PART 7
Adam, Hoss and Will were scraping the old paint off the front of the house when Adam heard a buggy pull up and driving was Gloria Peters. He stopped scraping and waiting until she pulled up, he walked down the porch steps to greet her while Hoss and Will stood watching.
"She's pretty," Will said. "Did Adam and she have a romance?"
"I dunno," Hoss said to Will. "With Adam you never really know. He don't share much how he feels. Why when he was serious over Laura and we..." Hoss stopped himself. "I didn't mean nothin', Will."
Will laughed. "I was here, remember?" He patted Hoss on the shoulder. "Don't be so worried about my feelings."
"I guess I shouldn't be." Hoss genuinely liked Will and hoped that he was happy with Laura-but to Hoss, it sure didn't seem that way.
"Gloria," Adam said, leaning over to kiss her in greeting, "Hoss told me that you were back in Virginia City but what are you doing out here?" Hoss had been correct, Adam thought, Gloria was just as pretty as she had always been with her blue eyes and her strawberry-blonde hair. There were a few more wrinkles around her eyes but she was still lovely. But he noticed that she was staring at the scar slashed across his cheekbone, the lines around his eyes and the graying of his hair. He knew how much he had changed.
Will and Hoss walked over to the buggy. "Oh, Gloria," Adam said, "you remember my cousin, Will?"
"Yes, but we've never been introduced. How do you do?"
"Will," Adam said, "this is Gloria…what's your married name? I'm sorry. I…"
"Melville. Gloria Melville."
"It's a pleasure to know you ma'am." Will grinned at Gloria; he thought she was lovely and envied Adam. "Well, Hoss, while Adam romances the lady, you and I should get back to our menial labor. Nice to meet you, ma'am."
"Thank you, the same here," Gloria said. "And, Hoss, it's good to see you again." Hoss tipped his hat.
"Anything between Adam and her?" Will asked as they walked back to the house.
"Now you just wait a minute," Hoss said. "I hope that you ain't got a wanderin' eye. You got a passel of kids to take care of and a pretty little wife."
"No, Hoss," Will answered. "I just was wondering if they were ever serious."
Hoss glanced back at Gloria and Adam talking. Adam was leaning on the buggy and Gloria smiling up at him. "Nothin' that I could ever see and he says, no-but that was then," And Hoss and Will turned back to their scraping of the paint and Hoss noticed that Will kept looking at Gloria. Hoss couldn't help but feel a little leery; maybe Will did have a wandering eye. He and Laura had been married for over six years and having three children in that short time, well, it's a burden on a man-and his wife. And for the first time, Hoss felt pity for Will and his situation. Will had always said, like Hoss, that he wasn't a marrying man but for Will, it had been because he couldn't stay in one place long enough to make a marriage viable, and here he was, trapped and unhappy and totally unfit to be a rancher and a family man. But Hoss quickly dismissed his thoughts on Will and went back to thinking that they'd never finish scraping the house if Adam didn't hurry up and get back to work.
"Why did you come out all this way? To see me?" Adam asked Gloria.
"As a matter of fact, yes," Gloria said, giving Adam what she considered her most charming smile.
"Well, I'm flattered," Adam said. "This is quite a trip out for you but how did you know where I was?"
"Well," Gloria said, "I stopped by the Ponderosa. It's been so long since we saw each other that I hoped we could catch up. You can only imagine how disappointed I was that you weren't home so I suppose, mainly because I was so very sad not to have caught you at home, that your father insisted that I attend Joe's wedding this coming Saturday. So-since I would really like to attend-there are so many people I haven't seen since I came back to town and…oh yes, shame on you, Adam Cartwright, for not coming into town to see me. I thought we were old friends."
"Well, work around the Ponderosa takes up most of my time."
"I'll give you a treat then. I need an escort to your brother's wedding. I mean, I can't very well go by myself-it would look bad so I was wondering, as an old friend, if you would escort me?"
"Well, I hadn't planned on escorting anyone-I'm the best man and I…"
"Oh, please, Adam." Gloria looked at him, her eyes as sad as she could make them.
"All right," Adam said. "As an old friend."
"Oh, good," she said, smiling broadly. "I'll expect you about what? Five? I think that's about the time that your father said you needed to be at the church."
"All right, five it is." Adam stepped back so that Gloria could turn the buggy around and head back to town. Suddenly, she reined in the horse and turned to Adam.
"And, Adam. You can meet my children-a boy and a girl. I have to remember to ask Mrs. Branch to watch them that night so that we can stay out late. And maybe, since you'll be at church Sunday morning anyway, you can come get us and we can all go to church together. I'll give you dinner-or maybe we could all go on a picnic. My children love picnics. What do you say, Adam?" She smiled at him, tilting her head to look flirtatious.
"I'm afraid not, Gloria. I'm not much of a church-going man anymore. But," Adam said in a false whisper, "I've never known Hoss to pass up a basket of fried chicken." Gloria looked surprised and then disappointed.
