Daisy (Suitors of Seattle) (12 page)

Eli frowned.  “But she’s smart and good and caring!”

“She’s a young woman with seven sisters who all have flower names.  I’m the youngest, and everyone knows me as the one who thinks she can be a doctor.  Rose is the oldest who all the boys wanted to court.  Lily is the tomboy.  Amaryllis is the bookworm.  Jasmine is the joker.  Violet is the artist.  Daisy…she’s the shy one.  And Hyacinth?  How do I describe Hyacinth?  She’s not shy, but she doesn’t talk much.  It’s like she spends all her time living in her own head.”

“I think I understand.”

“Seattle will be a place Daisy wants to visit, because she loves all of us, but she won’t want to move back here.  Not even temporarily.  She’s happier in Montana, where she’s Daisy, Eli’s wife, soon to be mother.  She’s a person in her own right.”

Eli looked at the young woman beside him.  She showed a lot of insight for a fourteen year old girl.  “Thank you.”

Iris shrugged.  “No thanks necessary.  Just make my sister happy.”  She stood up and stretched.  “I’m going to head back to the house.  You’re welcome to sit out here or come into the parlor where the family will be.”

Eli nodded, still thinking about her words.  “I’m going to sit out here a little longer.” 
He looked around the garden.  It was huge.  It seemed to be laid out in little sections.  He could see that each section had a different flower.  Iris had called this her section.  A grin crossed his lips as he saw the Irises in bloom.  Yes, each daughter had her own section of the garden.

It wasn’t long before Mary came out and joined him on the bench.  He looked at his mother-in-law warily, wondering if she was going to insist he not sleep in a bed with Daisy in her home. 
She’d been so domineering in Montana, and he kept waiting for her to act the same now that they were in Seattle.

“Daisy seems very happy,” Mary said.

Eli nodded.  “I feel like we have a good life together.”  He wondered if he should mention his concerns about her pregnancy.  “I’m worried about how hard she works, though, especially now that she’s expecting.”

“I am too.  Would you object to her seeing our family doctor while you’re here in town?”

“Not at all.  I was hoping to set that up.”  He couldn’t believe he was actually agreeing with his mother-in-law about something.  He’d never expected that to happen.

Mary smiled.  “Good.  We’ll see what he recommends.  At the very least, I’m going to send one of her sisters back with you to do the hard work until the baby is born.”

Eli hadn’t thought about that.  “One of her sisters?  You’d let one of them go?”  He loved the idea of having someone there to help her.

“Of course, as long as I knew two would be together taking care of each other.   I have no problem with that.”  She leaned back, glad to have found that her son in law went along with her thinking.  “It’ll have to be Jasmine.  The others are still in school.”

Eli made a face.  Daisy wasn’t exactly fond of Jasmine.  Would the younger girl cause problems?  He didn’t care.  If she would come and help with the heavier work on the ranch, then she was more than welcome.

“That sounds wonderful.  Thank you.”

*****

Daisy woke up to the sound of the bedroom door opening, and she rolled to her side and peered at Jasmine.  Why would she wake her?  Her voice was slurred as she asked, “Huh?”  She rubbed her eyes.

Jasmine sat on the edge of Daisy’s bed and hugged her sister.  “I always thought you didn’t like me as much as the others.  Mama told me I’m going home with you.  I’m so excited!”

Daisy blinked rapidly. 
Jasmine thinks she’s going home with me?  What?
  “You are?” 
What happened while I was sleeping?  Is this one of Jasmine’s tricks?

“I am.  I liked Montana for the short time we were there, but more than that, I like knowing that I’m the sister you want to take back with you.”  Jasmine hugged Daisy again before rushing out of the room.

Daisy sat with her back against the headboard and stared at the closed door.  What had just happened?

*****

Daisy touched up her hair and went down the stairs to find Eli sitting with her younger sisters and her mother in the parlor.  She took a seat beside Eli on the couch, her eyes going to his to see if he knew anything about what had happened upstairs.  He kept his gaze averted.

