Rose wasn’t looking to feel better. She wanted blood. “You’re sorry? Sorry isn’t going to get Silas back. While you were off wooing your beau, mine got tired of waiting and married Annie Garrett. Annie Garrett! I could have been Mrs. Silas Jones, but you were too busy lying to me and catering to some dandy so you could be first.”
Silas? Rose was mad about losing Silas to Annie? Was it wrong to be relieved that her sister wasn’t accusing her of greater sins, of which Mary was indeed guilty?
“Rose...” She softened the look she gave her sister. “That had nothing to do with Silas marrying Annie. She was the only child of the family who owned an adjacent farm. Their fathers wanted to combine the farms and expand the holding. Silas was always going to marry Annie.”
“It was me he loved,” Rose wailed. “He told me so by the cottonwood behind the church. Silas carved our initials in it to seal the promise of our unending love. He didn’t bring Annie there, he brought me, and he kissed me, and he said he’d love me forever.”
Tears rolled down Rose’s face. “I was supposed to meet Silas so we could run away together. But you were late getting home from taking the eggs to town. You said you were delayed helping Mrs. Burdoch’s lame horse. Now I know it was a lie. You were meeting him. And since I missed my meeting with Silas, he married Annie instead.”
Nothing Mary said would convince Rose of the truth. She had been helping Mrs. Burdoch. Ironically, it had prevented her from meeting Ben—the first time they’d planned on running away together. Unlike Silas, Ben had been more patient. Who would have thought that one lame horse could wreak so much havoc?
If Mary could kiss that horse, she would. It had saved her from making the biggest mistake of her life even worse.
“Rose, you were there when Mrs. Burdoch brought over the pie to thank me for helping her. It’s true that I did lie to meet Ben on a number of occasions, but that wasn’t one of them. I’m sure Silas was meeting you to tell you that the wedding had been arranged, not to run away with you.”
The sting of her sister’s hand against her cheek was wholly unexpected. It should have hurt more, but as the side of her face throbbed, it felt almost good to finally receive some of the punishment Mary deserved.
“You know nothing of my relationship with Silas. Just as I knew nothing about your beau. And now you sit here telling me that Silas never loved me because you’re so smug about having a man track you down. I hope you remember at every happy moment of your life with him that it came at the expense of mine.”
Rose turned and ran out of the house. Mary took a step toward her, but Polly reached out a hand to stop her.
“Let her go. She needs time.”
Mary turned to face her friend. “How much of that did you hear?”
“Most of it.” Polly shrugged. “If she’d done more than slap you, I’d have stepped in. But she needed to get it out. She’s been nothing but angry and bitter since she got here. Now I know why.”
And here Mary had thought it was about having to accept an illegitimate sister. Maybe Nugget was the least of their problems. As much as Mary thought she’d been listening to her siblings, perhaps she’d been making a lot of assumptions.
“I had no idea.” Sure, she’d seen the flirtatious glances in church, but with everyone knowing that Silas and Annie had been promised for just about forever, Mary had assumed it to be meaningless. If only her sister had been more forthcoming, perhaps her heartbreak could have been prevented.
Of course, Mary herself hadn’t been all that forthcoming, either. She’d never been as close to Rose as she had been to their brother Joseph. When Joseph had left to search for their father, she’d kept her own counsel about things she’d usually have talked with him about.
“You and Rose will work things out.” Polly gestured to the pile of dishes they had yet to wash. “How about we get to work, and you can tell me all about this beau of yours?”
Her friend gave a wicked grin, then splashed her with some water. “All this time you’ve had a secret engagement and didn’t even tell me!”
If Mary thought that facing her angry sister was hard, this was going to be an even tougher conversation. Rose was right to hate her for her deception over Ben’s courtship. Though her sister was wrong about Mary’s part in her failed romance, she was all too correct about the damage Mary’s absences had done.
How could she tell Polly the truth? It was something that would make Polly turn from her in disgust.
So much to atone for. An entire lifetime wouldn’t be enough to earn absolution for her sin. Mary had already made up her mind to take on most of the burden of raising her younger siblings so that Joseph and his new wife, Annabelle, had the chance to raise their own family without the burden of their siblings. They deserved a chance at happiness. Especially Joseph, who’d worked so hard to keep the family together. Hopefully, Mary would find a way to extricate herself from whatever mischief Ben was cooking up without causing even more damage to her family.
But just as she put her hands in the dishwater, Mr. Lawson passed by the kitchen window, sending her a meaningful glance. He hadn’t forgotten their meeting. She watched as he strode purposefully toward Frank.
Frank could not be told the truth, particularly now that Mary knew Ben still had Aunt Ina’s brooch. Of all he had taken, the brooch had cost Mary the most. Aunt Ina had been merciless in her accusations of Mary, Rose and their other siblings. She’d even snatched the spectacles off poor little Bess’s face, demanding to know if her brooch had been sold to pay for them. It hadn’t been Mary’s doing at all. Their Sunday school teacher, Miss Beverley, had noticed Bess’s reading troubles. When Mary confessed it was due to Bess needing spectacles they couldn’t afford, Miss Beverley had purchased them and told Mary she wished to remain anonymous. So, Mary had said she’d taken on extra work to purchase them. At the time, Mary had thought herself so smart, because saying she’d taken on extra work had given her more excuses to go meet Ben.
If she could take it back, she wouldn’t have lied about those spectacles.
But wishing didn’t solve the problem of having to meet Mr. Lawson. Mary glanced over at Polly, who was hard at work doing her share of cleanup. She’d never lied to Polly and didn’t want to start now. When Ben had left town, Mary had promised herself to never lie again.
How was she supposed to keep her promise and keep her secrets?
“You’ve barely touched the dishes.” Polly caught her gaze, then looked down meaningfully at the pile. “You’re worse than useless now that your beau is back in town. Combine that with your disagreement with Rose, and I’d just as soon do all the work myself for all the help you’re being.”
Mary swallowed. “I’m sorry.”
This was the point at which she should have confessed, but her throat tightened.
“Don’t be. We all have our days. Go get some air and I’ll finish up in here. You’ve done my share of the chores a time or two.”
The weight should have fallen off Mary’s shoulders, but it only seemed heavier. Polly was being a true friend. And Mary had nothing to offer her in return. At least not while the troubles with Ben hung over her.
