Tessa stood her ground. She could feel the flush of blood staining her face and it made her fighting mad. She had no reason to feel embarrassed, no reason to hang her head or run and hide from the looks of horror on the faces of the gently bred ladies in the store. She was innocent; she hadn’t killed Arnie Mason, and respectable or not, working in a saloon to put food on the table and a roof over her head wasn’t a crime. It was honest labor, nothing to be ashamed of. Tessa stayed where she was and looked Margaret Jeffers straight in the eye. “This reputable establishment is open to the public.” She handed the bag of candy to Coalie. “I’m a customer. Mr. Alexander asked me to come here and get what I needed. He said to put everything on his account.”
“I’ll do no such thing.” Margaret Jeffers was indignant. “I don’t sell my goods to riffraff.” She reached for the bag of candy.
Coalie stepped back.
“Riffraff?” Tessa’s face grew even redder. She took a step forward, her fists clenched at her sides. “You think an important lawyer like David Alexander is riffraff?”
“He is if he associates with you. Riffraff.” Mrs. Jeffers advanced. “The lot of you. Saloon girls, no-good painted hussies, and half-breed Indians.” She bared her teeth in a smug, superior smile as Tessa took another step.
“Mr. Alexander said—”
“This store doesn’t belong to David Alexander. It belongs to me. And I want you out of it. Immediately.”
“You won’t put my supplies on his account?”
“No, I will not.”
“Then I’ll pay with cash money.” Tessa walked to where David’s jacket hung near the door, removed the bills, and waved them. “I’ve got plenty.” She allowed Mrs. Jeffers to see the denominations of the bills. “And I’m willing to pay for everything I buy. Today.”
The store owner hesitated for the barest second, but stiffened her resolve at the sound of the collective gasp coming from the ladies’ corner. “Your money isn’t good in this store. It’s dirty money.”
Tessa nodded, then reached for Coalie’s hand. “It’s your loss.” She put the money back in her pocket. “Come on, Coalie. She’s not interested in our business.” Tessa looked down and met Margaret Jeffers’s steely gaze. “We don’t want to darken the door of a struggling little mercantile when we can send to Chicago for all the supplies we want.” Tessa looked Margaret Jeffers in the eye. “It isn’t as if we don’t have money.”
Coalie thrust the bag of candy sticks into Tessa’s hands. “I don’t want ’em. They have better candy in Chicago.”
Tessa turned her back on Mrs. Jeffers and walked to the coat tree. She removed Coalie’s hat and coat and handed them to him, then pulled David’s heavy coat from the hook and slipped it on. She glanced back at Lorna Taylor, then walked over and placed the paper bag in Lorna’s hands. “Thank you.”
Lorna smiled. “You’re welcome.”
“Not in my store she isn’t.” Mrs. Jeffers rounded on her employee. “And neither will you be if you continue to associate with the likes of her.”
Tessa opened the door. “Don’t let her bully you, Miss Taylor,” she advised.
“Bully?” Margaret shrieked.
“Yes, bully,” Tessa repeated. “That’s what you do to Miss Taylor, and that’s what you are—a small-minded bully. It’s a pleasure not to do business with you.”
Lorna Taylor couldn’t hide her smile of pleasure at the look on Margaret’s face.
Seeing it, Margaret Jeffers pointed a finger at her employee. “If you take her side, you’re fired.”
Tessa looked at Lorna. “There are other jobs. Better jobs.”
“Like the Satin Slipper?” Margaret Jeffers offered.
“Maybe,” Tessa said.
“She’ll find herself there,” Margaret warned. “If she continues to associate with you and David Alexander.”
“Well,” Tessa said to Margaret, “it can’t be any worse than working for a bully like you. The hours are long, and the place is loud, but the class of people there is much better. Saloons don’t cater to snobs.”
Tessa took a dollar bill from her pocket, then walked over to Margaret Jeffers, opened her hand, and let the bill fall to the floor at Margaret’s feet. “Here’s a dollar for your time and two candy sticks.” With that parting shot, Tessa and Coalie
left Jeffers’s Mercantile.
Shaking with reaction, Tessa held back her sobs until she was halfway down the street, then burst into angry tears. She wanted to run to the depot and buy tickets for the first train heading out of Peaceable. She wanted to run away again, but she’d given David her word and she’d keep it even if it killed her.
* * *