When the previous saloon owner died, he left half of the business to his daughter Florence and the other half to Jesse. Florence acted as madam to the prostitutes and scheduled shifts for those of them who danced the floor. Jesse ran the rest of the business. He puzzled over the fact that Lily had come to him with the request to work as a dancer, when really she should have gone to Florence, but he was glad that Lily made the choice to talk to him. No doubt she was left with a lasting impression of what business not to get into, and he didn’t think he’d see her in the saloon again after the spanking he’d given her.
He recalled seeing Lily crying outside of the blacksmith’s shop a few years back. He had attempted to make her feel better, though he had little experience with children, especially crying little girls. At first he hadn’t recognized her as the same person when she came into the saloon and sat on a stool at the bar. She looked much more grown up than he remembered. Her brunette hair was half pinned on the top of her head and half cascading in waves around her shoulders. She wore a practical cotton dress with green ribbons that matched the green tint of her eyes. She looked like a pretty schoolmarm, not a saloon dancer, and she stuck out like a sore thumb on his barstool. Her innocence exasperated him, since it was coupled with the fool notion of working at a saloon.
The hopeful look in her eyes came to his mind again, and he sighed. He prayed that the hope of her youth never faded, as it did for so many of the people he knew in his place of business, including himself. What began as a job to provide a healthy income for him and his wife had become an obligation with many responsibilities and no one to share the fruits of his labor with. He’d tried courting women around town, but none of them kept his interest for long. None were able to capture him in the way his wife had with her guileless open nature and good heart. She came from hardworking folks and was as unspoiled as the day was long.
A thought struck Jesse then. Lily embodied everything he liked in a woman, and he’d just sent her away with a spanking and an order to find herself a beau. He wondered if he’d made a mistake in sending her away. He couldn’t deny the affection he felt toward her, though he didn’t believe it was romantic. His feelings for her were of a protective nature, not an amorous one.
He shook his head and convinced himself that she was far too young for him to consider pursuing anyway. Plus, she was sweet and innocent, and he was just about the opposite in both respects. She would find someone better. He walked back to the bar and continued with the routine of his life, intent on putting the farm girl out of his mind. This proved impossible for him to do, however, on that day or any that followed.
Chapter Two: Not Good at All
Six months later
Lily gazed into the distance as her beau criticized her clothing. One of her favorite things to do after sewing the sleeves, bodices, and skirts of her dresses was to add embellishments like she saw on the frocks of the fancy ladies around town. She would also get ideas by thumbing through catalogues. Her favorite flairs to add were buttons that sparkled, extra bows and ribbons, and lace. Elijah hated all of that. She tried not to let it bother her, but it crushed her spirit a little more each time he forced her to remove one of her creative embellishments.
Elijah spoke in a patient but condescending tone. “Darling, you know you can’t wear lace around the wrists of your dresses if you wish to become my wife. It makes you look like a saloon girl, not a future preacher’s wife.”
Lily fiddled with the material around her wrists. “I’ll remove the lace, Elijah,” she responded quietly. She knew he was going to mention it, but that didn’t make it any easier for her to hear.
“And your dresses must cover your chest up to your neck. Modesty is of utmost importance for a woman of God.”
Lily looked down and felt along the dress’s neckline. It fully covered her bosom, showing only a trace of collarbone, and she could see nothing wrong with it. Fixing it to suit Elijah would be much more difficult than removing the lace at the wrists.
“I worked on sewing this dress every day for a fortnight, Elijah. I would have to completely redo the bodice and sleeves with new material to suit your wishes.”
“It must be done, Lily,” he said, a trace of irritation creeping into his tone. “You should have consulted with me prior to spending so much time on it, since we’ve had issues before with your clothing.”
He referred to the last time she made a dress. That time his issue was with the color. It was an unnaturally bright blue, according to him, and he accused her of making it to draw attention to herself, when a preacher’s wife was supposed to take a humble place in the background. Lily loved the color, but she obediently folded the dress away into the back of her dresser’s drawer and didn’t wear it again outside of the farm where she still lived with her parents.