Audrey woke to the sound of rain drumming the window. The sunny, welcome respite hadn’t lasted long. She sighed. Never had the saying “Into each life some rain must fall” been so appropriate. Thunder Ridge was getting a lifetime supply all at once.
Throwing back the quilt, she padded to the window. The sky was dark as sin. Rain slanted in a driving curtain between Wallace’s house and the sawmill. The pond was now a lake creeping toward the town’s businesses. She dressed and went downstairs to find Copper awake and starting breakfast. “Kirkland sent young Todd Everett to say you’re not needed at the parlor this morning.”
Audrey filched a piece of ham. “I’ll enjoy my respite, I’ve made a good deal of money, money I shudder to think about, but I can survive on my savings for a good while.”
Copper forked a piece of meat onto a hot skillet. “Why don’t you come to Beeder’s Cove with me? If the Widow Potts doesn’t have room for the both of us, we can surely find a place for you to board, and the job opportunities may be better there.”
“Thanks, but Willow will need me here to help with the wedding.”
“Perhaps—but if the worst happens…and you know it could…please come to Beeder’s Cove with me.”
“Nothing’s going to happen. It just can’t. And besides, I’d only be in your way. You’re starting a new life, new pupils. I’d be a nuisance you don’t need.”
“Audrey Pride, I can’t believe you said that. We’re like sisters, and you’ll never be in my way. Don’t you ever say a thing like that again.”
Audrey bit into the pilfered meat. “I’m sorry. I know you mean well and I always want you in my life too. If we should lose Willow, it will just be the two of us.”
Copper sat the plate on the table and put her arms around Audrey, hugging tight. “Nothing but death will separate us. We have no control over that, but nothing in life must come between us.”
“Which reminds me.” Audrey broke the embrace and reached for a letter lying on the table. “This came for you late yesterday afternoon.”
“It’s from Aunt Nancy. She’s insistent about me coming for a visit.”
“Your aunt in Ellsworth, Kansas?”
She nodded. “Mother’s sister. I visited her once when I was a child and Uncle Wilt was still alive. She’s invited me to visit but I’ve never found the time.”
“Ellsworth? Isn’t that where Ester moved when she left Timber Creek?”
“Yes, she had a brother and sister near there.” Copper sighed. “Esther was such a fighter. Without her, I doubt that we’d have lasted very long in defending Timber Creek against the rebs. If I decide to visit my aunt I’ll make sure and look up Esther. I think she moved somewhere near Fort Dodge, but not in the town itself.”
A knock sounded and Audrey turned to answer. She was greeted by Caleb’s smiling face. “Can you spare a cup of coffee?”
“I believe I can. What brings you out so early?”
“Just came over to check with Tucker about moving what lumber we have over to Miller’s barn loft. Town’s going to be flooded by nightfall. We can’t hold back the river any longer.”
“Flooded.” Audrey sank to a chair. “What then?”
“Then we all leave for higher ground.”
“But the roads aren’t passable.”
“We don’t have a choice. Some of the men are rounding up enough boats to move everyone to safety.”
Audrey’s thoughts turned to the icehouse and all those victims waiting for burial. She couldn’t bear to think of the judge’s body being somehow desecrated by a flood. And Willow. How would they move her in her precarious state?
“We can’t just leave.”
“We can’t sit here and be washed away.” Caleb reached for the cream. “Where’s Tucker?”
“With Willow. The poor man hasn’t slept in days other than what little he snatches by her bedside. If something doesn’t break soon…”
Caleb sobered. “He won’t listen to me. He won’t leave her side.”
Copper brought a hot biscuit and some ham and set it in front of him. “I’ll bet you haven’t had breakfast.”
“Not yet. I wanted to speak to Tucker and then I’ll go home and fix something. I’ve been at the mill all night fighting water.”
“Was Eli with you?” Audrey asked. “Perhaps he’d like something to eat. I’d be glad to take something to him.”
“No, he went home about an hour ago. He’ll be around later and let me grab some sleep. Men are holding the water at bay but it’s about got us beat.”
Copper turned from the stove where she was scrambling eggs. He eyed the skillet. “How do you get those eggs so fluffy? Mine are always flat and dry.”
She broke into a grin. “I suppose I could spare a few bites.”
He winked at Audrey. “Why, hadn’t thought about it, but eggs would taste real good.”
Copper set a plate of ham, fluffy clouds of scrambled eggs, and two more steaming biscuits in front of him. “Here. There’s more where these came from.”
“Ma’am, there’s not another woman in this town who can scramble like you.” He bit into the eggs, and then reached for the salt shaker. “What’re you having for supper?”
Copper laughed. “Think you can charm me into cooking for you? Think again. I’ve got enough to do around here.”
Audrey listened to the friendly exchange, harboring a grin. Now why couldn’t Copper get along with Josh Redlin as well? Caleb and Josh had good personalities and neither was lacking in the looks department.
Yvonne walked in the kitchen. “Good morning.”
Caleb’s chair scraped back and he sprang to his feet. “Morning.”
Yvonne nodded demurely.
“It’s not all that good,” Copper said. “It’s raining again.”
“I see that. May I help?”
“No, I’ve got it. Sit down with Caleb and I’ll get your breakfast.”
Yvonne smiled, erasing the tight lines around her eyes. “Yesterday’s sun was nice.”
“It was at that,” Caleb said, fumbling behind his back for the chair. “We could stand a few more days like that.” He smiled and pushed the cream pitcher closer.
After breakfast Audrey stopped by the parlor. The viewing room was empty, though it needed sweeping. The last family had left muddy tracks. She found her employer in the downstairs sitting room, deep into a book. He glanced up when she entered the room. “Miss Pride. I sent word that you weren’t needed today.”
