Prisoners of Love: Cinnamon Page 6

  Jed climbed down, and strode around the wagon to lift out the barrel. “Try not to lose anything this time.”

  “That’s not funny.” She made a face and began to pull clothes out, dropping them into piles.

  Jed leaned on the barrel and grinned at her. “I wasn’t kidding. We can’t afford to lose any more clothes.”

  The hurt came into her eyes again, and he felt about as tall as a cricket. He knew she was trying, and once they were settled all of these mishaps would be behind them. He reached over the barrel and tugged her head toward him, and gave her a soft kiss. “I know, darlin’. Things will get better, I promise you.”

  Chapter Six

  Trinidad, Colorado was nothing like Mindy had expected. In some ways the town reminded her of Dodge City, but this one had a lot more people. Probably twice as many, Jed told her. He’d talked with several of the church elders who were familiar with the town after they had given him the assignment. One of them only wanted to talk about the scandal created by the preacher he was being sent to replace.

  It seemed a more peaceful place, too. Dodge City always seemed to have fistfights and shooting going on all the time, but especially on Saturday nights, or when a new bunch of cowboys came into town. The cattlemen, cowboys, and other men drifting into Dodge made it a dangerous place to live.

  They had separated from the wagon train earlier in the afternoon. She’d hugged Becky, Miranda, Abigail, and Miss Nellie, feeling lost. They’d shared a jail cell, and had grown close to each other on the trip. But now it was time for her to start her new life as a preacher’s wife.

  Lordy, be. What had she gotten herself into?

  According to Jed their home and church was not too far from the center of town. They visited the mercantile and replenished some of their supplies, and introduced themselves. The woman behind the counter, Miss Wolfe, worked there with her father who owned the store. She told Mindy she was so happy to see this preacher had a wife with him.

  That made her wonder what she’d meant by that, but once they rounded a bend and saw the church for the first time, her mouth dried up so that she couldn’t even think about anything else. This was real. They were here to minister to these people. Jed had done a lot of studying, but all she knew of her bible was what she’d learned sitting in church on Sunday.

  Panicked, she turned to Jed. “I don’t think I can do this.”

  “Mindy, don’t worry, honey. It will be fine.”

  “But I don’t know a verse from a psalm, or a saint from a sinner. How can I talk to these people? They’ll know I’m not one of them. Oh, Lord what did I do?”

  Jed pulled the animals up short and after wrapping the reins around the dash, turned to her, taking her cold hands in his warm ones. “Now stop this. You will be fine. I’ll be doing the preaching, and all you need to do is take care of us, have tea with the ladies, and work on projects that help the poor.”

  She placed a shaking hand on his cheek. “Why do you have faith in me, Jed? I’m a saloon girl, raised up in a brothel.”

  “You’re my wife. That’s who you are. What you were in Dodge City is not important. Give them time, and they’ll love you as much as I do.”

  “Oh, Jed.” She smiled and pulled him in for a kiss. He was so sweet to her, and so patient with her mistakes. It had gotten harder and harder each day to keep reminding herself that he would realize one day she wasn’t worth the trouble she caused him. She had to be careful not to give him her heart.

  That was the scene that greeted Mrs. Noah Peterson, head of the Women’s Committee for the Betterment of the Congregants of the Grace Christian Church of Trinidad. “Well, I never,” she huffed.

  Jed and Mindy sprang apart.

  The woman narrowed her eyes. “Are you the new preacher?”

  Jed jumped down and approached the woman, giving her a warm smile. Mindy tried very hard to get her blush under control.

  “Yes, I am the new preacher. Reverend Jedediah Nelson.” He turned to help Mindy down from the wagon. “This is my wife, Mindy.”

  “I am Mrs. Noah Peterson. I head up the Women’s Committee for the Betterment of the Congregants of the Grace Christian Church of Trinidad.” She looked Mindy up and down. “What sort of a name is Mindy?”

  Mindy gave Jed a nervous glance. “It, ah, it’s really Cinnamon, but I prefer Mindy.”

