She was so furious, tears stung her eyes. “Will things ever get better for our people?”
“I don’t know. For every step forward, we’re forced to take two steps back.”
“And the Supreme Court is helping with those backwards steps.” Two years ago, the Supreme Court handed down an 8–1 decision that found the 1875 Civil Rights unconstitutional. Not only did the ruling forbid Congress from enacting measures to address discrimination, it allowed states to legally overlook such practices. Regan had no idea how or when the country would live up to the promises of the Constitution but she and everyone she knew were sick of the ill treatment.
Mr. Beck, the undertaker, was overwhelmed by Regan’s generous offer to pay for Betsy Meachem’s casket and paused to wipe his eyes with his handkerchief. “Wayne came in this morning before work to ask about prices. When I told him how much, I could tell by his face it was more than he could pay. I offered him a much cheaper version made of cardboard he could pay for over time, and he agreed.”
Regan refused to let the child be buried in a cardboard box as if she had no more value than a pair of shoes. “How long will it take before it’s ready?”
“A day at the most. Just need to have my carpenter nail the boards together. I’ll let Wayne know later today that it was donated anonymously.”
“Thank you.”
Two days later, Betsy Meachem was buried in the Paradise Cemetery. Most of the town turned out to pay their respects. As Regan stood beside her husband and watched the dark wood casket be lowered into the ground, she hoped little Betsy would rest in peace.
Chapter Fourteen
A few days after Betsy’s funeral, Regan was standing in the parlor trying to decide which pieces of the old overstuffed furniture to keep and which to give away. She looked up at the portrait of Adele hanging above the fireplace. “What do you think?”
Whenever she was in the house alone, she often conversed with the first Mrs. Lee. It was silly of course, but it was her way of remembering that this had been her home, too, and that she’d been loved. She knew many women would’ve taken the portrait down as soon as the ink dried on their marriage papers, but Regan didn’t feel threatened by Adele’s painted presence.
She was further contemplating her furniture decisions when the door pull sounded. Walking to the opened screened door, she came face-to-face with a young man in a dark suit standing on the porch. Parked out in front of the house was a large wagon. Its signage showed it was from the stove company.
Filled with excitement, she asked, “Is that my new stove?”
The man looked her up and down. “I’d like to speak to the lady of the house, please.”
“I’m she.”
He chuckled. “No, the real lady of the house. The woman who employs you.”
Regan paused, eyed him up and down in the same manner he’d done with her, and replied, “Ah. I understand now. You want my mistress?”
“Yes. I do. So, run and get her for me, please.”
“Will do!”
Sighing at the ignorance of some people, she walked into the kitchen. She stood, counted to one hundred to give herself time to find her mistress, and returned to the man on the porch.
At her approach, his jaw tightened but before he could express his impatience, she said coolly, “My name is Mrs. Colton Carmichael Lee, and I’m the mistress of this house. Is the stove on that wagon the one I recently purchased through Miller’s store?”
His face turned red and he stammered, “Uhm, yes. Uhm. My apologies, Mrs. Lee. I thought—”
“We both know what you thought, but we’ll move past that, shall we?”
“Oh yes, ma’am. I’m so sorry. I-I . . . if you’ll show me where you want the new stove placed, we’ll get started on setting it up.”
Regan held the screen door aside and he entered.
An hour later, the old stove had been hauled away and in its spot stood the brand spanking new replacement, manufactured under the name Acorn. It had six cook plates for her pots, a good-sized oven, a warming closet attached to the side, and it burned wood or coal. It cost her a bit under ninety dollars, but it was well worth the money. Now, she could do some proper cooking and, most important, bake Anna’s cake. The new icebox was outside on the porch and it, too, helped turn the ancient kitchen into one more suitable to her needs.
