My Heart Belongs in the Superstition Mountains by Susan Page Davis

Author:Susan Page Davis [Davis, Susan Page]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-68322-295-8
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2017-07-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Carmela went back to the kitchen. Mrs. Finney was kneading her bread dough.

“I thought that might be what he wanted.” She gave the lump of dough an extra punch.

“I don’t know what good I can do.” Carmela reached for her apron.

“That poor child. It might help her just to have someone to talk to who has an idea of what she experienced.”

“That’s what Mr. Roote said, but I’m not sure my experience was at all like Lucy’s.” Carmela felt her cheeks flush as she spoke. In fact, her experience was nothing at all like Lucy’s, but she couldn’t say that now.

“Just let her talk, if she will,” Mrs. Finney said. “Her mother said sometimes she doesn’t speak for days on end. She might open up to you.”

“Maybe. Shall I start the cake?”

“If you would. I left the recipe on the table there.”

Working with Mrs. Finney would have been pure joy if Carmela hadn’t been so nervous about Lucy’s impending visit. Whatever would she say to the girl? Her thoughts circled round and round in her mind, always coming back to the fear that she would be lying a great deal this afternoon. It would be like her speaking engagements but with an audience of one. Lucy, of all people, might realize that she was a fraud.

At last she turned to the heavenly Father, embarrassed to come before Him but desperate for a confidant of her own.

Lord, please show me what to say. If I can help Lucy, then I’ll be glad to, but I don’t want to lie to her or her parents. If there’s a way I can be of some comfort without lying, then please, please show it to me.

She felt a little better then and worked steadily for the next two hours. When John Ralley and Clark Shifton drifted in for their dinner at noon, the ladies were well prepared.

Mrs. Finney sent Carmela to freshen up after the boarders had gone back to work. She brushed her hair and repinned it and made sure her hands and face were free of flour and smudges. She gazed into the mirror. Her face was still red-tinged, and her sunburn was beginning to peel. No way to hide that. Mostly she looked exhausted, with dark patches clouding the skin beneath her over-large brown eyes.

If she were going on stage, Uncle Silas would be glad. He never instructed her to wear makeup, but preferred to have her look natural, as though she had just ridden in from the Indian village. He liked it on days when she looked ill or emaciated, and he frequently admonished her to eat sparingly so that she didn’t appear too well fed. The desert’s damage to her complexion fit right in with her story.

When she emerged from her room, Mrs. Finney was just heading down the hallway toward her.

“Oh, good, you’re ready. Mr. and Mrs. Roote have brought Lucy. They’re waiting in the parlor.”

Carmela followed her to the parlor door. She had only entered the room once before, on the previous evening, when a few of the boarders had gathered after supper.

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