Lizzie laughed as well and looked at the two cousins. I’d trade every fancy dress and piece of jewelry I have for a bosom friend like these two seem to be.
True riches weren’t kept in a bank.
She glanced down at her dress and she was grateful no one had noticed the fancy stockings she wore. She felt quite the fool for her frivolous attire. For all the education she’d received, she felt like there was so much for her to learn about life.
“I hope we make more money from the dance next Saturday night than we did from our in-person efforts,” Josie said. “Mrs. Ryan wasn’t the only one who turned us down, but at least most of the others tried to be nice about it.”
“A dance is much better than going around begging people,” Millie said. “I did not like doing that at all. But,” she said, with a sly grin, “there’s nothing I like better than dancing.”
“I suppose Travis has asked to be your partner for the first dance,” Posey said with a giggle.
“You know what, I’m tired of waiting for him to get a move on, so I already promised the first dance to Joe White. We’ll see how Travis feels about that.”
All the girls erupted in laughter, including Lizzie. She liked Millie’s spirit.
“Do you know how to dance, Lizzie?” Josie asked. “It’s fine if you don’t, I’m sure Matt will be happy to teach you.” Josie grinned and there were more giggles while Lizzie flushed.
She thought about the dance lessons she’d been taking since childhood, but had the forethought not to say anything about that.
“The young lady I worked for took dancing lessons and sometimes she showed me the steps.” Ugh. She hated lying and tried to keep as close to the truth as possible. How was she to know that pretending to be a maid would be so complicated? It was an innocent enough ruse in the letters to Matt, mostly to hide her identity and because she was tired of men seeking her for her money. She never imagined that the whole town would want to talk about it.
Honestly, Matt’s descriptions of Juniper Junction had seemed so far-fetched, she assumed he exaggerated to persuade her to come. What a shock to find out that the people were as kind and friendly as he’d promised and the beauty of the area was even more spectacular than his descriptions.
“I bet Matt’s lessons will be better,” Millie said with a grin.
“What on earth are you girls giggling about over there? We’ve got quilts to make,” one of the older ladies called out from across the room.
“Sorry, Mrs. Campbell,” Millie answered, then whispered to those around her, “maybe if she laid off the cobbler, they’d get more work done on their quilt.”
Lizzie nearly choked trying to hold in her laughter and then she started to cough. Fortunately, Posey whacked her on the back a couple times and then they all got back to work and sewed quietly for a few minutes.
“Oh my,” Josie said, peering over at the bit of quilt where Lizzie worked. “I’ve never seen that stitch before. It’s very fancy. Do you think you could teach me?”
Lizzie’s cheeks heated as everyone in earshot stopped and looked at her. “Th-thank you,” she managed to say, her mind whirling as she glanced at the quilt pieces where the others were working to see that they were all using a basic, and much more practical, stitch. Lizzie had never sewn a garment in her entire life, though she did enjoy fancy needlework and embroidery.
The difference between her piece and the rest of the quilt was glaring. No doubt it would have to be taken out and reworked, but worse than that was trying to explain herself.
“Oh, that is a fancy stitch,” Posey said admiringly. “I want to learn too. Usually we just use a straight stitch for the quilting, though.”
“I’m so sorry.” Now more people were looking her way. A few whispers buzzed around them. “I should have noticed what everyone else was doing. I’ll just take these out.”
“No, don’t do that, not yet at least.” Josie studied Lizzie’s work. “Where did you learn that?”
“Um, well, the young lady I worked for…”
“The one who taught you the dance steps?” Posey prompted.
“Yes, the same one. She taught me these fancy stitches. I used them sometimes to … um… mend her clothes and things.”
“Huh.” Millie said. “She sounds interesting. What’s her name?”
“Oh, I’m sure you wouldn’t know her. She lives all the way in St. Louis.”
“Yeah,” Josie poked her cousin in the ribs. “St. Louis is a lot bigger than Juniper Junction, it’s not like around here where everyone knows everyone else.”
* * *
Though she’d enjoyed herself at the quilting society meeting —she couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so much — it was a relief to close the door to the house she shared with Matt, her home, and be alone to clear her head.
Rubbing her hands over her face, she berated herself for not realizing that a quilt wouldn’t be made with elaborate embroidery stitches. Or she could have at least looked at what the others had been doing before she started.
And all the questions. Of course, everyone was just being friendly and she ought not to be bothered by that, but when you’re living a lie, it gets complicated to keep things straight.
What would everyone think when they found out the truth?
They can never find out.
She really only thought she was lying to Matt and at the time she hadn’t considered it such a big deal. And maybe if she’d come clean to him right away, it wouldn’t have been, but now everyone in town, or so it seemed, had heard her
