She stood up when the train stopped.
The platform was quite empty. She was one of a handful of people who stepped off the train. She immediately spotted George O’Doyle. He was an outstanding man, his red hair, and stout figure a sight among the rest. He was dressed in clothes that looked new and held himself up straight. He held his hat in his hand and when she looked at him, he didn’t look away.
She smiled and he smiled back, taking steps toward her. She picked up her bag and went toward him.
“You are Caroline?”
She nodded. She liked his voice. It was friendly. She was glad of that.
“And you are George.”
His smile widened and she could see straight teeth in his mouth. She wondered what he did to keep them so clean. She hoped he would let her in on his trick because her parents’ methods had never made her teeth as clean as she wanted them.
He put out his hand and she shook it, politely. Then she curtsied to him and he laughed.
“Well now that the formalities are done, shall we go? Are you hungry? We can stop for food if you are.”
“I am definitely hungry,” She said. “I would love something good to eat.”
“We’ll go to my restaurant in town. You can have anything on the menu and as much of it as you want.”
Her stomach grumbled appreciatively and she looked up at him as they walked.
“I think my stomach just thanked you.”
He laughed. “You’re welcome, Caroline’s stomach.”
She laughed with him and felt more comfortable than she had expected. He was several inches taller than her, with a broad chest and his jeans fit him well. She pressed her lips together.
“I got this for you,” He said, holding out a small folded fabric fan to her. She spread it out to look at the picture painted on it. It was a field of yellow with a great many colorful butterflies flittering around.
“This is beautiful, George! Thank you so much!”
He looked pleased that she liked it and nodded. “You’re welcome. I want to make you feel as much at home here as possible. You’re going to need this because it’s going to be a while before you need a coat or jacket. It can get a little chilly here in the evenings and at night, but you won’t typically need a coat like you would in Virginia.”
She noticed almost immediately that everyone in town showed George a lot of respect. They deferred to him in the street and greeted him in friendly voices. His response was always, “How are ya?” in a loud voice without waiting for an answer as he went on.
As they drove through the town in a lovely carriage that didn’t look like any of the others, she looked around her, taking in the incredible difference she saw from her hometown. The first thing she noticed what that it was very dusty. Very dusty. There weren’t very many women here and none that she saw were dressed like her.
Then again, she was a stranger here. She assumed she would quickly assimilate, wearing the same light dresses she saw all around her. There were more stores and shops here than she expected. She saw a saddle shop and a blacksmith and several other places that were hard to find in Virginia. The main road was crushed rocks mixed in with the dirt. There were side streets off of the main road that seemed to stretch on for miles, heading off into the distant mountains. Small cottages and shacks lined the roads with plenty of land in between them.
The carriage rocked back and forth as they rode. She was jostled a little and grabbed the window of the door.
“You all right?”
“Yes, I am. Thank you.”
“We are almost there. You’ll find that it doesn’t take long at all to get around in a carriage.”
“It’s certainly much smaller than my hometown.”
“Were there a lot of people there?”
“Oh yes.” She nodded, looking back out at the passing shops. She saw a sign on the one they were approaching that hung out so that passersby could see what it said.
O’Doyle’s Restaurant.
She didn’t think that was very creative. She pressed her lips together to keep from smiling.
“All right, here we are.” He got out when the carriage came to a stop and held his hand out to her. She took it and stepped down. She looked back up at the sign above her head. It also said, “best food in Flagstaff” under the name.
If it wasn’t the best food, it certainly had an atmosphere that made up for it. The inside was lit up with gas lamps. The tables in the middle of the room were round and had soft cushioned chairs to sit in. They looked to be made of deep mahogany wood. The sides of the restaurant were lined with shiny wooden tables with chairs for four people on either side. They were also cushioned.