she stepped into the dining room that she'd forgotten her shoes. She slowed, moving in small steps so that no one would notice.
Tonight, since she was no longer new, no one bothered to speak to her. The meal was eaten totally in silence except for the German mother and daughter, who whispered to each other with words no one else understood.
The widow, Dottie Davis, looked tired and Rainey couldn't help but wonder what they all did during the day.
Rainey almost ran back upstairs. Somehow the others made her feel even more alone. She told herself she simply needed sleep. But after dark she couldn't force herself to close the window. She found the conversations she could overhear far too interesting.
Slowly, hour after hour, she began to recognize the voices and give each one a name. This was her world, she reasoned. She was a watcher, a listener, but never a part of all that went on around her. It had been that way all her life. Most of the girls in her class in school never bothered to learn her name. She'd been a shadow as a student and as a teacher. Why should anything be different here?
The sadness of it might have smothered her, but in the corners of her mind Rainey remembered the Ranger who'd danced with her… who'd kissed her… who'd told her he'd find her.
She'd heard once that somewhere in the world everyone has someone thinking about them. If that were true she could only hope that someone would be Travis McMurray.
CHAPTER 11
Two days later Pearl Langland called on Rainey at nine in the morning.
Rainey had planned to dress and look for a job, but she'd fallen asleep after breakfast. The night's conversations in the alley seemed the only interesting part of her life, so Rainey lost the battle that morning with sleep.
'Wake up.' Pearl pounded on her door. 'Rainey, if you are in there, open the door, I can't hold little Jason much longer.'
Rainey pulled on her cape as a dressing gown and let in her friend. She didn't try to pretend everything was fine. Her mother's words echoed in her ears-that no respectable woman remained in her nightclothes after dawn. She held her head high and waited for Pearl to say something.
The mercantile owner's wife looked at Rainey and nodded once as if she understood. After setting the baby on the floor she said, 'I've thought of a way for you to make money enough to at least pay for your room and board. Are you interested?' She hadn't come to lecture, she'd come to help.
Rainey listened even though she wanted to scream that she'd tried every way to get a job. No one wanted to give a woman, a stranger among them, employment. She'd even considered dressing as a boy and working at the stables. That might be her only choice next week when she was asked to leave the Askew House. Mrs. Vivian had made it plain that no credit would be extended.
'My Owen takes in peaches in trade sometimes from the farmers who don't have cash to pay for supplies. He says he'll make you a good deal on the peaches or anything else he takes in.'
Rainey remembered the bowls of peaches on Pearl's table. 'What would I do with them?'
'Pies,' Pearl answered. 'He swears that pie you made was the best he'd ever tasted.'
'You really think I could make money baking pies?'
'I put a pen to it, and I figure even buying the sugar and flour, you can double your money if you want to turn the fruit into pies. My Owen says there's not a cafe in town that has desserts worth eating. I'd loan you my kitchen if you'd help me watch Jason while you're cooking. Owen says if I could handle the store two or three days a week, he could sell double if he agrees to make deliveries.'
Rainey smiled. 'You'd let me use your kitchen?'
'I'd love the company. It would be hard work on your part. Lots of peaches are coming in right now. You'd have to can all you could. Once the season is over, we'll think of something else to cook.' Pearl grinned. 'I'd set up your books for free samples. Making pies is something I've never got the hang of, but figures, now that's another story. To my way of thinking it would be a good deal for everyone.'
Rainey tried not to shout. Hard work, honest work, didn't frighten her. Starvation did. 'When do we start?' The cooks at the school had taught her how to bake almost by the time she could walk. If Pearl thought she could make pies and sell them, Rainey would make all the market would bear.
'My Owen is loading the wagon now. He'll wait until I get back to the store before he leaves.' She glanced around the tiny room. 'You can work all day today making samples to pass out… unless you have something else to do.'
Rainey didn't answer. There was no need. Pearl knew the truth.
She stood and dressed as fast as she could, then carried Jason for Pearl as they made their way back to the little store. Within an hour Rainey was pealing peaches with Jason playing at her feet.
About one Pearl closed the store for lunch and joined Rainey in the kitchen where five pies were cooling. 'I love this smell,' she said as she took a bite of the potato soup Rainey had made for lunch. 'Where'd you learn to cook?'
'At the school where I taught. Most of the girls had parties and outings on the weekends. My parents were usually busy entertaining prospective students and their parents. I always felt like I was in the way, so I learned to keep busy in the kitchen. The school cooks could bake anything, and over the years they passed some of their talents along to me. After the girls returned from their parties, they'd follow their noses to the table and tell me of their adventures over soup or desserts.'
'You were young. Didn't you ever go with them? There must have been so much to see and do in a big city like Washington. You could have met a young man.' Pearl knew little of the kind of life Rainey talked about. For her, school had been a one-room house where she'd attended when the crops were in.
Rainey shook her head. 'No. It wouldn't have been proper. My father wouldn't have allowed it.' She shrugged. 'Look what happened at the one dance I did go to. The man I danced with thinks I'm a horse thief.'
Pearl raised an eyebrow at Rainey as she rocked her baby in her arms.
'All right.' Rainey shrugged. 'Maybe I did borrow his horse. But I care about Travis McMurray. I'd take the animal back if I could. I'd give anything to know how he's doing. When I left he'd lost so much blood. He might even be dead for all I know. You should have seen him, Pearl. His dark hair half covering his eyes with him so still he looked more like a statue, than a man.'
Pearl gently laid the sleeping Jason in his crib. 'You should write your Ranger and tell him you're sorry.'
'He'd come after me with a rope.'
Pearl laughed. 'Well, at least you'll know he's still alive.'
'Right, but then I'd be dead. You should have seen his dark eyes. He didn't look like the forgiving sort of fellow, and they say Rangers are the toughest lawmen alive. No matter how gently he touched me while we were dancing, he'd probably use me as target practice if he saw me again.'
'Write the man,' Pearl repeated, laughing. 'Owen could mail it at one of the trading post when he heads down toward San Antonio. Your Ranger will never know where the letter comes from, and you can be honest or lie. He'll never know one way or the other.'
'He's not my Ranger,' Rainey whispered. 'But as long as he can't track the letter, I guess it would be safe enough.'
Pearl smiled as if reading Rainey's mind. 'If he writes back, you'll no longer have to worry.'
Rainey went back to work. She'd developed a pattern to the baking. As soon as two pies were cooked, the next two were ready to go in. When the last two went in the oven, she cleaned up her mess, put on a simple stew for Owen and Pearl's supper, and tidied up the room.
By six she'd given away all her pies to cafes along Congress and Colorado avenues and even brought one home to the Askew House. The owners of the restaurants had seemed pleased at having been given something, but most made no promises to buy any. Mrs. Vivian thanked her for the pie, but informed her that dessert was not usually a part of the evening meal on weekdays.
