I stepped into the sunlight, but it didn't feel any warmer. No… The cold clung to me like guilt on a preacher's soul. Colder than a grave at midnight. I pulled my shawl tight to my body, not only for warmth from the cold. But… Moreso just to protect myself… I felt violated… I started back on my way into town,
BONG…. BONG…. BONG…
"What?"
BONG…. BONG….BONG…
"No!"
BONG….
"Seven! Hellfire and Brimstone! It's seven?! Damn it! Now I am going to be late!" I took off at a full sprint. Did it matter? No… Not really… No matter what, I am already late.
When I arrived, everything seemed to be okay… There were no customers waiting outside… Not that there ever was, especially before we opened… Though technically it was past opening. Ambrose hasn't arrived yet, but that's nothing new. He usually checks in on the mercantile in the morning, then will spend a few minutes here in the afternoon just to check in.
Ambrose, Mr. Quinn is the shop owner, and my boss. Bless him. No, really… This man is a saint and God should bless him. With him not knowing anything about dresses, or other feminine niceties, having this business forced on him because some rich lady from New York came through one time, and insisted we needed one. She founded its construction and named the place without any input or insight from Mr. Quinn. Now the poor man is in charge of his own mercantile AND an unnecessary dress shop called "Rosewood and Ribbons." Not many people left in this town that respect him, despite knowing the background of the situation.
I made my way to the mirror behind the counter. I needed to check my face. I took a good backhand from an insufferable ass. From what I could tell, it wasn't as bad as it seemed. Head and face wounds always bleed a lot and seem a lot worse than they really are. I was in the back rinsing my mouth in the sink when I heard the shop door open.
"Anna?"
It was Ambrose. What is he doing here? I quickly started to try and clean things up, and had almost made it… When he walked in.
"Dear god! Anna is that blood?"
I stood up straight once more, staring up at the ceiling. I sighed… God… What was I going to say? Turns out, I didn't need to say anything, he already knew…
"Don't say a word, Anna. I'll have Doctess Hart here for ya quick as I can." He left before I could assure him it wasn't necessary. By now most of the bleeding had stopped. The man is too good for this town. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to convince him too either:
Sell off all the merchandise he can, at any price just to get rid of it. Give the building to anyone who will take it. What would the woman in New York going to do about it? Again, sell off all the merch as above, and sell the building to another young enterprising dreamer.
Or…
Just sell his mercantile and abandon the dress shop all together.
All of this so that he can retire and move to Kentucky to be with his daughter Celeste. He could be happy and free to live his life the way he wants. I can't help but smile when I think about his response. It's the same every time I bring it up. It's always the same.
"I am living the way I want. Sure, being the proprietor of a dress shop isn't ideal for a man. But really it runs by itself. And I always have you to help me. While it's true, you aren't Celeste, you are like a daughter to me. Someone needs to be here to take care of you. You are a wild thing."
Silly old fool. I say this with a heart and mind full of love. He is MY Silly old full. I didn't know how long I had until Ambrose and Doctess Hart were going to return. In the meantime, I still had a job to do. I continued getting everything ready for the day. I had changed the tender drawer and just finished sweeping up when they returned.
"Put that broom down and have a seat, Anna." Ambrose said before he even made it fully through the door. There was no point in trying to fight it. I hung my head resigning; I leaned the broom up against the wall and sat on a bench in the spat section. His back was toward her, so he didn't see, but I couldn't help but notice her smiling as she stifled a giggle and shook her head.
"Alright old man, she ain't dead yet, and I'm not going to let her die today. Give her some room and let her breath." Doc Hart said.
She is a beautiful woman, a delicate rose left to wilt in the heat and dust of this hellscape…. Well… Not so much heat today… But you get my point, she's smart as a whip to boot. She would have to be, wouldn't she? This is why she won't be touched by a man. Men are intimidated by her, though they will never admit it. She says she is fine with it. She admits she never really was the motherly type. She would rather have a career than a man. Anything else she needs she can get elsewhere.
Waving Doc Hart off Ambrose stepped back away from me and let Doc Hart take over.
She kneeled down before me and started her examination.
She started by asking me, "So, Anna… What happened?"
She looked me in the eyes… She has beautiful eyes. Bright blue, almost icy. She smells of lavender and wildflowers.