“Yes, I got the message, but I thought I’d stop by and clean a little.”
“Ah. Well, business has slowed considerably.”
No work meant her wage would be cut. “There isn’t anything else I can do? Cook? Perhaps clean your private quarters?” In the past his living area had been off limits, but fifty cents couldn’t be overlooked because of personal preference.
He seemed to consider the offer. “Not really. Why don’t you take a week off, without pay, of course, unless work picks up unexpectedly? You look as if you could use a good rest.”
She looked like she needed a rest? Pausing, she considered the past hectic days and let the remark pass. “Very well. You will send word when I’m needed?”
“Of course.” He absently shooed her away. “Have a restful period.”
That evening Audrey helped Copper bathe Willow and dress her in a fresh nightgown of white muslin, with tucks and lace. “She looks almost bridelike, doesn’t she?” Copper mused, as she brushed Willow’s hair.
“She does. She’s beautiful, even like this.”
“Just as beautiful on the inside too.” Copper laid the brush aside. “I wonder what goes through Tucker’s mind, sitting up here, hour after hour.”
“I don’t know. Sorrow. Helplessness.” Audrey gathered up soap and towels, and the women left the room so Tucker could once again take his place in the bedside chair.
Outside the parlor window, rain lashed the panes. Lightning flared, illuminating the yard for an instant, faded, and then flashed again. A cannon blast of thunder rocked the house.
Audrey glanced up from her handwork. “Does a body ever get used to this?”
“Never.” Copper drew a needle through her needlepoint. “I don’t intend to get used to it. The moment the roads are passable, I’m leaving for Beeder’s Cove.”
“Won’t you miss the people here?”
Copper shook her head. “I’ll miss you. And Willow and Tucker, but nobody else. If the three of you weren’t here, I’d never want to step foot in Thunder Ridge again.”
“You’d miss Caleb.”
Copper’s jaw dropped. “I wouldn’t miss him. Why would you say such a thing? Just because I took pity on the man and fixed him a plate of decent scrambled eggs doesn’t mean I have affections for the man.”
Drawing thread through her tatting mat, Audrey smiled. “I think you two make a perfect pair. Caleb with his nonsensical teasing and you so quick to rise to the bait.”
Copper made a face. “Granted, the man has a pleasant personality, but we’re mismatched. He needs a sweet, delicate flower that will look up to him. Yvonne is exactly the kind of woman he needs. Someone he can protect. Beneath all that teasing, Caleb is a gentleman.”
“Ah, you have noticed.”
“Of course I’ve noticed. I’m very perceptive when it comes to men.” Sighing, she rested fiery tresses against the chair baluster, eyes dreamy. “I want a man with fire in his soul—someone who isn’t afraid to take a chance, to live. Adventurous—but a godly man.” She glanced over. “Mind you, I’m not looking. Perhaps it’s my role in life to remain single. A woman dedicated to nurturing youthful, innocent minds. Yes, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what God intends for me.”
Balderdash! Audrey feared for a moment she might actually have voiced the contradiction. Copper a spinster? As pretty and vivacious as she was? That would be a waste. She hadn’t met her mate, but, given time, she would. She was born to marry, and all this nonsense about spinsterhood was just that, nonsense.
Copper grinned. “Besides, the sooner I leave Thunder Ridge, the sooner I’m rid of Josh Redlin.”
“You won’t be leaving before he does. The roads are impassable. If the town is forced to evacuate, he and his party will go with us.”
“You know what I mean. He’ll have to leave one of these days, and I say good riddance.”
Audrey bit off a thread. “Uh-huh.”
“It can’t be too soon for me. He’s like a skunk lurking around, looking to shoot off a foul scent when the occasion presents itself.”
Copper’s eyes glowed with an inner fire, and Audrey wondered if she was speaking out of frustration, or if she really felt this adamant about a man who would be most women’s dream come true. She’d never known Copper to be so dead set against anyone.
Yvonne entered the parlor. “Don’t let me disturb you. I’m just looking for something to read.”
“You’re not disturbing us.” Copper motioned for her to sit. “We’re just visiting. Why don’t you join us?”
“If you’re sure I’m not bothering you.”
“Not in the least. Please. Sit.”
The young widow sat down, reaching for a nearby book of poems. The women sewed or read until Audrey finally broke the easy silence. “Do you plan to join the wagon train when it leaves?”
The widow turned pensive. “I’ve considered the possibility, but I’m not sure Mr. Redlin will allow me. It’s not easy for a woman alone to travel with the train.”
“Why would he care?” Copper asked.
“Oh, I can handle a team, but if a wheel came off or anything breaks, I’d be helpless. I’m not knowledgeable about equipment like Frank.”
Copper focused on her needlepoint.
“Besides, Frank didn’t like traveling with a group. He was very much a loner. That’s why we were traveling by ourselves. It got lonely for me, sometimes, but that’s the way he wanted it.”
“Did you always do everything he asked?” Copper’s dark expression suggested she wouldn’t dream of being so malleable.
“Always. I owed my husband my life. He took me in when I had nowhere to go. I don’t know where I’d be today if it wasn’t for Frank and his goodness.”
The soft rise and fall of the young widow’s voice lent a sense of calm to the room. It wasn’t hard to recognize the young lady’s genteel nature, the deep compassion for a man who had saved her from who knew what.
Copper was right: Yvonne was a perfect match for Caleb, and perhaps since her marriage had been born of necessity and not love, Yvonne’s grieving period would be shortened.
Yvonne and Caleb. Audrey smiled. The two went together like a pair of silver slippers.