She looked at her mother who was making some sort of list with Jasmine sitting beside her, while Hyacinth sat on the floor
off to one side of the room, leaning against the wall dreamily, and Iris and Violet whispered to one another.  “I think six work dresses will be enough for you.  Do you have a good apron?” Mary asked Jasmine.

“The one I have is all stained with dirt from digging in the garden at the shelter.  I probably need to make a new one.”

Mary nodded and made herself a note.  “Take the stained one with you.  You’ll want it for gardening in Montana.”

At those words, Daisy turned to Eli and whispered, “Why does Jasmine think she’s going home with us?”
  He obviously knew what was going on and hadn’t said anything.

Eli shrugged and stared straight ahead, not saying anything as he suggested Jasmine make sure she had some warm winter clothes.

“Eli!  I need you to tell me what’s going on!”  Daisy couldn’t believe he was ignoring her questions as if she hadn’t asked. 

“We’ll talk later,” he whispered back.

Once, Daisy would have taken that for an answer, but now she grabbed Eli’s hand and pulled him toward the door.  “We’re going for a walk.”  She didn’t wait for anyone to respond as she dragged her husband away from the others.

“Have a good time,” Mary called as she watched her daughter drag her son-in-law from the room.

Once they were outside, Daisy started walking briskly toward the park.  “I need to know what’s going on here.”

Eli shrugged.  “Your mother and I had a talk while you were sleeping, and we both feel like it would be a good idea for you to have someone to help you out until the baby’s born…and maybe a little after.”

“And you chose
Jasmine?
What were you thinking?  You can’t possibly think I want her in my home for the next six months!”  Daisy couldn’t believe he would even contemplate taking Jasmine home with them.

“Well, she’s the only one of your sisters who has finished school, so your mother thought she was the smart choice.  It’s only for a year or so.”

“A
year
?  No, Jasmine cannot live with us for a year!  I’d kill her if I had to be beside her every single day.  It won’t work.”  Daisy shook her head emphatically.

Eli sighed.  “I don’t know what else to do.  The further along you are, the less I’m willing to even leave you in the house alone for any time.  I’m sure I’m going to come home and find you having the baby on your own or hurt and on the floor and needing help.”

Daisy groaned.  “How many doctors and midwives do I need to see for you to believe that I’m healthy?”

Eli wouldn’t look at her.  “I’m not going to fight with you over this, Daisy.  I’ve talked to your mother, and we both agree.  Jasmine is going to come home with us, and she’s going to help you with the heavy work around the house.  She’ll be able to ride out to me if there are any problems.”

By that time they’d reached the park and as they passed someone she’d gone to school with, Daisy nodded politely.

“Oh, it’s good to see you,” the other woman said as she eyed Eli interestedly.  “You’re the flower who moved off somewhere…Dakota Territory?”  Grace had never been a
particular friend, but Daisy was mortified that the other woman didn’t remember her name even though they’d been in school together for six years.

“I moved to Montana.  This is my husband, Eli.”  Daisy politely made the introductions.  “Eli, this is Grace.  She and I went to school together.”

Grace smiled and extended her hand.  “It’s so nice to meet you.  Now that you’ve married one of the flowers, you’re like a citizen of Seattle.”

Eli shook the young woman’s hand.  “It’s nice to meet you.”  He watched her with surprise.  She’d gone to school with Daisy and didn’t even know her name?

“How long will the two of you be in town?” Grace asked.

“Just a week.  We got here this morning, and we’ll leave next Wednesday.”

“Is your mother throwing any big parties while you’re here?” Grace addressed this question to Daisy, although her eyes didn’t leave Eli.

“Just for family,” Daisy replied.
 
And you wouldn’t be invited even if it were for the whole town
, she added silently.

Eli removed his hand from Grace’s.  “We’re going to continue our walk.  It was nice meeting you, Faith.”
  He turned away from her and started to walk away.