  The woman’s eyebrows rose. “Cinnamon? That’s not a Christian name. What were your parents thinking? Well, if I were you, young lady, I would prefer Mindy, also.”

  Mindy flushed, not sure if the woman was being nice or nasty. Since she was now a preacher’s wife, and learning to be polite instead of taking offense, as she’d done in the saloon, she smiled, and said, “Thank you.”

  The woman looked at her curiously, then turned her attention to Jed. “I am the head of the Welcoming Committee for the Grace Christian Church of Trinidad. I have been expecting you, and seeing as how I live right across the street, I noticed you pulling up.”

  I live right across the street.

  Mindy groaned inwardly. Just what she needed, someone with her nose so far up in the air she would probably drown if it rained. Most likely Mrs. Peterson spent a great deal of time looking out her perfectly clean windows, and would see Mindy making a mess of things on an hourly basis.

  Jed gave her his best preacher smile. “Thank you for welcoming us, Mrs. Peterson. We appreciate knowing someone was looking out for us. Once we get moved in, and settled, my wife will be happy to have you over for tea.”

  Mindy’s head whipped around so fast she thought it would fly through the air. Lordy be, she was only here no more than ten minutes and already Jed was inviting this woman—who scared the shit out of her—into their yet-to-be-seen home for tea!

  Her husband glared in her direction and darted his eyes toward Mrs. Peterson. Mindy frowned and gave him a questioning look. The three stood in silence until Mindy realized she was supposed to mention tea, also. “Yes Mrs. Peterson, I would like for you to, ah, come for tea.”

  Holy hell, her hands were sweaty, beads of perspiration dotted her upper lip, and her heart beat a tattoo in her chest. She was not meant for this sort of social life. Give her a bunch of smart-mouthed cowboys and she could handle herself. But this disapproving woman—not likely.

  “Very well, then. I await your summons.” She sniffed and made to cross the street.

  What in tarnation did that mean?

  “Have a pleasant day, Mrs. Peterson.” Jed took Mindy by the elbow and escorted her up the path to the house. “I have a key that the church elders gave me.”

  He inserted the key into the lock and opened the door. Mindy gasped and stepped back, the heel of her half boot landing on Jed’s foot. “Ouch.”

  ***

  Jed rubbed his foot against his leg and agreed with Mindy’s gasp. The house was a mess. Whoever the last preacher had been, aside from running off with a married woman, he also hadn’t the first idea how to keep a house. Usually bachelor preachers would have a local woman come in to cook and clean. Of course, there was the possibility that the woman he’d hired was the very one who he’d run off with.

  He sighed and looked over at Mindy.

  “Where do we start?” she mumbled. He swore there were tears in her eyes.

  He rubbed his hands together, trying to appear more encouraged than he felt. “Today is Thursday and I have my first worship service for Sunday all written out. That means we can both work for the next few days to set the house to rights.”

  “But you invited Mrs. Peterson for tea.”

  “Yes. Well, for now that will have to wait.” He walked into the next room. “Oh, no.” He turned to Mindy who was still eyeing the parlor. “Don’t come in here, darlin’.”

  So, of course she immediately joined him. She clapped both hands on her face. “This is a disaster.”

  “Hello!” They both turned at a voice from the parlor. The voice turned into a woman, middle-aged, and plump. She had a bright smile on her f
ace until she took a look around and her jaw dropped. “Oh, dear.” She tsked and moved further in. “I assume you’re the new preacher?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Reverend Jedediah Nelson. And this is my wife, Mindy.”

  She took Mindy’s hands. “What a sweet name. I’m sure you’re just as sweet, too. My name is Bessie Harding. But you must call me Bessie, everyone does.” She shook her head, blonde curls waving as her head moved. “But this. This is a mess.”

  “My word, exactly.” Jed said.

  “I don’t know what Mrs. Peterson was thinking. She was in charge of the welcoming committee.” She tapped her chin. “We must get some of the women from the church to come and help. This is too much work for the two of you. And, not a very nice welcome, is it?”

  Jed breathed a sigh of relief. He looked over at Mindy who appeared just as hopeful as he was at Bessie’s remarks. Things were looking up.

