Memories of Gold by Ali Olson

Author:Ali Olson [Olson, Ali]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Goodreads: 25713223
Publisher: Ali Olson
Published: 2015-06-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Jimmy stood in the middle of the street with the crowd, content for the moment just to stand in the warm morning sunshine. After the agonizing hours since Maria had left the day before, reconnecting with her left him happy and gave him a sense of peace despite the hubbub around him.

He recalled the kiss from a few minutes before and felt a rush of pleasure. She had not stopped it, nor did she take her hand away from his until absolutely necessary. When her friend Josie pulled her away, he knew that Maria had wanted to stay hand-in-hand with him. She loved him through and through.

She reciprocated his feelings, and that was the only thing that mattered for him at the moment. He stood alone in the crowd of people, hardly aware of their existence. His eyes and thoughts wandered over Mary’s body as she stood with her friend, who was describing her visit to the tailor. Her dress looked quite expensive, much flashier than the one Mary wore. He preferred the understated beauty of Mary’s. He wondered how wealthy the girl’s husband must be in order to pay for frocks like that.

His thoughts went back to Mary. He desired her, more than anything, and seeing her form from a slight distance gave him the opportunity to run his eyes over her entire figure. His fingers itched to touch her bare skin once more.

She moved back towards him, leaning her weight against his arm and taking his hand again. He stood, grasping her hand, enjoying the contact and wishing for more. Maria tugged lightly at his arm and said, “Jimmy, I want you to meet somebody important. Will you—“

She stopped suddenly, cutting off her words as another woman bounded up to her, this one older, short, with wild hair. Someone that Jimmy had not met before. He felt Maria stiffen next to him and turned to her. Her face was filled with worry; she almost looked as if she were in pain.

The stranger began speaking the moment she was near enough to be heard. “Mary! Are you hurt? I was worried for you, especially after you were feeling poorly last night. But you seem well enough now. The saloon had a few broken bottles, but it will be cleaned in a jiffy so we can be open tonight. I want you working. It’s always a mite busier after quakes, you know.”

Throughout the woman’s chatter, Maria stayed stiff and silent, her eyes wider than usual, and Jimmy watched her. He wanted to help her, but he was unsure what to do, so he stood by her and waited for some cue.

As the woman continued to talk, some of her words began to arrange into some kind of sense. She had spoken about Maria working, and a saloon had been mentioned. When another voice shouted “Daisy!” across the crowd and the woman turned and hurried toward it, everything clicked into place.

The men at the boardinghouse had mentioned Daisy’s, the saloon and whorehouse.

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