four

Ben had been glad to put a pot of coffee on when he woke up the next morning. These city folk let themselves sleep a little longer before they started their day. He’d already poured his second cup and been out on the small porch, enjoying the sunrise and seeing the neighborhood come awake, when Gabe came out of the boardinghouse. Ben wasn’t surprised when Gabe waved and headed over toward the apartment—he’d halfway been expecting him.

“Come on in. I’ll pour you a cup of coffee. Faith stocked us up on that real well. Did you come to see how we liked our first night in this fine apartment you built, or is it something more along the lines of what I’ve been thinking we should do?”

Gabe accepted the cup of coffee and took a sip before answering. “I knew you’d like it here, so I guess I came for the second reason—if it’s the same as mine.”

“With Samantha under your roof, we need to find out why she left Kansas or at the very least if she is wanted for anything.” Ben hated putting his thoughts into words, but there they were.

“That’s right. I think that little woman is just what she seems to be, but one has to think that if she made the trip here by herself and was camping out, she could be on the run from something or someone. I want to make sure it’s not a crime of some sort, although I can’t believe it is.”

“Neither can I, but you’re right. We need to make sure.”

Matt came into the room right then. “Can I have a cup of that coffee, Papa?”

“Sure.” He poured his son a cup and handed it to him. “Gabe and I have something to take care of—”

“I heard. And I understand why you think you should find out what you can. But I don’t think Miss Samantha is running from the law.”

“Neither do we, Matt. But it’ll put our minds at rest to make sure.”

Matt nodded and took a sip from his cup.

“We won’t be long. If you want, you can go on over to the boardinghouse for breakfast,” Ben told his son, who was nearly as tall as he was now.

“Nah. I’ll wait until you get back. That way I won’t have to answer any questions about where you are.”

Gabe chuckled. “Good thinking, Matt. You know those women well.”

“Yeah, I do, Uncle Gabe. And Papa—once you find out she’s not running from the law, are you gonna think about courting her?”

Gabe laughed as Ben shook his head and grinned.

“I might give it some thought, son.”

“Good. That’s all I wanted to know. See you in a bit.”

Ben and Gabe each took one last swig of their coffee and headed out the door. But it wasn’t until they reached the bottom step that Gabe said, “You thinking of courting our new boarder, are you?”

Ben shrugged. “The thought may have crossed my mind. And it crossed Matt’s that I should. He brought it up last night.”

“Well, if she’s what she seems, I’d say you could sure do worse. She’s nice to look at, and you know there aren’t a lot of single women to choose from in these parts.”

“That’s for sure.”

Some stores were just opening up as they reached the center of town, but traffic wasn’t bad yet. They made their way to the marshal’s office, and if he was surprised to see the two of them that early in the morning, he didn’t say so. “Mornin’, Gabe, Ben. What can I do for you two?”

It didn’t take long to let him know their concerns, and Ben was glad it was Gabe, not him, telling the marshal that they wanted to check out Samantha Carter.

“I’ll get right on it,” the marshal said. “If she’s running from anything, more than likely it’s from a man or family problems of some kind. But could be she wanted a new start somewhere like a lot of us did.”

That was certainly the scenario Ben hoped for. He didn’t like the idea that she might be running from some man one bit.

The marshal looked through his records and wanted posters and quickly came up with nothing on Samantha Carter. “I’ll wire Kansas and see if there is anything new we haven’t received yet. It shouldn’t take long to find out if they have anything on her. I’ll get back to you soon as I find out anything. In the meantime, figure that no news is good news.”

Ben let out an inward sigh of relief. Surely if she’d committed any kind of crime, the marshal would already have something on it. He sent up a silent prayer that she was simply a woman wanting to make a new start—and that nothing any different turned up.

❧

Samantha was up and dressed early. She’d slept better than she had in weeks, and she was determined to get downstairs early enough to help Faith with breakfast. That seemed the least she could do after all Faith’s family had done for her. She slipped out of her room, and the boardinghouse was so quiet she hoped she might be the first down, until the smell of fresh coffee and bacon wafted up the stairs. She hurried down to find Faith rolling out biscuits while Rose fried bacon in a huge cast-iron skillet.

“Good morning! What can I do to help? And please don’t say I can’t.” She smiled at both women.

Faith chuckled. “Well, let’s see. Why don’t you crack those eggs there into a bowl for me?” She nodded toward the counter where a large wire basket sat filled with eggs. “We’ll scramble them up with some peppers and onions. The boarders really like them that way.”

