Carol Arens - A Texas Christmas Reunion

Juliette assumed that the man the members of the Society had been discussing could be no other than Trea Culverson. Juliette was grateful that she had not been here for that conversation. Her recollections of the boy were vastly different than theirs.

And the very last thing she had time for was filling her mind with a long-ago romance, especially one that had only happened in her imagination.

“Yes, well,” Juliette said. “That’s what the Ladies Service Society does. They make plans over coffee, but usually don’t act upon them.”

“Same with our ‘brave’ sheriff. He took his lunch plate to the ladies’ table. Sure did make some big talk about keeping a sharp eye on the man they were talking about.” Cora picked up her pencil and appeared to be absorbed in study, but Juliette figured it was more focused on town trouble.

“He would, wouldn’t he? After his cousins nearly robbed the bank right under his nose, he needs to do something to look like he’s protecting us.” Rose shrugged. “I was too young to remember Mr. Culverson much, but he sounds charming and wicked all at once.”

“Yes, well, some will remember him that way, but I remember a boy with a kind heart.”

When she had time she might give her memories of Trea further thought, but at the moment she had to focus on what might be the biggest mistake she had ever made.

So much was a jumble in her mind, such as how to deal with various forms of vermin while trying to keep Warren Lindor out of The Fickle Dog Saloon when it was right next door to the hotel.

But a few other things were perfectly clear.

For one thing, she would move into the hotel, once it was livable.

For another, she would open a fancy restaurant within the hotel—a steakhouse. It would be a respectable place where folks could bring their families.

Still yet another, and this was very important to her, she would keep her dear café open. It had been her lifeline, something to focus her future on after burying her family.

What she had just done was too overwhelming to consider all at once. If she tried, it made her short of breath and gave her a bit of a headache.

Tiny steps would get her to where she needed to be. In time, she hoped to lead Beaumont Spur back to the decent place it used to be. A place where a child could run free, hear birdsong instead of garish music...where one did not need to worry about being bowled over by staggering saloon patrons. That was something she hoped to change. Unfortunately, good folks were already packing.

She took a breath and let it out slowly. There was really nothing she could do about her giant undertaking right that moment.

Except—

“Rose, do you like working here?”

“I couldn’t get by without the work you give me. There aren’t a lot of respectable jobs for someone my age, and I’m not nearly ready to marry.”

“Would you consider running the café for me?” Juliette glanced between Rose and her little sister. Whatever Rose chose to do would be with Cora’s best interests in mind.

“You could live in my house. That way you would be here in town, closer to work and to school for Cora.”

Rose stared at her in silence. Warren’s soft chuckle drifted out of the kitchen while he read his novel.

“I know it’s sudden, but—”

“I can start right now. Mercy, but I guess I already have.” Rose lifted her hands and waggled her flour-crusted fingertips. “It won’t be long until the afternoon train. I’ll get back to the kitchen right now.”

“I can pay you, too, Cora, if you’d like to help with sweeping and keeping things tidy or watching the babies.”

“I reckon I won’t be going to school anytime soon, once the new teacher gets a look at the place, so, yes, I’d like that.”

“The classroom is that awful?”

“As far as I can tell, and that’s quite a bit, the old teacher never, ever, even wiped fingerprints off the desks.”

Beaumont needed a respectable teacher. Given that Juliette would have her children attending in only five more years, and also given the fact that keeping things neat and tidy was something of a crusade for her—

“Don’t you worry about what your new schoolteacher will think. If you’ll help your sister with the café and with Mr. Lindor for a few hours, I’ll make sure your new teacher will be happy with the classroom.”

A couple hours of scrubbing ought to give her time to think and plan. There were more thoughts in her mind right now than she could keep track of.

Along with an orderly attack on dirt, she might put together a plan to make her hotel a symbol of new life for Beaumont Spur.

* * *

Wind tugged Juliette’s skirt every which way while she pushed the buggy over the rutted road toward the schoolhouse. As cold as it was, she hadn’t wanted to bring the babies out, but they would be getting hungry soon. Even if they would accept a bottle, which they would not, Rose would have a lot to do if the train was full of passengers.

A portion of the blanket blew loose, exposing Lena’s dark, curly head. Bending over the buggy, Juliette tucked it back into place.

“I know it’s cold, sweetlings,” she murmured when the blanket heaved and fussing noises emerged from under it. “Almost there.”

Just as she lifted Joe from the buggy, a dozen or more fat snowflakes drifted down. She hurried up the steps with him hugged close to her breast. Once inside, she laid a blanket on the floor and put him on it. Within seconds he began to cry.

“I’m sorry, little love,” she called over her shoulder while she hurried back out to bring in Lena.

Lena cried louder than Joe did when Juliette laid her down beside her cousin.

There was nothing to do but let them cry for a moment, since she could not leave the buggy to fill with snow.

Making quick work of it, she dragged the buggy inside then lit a fire in the stove. She put on a pot of water to heat, since it was far too cold to scrub with anything that was not warm and sudsy.

With a child in each arm, she sat cross-legged on the floor and fed them. The peaceful moment gave her time to look about at the task she had volunteered to do.

Cora was right. Any teacher worth the pay would not consider working in this filth. How long did she have to get it cleaned?

No one knew for sure when the instructor would arrive. Before Christmas was all she’d heard.

“What do you think, Lena?” She gazed down at her daughter and received a milky smile. “If I finish in time, I ought to hang a fir bough over the blackboard.”

Casting a frown at the walls and the smears of grime on them, she was not sure when that would be. There was plenty of firewood stacked outside, so she could stay here until she had to get Warren home and into bed.

The twilight hours were often difficult for him, and Rose should not have to deal with his increasingly odd moods.

“What do you think about some red berries tucked into the garland, Joe?” He kicked his tiny feet.

Within half an hour the room had warmed comfortably and the babies fallen asleep.

She turned her attention to the task at hand. Walls first, then desks and the floor.

The Ladies Service Society ought to have been here to help, but no doubt some of them were intent on leaving Beaumont Spur and no longer cared about the condition of education here.

Well, this was Juliette’s town—her school, in a sense—and she would see to its cleanliness. She could not understand why other folks didn’t care more about the condition of their school or their town. Perhaps it was because the people who had negative things to say spoke the loudest and set the mood for everyone else, giving off an attitude of despair instead of hope.

By the looks of things, she would be here for hours, listening to the snap of the fire, the babies breathing and the swish of the cleaning rag in soapy water.