KeepingFaithCole Read Online Free PDF

Miss—, Lucille, I mean.
In addition to my custodial duties, as you call them.”
    Lucille stopped long enough to throw a judgmental look over
her shoulder. She doubted Charlotte had received much education. Certainly she
wouldn’t know how to manage ledgers or keep accounts. “That won’t be necessary.
I don’t need any assistance. You’ll be expected to sweep the floors and do a
bit of dusting in the office, but nothing more.”
    “Fine. And the storeroom?”
    “Over here, to the right.” Lucille pointed toward a heavy
oaken door. “In addition to cleaning supplies, I keep extra notions packed away
in the storeroom. Everything is labeled and marked.” She wondered again about
Charlotte’s schooling. “Are you able to read and write?”
    “I do both very well.”
    “Good, you’ll have no problem locating items if I ask you to
get something from the storeroom.” She’d reached the door, but when she turned
the knob, she scowled. “Sometimes the latch sticks. It’s a nuisance, but I haven’t
been able to get it repaired.” A heartfelt sigh escaped, and Lucille leaned
against the stubborn door. “My father was a very handy man. I swear he could
fix anything that was broken. Now when something breaks down, I have to go
looking for someone who’s got the proper skills.” Someone who wouldn’t charge
an outrageous fee for services.
    “I could have Tommy look at it,” Charlotte suggested.
    “Do you think he would?” The mention of the cowboy’s name
brought a flush of heat to Lucille’s cheeks, and she quickly turned away, not
wanting the man’s mother to see how flustered she’d suddenly become. She gave
the doorknob another good shake. This time, it turned. “Never mind. It’s a
nuisance, but fixing it would probably be more bother than it’s worth.” Stepping
back, she ushered Charlotte into the tiny storeroom. “Let’s get your cleaning
supplies together now so you can get started. Later, I’ll make a list of the
tasks you’ll be expected to perform each day.”
    She thought she heard Charlotte sigh, and maybe so. No one
would blame the woman for feeling a bit perturbed at how she’d been treated.
Little pangs of guilt nagged at Lucille’s conscience.
    “Give me that list whenever you have it ready. I’ll get
started now, if that’s all right with you.” Charlotte grabbed the broom, then
bent to pick the dustpan up from the floor.
    “Yes, fine.”
    Grateful when her mother arrived at the shop a short time
later, Lucille set about her sewing. Even as she worked, she kept a close eye
on Charlotte but resolved to hold her tongue. In some tasks, perhaps the woman
could have been a bit more thorough. For the most part, though, her work was
satisfactory.
    “It’s nice to have the floors swept and all those pattern
pieces picked up,” Lucille’s mother commented as she worked on a fancy beaded
collar, her fingers moving swiftly and surely. “Goodness knows, it will give us
more time for sewing. I think hiring Mrs. Henderson was a wise decision.”
    “Maybe so, Mama,” Lucille agreed.
    With the statehood celebration coming up, the dressmaking
shop was a busy place, indeed. Lucille and her mother had taken orders for a
dozen fancy gowns for the dance. In addition, the little town had lately seen a
spate of weddings, with more to come. Nearly all of Lucille’s friends had found
husbands. Even Bessie Morrow—a painfully-shy wallflower who spoke with an awful
lisp and who had an unnatural streak of white running down the center of her
dark hair—had found a man who wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
The happy couple had set a date, and she’d bustled into the shop all in a
dither about a wedding dress.
    “Since we won’t have so much to do at closing time, honey,
would you mind if I left a bit early today?” Her mother’s voice broke into her
thoughts.
    “You can leave any time you like, Mama.” Lucille glanced up.
“Is anything wrong?”
    “I thought I’d call