“I’ll be glad to.” Samantha took the apron Rose grabbed out of a drawer and put it over her neck, tying it around her waist. She quickly went to work on the eggs and only managed to get a couple of pieces of shell in the bowl. She quickly dug them out with a spoon and asked, “What next?”

Faith handed her a whisk and a small bowl filled with chopped onions and bell peppers. “Beat them up a little, and then add the onions and bell pepper and stir some more.”

“I should be able to manage that.”

“I’m sure you can.”

Samantha grinned as she went about the business of whisking the eggs. “I love scrambled eggs—omelets, too.” Being in this kitchen brought back sweet memories of helping her mother before she passed away and then being taught by her grandmother. But once she was on her own and living in boardinghouses, she hadn’t had the opportunity to cook. It appeared she’d forgotten most of what she’d learned.

“So do I,” Faith agreed. “And it’s much quicker and easier than frying them singly. I forgot to tell you that breakfast is from seven until nine. I set it out on the sideboard in the dining room, and everyone eats when they want to within that time frame. I serve a light lunch at noon the same way, on the sideboard. And we all eat dinner together as we did last night. For breakfast or lunch, you are welcome to eat in the dining room or bring your plate back in here and eat with us.”

“Thank you, Faith. You certainly provide a lot for your boarders, and I really need to pay you in advance. I have enough money for a month or two. Surely I’ll find work by then.”

“No, you wait to pay me until you have a job. You’ll find something. I’m sure of it.” Faith took the large bowl of beaten eggs from Samantha and poured them into the skillet she’d melted some butter in.

“I’m feeling much more hopeful than I was a few days ago. After breakfast I’ll go out and start looking again.”

“There really isn’t any hurry, Samantha. Why don’t you let yourself get used to the town and think about places you might want to work. In the meantime, I’ll do some asking around and see if any of my friends can come up with anything. Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day. Monday is soon enough to start applying unless we come up with something great before then.”

“With all the preparations for the territorial celebration next week, I’m afraid all I’ll be able to find is something temporary. But I suppose that would be better than nothing.”

“You never know. There are bound to be some openings in the classifieds.” Faith used a fork to scramble the egg mixture, and in what seemed no time at all, those eggs were fluffy and ready to eat. She put them into a chafing dish and asked Samantha to take them to the dining room. Rose took the crisp bacon in and showed her where to place the dish over the hot water to keep the eggs warm until the boarders served themselves.

They went back to the kitchen where Faith was pulling the biscuits out of the oven. Samantha’s mouth began to water.

Laughter coming from the hall alerted them that some of the boarders had made their way down to the dining room.

“It’s probably the men. Their wives usually eat a bit later,” Faith said as she took the biscuits into them and came back to the kitchen at the same time her husband came in from outside and dropped a kiss on her cheek.

Samantha assumed Faith’s husband had been over talking to Ben or checking on things in his office.

“I had some errands to run. It’s a beautiful day out,” Gabe turned to Samantha. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

“I slept wonderful, thank you.” The house, the people had all been so welcoming; she hadn’t felt so safe and secure in years.

Ben and Matt came in then, and Samantha caught her breath at the smile Ben sent her way. He was a very good-looking man, with reddish-brown hair and green eyes. And he looked as if he’d slept well, too. He handed her a newspaper. “Matt and I went to get one fresh off the press. Maybe there will be something new in the classifieds this morning.”

Samantha wasn’t prepared for the spark of electricity that shot up her arm and straight to her heart at the touch of their fingertips. “Thank you—we were talking about looking in the paper earlier. I’ll go over the classifieds after breakfast.”

They all went into the dining room, where the gentlemen she’d met the night before were discussing the upcoming territorial events, and Samantha found herself looking forward to seeing the new governor installed.

The men filled their plates first, and then Faith insisted that Samantha fill hers next. She helped herself to some of those fluffy eggs, bacon, and a hot biscuit, and then headed back to the kitchen.

“You really need to get the lay of the city down before you take off looking for work,” Faith said. “There are some areas—”

“You might not want to try to find work in, and they don’t always advertise exactly what kind of position they are hiring for,” Rose said bluntly.

“Oh, I do know that. I found myself over there the other day and quickly retreated once I figured things out.”

“How much of Guthrie have you actually seen?” Ben asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

“Not much. It rained the day I came in, so I pitched my tent outside of town and then came in the next day. That’s when I wound up over by—” Hope appeared in the doorway with her plate, and Samantha got the message when Ben cleared his throat. She didn’t want to say exactly where she’d wound up in front of Hope either. “Good morning, Hope.”

