’t deny that she wanted him to, but instead he took her hand and they continued their walk to the mercantile.
He dropped her hand with a squeeze as they entered town and she followed him into the mercantile where he introduced her to Mr. Evans who hid his surprise well, only the slightest raising of his brows when he learned that Will had gotten married the day before.
Will opened his pocket watch. “I need to be getting going,” he said, flipping it closed again and slipping it into his pocket. “I won’t be home until after midnight. Don’t wait up.”
“But what about lunch and supper?”
“I just ate lunch and I’ll send for supper at the restaurant.”
Elizabeth opened her mouth to argue and he placed a gentle finger over her lips. “Just for today. While you get settled in. Tomorrow you and your sister can start fattening me up.”
He left her in the mercantile with a smile.
Elizabeth looked around the large store before returning to the counter and promising Mr. Evans she and her sister would return later that afternoon with a long shopping list.
She walked over to the school next and made arrangements for Charles, George and Alice to start attending the following day. She was already bracing herself for an argument with Charles. He thought he was too old for school and she knew the first thing he would point out was that Margaret wasn’t going. But Margaret was also three years older than he was. She was so advanced that she could be a teacher herself, if she ever set her mind down that path. Charles was bright as well. That was why Elizabeth wanted him to get in as much learning as he could before he became a full-fledged adult and had to get a job. He still had three or four more years left just to be a kid. She didn’t want him having to grow up too fast, like she and Margaret did, not if it was within her power.
Elizabeth returned home, huffing and puffing as she made it to the top of the steep hill. She found Margaret in the kitchen sitting at the table flipping through a recipe book.
“Is Daniel napping?” Elizabeth asked, shedding her coat. The heat of the kitchen felt wonderful on her cold skin. The sun was shining but the cold wind had penetrated her coat, gloves and shoes, all of which needed replacing.
“For the moment.”
It was the perfect opportunity to create the detailed lists they needed to get this household set up without interruption. She would eat breakfast later. She settled for a second cup of coffee, retrieved her own notebook from the desk in her bedroom and sat next to her sister.
“The mercantile is twice the size of the one back in Colorado,” Elizabeth said excitedly. “They have everything we need to get started and Mr. Evans said he can order whatever they don’t.”
“You told him,” Margaret said, changing the subject to Will.
Elizabeth picked up her pencil with a sigh. “Not everything. I haven’t told him about Daniel.”
Margaret looked down at her notebook and asked softly, “Why not?”
“Because I promised you that I wouldn’t. Besides, it’s not my secret to tell. But I hope someday he’ll learn the truth. I really like Will. I don’t want to keep any more secrets from him. He was very understanding and forgiving when he learned about John and the articles that are being written about me, more than I deserved. He’s a good man. I want this marriage to work, and I want it to last,” she finished, thinking of her first two short-lived marriages.
“You’re falling in love with him,” Margaret breathed, her eyes wide.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Elizabeth scoffed. “It’s only been a day.”
Her sister’s mouth curved knowingly. “You never were so infatuated with John or Sam.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “John was more of a grandfather than anything, you know that. And Sam, well, I cared for him, just not in that way.”
“But you think there could be more between you and Will?”
“I’m not talking about this with you.”
“Talk about what?” Charles asked, walking into the kitchen with Daniel riding his shoulders.
“Nothing,” the sisters said in unison.
“Alright, geez. Anyway, Daniel’s up. I changed his diaper.”
Margaret stood up on her tiptoes and kissed her son’s chin. “Thank you Charles. His naps are getting shorter and shorter.”
“Charles, do you mind watching him for a few hours while we finish our lists and go to the mercantile?” Elizabeth asked.
“Sure, I don’t mind, as long as he doesn’t rip any more pages out of my books.”
“Thank you. I’m sure we can find something new to catch his attention in this big house, something that he can’t destroy. By the way, I enrolled you, George and Alice in school this morning. You start tomorrow.”
“Lizzie!”
Elizabeth held up her hand. “Not now, Charles, please. I overslept and the day’s already half over. We need to get our lists and shopping done if there’s going to be anything to make for supper. You can rail at me tonight after the dishes are done all you want, I promise.”
“Fine,” Charles grumbled. “But don’t for a second think that putting me off now will make me forget about it, because it won’t.” He left the kitchen with a parting glare which was hard to take seriously while he bounced the laughing Daniel around on his shoulders.
Chapter Eight
It was past eleven in the evening. Elizabeth hadn’t been up this late since Daniel was a colicky baby. Thank goodness those days were passed. Everyone was abed, except for Will, who wasn’t even home yet. The saloon didn’t close for another forty-five minutes and she wasn’t sure how long until he’d be home after that.
She spent the afternoon shopping with Margaret. Their purchases were delivered a short while later. All of her siblings took part in unloading the wagon and putting everything away in its rightful place.
Elizabeth had made supper tonight. She usually did most of the cooking. George and Alice set the table. It felt strange to sit down to the evening meal without Will. They were only here because of him. She remembered to set aside a plate on the stove for him to eat when he got home.
After supper, she and Margaret did the dishes and one by one everybody had gone to bed. Margaret always put Daniel to bed and often fell asleep at the same time. Charles always disappeared after supper with a book and a lamp. Luckily, George and Alice rarely put up a fuss about going to bed at night given that they ran around
so much during the day. So it was just Elizabeth who waited up for Will. She knew that he didn’t expect her to and he would probably give her trouble over it, but just as it didn’t feel right to eat without him, neither did it feel right to go to bed without him. She wanted to tell him about her day and ask about his as well. Besides, she wasn’t tired anyway.
Acting on impulse she grabbed her coat and a lantern hanging by the door and made her way carefully down the hill. The back door to the saloon was unlocked and it opened up into a dark storeroom that smelled of wood, whiskey and polish, not at all a bad combination of scents.
She could hear activity on the other side of the door, the sounds of many conversations, booming male laughter, clinking glasses and chairs sliding across the floor. She took a deep breath and pulled the door open.
She stepped out into the main room of the saloon and looked around. Her eyes immediately found her husband behind the bar, pouring drinks and talking with patrons, a smile on his face. The sight of it brought a small smile to her own lips. He clearly enjoyed his job and that realization made her happy.
She looked over the rest of the room. Smoke hung low in the air. There was of course that scandalous painting hanging next to one of the stoves. Men were playing cards at one table, another group playing darts in the corner. Everyone else was just sitting around drinking and chatting. Nearly every seat was filled despite the late hour.
She realized that one by one, men stopped talking until the room fell silent and all eyes were on her. She felt herself blush and she glanced at Will. He looked up from the drink he was pouring, frowning in confusion. He followed the direction of everyone’s eyes and saw her standing in the doorway to the storeroom. She was relieved when his face broke out in a smile. He wasn’t angry with her showing up unannounced. Rather, he looked happy to see her. She smiled back at him, put out her lantern and walked to her husband behind the bar.