Lorraine Heath by Sweet Lullaby

two.
    Rebecca lifted her hand to her brow to shade her eyes from the glaring sun and looked out into the distance. Since they’d been here, they’d not had one visitor. But it certainly looked as if they were getting at least one now. A wagon was pulling up.
    The wagon came to a halt not far from where Rebecca stood and all work on the house momentarily stopped as curiosity was piqued. A young man roughly Frank’s age held the reins, and a rotund woman wearing a white bonnet was pushing a younger woman out of the seat.
    “Come on, Ruth, get down. We got new neighbors and, thank God, a woman among them.”
    Unexpectedly, Rebecca found herself pressed against the older woman’s ample bosom, the woman’s thick arms jiggling as they came away from Rebecca’s back.
    “Lord, child, this state can use all the women it can get. My son Luke there said he saw some new folks and I said no but sure enough he was right. I’m Carrie Reading and this here’s my daughter, Ruth. The rest wouldn’t come, couldn’t give up a day of work.” She hit Rebecca’s arm. “You know how menfolk are. And Land O’Goshen, if you ain’t with child!”
    Rebecca laughed. Carrie Reading was a true rambler and her sentences were so disjointed, it seemed as if she had been saving up her conversation for years and was trying to throw it all out in one go. Rebecca extended her hand.
    “I’m Rebecca Burnett.”
    “Hell, girl, I don’t see enough women to want to shake their hands!” Then her arms were back around Rebecca, hugging tightly.
    Jake had ambled over, keeping a safe distance, and Rebecca couldn’t blame him. Public displays of affection were foreign to him, and she hoped Carrie wouldn’t press him to her bosom.
    “Mrs. Reading—”
    “Carrie, darling. Call me Carrie. We were friends before we even met.”
    “All right, Carrie. This is my husband, Jake.”
    The woman turned, with arms outstretched, taking a step towards Jake who took a step back and tilted his hat. “Ma’am.”
    “Oh, a shy one!” She punched Rebecca’s arm again. “I like the shy ones. They usually make the best lovers.”
    Rebecca brought a hand to her mouth as she watched the heat suffuse Jake’s face.
    “If you’ll excuse me, I gotta get back to work,” he said with a duck of his head.
    “No, wait!” Carrie called out. “I take it you’re the owner of this spread.”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “And you need a barn. Tomorrow night, we’re having a dance for my Ruth here to celebrate her sixteenth birthday. We’d just love for y’all to come—all of you. Give you a chance to meet your neighbors and next Saturday I’ll get all their lazy carcasses out here to build your barn. What do you say?”
    “That’s real nice of you to offer, ma’am.”
    “We’d love to go to the dance, Carrie, but I think we have enough men to build our own barn,” Rebecca said, noting Jake’s discomfiture with the situation.
    “Not in your life, girl. Hell, we all build each other’s barns around here. Only way to get it done. We’ll see you tomorrow night at sunset. Just go south. You can’t miss our spread, the Triple Bar.”
    She gave Rebecca one last hug before heaving herself up into the wagon and hitting her son’s arm, her signal that it was time to go.
    “Now don’t disappoint me!” she called out. And Rebecca wondered if all the women here were like her.
    “Did that invitation include me?”
    Rebecca turned to Frank. “I think it included everyone.”
    “And that Ruth’s going to be there, that pretty girl?” “Yes, she is. The dance is for her.” “Goddamn. I need you to teach me to dance.” She pulled his hat off his head and tousled his hair. “I’d be happy to, Frank.”
    Rebecca watched the hues of the sunset cross the sky. One thing she loved about Texas was its sunsets. Caught unaware, she screamed when she felt herself being lifted into Jake’s arms.
    “What in the world are you doing, Jake Burnett?”
    “Taking you