Olivia reached the office and knocked quietly on the door. She waited and knocked again, louder this time.
“Come in,” the matron called.
Olivia heaved a sigh of relief. As everywhere was quiet with no one moving about, she didn’t want to leave the compound without telling anyone.
“Mrs. Harrison, I hope I didn’t disturb your nap,” Olivia said as she entered the tiny office.
Seated behind her small wooden desk, the matron offered her a small smile. A shelf filled with books and papers stood at one side of the wall. At the other side was a stool with a tray on it. A jug of water and a ceramic cup sat on the tray.
“No, you didn’t,” she replied and closed the big, brown, worn out bible she had been reading. “Take a seat.” She pointed at the other wooden chair before her desk.
Olivia shook her head. “I only came to tell you I want to visit Annie. All the children are taking a nap at the same time. I would have helped Cook, but I reckon she’s fast asleep as well.”
The matron stifled a yawn with her hand across her mouth. “You don’t have to explain yourself, Olivia. I understand.” The chair creaked as she leaned back on it. “I worry about you sometimes.”
Olivia’s brows shot up. “Oh?”
The older woman nodded. “Yes. I fear that this might not be the best place for you.”
Frowning, Olivia left the door and walked to the desk. “Why do you say so?”
The matron sighed. “You’re a very young and beautiful woman. People hardly visit us, you rarely leave the compound. I don’t want you to become an old maid here.”
Olivia couldn’t help the laughter that burst from her throat. “Oh, you worry too much. I chose to be here, and I’m having a wonderful time being with the children.”
The older woman nodded, and a frown wrinkled her forehead. “I know that. Annie was already married before she came to us. Susie, as you know, will join her husband soon in the East. The rest of us are just a bunch of old and widowed women.” She laughed. “So, my dear, as you’re the youngest woman here, I worry that you might end up being like us as there isn’t much in the way of unmarried men here.”
Olivia didn’t know what to say. She tried to think of something convincing to say to dispel the matron’s fears and not send her away.
The matron forestalled her by continuing. “I wasn’t worried at first because I thought the marshal was courting you. But when you told me he wasn’t and was only investigating the raid in your Indian village, I was sorely disappointed.”
Olivia blushed to the roots of her hair and lowered her eyes. She had told her those words because she had wanted the older woman to stop pairing her with Adam.
Whenever Adam visited and Mrs. Harrison was privy to the information, she would start insinuating many things about weddings. It had forced Olivia to bluntly tell her that Adam was only investigating a case, hence his presence at the orphanage. The older woman had refused to believe it at first, but Olivia had been persistent that nothing was going on between her and the marshal.
After all, there wasn’t. Adam might like her, but he was only interested in seeking justice for her people. She had erroneously thought he might feel something deep for her. But because he didn’t kiss her that night when he had the chance and came there the other day to talk about the raids told her all she needed to know.
After acknowledging that fact, she was still trying to come to terms with it. At first, her heart had denied it. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she better accept it.
Adam, although he seemed very much to be his own man, would surely have propositioned her by now if he was truly interested in her, given how everyone around them seemed to want them to be together.
Olivia’s cheeks turned rosy when she realized that the matron had continued talking. Olivia blinked, trying to catch the train of the older woman’s words.
The matron had been talking about how she and her late husband met and then got married. Olivia wished she had listened. Perhaps she could make her tell the story another time.
The older woman sighed. “Very well, then. Let me not bore you with the story of my life.”
Olivia wished she could tell her to start all over again, but she needed to leave so she would be back before dusk fell.
“We’ll continue the conversation some other time,” Olivia remarked and quietly walked out of the room.
Out in the sunshine, Olivia strode leisurely out of the compound, happy that she would see Annie.
And perhaps, Adam?
Olivia shook her head. Adam would be in his office or out of town investigating the attacks on the Indians in the area. It would shock her to find him at home at that time of the day, which was why she wouldn’t stay long.
Avoiding Adam would help her accept that nothing would come out of being with him. They could have a hundred picnics or a thousand conversations under different trees, it wouldn’t change anything.
