And she loved Lucy and Daisy. Laura had given her daughters to Sam, but Laura must have known that someday another woman would step into Sam’s life and into the lives of her daughters. There had been moments while Angie lived in Laura’s house that she had fancied she felt Laura’s gentle approval.
And now Sam and Lucy and Daisy were her family, too. Oh Lord. How could she live without them?
The two weeks until Daisy’s operation passed in the blink of an eye. Although neither Sam nor Angie trusted banks, Angie had seen what could happen to money in jars. She put the two thousand dollars in the Willow Creek bank. Mr. Kravitz, bless his heart, set aside previous orders to make Daisy a new pair of shoes, and he threw in a new pair for Lucy because “the poor little burned-up girl needs a treat.”
After ten days of healing, the dressings came off the girls and off her hands and Sam’s. The new skin was raw pink and tender to the touch, but at least Angie could do most of her housework and cooking, and she could write thank-you notes to the many people who had given them the things they needed to make a fresh start.
The high point of the period was a visit from Molly and Can. Molly brought new fashionable hats from Denver for Angie and the girls, and an ivory-handled razor and new strop for Sam. Angie spent a wonderful afternoon hearing about Denver and big-city wonders, and she cried at the depot when Molly and Can left.
The hardest part of the two weeks was when Sam’s back healed enough that he could sleep in a borrowed cot. Angie tossed and turned in the darkness listening to him breathing on the other side of the small parlor, and she longed for him. Hoped he would cross the chasm that separated them.
But Sam didn’t touch her, didn’t accidentally brush against her, spent as much time in town as he had when he was working. At mealtimes he teased the girls and maintained a running line of chatter, but he seldom addressed a comment or question to Angie, seldom looked at her directly. In the evenings he went to the Gold Slipper and didn’t return until he thought Angie was asleep. If he knew that she was awake and watching him undress in the moonlight, he didn’t say so.
It did nothing to halt Sam’s withdrawal when a boy arrived from the Sylvan Saloon just as they were sitting down to noon dinner. When Sam answered the knock at the door, the boy asked for Angelina Bertoli, then informed her that she had a telephone call down at the saloon. Someone was calling her all the way from Chicago.
Silently Sam fetched her hat, cape, and gloves, then went back to his dinner. When Angie returned from town, Sam was gone and Abby was sitting with Daisy and Lucy.
Finally the big day arrived. Bags were packed, the house closed. The Muellers, Morgans, and Churches came to the depot to see them off and wish Daisy good luck. After the last-minute flurry of boarding, the girls hung out of the windows, waving as the train hissed and puffed and rolled away from the depot.
“Is it going to hurt?” Daisy asked after they were under way and everyone had settled into the wooden seats. She gripped Angie’s hand and gazed up with large gray eyes.
“You’ll be asleep during the operation. But yes, honey, I imagine it will hurt afterward. Nothing a brave girl like you can’t handle though.”
“You and Papa will be there every minute? You won’t leave?”
“We’ll be there during your surgery. I promise.”
“They’re going to cut Daisy’s leg with a big knife, aren’t they?” Lucy asked from Angie’s other side.
Sam sat directly in front of them, and the way he held his head told Angie he was listening.
“I think the knife is very small and very precise.”
Daisy swallowed hard, her small pale face framed by the straw brim of her new hat. “Am I going to die?”
“No, darling, of course not. The doctor has performed this operation many, many times.” She hoped that was true. “You’ll sail through this just fine. And after you heal, you’ll have a new straight leg and foot.”
Trembling, Daisy pressed her face against Angie’s side. “I’m scared.”
“I know you are. I would be, too. But when it’s all over, you’ll be so happy.”
“But she could die, couldn’t she?” Lucy leaned across Angie to stare at Daisy. “Missy Hamlin’s brother died during an operation to remove his spendix.” She looked up at Angie. “A spendix is right here.” She poked her stomach.
“Daisy is not going to die,” Angie said sharply, giving Lucy a be-quiet look. Which Lucy ignored.
She stretched an arm to shake Daisy. “If you die, can I have the red petticoat the church ladies gave you?”