Chapter 13 #2
His eyes flickered up over his spectacles to meet hers for an instant.
They were such a pale gray that they almost faded into nothingness.
She cleared her throat again. “I’m, ah, in need of some items.” He kept on with his scrupulous measuring.
She looked back at Danny, but he just shrugged again and kept slapping his hat against his thigh.
“I see that you have beans. Could I get twenty pounds?” The old man gave a slight nod.
“And flour. Fifty pounds?” Another nod. “Do you have coffee, sir?” She got a scowl, which she took as a no.
“Then a tub of lard and five cakes of lye soap.”
The shopkeeper froze, staring at his balancing scale with such intensity that Kate inadvertently leaned in.
He barked a laugh and she jumped, putting a hand to her heart.
Swift as a barn swallow, he poured his measurement into a small burlap sack, then sprang into motion, shuffling quickly around the counter, gathering sacks and items, muttering what sounded like calculations under his breath.
Kate watched in fascination as this little old man heaved heavy sacks onto his shoulder as if he was a man of twenty.
He scurried behind the counter again, and his flurry of motion came to an abrupt halt in front of his precious scale.
He started measuring again in the exact same position as when she’d first approached, moving like a snail in gumby mud.
She quietly sidled over to her brother and whispered, “This might take a while.”
“Might?” he whispered back.
“Why don’t you go on?”
“Ma said I should stay with you.” He gazed out the window longingly.
“I’ll be fine. You know I can look after myself.”
“Ya sure?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Danny, I’m sure. Now go on!”
“Thanks, sis!” He grinned, clapped his hat on his head, and turned to leave. “I owe you one!” he called over his shoulder and bounded out of the shop and into the street.
Kate looked over at the shopkeeper still hunched behind his scales and sighed.
This was definitely going to take a while.
So she slowly picked her way through the shop, edging between the shelves, inspecting all the little trinkets on display.
The bell above the door tinkled as people came in and out, most dusty and tired travelers like herself, dirty children gazing longingly at the penny candy on the counter, worn-looking women eyeing the bolts of fabric with the same hungry expression.
It made Kate grateful. Her family wasn’t rich in any estimation, but she had never gone to bed hungry or cold.
A man cleared his throat at her elbow. She looked up in surprise. “Oh! Andrew, how nice to see you here … again.”
“Lovely to see you too, Miss Kate,” he said quietly, taking off his hat. He looked nervously around the shop and cleared his throat. “You look lovely too.”
“Oh, thank you.” She looked down and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “You said that this mornin’, if I remember correctly.”
“Well, it’s still true.”
“Thank you,” she said again. Andrew fiddled with the brim of his hat. “Did you forget somethin’?”
“Hmm?”
“In the store. You were here earlier; you nearly knocked me over.”
“Oh, ah, no, not exactly.”
“Did you need somethin’ else?” she asked. She wished she was better at making conversation. Maybe she should have listened better to Ma. Or maybe it just depended on who you were talking to. If this was a taste of how awkward tonight would be, she wasn’t sure she wanted to go.
“No. Well, ah, yes.” He shoved a neatly wrapped packet into her hands. “Here. It’s for you.”
“Why, thank you, Andrew,” she said, “that’s very kind.”
“You can open it now,” he said gruffly.
“Oh, all right.” Kate untied the string and folded open the edges of the paper. Inside sat two of the pinkest ribbons she’d ever seen. She lifted them up. They almost seemed to glow in the dim light of the shop. “Well, these are …” She paused. “You shouldn’t have, Andrew.”
“I thought maybe you could wear ’em tonight, to the dance.”
“How thoughtful,” she murmured, still staring at the gaudy pink ribbons. Maybe if she wound them in a braid, they’d be mostly hidden. She draped them in her hand carefully and mustered a polite smile. “Thank you.”
He put his hat back on his head decisively and smiled. “I’ll see you tonight then.”
“Lookin’ forward to it,” Kate said shyly. Andrew was rather handsome when he smiled.
“Me too,” he said, then abruptly turned and left.
Kate looked down at the ribbons in her hand.
