Sweetwater (Birdsong Series) Read online

  Sweetwater

  Emily’s Story

  By:

  Alice Addy

  Copyright 2011 by Alice Addy

  Kindle Edition

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  To:

  Jimmy, David, Katie, Michelle, Mom and Bill

  Thanks for all you do, each and every day. I love you all.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  CHAPTER ONE

  Hays City, Kansas 1882

  It was business as usual at the famous Birdsong Hotel, Hays City’s finest. Many of their guests would say it was the best place to stay west of the Missouri River, and Dr. Blake Donovan shared that assessment. It was indeed a fact that the food served there was beyond compare. In addition to the superb meals, the rooms were clean and comfortable, with just a touch of European elegance to please your senses and ensure your pleasure. Guests knew they were staying somewhere special. However, the handsome young doctor stayed there simply for the scenery.

  Dr. Donovan couldn’t get enough of it . . . all five foot, six inches of magnificent brunette, gracefully tending her bountiful gardens. He could watch her for hours. In his eyes, Miss Emily Falkenwrath, part owner of the hotel, had been heavenly endowed with womanly perfection, and was lovelier than any of the blooms growing in her garden. He regarded it as providential that she, too, resided at the hotel, thereby providing him with the opportunity to steal a glance her way, every now and then. He laughingly admitted he was fooling no one, as his intentions toward the sultry beauty were as transparent as window glass. Dr. Donovan was completely captivated by the lovely Miss Emily.

  One afternoon, while Patty Franklin—another co-owner—was attending the front desk, the doctor stomped into the hotel lobby, pulling a very pretty, but quite reluctant young lady, behind him.

  “Cassie? What on earth is going on?” Patty demanded to know. “Doc, what’s this all about?” She had never seen the mild-mannered Blake in such a temper.

  Overhearing the commotion in the lobby, Dora—cook and part owner—came running out from the kitchen with an enormous wooden spoon held tightly in her hands. She practically skidded to a halt when she saw the furious look on the doctor’s face. Resting her hands squarely on her broad hips, she stared into the enormous lavender eyes of the blonde culprit. Being the eldest, and Cassie being the youngest at sixteen, Dora had been appointed the unofficial housemother. All of the women, at the Birdsong, shared equally in the business, but privately, they were more like sisters and good friends.

  “For heaven’s sake, child. What’s goin’ on? Where have you been all this time and why is Dr. Donovan draggin’ you home?” The older woman’s voice was strong and held not a note of humor.

  The little silver-blonde spitfire glared up at the equally annoyed and scowling doctor. He nudged her forward, none too gently, and demanded, “Tell her, Cassie. Tell them both what I saw.”

  The girl was not easily intimidated. She raised her delicate chin defiantly and stuck out her bottom lip in a delicious pout. Instead of providing her with the decidedly haughty look, she desired, her actions were more of a petulant child “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” she retorted.

  Blake firmly placed his large hands upon her small shoulders. “Oh, I think you know exactly what I’m referring to, young lady, but if you’d rather I tell them . . .”

  “No! I mean . . . I have no problem with telling them.” She thought for a moment and then grinned. “I’ll tell them how you over reacted! I’ll tell them how I was just walking to the post office to get our mail, when a very nice boy offered to see me home.” Her eyes darted toward Patty, in search of some understanding. “Honestly! What was the harm in that?” She crossed her arms and looked away.

  “Cassie,” he growled, quickly losing his patience.

  Cassie noticed the muscles in the handsome doctor’s jaw tensing and the heightened color in his face. He was not playing. She swallowed. “Okay. Maybe he tried to kiss me . . . once.”

  “That’s it! I’ve heard enough of your fabrications,” Dr. Donovan gritted his teeth and tightened his hold on her.

  “All right! He did kiss me. He kissed me more than once,” she shouted. “He said he thought I was pretty and he was falling in love with me. So there! That’s all there is to it. And it was very nice—til you came along,” she grumbled.

