Promises Prevail

by Sarah McCarty

  Jenna had just a moment to pass Bri off before she was tugged through the gold velvet curtain to the dim interior. The room smelled like dye, paper, and…sugar cookies?

  “C’mon in everyone, we might as well get settled,” Pearl called, motioning Jenna to go behind the curtain and change into the shimmering sky-blue dress that was hanging there. Jenna slid out of her dress. Surely Pearl didn’t expect her to wear this?

  “Pearl which dress am I supposed to wear?”

  “The only one back there, honey.”

  The smooth satin slipped through her fingers. Oh heavens, this was way too nice. What if she spilled punch on it?

  “Do you have something less…?” How could she say less fine, and not sound stupid?

  Pearl popped her head through the curtain. Jenna clasped the dress to her chest.

  “Clint came by and picked out the material for that dress himself dear. Said it was his favorite shade of blue.”

  Dorothy peeked through the curtain, looked at the roughed out dress and Jenna’s face. “Easy to see why. It’s the same color as your eyes.”

  The curtain flew open as Millicent stepped through. “The boy always was partial to blue.”

  Jenna wanted to sink through the floor. She inched the dress a little higher. Millicent whistled through her teeth as she looked at the dress Jenna held against her.

  “He also has excellent taste.”

  The next face to appear was Mara’s. She looked at Jenna, the dress, and the women. “The dress is gorgeous. Clint is an ass with excellent taste, and Jenna might appreciate a little privacy.”

  “Whatever for?” Pearl asked, taking the dress out of Jenna’s hands and gathering it up before dropping it over her head. Her “We’re all women here” was slightly obscured by the swish of satin as the slippery material poured over her head. Jenna shoved her arms into the sleeves.

  “Watch out for the—”

  “Pins,” Jenna hissed as one stabbed her in the underarm.

  “Did one get you?” Pearl asked moving the material around.

  “It’s all right.”

  “You’re not bleeding on the fabric are you?” Millicent asked.

  Jenna pulled the sleeve down. “No.”

  “Good.” Elizabeth made a face at Brianna. “It’d be a shame to ruin such a beautiful dress, wouldn’t it, sweetie pie?”

  “What’s going to be ruined is this meeting,” Millicent muttered as Pearl motioned Jenna to the box in the middle of the floor. “Where the heck is the reverend?”

  “Why does the reverend need to be at my fitting?” Jenna asked as she stepped onto the wide box. She certainly didn’t want a man there, least of all that too-handsome reverend.

  No one answered. She tugged at the bodice, managing to get the buttons done up through sheer force of will. The dress was definitely going to have to be let out in the bust. She was about to point that out when a knock at the back door interrupted the proceedings. The other women turned as one, varying degrees of anticipation reflected on their faces.

  “Thank goodness!” Pearl exclaimed, grabbing a basket and hurrying to the door.

  The door opened far enough to reveal a tall, broad-shouldered silhouette backlit by streaming sunlight before Pearl reached through and yanked the man in, swinging the door shut.

  Jenna smoothed her skirts and then looking down, crossed her arms over her very exposed chest. The reverend’s gaze fell on her and his frown dissolved into a slow grin that made her distinctly uncomfortable.

  “If I wasn’t afraid word would get back to Clint, who’d for sure be feeding me my teeth for noticing, I’d tell you that you are a fine-looking woman, Mrs. McKinnely.”

  Jenna managed to choke a “Thank you” past her embarrassment, which only had that unholy reverend smiling broader. He unbuttoned his coat and tipped his hat at the ladies in general.

  “So Clint’s the reason this latest meeting had to be called?” he asked with an arch of his brow.

  “He’s being a bit of a pain,” Mara said as picked up a bunch of pins and eyed the hem of Jenna’s dress.

  “In the ass,” Millicent elaborated.

  “McKinnelys excel at that kind of thing.” The reverend smiled, obviously very comfortable in a room full of women.

  “Clint is not being an…a pain,” Jenna gritted out “Don’t you worry Jenna,” Mara muttered around a mouthful of pins as she bent to tug the hem down in front. “The women of W.O.M.B. are geniuses at getting a man’s head on straight.”

