Chapter 2

© Copyright 2011 by Elizabeth Delayne





Even though she’d lived in Cartersville, Crystal had grown up visiting the Forester’s for much of her life. She knew Rachel, and her story, how she’d come to teach and fallen in love with the brooding rancher. The scar that marked the left side of her face was little testimony to her spirit. After you got to know her, you really didn’t notice it at all.

Still, she hadn’t been prepared for the male presence that dominated the house. Sure, she’d spent the last two years learning to live with her father as he’d tried to settle down, but before that he’d been what he was back to being now: A U.S. Marshall, on the road, seeking justice, driven by something far deeper than Chrystal could understand.

The men from her father’s job had always been kept clear of the house; both criminals and deputies. She knew her parents had sheltered her.

And she knew that just because her father worked with a man didn’t mean he liked him or trusted him.

For the most part it had been just her and her mother, and it had been a quiet household. She wasn’t used to ... this.

She knew James Forester to be something of a quiet giant. It wasn’t that he was unreasonably tall, but he wasn’t a small man. He was muscular, and had big hands. Still it was more that his presence dominated the house. Not that he said much. He didn’t need to. You could feel him there.

Matthew wasn’t as quiet as his father, but he was reflective and just as easy going. He wasn’t exactly a good listener, but he paid more attention than you realized. Still, he just didn't seem to enjoy the company of a crowd or the chatter of just anyone. He was more settled around his family and his home.

It seemed so natural for him to work with animals. It was as if he understood them better than he understood humans. And it wasn’t just with his horses, but his dogs and maybe even the chickens. When she went out to gather eggs before breakfast, she was pretty sure she caught him talking to them as he tossed out feed.

Ten years younger than Matthew was Brian. Now Brian talked ... well, a little bit more. He asked a lot of questions, and engaged his younger brother Michael who was barely a toddler.

This home, outside Lenox, brimmed with a lot of love.

But it was still so ... dominated by the male.

Crystal pondered this strange twist in her life, the loss of her mother, and the fact that she was here, with the Foresters as she washed the morning dishes. She hadn’t had siblings, but she’d always had the Foresters. Still, it was odd not knowing what to say in a place where people didn’t have to say words. She wasn’t used to the presence ... the huge presence the Foresters made at all times.

She glanced over her shoulder as Matt came in the side door from the mud room. He was slightly taller than his father, but not as filled out and strong. The kitchen seemed overly crowded with him in it.

He hung his hat by the door and smiled at her. “Learning your way around?”

“I guess I’ve found the kitchen.”

Matt nodded and waited working out in advance what it was he needed to say. “Rachel said we were going to town this afternoon. She thought you’d like to get acquainted with the girls.”

The girls—she’d met them briefly on previous trips. The strikingly beautiful Lila, the bank manager’s daughter, with her always perfect golden blond locks pinned back. And Lauren, daughter to the Reverend and his wife and the object to Matt's quiet affection for as long as anyone could remember. Crystal's mother had said before her death that Matthew would wait until Lauren finished her schooling to properly court her. He respected Rachel's own education and her belief in an education too much to make a move any sooner.

And yet, Crystal believed that Lauren had finished her schooling a good month past and no one was mentioning any type of courtship or marriage.

“If you see Rachel, tell her I’m following orders.”

Crystal smiled as he walked back to his room, most likely to clean himself up for the trip to town. She wondered if the orders were from Rachel—or more than likely an expectation from Lauren. She didn't believe Matt would go through the process without it.

Turning back to the dishes, Crystal told herself that it was better--or rather--she was better this way. Long removed from Shatler and his terror, Lenox didn't have the same darkness that she'd felt in Cartersville, but it was more than that. Cartersville was a hub for the railroad. It had grown consistently throughout her lifetime. The girls she'd grown up with had mostly moved on with their lives, marrying a farm boy or someone from town. They'd moved away. They had started new lives. They'd long forgotten Crystal.

It wasn't their fault really. She'd been the one to pull away. The memories overwhelmed at times, at first especially. She'd struggled with those final moments with her mother and pretended that they didn't happen. She'd told herself the lie was real.

She'd hidden herself in her father's shadow for over a year. Then the anger overwhelmed. The truth didn't even matter. She'd raged inwardly at her mother for the truth and at her father for not being there.

The fire burned out. There was nothing she could do about the truth...

And then came the realization that the only way she could live with the secret was for justice to happen. If her mother was right, than the only way for justice to happen was for her father to be doing what he was called to do.

She'd made a bargain with God. He could have her father back on the trail. She would even encourage it.

As long as justice was done.

* * *

In fifteen years since Rachel first arrived so little had changed about Lenox. Sure, it had grown a little, though it was still a small in comparison to her childhood home. New people had moved onto the surrounding land. They now had a bank and a restaurant separate from the hotel, plus Dr. Jenkin’s wife Ruby now had a newer, larger home on the edge of town and had opened a boarding house for widows. The Barton’s had expanded their store and a few buildings had been built across from the church.

As Matt pulled the horses to a stop and swung down, Millie Barton stepped outside the store’s door, her grin wide and welcoming as she looked first at Rachel, then at Crystal.

“I didn’t expect to see you in town today, but I'm so glad you went ahead and brought this sweet thing in. It's good to see you, Crystal.”

Taking Matt’s offered hand, Rachel swung down. “Thought we’d bring Crystal into town to meet with the girls. On Sunday, Lila said that today was a good day for her to step away from the bank.”

