“Señora, you may now assist the bride in her toilette. Father, would you like some coffee while we are waiting? Miguel, are there any more of these delicious cakes your mother makes?”
Smiling broadly, Father Rubio sat on the settee Megan had just vacated and helped himself to coffee, accepting the clean cup Miguel had brought in with him along with some of the pasteles.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN – Gossip
Ted took a sip of his coffee, closed his eyes, and sighed in satisfaction.
“No one makes better coffee than Señora Suarez.” Reopening his eyes, he turned to the priest. “I trust you will be staying to dine with us after the ceremony?”
“You think it will be that long before the ladies rejoin us?”
“If Miss Maddux takes just half as long as my sister does to dress for anything, we will have a long wait.”
“Then it is good the señora is such a fine cook because I will have built up an appetite.”
“Oh, I think we can trust Miguel and his aunt to provide us a small nuncheon while the ladies prepare.”
“Señora Ortega is here?” Father Rubio’s eyes brightened. “She is even a better cook than her sister!”
“I don’t know. Which of her sisters just had a baby?”
The priest rolled his eyes up as he contemplated. “Well, Rosita had a boy about six months ago, and Sylvia a girl, hmmm, almost a year since, now. I wonder if she is expecting again. And Claudia—yes! Claudia Ortega had a boy about five weeks past. And I understand Miss Maddux has brought a child with her which needs a wet nurse. So that would be the one.”
“How do you know about the child?”
Eyebrows raised, Padre Rubio laughed. “How long have you been here now? Almost a year?”
True, the gossip vine here seemed to grow at the speed of light. He hoped for Megan’s sake her reputation had not suffered.
Taking pity at the sight of the forlorn face before him, he reassured Ted. “Señora Suarez took one look at your fiancée and the baby and knew the child wasn’t hers. And she may have inadvertently overheard,” the good father winked at him, “that the mother died and Miss Maddux is searching for the father. For a single woman to take on such a task in the face of gossip, many of the women already think she’s a saint!”
And they’d been at such pains not to discuss things publicly!
“Well as fast as tales travel here, has anyone found the father yet?”
The padre shrugged his shoulders. “Even by stage, Tombstone is still at least five hours from here. The negros, the friend of Miss Maddux and her miner, stopped to see me to be married, as they were leaving Benson. They will be fortunate to arrive in Tombstone before nightfall. It is good that the days are still long.”
A little stunned by all the revelations of the day, the fact that her companion from the train had been black nearly slipped by without notice. Besides, like many Pennsylvanians, his grandparents had proudly offered their farm as shelter to help escaped slaves reach freedom.
“I can only hope it will be as simple as that, finding the father. As I understand it from Megan, apparently Tom McNeel and his partner Randy Evans hit a motherlode. Shortly thereafter Tom disappeared. According to Moses O’Henry, the fellow whose wedding you just performed, Tom was heading east to fetch his wife and new daughter. Now we just have to find someone who saw him get on the train so we know when he might have arrived.”
“I will also enquire among my parishioners in Tombstone. Gossip is everywhere and perhaps we can sift some gold from the dross to locate Mr. McNeel. Mr. O’Henry is already most anxious to help. From some of the things his new wife said, she is quite a woman, your Miss Maddux!”
“It’s funny, if I showed you her letters you would probably write them off as light fluff, and yet she has a remarkable joie de vivre and kindness that shine through. That alone is quite exceptional.”
“Just remember marriage is for life. If you are having any second thoughts, you still have time to change your mind. No one here knows Miss Maddux so it is unlikely her reputation would be harmed.”
“But are not all marriages a leap of faith that each person will endeavor to make the relationship work?”
“You are counting on good will from both parties, my son. I’m afraid I’ve seen too much of human nature to have that expectation. But from the little I’ve come to know about your fiancée, I suspect you may, indeed, have found a pearl.”
“Thank you, Father.”
~~~
Upstairs, Mrs. Suarez had already unpacked her trunk and pulled out the gown Megan had brought to be her wedding dress. She’d known it wouldn’t be a fancy church wedding with reception of which she’d attended so many, but she wanted to be able to remember her day with pride and joy.
Before heading upstairs, she’d asked to see Camellia and was delighted to see the child nursing comfortably, clearly well-cared for and happy. Mrs. Ortega was as cheerful as her sister, with the same take-charge attitude. She only hoped the women would come to an accommodation with her when it came to managing the household. She had the feeling, however, she might be the one to do the accommodating.
But that was a future concern. For today she need only spend the next few minutes making herself beautiful for her husband-to-be.
A few minutes? Don’t kid yourself. It will take a full fifteen minutes just to lace the corset sufficiently to fasten the gown’s buttons.
