“Don’t worry,” Grace answered pulling a light green dress with tiny pink rosebuds scattered on the skirt out of her trunk and held it up. “I can teach you to dance. Do you like this dress? It’ll look perfect with your hair and blue eyes.”
~ * ~
Four days later, Elizabeth felt like a princess in the green dress and confident enough that the dance lessons Grace gave her would allow her to at least fake her ability to dance. She hadn’t stepped on Grace’s foot since the first lesson, and Grandpa Hutch twirled her around the parlor and said she was perfect. Perfect. Elizabeth usually felt less than adequate but perfect never entered her mind.
Grace and Elizabeth chatted constantly on the ride to the Bruster ranch. Neither had been to a barn raising party, and this was the first time Elizabeth had attended any type of party. At the orphanage, the closest thing to a party was when the cook gave each child a cookie if it was someone’s birthday. No gifts. Christmas was a new, used piece of clothing and a piece of fruit. Elizabeth was always grateful, but this new life was beyond her childhood dreams.
Grace had been to many parties and a few balls her brother pressured her to attend, but this was different. The people in town were friendly and truly enjoyed each other’s company. The delicious aroma of Cora’s fried chicken and potato salad added to the excitement. Of all the parties she had attended, she doubted the food would be as good as Cora’s fried chicken.
Grandpa stopped the wagon near the new barn, and the young women could see tables set up with more dishes than they could count and dozens of people already in attendance. They heard fiddle music drifting from the barn, and a few people were clapping along to the music.
Clay leaped from his horse and helped Grace and Elizabeth from the back of the wagon while Grandpa held his hand out to help Cora down from the front seat. Wade rode his horse past them in search of something to drink. He knew several of them would bring a bottle of whiskey and he had one of his own in his saddlebags.
Grace and Elizabeth carried the fried chicken and potato salad while Cora found a place on the table to set them. Elizabeth’s eyes roamed the food tables. “I’ve never seen this much food in my life,” she whispered to Grace.
Grace giggled and whispered back, “Neither have I and I’ve been to several large parties. I think the people here love to eat probably because they work so hard. I don’t think my brother would last a day on the ranch.”
Clay looked around but couldn’t see Wade anywhere. He walked up to his wife and Elizabeth and said, “Let’s walk around, and I can introduce my two favorite young ladies.”
Both smiled at him, and Grace winked. After they were introduced to more people than they would ever remember, Clay walked them back to the barn. “There are chairs, crates, and hay bales inside to use for seats. Would you like to sit and watch or eat something first?”
“Eat.” Grace and Elizabeth said in unison.
Clay laughed. “Good idea. I’m hungry, too.”
With plates piled high, they found seats in the barn and listened to the fiddle player warming up for the dance. They talked, laughed, and watched people milling about. After they finished, Clay gathered the plates. “Would you like anything else? Did you see the dessert table?”
Grace shook her head, and Elizabeth said, “Maybe just a cookie. I saw everything earlier and would never be able to make up my mind.”
Clay grinned and returned a short while later with a plate of cherry pie, chocolate cake, and six cookies.
“Are you going to eat all of that,” Grace asked wide-eyed.
“Of course not,” Clay answered as he handed her the plate. “This is for the two of you to share. I’ll be back in a bit with my own.”
Grace glanced at the plate and noticed two forks. “He did bring this for us. Shall we?”
Elizabeth nodded, and they shared the treats until they were too full to move. “I hope we don’t have to dance for a while,” Elizabeth said. Grace agreed.
The music started a short while later, and Clay pulled on Grace’s hand, and she followed him to the dance floor. After two dances they returned to their seats when Abe, the ranch foreman, asked Grace to dance. She looked at Clay.
“It’s all right, Grace. We all dance at barn raisings.”
Grace accepted Abe’s invitation, and as they walked toward the dance floor, Clay held out his hand to Elizabeth. “There’s no reason for you to sit and not dance.” She smiled, and he led her to the dance floor.
Elizabeth also accepted an invitation to dance from Abe, and when two of the younger ranch hands asked both young ladies to dance, Clay nodded his agreement.
Midway through the dance, a drunken Wade stumbled into the barn and glared at Elizabeth. He walked up to the young man dancing with her and pulled him away and tried to hit him but missed. He then turned his ire onto Elizabeth.
“No wife of mine is going to dance with a ranch hand. I should have known better than to marry someone raised in an orphanage. I take it they didn’t teach you how to act like a lady,” he spat at her.
Elizabeth stood in the middle of the floor dumbfounded. Clay stepped up and guided her back to sit next to Grace and strode back to talk to his brother. Wade knew full well everyone danced with everyone at one of these functions. He was acting like a jerk intentionally.
Before Clay could rein Wade in, Wade turned on the young
