Calico Brides Read online

  Jeremiah had promised Annie two surprises today. She hoped he didn’t plan on announcing his reenlistment plans. He had kept himself aloof from her today. She had no idea what his surprises would bring.

  The parade reached the end of Main Street and halted at the town square. A few booths had been set up on the grass. Wanting to keep to their original purpose—to raise money for schoolbooks as well as to reach out to the soldiers—businesses around town had proposed several money-making schemes while leaving other things free of charge. Aunt Kate offered free weekly dinners for three months and one of her best lemon custard pies to the highest bidders, while serving free ham and beans to everyone at the fair.

  The fort supplied the beverages. Annie joined the line in front of the booth and scanned the square for Jeremiah without success.

  “What would you like to drink? Lemonade? Sweet tea? Water?”

  Annie studied the sign on the booth. The first glass cost five cents, but the refills were free. “I’ll take a glass of sweet tea, please.” She dug a nickel out of her reticule and turned to hand it to the soldier behind the table.

  She stared at Mack Jackson’s face, eyes stone-cold sober. He was dressed in his heavy woolen uniform, and looking unbelievably happy in spite of a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. “Miss Bliss!”

  Annie felt herself answering his wide smile. “It’s good to see you again. You look like you’re doing well.”

  “I am, thanks to you and the Lord. And Lieutenant Arnold of course.” He glanced behind Annie. “I’d better take care of our guests.”

  “I’m happy for you.” Annie leaned close for one last question. “Do you know where Lieutenant Arnold is? I didn’t see where he headed after the parade.”

  Mack shook his head. “I’ll tell him you’re looking for him if he comes by here.”

  Annie thanked him and slipped through the crowd. An equally full crowd gathered in front of Aunt Kate’s booth—where she knew Gladys was helping—so she decided to wait. A brief stop at each booth did not produce Jeremiah. His absence surprised her.

  She crossed the square, mingling with the crowd, in the direction of the church. People spilled over into the street, and she thought she caught sight of Jeremiah’s distinctive form heading toward her from the north, on the road leading out of town. She moved toward him, sliding through gaps in the crowd, until at last she reached the edge. She had a surprise in store for him as well.

  Two people accompanied Jeremiah, a man and a woman. She recognized the woman instantly. Mama. What is she doing back in Calico? With Jeremiah?

  The other man came out of Jeremiah’s shadow. Walking with the aid of a crutch, the man dragged his left leg. His gaunt face haunted her memories. He looked like—it couldn’t be—her brother Samuel.

  She broke into an unladylike run and raced down the nearly empty street, into his waiting arms.

  In the past, Jeremiah had done his share of informing relatives of the death of a loved one.

  This was the first time he’d taken part in reuniting a wounded soldier with his family. That must account for the warm feeling spreading through his limbs.

  No, that wasn’t the reason. Not if he was honest with himself. If he had learned anything in the last few days and weeks, he couldn’t hide behind assumptions and half-truths. Happiness had sped his steps home, but he didn’t start smiling until he saw Annie.

  If only he could be certain she returned his feelings. She had marched into his life, challenging his faith and his ministry and turning his world upside down. Whether she saw him as a man worthy of love—her love—he didn’t know.

  Samuel stopped his forward progress and braced himself. Mrs. Bliss stood by his left side, offering her support. Jeremiah retreated behind them. Whatever Annie’s feelings toward him, this moment belonged to the Bliss family.

  Tears streamed freely from Annie’s face as she flung herself into Samuel’s arms.

  Samuel’s face twisted, and he blinked. Jeremiah guessed he was ready to cry, but that would embarrass a young man who already had lost so much. He stepped into the gap. “Captain Peate corresponded with your brother’s commanding officer. I received word earlier this week that it was time for him to muster out, and Captain Peate agreed I could escort him and your mother home. So—here we are.”