I didn't want to say it. I didn't want to share the story of what happened earlier in the morning. I didn't want to talk about it to anyone. But I was also raised never to lie.
"Well… I had a meeting this morning…" Before I could say anymore Ambrose stepped in.
"A meeting… Let me guess… It was with that snake Crowe, wasn't it?"
A part of me wished that I had never told him about my dealings with him… At the same time, where I am like a daughter to him, he is like a father to me. A father that I never had, there was no wonder that I took comfort in telling him about my situation. I needed to talk to someone about it… But… Now I am regretting my decision. Too late for those regrets.
There was no hiding it really, but I could try.
"It was a private meeting. Admittedly it didn't go as well as I had hoped… " I said gently rubbing my still throbbing cheek. It was hot… Likely from the blood that had rushed it. "But it ended on… "Favorable terms."" Of course I use the word favorable loosely.
"I'll just bet it didn't go the best…" Ambrose said, plainly agitated.
I sighed. "Anyway. It's just a small cut on the inside of my cheek. I've rinsed it, and it's mostly stopped bleeding. I'm sure I'm fine. All of this fuss is for nothing."
Ambrose started to speak up again, but was quickly cut off by the Doc.
"That may be true, but there is no harm in me taking a look while I'm here. Just to see that there isn't something more serious going on that you might need some medication for. I know Mr. Quinn retrieved me for you, from the sound of it against your will. Do you mind if I just do a quick examination?"
Since he had most likely dragged her away from whatever it was, she was doing… Hopefully not performing surgery, it would be rude of me to just send her away. I sighed giving in to Ambrose's request.
"Alright Doc, since you came all this way, you might as well."
She nodded.
"Alright then. Just give me a minute to get ready. I'll be right with you." She looked at Ambrose then. "You have a place I can wash up old man?" she asked.
Ambrose nodded and led her to the back of the store.
It was another slow day. Nothing new about that. I laid back on the bench. It had already been a trying day, relaxing even for a moment felt wonderful.
They returned and I sat up again. I couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about while they were alone. Did Ambrose share my dark secret with her? No… He wouldn't betray me like that.
"Alright, Open wide." She said standing before me again.
I did as I was told. It was awkward as hell as she stuck her bare fingers into my mouth. She pulled gently on my cheek, stretching it to let the light from her headlamp in.
"How is this? Does it hurt?"
Of course it did, but it was tolerable. I imagine she wouldn't be able to work with anything less.
"It's fine." I replied.
She nodded as she resumed her examination. She was silent for several minutes as she was checking things out. She was close, and the scent of lavender and wildflowers filled my senses. Her skin is perfect… eyes the most beautiful shade of blue. They were mesmerizing, helping me to forget about how awkward this whole thing was. When it got to be too much, I closed my eyes. After a small amount of time, that felt more like an eternity, she removed her hands again.
"Well, you weren't wrong, you have a nasty cut here. Which has also mostly stopped bleeding." She turned to her bag and pulled out some gauze. Next she pulled out an amber tincture bottle, using the dropper in the lid she placed some of the liquid from the bottle onto the gauze, "Open." She said turning back to me.
Again I did as I was told.
After carefully wiping down the length of the cut, she placed it gently covering the entirety of the wound. "Leave that in place for… Let's say an hour. After that you are free to remove it. I need to run back to my office to make up your medication. I'll be back when it's ready."
I nodded my understanding as she turned back toward her bag and replaced her instruments and closed it back up.
"Thank you for making time for this visit Doctess. I don't know what I would do with this place without Anna." Ambrose said.
She smiled at him. She understood our dynamic, and she thought it was adorable. "No need to thank me, Ambrose. We need to protect our roses." She patted his shoulder in a loving manner. "Alright, I'll be back in a bit."
With that she left, and I went to pick up my broom and start sweeping again.
"No, no. Now you put that down. Go to the back and rest. I'll clean this up."
I looked at him as though he had grown a second head. "You don't need to be running this place. You heard doc. It's just a small cut. I am fine, I can work today. Go and do your stuff you usually do I have this covered." I could tell that he really didn't want to leave. But he also had his own things he needed to take care of.
"Alright, you win. But I'll be back in a while to check on you. Do you need anything before I go?"
I laughed him off and started sweeping in his direction. "Get moving before you get swept away." I said as I started sweeping at his heels, pushing him out the door. "Go…. I'll see you later." With that he left, and I got back to work.