‘wise.’”
“Miss Cotannah, Miss Cotannah,” Rosie cried, bursting in through the door to the hallway. “Here’s a message for you, and I’m to bring an answer right away.”
“I told her,” Daisy said, returning to the kitchen right behind her daughter and scowling mightily at her back. “I told her we was not to say that you ladies was yet up and about, but Miss Talking Tongue blurted that news right out.”
“It’s all right,” Emily soothed, as she picked Sophia up. “Don’t worry, Daisy. Our quiet breakfast is finished, anyway.”
Cotannah took the note Rosie brought her and unfolded it. At the top, a deeply embossed monogram in twining, fancy script shone in black against the cream color of the heavy paper. J. N. C.
She read the bold scrawl of the message beneath.
I’m sending my carriage for you at noon. I promised to show you the new mercantile building. I will do that for you and much more
.
Yrs. Most Attentively, Jacob Charley
The signature covered half the page. Its large loops and flourishes, gleaming black against the expensive, slick paper, proclaimed that the writer was not a modest man in any sense of the word.
“Look at this,” she said, smiling, and handed it to Emily.
“Shall I write back that I already have plans for the day?” she asked. “Then we’ll drive into Tuskahoma together, and I’ll surprise him by appearing at his precious store on my own. But with you and Sophia and maybe even Ancie and Jumper.”
“Yes, why not?” Emily said. “We don’t want to let him think he’s got the upper hand if he’s beginning to court you.”
“I like to be unpredictable,” Cotannah said, smiling even more broadly now as she realized the full effect she had had on Jacob Charley. “But if there’s any quality I do like in a man, it’s confidence.”
Somehow that remark made her think of Walks-With-Spirits, on whom she had had no effect whatsoever. He was a challenge to end all challenges.
Cold fingers of despair closed around her heart. Jacob Charley might amuse her for a short time, he might keep her mind busy for a little while. But he was going to be too easy. He couldn’t keep her devils at bay for long.
Chapter 4
J acob Charley stepped out into the street and walked backward, with his eye fixed on his new building until he could see the split-shingled roof clear against the sky instead of all mixed up with the overhanging tree limbs. A powerful wave of pride swept through him. Not only would his new mercantile be the first brick building in Tuskahoma; at three stories high, it would be the tallest building, too!
He smiled and gave a nod and an approving wave to William Sowers, the head carpenter, who had stopped listening to Phillips for a minute so he could look and see Jacob’s reaction to how the roofing was going, to see if he wanted anything. It didn’t matter what Phillips was saying, really—it was only natural that William would look to him rather than to Phillips for orders—Jacob was a natural leader, everyone always said so.
“It looks good!” he shouted over the noise of the saws and hammers.
And it did. It looked great. He stood still and ran his eye over the whole structure while the breeze rose and rattled the leaves on the trees. It carried the slight scent of rain from somewhere, rain and the cool air of fall.Yes, fall was fast approaching, and sometimes it brought fierce storms.
No matter. The roof would be finished before this day was over, and the mason’s crew would come tomorrow. Soon the bricks would protect the walls, and he wouldn’t care how much it rained—except to hope that it didn’t raise the creeks and muddy the roads until the customers couldn’t get to town.
He smiled broadly. Yes, this was a building good enough to impress a St. Louis drummer or a Philadelphia lawyer. It was almost finished, and, when the brick was on, it would look like the home of a prosperous business, the property of a smart, successful,
“Miss Cotannah, Miss Cotannah,” Rosie cried, bursting in through the door to the hallway. “Here’s a message for you, and I’m to bring an answer right away.”
“I told her,” Daisy said, returning to the kitchen right behind her daughter and scowling mightily at her back. “I told her we was not to say that you ladies was yet up and about, but Miss Talking Tongue blurted that news right out.”
“It’s all right,” Emily soothed, as she picked Sophia up. “Don’t worry, Daisy. Our quiet breakfast is finished, anyway.”
Cotannah took the note Rosie brought her and unfolded it. At the top, a deeply embossed monogram in twining, fancy script shone in black against the cream color of the heavy paper. J. N. C.
She read the bold scrawl of the message beneath.
I’m sending my carriage for you at noon. I promised to show you the new mercantile building. I will do that for you and much more
.
Yrs. Most Attentively, Jacob Charley
The signature covered half the page. Its large loops and flourishes, gleaming black against the expensive, slick paper, proclaimed that the writer was not a modest man in any sense of the word.
“Look at this,” she said, smiling, and handed it to Emily.
“Shall I write back that I already have plans for the day?” she asked. “Then we’ll drive into Tuskahoma together, and I’ll surprise him by appearing at his precious store on my own. But with you and Sophia and maybe even Ancie and Jumper.”
“Yes, why not?” Emily said. “We don’t want to let him think he’s got the upper hand if he’s beginning to court you.”
“I like to be unpredictable,” Cotannah said, smiling even more broadly now as she realized the full effect she had had on Jacob Charley. “But if there’s any quality I do like in a man, it’s confidence.”
Somehow that remark made her think of Walks-With-Spirits, on whom she had had no effect whatsoever. He was a challenge to end all challenges.
Cold fingers of despair closed around her heart. Jacob Charley might amuse her for a short time, he might keep her mind busy for a little while. But he was going to be too easy. He couldn’t keep her devils at bay for long.
Chapter 4
J acob Charley stepped out into the street and walked backward, with his eye fixed on his new building until he could see the split-shingled roof clear against the sky instead of all mixed up with the overhanging tree limbs. A powerful wave of pride swept through him. Not only would his new mercantile be the first brick building in Tuskahoma; at three stories high, it would be the tallest building, too!
He smiled and gave a nod and an approving wave to William Sowers, the head carpenter, who had stopped listening to Phillips for a minute so he could look and see Jacob’s reaction to how the roofing was going, to see if he wanted anything. It didn’t matter what Phillips was saying, really—it was only natural that William would look to him rather than to Phillips for orders—Jacob was a natural leader, everyone always said so.
“It looks good!” he shouted over the noise of the saws and hammers.
And it did. It looked great. He stood still and ran his eye over the whole structure while the breeze rose and rattled the leaves on the trees. It carried the slight scent of rain from somewhere, rain and the cool air of fall.Yes, fall was fast approaching, and sometimes it brought fierce storms.
No matter. The roof would be finished before this day was over, and the mason’s crew would come tomorrow. Soon the bricks would protect the walls, and he wouldn’t care how much it rained—except to hope that it didn’t raise the creeks and muddy the roads until the customers couldn’t get to town.
He smiled broadly. Yes, this was a building good enough to impress a St. Louis drummer or a Philadelphia lawyer. It was almost finished, and, when the brick was on, it would look like the home of a prosperous business, the property of a smart, successful,
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