American Frontier - Chapter 5

Missy walked home with a smile that she couldn't hide. Her conversation with Thomas had been short but exciting. He was officially engaged to his young lady at last. When she had mentioned her concerns that he might feel tied to Landerville because of her, he had smiled.

"You know, I might have felt that yesterday, but something has changed," he had teased. She had found herself blushing again, but she was too happy to dispute him. Something had changed.

Now, she had a visit from Parker to look forward to. She wondered what they would do. She had never been courted, of course, though she had seen plenty of couples around town. She knew that most couples went on walks together, or visited the bakery or the hotel to eat. She had seen the occasional couple picnicking out in the woods.

Would Parker want to immediately go out in public to declare their status as a couple? Or would he want to get to know her before claiming her?

It wasn't until she walked through the front door that her biggest problem hit her. What would Father think?

While most fathers would probably be happy to have their grown daughters taken off their hands, Missy doubted her father was of the same mind. She kept house for him and used some of her bakery money to help keep food on the table when he wasted all of his income at the saloon.

She headed to her room and sank down on her bed. What was she going to do? There was no way Father would approve of Parker.

Not that she needed Father's permission, Missy reminded herself. She had just turned twenty-one. Plenty old enough to make her own decisions. And the law agreed with her, thank goodness.

Perhaps she needed to move out before she and Parker were seen together in public. Then she would be away from Father's wrath when he learned of her beau.

Her beau. What a lovely thought!

Missy was so busy thinking about Parker and daydreaming about seeing him the next day, she completely forgot about dinner. When she heard the front door slam open, she jumped to her feet and ran to the kitchen. She hurriedly tied an apron over her simple blue calico work dress and began looking through the cupboards.

Father thankfully headed to his room instead of coming directly to the kitchen. This gave her enough time to throw together a few sandwiches with leftovers from the previous night's small ham and some day-old bread she'd brought home from the bakery.

When Father joined her, she had their places set and was laying the plate of sandwiches in the middle of the small, rickety table. He sank into his chair with a groan and looked at the food.

"Is this all?" he asked, his voice slightly slurred.

"Yes. Sorry Father."

He just grunted and motioned for her to join him. She sat quietly and said grace in her head (Father had forbidden prayers after Mother's death). They enjoyed the sandwiches in silence. Once they were finished, Father looked around.

"This kitchen is a mess," he mumbled. Missy looked at the various dishes scattered over the counter. Because she had had to help a neighbor last night after dinner, she hadn't finished the dinner dishes. Now there was an impressive pile. She sighed.

"I'll get it cleaned up before I go to sleep."

"See that you do. Now I'm for bed." He stood and stumbled back to his bedroom.

It took nearly an hour of hard scrubbing to get all the dishes cleaned. Missy then swept the floors, wiped down the table, and tidied up the sitting room. She was grateful that she had chopped extra wood for the stove the day before because she was exhausted when she finished.

She fell into bed and had barely closed her eyes when their old rooster crowed. She shot up and quickly threw on her work dress.

Getting breakfast quickly prepared for Father and set out, she ate a small bit herself, fed the chickens, and headed to the bakery.

She arrived just as Emmaline was pulling the first batch of breakfast pastry from the oven. Tying on an apron, Missy quickly dove into the morning baking rush, mixing, baking, arranging, and doing all that Emmaline, the bakery owner, directed her to do.

They worked well together. Missy had worked with Emmaline for nearly two years. She and the older woman got on nicely. Emmaline was a trifle stiff at first, but she quickly opened up under the gentle pressure of Missy's kind words and soft-spoken inquiries.

Now, as they worked, Emmaline told Missy about her husband, Jacob, and his frustrations with some of his customers. Jacob was a carpenter, the best in town. He and Emmaline had not been blessed with children, so they were both very busy with their work. Missy only saw Jacob in the mornings, when he came down the back stairs from the living quarters above the bakery to give Emmaline a kiss goodbye.

Today their quick kiss made Missy blush. She had seen it before, countless times, but now she knew what kissing felt like. Seeing their embrace brought her time with Parker back to mind.

When Emmaline turned back, she quickly noticed Missy's red cheeks. Emmaline was an intelligent woman. Missy wasn't surprised when she began asking questions.

"What's happened, Missy?"

"What do you mean?" Missy tried to smile innocently, but she could feel herself blushing even more.

"Red as a tomato and you have the gall to ask what I mean," Emmaline muttered. "Obviously something has changed. Our morning kisses never bothered you before."

"Oh, I'm not bothered."

"But something has happened, Missy girl, and I want to know what it is."

Emmaline was a little crotchety and very outspoken, but Missy had never known her to gossip or be untrustworthy. Feeling a little relief, she quickly told Emmaline about her interlude with Parker in the woods.

"Well well well. Caught the eye of the Eddington boy, have you?" Emmaline smiled an approving smile. "It's about time you got settled. Time you got away from that father of yours, too."

"Oh, Father isn't so terrible," Missy said. She often defended her father to Emmaline. Emmaline and Father had been sworn enemies ever since Emmaline had hired Missy to work for her. Father had taken the news that he would no longer have Missy at home all day every day very poorly. He had recovered when she began contributing to household expenses, though.

Now Emmaline was the one keeping the line drawn. She disapproved of heavy drinking, having had an alcoholic for a father. And though she never mentioned it outright, Missy knew that Emmaline occasionally saw the bruises that Father left in one of his violent fits.

"It's time you got away from him, is all I'll say on the subject."

Missy smiled. "Well, as to that, nothing is even close to being settled between us. Parker and I only really met yesterday."

Emmaline smiled. "Sometimes one meeting is all it takes, my girl."