A minute later, Teddy had turned the horses into the corral, grabbed the three bags from the wagon, and headed for the Hampton House and his sweet little bride.
***
“Amanda!” Olive greeted cheerfully as the young woman walked into the boarding house. “It’s so good to see you.” The older woman’s dark eyes examined Amanda as if assessing her well being. “Are you well?”
“Yes, thank you.” Amanda’s smile was bright and she was thrilled to see her first friends of Needful. “Theodore is putting the horses up.”
Olive grinned, no one called Teddy Theodore unless they were upset with him. “Rosa said you and Teddy plan to stay here for the weekend. That will be a treat. How are you finding life on the range?” She smiled again this time, waving down Arabela, “Would you mind bringing us tea, dear?” she asked politely.
“I’ll let Ellen know you’re here,” the stately young woman replied. “She’s due for a break anyway.”
Amanda moved to the table where Olive and Rosa were seated, taking a chair and peeling off her gloves.
“Amanda, your hands!” Olive expostulated, grabbing for the girl’s reddened hands.
“They’re fine,” Amanda blushed. “I’m afraid I’m not used to using them the way I need to on the ranch.”
“They will get tougher,” Rosa stated blandly.
“Theo brought some salve, and it has helped tremendously already.”
“Is he taking good care of you?” Olive looked closely at Amanda, demanding an answer.
“Yes, of course.” Amanda blushed, worried that Olive thought Theo was mistreating her in some way. “He’s very attentive and kind. I think he is worried that I was working too hard, and that’s why he wanted to spend the weekend in town.”
“It is good,” Rosa said. “When I married Dan, we went away on this honey-mooning. It did not go well. It is better to stay here, where you have friends if something happens.”
Amanda swallowed hard. So far, she had heard of a kidnapping, arrested outlaws, a killing, and now this. What was wrong with Needful?
“Don’t worry,” Ellen arrived with a tray laden with tea and treats. “Needful is a fairly safe town for the wilds of Texas. Sheriff Gaines works hard to make it a better place for women like us all the time. He does have a vested interest after all, with Daliah and Chad depending on him.”
Amanda felt herself relax as Ellen joined them pouring tea and handing out cookies. With Ellen, she didn’t’ feel like she was continually being assessed for her value. The other woman was kind, simple, and straight to the point.
“So how’s married life,” Ellen teased, shooting Amanda a wicked grin. “Everything I said it would be?”
Amanda blushed bright red but laughed. “There seems to be a good deal of work involved,” she added.
“That’s why I thought you should have given us more time to find someone who would keep you in the style you have been accustomed to,” Olive shot, lifting her cup. It seemed that every time she had a match figured out, the young women did something different.
“But, I like Theodore!”
“Mother, don’t go on about it. Amanda has made her choice, and she’ll adapt. It doesn’t matter who you marry or where you live, there is always an adjustment period.”
“That’s true,” Olive conceded, sipping her tea. “There’s Teddy now.”
“Mornin’, ladies,” Teddy greeted, stripping the hat from his head. “It’s nice to see you having a good time.”
Amanda looked down at her plate, shyly wondering if Theo would want to join them for tea. She couldn’t see him sipping tea and swapping gossip with a group of women.
“Darwin found a side saddle for you,” Teddy beamed. “I’m gonna put it on Pal, and let her get used to it a bit. Will you be alright here?”
“Yes, thank you,” Amanda agreed with relief. “I can’t see you sitting in a side-saddle, though.”
Teddy chuckled. “I’ll put some sacks of feed on the saddle and lead Pal while I ride Pepper. Darwin seems to know what he’s doing with the odd contraption, so we’ll have an idea how the horse takes to it before you have to mount up.”
“Thank you,” Amanda grinned at the man. “I’ll see you later then.”
Teddy returned Amanda’s smile, pleased that he had made his wife happy, then spun on his heel and strode back out of the house.
“He does seem to want to make you happy,” Olive said, watching the young man leave. “That’s got to mean a lot.”
“I’m afraid he worries that because he doesn’t have a fancy house and loads of money, I’ll be unhappy.” The words tumbled out of Amanda’s mouth and she gasped in surprise. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Why not?” Ellen asked. “If that’s what you think, you have a right to speak.”
“It is difficult understanding a man at first,” Rosa grinned, handing Christina another cookie. “I did not understand Daniel for a very long time.”
Amanda looked at Rosa hopefully, but the woman said no more.
“I hope that Theo and I can come to understand each other better. I don’t need fancy things,” she blushed, “though I do appreciate them and am struggling to fit into this new life, but I had everything back home, and I was not happy.”
“Your family does know you’re here, don’t they?” Olive gave Amanda another look. The girl had indicated that she had gone with her family’s blessing, but she knew too well that some girls snuck out to find a new life on their own.
“Yes, of course. Mother wasn’t happy, but my new stepfather seemed relieved.”
“As long as no one is going to come looking for you and blame me,” Olive said wearily. “I think I need to leave this matchmaking up to Peri.”
Ellen’s giggle was contagious and soon, they were all laughing. It was evident that Olive still believed that what this town needed most were good wives.
“Teddy seems very interested in your well being,” Ellen’s comment pulled everyone back. “I hope you will enjoy your weekend here together. It will be nice for you to have some time