  “I’d hardly rate fixing Cougar’s idiocy as a matter of genius,” Millicent retorted as Jenna clutched the bodice in the wake of Mara’s tugging.

  Lorie laughed. “He was rather easy once you got him tied down.”

  “It was the tying down that was a challenge,” Mara agreed, the blush on her cheeks rivaling one of Jenna’s.

  “I don’t understand,” Jenna muttered through her embarrassment. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to, but she was curious. Like everyone else, she’d heard stories about Mara and Cougar’s courtship.

  “You will.” The reverend outright laughed, his teeth flashing white in his suntanned face, and pulled a wrapped bundle from under his coat.

  Jenna looked at Lorie. “W.O.M.B.?”

  “Women overcoming male bullheadedness,” Lorie whispered as the reverend swapped his parcel for Pearl’s basket.

  He swung the basket on his fingers and sighed, “Don’t know what I’m going to do for snacks once you women get the men in this town straightened out.”

  “You could settle down with a nice young woman,” Pearl suggested.

  “What would I do with a nice woman?” He leaned down and kissed Pearl’s cheek. “If you’ve got to hook me up with someone, you’d be better served finding me one who’s well acquainted with the rough side of bad.”

  Jenna blinked because for that one brief second she thought the man was totally serious. Which was ridiculous. A reverend’s wife was always a woman above reproach.

  “Ain’t that the truth? For a reverend, you sure are a wild one.” Millicent laughed and gathered an assortment of glassware from the sideboard.

  “Just earning my way to redemption, Millie. Just earning my way.” A lock of his sun-streaked blond hair fell over his brow as he opened the door.

  “Straight to hell is where that boy’s going,” Pearl muttered as he left the room, taking his laughter and the scent of sugar cookies with him.

  “If he is, we’re probably helping him on the way,” Millie added handing out the glasses. “Sending the preacher to the saloon to get our libation is sure to get the Almighty’s attention.”

  “You sent the Reverend Swanson to a saloon?” Jenna took a glass, feeling more than a little foolish, standing on a box trying to figure out what was going on.

  Lorie yawned and nodded. “He’s the only one we can trust.”

  “You trust a reverend who drinks?” Jenna didn’t know whether to be shocked or amused.

  “If you can’t trust a reverend, who can you trust?” Lorie shrugged.

  Jenna wasn’t sure, but she also wasn’t sure they should be putting all their trust in a man of God who so clearly didn’t look or act the part.

  Lorie smothered another yawn, and Jenna felt a pang of guilt. Even though she’d made Lorie a partner in Sweet Thyme and gave her three-fourths of the profit, it was an awful lot of work for one person.

  “Is the bakery too much for you?”

  “Oh, no. I love it. I just didn’t get to bed on time last night.” Jenna knew how that was.

  “Have you been feeding Harry?” As hard as it had been to let go of the bakery, it had been doubly hard to let go of caring for those who depended on her. To her surprise, Lorie flushed bright red.

  “Yes.”

  “Who’s Harry?” Elizabeth asked as she played peekaboo with Bri.

  “One of Jenna’s strays,” Lorie answered before Jenna could.

  “Well, if he’s eating from your bakery, Jenna, he’s eat
ing darned good,” Millicent said as Pearl filled Jenna’s glass. Even from a foot away, Jenna’s nose wrinkled at the smell of spirits.

  “That new line of herbed breads you introduced is wonderful. I need to talk to you later about ordering some for the restaurant.”

  “That’s a high compliment.” Jenna grabbed the bodice again as Mara continued tugging at the hem. Millie was the best cook in the whole territory. Fights were known to break out as patrons waited to get into her restaurant. She didn’t praise others’ cooking often, and certainly didn’t bring it into her establishment.

  “Thank you.” Lori’s blush deepened.

  “No need to be thanking her,” Pearl said as she rapidly filled the other glasses. “The woman knows a good thing when she tastes it, and I’m sure she means to make a pretty penny off the deal.”

  “That’s the God’s honest truth.” Millie raised her glass to Jenna. She paused, her eyes dropping to Jenna’s chest before widening. “Pearl, did you get a description off Clint before making up this dress?”

