Chapter Two
Rachel insisted on attending church the following morning, so Ben hitched up the surrey once more and drove the three ladies into town while his sons followed on horseback. Rachel was, of course, again dressed as if she were still in Boston and basked in the attention she drew as Ben escorted her to their usual pew.
After the service, the Cartwrights spent a good thirty minutes introducing Rachel and Hannah to everyone. The townspeople gravitated toward Hannah with her warm smile and friendly demeanor, and she was moved to discover how much the people of Virginia City loved and respected her daughter. Rachel, on the other hand, was given a wide berth, partly due to her stern countenance, but mostly due to her proximity to Widow Hawkins, who had sought out her new friend immediately after the service. One man, however, did not keep his distance and seemed positively delighted to strike up a conversation with the grand Bostonian lady.
"It surely is a pleasure to meet the family of two such fine young people as Adam and Josie," Sheriff Coffee said as he clasped Rachel's extended hand. "I can see where Dr. Cartwright got her fair looks."
Ben's mouth dropped open as Rachel giggled at this compliment and fanned her face with her free hand. Adam bit his lip and pretended he suddenly remembered something very important he needed to tell Ross. Ben glared jealously at his son as Adam slipped away in search of his friend.
"We are hosting a party at Benjamin's ranch on the sixteenth, and I do hope you will attend," Rachel invited the sheriff.
"Why, Miss Stoddard, I'd be delighted," Roy replied. He bid her a fond farewell and practically skipped away to greet the Reverend.
"Oh, Benjamin," Rachel chirped, turning to her brother-in-law, "I have invited Clementine to the ranch for Sunday dinner."
"Well, Rachel, there are only four seats in the buggy," Ben pointed out. "We haven't got any space, I'm afraid." He tried not to show his relief.
He had not counted on Josie feeling mischievous that morning.
"Widow Hawkins can have my seat, Uncle Ben," Josie offered a little too eagerly. "I'll double up with Adam for the ride home." She shot him a cloying smile.
"Thank you, Josephine," Rachel said, not even thinking to protest Josie's riding a horse while wearing a dress.
"All right," Ben grumbled.
Hannah sat in the front seat of the buggy for the ride home so Rachel and Widow Hawkins could sit together in the back and chat. Perched atop Sport, Josie and Adam smirked down at the pair of new friends and snickered to one another. Neither of them were big fans of the widow's, but seeing the look on Ben's face as he realized he would be hosting the woman rather frequently over the next month made bearing her presence well worth it.
Fortunately, Hop Sing had expected that there would be several unplanned dinner guests during Hannah's and Rachel's stay, so the addition of Widow Hawkins to the dinner table was not problematic. Everyone sat down to a splendid dinner featuring two delicious roast chickens. As they ate, Rachel and Clementine planned out the party the Ponderosa would be hosting in two weeks.
"We must have music!" Rachel declared. "Benjamin, to whom do I speak about hiring a string quartet?"
Adam nearly shot water out his nose as his father explained that Virginia City did not yet boast an orchestra.
"But we can usually scrape together a fiddler and a piper," Ben said. "And Adam's not the only guitar player in the area."
"And Isaiah Jenkins plays the harmonica real good," Little Joe added.
"Oh, dear," Rachel sighed. "Well, I guess we will have to make do." Widow Hawkins patted Rachel's hand comfortingly. "Josephine," Rachel said, turning to her niece, "you must show me the gowns you have bought since you left Philadelphia. I will help you select a suitable one for the party."
Adam choked on his water again as Josie cast him a despairing look.
"Actually, Aunt Rachel," Josie said, "you've already seen the extent of the wardrobe I've purchased since I moved here." She gestured to her red gingham dress, which was a lovely selection for church or a party by Virginia City's standards, but hardly worthy of a housemaid on her day off by Boston's. Josie very wisely chose not to mention the two pairs of jeans hanging in her wardrobe upstairs.
