Free Love's Rescue by Tammy Barley Page B

for many days.”
    She recalled that Jake had said he needed to purchase other supplies for the ranch. “Then I will stay, Red Deer,” Jess said with resignation. “If you don’t mind, I would like to help with a few chores so that I can regain my strength.”
    “A little work may be good. But now I will bring up water. In the trunk are dresses that may fit you.” Red Deer left with the tray.
    Aside from the bed, chairs, and dressing table, the trunk holding the lantern was the only other furnishing in the room. Jess rounded the bed to the trunk, pushing past her fatigue and drawing on a need to escape the four walls. She set the lamp on the floor and knelt down to open the lid.
    Inside were three gowns: two of yellow calico and one of dark red wool. Beneath them lay a belt of braided leather. Jake keeps full sets of women’s clothes at his ranch? Jess thought with disgust. Whether he gave them as payment or as replacements, she didn’t care to contemplate. Thinking of the man only infuriated her. She didn’t want to think about him, much less see him. To be certain of avoiding him, she determined to leave the ranch before he returned. Two days. She’d give herself two days to regain her strength. Then she would leave.
    Jess lifted a bundle of yellow out of the trunk and pushed herself to her feet. All three dresses had essentially the same pattern: button fronts, full sleeves, and yards of skirt. They were in good condition, no matter what kind of woman they were intended for, and would serve well for the remainder of her brief stay.
    Red Deer returned with a child-sized bathing tub balanced on one hip; in her free hand, she carried a large bucket of steaming water. Unprepared to reflect on bittersweet reminders of Emma, Jess directed her gaze to the items inside the tub—a towel, a soaping cloth, a hunk of oddly shaped soap, a hairbrush, and a pair of fur-lined Indian boots. While Red Deer arranged these items on the plank floor and dressing table, Jess glanced curiously through the half-opened door. She saw a short hallway and a stick-and-branch railing, which opened to reveal a set of stairs leading to a lower room. Beyond it, the opposite side of the timbered roofline sloped down.
    Jess stopped the smile of pleasure that was forming on her lips. This cozy home was Jake’s, she reminded herself.
    Red Deer set the bucket and towel within Jess’s reach, then left her alone.
    Above the trunk, a small mirror hung on the wall. Jess studied her reflection for the first time since the night of the fire. Her chestnut hair and green eyes resembled those of the woman Isaac Hale had fallen in love with and married more than a quarter of a century ago. Her mother’s earrings and the emerald pendant Ambrose had given her lay, as before, on the dressing table. Jess was thankful that her own culture didn’t bury these precious reminders of those dearest to the heart. She would cherish these heirlooms and remember her family for a long time to come, and she was glad of it. There was nothing she wanted to forget. Except for the pain, now inextricably wound with the pleasant memories.
    ***
    The hot bath greatly revived Jess’s spirits. She applied herself to scrubbing away the soot and smoke from her skin, and she found herself drawn to the scents and sensations of the present. For a time, she was able to set the recent past aside.
    Only after Jess had scrubbed her hair and rinsed it twice did the smoky tinge fade to her satisfaction. The room began to smell less like ashes and more like rosewater and pine.
    She pulled the dress on and buttoned it, no longer needing wraps since her burns had begun to heal. With none of the fashionable set around to impress, her corset held her to a more comfortable degree of confinement than she was used to, and Jess breathed deeply for no reason other than she was able to. The gown fit a bit loosely in the middle, even with the slackened corset, so she simply let the waist fall to the top