“Good morning!” Hope took a seat beside her father.

“Anyway, I looked down Division Street and only saw one help-wanted sign,” Samantha continued, “but it was for a barber. The next day I came in, but I was looking for a place to stay and had no luck at all. I didn’t want to live in a tent forever. I was debating on whether or not to go on to Oklahoma City and try to find a place to stay until I could find a job.”

“Well I’m glad you didn’t get that far,” Faith said. “You’ll find something here—I’m sure of it.”

Samantha hoped so. She’d hate to leave this house and these people after they’d been so kind to her. Somehow she didn’t feel quite so alone now. She bowed her head as Gabe said a blessing. Samantha silently added her own prayer before taking her first bite. Thank You, Lord, for letting Ben find me and for leading me here. Thank You for always being faithful to look after me. Please help me to find work soon so I can stay right here. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

❧

Ben waited until Samantha raised her head. “I’ll be glad to show you the lay of the land today,” he said. “I’m sure Hope and Matt would be glad to tag along unless they have something else planned.”

“Actually, Papa, Mindy Ellis asked if I could come help her decide what dress to wear to the ceremony next week. I promise I won’t be gone all that long, and I’m sure to be back by the time you get through showing Samantha around.”

“What about your chores?”

“I’ll do them all before I go and be back in plenty of time to help Aunt Faith with dinner.”

Ben nodded. He knew she’d keep her word. “All right. You may go.”

Hope jumped up and kissed her father on the cheek. “Thank you, Papa! I’ll go get started on my chores now.”

“What about breakfast?”

“I’m done.” She grabbed her plate and took it to the sink, quickly washed it and put it on the drainboard, then hurried out of the kitchen.

“What about you, Matt? Do you have any plans for today?”

“Well, I’d kind of like to go help with the Beadle place. They’re putting in the staircase today. But I don’t have to if—”

“No, it’s all right. You go on and help out there.”

“Thanks, Papa!” Matt quickly finished his breakfast and followed Hope’s example, washing his own plate and cup before hurrying outside.

While no one had mentioned anything, Ben was aware his son liked building as much as he liked farming. And he supposed it was good Matt had a chance to learn both at this age. He’d have to make a decision one of these days on what it was he really wanted to do, but all Ben wanted was for him to be happy at whatever it was he chose.

But today Ben wondered if his son was trying to matchmake by making sure he and Samantha had some time to themselves. After all, Matt was the one who’d suggested that Ben court Samantha. Well, he wasn’t going to complain. It would be easier to show her around town without their every move being watched by his children.

Besides, Faith had mentioned once that Hope and Matt sometimes turned down invitations from friends because he’d be in town. Maybe now they’d feel as if they could tell him they’d like to do something with their friends on the weekends. “You’d think they were afraid I was going to change my mind.” Ben looked down at his nearly full plate of food and wondered how they could both be finished so quickly. “Let’s finish breakfast. Then you can look over that paper and see where you might want to try, Samantha. It might be best to wait until Monday, though, to actually apply for anything. It gets real busy in town on Saturdays.”

“I told her that, too, Ben,” Faith said.

“So will you let me show you the town, Sam? Ah, I mean, Samantha?” He bit his bottom lip and gave her a grin. He was relieved when she smiled back.

“I’d be glad to take you up on your offer, Ben. I’ll help Faith clean up, and then we can be on our way, unless you have things you need to do first?”

“You helped with breakfast. No need to do dishes,” Faith said.

“That’s true,” Rose added. “I might start to feel unneeded.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want that,” Samantha said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“Oh no, don’t think you’ve done anything wrong. I was only teasing, Samantha,” Rose said.

“She was,” Faith assured her. “We’re thankful for the help, but I don’t want you thinking you have to lend a hand with everything around here. Especially not when you are trying to find a job. Besides, I’ll feel better if you know your way around Guthrie. There are a lot of men in this town, and while most of them treat women with respect, there are always some who don’t.”

“Yes, I know. And I appreciate that you have my best interests at heart. I’m glad to have Ben show me the lay of the land, so to speak, but I do know how to take care of myself, I promise. I don’t want you worrying about me every time I leave the house.”

“Oh we won’t,” Faith said. “Not once we are sure you know your way around.”

“She’ll have a good idea about that by the time we get back.” And Ben wasn’t leaving for the farm tomorrow unless she did. Suddenly it became of utmost importance to him that Samantha Carter really know her way around this city.