"Merciful heavens!" Rachel exclaimed, her right hand flying to her bosom. "We must rectify this at once! You cannot host a party dressed like a servant. As the lady of the house, you must make a good impression. I assume there is a dressmaker in town, at least?"
Josie sighed heavily, her long, dark eyelashes dropping as she stared at her plate. More than six months after the influenza epidemic, Josie still ached for every one of the patients she had lost. "Not anymore. We had a good one, Amy Pearson, but the influenza epidemic took her last fall. Most women around here make their own clothes anyway."
"Don't 'ave to anymore, though, do we?" Clementine chimed in. "Why, new dress shop opened up just last week a few doors down from me boarding 'ouse! Sweet little thing running it, too. Molly, I think she said 'er name was."
Josie shot daggers at the widow, but the older woman was too busy basking in Rachel's praise for her quick thinking to notice the disgruntled doctor.
"Wonderful!" Rachel exclaimed, beaming triumphantly at Josie, who grimaced in reply. "We will go to see her first thing tomorrow morning."
Josie stifled a groan as her mother reached under the table and squeezed her hand. Hannah knew how much Josie despised being fitted for gowns.
"Yes, ma'am," was all Josie said.
Adam gallantly offered to drive the ladies into town the following morning to spare his father another day with Widow Hawkins, whom they were meeting before heading to the dress shop. The trip began badly. Before they even left the house, Josie and Rachel got into an argument when Josie tried to bring Pip along. Josie was furious when Hannah sided with Rachel and suggested that perhaps for this excursion, Pip should stay home. Josie slouched in the front seat of the carriage next to Adam and scowled the entire way to town. Halfway there, Adam nudged her with his elbow.
"Cheer up, Grumpy," he muttered so Hannah and Rachel could not hear in the back seat. "There's worse things could happen than getting new clothes."
"Easy for you to say," Josie grumbled. "You're not about to be squeezed into a corset."
Adam had no reply. He felt bad for Josie, but at the same time, he was just relieved Aunt Rachel had not said anything about his wardrobe.
An hour later, Adam reined to a stop in front of Widow Hawkins' boardinghouse. Clementine was waiting for them on the porch. Wearing her finest gown of white lace and carrying a pink parasol, she was obviously trying to match steps with Rachel. Adam helped the ladies out of the buggy and was about to walk over to Josh Grayson's to order some new horse harnesses when Josie grabbed his arm.
"You're not getting away that easily," she hissed through clenched teeth.
"Josie, I can't hang around while you're getting fitted for a dress," Adam pointed out.
"You can at least protect me until we get to the shop."
Adam chuckled, offered Hannah his free arm, and escorted the ladies to the dress shop on the next block.
"I'm surprised I didn't realize this opened," Josie said, examining a festive pink frock displayed in the front window. "It's practically across the street from Dr. Martin's clinic."
"It's brand new," Adam deduced, looking at the freshly painted sign next to the door. "It probably opened while you were sick." He read the sign aloud. "Molly O'Connell, Seamstress. Gee, you think she's Irish?" He chuckled at his own cleverness.
Aunt Rachel looked disappointed. "Oh, an Irish," she mumbled. "Well, I suppose it's better than nothing. Come along, Josephine!"
She ripped Josie away from Adam and dragged her into the shop. Adam, Hannah, and Widow Hawkins followed closely behind. A little bell above the door heralded their arrival, and Adam glanced around at the shelves of fabric that covered the walls. Molly O'Connell had every color in the rainbow in a variety of patterns and weights.
"She must have been doing this for a while," he mused. He snickered to himself as he envisioned a short, stout woman with fading red hair, wrinkles around her eyes, and a tendency to "accidentally" stick her fussier clients with straight pins.
Just then, a young woman, perhaps a few years older than Josie, stepped into the shop from a back room. She was tall for a woman, a bit over five and a half feet, and thin, as if she were familiar with hard work and short rations. But her brilliant green eyes were clear and bright and stood out in sharp contrast to her delicate features and pale skin. When she smiled at them, she revealed two rows of pearly, even teeth.