Tired after being up all night helping a rancher’s mare birth a breeched foal, Colt trudged into the house that afternoon with only one thing in mind: sleep. A heavenly smell drew him into the kitchen where he found Regan seated on a stool with a bowl of something in her lap. Whatever was in the bowl was being whipped to death by the long-handled wooden spoon in her hand. She looked up and her smile was a balm to his weariness. “How’d the foaling go?” she asked.
“The colt was breech so it was a long night.”
“Colt and mare okay?” she asked, still whipping away.
“Yes. What are you doing?”
“Making icing for Anna’s cake.”
Seeing his confusion, she inclined her head to direct his attention. “Meet my new stove.”
He turned and his jaw dropped.
“Isn’t she beautiful? I named her Portia after my sister, which may be a mistake seeing as how Portia can’t boil water.”
Colt continued to stare at the huge stove that dominated the small kitchen. He took in the shiny black top with its six circles where he assumed the pots would be placed, the stovepipe, the oven with its glass window, and the rest. He couldn’t get over the size. “What’s this bustle-looking contraption on the side?”
“Warming oven so things like bread don’t get cold while the rest of the meal finishes up.”
“Should I sit before I ask how much it cost?”
She grinned while she continued to whip away. “Maybe.”
He made a show of gripping the counter’s edge. “Okay, tell me.”
She did and his knees buckled. “But,” she added, laughing at his antics, “because of how it’s constructed, it will help heat the house this winter.”
Colt thought that a great side benefit, but he was still trying to recover from the number she’d quoted. She’d paid for it with her own funds and he was glad it made her so happy, but to a poor as a church mouse country doctor, ninety dollars was an extremely large sum of money.
She set the bowl on the counter and dipped the tip of a smaller spoon inside to taste the icing. “Problem?”
“That’s a lot of money, Regan.”
“I know, but to be able to bake a cake for a child who’s never had one, I would have paid twice that price.”
He had no comeback. He remembered Spring saying he was in love with his mail-order bride, and he realized she was right. How could he not be with a woman who’d repeatedly proven herself so kind and caring? “I may not be a churchgoer but I know how blessed Anna and I are to have you with us. Thank you, Regan.”
“That’s very sweet of you to say.”
“I meant it.” He hadn’t kissed her or held her close in what felt like ages and the urge to remedy that was strong. Basking in the beauty of her small face, he ran a slow finger down her cheek and her eyes closed in response. Encouraged, he gently brushed his mouth over hers and whispered, “I’ve missed kissing you.”
“I’ve missed it, too.”
No further words were needed. Easing her close, he wrapped his arms around her, reveling in her softness against him, her lips parting beneath his, and the sigh of pleasure she gave. Their tongues mingled. The taste of the icing she’d sampled elevated her sweetness, and he was in heaven once again.
The sound of applause made them part and turn to see a smiling Anna.
He chuckled. “How’d you get here?” School didn’t let out for at least another hour.
“Livy’s granpa drove me. Mr. Adams got sick so we had to go home. I like that you’re kissing.”
He took in Regan’s amused face.
Anna added, “It means you’re happy again.
Livy says when her mama and papa are happy she hears them jumping on the bed at night. Are you going to jump on the bed?”
Regan placed her forehead on his chest and her shoulders shook with silent laughter. Colt was so caught off guard, he was speechless. Regan backed out of his arms, wiped at her tears of mirth, and said, “Look what came today, Anna.”
Her eyes widened with awe. “The new stove! Do I get my cake?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
She ran to Regan, threw her arms around her waist, and jumped with joy. “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome.”
While he looked on, his two ladies retrieved the cake layers Regan had set out on the porch earlier to cool. As they worked together to spread on the icing, he noted Regan’s patience and Anna’s serious face. With her new mama’s guidance, she was going to grow into a force of nature and he looked forward to seeing her blossom.
Colt overcame his weariness enough to enjoy the first dinner cooked on the new stove and watch Anna delight in her cake. He also watched his wife and imagined jumping on the bed with her. It felt like ages since they’d done that, too.
“Miss Regan?” Anna said.
“Yes?”
“My cake is really good. Thank you for making it.”