  “Of course!”

  “Well,” Millie took a sip of her whiskey and frowned, “I’ve never known a man to underdescribe that aspect of a woman’s body.”

  Pearl looked up, frowned, and took a quick sip of her drink before setting it on the floor. She whipped her tape measure from around her neck, crossing the room in four steps.

  “Clint’s no different than any other man,” she grumbled, wrapping the tape around Jenna’s chest before letting it drop to tug at the tight material under Jenna’s armpit. “Which is why I took his assessment with a grain of salt.”

  “More than a grain,” Mara murmured, glancing up. “Sure you can’t spare of bit of that Jenna?” she asked with a rueful glance at her flat chest.

  “You can have all you want.”

  “Like she needs it,” Lorie snorted. “Cougar already looks at her like the frosting on his favorite cake, and she’s looking for more incentive?”

  “Can’t help thinking about the women he knew before me.” Mara shrugged, took a sip of her liquor, and shuddered.

  “Doesn’t matter who came before,” Millie tossed back the rest of her drink. “All that matters is that none come after, and Mara honey, that man of yours is a one-woman man.”

  “Yes, he is.” Mara’s smile reflected her satisfaction with that fact.

  “And,” Elizabeth tossed in after covering Brianna’s ears, “I heard through Asa that Cougar finds your measurements exactly to his liking.”

  Jenna closed her eyes, feeling more like a cow with every word. Mara was delicate and dainty and everything men liked about a woman, while she was a woman whose curves overflowed even a dressmaker’s expectations.

  “Maybe we could find something that would,” she brushed her hands over her breasts, “flatten me?”

  Her whisper landed in the conversation like a rock in a pond, disturbing the equanimity with ripples of surprise.

  Pearl’s “Why on earth would we want to do that?” was almost overwhelmed by Millicent’s “Honey, with a chest like that you need to think in terms of flaunting, not hiding”.

  “She’s got a point,” Lorie put in. “If you lowered that neckline just a little, there isn’t a man in the territory who wouldn’t drop to a heel.”

  Lower the neckline? She was already showing her collarbones and three inches of cleavage. “I don’t want men panting over me.”

  “Just Clint,” Dorothy said, her voice sympathetic.

  “Yes.” She would love for Clint to feel about her the way Cougar felt about Mara, as if even her flaws were something to celebrate. But for that to happen, he’d have to love her.

  “Well, just having Clint notice you is not going to solve your problem,” Pearl muttered as she adjusted the dress with efficient movements. She whipped small scissors out of her belt and two snips later the darts in the left bodice relaxed with startling swiftness.

  “I don’t have a problem.” Jenna grabbed for the bodice, almost spilled her drink, and settled for standing absolutely still.

  “I heard you don’t feel Clint loves you.”

  “Clint’s a good husband.” She closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath as Pearl snipped the darts on the other side. She let her breath out slowly. At least she could take a regular breath.

  “Huh.” Dorothy set her glass on the small wooden table with a decisive click. “Not if he hasn’t told you he loves you.”

  “Especially if you told him you loved him.”

  “Selfish bastard, playing it safe.”

  Jenna closed her fist on the impulse to yell. “Don’t you call him that. He’s a wonderful man. Much better than I deserve.”

  “Hell, with an attitude like that, no wonder you need our help.” Pearl picked her glass up and drained the last drop.

  “I don’t need your help.”

  “The rest of the fit is just fine, but the top is going to be an issue.” Pearl eyed the loosened bodice. She shook her head. “And of course you need our help, otherwise you wouldn’t be making excuses for your man.”

  “He can’t help that he doesn’t love me.”

  “Jenna, don’t take this the wrong way,” Elizabeth ventured as Bri began to fuss, her little fist working against her gums, “but you are plain nuts if you don’t think Clint loves you.”

  “That man can’t breathe straight for want of you,” Mara added.

  “He cares about me and feels protective, but that’s not the same as loving.” Even she wasn’t naive enough to think wanting had anything to do with love. And Jenna couldn’t blame him. She wasn’t strong yet. But she would be.

