Schoolhouse
A quick glance around the inside of the schoolhouse left Hope with several questions. There were shelves, but no books. Rows of chalk lined the front blackboard, but there were no slates, not enough erasers. She opened the drawers to her desk and found them empty. While the building itself looked large enough, with plenty of storage, and a nice fireplace, there were still supplies and other items she would need. With a deep breath, she headed back outside.
Brady was standing next to the door, his arms folded, and she imagined he was not the person she needed to talk to. “Can you tell me where the school board president lives?” she asked, hoping her voice sounded chipper and not panicked or ungrateful.
“Mr. Stewart? He lives two houses down, but he’s likely still at the bank.”
“The bank?” Hope asked, confused.
“Yes. He’s the acting superintendent of schools, as well as the school board president, but he’s also the president of the bank.”
Wishing she’d known that while she was at the bank, Hope could only mutter, “Oh.” She folded her arms as well and leaned back against the building, wondering what she should do.
“Is something wrong?”
“Well, it’s just… there are supplies I will need, and since school starts on Monday—in just a few days—I was hoping to see if I could get them before class started, that’s all.” Perhaps she could speak with Mr. Stewart the next day.
“I see,” Brady commented, more kindness and understanding in the statement than Hope would’ve expected. “Maybe my ma knows something about it. She can probably help you with that.”
Hope’s eyes widened. “Yes, of course. I’m sure that Mrs. Howard will know how important the proper supplies are. Thank you, Brady.”
“Shall we head home then?”
“Yes, let’s do.” Hope was still nervous, but she headed for the wagon with optimism in her heart. If Mrs. Howard couldn’t help her, perhaps she could at least point her in the right direction. Surely, Mr. Stewart wouldn’t go to all the trouble to hire a schoolteacher but not give her the proper supplies she needed to be successful.
“Now, when you walk home of a’ afternoon, I think you should go this way,” Brady said, taking a different road than the one they’d come down. “This’ll steer you away from the square.”
“Is the square dangerous?” Hope asked, thinking all she’d seen that was a threat was the saloon, if she didn’t count the man who may have murdered his wives—but he was liable to be anywhere.
“Nah, but if there’s trouble, that’s likely where it’ll be. Or over behind the saloon in the red light district.” She knew what he was talking about. “The church is up there on the corner.”
He pointed to a red brick building, which was substantially larger than what Hope would’ve expected. But then the mammoth sized courthouse should’ve been a clue that everything was bigger in Texas. “It’s lovely.” She couldn’t think of any other way to describe it and a sudden weariness settled around her. A nap was sounding like a wonderful idea.
“My girl’s father is the preacher.”
Hope turned her head quickly to look at Brady, confusion washing over her once again. “Your girl?” she repeated, not sure who he was talking about. “What do you mean?”
A blush filled his cheeks as Brady explained. “My girl—my betrothed. Anna. Her father’s the preacher at the church. Name’s Jeb Wilcox. You’ll like ‘im just fine. Nice man.”
Hope continued to stare. “I had no idea you had a girl.” She was glad for him and relieved. The last thing in the world she needed was for Brady Howard to take a liking to her.
He shrugged, and she could see he was embarrassed for some reason. “Anna’s a mighty fine woman. Round here, we ain’t got too many ladies to choose from, so I claimed stakes to her a long time ago, when we was in Sunday school together.”
A smile slipped across Hope’s face as she saw a tender side to Brady, something she would’ve never imagined a few hours ago when he was cursing at her trunks. “And are you going to get married?”
“We are. Anna wants to wait until Christmastime, though. Says she’s always wanted a December weddin’, and that’s fine with me. I ain’t in no hurry.”
Now that, Hope thought was odd. “What do you mean?”
He let out a sigh and shifted in his seat. “Nothin’. It’s only… Anna ain’t the same girl as she was when I first started courtin’ her, that’s all. She’s purty enough, it’s just... I’m hopin’ she’ll be more like herself before we get married. She… she says she is who she is, and she ain’t changin’ for nobody. And I can live with that, I suppose. It’s just….” He stopped talking, and Hope wasn’t sure what in the world he might be getting at. Was she crazy like Celia? Or was it something else? “I guess you’ll see when you meet her.”
Hope’s forehead was crinkled so tightly, she imagined it looked as if she only had one eyebrow, but she decided not to prod. Brady had been helpful to her, if not particularly nice, and there was no reason to press him if he didn’t want to talk about it. “She seems like a nice girl. I hope we can be friends.”
“I am fairly certain you will be,” Brady replied, and once again, Hope found herself lost. “That is, she is a nice girl. And yer a nice girl. So maybe you will be.” He gave Hope a small smile, but she thought she saw something else in his eyes, and she prayed that Brady Howard wasn’t starting to think she was nice in more ways than just her disposition.
The Howards’ home came into view in front of them, and Hope noticed a carriage tied up outside, a brown horse with a nice sheen to it standing near the hitching post. Before she could inquire as to who might be visiting, Brady muttered, “Great. Now he shows up—after the trunks are upstairs.” No further explanation was needed, and Hope realized she was about to meet the other Howard son. Hopefully, this one would be a little less rough around the edges, although Brady Howard wasn’t quite as tough as he seemed. Otherwise, she imagined mentioning his girl probably wouldn’t have brought a blush to his cheeks. If she was lucky, Nicholas Howard would be his opposite. And in a perfect world he would also be betrothed because if there was anything in the world Hope didn’t need at the moment it was a man developing feelings for her. That might be enough to put her right back on the first train out of Texas.
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