Angelica called out to him. Jamie felt confident the entire town had heard her bellow as many curious eyes fixed upon them. He couldn’t ignore the struggling girl, and he crossed the street to unload the packages, taking them from her hand to his.
Jamie sighed. He couldn’t recall how long she said she’d be visiting in Oregon City.
“Didn’t you pack enough clothes for your visit?” he asked.
“A girl always needs more, and your boutiques carry different selections. Shopping is quite a wonderful pastime.”
“Where’s your cousin?”
“She had to work this morning. I don’t know how that girl has time for such things.”
“Folks need to work to live. Surely your father does, too?” Jamie asked.
“It’s expected of men, but women were created to be spoiled, not soiled.”
Jamie was befuddled. The woman talked nonsense. He knew many hard-working women and respected them for it. “I’m in a hurry, Angelica – where can I bring these packages?”
“To my cousin Christy’s, of course. And then, surely, you have time for tea,” she stated more than asked.
“No, I’m afraid not. I am working, on my way to pick up an order.”
“Phooey,” Angelica said, popping open her parasol. “I’ve only been here five days and already hate the word ‘work.’”
“Then, I suppose you shall return to your wealthy suitor in Texas a more obliging, happier woman.”
“You make me sound horrible,” she said, teasing, her voice holding no trace of repentance.
“Not horrible just not the norm for these parts. Although we do have our elite crowd. They live on what most of us have nick-named ‘Up-town Snoot.’”
Angelical gasped. “Is that prejudice or envy I hear in your voice, James Sackerton?”
“Suppose it did come off sounding a bit like that,” he said. “We don’t socialize much, so I can’t properly judge their characters. I’m sorry if I offended your bunch.”
“That’s better.” Angelica moved closer as they set out to walking.
He noticed Tariana coming out of the mercantile with supplies. How he’d love to drop the bags he was holding to help her with the one she carried. When their eyes connected from across the street, hers told him all he needed to know – Tariana would not welcome his help, today, or, perhaps ever again. First, jealousy of Michael and Frances’s relationship had separated them, and now it appeared that she didn’t want him to find a wife either. She probably figured they could just grow old, fishing and hunting, acting like two youngsters that never grew up, the result of her warped rationale of late – he doubted his romantic feelings had dawned on her pretty, little, pre-occupied brain yet.
Angelica nudged him. “Looks like your gal is fit to be tied. Want me to kiss you to send her round the bend? We’ll have her begging for you to give her another chance.”
“The game is over,” Jamie said. “Playing with someone’s heart is unkind, and I should never have let it go as far as I did.”
“Yet here you are, carrying my parcels,” she said. “Maybe you’re growing to like me better.”
The Texan definitely radiated an infectious spirit, one that left him smiling on the inside. “I do like you, Miss Scinch. It remains to be seen if you qualify for the better,” he said.
She laughed, that annoying bark of a sound he’d never get used to hearing. “I foresee that you will have no problem snatching up whatever girl you want in Oregon City.” Angelica added, “After I leave town, of course.”
He glanced over Angelica’s shoulder to see Tariana turning down the street, on her way back home. Angelica must have noticed because she snorted and said, “Except maybe the one you love. She seems to not be the least bit interested.”
“She wants to go fishing,” Jamie said in his defense.
“My! A fisher-gal. At least a man would never starve.”
“She also likes to hunt,” Jamie said, pride streaming through his words. “No, can’t see anyone starving at her table.”
“Is that the kind of woman you want? Not one to entertain your friends and manage your home?”
“Not too many women hereabouts have the luxury of simply managing a home. They work hard to maintain it as well, sometimes even taking in mending or cooking for folks to help provide some frilly extras. I have no doubt you will excel in Texas, Miss Scinch, and live up to the expectations of your future husband.”
“Yes, those are my conclusions as well. After one week of living without maids and watching my cousins toil every day, I have resigned myself to the fact that Texas will be my home forever.”
Jamie grinned. “Now, here we all thought the Scinch family were counted among the elite in Oregon City.”
“Hardly, Not by Texas standards at any rate.”
At the door, Jamie dropped the parcels on the huge veranda. He tipped his hat. “I must be off. The boss-man will be wondering what happened to me.
When he turned to leave, she caught his arm and planted a kiss on his cheek. “A kiss for luck, James Sackerton. That all your dreams of romance will be fulfilled.”
“Thank you. And I better put some feet to those dreams or a fella will surely cut in when I’m not looking.” As he turned away, the affirmation took a firm grip in his heart. He had some serious back-peddling to do if he was going to win Tariana’s heart.
Chapter 9
Tariana marched all the way home to the misplaced beat of “Let Him Go.” Ragtime was the newest craze in music, and the band at the fourth of July festivities had entertained the townsfolk with their
