Maude's Trials (Widows of Virginia #1)(13)
“Oh…” Laura took the letter, and placed it in her pocket. “Thank you, Sue.”
Susan folded her arms over her ample bosom. “You’re not going to read it now?”
“Huh?” Laura looked up. “Oh, I’ll read it later. I still have to tend to the shop.”
Susan nodded, her sharp dark eyes scanning the room as if seeing things for the first time. Finally she looked back at Laura, it took her a moment to say out loud what she must have been ruminating on for a while.
“Not to pry, but...” Susan hesitated. “Is Robert courting you?”
Laura gasped.
“Sue!” Anton’s face flashed to the front of her mind. “I’m still grieving!”
Susan cast her eyes down.
“Sorry. I was just - I was just curious, with so many letters... You can’t blame me for wondering what he writes about.” She sighed and took Laura’s hands in hers. “People are talking. The couriers talk and... Well, you know how fast rumors travel.”
Laura did know. But while Robert had been sending letters, she hadn’t been responding save for the first time when she thanked him for his sympathies.
“Don’t listen to them. Those ol’ biddies don’t have anything better to do than gossip, you know that.”
“Of course, of course.” Susan nodded and released Laura’s hands. The wrinkles around her dark blue eyes reminded Laura of Anton. But if she were honest, everything in the house, town even, reminded her of Anton.
“I have to go,” Laura said. “Mrs. Dunne might come by for a fitting.”
Laura left her room, heart heavy with guilt. Why hadn’t she shared Robert’s letters with Susan? There was nothing indecent in them, but they were too personal. She hadn’t responded to Robert’s letters, although she had been tempted to do so many times. He was once her confidant. She wasn’t sure, though, if it would be right to rekindle that old friendship.
She shut the door to the house behind her leaving Susan busy in the kitchen. She walked through town and almost without looking or thinking she headed straight for the small mercantile shop she ran in an alley near the marketplace. Laura barely glanced at the mannequins in the window display, draped with the unsold dresses she had sown that month. She didn’t exactly dread going to work, but in her heart Laura knew it wasn’t the job for her. Laura thought back to the catering business she had to close after her husband died. She did her sowing as much to make money, as she did to keep herself busy. With her mind on the threads and sequins and fine materials at least she wasn’t thinking about Anton.
Laura turned the key and opened the door to a haze of dust floating in the sunlight that streamed through the windows. Situated just off the busy street, her little shop always looked dusty and stuffy. The humid August weather drew many of her rich customers away to more temperate destinations for the summer.
She stepped inside to retrieve a broom so she could do some cleaning while waiting for a client. But the mindless task meant she kept thinking about Robert’s letters. Should she tell Susan, after all? Although it might allay Susan’s fears - there was absolutely nothing in the letters to indicate his intentions of courting her - it would also betray Robert’s thoughts and feelings to an outside party. Laura didn’t want to do that to him.
When the dark mahogany floor was once again clean, Laura went to her spinning wheel in the back room. She wished someone would come in and make an order, but business did not flourish. In fact in the recent months she’d mostly had commissions for repairing and stitching dresses and shirts by hand. And there was no point for her to spin another dress for the shop window… Her mind wandered back to the letters, to the women in the West Robert described. Only one person in the whole town had a spinning wheel! Everyone else did everything by hand.
Finally she settled behind a small desk by the window, picked up patches of cloth from the pile beside her, and began stitching. She preferred dressmaking to repairs, but the bills had to be paid and it provided a way to pass the time as she waited for a customer.
A few hours passed, yet no one came. Not even Mrs. Dunne.
*
Night had fallen by the time Laura got home. Susan had almost finished preparing their meal. Laura greeted her, but the smile on Susan’s face didn’t quite reach her eyes. She had loved her brother dearly…
“Samuel, not back yet?” Laura leaned in to check if Susan’s husband sat in his favorite armchair with the evening paper.
“Not yet. He’s working late tonight.”
“Need any help?” Laura asked.
“Oh, no.” Susan shook her head and stirred the pot with a ladle. “You go freshen up, dinner is almost ready.”
Laura nodded and turned to the hallway. Despite not being much older than Laura Susan had always been motherly towards her. On some days it made Laura want to rebel against being treated like a child, but on others she welcomed the affection.
She passed her old room, the one she used to share with Anton, and headed for the one beside it. She couldn’t sleep on that bed, now cold and empty. In that room she was constantly reminded that it was meant for two people. Laura found the small guest room a welcome respite from the memories of her late husband.
She sat in front of the dresser to unlock one of the drawers. The latest letter from Robert weighed heavy in her pocket. She hadn’t dared open it earlier – not knowing what he wrote she couldn’t risk someone seeing her reaction. Laura sighed and took out a roll of parchment and a quill. If her silence hadn’t deterred him it was probably time to respond.