My dada, Max,” Ruby said, her blue eyes as bright as her freshly scrubbed face.
“Yes, your daddy was Max,” Rosalie said, patting Ruby’s cheeks.
“Mama, Dada went to heaven,” Ruby said.
Janette had to close her eyes at the ache that entered her heart. Mrs. Potter had explained Max’s and Anna’s deaths to Ruby before Janette had arrived in Texas, and Ruby could make it sound like they’d be coming back any day now. Withholding the desire to cross the room and hug the child, Janette opened her eyes in time to meet Rosalie’s gaze, which said the older woman had the same desire.
“Is this heaven?” Ruby said.
Janette held her breath, wondering how to answer.
Rosalie chuckled. “Some claim it is. Especially your uncle Gabe. I remember when your daddy was your size.” While laying a towel on the floor, she continued, “And I gave him and your uncle Gabe baths, just like I am you. Now, come here, you little pumpkin, you’re as clean as a boiled egg.”
As Ruby giggled, Rosalie lifted her out of the tub, bundled her up in a towel and then carried her across the room and set her on a small bench.
“I’ll brush your hair while your auntie finishes stitching up a dress for you to wear,” Rosalie said. “Is that all right?”
Ruby nodded as she answered, “Yes.”
“I used to brush your daddy’s hair,” Rosalie said. “When he’d let me. I sure have missed him.”
Janette tried to focus on her stitches, but the sadness in Rosalie’s voice made it difficult. The way Anna and Max had run away wasn’t her fault, yet Janette wanted to apologize for it.
As if she knew that, Rosalie shook her head. “Do you like apple dumplings?” she asked Ruby.
Frowning, Ruby cast a look her way, one Janette had learned to read over the past couple of weeks.
“I don’t think she knows what apple dumplings are,” Janette said. “But I bet she would like them.”
“Then we will make some, as soon as we get all of your clothes washed,” Rosalie said.
“I can wash the clothes,” Janette said. “I’m sure the water—”
“No,” Rosalie interrupted. “If you’re as finicky about those weeds as Max was, you don’t want to come in contact with anything that was even close to poison ivy.”
Janette bit the thread in two and then flipped the gown around to hem it. “I thought you said it’s not contagious.”
“It’s not contagious from person to person,” Rosalie explained. “But once a person breaks out from it, they are more susceptible to it happening again.” After a final smoothing stroke on Ruby’s hair, she set the brush aside. “I’ll wash the clothes and then make apple dumplings. They’re your uncle Gabe’s favorite.”
The gurgle in Janette’s stomach said the apple dumplings didn’t sound nearly as good as they once had. “How long does the rash last?” Janette asked, still refusing to give in to the itching that was starting up again.
“Oh, three to five days,” Rosalie said. “If you keep putting vinegar on it. Vinegar dries it up. Otherwise it could linger for weeks.”
“I’ll put some more on shortly,” Janette said. The sting from the vinegar didn’t seem that bad in comparison with dealing with a rash for weeks.
Rosalie grinned as she walked over to the tub and pulled the cork out of the bottom. She then started putting the room back in order.
“I didn’t expect such modern conveniences,” Janette said. Anna had mentioned the Triple C, but not in detail. So had Max. Then again, when they had mentioned the ranch, it was in connection to Gabe, who they both swore was on the ornery side. Janette hadn’t believed them, not completely.
Then, that is.
“Every time Gabe travels to a city, he comes back with some newfangled idea or another,” Rosalie said. “I’m glad he does. The water is piped out from beneath the washroom and runs all the way to the garden. Same with the tub in the kitchen. It sure has saved me from carrying a lot of water.”
Janette couldn’t quite believe he had created the drains just to reduce the amount of work Rosalie did. That didn’t seem like the Gabe she’d met, or the one Max and Anna had talked about.
“It might be a month or more after he’s seen it that he sets into building it,” Rosalie said. “Because he ponders on things until he has it all worked out in his mind before he sets into building it. That’s how Gabe is. Thinks things through, good and solid.” With a laugh, she added, “Max, on the other hand, he’d jump into things like there was a pack of wolves chasing him. Lord, but those two could butt heads. Yet, they were the best of friends.”
Janette had to force a lump out of her throat before she could even bite the thread in two. She didn’t need to learn anything more about Gabe than she already knew. Thankful for her speedy slip stitch, she held the dress up. “Here we are, Ruby. Let’s see if it fits.”
After removing the towel, she slipped the dress over Ruby’s shoulders and tugged the material down until it flowed clear to her tiny ankles. The child was thin. Though Janette had arrived in Texas as soon as possible, Ruby had also been ill, and it had been weeks since the child had eaten as she should. After dealing with the necessary tasks, Janette had packed Ruby up and left Texas as quickly as she’d arrived. At the first stage stop, she purchased all the extra food she could and had encouraged the child to eat regularly while traveling.
“Well, you certainly are swift with a needle, aren’t you?” Rosalie said. “Talented, too. It doesn’t even look like it had been one of my old sleeping gowns.”
“It’s just a simple pinafore,” Janette said, turning Ruby around to make sure the makeshift gown fitted properly. Whether it was a simple shift or a dazzling ball gown, every garment she made filled her with joy. Her mother had said that one must enjoy their work, and Janette believed that wholeheartedly. “But it will do nicely until her clothing dries.” Once again, she was inclined to say, “I’m sorry for the trouble we are putting you through.”
“Trouble?” Rosalie shook her head. “This is more fun than I’ve had in a long time.”
The shine in Rosalie’s eyes and the grin on her face made Janette smile. Couldn’t help it. The older woman beamed like a ray of sunshine. Shaking her head, Janette said, “Well, if doctoring poison ivy victims and washing clothes is fun, I don’t think I want to know what you usually do.”
Rosalie’s laughter bounced off the walls as she picked up the basket of clothes. “Oh, darling, it’s not the work. It’s the company that makes it fun. There are plenty of people living on the Triple C, but every one of them is so busy, few enter the house. Some days I’m so lonely, I find myself talking to the flies.” With a nod toward Ruby, she continued, “Follow me. There’s a mama cat with a basketful of rambunctious kittens on the back porch that I think someone is going to love.”
Ruby did love the kittens, and, feeling useless, Janette insisted there had to be something she could do while Rosalie washed
