"Well now, come on in. Just close that door behind ya, we like winter to stay outside, boys," she grinned.
Justus had been gawking, just a bit, not that he was a stranger to saloons, but it had been a while, and usually he was with older men who 'knew the ropes', and distracted the females.
But now, alone with Cade, he was a bit tongue-tied as he turned to see the pretty girl talking to them. "Uh...sure..." Giving Cade a slight nudge farther into the room, he pulled the door shut, thinking that he preferred the cold breeze, since it was suddenly very warm!
"If yer lookin' fer the schoolhouse, it's on the other end of town," she teased.
"Oh, no, we're here just fer a drink," Justus stammered, feeling heat rise in his cheeks, "Ma'am...Miss...Lady..." Time to let Cade take over!
Sure enough the taller one was tongue tied when having to talk to a woman, she had figured that would be the case. Those were fun to tease. It was the ones who thought they were god's gift to women, she didn't care for.
"Oh, no, we're here just fer a drink," Justus stammered, feeling heat rise in his cheeks, "Ma'am...Miss...Lady..."
Cade just nodded, "That's right." He too wasn't sure how to address her.
"Please, no 'ma'am, I aint that much older than you boys and no, don't ask. Ladies never reveal their age," Caroline grinned.
"Call me Miss Mundee or just Caroline. Most friends of mine just call me Caroline," she strongly suggested.
"Oh, yer that singer I heard about?" Cade piped up.
"That's right, hon. I work right up on that stage over there. I can dance too. Now maybe if you two boys buy me a drink whilst buying yerself a round I might be willing to dance with either of you or both. Don't worry, I don't bite none," Caroline went right into her routine of coaxing drinks out of the customers, she was a pro at it alright.
"Clara will be a good teacher," Emeline assured the girl, "and on occasion you can try new things. After all, everything was new once, and without experimenting and speculation, and I think it would be grand to have some luscious dessert named after the Lickskillet! Oh, and Clara, I'm going to be ordering some new spices from San Francisco, so you can try some new things."
Constance just nodded and smiled, she was hardly ready to try experimenting, the basics would keep her occupied. Unless that was meant for Mrs. Lutz?
"New spices? Sounds intriguing indeed," Clara was all for it obviously, "What sort of spices? Did you taste something particularly good out there? I would game to try new things."
"That's right, hon. I work right up on that stage over there. I can dance too. Now maybe if you two boys buy me a drink whilst buying yerself a round I might be willing to dance with either of you or both. Don't worry, I don't bite none," Caroline went right into her routine of coaxing drinks out of the customers, she was a pro at it alright.
"Oh, um...dance with both of us?" Justus glanced at Cade, not really sure how that worked, although he had no doubt the pretty girl knew what she was doing. "Sure, um...I'll have a whisky." At least that was something he'd had before, so he wouldn't be caught off-guard by the way it stung going down!
"I'll buy the first round," he told Cade, "then you can get the next?" There would be a next, he was pretty sure!
"Oh, there are wonderful things like tarragon and saffron, and foods that I don't think we'll be able to get here, like oysters, squid, sea bass." Emeline smiled as she rattled off some of the wonderful things she'd had a chance to try. "I'd love to give some of the things I tried a go, but there's really no way to get then here fresh. Maybe once we have a train..."
Even then, shipment would be contingent on weather, since ice wouldn't hold when it was hot. "I'll see about getting some things once I'm settled in, but the spices will be easier to get, I can have them shipped from San Francisco, and you can test them."
She had enough confidence in Clara's abilities to know that she could figure out what to use when.
"Oh, and the desserts!" At that, Emeline grinned widely. "There are some things we can try here, the head chef at the hotel showed me how to make puff pastry, different things to do with creme...we'll set aside a day to just play in the kitchen, see what we can do!"
"Oh, um...dance with both of us?" Justus glanced at Cade, "Sure, um...I'll have a whisky."
"Not at the same time, silly," Caroline smirked, "But I will get around ta each of you, don't worry."
"I'll buy the first round," he told Cade, "then you can get the next?"