  Dora looked shocked and shook her head sadly. “I am so disappointed in you, child. I trusted you. We all did. You’ve been through a lot in your short life, that’s true, but I simply thought you were smarter than that. From now on, Whiskey can go fetch the mail . . . and anything else we need. You’ll be stayin’ here, so I can keep my eye on you.” The older woman slowly turned and retreated back to the kitchen, leaving Cassie dumbstruck and feeling guilty for causing the dear heart to worry.

  She glared up at the infuriating doctor. “I don’t like you very much, right now, Dr. Donovan. You’re a rat!” she yelled, as she ran up the stairs, taking refuge in her room.

  Patty giggled. “That went well, Blake. What did you do to that poor boy?”

  He grinned, ducking his head. “I guess I roughed him up a mite. It’ll be a while before he puts his lips on another girl,” he chuckled. “Seriously though, you might want to know that there’s been some talk about our ‘little’ Cassie. The boys smell fresh fruit. She’s quite a looker with those lavender eyes of hers, and she’s as innocent as they come. That’s a potent combination. You’ll want to keep an eye on her.”

  Patty smiled and nodded in agreement. “I know. It was only yesterday that Dora found Cassie lounging on the front stoop with her glorious hair hanging down around her shoulders and blowing freely in the wind. Not only that, but her bare toes were peeking out from under her skirts. The girl was giggling and rolling about with those new kittens she adopted. She was quite a pretty sight, actually, and every boy in town was slowing down to take a gander at her. I don’t know what we’ll do. She doesn’t seem to know how beautiful she has become.”

  “Cheer up. I’ll help you. I intend to stay on here, at the Birdsong, for quite a spell. I’ll keep the fear in those young rascals.”

  Patty scoffed and rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t be staying here to be closer to someone we both know, would you?” she grinned.

  Blake tried to look mystified, as if he didn’t know to what the pretty redhead was referring. He had no ulterior motive. “I assure you, Patty, I haven’t given it a thought. I simply have some personal business that needs attending. I’m looking into moving to Hays City, permanently. There’s need for another doctor, and I like this town. I like the people living here.” Blake knew he’d been found out. “And yeah, you know me well, Patty.” He actually blushed. “I can’t seem to stay away from her. I dream about her all night long, and I think of her several times a day . . . every time my stomach rumbles.”

  Patty’s brow wrinkled with confusion.

  Blake closed his eyes and seemed to swoon. He placed his hands over his heart and sighed. “After all . . .
Dora is the best cook in the state.” He laughed loudly, rubbing his stomach and pointing to the kitchen, then to his heart. He made cow eyes and pursed his lips in a little kiss.

  Patty smiled. “Go ahead and make jokes, Blake, but you and I both know who it is that you think about and dream about. Every time she enters the room, your eyes light up and you grin from ear to ear. Every time she leaves, that same light goes out and you depart soon after. The only one that doesn’t know the true feelings of your heart is the lady in question. You and Emily really should talk.”

  There was a time when Patty had hoped that Blake would look at her the same way he now stares at Emily. He had the warmest brown eyes, but it just wasn’t to be. Maybe he didn’t prefer red heads with green eyes, she thought.

  “You could do a lot worse than our Emily. Just be careful you don’t hurt her or make her cry. We, women, at the Birdsong, are a fiercely loyal group and wouldn’t take kindly to that. I can promise you’d never have a place to stay here. Never.” She smiled her warning.

  Blake reached out, taking Patty’s soft hand in his, turning it over and marveling at its smallness. He had always thought she was so dainty, with her gorgeous, curly mop of fiery hair. She was lovely . . . much too lovely and too sophisticated for a Kansas cow-town like Hays. He liked her. In fact, if it had not been for the fact that he fell instantly, head over heals in love with Emily, he would have courted the witty and elegant Patty.