Grace looked at him in surprise.  “My name is Grace.”

“So it is.  My wife’s name is Daisy.”  He took Daisy’s hand and tucked it into his arm, and the two of them walked away. 

Daisy looked over her shoulder as soon as they were out of earshot and saw that Grace was still watching them with a confused expression.  She let out a giggle.  “Did you
really forget her name or did you do that on purpose?”

Eli shrugged.  “I can’t believe she went to school with you and couldn’t remember your name.  How hard is Daisy to remember?” 

“So you did do it on purpose.”

“Of course I did, and I’d do it again.  She had no right to treat you like a nonentity.” 

Eli was obviously very upset by the way Grace had acted as if she wasn’t a person in her own right, but Daisy didn’t think anything of it.  “I’m used to it, you know.  All my life I’ve just been ‘one of the flowers.’”

“You’re not that to me.  To me you’re the amazing Daisy King.  You’re smart and loving and good.  People need to get to know you and realize that you’re a wonderful person in your own right…not just someone who
’s part of some garden of people.” 

Daisy smiled and squeezed his arm where her hand rested on it.  “I really am used to it.”

“You shouldn’t have to be.”  He looked down at her and smiled.  “I can’t lose you.  Humor me and let your sister come home with us.”

She sighed.  “Any sister but Jasmine!”  Daisy thought for a moment about how Jasmine had pulled daisies out of her trunk for her wedding and how she’d looked when she’d told her she never knew she liked her as much as the others.  She wasn’t being fair.  Jasmine deserved a second chance.  Didn’t everyone?

*****

Their week in Seattle flew by.  Daisy was happy to be home, but she was more than ready to go back to Montana by the end of the week.  The doctor in Seattle had said the same thing the doctor in Montana had said.  She was young and healthy
, and there was nothing to worry about.  She could see that his opinion didn’t help Eli in any way.

Jasmine got more and more excited as the week went by.  The day before they were supposed to leave, Daisy took a walk to Amaryllis’s house to talk to her about the change in their sister.  “She seems like she actually wants to be my friend instead of my tormentor now
.  I’m not sure what to think.”

Amaryllis looked at Daisy as she sat on the couch nursing the baby.  “Do you trust her?”

Daisy could see by the look on Amaryllis’s face that she didn’t think Jasmine could be trusted.  “I don’t know.  I mean, she took a bouquet of daisies to Montana so I wouldn’t have to be married without them.”

Amaryllis stared at Daisy in disbelief.  “Jasmine did?
  Without being told?”

Daisy nodded.  “I couldn’t believe it either.  She didn’t even try to get me to pay her for them.  She just gave them to me like she was thrilled to be able to do something nice for me.”  She looked down at her hands for a moment.  “It frightened me.”

Amaryllis burst out laughing.  “It’s pretty sad that we are so suspicious of our sister that we’re frightened when she does something nice.”

Daisy bit her lip, considering.  “It just usually means that she’s planning something really mean, and we need to be extra careful.”

“I haven’t heard of her doing anything really evil lately.  Maybe she’s changing.”  Amaryllis said the words skeptically as if she didn’t believe Jasmine was capable of that kind of change.

“Well, she said some really embarrassing things in Montana as well.  It was like she was trying to decide if she wanted to be ‘nice sister’ or ‘demented nincompoop’ Jasmine as usual.”  Daisy shrugged.  “I don’t seem to have a choice about her going back to Montana with me, though, so I’d better make the most of it.”

“I’ll pray for you,” Amaryllis whispered so seriously they both burst into laughter. 

Daisy left a few minutes later with a promise to write.  She wasn’t sure how she felt about Jasmine going along.  She’d seemed like she was a decent person a couple of times lately.  Maybe she really was growing up.

Chapter Seven

Daisy slept a lot o
n the train back to Montana, leaving Jasmine and Eli to talk.  Sometimes she would hear parts of their conversations, but that was okay.  She was tired, and she just kept sleeping.

