Mistletoe Courtship Read online

  She could not remember a single day in her childhood when there had been the kind of chaos she had experienced this morning. She wouldn’t have thought she would enjoy it. But something about Colter trying to take care of his two wards melted her heart. She felt a longing to be a mother.

  She sighed. That led her back to Lester. Maybe he would be back to normal by today. She needed to be patient; she supposed any man needed some training to be a good husband. It wouldn’t hurt for them to sit together after church and talk a little more about their future. She’d welcome a chance to tell him about the concerts that they could attend in Denver. Maybe they’d even attend the opera if there was a performance in the town.

  She smiled. Patricia’s mask would make a worthy prop in an opera. Maybe the girl could come visit them when they were settled in Denver. And Danny, too, of course. She thought for a moment and then frowned. Somehow she couldn’t picture Colter with them, sitting in her parlor and drinking tea with Lester and her. No, she couldn’t see him doing that at all. She supposed that meant the children would need to be older before they could come. She frowned. She didn’t like that thought at all.

  Chapter Five

  Virginia would not have guessed that Patricia was shy. Maybe she hadn’t been when she was dressed as a boy, but now, in her girl clothes, she was as demure as a flower sitting beside Virginia. The snow still blew outside and the wood-plank floor inside was covered with wet splotches from the heat of the cast-iron stove melting the ice from the men’s boots. Next year, the town planned to build a proper church, but until then they were using the schoolhouse for religious services, which meant they sat squeezed together on benches made for children.

  Virginia was glad Patricia at least had good button-up shoes. They had chosen to sit on a front bench so they could see the organist play. The tips of the girl’s shoes peeked out from beneath her clothes in a perfectly polite way. Colter had given them a quick polish before they had all left the saloon. Unfortunately, there wasn’t room for Colter and Danny to join them on the bench so they were several benches behind them.

  “This is Patricia,” Virginia said for the tenth time as people filed past. Reverend Olson had said the final prayer and church was over. “She’s moved down from Helena and she’ll be in school when it starts up again after Christmas.”

  Everyone smiled and said hello while the girl beamed. Virginia had decided not to mention that Patricia was Colter’s daughter. She would let him give that explanation; she only hoped he mentioned that he was planning to marry the girl’s mother when he told people. Marriages around here were often irregular, but everyone seemed more comfortable when children were set in proper families.

  Fortunately, they had been able to dress Patricia so she looked like the other children. The girl did have thin bones and none of Virginia’s dresses would fit her, not even when they were tucked and hemmed. The dress Patricia thought of as hers was much too large, being cut down from one of her mother’s saloon dresses and being too flashy by far for any respectable woman, let alone a school girl.

  Virginia had a white apron, though, that wrapped around the girl’s waist several times before they tied it and, with one of Danny’s new white shirts and a few pale blue ribbons, she had emerged from her upstairs bedroom looking almost like the other girls. When she pulled Virginia’s gray shawl around her shoulders, no one could tell that what she was wearing had been pieced together.

  The people started going outside and Virginia saw Lester walk over to her.

  “I don’t know why you have to introduce her,” Lester muttered as he sat down on Virginia’s left side. “She’s his daughter.”

  Virginia turned just in time to see the scowl Lester sent toward Colter’s back.

  “Would you like to go up and see the instrument closer?” Virginia bent to ask Patricia.

  The girl nodded.

  “Go ahead then.”

  Virginia waited for Patricia to walk away before she turned to Lester. “It’s no trouble to introduce her to people around here.”

  Virginia had decided during the sermon to work on improving Lester’s manners, but she hadn’t wanted to say anything in front of Patricia. Children, she believed, should look up to the adults in their lives.

  Virginia noticed Lester hadn’t even turned to look at her. Instead, he was continuing to stare at the other man’s back.

  Colter must have sensed someone looking at him, because he turned and started walking right toward them. Virginia couldn’t help but think that he was coming to her rescue once again. Maybe it was the way he walked, balanced and sure on his feet as though he wouldn’t back down from any trouble—not even the trouble he clearly could see on the horizon if his frown was any indication. As he got closer, she noticed his scowl disappear and his eyes start to sweep her with warmth. Then it became more than warmth. Really, a man shouldn’t look at a woman like that in a church, she thought to herself as her face heated up. Or anywhere else either.

  “Who does he think he is?” Lester hissed in Virginia’s ears. “You’re practically my fiancée.”

  “He’s only smiling,” Virginia said quietly to Lester. She was sure Colter didn’t know the way his eyes were shining anyway. If she meant to train Lester, the lessons might as well begin now. “A gentleman doesn’t cause a disturbance in church anyway. A soft answer turns away wrath.”

  “I’m not going to just let—” Lester started, but by then Colter was standing right in front of them.

  Virginia didn’t think it was advantageous to remain seated while Colter stood over them, so she rose to her feet as well. My, she realized as her stomach flipped, his eyes did speak to a woman, whether she wanted to hear him or not. Maybe if she could demonstrate, Lester would see the value of being polite in public places regardless of what other people were doing though.