  “I promise you, Patty, I will never intentionally hurt her. She’s the most magnificent woman I’ve ever known. Beautiful, yes, but it’s her inner beauty, her passion, her innate sense of goodness that brings me to my knees. I’ve been sweet on her since five minutes after I first set eyes on her. Unfortunately, she shows absolutely no interest in me.” He looked stricken.

  “Give her time. She’s been hurt,” Patty said, reassuringly.

  “I figured as much. She had a rough childhood, did she?”

  Patty laughed. “We all did, Doc. We’re just a collection of misfits here, at the Birdsong.” Then she laughed some more. “Maybe you really do belong here, Doc. You’re a bit of a misfit, yourself.” She smiled and walked away.

  “If you only knew,” Blake whispered.

  Suddenly his attention was drawn to the kitchen door. A beautiful, but furious Emily stomped in. “I’ve had all I can stand! I can’t be expected to tend my gardens in this dress with all its petticoats and things!” She grabbed up her skirts and bunched them tightly in her dirty fists. As usual, she took no notice of the good doctor standing there, while she stomped around the room, in a very unladylike manner, spreading soil and garden debris over the once immaculate rugs.

  Dora and Patty rushed in to see what had Emily so upset. It seemed this was going to be one of those days for solving problems.

  “It’s too hot and I get all tangled up,” she tried to explain. “I’m going to buy me some pants and a boy’s shirt. I’m going to get me a Stetson, too.” Her brilliant blue eyes were shooting sparks and her lips thinned determinedly, as she angrily threw her totally inadequate bonnet across the desk.

  “Don’t stop there,” a deep voice interjected. “I’m enjoying this.”

  All the ladies turned and noticed Dr. Donovan standing in the middle of the room, smiling as he watched the show.

  Emily was a ravishing brunette, tall and graceful, with eyes that sparkled with passion and intelligence. Her mouth was full and well shaped, just perfect for tasting, he thought. She was the kind of woman that made a man’s internal temperature rise.

  “Excuse me? Did you say something?” she asked, slightly put off by his intrusion.

  “I said, don’t stop there. You should have real boots, too. I would be more than happy to help outfit you, ma’am.” He grinned.

  Dora stiffened, coming to the aide of one of her chicks. “I should say not, doctor. That would be most improper, and besides, Emily ain’t really serious. She’s just hot and tired. Lettin’ off a little steam. Ain’t you, pet?”

  “Well . . . actually . . . I am serious, Dora. It’s just too difficult to tend to all the work outside, dressed like a woman. If I were on my own farm, I could dress as I pleased. Would it be so awful if I wore pants just when I’m digging and hoeing? Would the stars fall from the sky or something?”

  “Humpf! I don’t approve, but you’re old enough to decide fer yourself.”

  Emily gave her friend a hug. “Thank you, Dora. I don’t want to offend anyone, but I simply can’t do it all trussed up like a Christmas goose,” she lamented, with her hands splayed open at her side.

  Dora noticed the young woman’s delicate face was sunburned, her dress was wet with perspiration, and her little boots were caked in mud . . . as well as the Persian rug in the hall.

  “Well . . . make sure you only wear them pants when you’re workin’ in the yard. I don’t want to have two girls showin’ themselves off to the men in this town. That ain’t the kind of publicity we’re a wantin’.”

  “I second that,” Blake whispered to himself. The last thing he wanted was for half the men in town to get a good look at Emily’s rounded backside.

  Emily and Patty both laughed. “I’ll be very careful, Dora,” she promised. “Now, I need to get cleaned up and go to the mercantile.” She rushed from the room, excitedly, looking forward to her new wardrobe.

  “You still here, Doc?” Patty grinned.

  “Well, I guess I’ll be on my way—after all—she has left the room.” They both laughed.

  Cassie had just finished dusting the lobby and fluffing the ruffled curtains, when she spied a very angry Emily cursing and stomping across the street, heading straight for the hotel. “Uh-oh. Something tells me it didn’t go so well at the mercantile,” she muttered.