“What exactly am I going to need to do?”
Jasmine asked.

Eli shrugged.  “Mainly I just want you to help out with the heavy things.  Go down to the cellar instead of letting Daisy do it.  You be the one to get on your knees and scrub the floors and weed the garden.  Don’t let her lift anything.”
  He studied Jasmine’s face as he described what he wanted, hoping that she’d be willing.

Jasmine nodded.  “I can help with the cooking
too.  I don’t cook as well as Daisy, but I’ve been learning.”

“I’m sure Daisy can help you get even better at it.  She’ll let you know what she needs.  More than anything, I want someone to be there with her while I’m out on the range.  I’m worried she’s going to fall and not be able to get up, or start to bleed, and no one will know.”

“I can do that.”  Jasmine stared out the window as the miles flew by.  Daisy seemed so content lying with her head on Eli’s shoulder.  Someday Jasmine wanted to marry as well, but she wasn’t sure she could with her reputation as a trouble maker.  Not in Seattle anyway.  Maybe there would be someone in Montana for her.

*****

They got back on Friday evening, and Daisy was surprised by how hard Jasmine was willing to work from the Saturday they arrived.  She went to the cellar for her every time she opened the trap door.  She was the one who weeded the garden while Daisy made lunch.  Daisy had a lot more time to sit and sew for the baby than she’d expected, because her sister was being so helpful.

Jasmine rushed in from weeding the garden and went into the bathroom to wipe the dirt from her face.  “That’s fun!”

Daisy looked at Jasmine with surprise.  “What’s fun?”

“I like weeding. 
Mother’s been trying to get me to help in the flower gardens forever, but I’ve always refused.  Now I see why she does it.  She really does enjoy it.”  Jasmine wrinkled her nose.  “I was skeptical that it was possible to enjoy that kind of labor.”

Daisy laughed.  “My vegetable garden is a far cry from Mama’s flower gardens.”

“Well sure, because your garden is actually useful!”

“You love jasmine.”

“Well, yes, but I don’t love all the other flowers.  Mama should have just made a jasmine garden and forgotten about the rest of you.”  Jasmine’s eyes sparkled with mischief.

Daisy shook her head and sighed.  “Typical Jasmine.”

The laughter left Jasmine’s face, and she looked down at her hands.  “I don’t want to be typical Jasmine anymore.  I want to be good.  Like you.”  The earnest look on Jasmine’s face told Daisy she was serious about what she was saying.

“What do you mean?”

“Whenever Mama talks about us all, she says that you’re the good one, and I’m the mischief maker.  I’m tired of being the mischief maker.” 

Daisy watched with shock as a tear drifted down her sister’s cheek.  “Are you serious?”

Jasmine nodded.  “I want to be known for being good and sweet and kind.  Not for all the pranks I play on my sisters…and everyone else I meet.”

“Well, here you’re starting fresh.  No one will ever know that you were a prankster at home.  Here you can just be Jasmine.”  She leaned down to peek into the oven and see if her bread was almost done.  “I love being able to be just Daisy.  I’m not one of the flowers.  I’m just me.”

“I think that’s what I need as well.  I need to be around people who don’t know all about my orneriness.  People who haven’t known me since I was in diapers.”

Daisy nodded.  “You’ll definitely get that here.”  She pulled the bread out of the oven and set it on the work table to cool.  “Eli will be here any minute for supper.  Would you mind setting the table?”  It was the first thing Daisy had actually asked Jasmine to do, and her sister jumped to get the dishes down.  Daisy shook her head as she watched her.  She was definitely going to have to write Amaryllis a letter about this.

*****

Sunday morning at church, Jasmine sat quietly beside Daisy.  She looked around her at all the men.  She was used to
seeing a great deal more men than women, but this was even worse than Seattle.  Here there seemed to be six men for every woman.