Adam felt as he had just been hit head-on by a monstrous steer. All the wind rushed out of him, and he froze in place and stared unblinkingly at the young lady. Before anyone else could notice, Josie pinched his arm hard, snapping him out of his reverie.
"Good mornin'!" the young lady called out cheerfully in a thick Irish brogue as she tossed her wavy auburn hair over her shoulder. Taking careful inventory of the group who had just entered the shop, she extended her hand to Rachel, though her gaze lingered on Adam. "I'm Molly O'Connell. What can I be doin' for ya this mornin'?"
"Rachel Stoddard of Boston," Rachel said, briefly clasping Molly's hand. "This is my sister, Hannah Cartwright, my friend, Clementine Hawkins, my niece, Dr. Josephine Cartwright, and my nephew, Adam Cartwright." She indicated each one in turn.
Molly shook hands with each person as Rachel introduced them. Her hand idled in Adam's, and she briefly caught his gaze before casting her eyes downward. Adam flashed his most winning smile.
"I can tell you must be brother and sister," Molly said to Josie and Adam. "It's the eyes." Josie wondered how Molly could make such an observation because there was only one pair of eyes the young Irishwoman had been looking at since she entered the room, and it was not Josie's.
"They are cousins, actually," Rachel corrected her.
"Not according to the Paiutes," Josie muttered, a little too loudly.
Hannah tittered; Josie had told her about Winnemucca's analysis of the connection between her and Adam. Rachel, however, was befuddled.
"What an odd thing to say, Josephine," she commented before turning back to Molly. "Anyway, my niece needs a new frock for a party. One that is befitting her station as the lady of the Ponderosa."
Adam bit his lower lip as Josie rolled her eyes. To hear Rachel tell it, Josie was Queen Guinevere of Camelot.
"Oh, you're the Cartwrights of the Ponderosa, are you?" Molly exclaimed delightedly. "Well of course, I've been hearin' of the Ponderosa. Seems everyone between here and San Francisco knows it." She did, finally, turn her gaze away from Adam toward Josie. "And so you must be the lady doctor I've heard so much about. It's lovely to meet you."
"Likewise," Josie replied. "Have you been in town long? I have to admit, I did not notice you setting up shop."
"Only a few weeks," Molly answered. "Me brother and I were in San Francisco, but he wanted to try his hand at farmin', he did. I had a little shop there, but San Francisco has so many dressmakers now it was hard to make a name for meself. And he's all the family I've got, so I came along with him."
"Your brother, you say?" Widow Hawkins piped up. "So no 'usband then, 'ave you?"
Molly blushed as Rachel and the Cartwrights all cringed at this inappropriately personal question, though Adam found himself interested to hear the young lady's answer.
"No, ma'am," Molly nearly whispered, looking down at her shoes. "Leastaways not yet." She gazed up through her long, black eyelashes and smiled at Adam, who smiled back.
Hannah recognized the attraction between Adam and the pretty young seamstress and realized she better say something before Rachel and Clementine caught on and started a riotous gossip chain through town. "Well, Miss O'Connell," she said, "as my sister mentioned, my daughter needs a dress for a party we are having at the Ponderosa in two weeks. I know it's terribly short notice, but is there anything you can do for us?" She smiled warmly at the girl.
"Yes, ma'am," Molly affirmed. "I'm so new here, I've got only one other order, and it's nearly done." She gestured to a pale pink day dress displayed on a dress form by the window. Next to it, a shiny, black sewing machine sat on a small wooden table.
"Wonderful!" Rachel exclaimed. "Let us have a look at your patterns."
Molly led them to a table at the back of the shop that held two large books full of dress patterns and some sketches Molly had done herself. Josie plunked reluctantly into one of the chairs. Sensing a presence behind her, she turned and saw that Adam was still with them. The other ladies noticed, too, and turned to look at him.
"Adam, sweetheart, you can go," Hannah said, laying her hand on his arm.