Cade was agreeable, "Sure, that works! Don't forget ...ummm, she gets one too." She'd been pretty clear about that.
The bartender deadpanned as he poured and then presented three shot glasses of whisky to the trio. The young men no doubt hadn't even noticed he had poured Caroline's from a different bottle, cleverly colored water that looked the same as the real stuff. Caroline knew which one to take and snapped it up immediately.
"Drink up, boys!" she raised her glass and gulped down with ease. Cade took a deep breath then tried to do the same. He got most of it down but then had to gasp, relieved he at least hadn't coughed up some of the strong liquor.
In all honesty, just being in the company of a pretty girl was enough to make Justus happy, and tongue-tied, and awkward, and the whisky, he knew, would help bolster his confidence. But he did know well enough not to try to toss back the whole thing at once...caution was better than hacking and making faces when the whole shot went down at once!
"Caroline, that's a real pretty name," he commented with conviction. If you were going to sound like a fool, at least go all-in! "What dances do you know, which is your favorite?"
He didn't have a favorite, mostly because he really didn't know any! And right now, the piano player was pounding out something that was fast and loud, and something Justus couldn't imagine having to dance to. He'd stomp the poor girl's feet into the floorboards!
The one practically choked on downing his shot, sure sign of a novice, Caroline had to smile. Boys on the cusp of manhood but still boys. For that matter some men were boys into their forties. She had learned to deal with all kinds. These two would be fun.
"Caroline, that's a real pretty name," he commented with conviction. "What dances do you know, which is your favorite?"
"It is, ain't it?" Caroline agreed with a quick nod, "Your folks give you a name?"
"As for dances, I know a lot of dances. But how 'bout we start with something simple?"
She turned to the piano player, "Hey! How 'bout a nice waltz now? Thank ya."
Caroline stepped out further onto the more open area of the saloon, "I can lead if you want? It's easy. You'll do fine."
She also did not neglect the other cowpoke, "And you - pay attention. Yer next. Oh and if you can manage it, come up with a name for yourself too."
"Uh, sure..." Justus followed sweet Caroline to the open area, then looked around, feeling a little self-conscious, after all, she was so pretty, he was certain that everyone was looking at her, and he was right there. At least he'd seen waltzing a couple of times, not that he thought he'd be any good at it. At least it was slow!
But it was a rare (for him) opportunity to be close to a gal, and one who smelled so nice, too! "All right, then, tell me what ta do, and I'll try'n not trample ya like a crazy cow caught in a lightening storm. Oh, right! I'm Justus, and that there's Cade." Since his friend couldn't well give his name from where he was sitting at the table!
Uh, sure..." Justus followed sweet Caroline to the open area, then looked around, feeling a little self-conscious.
The veteran saloon girl could tell too, poor youngster's discomfort. She'd seen that sort of thing before. It's not like she was going to do anything mean to him though. Just give him a little female attention.
"All right, then, tell me what ta do, and I'll try'n not trample ya like a crazy cow caught in a lightening storm. Oh, right! I'm Justus, and that there's Cade."
"Justus huh? That's different.. as names go, it's not bad though," she gave her honest assessment.
"And don't worry so much, you ain't gonna trample me none. I've danced with drunks three times my size and I'm still here, never trampled," she chuckled.
"Gimme yer hand," she started and by the time she was done they were both in the proper positioning for doing a waltz. The piano player noticed and started playing, he was good at his trade too.
"Now lemme lead and just follow my lead. It's an easy dance really. Just real slow circles as much as anything..."
Soon they had the hang of it and they were dancing smoothly enough.
She had to look up at him given their height difference but she met his eyes, "So you like it then? I'm not so scary now am I? "
Caroline then looked to one side and noticed the other young cowpoke was walking off with one of the hookers who were allowed to work the place since Fortner took over. Annie somebody. By now Caroline learned to at least tolerate them even if she was not thrilled about their presence.
"Looks like your ...Cade was it? Is gonna do somethin' other than dancing. Guess it's just you n' me for a bit then," she informed him.