Chapter 7

Miss Sue just wanted to die. She asked herself what she had done, no, almost done, according to Miss Molly. She was so used to looking out for herself and Johnny, that she could not help herself but push J D away, and push him away she had.

He was the first man that had shown her not only respect but seemed interested in more than a quick tumble in the hay, and she foolishly rejected him, out of hand. If it had not been for Molly, his Mother, she did not know what she would have done now.

J D had left. Miss Sue would have run after and looked for him until Molly told her about Dallas and Mr. Jenkins coming, probably more for her but also to arrange to add the store in Fort Worth and fulfill J D’s huge order. If not for her council, Miss Sue would not know what to do. For the first time since her parent’s death, Miss Sue needed someone else to rely on, other than herself.

She had to admit her life had changed some, already; and it was changing more and more each day. A few weeks ago she and her brother were orphans, they were living hand to mouth and about the only thing of value the girl had was herself; and based on what almost happened before, her life and virtue did not seem to be worth very much. No, she had really messed up. If she ever had another chance with J D, she would be different. Right, like a big cat can become a sheep.

Molly had to shake her head. Her son was a damn fool she figured, to leave a girl like Miss Sue and then try to give her up to a man like Mr. Jenkins. No, there was nothing wrong with him, but he was not a J D and a spitfire like Miss Sue would chew him up and spit him out in no time. Both of them would be miserable and sooner or later one would hit the dirt, heading off to somewhere else. Besides, J D and Miss Sue would be a good match, if only both realized that. She was a bit surprised that J D, being older would not have realized that by now.

There were a few things that had been overlooked by everyone. First, Miss Sue was just a young girl. She had taken on an awful lot of responsibility and had taken it on without complaint or reservation. She did it because her brother and she had no one else, so she had done the best she knew how, for both of them.

Next, no one had ever prepared her for all this. It would be easy to criticize but then again, what else could anyone expect to happen.

Miss Sue had in her mind only one-way to act. It was the way she had forced herself to become. It was also a way that a man could not abide. To many a Texas man, and most men in the West, a woman’s place was to be seen and not heard. That was not what Miss Sue had felt she had to become. It was a man’s world and by golly, she would prove that she did not need a man for anything.

That had made the one man she might have been able to rely on, up and run away.