Chapter Twenty-Five
Runa enjoyed the ride to town that afternoon, Steve more attentive to her than he had been before. They talked about previous fourth of July celebrations; he shared what it was like to be celebrate his birthday with that of their great nation, while she told of the happy celebrations she had attended as a child.
“I think the best one was the year after my parents died. Uncle Lars and his friend Mister Rupert took me to a parade. They would pass me back and forth, letting me sit on their shoulders so I could see better. Honestly, I was too big for things like that, but… It was nice. Afterwards I drank so much lemonade and ate so much watermelon I thought I was going to burst. I had quite the stomach ache for my gluttony that night, but it didn’t stop me from enjoying the fireworks.”
“Most stomach aches aren’t a deterrent for children unless they want it to be.” Steve smiled. “I’m glad you had good memories from before your family passed. From everything you’ve said, it sounds like your life in service must have been a lonely one, without celebrations like that.”
“It wasn’t that lonely. I had Titus and Iris.” She countered, “And the Rumlows were good to me in their way. The work was hard, but… We made it happy as best we could, found our joy where we could. It wasn’t all work and no play. Just… Mostly work and only a little play.”
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” Steve quoted. “That’s why I like going to the town celebrations when they have them, help out with barn raisings and building new houses for our neighbors when I can. Some of it might still be work, but with good friends around, it doesn’t always feel like it.”
“Is that one of the reasons you brought in your friends from the army to work the ranch with you and Bucky?”
“Well, that is one reason.” Steve grinned. “And because we’re family together. Shed sweat and blood for one another. We’re all brothers, though we’re not related by blood.”
“Those are good bonds to have, and the best sort of friends.” Runa said thoughtfully. “My friends were like family as well, I suppose. I’ve already told you about Titus, how he was like a second father, or a very paternal uncle, but also Iris. She was… Both a friend and a maternal figure. Not even a decade older than I am and she did her best to take care of me. I returned the favor as best I could. We were our own little family, below stairs.”
“You must miss them.”
“I do. It isn’t as bad as it was when I first arrived, even though it hasn’t been all that long, but… I do miss them. I saw Titus nearly every day since I was an infant save for the one year I was with the Rumlows and he wasn’t, and with Iris, well, we saw each other daily for nine years. It’s strange without them. I sent off letters to them, and hope they write back soon, but… Letters aren’t exactly the same.”
“No, they aren’t. I wish there was a way I could help, but I don’t see how. The ranch takes up a lot of attention so we can’t exactly go away for a while, and I don’t know if they’d want to come out here, or if they even could, after hearing about your work schedule.” Runa had told him that she got mornings off on Sundays for church, and one day off a month. People who worked their servants like that wouldn’t give them time to take a trip. Not willingly, at least.
“It’s all right.” Runa assured him. “That you want to help me is enough.” Surprisingly it was. It didn’t do much to ease the ache inside her, but it was enough to know that he wanted to help her, to make her happy. It helped banish her darker thoughts about Steve and his reaction to her the night he had run off to the saloon.
She had to stop thinking about that, she told herself. They had both agreed to try and forget about what had happened, move past it. She could do that. Hopefully.
“I hope that fourth of July with your uncle didn’t spoil your appetite for watermelon and lemonade.” Steve ventured after a few minutes of silence as they neared town, “There’s usually a stand selling watermelon slices, one selling lemonade, and another for hot buttered sweet corn on the cob. A few other things as well.”
Runa smiled. “I’ll be honest, I planned on buying corn to serve with supper, when Laura told me it would be on offer. And I intend to have at least a taste of both the watermelon and the lemonade.”
“Just a taste?”
“Well, I’m supposed to be a lady now, not a little girl, and ladies aren’t supposed to eat themselves sick so… Just a taste.”
Steve laughed at that. “I guess you’re right. All right. I’ll share some of my watermelon with you, how about that?”
“I’d like that. And I’ll share my lemonade with you.” She grinned. “Maybe.”
Steve chuckled as they reached the town. “You and your lemons.”
“And oranges. I love lemons and oranges both. Though oranges are far better on their own than lemons are.”
“Good thing to know. Your favorites, I mean.”
“And yours is apple pie.”
“One of them.”
“Well, you’ll have to tell me the others so I can fix them.” She said as they neared the church yard, where most of the festivities seemed to be centered.
“All right. But not right now. I’ll stop and help you down, help you get the crates to the stand, and then I’ll find a place to park the wagon and then take Salt and Pepper to the livery. They usually have a spot for the horses so no one has to leave their teams hitched in the road until it’s time to leave.”
“I’m glad they won’t be tied up on the side of the road for half the day. And your idea will be easier than trying to carry the pies and cakes for a distance. I worried about that.” She murmured, seeing the crowd outside the church. It almost reminded her of their wedding day, only there were booths and festive bunting everywhere. Most of the stores on the street had bunting decorating them as well, and flags with the thirteen stripes and thirty-seven stars waved in a gentle but pleasant breeze. Steve stopped the wagon in front of the church yard, and almost as soon as he helped Runa down the ranch hands were there to unload the bounty from the wagon.
“You didn’t have to wait to help.” Runa said as Junior carefully hefted a crate with pies in it.
“Sure we did. Couldn’t leave you and Steve to do all the work.” Sam smiled at her. “I’ll escort you to the baked goods stand, if that’s all right with you, Missus Rogers.”
“I’m only letting you get away with calling me that because we’re not on the ranch.” She pointed out as she looked over at Steve. “You won’t mind if Sam escorts me?”
Steve shook his head. “Not in the slightest. I’ll be back soon.” He promised her, before climbing back onto the wagon seat. Runa smiled after him, then turned to take the arm Sam offered her.