So sweet of him, but he had obviously never noticed that she hadn’t worn pink a day in her life.
Maybe she could say she had lost them on the walk back to the wagons.
But no, that would be dishonest. And besides, Andrew had been so earnest. Perhaps, if the room was dim enough, no one would be able to tell how incredibly pink they were.
“I would think blue is more your color.”
Kate looked up, surprised to have yet another young man appearing at her elbow.
But she’d never seen this one before. She would have remembered that tanned, handsome face, those perfectly straight teeth, the sharp looking uniform.
And so tall and strong. Even with her uncommon height, she had to tilt her head to look up at him.
His smooth, low voice sent a little shiver down her spine.
She swallowed, staring at this gorgeous stranger. What had he just said?
“Here.” He reached around her, leaning close to pluck something from the shelf in front of her.
He smelled of cedar and something else she couldn’t put a finger on.
Something musky, alluring, masculine. Her heart fluttered.
She looked up into his enthralling eyes.
They seemed to shift and swirl in different colors: first green, then gray, then dazzling hints of blue as they caught the light.
His hair fell in waves the color of fresh honey.
He held something next to her face, his gloved fingers just brushing her skin.
Her breath caught. “Just as I thought,” he said. “Blue is much more your color.”
Kate suddenly realized she was staring, and she looked down with a fierce blush.
He laid the navy ribbons he had chosen into her hands, effectively hiding Andrew’s pink ones.
They were beautiful, just the color she would have picked for herself.
She swallowed again and said breathlessly, “I do love blue.”
“As I thought.” He smiled, teeth flashing white in the light from the window.
“But where are my manners? Allow me to introduce myself. Officer Garrett Ramsey, at your service.” He took her hand and bent into a sweeping bow.
“And you, stunning creature, must be Diana, the beautiful huntress of the myths of Rome.” He kissed her fingers, eyes sparkling.
“Oh, goodness, no. I’m just Kate.”
“‘Just’ Kate? Oh, I don’t think you could be just anything.” His words tingled across her spine. “There’s a dance happening this evening. I would be honored if you were to accompany me.”
“Me?” she gasped softly.
“Yes, you, ‘just’ Kate.” His soft smile melted her insides.
“That would be”—she swallowed—“absolutely lovely.” She looked down and glimpsed Andrew’s pink ribbons and felt a sharp pang of regret. “But I’ve already given my word to someone else.”
He tsked. “What a shame. I would have been the envy of every man in the room with you on my arm.”
“Oh, I’m not so sure about that.” Kate looked down. “Here,” she said, holding out the blue ribbons, “my ma will have my hide if I spent what little we have on somethin’ so frivolous.”
He closed her hands around the delicate fabric. “Please, take them. A gift.” He tossed some coins on the plank counter by the old shopkeeper and stepped close. “Just save a dance or two for me in return.”
“How very generous,” she whispered. She couldn't seem to catch her breath. “Thank you, Officer Ramsey. I’ll be sure to look for you this evenin’.”
“Please, call me Garrett,” he said, taking her hand, brushing her fingers with the lightest of kisses. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I shall count the seconds until tonight.”
Kate trembled as the breath of his voice slid across her neck. She felt cold and tingly and warm all at once, and her heart beat so fast and strong she was afraid he could hear it. She swallowed. “It was very nice to meet you, Garrett.”
“Likewise, ‘just’ Kate.” He stared into her eyes for a long moment. Then he winked and whirled away, leaving Kate breathless, the scent of him lingering in the air among the dust motes.
Kate lifted a hand to her warm cheek. What on earth had just happened?
Was she dreaming? It was a dream so beautiful she couldn’t have even imagined it herself.
No man had even noticed her before, let alone compared her to a mythical goddess of ancient Rome.
She had always been intimidated by others, never knowing what to say in conversation.
No young man had ever wanted to reach out to the quiet girl who sometimes wore a man’s hat rather than a bonnet.
But now to be asked to a dance twice in one day? Had it really happened?
Her handful of ribbons came into focus, and she grinned in giddy excitement. This was going to be a night to remember.