  “Wonderful sermon, wasn’t it?” Virginia said to Colter as she gave him just the right kind of social smile. Not too cold, but not warm either. Just very correct.

  Lester stood to his feet, too.

  Colter ignored the other man and kept his eyes on Virginia. “When the reverend was preaching about all that squabbling over who was supposed to be first, it made me think back. I’ve seen gunfights started over less.”

  “I don’t think they had guns back in the Bible days.” Virginia thought the conversation was going fairly well so she added, “Which is most fortunate, don’t you agree?”

  “People just killed each other with rocks,” Lester interrupted to say, his voice deeper than usual.

  The fact that her would-be fiancé sounded menacing when he delivered his observation was only accidental, Virginia told herself. Some men just needed to develop the art of social conversation.

  Colter grunted as though to prove her point.

  “People aren’t so easy to kill with rocks,” Colter added. By now he’d taken his eyes off Virginia completely and they were boring into Lester.

  Virginia was getting ready to say that this was the very reason that public conversation was to be kept neutral, when she noticed that Lester’s neck was getting pink.

  “Well, the reverend clearly said Christians were to be the peacemakers,” she tried to remind them both of the point of today’s sermon. “All people need to do is—”

  “You got a gun on you?” Lester interrupted to ask as he kept glowering at Colter. “I figure you’ve got one hidden some place.”

  “My goodness, there’s no need to speak of guns!” Virginia was appalled. Her explanation must be lacking something.

  “Of course, there’s no need to talk of guns,” Colter agreed smoothly as he pointedly ignored Lester again. “We’re in church, getting ready to have dinner with our friends and neighbors.” Colter smiled down at Virginia. “I’ll go find us all a place to eat. They’re putting some tables up by the window on the side.”

  “Virginia will be sitting with me for dinner,” Lester said from his position to her left. He’d said the first to Colter, but then h
e turned to Virginia. “You can’t ignore me forever. I’m going to apologize, you know. For last night.”

  Virginia smiled at him proudly. He seemed to be learning.

  “You’re more than welcome to join us,” she countered Lester’s invitation. There was no reason to have divisions in church. “Isn’t he, Colter?”

  Virginia appreciated that Lester had brushed his suit and shined his shoes, too. How could she refuse to forgive him when he’d gone to so much work? All men and women probably had disagreements before they married.

  “I plan to sit with you alone,” Lester responded. His face was flushed and he ran his finger around the collar of his white shirt.

  Virginia was torn, but she knew what she needed to do. After all, the children and Colter were only temporary family in her life. She hoped Lester would become permanent. He needed a little more work, but she remembered her mother saying how much trouble she’d gone through to teach her father his manners. And her father was flawlessly polite even when something displeased him.

  “Virginia?” Colter asked.

  She smiled up at him. “Lester and I do have a lot to talk about. You’ll be fine with the children, I’m sure.”

  Colter’s heart sank with her words. Of course, he’d be fine with the children. The fact that it was the children and not him on her mind told him he was in trouble though. He never used to have a problem charming women. And then it struck him—he’d never even tried to impress a churchgoing woman before. He’d liked more ankle and flash. Women like Rose had been the ones he wanted to be around.

  This agreement he’d made with God was turning him inside out and shaking him upside down at the same time. He’d come to peace with the fact that being a Christian had changed his gun-carrying ways. But women? He hadn’t particularly expected it to make any difference in regards to women. At least not in ways that affected his heart. And he’d long since realized that it was his heart leading him toward this particular woman.

  “You and Lester have a good dinner,” Colter said, although he almost choked on the words. One thing he did know was that God intended for him to respect a woman’s wishes. “As you said, the children and I will be fine.”

  With that, Colter turned and walked away. He would find Danny and Patricia and get them both settled at a table with him.

  Virginia watched Colter walk away. “Maybe I should just help him find the children.”

  “I never get to spend time with you,” Lester complained softly at her side. “Let him take care of his bas—”

  Virginia gasped and shot him a look of horror. They were standing in the middle of the schoolhouse, but fortunately no one else had heard. She sat back down on the bench.

  “His children,” Lester continued as he sat down with her and then added defiantly, “I don’t care what anyone calls the girl. I just know she’s not your concern.”

  Virginia looked around to see that no one was walking close enough to them to hear their words.

  “Of course, she’s my concern,” Virginia said quietly. “She’s only a little girl who needs some help adjusting to her new home. What’s wrong with you lately anyway?”

  Lester had been so pleasant those evenings when he’d sat and read her the letters he’d received from his sister. Maybe that was it. “You haven’t had bad news from home, have you?”

  If anyone knew how devastating that could be, it was her.

  Lester shook his head. And then he gave a weak smile. “Can’t a man just want to sit and talk with his fiancée?”

  “We’re not engaged. Not yet,” Virginia corrected him. She studied his face though. “Is it your violin? Maybe you should ask your sister to send it out here. I know how it is to want to play music and not have an instrument to express all you’re feeling.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t ask her to do that,” Lester said.