  Patty looked up just in time to see Emily storm through the doors. “You do have a way of entering a room, Em. What on earth is the trouble, now?”

  Emily looked around the lobby, making certain no guests were about, before she vented to her friends.

  “I don’t believe it! They looked at me like I wanted to walk around town in my birthday suit! I calmly explained my need to wear the britches for working in the dirt, but they clucked their tongues and wagged their fingers in my face. Can you imagine that? They wagged their fingers at me!” Emily was furious. “Mrs. Rockham said I would bring a bad element into the hotel if I strutted around the yard exposing myself. Do you believe that? The old biddy. How dare she lecture me?”

  Patty was having some difficulty controlling her laughter. Emily was making quite a scene.

  “When I insisted on trying the pants on before purchasing them, I was told that no man would buy pants if he knew that a woman had dared to put them on first. Thunderation! He’d probably pay twice their price,” she grinned. “I was forced to guess at the proper sizes and I have no idea if anything will fit. Sometimes this town makes me so mad, I could spit.”

  “Yes, dear. It is rather provincial,” Patty agreed. “But even in the most sophisticated cities, one must adhere to the rules of society.”

  Emily grabbed her packages and trudged up the stairs to her room, grumbling to herself, with every step. Enough of the day had been wasted on this shopping excursion, she thought, and she needed to get back to work. The tomatoes would not wait for her to calm down.

  Cassie was dumbfounded and impressed. “Wow, she was mad. And why can’t a woman wear pants if she wants to?”

  Dora answered her. “I knew this would end badly. This is a small town, Cassie, governed by men. And men don’t cotton to seein’ their womenfolk dressed like them. A woman has to be constantly vigilant about her appearance. She must never allow her bare toes to peek out from under her skirts, where a boy might see ‘em. You get my meanin’?” Dora had a way of making a girl squirm with just one raised eyebrow and the stern look from that eye.

  Cassie scrunched her forehead. “No… not really.” She gathered up her cleaning rags and raced toward the kitchen, thinking on all she had seen and h
eard.

  Dora slowly shook her head. “I just don’t know about that girl. I swear she’s the youngest sixteen-year-old, I’ve ever known.”

  “That, she is,” Patty said. “The problem, as I see it, is she doesn’t know how beautiful and desirable she is. She draws young men to her, like moths to a flame, and it is totally unintentional. She’s going to require a lot of watching over, Dora.”

  Stiffening her spine, the older woman said in a determined tone, “I’m up to it. She couldn’t be in better hands. Now . . . any changes to the menu?” Dora was back to her take-charge self.

  “What in the . . .?” Emily was wriggling and holding her breath, trying to button up the confounding pants. As she had feared, the new clothes were a little snug. After quite a struggle and the last button fastened, she slowly let out her breath. Unfortunately, she could barely breathe.

  “How on earth am I going to work in these?” she groaned. She’d never admit she was wrong in choosing boy’s clothing, but it would soon be obvious to everyone that she had, indeed, made a terrible mistake. Actually, it was the mistake of the clerk at the mercantile for not allowing her to try them on first, she complained. She was still angry with that.

  Well, she couldn’t hide in her room forever, so with one last look in the mirror, Emily squared her shoulders and stepped cautiously into the hallway. “Please, let everyone be gone,” she whispered, as she descended the stairs.

  With every weed she pulled, and every flower she deadheaded, Emily dreamed of her own little piece of paradise, just three miles outside of town. She was in love with sixty-five acres of the most perfect farmland she’d ever seen. The farm had been abandoned for some time, but she was still having difficulty locating the people that held the papers on it. Emily had saved the cash she thought would be needed, but the bank was having no luck in finding the present owners. Fortunately, for her, the president of the bank had taken a shine to her and had decided on his own, that he’d give the owners just one more week to answer his inquiry, or the farm would be deemed abandoned and sold to Miss Falkenwrath. He hoped she would be very grateful.