Chapter 39: Common Sense

~It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.~—Leonardo da Vinci

Sophie was really put out as she rushed about the house looking for her nurse. Coming to the kitchen, she saw her mother busy preparing the evening meal. Dannie was with her.

“Have you seen Carolina?” she asked.

Mrs. Martin turned to face Sophie. “I believe she is on the front porch, workin’ on your dress for the dance.”

“Thanks.” Sophie flashed a smile of gratitude and ran off.

True to Grace’s words, Carolina was busy at work on the front porch. She paused at the sound of Sophie’s footsteps, and a smile spread across her face when she saw her pet. The smile quickly turned to a look of concern when she noticed Sophie was very upset.

“Ah, mi amor, what is the matter? Why is there a cloud over your face?”

“It’s Dannie,” Sophie burst out. “She’s all down because of the way Jake took off. It’s been two days since the whole circus act, and she’s still a perfect picture of misery. But that’s not the worst part. Now, she’s tellin’ me she don’t want to go to the dance! Says she’ll just return to Reverend’s Simmens’s home and prepare for Monday, when school opens again.”

“No, she must go. Jake Wade is not the only man on the planet.”

“That is what I’ve been tryin’ to get her to understand. It’s the perfect opportunity for her to get happy again, but that little British Miss is being so stubborn. Said she won’t go, and that is final.

“I lost my temper with her and told her if she wants to be so miserable, she can just go to the garden and eat worms, but instead she went to help Momma with cookin’ dinner.

“What are we going to do, Carolina? What about the surprise dress we’ve been makin’ for her? I don’t want all that work and material to go to waste!”

“It is not going to go to waste. Here is what we will do. I will lay the dress out in the parlor after dinner, and you get Dannie into the room. Then we’ll present our surprise. Just wait and see, Sophia, she will be the first to climb into the wagon tomorrow.”

***

“I told you, I don’t want to go,” Dannie protested as Sophie led her blindfolded to the parlor, Roy trotting after them.

“And I told you that I didn’t care.”

“And I don’t care that you don’t care. I’m not going, and that’s that! Now take this silly scarf off my eyes.”

“Not yet, I don’t want you to see the surprise before it’s time,” Sophie said, opening the door and pulling Dannie inside. “All right, on the count of three, one, two, three… SURPRISE!”

Sophie untied the scarf, and Dannie found herself looking at a beautiful dress spread out on the sofa.

“Oh!” She gasped in an awed voice. The dress was pure white, with blue bows on the slightly puffed sleeves and a blue satin sash. Delicate blue lace lined the collar and the sleeves.

Carolina stood by the dress, beaming with pride and satisfaction.

“Where did you get that?” Dannie sputtered in surprise.

“We made it,” Sophie grinned, her face a reflection of Carolina’s.

“You made it?”

“Carolina did most of the work,” Sophie confessed. “My stitching is dreadful, and I hate doing it. But the idea was mine, and I bought all the material and lace.”

“Dannie, we made you this dress especially for the dance,” Carolina put in. “Why, I went all the way to town with Sophia to get you the material, and spent many evenings sewing and sewing.

“This will be the first time anyone has seen you in something colorful. Your period of mourning is over. It’s time to remove your black attire and wear cheerful clothes. You will look so beautiful in this dress, everyone will want to dance with you.”

“Who was the mastermind in this plot against me?” Dannie frowned at Carolina and Sophia.

“It’s not against you, Dannie dear,” Sophie argued. “It’s for your own good. You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. Self-pity never did anyone any good. Come on, your own fairy godmother and her little elf made you a dress. Now, be a good girl, and go to the ball.”

“Actually, my godmother died eight years ago.”

“Your new fairy godmother!” Sophie rolled her eyes. “Your Arizona fairy godmother.”

“Sophia is right, Dannie. You must not lie around feeling sorry for yourself. Ever since you came to stay on the ranch, you’ve been locked up taking care of Jake. Now, it’s time to return to the town—and the dance is a wonderful opportunity for you to socialize and get your mind off your problems. School will open again next Monday. If you don’t relax now, you won’t get another chance for a while.”

Dannie gazed at the dress, which was really very pretty—and she did want to wear it. She battled with herself, self-pity at war with common sense. Of course, locking herself up at Reverend Simmens’s house was not the better option, but it was so much more inviting.

Roy decided it was time for him to help out. Of course, being a dog, he didn’t understand what the womenfolk were talking about, but they kept pointing to the dress on the sofa, and his instincts told him it had something to do with his mistress. Trotting up to Dannie, he tugged at her skirt, pulling her close to the dress.

“There, see, even Roy wants you to go,” Sophie pointed out. “He knows his mistress will look pretty in the new dress. That’s a smart dog, if I ever saw one.”

Everyone, including Dannie, laughed at this.

“Ah, very well,” Dannie said, giving in, “I suppose I can’t let all your hard work go to waste. And you might have a point about the dance being good for me.”

“There, I knew you would see it our way,” Carolina said, beaming.

Sophie jumped up and down like a child experiencing Christmas for the first time. Sensing the excitement, Roy jumped around with her. Sophie laughed and caught the dog by the front paws. Standing him up on his hind legs, she danced with him.

“The dance is just two days away,” she said, bubbling with excitement. “And we are leavin’ tomorrow. I’m so glad Daddy agreed to let us go early this time. Usually, we get there at the last minute because Daddy hates staying over with Mrs. Bellington.”

Sophie let Roy go, and he ran up to Dannie, who was sitting on the sofa.

“Why?” Dannie asked as she stroked the dog.

“Oh, she’s just the town busybody and always full of the latest gossip. Remember last year? Poor Daddy can only take so much. But what can he do? We can’t choose our relatives, and Mrs. Bellington happens to be Momma’s great-aunt. She’d get offended if we didn’t stay with her. I remember, once, Ed slept outside in an attempt to get away from her endless rambling.”

“Ed?” That was a name Dannie hadn’t heard before. “Who is Ed?”

Sophie and Carolina exchanged glances, and Sophie’s face became crestfallen. “Ed is my older brother. He’s a few years older than Caleb and me. He left home several years back, and we haven’t heard nothin’ from him in all this time.”

Sophie took a deep breath and shook herself free of her lost brother’s memory. “Anyway, I don’t want to talk about him. Let’s plan what we’re gonna buy when we get to the town.”

Carolina shook her head. “Sophie, you are addicted to shopping?”

“I am not. Anyway, there is hardly anything good to buy in Hopewing. One day, I’ll convince Daddy to take me to Clearbrook. That’s a town right by the train station. I’ll bet there’s lots more to buy there. The good thing about the store here in Hopewing is, somehow or other, Cal Jennson manages to find his way inside if Dannie is there.”

“That is not true at all!” Dannie’s face blushed a deep red.

“Ai, ai!” Carolina shook her head. “Don’t bother with the Jennson fellow, Dannie. Sheriff Grant is steady and reliable.”

“But Cal is closer to her age, not to mention he was educated back East, so intellectually he’s on a par with her.”

“But she’ll be safer with the sheriff. He can always assign one of his deputies to act as a personal bodyguard.”

The argument had Dannie shaking her head. She had to admit, though, that each of the men mentioned did have their positive attributes.

Maybe she should stop trying to force something from Jake that he obviously wasn’t ready to give, and look elsewhere. Not that she was in a great hurry to marry, but sooner or later it would be nice to settle down and find a family.

If Jake didn’t want that with her, Hopewing had plenty of men who did.