Love on the Range by Jessica Nelson

Author:Jessica Nelson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2012-10-31T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Spinsterhood had its benefits.

The next morning after breakfast Gracie decided it was time she tried her hand at making herself trousers. It couldn’t be too difficult, could it? And really, who would stop her? Not a husband and certainly not her parents, who sent her off without any thought to what she wanted.

She locked the door to her bedroom, then selected an old wool skirt from the closet to be her first pair of pants. As an afterthought, she checked to make sure her jewels were still down in the bottom of the closet where she’d nudged the bulky box months ago. They were. She closed the door. The dark corner made a perfect hiding spot. No one would see the box unless they looked there specifically.

Not that she feared a thief in this desert place.

She dragged skirt, scissors, needle and gray thread she had grabbed from Mary’s sewing box over to the window seat. Frosty sunlight streamed in, the day bright despite its chill. Perfect for sewing.

For the next hour Gracie cut and stitched, and by ten o’clock she had a ragged pair of trousers and sore fingertips. She frowned as she twisted the pants one way, then the other. One side appeared to be shorter than the other. And the seams zigzagged crookedly up the sides. She groaned and threw the mangled skirt on her bed.

How was she supposed to join the modern world when she couldn’t even make a pair of pants? It was a good thing God had put her in a wealthy family because she seemed to lack the necessary skills to make it as any kind of specialized laborer.

She pressed her nose against the cold window. In the far distance a herd of cattle ambled across the sagebrush desert, thick flanks urged along every so often by a nudge from Trevor’s horse. Even from this distance she could read the confidence in his posture, the control in his hand. He sat on his mount tall and proud, sunlight streaming over him in graceful lines.

Her door shook slightly, followed by a brisk tapping. She rose and unlocked the door. She pulled it open.

Mary held out frothy pink material. “Here’s the nightgown I altered.” Her eyes lighted on the crumpled trousers Gracie had tossed on the bed. She smiled. “Are those your pants?”

Gracie opened the door wider so Mary could step into the room. “They more resemble a mutilated skirt.”

Mary clucked her tongue, picking them up so she could inspect them. “They’re not too bad. I could fix them for you, if you’d like.”

“Really? But I don’t want you to get in trouble with Uncle Lou.” She slanted her eyes to Mary. “Trousers would be much more convenient, however, and I could make it worth your time.”

“Are you trying to bribe me?” Mary continued to hold up the pants, turning them around, feeling the seams. “We’re going to have to take these stitches out,” she muttered, expression distracted.

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