“You’re very welcome.”
“Livy said I should call you Mama, instead of Miss Regan.”
Colt fielded Regan’s gaze and he gave her a shrug.
Regan said, “What do you want to call me?”
“I want to call you Mama.”
He heard emotion thicken Regan’s reply. “I’d like that, and that makes you a very special little girl. Do you know why?”
Anna shook her head.
“Because you’ll have two mamas. One in heaven and one here. Most people only have one.”
Colt wondered what he’d done to deserve such grace. It was a perfect response.
The door pull sounded.
He started to rise, but Regan said to him, “You sit. I’ll go. And if it’s someone needing your help, they’ll have to wait until tomorrow. You need rest.”
“Regan?”
“I mean it.”
Amused by her fierceness, he shook his head.
She returned with Colleen Enright, her daughter, Felicity, and Minnie. Hiding his irritation, he stood. “Ladies.”
Colleen gave him the flirty little smile she always had for him. “I saw Minnie at the store. She asked if I’d drive her over to visit, so I said of course.”
Regan replied, “How nice. We’re having dessert. Would you like to join us for cake?”
“We would. Thank you.” And she took a seat. Felicity, dressed in a worn blue smock, sat beside her. Minnie’s attention was focused on Anna, who appeared to be avoiding the eye contact. Before Colt could gently encourage her to greet her great-aunt, Minnie lit into her.
“Anna Lee! Look at me and say hello. I raised you better than that.”
The rebuke tightened Colt’s jaw. Regan looked shocked then her eyes narrowed ominously.
Anna met her eyes. “Hello, Aunt Minnie.”
“That’s better,” Minnie fumed and took a seat.
Voice cool, Regan said, “I’ll get some plates. Anna, would you come help me, please.”
Anna rose.
“Anna!” Minnie barked. “When someone makes a request, you’re to say, ‘Yes, ma’am’ or ‘Yes, sir.’ Have you forgotten everything I taught you?”
“No, ma’am.”
Colleen and her daughter appeared to be enjoying the berating. Colt wasn’t. Regan’s glare showed she wasn’t either.
Regan said gently, “Anna, honey, go on in the kitchen. Take Felicity with you and show her the new stove. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Once the girls were gone, Regan walked over to Minnie and said, “Please don’t browbeat Anna that way. We all know manners are important.”
“Then why aren’t you enforcing them? She needs—”
“Stop!” Regan snapped and Minnie jumped in her chair. Colleen’s eyes popped.
“Don’t browbeat her. And if you can’t honor my request, Colleen can take you home.”
“How dare—”
“She’s a child!” Regan pointed out, voice rising. “Not your whipping post!”
The furious Minnie turned to Colt as if expecting his support, but he had nothing to offer.
Regan said, “I’ll get the girls.”
After she went into the kitchen, Minnie complained to him, “You should’ve taken my side instead of letting her speak to me so disrespectfully.”
“Why are you here?”
She drew back at his blunt question then gathered herself. “I’m moving back East. I want to take Anna with me.”
“Safe travels.” He had no plans to even dignify that ridiculous request.
“I insist that we discuss this.”
“There’s nothing to discuss.”
“She’ll be better off with me.”
For the life of him, he didn’t understand why she believed he’d place his daughter back in her care. He knew she missed Adele and a part of him wondered if she was simply lonely, but he discounted that because she never showed Anna any affection or gave the impression that she enjoyed the child’s company.
Regan returned with the plates and the girls. She appeared calmer but remnants of temper simmered in her eyes.
After cutting the cake and placing the slices on the three plates, she passed them around along with forks. A woeful Anna stared down at the tablecloth. Colt wanted to rail at Minnie for stealing her joy; she been so happy earlier. Regan was watching Anna, too. Seeing his wife’s anger, he hoped Minnie left before Regan set her hair on fire.
Felicity ate a couple of bites, looked Anna’s way, and asked critically, “Why are you wearing boy’s clothes?”
