His Perfect Love

Chapter 10

The wagon ride was bumpy and Riley couldn't help but feel a little sick. The seat was hard and wasn't doing much for comfort. The seat bench was long enough for the three of them to fit, so they all sat up front. It was pretty cramped though. Riley sat in the middle between Clayton who was driving, and Allison.

"Are you feeling okay? You look a little green," Clayton commented.

She gulped, "I'll live. I'm just not feeling the greatest."

"We're almost there. Then you can rest easy."

Allison patted her shoulder in reassurance. Riley gave her a grateful smile. She could only hope that her lunch wouldn't come up. A few minutes later the town came into view. The schoolyard reached Riley's vision but she saw no children. They must be inside learning. Riley was glad that she was done with school. But she wasn't necessarily done learning. Riley still loved to learn new things every day.

"I'll drop you two off at the General Store. When I'm done with work, I'll bring around the wagon to load up the supplies. Then we can go on over to Doc's. In fact I should drop by and let him know we're coming later today. I hope he's in," Clayton specified.

"Sounds like a plan," Allison said.

Clayton did as he said and dropped them off outside the store. Allison waltzed right in and Riley followed suit. She got out the list from inside her reticule. It wasn't very long.

"All right, here's the list." Reading off it she said, "Sugar, flour, salt, cornmeal, baking soda, shoes and peppermint sticks. Why don't you look at the shoes over there, and I'll find everything else. Come find me when you're done."

And with that she took off. Riley turned in the direction she was pointed in. In a corner of the store by some tools, were shoes. They weren't very fancy which suited Riley just fine. They were made from leather and other sturdy materials for working. They had a range of shoes from small to large sizes. She wasn't sure what size she should get. Riley didn't want to get her normal size because she heard that feet and ankles got bigger when a person was pregnant. But at the same time she didn't want to get too big a size because they wouldn't fit her now. While she was pondering this, a woman came up to her.

"Can I help you with anything?" she asked.

"Maybe," she answered, "I need some new shoes but I need something that expands in case my feet get bigger."

"Oh that's easy. I just got some shoes in a new shipment. They are made of extremely flexible leather, but they are very sturdy and should be good for all the work women do. Would you like to see?" the woman asked.

"Yes, please."

The woman led Riley to the counter, chatting with her along the way.

"I can't say that I've seen you around. Are you new in town dear?" she inferred.

"Yes. I'm staying with Clayton and Allison actually," Riley told her.

She paused, "So you're the young woman who's been staying with them. Are you recovered? Allison told me about your injuries."

"Yes, I'm much better, thank you."

The woman gave a hesitant smile and then asked, "When will you be returning home to wherever you live?"

By then they had reached the counter and she had stepped behind it, preparing to check the storeroom for the shoes. Allison saved Riley from answering the awkward question. Allison loaded a pile of supplies on an empty space on the counter.

"Hello, Mrs. Dale. I see you've met Riley." She turned to Riley. "Did you find a pair of shoes that are good?"

"Actually Mrs. Dale was going to show me a pair from a new shipment," Riley answered looking expectantly at Mrs. Dale.