Page 10 of Leather and Lace
“Yes, sir.” She smiled at him; this time it was genuine for his intervention allowed her the luxury of extra time. Perhaps, having a man in her mother’s sights would not be an altogether unpleasant thing.
“Have a merry time!” Mary waved at the couple. She kept her warm smile in place until they had turned and gone on their way. She stood still for a moment making sure they had well and truly disappeared into the crowd of merrymakers before she turned to rush towards the chapel. She was practically running as she broke through the crowd and she came to a stumbling stop at the foot of the steps.
And there, just as promised, stood Alex.
* * *
“What is it?”Alex asked, giving Mary a curious look. “You’ve been staring at me like you think I might up and fly away for the past ten minutes.”
Mary flushed and dropped her eyes. “I didn’t think you were going to be here. I mean because I was late to arrive and all.”
Alex lifted her shoulder in a shrug. “I told you I would wait for you, and I am a woman of my word. Follow me, we can talk inside where your mama can’t see.”
“Oh, yes, clever thinking.” Mary managed to return her smile though she was acutely aware that she hadn’t been thinking of her mother or the danger that would come were Sarah James to see her with Alex. The woman was as breathtaking as she had been that afternoon, perhaps even more so with the dark of night around them, her features awash in the warm light of the lit lanterns, two on either side of her illuminating the stairs of the chapel. A ribbon garland snapped in the wind behind Alex, the pastels and lace of the decoration softening the woman’s sharp profile.
Alex looked just as Mary had always imagined a knight in shining armor might appear. Reassuring looks, stoic profile, and her strong frame was enough to make a woman swoon like any respectable maiden fair. But if Alex were the knight and she the damsel fair, then what did that make her mother? Not a witch, but most assuredly the dragon. Mary’s lips turned up in a smile and she came forward when Alex jerked a thumb over her shoulder towards the chapel doors.
“This way, Minnie.” The couple entered the chapel easy as you please with not even the doors to the building being locked.
When Mary looked surprised Alex said, “No need to lock much up here. Not in this town. The people all know each other, though,” she paused moving to the door as Mary walked in and passed her. “I expect that will change in the future with all the new arrivals, but for now the town remains as it is. How it changes can only remain to be seen.”
Mary twisted her fingers in her skirts. “My mama and I are part of those new arrivals you think will change the town, aren’t we?”
“Not you. Your mother, maybe but that’s just the way of things.” She shut the door and walked towards Mary with a wave of her hands. “Now then, we have important things to discuss don’t we?”
Mary blinked at the sudden change of conversation, but Alex was right. There were far more important things to talk of instead of Mary’s worry that she was once more a problem. If there was a way to make a life and home for herself in a new place, she wanted it, and if that place happened to be Gold Sky she wanted to make it the best place she could.
“Yes, that’s right. What, ah, what were you going to tell me? I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I’ve been trying to puzzle it out for hours now. Please tell me.”
“Have a seat, Minnie.” Alex swept a hand to a nearby pew and settled herself down. “I feel like this conversation might require you to be sitting.”
“And why would that be? Is it because it is a salacious conversation?” Mary asked earnestly, taking a seat beside Alex.
Alex chuckled and crossed her arms. “Could be that you lose the ability to stand once the worries of your present situation are lifted from your shoulders. It’s hard to remember how to stand when you aren’t carrying such a heavy burden. Might think you’ll float away.”
“If only that were possible. I’d have floated away a long time ago.”
“That I believe, but you might find you do once I tell you that I have figured out a solution to your situation.”
Mary was practically bouncing in her seat with anticipation, but she forced herself to remain still and patient. She managed it, but only just.
“When I told you that marriage in Gold Sky did not require a man I meant that you would be free to find a woman that suited your taste. That you need not resign yourself to a lie for the rest of your life.”
“What do you mean, I would be able to marry a woman? Such a thing is not possible. It’s difficult to even remain unattached and in the company of a woman that does strike one’s fancy. How would I manage a marriage?”
“What do you know of Gold Sky?” Alex asked.
Mary considered the question for a moment and thought about what her Mother had told her about the town. There had been a considerable amount of information Sarah James had drilled into her head but most of it had surrounded Julian Baptiste’s whereabouts and preferences. She frowned when she realized she did not know much else than what she had gleaned from her brief outings to the mercantile or church.
“Well, I know that the town is growing and rapidly so. The new railroad depot Julian Baptiste is bringing to Gold Sky has put it on the map as a destination for investors.”
Alex nodded approvingly at her. “That is right. We are quite busy as of late and we have Mr. Baptiste to thank for it. He’s a fair man interested in the town’s well-being on account of his new wife and his sister’s roots in the town. What else do you know?”
“Ah, well his sister is the teacher?” Mary tried when she could think of nothing else.
“Yes, that’s right. Do you know anything about her marriage?”
Mary shook her head slowly. “No but what does that have to do with a solution to my problem?”