  Bessie rolled up her sleeves. “Well, let’s get started. Reverend, you start unloading your wagon. Mindy and I will start by throwing out all this garbage the last preacher left behind. Then you can fill your wagon with it and haul it out of town.”

  Grateful beyond measure to have someone who knew where to start, he headed out of the house. He carried in a few things, with Bessie telling him where to put them. Mindy had found a bucket, and was busy with a cloth and water, attempting to clean the dirty, sticky, kitchen table. A pile of boxes, dirty plates, and burned pots sat in the corner of the kitchen.

  “I’m going over to Sadie Hanson’s house and have her spread the word to get some more women over here.” Bessie headed to the front door. “I’ll be back directly.”

  Once the woman was gone, Jed placed his bundle on the floor and took Mindy’s hand. “See, honey. There are helpful people.”

  Mindy wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “Yeah, I’m very grateful.” She freed her hand from his and crossed her arms, surveying the room. “You know, once this place is all cleaned up and our things are in here, this will be a nice home. Certainly better than anything I’ve ever had before.”

  “I’m glad you feel that way. I’ll keep unloading the wagon. With the help that Bessie is going to get us, we should have this place looking fine in no time.”

  He breathed a sigh of relief as he continued unloading. When they’d first seen the house, he feared Mindy was ready to jump back on the wagon and demand he return her to Dodge City. Truthfully, he wouldn’t have blamed her if she had.

  What the devil had Mrs. Peterson done in the way of welcoming them? All he’d seen so far was her judging his wife and finding her wanting. The very last thing he wanted Mindy to feel. It was important to him for the congregants to accept her, to make her feel better about herself than she had for most of her life.

  Over the next hour, as he walked back and forth lugging things into the house, Bessie had returned with two other women who she introduced as Mrs. Stevens, and her daughter, Miss Stevens. Several minutes later, two more arrived, Mrs. Jenkins and Mrs. Abernathy.

  Although he was fairly certain Mrs. Peterson was keeping watch out of her parlor window, since he’d seen the curtains in her front room move more than once, she never joined the group. Apparently, her idea of welcoming the new preacher and his wife was spying on them, and waiting for an invitation to tea.

  Then he chastised himself for his unkind thoughts. He was supposed to be patient and tolerant. Un-judgmental. He would have to spend extra time with his bible tonight to make up for the mean thoughts. This preacher work was certainly time consuming.

  By the time the wagon was completely unloaded, and all the garbage that needed to be hauled away piled into the wagon, the house had taken on a semblance of order. The place looked downright homey. Mindy seemed, happy, chatting away with the ladies as they worked. They’d also prepared a wonderful-smelling meal that he was anxious to dive into.

  “We are just about to leave, Reverend.” Bessie wiped her hands on her apron and approached him as he entered the house. “I think your wife should be able to take over from here.”

  Mindy joined the woman, looking tired, but happy. “Doesn’t it all look grand, Jed?”

  “Yes, it certainly does.” He turned to Bessie. “I can’t thank you enough for all your help.”

  The other women drifted into the parlor.

  “Thank you from both Mrs. Nelson and me for all your help.”

  “It was a pleasure, Reverend. We look forward to attending your service on Sunday.”

  With goodbyes and some hugs for Mindy, the women all departed. Jed rubbed his hands together, anxious to fill his belly with the food and then enjoy a night in their own bed with his wife.

  ***

  It was Sunday morning and Mindy glanced again at the clock on the wall. Damn, another ten minutes had already gone by. She was still struggling with her hair, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get it into a neat, ‘preacher’s wife’ style. She knew how to get the curls to work with the feather she’d worn with the saloon girl outfit, and for church in Dodge City, she just pulled it back and tied a ribbon around it. But now she felt that she should have something more dignified. A bun, or one of them fancy things with the French name—chi, something or other.

  “Honey, aren’t you ready yet?” Jed entered their bedroom, his notes in his hand. He looked so handsome it almost hurt to look at him. The one curl that always fell on his forehead had broken loose from his slicked-back hair. His dark wool suit, vest, and white shirt gave him a very preacher-like appearance. She was so proud of him.