"Oh, yes," Adam replied, still gazing at Molly, "I suppose I should leave you ladies to it. I'll see you at lunch." He turned to Molly. "And I certainly hope to see you again soon, Miss O'Connell." He gave her his most charming smile and turned to leave.
Josie's hollered warning came a second too late, and Adam turned around straight into another of Molly's dress forms. He tripped, and in his efforts to catch both himself and the headless mannequin before they toppled to the floor, he grabbed the dress form by its breasts.
Josie would be forever impressed by Adam's recovery.
"My apologies, madam," he said, setting the mannequin upright and giving it a low bow. He winked at Molly, who giggled as she watched him depart, the doorbell tinkling cheerfully behind him.
Josie had to work so hard to suppress her laughter that her face quickly exhausted its supply of red and turned bright purple. Hannah bit her lower lip until tears rose to her eyes.
Rachel and Widow Hawkins simply shook their heads.
"Young people these days!" Clementine remarked.
Josie quickly changed the subject. "Aunt Rachel," she began, pointing to a random dress pattern, "what do you think of this gown?"
Adam floated all the way to Josh Grayson's shop without ever feeling his feet touch the ground. He had never been so struck by a woman in his entire life, and he didn't even know her yet.
Yet.
He grinned at the thought; Molly was the type of woman he wanted to get to know slowly, savoring each new little discovery. The image of her brilliant green eyes burned into his memory, Adam grinned all the way to the leather shop.
After ordering the new harnesses, Adam retired to the saloon for an early beer to while away the time until he could meet his family for lunch at the International House. As he nursed his brew, he decided to return to town later that week to take Molly to lunch and invite her to the Cartwrights' upcoming party. Happy with his plan, Adam sauntered over to the International House a few minutes before noon to meet his family and Widow Hawkins. He leaned casually against a post on the porch and waited for the ladies to arrive.
The noontime sun beat down on him, and Adam pulled the brim of his black hat a smidgeon lower over his brow. He smiled to himself as he gazed down the wide, dusty main street of Virginia City. In only four years, the grubby little "hamlet," as Rachel called it, had grown into a reasonably sized town with several two- and three-story buildings, including Widow Hawkins' boardinghouse and the hotel on whose porch he now loitered. Further down the street sat the saloon, and at the very end, with the soaring snow-capped Sierra Nevada as a backdrop, was Sheriff Coffee's office and jail. The street bustled with people, horses, and wagons, all of them sending up puffs of dust, but no one seemed to mind. Living in Nevada, a body became accustomed to dust, and it was a small price to pay for living amidst such natural beauty. Adam sighed contentedly. Boston, New York, and Washington had their appeal – Adam desperately missed libraries – but those crowded metropolises could never match the invigorating fresh air and glowing sunshine of his western home. No, Adam thought, Virginia City suited him just fine.
Within ten minutes, Adam spotted the ladies approaching from down the street. He did a quick headcount and discovered there were five women when there should have been only four. Pulling his hat brim even lower to reduce the glare from the bright sunlight, Adam nearly fell over when he recognized the extra woman in the entourage as none other than Miss Molly O'Connell. His stomach's rumblings of hunger morphed into a whirling ball of nerves, but he plastered on his most debonair smile.
"Miss O'Connell!" he exclaimed, kissing the back of the young lady's extended hand when the ladies reached him. "How wonderful of you to join us."
Molly giggled nervously. "Well, when Dr. Cartwright so graciously invited me, I couldn't say no," she explained, blushing.
Adam glanced over at Josie, who was grinning as if she had never been so proud of herself. Adam beamed back at her and resolved to buy her a nice gift when he was in San Francisco at the end of the summer. He held the door and ushered the ladies inside.