“Ma’am.” Sam said in a rather pompous tone, a grin on his face.
“Sir.” She said in a haughty tone, also grinning like a fool as he led her towards the stand where an enticing array of cakes, pies, cookies, and other baked sweets of all types were arranged in the shade of a tarp. Laura was already there, and she smiled when she saw Runa and her entourage.
“Four pies and two cakes, as promised.” Runa said as she released Sam’s arm.
“Where should we put these?” Dernier asked Laura.
“Over here.” Pepper called. “What sort of pies and cakes are they?”
“The cakes are chocolate with chocolate buttercream and spice cake with buttercream. The pies are peach, apple, and two razzleberry.” Runa said helpfully.
“Razzleberry?” Pepper asked, raising a brow.
“Blackberry and raspberry mixed. They’re really quite good.”
“They truly are, Miss Potts.” Sam vouched.
“Even better than her peach pie.” Pinky agreed as he carefully set a crate down, pulling back the muslin to reveal a large cake iced in chocolate resting on a clean plank of wood, which he carefully lifted from the crate. “Here we are.” He said, setting the cake down carefully where Pepper indicated. The other cake and the pies were brought out of their protective wrapping as well, and placed where Pepper directed.
“Runa, would you stay and help run the booth for an hour or two?” Pepper asked as the men began picking up the empty crates. Runa bit her lower lip, and looked to Sam.
“Would you tell Steve that I’ll be helping here for the next two hours?” She ventured.
“I’ll let him know so he can come and get you when you’re done.” Sam promised. Runa smiled at him, unaware that she was being watched closely through the crowd.
“Thank you, Sam.”
~*~
Sam found Steve leaving the livery stable with the large paddock attached, where currently quite a few horses belonging to people drawn to town for the celebrations were being made comfortable for the day. He thanked Sam for the message from Runa, before looking about, feeling a little lost.
“Hey, Stevie. Where’s Runa?”
Steve smiled as Bucky approached from where he had parked the wagon for the day. Bucky was also in his best clothes, and Steve enjoyed seeing him in them, like the way the dark green of his shirt made Bucky’s light eyes seem a bit darker, more green than the soft light blue, almost gray color they usually were. Hell, he enjoyed just looking at Bucky, but when he was all cleaned up it was even more of a pleasure than it usually was.
“Stevie?”
Steve realized he hadn’t responded to Bucky, too caught up in just looking at the other man. “Sam said she was asked to help work the baked goods booth for the next two hours.”
“All work and no play.” Bucky shook his head ruefully. “Well, since your wife has abandoned you for a few hours, want to get a cup of lemonade and then watch some of the horse races by the train tracks?”
Steve’s lips twitched slightly, not quite a smile, but almost. It was how he and Bucky usually spent their fourth of July. Sort of. He usually raced Gingersnap on the fourth. If she hadn’t foaled only a few weeks before, he would have considered racing her this year as well. “All right. I’ll get our cups out of the basket.” You could either bring your own cup and plate for food and drink, or find a way to do without. Almost everyone had tin cups or plates with them as they visited the stands selling food and drink.
“You get the cups, I’ll buy the lemonade.” Bucky grinned at Steve, a grin Steve hadn’t seen since he had ended things with Bucky before Runa’s arrival. He found himself giving Bucky a similar grin in return, falling back into old habits as easily as he fell into bed at night.
“That sounds like a plan to me. Never turn down a free drink.”
“Not entirely free. Next round is on you.”
“I can agree to that.” Steve said as they reached the wagon and he was able to pull two tin mugs out of the basket Runa had packed their dinner in. “Be pretty bad mannered of me, not to buy my best guy a drink.” The words slipped out before he could think about them, and though Bucky smiled at them, a smile that gave Steve an irrational hope, he looked away.
“I might be your best guy, but you should be more worried about your best girl.” Bucky said casually.
Steve flushed at the reminder of Runa. For a few minutes, he had almost forgotten her entirely. “I’ll buy her enough lemonade to drown in when she’s done with helping out, if she wants. And she might want me to. Turns out she has a fondness for lemonade.”
“Anyone who hoards a bag of lemon drops without sharing tends to have a fondness for lemonade.” Bucky pointed out rather dryly.
“I didn’t look at it like that, but that should have been a hint.” Steve agreed with a sigh as he walked with Bucky towards where the lemonade stand was. The baked goods stand had quite a crowd around it, and Steve could see why they had asked for Runa’s help.
“Crowd like that, we’ll have a new church building in no time.” Bucky chuckled.
“Here’s hoping.” Steve agreed. The building they were using for a church was nice in its size, and the old stockyard turned into the churchyard was nice as well, giving them all plenty of space, but it was still just an old warehouse. The community had been raising the money for a new building for a few years, but with the size of the structure they needed, it would take a while yet.
“Here.” Bucky took the cups from Steve. “I’ll be right back with our lemonade.”
Steve just nodded, watching Bucky go, letting himself enjoy the watching before he sighed, turning his attention to the baked goods stand, catching a glimpse of Runa as she cut a slice of cake for someone, smiling up at them. It was a bright, unguarded smile, the sort Steve hadn’t seen on her face since before he had hurt her by running off. He looked away, feeling torn once again. He wanted to see that smile directed at him, but he also wanted Bucky’s smiles. An ongoing conundrum, and not one he wanted to deal with today of all days.
Steve pushed the confusion and longing aside. He would spend the day with both of them, one at a time, and just enjoy their company and the day for now. He wouldn’t think about anything else, or overthink things between them. He would just… Enjoy.
Or so he hoped.