  Mrs. Bliss placed her hand on Jeremiah’s shoulder, embracing him as part of her family. “The lieutenant has been wonderful. We would have had a hard time making it back without his help.” The look she directed in Samuel’s direction spoke volumes of love and family. Love Jeremiah had once experienced and had doubted he would ever enjoy again this side of heaven, until he met Annie.

  Annie glanced at Samuel’s leg but immediately looked up at her brother’s face again. “You can tell me about that later.” She laid her head on her brother’s chest. “I’m so happy you’re home. I want to run home with you, but I’m responsible for the dance in the town square.” She stepped back. “Everyone would love to see you, but I’m sure you’re tired.”

  “We have a lot of time to catch up with each other. Go ahead and have fun.” Samuel smiled at his sister. Annie took a reluctant step in the direction of the square.

  “I’ll see him safely home,” Jeremiah promised.

  “After that, promise me you’ll come to the social.” Annie sounded worried that he wouldn’t make it. If only she knew. “I saw Private Jackson at the beverage booth, so I believe I have discovered both your surprises, but I have one of my own.”

  Jeremiah would have marched double time for a full day to receive another one of her dazzling smiles. “I’ll come as soon as I can.”

  As they neared the Bliss home, Samuel’s speed increased to a jagged run, his left leg dragging behind him. He collapsed into the chair in the parlor that Mrs. Bliss readied for him. “Go ahead, Lieutenant. You have business to attend to with my sister.”

  Jeremiah resisted the temptation to study his reflection in the store window. Nothing he could do would make him worthy of Annie’s beauty. In a deep blue calico dress, a red, white, and blue ribbon attached to her collar, she shone with a patriotic brilliance. He hurried his steps to join the jostling crowds, fiddle music replacing the chatter of the crowd.

  However, first he had to attend to his duties as chaplain. He sought out Mack at the beverage stall, which was doing a brisk business. “Lieutenant!” The private grinned. “What would you like? It’s on the house.” Mack dropped a nickel into the coin jar.

  “Lemonade, please. I’m glad to see you doing so well.” Jeremiah scanned the crowd, not spotting Annie.

  “Miss Bliss was here earlier, looking for you. But I haven’t seen her since the dancing started.”

  “I’ll look for her there, then.”

  He found her at the edge of the dance floor, her dress swaying slightly in time to the music. When she saw Jeremiah, she whispered in the fiddler’s ear and walked in Jeremiah’s direction.

  Annie reached Jeremiah when the music ended. The fiddler addressed the crowd. “This next dance is lady’s choice. Gentlemen, await your ladies.”

  A shy smile skipped across her face. “May I have this dance, Jeremiah?” She extended her hands toward his, inviting him to swing her around in his embrace.

  She picked me. “It would be my pleasure.” Gathering her close, he led her onto the dance floor. Thanks to long-ago lessons, he slipped into the rhythm easily, and Annie felt natural in his arms. The music ended all too soon. “Can you escape for a moment, or do you have to stay here?”

  “I can get away for a few minutes.” She accepted his arm as he led her to the only semiprivate spot within reach, near the library. He wanted to pick one of the tulips planted there but left them for others to enjoy. All he had to offer Annie was himself. That would have to be enough.

  “Miss Bliss. Annie.” He had practiced what he would say at this moment, but now that the time had arrived, he couldn’t find the words.

  “Yes, Jeremiah?” Her blue eyes invited intim
acy.

  “The first day you showed up at the fort, you set an earthquake in motion in my life. I know I’m just a used-up soldier, ready to leave the army and see what God has next for me. But you’ve opened my eyes to what God can do with a willing heart. Do you have room in your heart for someone like me? I promise I will spend my life trying to honor you and love you in the way you deserve, every day, for the rest of your life.”

  Fresh tears glistened in her eyes. “Jeremiah. People told me you were a bear, but you’re a cuddly cub, one who wants to be loved. I would be honored to be that woman—whether you stay in the army or whether God leads you somewhere else.” She stepped into his embrace, raising her face to his.

  Jeremiah slowly savored the taste of her lips. With God ahead of him and this woman beside him, he could move into the future, free of his past.

