Free The Chili Queen by Sandra Dallas

night. I told you I had a feeling something was different. I always get feelings.”
    “She’s old,” Miss Belle whispered, loud enough for Emma to hear. Miss Belle was tall and buxom with dark hair and eyes that smoldered when she looked at men. She was very popular. “We heard about you in town,” Miss Belle told Emma. “Lordy, everybody knows. I wouldn’t be in your shoes for a wooden nickel.” She frowned, not sure that had come out right.
    Addie shook her head. Those two were dumb enough to drown in a hoofprint of water. They needed looking after. Maybe that was why she had taken them in. “You wouldn’t be in anybody’s shoes for a wooden nickel,” Addie told her.
    “You’re not to take the cowboys from the Rockin’ A. They’re mine, all of them,” Miss Tillie said, then added, “not that they’d want you, you being old and all. But men are curious, Lordy yes, and they might want to give you a try, but you tell them no.” Miss Tillie was rarely anybody’s first choice at The Chili Queen, and she guarded her few loyal customers with a fury. “You wouldn’t want to cross me,” she warned.
    Emma blushed and looked as if she wanted to disappear. But she said nothing. Instead, Addie spoke up. “Miss Emma is a guest of mine. She isn’t a whore, and you treat her proper. And don’t you gossip about her in town, or I’ll snatch you bald-headed.” The girls giggled. They knew that Addie was fond of them and that her threats didn’t mean anything. And Addie knew that whatever the girls picked up at The Chili Queen, they would spread around town, no matter what she said. She’d have to keep them away from Emma—just as she’d always kept them away from Ned.
    Miss Belle sat down on a kitchen chair and sulked. “She’ll give us a bad reputation is all. Men don’t want no turned-away mail-order bride.”
    Addie glanced at Emma, who had slunk down in her chair. “I told you to mind your manners, Belle,” Addie said.
    “I bought new ribbons for my hat,” Miss Tillie said. She looked at Ned as she spoke, but she couldn’t catch his eye.
    “I’ll sew them on for you,” Emma spoke up.
    But Addie shook her head. “Welcome’s the only servant around here, although she’s no better with a needle than a hen with a thimble. You sew them on yourself, Tillie. You do a good enough job with your needle; they’ll look mighty pretty. Go on upstairs and take Belle with you. We have business taking place at this table.”
    “What kind of business you got with an old maid?” Miss Tillie asked.
    Addie sighed. “I brought perfume from Kansas City, and I’ll give it to you presently if you mind your manners.” She waved the girls away.
    “Come on, Belle. I’m not too good to sew on bonnet strings.” Miss Tillie slammed the door as the two left the room.
    Addie went over and opened the door to make sure they were not listening. “I’d get rid of those two whores, but their heads are as empty as their pocketbooks,” Addie said, although she knew she was too soft ever to fire anybody. “I guess they’d starve if I threw them out. Besides, I’ve got nobody else. There but for the grace of God…,” she added, remembering Emma’s phrase.
    Emma stood up and went to the bucket of water by the door. She took a dipperful and sipped, throwing what was left out the back door. “I guess it’s time for me to go to my room,” she said.
    “Not just yet,” Addie told her, standing up herself. “I got a hookhouse to run, and you got a letter to write. Welcome will post it for you. You write it, and I’ll look it over.” Addie wanted to make sure Emma didn’t write anything that would give away their scheme. Emma was not wise in the ways of cheating; Addie was, she thought with pride. She set sheets of paper and a pencil on the table. Then she went into the bedroom and picked out a dress from the wardrobe and took it upstairs with her. She didn’t fancy sleeping another night in the hot little