Rachel and Widow Hawkins spent the entire meal looking put out as Adam and Molly monopolized the conversation. Adam was fascinated by Molly's childhood in Ireland, and by the time lunch was over, he had gotten her to tell her entire life story. She had been born in Dublin almost twenty-six years ago. Her mother was a seamstress, too, and her father worked in the Guinness beer brewery. Molly was only eight years old when the horrific potato famine struck Ireland, but being in Dublin helped her family survive the famine – the hardest-hit areas were along the island's west coast – and also provided her the opportunity to attend school, at least until she was thirteen when she went to work in one of Dublin's dressmaking factories. When her mother died when Molly was seventeen, her father decided to give up beer-making and gathered up her and her younger brother, Fionn, and set off for America. They arrived first in Boston but made their way slowly across the United States to California.
"Sounds a lot like my own father," Adam remarked. "He and I spent seven years crossing the continent from Boston to Nevada."
"Aye, it's a long way," Molly agreed. "But we made it in about a year, and Da and Fionn found work on the docks in San Francisco. When Da died last year, Fionn decided he'd had enough of city life and started lookin' for a small farm to buy with the money he'd saved up. And here we are."
"Yes, here you are," Adam said, smiling across the table at her. She smiled back and him, and the pair gazed at each other for several long moments while the rest of the family watched awkwardly.
At last, Josie cleared her throat. "Well, Molly," she said as she cut into her baked potato, "you must come to our party on the sixteenth and meet everyone."
Rachel looked disapproving – she had been less than thrilled when Josie invited the Irishwoman to lunch in the first place – but Adam grinned at Josie once more and knew he owed her big. Perhaps he would get her two presents in San Francisco.
"Oh, yes!" Hannah exclaimed with genuine delight. "You must join us. It will give you an opportunity to meet more of the townspeople."
Molly glowed. "I'd like that very much, thank you," she accepted.
Adam beamed.
Adam found the rest of his week quite frustrating. He desperately wanted to return to town and take Molly to lunch, but between his ranch duties and visiting with his aunts, he did not have an opportunity to slip away. He jumped at the chance, therefore, to once again drive Rachel, Hannah, and Josie into town the following Tuesday for Josie's dress fitting. He knew he would not be able to get Molly alone for a private lunch, but seeing her in a group was better than nothing and might help keep Virginia City's other young bachelors at bay.
Josie smirked when she saw him pull the surrey carriage up to the house that morning. Adam was usually meticulous about his appearance, making sure he was clean-shaven and his hair was neatly cropped and combed, but he had really done himself up this morning. He was wearing a crisp, white shirt and a pair of pressed black trousers instead of his usual jeans. His freshly polished boots gleamed in the morning sunlight, and Josie was fairly certain he had even polished his hatband. As Adam helped her into the carriage, Josie caught a whiff of his cologne. His good cologne, she noticed, not his usual Bay Rum aftershave.
"You look nice," she commented impishly as she settled into her seat.
"Thank you," he replied with a sly half-smile. The cousins grinned at each other. Adam knew Josie understood exactly why he had taken so much care while dressing this morning.
Rachel took in her nephew's brushed-up appearance and nodded approvingly. "It is a relief to know I have had an influence on someone," she remarked, cutting her eyes to Josie's plain brown skirt and checkered shirtwaist.
"Yeah, Pa really is hopeless," Adam quipped. Josie squeezed his hand in gratitude as Hannah laughed aloud. Rachel rolled her eyes as Adam helped her into the carriage.
When they arrived in town, Rachel was disappointed to discover that Widow Hawkins was busy preparing for the arrival of new boarders and could not accompany them to the dress shop. Everyone else, however, was relieved – Josie had explained to her mother about the widow's incessant pursuit of Ben, and even the very patient Hannah had begun to weary of the overbearing English woman's presence.
Morris, the telegraph operator, was strolling down the street as Adam rolled the wagon to a stop in front of Molly O'Connell's dress shop, and he practically jumped at Hannah as Adam helped her out of the carriage.
"Mrs. Cartwright!" Morris shouted in her face. Hannah took an involuntary step backward. "Oh, sorry," Morris apologized in a much softer voice. He plunged his hand into his vest pocket and rummaged around for a moment before producing a slip of blue paper, which he held out to Hannah. "Telegram for you, Mrs. Cartwright. Glad I stuck it in my pocket."
