First Impressions

Chapter 2

        Papa had been one of the first to hear about the fire in the fall. Being the largest store in the area had its advantages, and one of them was to hear the gossip from the settlements in the region. I knew that Papa had been worrying about our futures for a while. He carried the same worries Mama had, but he managed them differently.

        Mama tried to force Rose to come out early, but she refused to participate in any of the events without me by her side. So at 17, Rose went to her first dance accompanied by 15 year old me. Papa had watched us like a hawk all night, and no man visiting the town dared to approach us and ask for a dance that night. Papa knew that no man in this town was good enough for us, with most of them were either his age or Effie and Minnie's ages. As soon as a man was old enough, they left the town to find their own fortunes and only returned if their father died and they needed to take care of the family business, and usually with his own wife and family in tow.

        Thus, I knew that Papa was listening to any piece of gossip that passed through the doors of our shop because he wanted Rose and I to live good, decent lives. Unfortunately, there was no new gossip as the snow had barely melted and no one from the neighboring areas had made it into town yet. This meant the only gossip being passed around came from Mama and friends and parroted by Minnie and Effie.

        "I hope the ranchers will show up at the next ball," screeched Minnie, effectively cutting into Ethel's story during dinner. "I would much rather dance with some handsome man than be partnered with the younger Mr. Sharp again. He is being rather dull lately."

        "Minnie," scolded Rose. "The younger Mr. Sharp comes from a good family. It does you poorly to speak of him so. Just because he is helping his father in the family business and not gallivanting around with you does not make him dull. You know he does like you so and I believe he is trying to make a steady home so that he can make an offer to you when you come of age."

        "Pish-posh. I would sooner marry a clergyman than Mr. Sharp. At least they can travel about."

        "Minnie! I hope that no man dances with you at the next ball. You are a foul thing to be saying such things about Mr. Sharp," cried Effie.

        "Well, if you care about him so much, you can have him!"

        "Maybe I will Minnie, maybe I will."

        Rose and I gave each other a knowing look. The younger Mr. Sharp was Ethel's age and doted on Effie and Minnie since his youngest sister, Betty, was the same age. Growing up he could not resist the girls whenever they asked for something, and it had led to the four of them getting into a lot of trouble.

        As they gotten older, it became apparent that the young Mr. Sharp had taken an interest in Minnie, and decided to stay around to help his father out. The local gossips, mainly our mother, believed that he would ask for Minnie's hand in a year or so, once he had enough savings and she was of age. What Minnie and my mother didn't know, was that Mr. Sharp wanted to expand his fathers business into other territories and planned to do so with his future wife. Rose tried to gently sway Minnie into a more patient demeanor, but I was afraid that Minnie would do something foolish before she would learn of the truth.