Barn Raising
There were a few other wagons pulled up near a small farmhouse. The sound of hammering grew louder, as did the shouts of children and laughter. Hope could see George running around the yard with another boy as Caroline pulled the wagon in next to a similar cart. She took her basket and climbed down only to be enveloped by his little arms. “Miss Tucker! You came!”
Laughing, Hope bent down to hug him back, grateful he felt so comfortable with her already. “I did! You look like you’re having fun!”
“I am. This is my friend Tom. He caught a frog over by the pond!”
Hope turned to see Tom had a large bull frog in his grubby hands. “Oh, my! That is some croaker you’ve got there, Tom.”
“George, honey, don’t get Miss Tucker’s nice dress all muddy.” Caroline’s scold was still loving.
“It’s fine,” Hope assured her, looking down to see George had left a few stray pieces of grass on the front of her dark blue dress, but other than that it was clean. She’d worn it because the yellow flowers in the print seemed bright and cheerful, and she thought it would make a good dress for such an occasion, but looking around at some of the other ladies in the distance, she thought she might be overdressed. Caroline was wearing a white shirtwaist and a simple green skirt but looked lovely. Most of the other women were dressed similarly. There were only a dozen or so of them, but they were laughing as they set about preparing dinner for the menfolk.
There was a fire going well away from the long row of tables set together behind the house, and over it a pig was roasting. It was a huge beast of a creature, but Hope imagined there’d have to be plenty of sides to feed a dozen famished men. She hoped her little contribution would be enough.
Caroline had one large basket over each arm, the scent of pie wafting from them. Hope’s stomach rumbled despite the large breakfast she’d fixed herself. It seemed like there would be plenty of pie if nothing else.
“Caroline! You’re here!” a tall woman with long red hair proclaimed, walking over with her arms open. “It’s so nice to see you!” She managed to hug Caroline without disrupting the baskets and then insisted on taking one. Then, turning to Hope she said, “You must be Miss Tucker. I’m Melissa Coy. It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Please, call me Hope.” Melissa embraced her as well, as if they were long lost friends, and Hope felt very welcomed at her home.
“Come on over! We were just setting up the tables. I’ll introduce you to everyone, Hope.”
There were about a half a dozen other women standing near the tables, the others up near the house or out in the yard. They spreading table cloths or discussing where to set the food items in the baskets. Hope could hear them talking about what needed to stay inside until it was closer to time to eat and what they could go ahead and set out. “As soon as Delia gets here, we’ll have another table,” an older woman with graying hair said before they seemed to notice they had company.
“Caroline!” one of the women shouted. “It’s nice to see you. And is this the schoolteacher? Miss Tucker?”
“Hope, please,” she said, loud enough for everyone to hear so that maybe she wouldn’t have to keep saying it.
“It’s lovely to meet you. I’m Evelynn Driggs. Welcome, welcome!”
“Evelynn is pastor Maxwell’s wife,” Caroline explained, setting her basket down near a row of others. She reached for Hope’s, which she handed off, and she set that down, too, as Hope shook Evelynn’s hand.
“We are so excited to have you,” the pastor’s wife said, patting her hand. “Welcome to Texas.”
“Thank you, kindly. Everyone has been very nice so far.”
Melissa stepped over. “This is Rita Koontz.” Hope shook hands with the older woman who’d had her back to her. “And this is Beth Holloway and her sister Tabitha.”
“How do you do?” Hope said to the sisters who were polite and waved but didn’t come around the tables that stood between them.
“And this is my cousin Anna. Have the two of you met?” Melissa said, gesturing to the other woman who was standing near the end of the row of tables.
Hope was confused at first as she studied the woman. She was quite pretty with blonde hair and blue eyes, though she was a bit curvy. For some reason, she felt as if she should know who she was.
“We haven’t met yet.” Anna’s smile seemed forced. “It’s nice to finally meet you, though. Brady has mentioned you a few times. How do you like living with his folks?”
It suddenly dawned on her who this woman was—Brady’s fiancée. She remembered now that Mrs. Howard had mentioned Anna and Melissa were cousins. But then, she hadn’t expected to see her here. Brady had spoken so viciously about Judah, it was a wonder he could stand to be on the same premises. Hope’s head swiveled to the area of the yard where the sound of hammering was coming from. There he was—Brady’s large form would’ve been difficult to miss even amidst what appeared to be nearly two dozen other men. He wasn’t paying her any mind, though. But as Hope returned her attention to Anna, her eyes flickered past Judah’s familiar face. He had noticed her. Hope’s breath caught in her throat.
Somehow she managed to push past the barrier. “It is so nice to finally meet you, Anna. Brady told me all about you. You’re just as pretty as he mentioned.”
Anna laughed. “Now, I know you’re just bein’ polite.”
“No, he did say so,” Hope insisted, wondering why she would say such a thing. The other women looked uncomfortable and continued with whatever tasks they’d been working on before Hope came over. Anna waved her off, like her statement didn’t matter, but Hope distinctly remembered Brady’s comment about his fiancée. He had said she was “purty” enough and that she was nice. Though she did remember some other comment—something about her not being the same as she had been when they’d first met or something like that.
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