Hannah thanked him for the message, but Morris stayed put, bouncing from foot to foot, until Adam shooed him away.
"He's a little excitable," Adam explained in answer to Rachel's questioning look.
Hannah unfolded the paper and read its contents, her brow furrowed. "That's odd," she muttered.
"What is it, Mama?" Josie asked, fighting the urge to read over her mother's shoulder.
"It's from your father," Hannah said and then read the telegram aloud. "I am fine STOP Love to Josie STOP Love Jacob."
"There must have been another battle," Adam deduced. He and Josie stared at each other as they puzzled it out.
"Chancellorsville!" the cousins declared in unison.
"How backwards," Josie remarked. "Usually we hear about the battle first and then have to wait to find out about Papa."
"You ladies go on inside and take care of Josie's dress," Adam said. "I'll go over to the telegraph office and see if Morris has more information."
"No need for that, Mr. Cartwright," a lilting voice rang out behind them. It was Molly, standing on the porch of her shop and smiling right at Adam. "I've a copy of the story right here in me shop."
Adam's face lit up as he spun around to face Molly. He mounted the porch steps in a single bound and took hold of her hand, kissing the back of it as he had done the previous week. "Miss O'Connell," he greeted her.
"Mornin'," Molly replied with a little giggle. Adam could have stood there all day staring into Molly's eyes, but he was anxious for the news about the battle. Molly sensed this and led them all inside. She disappeared briefly into the back room and reemerged with a sheet of paper, which she handed to Adam.
Josie pressed up against her cousin to read the article with him. Hannah and Rachel watched anxiously as the pair scanned the story, their eyes darting back and forth in perfect synchronization, and their eyebrows rising higher with each paragraph.
"I don't believe it," Josie gasped, her hand covering her mouth.
"What is it?" Hannah asked.
"Stonewall Jackson is dead," Adam breathed, still staring at the paper.
Even Rachel's mouth dropped open at this news. General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson had been General Robert E. Lee's right-hand man for nearly two years. He had led a vicious campaign through the Shenandoah Valley the year before and was considered one of the best strategic minds on either side of the war.
"How did it happen?" Rachel inquired.
"Article says he took a bullet in the left arm on the second of the month," Adam replied. "Doctors amputated the arm, and he appeared to be recovering, but he contracted pneumonia and died just two days ago, on Sunday."
"I didn't think the generals got that close to the front lines," Hannah remarked.
"Oh, he weren't on the front lines, Mrs. Cartwright," Molly chimed in. "Shot by one of his own men, he was, riding back to camp at the end of the day."
"The end of a victorious day, for him," Adam mused, his eyes still darting back and forth across the paper.
Adam filled the ladies in on the rest of the battle. Fighting had broken out near Chancellorsville in northeastern Virginia on May 1 and raged for six days. On May 2, General Jackson and his men executed a brilliant flanking maneuver, which brought them within only a few hundred feet of the Union troops. The Confederates unleashed a savage charge, sending the Union soldiers fleeing, many of them never firing a shot. As General Jackson rode back to camp that evening, a nervous unit of North Carolinians mistook him for a Union officer and opened fire, inflicting the wound that would ultimately claim his life.
The battle continued another four days without General Jackson. May 3 would go down in history as the second bloodiest day of the war. By May 6, the Union's Army of the Potomac was defeated, but for Confederate General Robert E. Lee, it was a Pyrrhic victory. He had lost one of the most brilliant officers of the era.
"I'm sorry the man lost his life, but you can't deny it's a boon to the Union having him out of the war," Josie remarked.
"They're estimating 17,000 casualties on the Union side alone," Adam lamented. Josie studied his face carefully, fearful that she would see the lifelessness in his eyes that he had carried after Antietam. But just then, Molly moved a step closer to Adam and laid a hand on his arm.
"Aye, it's terrible," she agreed softly.