  If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature;

  old things are passed away;

  behold, all things are become new.

  2 CORINTHIANS 5:17

  Chapter 1

  Birdie Landry smoothed her gloved hand over the sign one of her sewing circle friends had made for her: FRESH EGGS CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN. She could picture it now, sitting inside the window of Finnegan’s Mercantile, drawing customers in to buy her eggs from Ned.

  I’m doing Ned Finnegan a favor. Gerard’s, the other general store in town, didn’t offer eggs. Birdie could have danced for joy when Miss Kate agreed that she could raise chickens on the property. She figured she would have enough eggs to pay for her room at the boardinghouse Miss Kate ran in addition to the diner, and then sell the extras for cash at the mercantile.

  Those two and a half dozen hens represented the first step in bringing Birdie’s dreams for her mission project to life. She hoped and prayed that Ned wouldn’t hold her past against her.

  No, Birdie told herself. Her friends—imagine, calling the daughter of a pastor a friend—kept reminding her that she was a child of the King. As in the fairy tales she had loved when she was a girl, that made her a princess. Unlike the stories, she didn’t expect Prince Charming to ride up and save her.

  Mr. Finnegan treated her with respect, like any other woman who frequented his store. Mr. Gerard had frequented the Betwixt ’n’ Between on more than one occasion, although he had never requested Birdie’s services.

  Every day Birdie was reminded of her former occupation as she walked the streets of Calico. No matter what route she traveled from the boardinghouse, she passed one of her former clients’ homes. Mrs. Fairfield, the pastor’s wife, encouraged her to pray for the men and the families involved. She called it heaping coals of fire on their heads.

  Like the pretty white house standing to her right. The bank president lived in that place. Birdie kept her eyes open as she prayed, hoping to imprint the image of new summer grass and children at play on the lawn over the sight of the man in his long underwear.

  The door to the house opened, and Birdie crossed the street. She tugged her sunbonnet forward and kept her gaze focused on her feet. No one else appeared in her line of vision as she turned onto Main Street. Because of the early hour, earlier than most people came to the store, she hoped to catch Mr. Finnegan before he had any customers.

  Spotting the deputy sheriff heading down the street, Birdie ducked into the doorway of the mercantile. Mr. Finnegan smiled at her as he unlocked the door. His slight build and kind face matched his occupation.

  He opened the door wide and stood back so she could enter. “Good morning, Miss Landry! You’re up and about early today.”

  He said that every time she came, although he must guess her reasons for the hour. She shifted the bag holding the sign from one arm to the other and prayed for courage.

  “I see you have something in your bag already. Are you wanting to trade?” He walked to his register and leaned forward on his elbows.

  With that unexpected opening, Birdie stammered a bit in her response. “No. I mean, yes, I hope to, in the future.” She drew a breath.

  “Sit a spell and tell me what you have in mind.” He led her to a table at the back of the store underneath a sign that promised a fresh cup of coffee. Without asking, he poured some into a dainty china cup and then refilled his usual mug. “Did you bring some of Miss Kate’s doughnuts, by any chance?”

  Birdie spread out the extra pastries Miss Kate had sent with her. Mr. Finnegan took one, broke it in half, and dunked it in his coffee. “Delicious.”

  He turned the bag in Birdie’s direction. “Go ahead and take one.”

  Birdie shook her head. “Thank you, but I already had some for breakfast.”

  Ned arranged the rest on a tray, fingers tapping on a sheet of paper as he counted up the total. “Tell her I’ll add the credit to her account. People do love her doughnuts and cookies. But you didn’t come here just to bring Miss Kate’s doughnuts.” He invited her proposition with a smile. “I always welcome a chance to examine new merchandise.”

  New merchandise. Birdie’s mind fled to the day Nigel Owen had used those words to introduce her to a man he promised would be gentle with her. She shoved that thought out of her mind, reminding herself that to her knowledge, Ned Finnegan had never set foot in a saloon.