After the service, there was a short line of men wanting to talk to her.  She wasn’t quite eighteen yet, and knew her mother would have a fit if she let one of them court her, so she just talked to each one.  After turning down six buggy rides, she looked at Daisy with wide eyes.

Daisy just shrugged at her.  She felt like she should warn everyone that Jasmine wasn’t what she seemed, but she didn’t.  Jasmine had a right to start over as well.  When she turned eighteen in two months things would be different, though.  Eli put his hands on Daisy’s shoulders and she turned her face up to his.  “She’s doing better than I thought she would.”

Eli nodded.  “Just give her a chance to find her place here.”

*****

James went by the ranch house at least twice a week to see if there was anything Daisy needed help with.  He knew that her sister was there, but he felt like he needed to offer anyway.  He rarely came empty handed.  Sometimes he brought a bouquet of flowers that he’d picked on the ranch while working.  Sometimes he’d just bring a pretty rock he’d seen. 

One day in late September, just over a month before Daisy was due, he brought a pretty maple leaf with red along the veins.  He gave it to Daisy, and she accepted it happily.  She was sitting in her rocking chair working on a small quilt for the baby while Jasmine fixed supper.  Jasmine had been invaluable to her during her time in Montana, and Daisy knew that although she could have done it without her sister, it was much easier with her there.

“Thank you.”  Daisy flipped the leaf over in her hand, watching James as he watched Jasmine.  His visits had been a great deal more frequent since they’d brought Jasmine back from Seattle with them.  “It’s beautiful!”

James smiled.  “It’s the first one I’ve seen turning.  You’ll have to take your walk out toward the pasture if you want to see more.”  He had observed Daisy and Jasmine walking every afternoon when the weather was nice.

“We will.  Is Eli working you hard?”

James shrugged.  “He always does.  He’s a hard taskmaster, but he needs to be.”  He stretched rubbing his back.  “He never asks for anything he’s not willing to do himself, though.”

Daisy nodded.  All the men she’d had a chance to talk to had told her the same thing.  “Do you think we’ll have an early winter?”

James walked to the window and looked out.  “I don’t know.  I’m going to make sure I don’t get trapped out in it again.”

Jasmine turned from where she was chopping vegetables for a thick stew.  “You got trapped out in the cold?”

James looked at Daisy for a minute and shook his head before turning to Jasmine.  “Your sister nursed me back to health when I was brought here half frozen.”

Jasmine looked at Daisy with surprise.  “You never said anything.”

Daisy shrugged.  “I don’t know why I would say something.  He was cold and I helped him.  That’s all.”

“She spooned hot soup into my mouth and made me drink hot coffee until I was well enough to feed myself.  Sat by my bed all night nursing me.”
  James wasn’t about to let Daisy downplay what she’d done for him.

“I could see Iris doing that, but not you.”  Jasmine was obviously surprised to hear that her sister had helped the man.

“I did what any Christian woman would do.  He needed help and I helped him.  Why is that so surprising?”

Jasmine shrugged.  “I’m not sure exactly.  I guess maybe it wasn’t just the townspeople who just thought of you as one of the flowers.”

Daisy didn’t say anything, but she knew it was true.  Because she was quieter than her sisters and tended to keep to herself, many of them hadn’t bothered to get to know her at all.  Amaryllis was the only sister she had who she felt really knew her.

James looked over at Jasmine.  “Your sister wasn’t the same back home?”

Jasmine shook her head.  “There are eight girls in our family, and Daisy and I are right smack in the middle.  Most of us have strong personalities, but Daisy, well…she was just Daisy.  She was quiet where most of us were loud.  She and Hyacinth were really the only quiet two in the bunch.”

“That doesn’t sound like the woman I know.”

Jasmine made a face.  “She’s different here.  I noticed it right away.  I don’t know if it’s because she’s married now, or because she’s away from the rest of us.  Maybe it’s a little of both.  It’s a good thing, though.  I love who she’s become.”