Anna, dressed in denims and a shirt like her mama, snarled, “They’re not boy’s clothes.”
“Well, my mama said—”
“Hush!” Colleen said quickly. Having drawn Regan’s attention, she tittered, “This cake is very good, Regan.”
“Thank you.”
Apparently sensing how close she was to incurring Regan’s wrath, Colleen said, “Hurry and finish your cake, Felicity. We need to get home.” She smiled at Colt. “Minnie brought her things, she plans to stay a few days.”
He shook his head. “We don’t have the room. You can drive her back to town.”
Minnie’s eyes blazed, but in the face of her actions today, that she believed she’d be welcomed, particularly uninvited, was laughable.
Colleen’s lips tightened angrily. He guessed she hadn’t planned on making the return trip, but it didn’t matter. He was way too tired for this foolishness.
A few minutes later, the guests were headed to the door. Colt, Regan, and Anna offered polite good-byes. Minnie, for all her fire and brimstone about proper manners, left without a word. None of it mattered.
After their departure, Regan pulled Anna close and kissed her brow. “Don’t let that old buzzard upset you. Come, let’s get the kitchen cleaned up.” And to Colt, she ordered, “Go to bed.”
He didn’t have to be told twice.
At breakfast the next morning, Regan noticed Anna’s subdued manner. Since the wedding, she’d become quite a little chatterbox during meals; asking questions, relating how her school lessons were going, and what she and Livy thought of the antics of Moss Denby’s grandson, Wallace, during class time. But this morning, she picked at her oatmeal and didn’t have much to say.
“Are you not feeling well this morning, Anna? Should we have your papa take a look at you?”
She slowly circled her spoon in her bowl. “Do I have to go to school today?”
Colt replied gently, “But you like school. Why don’t you want to go?”
She sighed. “I just don’t want to.”
Regan said, “We’ll need a better reason, honey.”
She sat closedmout
hed for a few more moments. When she looked up there were tears in her eyes. “Because Felicity is going to tell everybody about Aunt Minnie yelling at me, and they’re going to laugh.”
Regan’s heart broke. One more transgression to add to Minnie’s slate of sins.
“They’re not going to laugh,” Colt said.
“Yes, they are,” Anna countered.
Regan didn’t want to contradict Colt out loud but she agreed with Anna. Regan knew from her own experience how cruel classmates can be. In Virginia City, the children at her school somehow learned her mother, Corinne, was a whore and she and Portia were called foul names, made fun of, tripped, and shunned. But they never cried; they fought, and meted out their share of black eyes and split lips to both boys and girls. When the parents began adding to the nastiness with slurs and threats, Aunt Eddy took them out of school and hired a tutor to teach them at home. Regan didn’t want to encourage her daughter to fight, and she was certain Colt would be appalled if she did, so she said, “If they do laugh, tell them your mama yelled at Aunt Minnie right back.”
Anna’s eyes widened with shock. “You did?”
“Yes. While you and Felicity were in the kitchen.”
“Truly?”
“Truly. And I told her if she kept being mean to you, she’d have to leave.”
The eyes grew wide as plates. She looked to her father for verification. He nodded. “She was as mad as a mama bear.”
Anna’s smile lit up the room.
Regan said, “You didn’t deserve being yelled at that way. So, if Felicity does start gossiping, you tell her what I just said.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Anna replied firmly.
An hour later, Colt and Regan dropped their daughter off at school. As they drove away, he said, “I hope she does okay today. If I never see Minnie again, it’ll be too soon.”
Regan agreed.
He looked her way. “Last night, while you were getting the plates, she said she’s moving back East.”
“Hallelujah. I hope she left this morning at the crack of dawn.”
“Told me she wants to take Anna with her.”
Disbelief made her shake her head. “We’re not going to allow Anna to visit her for five minutes to have tea, let alone live with her on the other side of the country. Maybe Colleen actually bumped into Minnie at the saloon and Minnie was drunk.”