"What's that I hear?" Hoss said from the side of the house where he was now working. Adam laughed.
"Nothing, Hoss," Gloria said, no longer smiling. "Just a little joke of Adam's." Gloria didn't find Hoss particularly appealing although he was as wealthy as Adam and probably more reliable. But she had set her bonnet for Adam and was determined to try her best to have him as a husband. She confirmed their plans for the wedding and Gloria drove away, not a truly satisfied woman.
Hoss, Adam and Will worked until Laura called them in to eat. She had already fed the children but Peggy wanted to sit at the table to talk to Adam and Hoss. She told Adam how Traveler had come down sick and that they had to put him down. Adam asked Peggy if she would like another horse, that they had so many horses at the Ponderosa that they were tripping over them. Peggy laughed at the mental picture but Laura told Adam that for one thing, Peggy was too old now to go riding around with her skirts flying up and second, they would buy a horse for any of their children themselves. Did Adam think that Will was a poor relative who couldn't even provide for his own family?
Peggy slid away from the table, giving Adam a soulful look before she disappeared into the next room; Adam wished he could join her and get away.
"Laura," Will said sharply, "I would think that you would be grateful for anything my family offers us."
"Yes, YOUR family," Laura said, standing by the table. Hoss looked down into his plate and Adam rested his elbows on the table, his hands crossed and his mouth pressed against them. He was close to telling Laura exactly what he thought which was not anything particularly pleasant. "And don't give me that superior look, Adam Cartwright. Sometimes I wish you had never returned!" Laura stomped out of the room and a few seconds later, they could hear a door slam in another part of the house.
"I'm sorry, Will. I didn't mean to start anything," Adam said.
"It doesn't take much to set her off anymore. And I don't know why it is but it seems that lately, she's gotten worse. Everyone around here is catching it-me, the two older boys, Peggy-there's nothing we can do right as far as she's concerned so consider yourself lucky to have survived with the skin still on your back-that she hasn't lashed it off with that sharp tongue of hers."
The three men went back to their meal-no one saying anything and Hoss started wondering if maybe Adam's return had anything to do with Laura's pique. Time would tell.
That evening at dinner, Hoss and Adam talked about the fact that the disrepair at the Running D was worse than Adam had originally surmised.
"What do you mean, Adam?" Joe asked.
"Well, other than the house and the barn needing upkeep, half their fencing is down and they have no idea how many beeves they lost because they just wandered away. Their stock is also in bad shape. Will needs to move the few he has to better pasture. I mean winter is coming on and with their foreman and all his hands having quit-well, Will just can't do it himself. How did the place get so bad?" Although Laura and Will's place wasn't that close, it wasn't that far either, only an hour's ride away. Their properties weren't contiguous except inn one area so Adam didn't doubt that some of the Running-D's cattle were in with theirs.
"I guess it's my fault," Ben said.
"Now, Pa," Hoss said, "it ain't none of it your fault. Will's a grown man and he knows that he can ask for help anytime." Hoss then turned to Adam. "I used to stop by there sometimes and not Will or Laura ever said a thing to me about problems. And I ain't like you, older brother. I ain't always pointin' out the things that are wrong."
"I'd point out what's wrong with you but we'd be sitting here all night," Adam said.
Everyone laughed but a worried look came back on Ben's face. "He's my only brother's son and I should look after him more."
"Well, you're so busy looking after this one," Adam pointed his fork in Joe's direction, "that you don't have time for anyone else. Wait until he becomes Polly's problem-then you can worry about Will."
"You just wait, Adam," Hoss said. "From what I saw today, you'll have a thing or two to worry about yourself once Gloria Peters-I mean Melville, hooks you."
"What?" Joe asked, "What's this?" He turned quickly from Hoss to Adam and back again,
"It's nothing," Adam said. "I'm just escorting Gloria to the wedding. And thanks, Pa, for putting me in that position."
"Don't look at me," Ben said. "She more or less invited herself and asked if I thought you would take her. I just told her where you were and that she'd have to ask you herself."
"Well, she done got him good," Hoss said and he and Joe just laughed while Adam looked annoyed and Ben smiled.
Lucy was in the shop, sitting at one of the chairs trying on hats to decide which one she should buy for Joe and Polly's wedding when Madame Millais came out from the back.
"Why, Lucy," she said, "what a charming chapeau pour vous. You look, how do you say, ah, yes-enchanting."
Lucy took the hat off and put it back on its stand. "Thank you, Madame, but it actually isn't the color I need. I wanted to wear a new hat to a friend's wedding but my dress is a dark blue. If we only had the hat in dark blue."
Madame Millais paused for a moment. "Wait right here-I have a surprise for you." Madame Millais gave a little grin to Lucy and went into the back and in a few moments came out fluffing the feathers of a small hat." "This, ma chere, is straight from Paris. I was going to order duplicates made-the Peau de Soie is far too dear for the people here in Virginia City to appreciate, but you, my Lucy, with your skin and your hair, why you will set it off beautifully!" Madame handed the hat to Lucy. "Now try it on-let me see if my eye is as good as it always was."