  Was it her imagination or did his face turn a little white? In any event, he didn’t look at all welcoming of the idea. Maybe he didn’t understand.

  “It’s not that difficult to send things by steamer,” she explained. “You don’t need to fear for the safety of your violin either. Just get your sister to pack it well. You probably have some sheet music, too, that you’d like sent with it. And that wool vest your sister mentioned in one of her letters. I’m sure she would be more than happy to send you a few things to make your life more comfortable out here.”

  Lester felt the same way she did about the harshness of these small Western towns. A few comforts from home would be most appreciated.

  Virginia tried to remember where his sister lived. She couldn’t recall him saying. She knew the other woman was a lady though because she used the most beautiful lavender paper to write her letters. Lester was very protective of the letters themselves or she would have asked to read one just so she could feel the paper.

  “She can’t send anything,” Lester said with a gulp. “She’s sick.”

  Virginia chided herself as he abruptly stood up and walked away. No wonder the man had been acting peculiar these past few days. He was devoted to his sister and must be terribly worried. And, instead of being a comfort to him, all she had done was add to his troubles by criticizing him.

  Well, it wasn’t too late to show she was a supportive almost-fiancée. She would not only sit with him while they ate, she would encourage him with every breath she took.

  Colter was sitting beside Reverend Olson and chewing on a piece of fried chicken. Elizabeth Hargrove had asked Patricia to eat with them so she could get acquainted with Spotted Fawn, and the girls were starting to say a few words to each other. Danny had eaten and was outside, no doubt throwing snowballs at some of the other boys.

  “We have such bounty,” the reverend said as he lifted up a piece of corn bread.

  “Yeah,” Colter said and tried to smile. His stomach felt sour though, as he kept his eyes focused on Virginia fawning over that worthless fiancé of hers. She had been like that through the entire meal. She had practically cut his meat for him. He would never understand what women saw in men like him.

  “I don’t suppose God has changed His mind about shooting people?” Colter asked.

  The reverend saw where Colter’s eyes were going and he started to chuckle.

  “Women are strange creatures,” he finally said. “But you have to be careful. Sometimes they take to the man who’s wounded and not the one who did the shooting.”

  Colter grinned. “I guess they do at that.”

  The reverend finished his corn bread.

  “Do you know of anyone around here who has a violin?” Colter asked him then.

  “Can’t say offhand that I do. Maybe Wells has one—his wife is real fond of music. And, his sister, too, with her school and all.”

  “I’ll ask him. Thanks.”

  He decided there was more than one way to compete with Lester. Virginia seemed impressed with the fact that Lester could play the violin. Colter had never seen anyone play the instrument, but he knew his hands were nimble enough to learn anything that required quickness. He’d practiced many techniques to train his fingers to move with sensitivity because a gunman needed nimble fingers. He’d seen Lester fumble around outside just trying to get a leather knot tied so his horse would stay where it was supposed to be. If Lester could play the violin with his clumsy fingers, Colter decided he could, too. All he needed was a violin and a few pointers from someone.

  Just then, there was a rush of boys through the door into the schoolhouse and it looked as if Danny was in their lead.

  “We found it,” Danny announced in triumph. “The empty can for the kerosene.”

  “Ah.” Colter noticed that got the attention of everyone in the place.

  “I forgot about the fire,” the reverend said in the silence that followed. “I meant to pray about it this morning in the service. We can’t have that kind of mischief in our town.”

  There were murmurs of agreement from some of the men present.

  “It could be an o
ld can,” Lester said from where he sat on the far side of the room.

  “It’s got no rust from the snow,” Danny said.

  Colter figured there wasn’t much to be proved from an empty container, but he liked Danny’s enthusiasm for finding out what happened. So he stood up. “Let’s go take a look.”

  Halfway to the door, Colter decided he wasn’t ready to leave Virginia there with Lester. There was no telling what would happen.

  “Maybe Virginia can identify it,” he said loud enough for the crowd of men to halt and look over at her.

  “She was the only one there when it happened,” old Petey spoke out from where he stood on the side of the church. After he spoke his piece, he grinned back at Colter.

  Colter nodded. He owed the man.

  “So, is she coming?” another of the old men took up the cry.

  By that time, Virginia had stood up. She didn’t look reluctant to leave, not if the eagerness with which she wrapped her shawl around her shoulders was any indication.

  “I don’t know what you can tell them,” Lester said. He was speaking to Virginia, but his voice carried throughout the room.

  “It’s the fire,” she said to him as she walked toward the door. “We can’t be too careful about fire.”

  And, with that, Virginia paused briefly as she came up even with Colter and the two of them walked out of the church, leading the band of men and boys.

  Colter felt victorious.

  The day was warmer than anyone had expected, and he stopped along with Virginia at the foot of the church steps. Snow covered the ground, but the winter sun was shining down. A path had been trampled from the church steps down the main street in town.

  “I don’t want you to get snow in your shoes,” Colter said as he knelt down to make sure her shoes were securely buttoned. “Who knows where those boys are taking us.”