****
Eliza woke the next morning intending to put her desires behind her, but Daisy and Anna wouldn’t stop talking about the Blakes.
“Joey is so fast!” Daisy gushed, her pale blue eyes glazed over with admiration. “Like a deer, or a…stallion.”
Anna clapped her hands and laughed. “Yes. But Zachary’s more of a bucking bronco,” she said, winking. “At least, I’d like to think so.”
Eliza’s cheeks burned, but she kept her eyes on her needlework, willing her thoughts to stay clean.
Daisy wouldn’t allow it. “I bet you’re not wrong,” she said conspiratorially. “I’ve heard he’s not exactly waiting for marriage.”
Anna scoffed, her strawberry blonde braids swaying as she shook her head. “What do you know?”
“A lot more than you!” Daisy said, her cheeks pinking up. “Ladies tell me when I go to my mother’s work. It’s not like I’m clueless. You’ve never even had a boyfriend!”
“So?” Anna shot back. “You shouldn’t go spreading rumors around, especially about a client.”
Daisy’s eyes narrowed. “They’re not rumors if they’re true. Show cowboys have lots of girlfriends. Everyone knows that.”
Anna looked like she wanted to retort, but her mouth shut when Eliza rose from the long table they were all sharing. Her eyes looked frightened, and Eliza knew her anxiety was showing on her face, but she couldn’t help it; she felt so ashamed she was physically ill.
“Eliza?” Daisy said uncertainly, hurrying to her side. “Are you all right?”
Eliza forced a smile to her face, hoping it looked more natural than it felt. “I just feel a little dizzy,” she lied. “I need to go upstairs for a moment.”
Anna was wringing her hands and dancing from foot to foot. “Are you sure? It was our bickering, wasn’t it? My dad always said me and my brother’s arguing gave him headaches.”
“No, dear,” Eliza said. “You’re fine. I’ll be back before you know it.”
When she was alone in her room, she started to cry, and it didn’t make sense to her at all; neither of them made any sort of desire known to her, and Daisy was right—show business people tended to be more promiscuous than most, especially gorgeous cowboys who flaunted their physiques for thousands of people each week. So what if they’d stared? Lots of men stared, and some women, too—that didn’t mean they wanted to have sex with her, and if they did, it didn’t really matter to her who they’d been with before. It was so unlikely they would actually ever be together that the whole idea should seem like details in a made-up story, she decided... Don’t be silly over this, Eliza. It’s just a crush.
After ten minutes, Eliza smoothed her hands down her plum colored skirt and started downstairs again. Anna and Daisy were still talking about the brothers—but, thankfully, they were onto a different subject.
“That’s what I heard, too,” Daisy said earnestly as she finished the loops on a silk shirt. “Mavis saw them arguing after every single show.”
“That’s just how brothers are, isn’t it?” Anna asked, nonplussed.
Daisy frowned. “Well, yes and no. It was arguing, but she said it was always constant and sometimes really vile—really nasty insults, shoving, that kind of stuff. And about the strangest things.”
“Like what?”
“Like…candles. And the best size to make good flapjacks. And bolo ties, and butter,” Daisy laughed. “Just stupid things. The point is, they don’t seem to get along. They don’t ever come to the same conclusion…it’s a miracle they don’t tear each other apart.” She smiled at Eliza as she rejoined them at the table. “No wonder you’re so worn out. I bet they had you in here for hours and hours, huh?”
Eliza froze. They were in the shop for less than an hour, and they were both in perfect agreement while she showed them potential designs. Did she catch them in a good mood?
“Just about,” she said finally, the cogs of her mind spinning at lightning speed. “Did you say they fought yesterday?”
Daisy looked surprised. “Oh yes. Nearly started slugging each other, and the only reason they didn’t is because they saw us and thought we were kids.”
“They didn’t believe we were 19,” Anna giggled. “Thought we were playing hooky, and so they didn’t yell at us for trying to sneak into their dressing room.”
Eliza laughed, and her joy was real. They were at each other’s throats at all other times—except for when they were in her shop. That had to count for something, didn’t it?
“So what else did you do yesterday?” she asked the girls, her heart feeling far lighter than before. She listened happily as Anna described getting ice cream and feeding ducks at a little pond behind the elementary school. Daisy raised to answer the doorbell once, but it turned out to be a simple repair—Eliza nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the tinkle, hoping it was one of the brothers to request something new.
“How was your day, Miss?” Daisy asked when she got back. “Any funny stories? Did that awful Terese come to get her mourning dress?”
Anna gasped, but Eliza laughed at her. “Yes, she came to get the last alterations checked. She seems quite cheerful, though.”
“I’ll bet,” Daisy said darkly. “She was cheery at the rodeo, too. Tried to fling herself all over Zach—then Joey—when they were shaking hands on the way out. She wasn’t the only one trying, though, so she never got close. She’d die if she knew they came here afterward.”
Eliza smiled, her heart warming at the memory of Zachary and Joey leaning against her as she explained the thoughts behind her designs, their eyes meeting hers and refusing and to pull away. “I bet she would.”
The bell above the shop door tinkled again, and Eliza’s heart leapt into her throat again. She only heard one set of footsteps, though, so she tried to reign in her pulse while Anna leaned in and whispered to her conspiratorially.
“What were they really like?”
Eliza laughed, startled. “I don’t know,” she began. “They were charming, I suppose.”
Anna smirked. “I bet they were charming. Men are always charming around you.”
“Until they’re not,” Eliza said. “But these two really were genuinely nice. It’s strange…” she hesitated, wondering if Anna would laugh at her.
“What?” the girl pressed, her eyes widening. She leaned in further, apparently not wanting to miss a word.
Eliza took a breath. “You say they don’t get along well, but they got along perfectly around me. Especially when I was showing them designs. They agreed with each other the whole time, even supporting each other’s ideas.”
Anna was quiet for a while, then she smiled. “That’s not so strange,” she said finally. “You’re a peace bringer. You’ve got a lot charm of your own, Eliza.”
Eliza laughed. “Sure.”
Anna frowned. “I’m serious! Give yourself more credit. You’re humble, talented, and lovely; why wouldn’t they want to behave themselves for long enough to make you give them the time of day?”
Eliza didn’t get a chance to respond. Before she could open her mouth, a huge vase of roses floated through the doorway, followed by Daisy’s fast-moving legs.
“Special delivery for Eliza!”
Eliza rose from her seat, her heart pounding thickly in her chest. There was a rolled-up piece of parchment tied with a piece of dark green ribbon, and she recognized it the moment she pulled it from the scroll: it was part of a sample of fabric she’d sent home with the Blake Brothers, in case they wanted bow ties.
“Who is it from?” Anna asked Daisy.
Daisy shrugged. “The flower shop. It was just sent along with that message, but it looks like it was expensive.”
Eliza’s eyes scanned the paper, and she had to read it twice before the words finally sank into her brain.
Eliza,
You greatly impressed us in the short amount of time we spent in your shop today. I think that’s obvious by now—unless this message didn’t come with 24 roses. If that’s the case, please imagine two dozen fragrant roses of the most staggering beauty and then read the following:
We are certain you have heard about our reputation by now, and we make no excuses for it. Cowboys have a certain lifestyle that’s easy to slip into, but we’ve done our time in that world, and we’re ready to leave it behind. You, however, make us want to try something altogether new —something real, and special, and probably a little insane. We wouldn’t ask you this if we didn’t feel that there was something between us, but we know we could be wrong. If we’re not, please allow us to visit you tonight to talk about this further. If we are wrong, ignore our knocks and we’ll never bother you again.
Yours,
Zachary and Joseph Blake