“Just Lila and Lauren? Doesn’t have anything to do with the young men of this town, does it?” Millie asked before turning to Crystal and winking.

"Millie, leave the girl alone," Rachel sighed, but only because of the timing. She was well aware that Millie's son had been smitten with Crystal.

Ever the sales woman, Millie turned to the young woman, holding out both hands to take Crystal's in her own. “Look at you! You’re just as pretty as ever. I've always been jealous of your hair. Look how it picks up the sunlight! And I guess your father told you he was going to come by, set you up an account here at the store?”

“Yes, mam,” Crystal responded with just a bit of a curtsy, more from nerves than necessity. She'd wasn't fond of the attention. It tended to turn toward pity.

But Millie only smiled and drew Crystal into a warm hug. “Its so good that we get to have you around here for a little while.”

Then Millie turned to Matt, and slid her arm within his to guide him toward the store. “Since Miss. Peterson is going to be busy with the girls, it looks like you have some free time and we just got some of those sweets she likes."

Rachel looked over at Crystal and winked as Matt simply nodded.

"Go on inside. Jeff’s trying to get the shipment sorted so he can stock the shelves. It's such a pretty day outside. Seems like a good day for fishing. You might want to help him get it done so he can make his escape before his father finds something for him to rearrange.”

Matt grinned full and bright just before he disappeared through the door. “Yes, mam.”

Rachel slid an arm around Crystal. “Come on—while we wait on Lila to get here, lets give you the grand tour of the best store in town,” she teased. “The only store, but the Bartons make it the best.”

* * *

It was the railroad that made Cartersville into the large bustling center of commerce, and since the railroad didn’t through Lenox, it was different here. Crystal had grown up in the center of constant movement. People were in and out of the city, waiting for the train that came through at least once a day, and twice on Tuesdays and Fridays. There were two hotels, a school with multiple classrooms, an expanding library, seven boarding houses, and three dry good stores. There were two dress shops, a bakery, telegraph office and a separate post office.

Most everything in Lenox was handled through Bartons store. It was here you picked up your mail, bought cloth to make your own dresses and shopped for anything that you might need. Until recently you scheduled your telegraph to be sent when Jasper or Jeff Barton made weekly Cartersville. Now, thanks in part to her father, they at least had a telegraph of their own.

Still while she’d grown up in Cartersville, she'd learned how to sew from her mother. She stopped at the long counter and ran her hand over a ream of cloth that had been left out. The pretty blue tiny flowered pattern would look wonderful as a skirt. Maybe a bonnet.

She smiled a little. Maybe she hadn’t completely lost the girl who her mama raised.

“Ma really loves that.”

Crystal turned, stopped for a minute and stared. If Jeff Barton came to Cartersville he would always stop by the house to bring something from Rachel or to check for news to take back. Of course he only made the time if he made the trip without his father, which had only been in the last year.

He was the only person who had really seen a glimpse of the anger she'd felt. He'd brought her a plate of baked goods and she'd thrown it, then other pieces of china that had belonged to her mother. Jeff had watched in silence, then had silently cleaned up the mess. No one had ever said anything about it, so she knew he'd kept it to himself.

But since it had been very odd to see him. He shared that connection with her from that day. And she felt ashamed that he had. She was grateful, but she was also so sorry.

"Ah..." he nodded toward the fabric, and ran a hand over the back of his neck. "Ma really loves that fabric. She makes sure it stays in stock. Has ... forever."

She nodded and tried to think of a response, but froze and started at his hair. It was always cut just a bit too short. It was his father's way, quick and efficient to groom. And his eyes were familiar and soft. He carried a bag of flour over his shoulder.

“Guess you should put that down. The flour. It looks heavy.”

“I'm used to it, but I do need to get by.”

"What?"

"The flour. I'm taking it--" he pointed behind her.

She stepped to the side and watched as he walked over to where two flour bags leaned against each other. He bent at the knees and slowly set it down. There was where the grace ended. He awkwardly leaned it against the other two, then grimaced as it all toppled over.

“Here,” Crystal rushed forward and as he shifted one of the sacks, she held it up as he worked to balance the others. It was heavier than she expected and accidentally let it go before Jeff had stabilized the other bags.

When the sacks seemed to be stable, they both took a careful step back.

While she grinned, Crystal looked up and found that Jeff wasn’t exactly smiling. He was looking toward the front—hesitant.

“Your father?”

Jeff glanced back at her and for a moment he seemed surprised to find her there. Then his expression changed and he smiled, though he looked more than a little goofy with the white powder that had somehow transferred to his face.

“He just likes things his way. Doesn’t like a ruckas in the front. Or back. Or in his store. People—he likes to say—don’t come here to deal with our problems.”

“No, but I’m sure in a town this size, they know about them. You have flour on your cheek,” she told him and watched as he immediately lifted a hand to brush it away—on the wrong side. “No–your left cheek. Right—no, down...”

She grimaced and resisted the urge to reach up and wipe it away for him. It just wasn’t proper.

“Jeff!”

They both turned to find Matt coming toward them.

“Thought you were getting Crystal and meeting us outside? Come on. And you may want to wash your face—or Lila will have something to say about it.”

Groaning, Jeff took both hands to his face and rubbed heartily causing Crystal to laugh. Matt simply shook his head. “We sometimes wonder what we’re going to do with him.”

“Get me out of this store should be the first thing.”

“Just waiting on you.”


HEY! and don't forget to e-mail me if you have a comment!




Return to Crystal's Secret Table of Contents