"Oh, Madame, it's beautiful!" Lucy put on the hat and immediately fell in love with it-she knew that Adam would admire her in this hat; it was saucy yet elegant and the feathers gave it a touch of sophistication that went far beyond Virginia City. Others would probably compliment her as well, she thought, but Adam was the only one of concern. Lucy took off the hat to admire it. "But, Madame, I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to afford it."
"Ma chere," Madame Millais said, "do you not think I know that? I am the one who pays you, non? Therefore, I say, you must wear it to the wedding and if anyone asks where you found such a beautiful hat, you must say at Madame Millais'. After the women at the wedding see you in that, as beautiful as you look in it, I will be flooded with the orders. I am business woman first and kind woman second. Now, what do you say?"
Lucy ran her fingers over the dusty blue of the Peau de Soie. It had a dull, flat sheen that set off the short blue and black feathers beautifully and it would go with her dress. "Oh, thank you, Madame. Thank you."
"Bon," Madame said. "now, someone is coming in. You will give me the chapeau and I will put in the back. You do not want the customer to covet the hat, n'est pas?" Madame took the hat and a woman walked in to the accompaniment of the jangling bell. Madame had spirited off the hat just in time.
"May I help you with something," Lucy asked, still smiling and glowing from the thought of a new hat. Lucy sized up the woman-Madame had taught her many things in the short time that Lucy had worked for her. Lucy had learned how to examine a woman's face shape and complexion to decide what size hat and what shape of hat would be most flattering. That was far more important than the color of her eyes but if a hat flattered both, it was a find. The woman was lovely and had strawberry-blonde hair and deep blue eyes; Lucy was happy that Madame had taken the dusty blue hat away-this woman would have wanted it and demanded it.
"Yes," the woman said. She had a child with her, a girl about four years old. "I need a new hat for a wedding this Saturday evening- my dress is of a dark pink color so I was thinking of something in a deep maroon." Lucy blanched; for one, the woman must be attending Joe Cartwright's wedding and two, she knew that the hat shouldn't be darker than the dress.
"Mommy, I'm hungry," the child said, tugging on her mother's skirt.
"Brenda, I told you that I need to buy a hat. Then we'll go home."
Lucy felt empathy for the child. She knew what it had been like when she was a child and her mother thwarted her efforts to take off on her little gray horse and ride out to the Ponderosa. "Wait a moment," Lucy said to the woman, "I may have something. I'll be right back." Lucy went into the back where Madame was unpacking hats. Madame had a sweet tooth so there was always a jar of candy in the back. Lucy said to Madame as she drew out some pieces of licorice, "A whining child."
"Mon Dieu! Stuff its mouth with everything to quiet the horror!" Madame was not one to suffer children. Lucy just smiled and took the licorice out to the front, and after asking the mother for permission, presented it to the little girl who smiled and took it and sitting on a chair, began to bite off pieces from the whip and enjoy them.
"I want that hat," the woman said, pointing to a red hat on a stand.
"May I show you others as well?" Lucy said. "and do you have a swatch of the dress or can you find a similar color to the dress here? I think that perhaps the red hat may not be flattering-it may bring out the ruddiness in your skin."
"Ruddiness? Are you trying to insult me?" The woman looked up at Lucy, not quite sure how to take the comment.
"No, I just thought that you might like to try on other hats as well that may be more flattering."
"Why? So you can sell me the most expensive hat in the shop?"
"No, so that you can be happy with the hat." Lucy wondered why the woman was so contrary. If she had wanted to sell her the most expensive hat, it would have been the blue Peau de Soie
"Very well," the woman said. "As long as you bring me the red hat as well." The woman took a deep sigh and removed that hat she had on. She patted her hair and sat back while Lucy brought over the red hat and a few others that she felt would be flattering.
As they discussed hats and Lucy adjusted the hat to find the most flattering angle for her face, Lucy asked if it was Joe Cartwright's wedding that she was attending.
"Yes, yes, it is." the woman said. "How do you know about that?'
"Well," Lucy said, "everyone in town knows that Joe is getting married this Saturday and I'm going myself."
The woman turned around and looked at Lucy straight on, not in the reflection in the mirror. "But you're a mere shop girl. Why would you be invited?"
Lucy flushed and she wanted to slap the woman. But she kept her equanimity and replied, "I'm a friend of Joe's. We were in school together and have known each other practically all our lives."
"Oh," the woman said turning back around, "then I suppose you also know Adam Cartwright. He's my escort to the wedding so I want to look particularly nice. Now hand me that red hat with the white roses."
Lucy handed her the hat and when the woman put it on, Lucy thought it was still a dreadful choice and when the woman decided to purchase it, Lucy felt a deep satisfaction; she looked a fright in it today and she would also look so Saturday.
TBC
