First Impressions

Chapter 3

          It was no surprise that Papa was one of the first people to meet the Ranchers when the snow finally melted and people started pouring into town. With general goods being sold on one side and the tea shop on the other, The General Store was a popular place to pick up the supplies one would need for the summer and for the ladies to stop by and catch up on the town gossip.

           What was a surprise, though, that it was only Papa and Ethel manning the store and tea shop that day. Rose and I had gone out to collect some fresh flowers and herbs to blend our own teas, and Mama, Minnie and Effie had gone over to the Hutchinsons for some tea and gossip. Growing up, my sisters and I would spend a lot of time at the Hutchinson's house, and so we grew close with their daughters, particularly Rose and I to Sarah , who was a few years older than Rose, and Minnie and Effie to Penny, as she was the same age as them.

          Mama was in such a huff when she learned that there were several new gentlemen ranchers who stopped by. She could not draw any satisfactory descriptions of these men from Papa, although she tried her hardest. She attacked him with direct questions, impassable stories, and the typical bemoaning of her fate, but with a faint smile on his lips, Papa would side step all her attacks with ease. Mama may have tested my father most days, but he accepted it all with grace and goodnature - as he was highly entertained by her.

          Mama had a penchant for gossip, but she also ran one of the most successful businesses in town. Many people took her for a simpleton, but she learned long ago that it was to her advantage. That did not mean she didn't matchmake her daughters any chance she got. And so that is how she ended up at Mrs. Hutchinson's house getting the gossip on the gentleman ranchers that Papa had refused to give her. Mrs. Hutchinson may have been as big of a gossip as Mama, but her husband being the Mayor of the town allowed her to know things Mama did not. Those two would swap gossip back and forth all day - and sometimes argue about who received the most accurate gossip.

          Mr. Hutchinson had met them when they came into town to register in this county. His report had been highly favorable. The one gentleman - a Mr. Will Burke - was young, handsome, charming and planned to stay for a while. He had taken over a distant family settlement not too far out of town. He meant to be at the May Day Dance and to bring a large party of friends and family along with him.

          As you can imagine, nothing would be more delightful for my Mama or my youngest sisters as a young gentleman and all of his friends coming to the May Day Dance. He had traveled from a large city in the east no less, so he was sure to be up to date on all the latest dances and my sisters determined that the way to any gentleman's heart is through dance. I may be romanticizing that last part, but it seemed like the sentiment was there.

          "If I could see but one of our girls settled with Mr. Burke," sighed Mama to Papa upon returning from the Hutchinsons. "I could rest easy knowing that one of them is secure and I am sure the others would follow quickly." Papa quietly chuckled and moved on to do inventory of the store.

          He knew there was no use bringing it up, but he had requested the young gentleman to stop by for dinner before departing town to collect the rest of his party. Unfortunately, it was not to be as Mr. Burke had to collect his sisters' and her husband from the train station the next day. Mrs. Everett bemoaned to her family that the train never ran on time, and at the very least he could have stopped by the shop for some tea before setting out. Mrs. Everett was quite concerned. She knew it was only a matter of time before someone caught the young gentleman's eye and she hadn't even met him yet and therefore couldn't matchmake her own daughters.

          As the May Day Dance grew nearer, it was reported that Mr. Will Burke had not been seen around town, and it was unclear if he would be attending or not. Rumors amongst the ladies flew around. Some saying that his sisters' arrived ill and had taken immediately to bed, hence why no one saw them over the past week, while others claimed he had a fiance that arrived in town and they were spending the time getting reacquainted after months apart.

          Mama ate up every piece of gossip that came through the doors about the young gentleman, and I would account for several of the more unpleasant rumors to have been started by her. I believe I once heard her tell Papa that it was easier to dispel rumors later than to have too many young ladies obsessing over him when she knew it would be one of her daughters he would choose. Now, the rumors were nothing mean, just that he had two left feet or a crooked nose.

            Two days before the May Day Dance, a storm rolled into town. Most of the ladies posted inside to work on their outfits, thus stopping the flow of gossip rolling into the tea shop. My sisters and I spent more time in the parlor working on our own outfits for the dance. Effie and Minnie kept trying to bribe Rose out of some of her extra pink ribbons. Both had spent there money on frivolous things before knowing there were going to be new people at the dance, and in an effort to refresh their already worn dressed, they were fighting over the same set of ribbons Rose had offer to loan one of them.

          "But those ribbons would make my hair shine under the candle light," bemoaned Minnie.

          "Minnie, my hair is the same color, so I would also have that effect. And you know that those ribbons match the embroidery on my dress more. You just don't want to ask Ruth if you can borrow her yellow ribbons cause you ruined hers the last time she loaned them to you," shouted Effie right back.

          I walked into the room as those two continued to squabble about the ribbons. "Minnie, just let Effie have the pink ribbons. You can borrow my yellow ones so long as you don't drop them in the punch again." Minnie huffed in response.

          "You know that yellow always makes you shine brighter than the sun, just like Mama says," chimed Effie. Sometimes I couldn't tell if she was trying to make things better or worse for herself. "Fine. Ruth if I could get those ribbons now so that Ellen can practice my hairstyles with them."

          I rolled my eyes at Rose. As if Minnie and Effie hadn't monopolized Ellen the past two days claiming that they needed to find the perfect hairstyle. Thankfully, neither had realized Rose and I had gotten a fashion magazine from our aunt out east. Rose hadn't agreed with me, but I stressed the importance of telling them after the dance so that Ellen wouldn't be too over worked and that we could have our first pick of hairstyles ourselves.

          "Ethel," Rose interrupted Ethel from her book. "Have you given any thought to how you will do your hair for the dance?" Ethel turned sheet white at the mere thought of going to the dance. Rose had been trying to get her to borrow one of her lavender dresses, but Ethel kept making excuses before fleeing the room. Rose was determined that Ethel was going to dance with Mr. James Hutchinson at this next dance. He had offered to dance with her the past two dances, but she managed to escape him each time. Rose had nothing on Mama's matchmaking attempts, but she knew that Mr. James Hutchinson was a good young gentleman and would be an easy dance partner for Ethel to have. She might have also seen some interest in Ethel's face whenever he was mentioned, and thought some gentle nudges might help make her feel less awkward - specially with her Mama focused on matching one of the other girls with Mr. Burke.

          The morning of the May Day Dance left the Everett House into shambles. Rose and I were used to it, so we had requested that Ellen help us with our hair before the others stirred from their rooms. Sending Ellen on her way to help the others, Rose and I helped finish each other's dressings before Rose left to go help Ethel and I went to Papa's study. Rose had conveniently sent Ethel's evening and fancy day wear to be washed so she would have no choice but to borrow Rose's dress.

          As I settled into Papas' study, I took a big sigh and breathed in all the earth tones of hundreds of books stored there. Papa gave me a cup of tea from the tray left in the room, and went back to his book. I picked up a story I had left there the day before and all too soon I heard my mothers screeches down the hall.

           "I guess that is our cue to leave, my dear," Papa smirked as he closed his book and moved to leave the room. "Let us find what this dance has in store and pray that your mother doesn't get too carried away with her schemes."