  Ned waited for Birdie—he thought of her as Birdie, as pretty as a cardinal, with hair to match—but she seemed in no hurry to speak her mind. He sent up a quick prayer for wisdom.

  Pulling something out of her bag, she laid it on her lap. He resisted the temptation to take a peek. She looked at him briefly before returning her attention to her coffee cup. “You already carry my ready-made dresses, so I have no right to ask anything more from you.”

  Ned’s heart twisted. She acted like she didn’t quite trust him, and why should she, after all she had endured at the hands of evil men? “Give her time,” God’s still, small voice urged him. So he kept his voice to a strict, businesslike enthusiasm. “You have done me a service. I sold the first dress you brought in here in two days’ time, and I’ve had several requests for more.” He folded his hands on the table. “I would be happy to take anything you create with your needle.”

  Once again the sunbonnet lifted, and he caught sight of those vivid blue eyes, as wide and as innocent as the midday sky, in spite of everything she had gone through. “Thank you for that, and I plan on bringing you more soon. But I have another proposition for you. You see, I have the opportunity to buy some laying hens… .” She stalled.

  “You’re wondering if I would be interested in buying eggs.” Ned’s mind raced around possibilities. Gerard didn’t carry eggs. He calculated he could charge three cents for two eggs. “What price did you have in mind?”

  She looked at him again. “I was wondering if you would pay a dime for a half dozen?” She looked away, as if unwilling for him to examine her face.

  He would need to adjust his prices, but he didn’t hesitate. “Twenty cents a dozen, a penny apiece if you have more or less on a given day.” He offered his hand, and she shyly shook it.

  “Now can I see what you have in that bag?” He kept his voice light, but she had aroused his curiosity.

  “I’m afraid I presumed upon your kindness.” She placed the object in her lap on the table between them.

  Reading the sign, Ned laughed. “I am honored that you would offer me this business opportunity. I’ll put it in the window right away. When do you expect the hens to start laying?”

  Birdie kept her eyes on Ned while she explained her timetable for setting up the henhouse, filling it with birds, and letting them settle into their new environment. “I’ll check back with you in a week.”

  “Good. Until then…do you need any fabric? Thread? Feed?”

  Birdie opened her mouth, closed it, then glanced away as she said, “I don’t have the funds for more than the feed.”

  Tempted to respond with a “put it on account,” Ned considered how to help her without offending her pride. Somehow God had smoothed Birdie’s ruffled feathers enough to accept Aunt Kate
’s offer of a roof over her head and daily food. Kate’s relationship to Gladys Polson, one of Birdie’s friends, helped. Ned had experienced Birdie’s prickly pride firsthand. But God’s love compelled him to try again.

  Something Ned had heard tickled his memory. He pulled out his account books and scanned the lines. When he couldn’t make out the ragged words, he pulled his glasses from the top of his head to his eyes. He didn’t like the way he looked wearing them, but no one as lovely as Birdie Landry would ever look twice at someone as homely as he was, whether he wore glasses or not.

  He found the entry and turned the ledger so Birdie could see. “Several of my customers are eagerly awaiting your next ready-to-wear dresses. Mrs. Olson is so eager, in fact, that she paid in advance so we would hold the next dress for her. I can use your share of the money for the supplies you need.” He held his breath, hoping she would agree.

  “Mrs. Olson?” Birdie’s eyebrows furrowed. “My regular dress pattern might not fit. I want to be sure she is pleased with the product. Besides—” Sighing, she rested her fingers on the counter where the sewing notions were kept. “It’s not good business to accept pay before the work is done. That’s what happens when farmers borrow money against their crops. They end up losing the land.” Such a sad look came over her face that Ned wondered if she had experienced that herself. Maybe that had forced her away from home and into a place like the Betwixt ’n’ Between. “I don’t like to accept money before I’ve done the work.”

  Ned had an answer for that. “That’s the way I usually do my business. Get horseshoes on my Ellie, I pay the blacksmith before he starts. When I added a backroom to the store, I paid for expenses right up front.”