Adam nearly melted at Molly's touch, his despair over the battle fading almost as quickly as it had arisen. He still grieved the lost lives, but he now felt hope, too. Hope that all was not lost, as long as there were still good people in the world. He turned his gaze toward Molly and smiled affectionately at her.
Rachel unwittingly broke the spell. "It is horrible," she sniffled loudly as she dabbed her eyes with a dainty lace handkerchief. "Absolutely horrible. But at least Jacob is safe."
Hannah nodded her agreement, a small tear escaping the corner of her eye and trickling down her cheek. Adam dug his own handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to his aunt. She accepted it and dried her eyes.
"Well," Hannah said, gathering herself. "I think we have taken enough of Miss O'Connell's time with this. Shall we get down to business?"
Molly swiped the news article from Adam's hand and beckoned to the ladies to follow her to the back room so Josie could try on her new gown.
"You'll join us for lunch again, won't you, Miss O'Connell?" Adam asked before he left.
Molly beamed. "I'd love to," she replied. Adam smiled back and bid them all farewell. This time, he was very careful as he turned around to leave, and he gave all of Molly's dress forms a comically wide berth as he crossed through the shop to the door. He was rewarded by the sound of Molly's sweet laugh, and he turned and grinned at her one last time before stepping out into the street.
Adam killed time by picking up some groceries at Will Cass's General Store and Emporium – the shopkeeper had Hoss's favorite canned peaches back in stock – and tipping back a cold beer with Sheriff Coffee at the Bucket of Blood. When Roy seemed unusually interested in how Rachel Stoddard was enjoying her visit to the Ponderosa, Adam invited him to join them for lunch to see for himself – an invitation the sheriff cheerfully accepted.
An hour later, Adam and Roy were both trying not to bounce with excitement as they waited for the ladies to arrive at the International House. The first thing Adam noticed when the foursome drew near was the way Josie and Molly were waltzing arm-in-arm down the street, chattering away like a pair of excited sparrows. Molly said something to Josie that caused her to throw her head back and laugh so loudly that the joyful sound echoed all the way down the street. Adam smiled. He could live a thousand years and never tire of hearing Josie laugh. The past year had been difficult for her, especially losing Margaret to the flu, and with Patience spending more and more time with Hoss, Adam had worried that Josie's little circle of friends was shrinking, so it cheered him to see it increasing again. And though he never would have said so aloud, he suddenly realized how very important it was to him that Molly and Josie get along.
The two young ladies were still giggling together as they approached the hotel's porch and greeted Adam and the sheriff. When Rachel spotted Roy standing next to Adam, her entire face lit up like she had just won a magnificent prize.
"Why, Sheriff Coffee!" she exclaimed. "How lovely to see you again!" She extended her hand to him, and the sheriff bent over and kissed it in a clumsy imitation of Adam's smooth maneuver. Adam and Josie clutched each other for support when Rachel giggled. "Girlish" was not a word anyone would ever have used to describe Rachel Stoddard, yet that was exactly her reaction to the lawman.
Roy took it in stride. "Lovely to see you again, ma'am," he replied. "I was delighted when your nephew here invited me to join you for lunch. I have wanted to ride out to the Ponderosa to see how you all have been gettin' along, but unfortunately, my duties have kept me busy here in town." He puffed out his chest importantly, causing Adam to let out a renegade snort that he tried valiantly, if not completely successfully, to disguise as a sneeze. Josie had to duck behind Molly so no one could see her fighting back laughter.
"Of course they have!" Rachel agreed. "I expect you are quite busy most of the time, an important man like yourself."
Josie peeked over Molly's shoulder, caught Adam's eye, and made a face like she was gagging. Knowing he was mere seconds away from losing his composure, Adam offered his arm to Molly.
"Shall we see if our table's ready?" he suggested.
Rachel positioned herself next to the sheriff at the table. When Roy insisted that Rachel tell him "all about Boston," Adam knew the rest of them would not have to converse with Rachel for the duration of their meal. When Rachel Stoddard got started on Boston and the history of her family, the audience had better hope they had plenty of time to spare. Adam turned to Josie instead.
