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“That he’s eighteen, not from around here. Said he was new to town, been here a week or two now, and looking for work,” Elsie replied. Then her voice lowered. “What else I can tell ya is that he’s polite, well-spoken, and the boy’s got manners. Never tried to lay a hand on me or any of the girls here. Doesn’t grope or ogle them up and down in that filthy way the men around here do.”
Albie put his hand to his chest. “I’ve never?—”
“No, you haven’t,” she replied. “Your daddy raised you well.”
The mention of Albie’s father opened the wound of grief afresh, ragged and aching. He gave a nod, and he could see that Elsie regretted the reference. She gave him a nudge. “Maybe you and young Percy have more in common than you?—”
At that moment, Percy came out of the stable leading Minnie and Ox...
“What in the devil?” Albie said, rushing out the back. He was about to ask Percy what on earth he thought he was doing with his horses when Percy spotted him and gave him a wide, charming grin.
“Morning, Mr Bramwell,” he said. “You said you needed to leave early, so I thought I’d see to your horses. Saddled and ready, even gave them some fresh hay and water. Ox is a cheeky thing, isn’t he? Tried to eat my hat.” Percy fixed his hat again, still grinning, his eyes bright. He came over to where Albie, Elsie, and Clara were at the door. “Did you have your supplies? Let me get them packed away for you.”
Albie wasn’t sure what to say. He hadn’t been prepared for cheerfulness this early in the morning. The sun wasn’t even fully up yet, but Percy’s eagerness had taken Albie by surprise.
Not to mention that roguish smile...
Elsie held the door open. “On the table there,” she said.
Percy disappeared inside and came back out a second later carrying everything Albie had purchased the day before. He’d kept it in his room overnight, save anyone with light fingers the trouble of attempting to steal it from the stable.
And then Percy began to load up Ox’s saddlebags with the flour, sugar, and salt and the two sacks of grains and seeds. Of course, Ox tried to nudge Percy’s hat off his head, a habit of Ox’s and a trait Albie had seen his father’s stable hands try and whip out of him. But Percy only laughed and admonished him with a rub on the neck and a threat of no hay for his supper.
Albie wasn’t sure what to make of Percy.
Agreeing to hire him would either be a godsend... or from the way the morning sun caught the blond of his hair as he fixed his hat and how the sound of his laughter made Albie’s stomach swoop, maybe it would be a disaster.
Albie felt Elsie’s eyes on him and when he made himself stop looking at Percy, he found Elsie smiling at him. “A turn of good luck, it seems,” she said, holding his gaze a beat too long.
Had he been staring too long? Had he given himself away? What was she saying before? Maybe they had something in common? He wasn’t sure.
He cleared his throat. “Good luck?”
“Yeah. He seems a hard worker,” she said. “And you’ll have someone your own age up there. Have you ever had anyone your own age at the farm?”
“Uh, no,” Albie admitted. “Never. Just farmhands, loggers, workers. Cranky old men, most of ’em.”
Elsie smiled, looking where Percy was fixing the saddle bag straps. She was pleased, it seemed. “I know you’ve got a lot on your shoulders, Albie. But it’s okay to let yourself be young too.”
He wasn’t entirely sure what she meant by that, and he certainly wasn’t about to ask. Instead, he tipped his hat. “Best get going,” he said. “Thanks again for the hospitality. Friendly faces in this town are few and far between.”
“Be safe now, ya hear?”
“If you’re ever up my way, call in,” Albie offered. He wasn’t sure why, it just seemed the appropriate thing to say. It’s what the owners of rural properties said, right? Now that he was the owner, he should think of these things. “I’m short a cook and a maid now, so if you’re ever looking for a change of pace.” He gestured to the parcel of bread he was still holding and gave Clara a smile. “You can bake bread in my kitchen anytime.”
Then he realised how that might have sounded and he quickly followed it up with a bit of a joke. “No, no, nothing untoward, truly. Because the bread I made could have been sold to the mason, and Des’s attempt was worse. The rate we’re eating up there, we’ll be as lean as McAllister’s cattle.”
Elsie laughed. “Go on,” she shooed him away. “And don’t you listen to those naysayers.”
He gave both ladies a nod, and he caught the way Elsie slipped her arm around Clara as she walked her back inside. Albie’s earlier suspicion might have been correct, but then again, he was so unfamiliar with the way women were, he couldn’t be sure.
Maybe affection between them was common. The only women he’d known were the wives of the farmhands, Marcy and Evalyn, and they’d not been affectionate with each other. Not that Albie had noticed, anyway.
Not that he’d ever looked.
“Mr Bramwell,” Percy said. He stood at the steps of the veranda, looking up at him, cautious now. “Everything right?”
Right. Yes.