  “I tell you,” Millie said, pouring another glass all around, stopping when she got to Jenna, “emotion is wasted on the young.”

  “Isn’t that the truth,” Pearl agreed around the pins she was tucking into her mouth as she tugged the bodice down. Jenna edged it back up with her free hand as Pearl reached for her glass. She might as well have saved her time as the minute Pearl finished her drink, she was back to tugging it down.

  “I think if I lower the bodice, I can get the fall right.” She stepped back the length of her arm. “And you certainly have the stature to carry it off.” This time Pearl didn’t let go when Jenna tugged.

  “Clint said not to get anything too low-cut.” Pearl still didn’t let go.

  “Clint isn’t wearing it.”

  “Pearl’s got a point,” Elizabeth said with a matter-of-factness that had Jenna looking at her twice.

  “Is your dress this low?” She couldn’t believe Asa would allow Elizabeth to wear anything that low. He was known to be a very possessive man.

  “Lower. I’ve got to take advantage of this baby bounty while it lasts.” Elizabeth grinned, squared her shoulders, and thrust out her chest.

  “Wonderful,” Mara laughed, “there’s hope for me yet. Just need to get a baby for me to feed, and I’ll be one of the bountiful.”

  “Bountiful?” Millicent raised her eyebrows.

  “No harm in dreaming big.” Mara shrugged and took Bri from Elizabeth.

  “As if that husband of yours isn’t bounty enough,” Pearl muttered around the pins. Jenna could only blink at the way the women talked, as if their husband’ opinions were not paramount.

  “Asa will allow you to wear a dress like that?” she asked Elizabeth.

  “He’s not going to be happy, but by the time he finds out, we’ll be at the social and it will be too late.”

  “What will he do?”

  “He’ll whisper threats in my ear about what he’ll do when he gets me home and then he’ll spend all night drooling over my new breasts and glaring at the men who’d like a peek.” Elizabeth shrugged, unbuttoning her jacket.

  “And when you get home?”

  “He’ll take me upstairs to the bedroom and show me how much he appreciates my charms.” Elizabeth smiled widely.

  “Won’t he be jealous?”

  “I’m counting on it,” Elizabeth laughed.<
br />
  Her expression gave Jenna pause. Elizabeth was looking forward to her night with her husband, to tempting him and teasing him and reaping the results. Jenna couldn’t imagine teasing Clint like that, testing the edge of his patience while tempting his desire. But Mara obviously could. She held Bri above her head, laughing with the child as she kicked her feet and waved her hands.

  “You know, Pearl. I’m thinking my dress is a bit too modest.”

  “And going to stay that way too,” Pearl muttered. “Cougar about tore the head off that boy he decided was dancing too close last summer.”

  “He didn’t really hurt him.”

  “Scared him out of town, though, and my Evie was just getting around to settling on him.”

  “Wishful thinking on your part that Evie has plans on settling down. She reminds me too much of you,” Millicent joked.

  Pearl pulled herself to her full height. “I am the soul of propriety.”

  “Which doesn’t mean you didn’t kick over a few traces in your day.” Millie finished off her second glass of drink. “And it looks like Evie intends to follow in her mother’s footsteps.”

  “Heaven forbid.”

  For all of her eye-rolling, Pearl didn’t seem that upset with the situation.

  “How old is Evie?” Jenna sucked in her breath when Pearl looked up. She didn’t want to be stabbed.

  “She’s twenty.” Pearl shook her head as she folded the loose bodice under and pinned it in place. “And not in any hurry to provide me with grandchildren.”

  Jenna was afraid to glance down but a kind of morbid fascination had her looking, and promptly had her hand flying up to cover her chest.

  “I can’t wear a dress like this!”

  Pearl’s answer was an arch of her brow. “Why not?”

  “My bosom is showing.”

  “I prefer to think of it as being showcased.”

  “Clint would kill me.”

  Lorie choked on her drink. “I may be the only maiden here, but even I know the last thing on his mind if he saw you in that dress would be murder. You’re beautiful, Jenna.”

  Beautiful? She took her hands away from her chest and turned to the mirror while murmuring, “He told me not to make it too low.”