  “Almost. I can’t get my hair to behave. I want something that looks respectable.”

  He walked behind her and pushed her hair aside and kissed her on the back of her neck. “You look respectable right now.” He backed up and grinned. “Well, you will once you put your dress on that is.”

  Giving in to the inevitable, she pulled her hair back and fastened it with a ribbon. She quickly donned her dress and new bonnet and they were off. She clutched her bible in her hands as they took the short walk from the house to the church. “I’m nervous, Jed.”

  He took a deep breath. “So am I, but I know we’ll be fine. Just sit in the front pew so I can look at you when I feel the need to look upon the face of a friend.”

  “Am I your friend?”

  He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, hoping Mrs. Peterson was nowhere around, watching and judging. “You’re my best friend, Mindy. You always have been and always will be.”

  Mindy made her way to the front pew and settled right in the middle, so she could see her husband clearly. Slowly the church began to fill up behind her. She nodded and smiled at various members, but only one older couple joined her in the front pew.

  She remembered from her visits to Jed’s papa’s church that the first pew only seemed to be filled with Reverend Nelson’s family. Maybe that was a church traditional she knew nothing about, since she’d only attended church when she was old enough to get herself ready and out the door. She looked forward to the day when the front pew would be filled with her, and several of their fresh-faced, much-loved, children.

  A pretty young woman outfitted in a light blue and white polka-dot dress, with a blue bonnet, walked to sanctuary and sat at the piano. She began to play on the beautiful instrument, nothing like Mindy had ever seen before. The woman was very good.

  The church continued to fill as the music wafted over the crowd. Mindy always got a peaceful feeling when she was in church. Even though she’d received a lot of ribbing from the other girls at the Lady Gay, and smirks and nasty remarks from the members of Pastor Nelson’s church, she had never missed a Sunday. It had been a special time, all for herself. A time when she felt normal, like other people who didn’t drink, cuss, gamble, and fight.

  The music stopped, and a hush grew over the crowd. Jed came from the side door in the sanctuary and stepped up to the pulpit. He looked happy, friendly, and relaxed. She, on the other hand was a bundle of ne
rves.

  “Good morning, everyone. I am Reverend Jedidiah Nelson.” He waved toward Mindy. “And the lovely lady in the yellow dress is my wonderful wife, Mindy.”

  Mindy felt the heat rise in her face and wanted to crawl under the bench. He grinned at her and began the service. She sat, mesmerized as he spoke, and used his immense charm and humor to bring the Lord’s message to the congregation.

  They stood a few times to sing from the hymnal, and Mindy began to relax and feel the peace that always descended on her in church. When the service ended, Mrs. Peterson walked to the front of the church, and turned toward the assembly. Smiling brightly, she said, “I have arranged to have a small reception for the Reverend and his wife at my house right after the service. I hope you will all join us.”

  Jed walked to the front pew and took Mindy’s hand, escorting her down the aisle to greet the church members as they filed out of the church. She never shook so many hands in her life, or smiled so long. Despite the cool weather, she felt the sweat beading on her upper lip, and running down her skin under her dress.

  Tarnation, how could she fool all these people? They thought she was a respectable lady, married to this wonderful preacher, and here she was a no-account saloon girl. Her stomach cramped at the thought of how these nice people would react if they knew her background.

  Once everyone had left the church, and most of them took the short walk to Mrs. Peterson’s house, Jed bowed to Mindy. “Well, my dear, it seems we’re a hit.” He extended his arm for her to take as they strolled to the reception.

  Yes, we’re a hit, but what happens if these fine, upstanding church-goers find out that I’m a whore’s daughter, former saloon girl, and jailbird?

  Chapter Seven

  Mrs. Peterson’s house was small, and cramped with what Jed thought had to be hundreds of little plates, vases, cups, tintypes, and other things that made him nervous to move around, for fear of breaking something.

  At least fifty people were crowded into the space, so he was grateful when his hostess suggested they all move to the garden in the back of the house. The crowd filed through, and several women from the church bought out small sandwiches, lemonade, cakes, and tea.