"So what were you two ladies discussing on the way here that was so hilarious?" he asked Josie, giving her a playful nudge in the ribs.
"Molly was just telling me stories about her and her brother as children," Josie said with a grin. "They sound just like Little Joe and me!"
"And you've managed to survive to adulthood?" Adam asked as he turned to his other side and gave Molly a sly smile.
Molly laughed. "Aye, it's a bit of a miracle," she agreed, her eyes twinkling. She held his gaze for several moments before looking back down at her salad plate.
"You should bring your brother along to the party on Saturday," Adam suggested. "We'd love to meet him."
"I will, thank you!" Molly said brightly, clearly pleased to have her brother included in the fun. "He'd love that. Fionn loves meetin' new people. I'm lookin' forward to meetin' your brothers, too, Mr. Cartwright. Josie's told me so much about them."
Adam smiled at Molly's use of Josie's Christian name rather than her professional title and decided it was time to change the way Molly addressed him, too.
"Adam," he corrected her gently. "Mr. Cartwright is an old man. I'm just Adam."
"Alright, then, 'Just Adam,'" Molly teased. "You can call me 'Merely Molly.'"
The pair laughed, their foreheads nearly touching. Josie rolled her eyes and felt a stabbing pain in her shin as someone kicked her under the table. She looked up and saw Hannah gazing at her and biting back a smile. Josie smirked back. The flirting was downright cloying, but both Josie and Hannah were thrilled to see Adam taking part in it. In one brief shared glance, Josie and Hannah could tell they were both thinking it was about darn time.
After lunch, Sheriff Coffee insisted on escorting everyone back to Molly's shop, where he and Rachel bid each other a lengthy farewell in which Rachel elicited Roy's sincere promise to attend the party that Saturday. Roy promised he would not miss it for the world and helped Rachel up into the carriage.
"Your gown will be ready by Thursday," Molly told Josie as Adam lifted her easily into the carriage's front seat.
"Oh, good," Josie said, not sounding at all thrilled by this news. She and Molly shared a brief gaze and dissolved into giggles once more. "I'm sure Adam here will be happy to come by and pick it up."
"Your wish is my command, Empress Josephine," Adam replied, placing his right hand over his heart and bowing deeply. He kissed Molly's hand once more before swinging into the wagon seat next to Josie. "I'll see you in a couple days, then," he said to the seamstress. He gave her a wink, clucked to the horses, and set off for home.
A little ways down the road, as Rachel and Hannah chatted happily in the back seat, Adam turned to Josie.
"So what's so funny about your dress being ready on Thursday?" he asked quietly.
"Oh," Josie replied, waving one hand dismissively. "Nothing funny about the timing, just the dress itself."
"What's wrong with the dress?" Adam asked, slightly offended. "Seems like Molly does real nice work, judging from the samples in her shop."
"Molly's work is exquisite," Josie agreed. "It's just the style Aunt Rachel selected."
Josie could tell by Adam's silence that he needed more explanation. Envy swelled up inside her over the simplicity of her male cousins' sartorial lives, and she sighed.
"Remember our dinner with Captain Pike on the Morning Star?" she asked, referencing their journey from Philadelphia two years earlier.
Adam acknowledged that he did.
"This gown I'm getting would be suitable for that occasion."
"You looked beautiful that night," Adam complimented her, still not understanding what was wrong with a fancy gown.
Josie smiled. She was not a vain woman, but she had to agree that she had, in fact, looked stunning that evening. "Thank you. But this gown is going to look ridiculous on a cattle ranch. I'm going to look ridiculous."
"You will look amazing," Adam insisted. "And I can think of at least one other young man who will agree with me." He shot Josie a wicked grin and laughed when she blushed.
"Oh, shut up, 'Just Adam,'" Josie retorted, giving him a wicked grin of her own.
"Touché, Josephine, touché," Adam replied, chastened.
The cousins laughed, and Josie leaned over to give Adam a peck on the cheek. They rode in companionable silence the rest of the way home.