Redeeming Lies by Samantha St. Claire

Author:Samantha St. Claire
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Samantha St. Claire
Published: 2020-04-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Mornings, Maddie helped with the demanding task of keeping Jessie occupied. Midday, she assisted in the hardware store. Afternoons, she rushed back to help prepare the evening meal. The routine and Lena’s growing dependence upon her help, produced in her a pleasant feeling of being needed for something other than her skill. As a result, the fear of discovery slipped further to the back of her mind.

She returned to the store on Monday fully expecting a job assisting Mr. Wilkinson again, but Mrs. Wilkinson awaited her along with a stack of a dozen or more boxes.

"Look at what arrived this morning!" Mrs. Wilkinson sat primly on one rather large crate, an open book in her hand. She lifted it as though an actress on the stage delivering a soliloquy. "Shakespeare! We are saved! Though we must live in this primitive land, culture will not elude us." She pulled another book from the open box to her side, waving it like a sword above her head. "And the Bronte sisters have come as well! We shall now be able to sit down to a women's tea for a proper literary discussion."

Maddie pulled out an attractive volume of poetry by a poet whose name she didn’t recognize. Sunlight streamed into the room through new windows and the paneled glass door. The additions transformed the empty space from storeroom to shop. The excitement animating her employer’s face was contagious. It might become just what she’d imagined it could be. The idea of helping to bring a little more refined culture to this frontier town appealed to Maddie. “Why not?”

"Why not what, my dear?"

Maddie hadn’t realized she’d spoken aloud. “Oh . . . Why don’t we get started unpacking these boxes?”

"Indeed, we shall. Why don’t you start with Mr. Shakespeare? I've hired a wagon to bring over a few items of furniture from our house. We will place them there, near the window to display some of our more enticing titles." She looked about the room, obviously imagining further ways to reshape the space for her intentions. "And a few more lights would be helpful, don't you agree?"

Maddie opened her mouth to do just that, but Mrs. Wilkinson changed topics before she could voice an opinion.

"So, if you will begin the lovely task of placing our books in their proper places within Mr. Dewey’s system, I'll see to the furniture." She tapped a slender finger against her chin. "I saw a perfectly charming lamp at the mercantile just last week. I'm off then." She beamed at Maddie and patted a box. "It's going to be just as I imagined." She swept through the new door without Maddie ever having uttered a single word.

Maddie rolled up her shirt sleeves and folded her arms at her waist while contemplating where to begin. She picked up the book of Shakespeare's sonnets, looked over her shoulder at the empty shelves and declared, "So, William, what brings you to the frontier? Perhaps a bit of hunting? No, surely not.

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