Page 32 - MailOrderBrideFlipBook

made them come. Today, as they entered, everything went deathly still, and everyone turned to look at them. Eli felt more uncomfortable than he could ever remember being before. Jim didn’t seem ruffled at all. They slipped into their usual table, which was empty, even though they almost never came in before evening. The morning crowd usually just sat around drinking coffee, but that didn’t stop Jim from ordering two sarsaparillas. No one said a word as Bob served them. Everyone was silently staring at them. Eli could feel his face getting warmer and warmer, and he just wanted to run, but Jim had convinced him that the only way to get word out was to start at the grass roots. Jim drew in a good deep chug of sarsaparilla, swallowed with a gulp, and then sat back as relaxed as if nothing was unusual. “I suppose some of you might have heard Eli had a mail-order bride come in this morning,” he said. That was the bombshell that blew the dam apart. Immediately, everyone crowded around them asking questions. Eli couldn’t even get the answer to one out before another was asked. Jim just sat quietly and watched Eli wriggle and squirm through it all. The place was getting fuller by the minute, and Bob was pleased to see his business booming on a Saturday morning. He brought over an extra sarsaparilla for Eli. “This one’s on the house,” he said. “One to drown your sorrows in.” The men all laughed, and a look from Jim got him a free one, too. As the men learned about what Molly had done, Tom 29