James smiled as he headed for the door.  “Well, I need to get back out on the range.  I just wanted to bring you the pretty leaf.”  He tipped his hat to Daisy, but his eyes lingered on Jasmine.  Daisy could see that he was interested in her sister.

As soon as he was gone, Jasmine asked about him.  “He’s always bringing you things.”

Daisy shrugged.  “I think Eli has asked him to check up on me.  Different men come on different days.  James comes on Monday and Thursday.”

“I hadn’t noticed they all had days.  I thought they were just all coming to be nice.  Usually you give them a snack.  You didn’t today.”

“I didn’t think about it.  I should have.”  She sighed and rubbed her hand over her eyes.  “I’m sleepy.”

Jasmine looked at her with concern.  “Maybe we should skip our walk today, and you should just take a nap.  You’re sleeping for two now.”

Daisy laughed.  “You sound like Eli.  He’s always trying to push more food on me.  ‘You’re eating for two.’  Or trying to get me to sleep late.  ‘You’re sleeping for two.’”  She rubbed the back of her neck tiredly.  “I’m walking for two as well, so we’ll walk like we do every day.”

Thanks to Jasmine’s help all the vegetables from her garden were in and had been canned.  The cellar was neatly organized with everything on shelves.  No one had allowed Daisy to carry anything down to the cellar, but once she’d gone down on her own, she had put everything just where she wanted it.  She was happy with their supplies and ready for the snows to fly. 

When Eli got home that afternoon, he saw the leaf.  He picked it up with a smile.  “Did you find that on your afternoon walk?”

“James brought it when he checked on us this morning,” Daisy answered.  She watched him as she said the other man had checked on her, wondering if he’d deny having anyone check on them.

“Really?  Do the others bring gifts when they check on you, or do they just eat the food you two are always cooking?”

“So you don’t deny having the men check on me?” Daisy asked, shaking her head.  How many people did it take to watch over one pregnant woman?

“I wouldn’t lie to you.  Of course I have people checking up on you.  There’s a different man assigned to every day.  Do they all bring gifts?”

Daisy shook her head.  “Only James.”

Eli frowned at that.  “I don’t like men bringing my wife gifts.”

“He brings me rocks and leaves.  Don’t be silly.”  She didn’t mention then that she was certain the man was interested in Jasmine.  She’d wait until they were alone for that, because she wasn’t certain how her mother would react to Jasmine courting a cowboy.  It was enough that she’d let Daisy marry a rancher.  A cowboy, with no ranch of his own, might make her mother crazy.

Eli said nothing more about it as he sat at the table and picked up his spoon.  He prayed for the three of them, and they all ate in silence for a moment.  “Good stew.”

Jasmine smiled.  “Thank you.”

Eli looked at her with surprise.  “Did you make it without help this time?”
  He knew Jasmine had been working on her cooking skills, but he hadn’t realized she’d come that far.

“She did!” Daisy responded.  “She’s becoming an excellent cook!”
  She watched her sister blush.

“I’m doing my best.”  Jasmine was obviously pleased with all the compliments to her cooking.

Jasmine had gotten into the habit of sitting and talking with Daisy and Eli in the evenings while Daisy stitched.  Occasionally Jasmine would sew as well, but she really hated to sew.  She preferred to sit and talk and didn’t mind having idle hands one bit.  They hadn’t been raised to work every minute of the day.

That evening
while they sewed, Jasmine broached the subject of courting.  “If I were back in Seattle, Mama would be letting me court now.”  She said the words nervously as if she were leading up to something.

Daisy exchanged looks with Eli.  “But only after Aunt Harriett had the man you were thinking of courting investigated.”

Eli looked between them.  “Investigated?  How did I escape being investigated?”

Jasmine laughed.  “You didn’t!  You don’t think someone came out here and made sure you were all right before Daisy
came to marry you?”

“Are you serious?”  It had never occurred to him that anyone had checked him out before Daisy could marry him.