Love Inspired Historical November 2014 Page 21

  By the time the couple said goodbye it was time to get the children ready for bed. Once the last child was tucked in bed, Eileen slowly descended the stairs to where Simon waited for her, knowing this couldn’t be put off any longer.

  He met her at the foot of the stairs, and she could see the questions in his expression.

  “Shall we sit in the parlor?” she asked.

  With a nod, he followed her into the room and waited quietly while she took a seat on the sofa. He remained standing.

  “There’s something I have to tell you,” she said without preamble.

  “I’m listening.”

  “I suppose you’ve noticed that I am not the most popular of persons in this town.”

  “I have noticed that there are some folks here who treat you rather rudely.”

  “There is a reason for it.”

  He made a sharp gesture of disagreement. “There’s never a good reason to be rude to a lady.”

  She smiled at his quick defense. “Thank you for that. But perhaps you should reserve judgment until you hear the story.”

  He finally moved to sit beside her. “Don’t feel as if you owe me an explanation.”

  “But I do owe you one. And you’re going to hear me out.”

  His brows drew down at that. But he gave a short nod and leaned back.

  She took a deep breath. This wasn’t going to be easy.

  *

  Simon waited, not sure he really wanted to hear whatever it was she had to say.

  “I’m not originally from Turnabout. I was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina.”

  So that accounted for the slight accent he heard in her voice. “Not being from around here is not a crime.”

  “No, that wasn’t my crime. Please hear me out. I met Thomas Pierce when he made a business trip to Charleston. He became quite smitten with me, and I did nothing to dissuade him. It was something of a whirlwind courtship—we were married a mere month after we met.”

  He noticed she said nothing about her being smitten with Thomas. Had she cared for her husband?

  “When Thomas and I moved back here, he was quite eager to spoil me. He indulged my every whim and I let him, even encouraged him.”

  He couldn’t really picture her in that role. She was so controlled, so refined.

  “What I didn’t know was that eventually Thomas overextended himself. He was a partner in the town’s bank and he began dipping into funds he had no right to touch in order to pay his bills—bills that he incurred to indulge me in my frivolity. And then, when it became clear the truth would be discovered, he took his own life.”

  Shocked, he reached over and took her hand. “I’m sorry. That must have been very difficult for you.”

  Her eyes registered surprise at his reaction. She gently disengaged her hands from his and resumed her story. “In the eyes of the town, I had been responsible for Thomas’s ruin and his downfall. Thomas was one of their own. I was not. I was like Delilah, preying on the weakness of a good man.”

  His anger over what her neighbors had put her through rose yet another notch. “It seems to me,” he said firmly, “that a man should be held accountable for his own actions. Your husband could have simply told you no. He could have also told you the state of his finances so that you could adjust your behavior, which I believe you would have, had you known. Instead he chose to play the indulgent benefactor and then was too cowardly to face the consequences of that choice.” The blackguard had taken his own means of escape and left Eileen to face not only his debtors but also her judgmental neighbors.

  Eileen studied him with something akin to wonder in her eyes. “I don’t believe I’ve ever met another man like you.” Then her expression closed off again. “But there’s nothing that says I won’t turn into that woman again should I ever have the opportunity. In fact there is every indication that I would.”

  “You’re wrong. Besides, if you picked the right man to marry, he wouldn’t let you.”

  That won him a smile. But she sobered quickly. “There’s another thing.”

  He waited for her to continue, certain it was of as little consequence to his feelings for her as the first had been.

  “More than anything else Thomas wanted a big family.” She waved a hand. “If nothing else, this house is a testament to that. And I wanted to give him one. But I failed at that, as well. It appears I can’t have children.”

  Simon felt a pang at that. He’d always wanted to have children. But then the irony of that hit him. “Look around you. I don’t think having a big family will be a problem.”

  She drew herself up in obvious affront. “This isn’t funny.”

  “Of course it isn’t. And I’m sorry that you can’t have children of your own, if that’s what you want. But there are ten wonderful children right here who need you very much.”

  “They have you, and they have Mrs. Leggett.”

  “But neither of us is you.” What was it she was so afraid of?

  Her expression closed off, and she stood, drawing herself up to her full, shoulders-back height.

  He got to his feet as well, bracing himself for whatever other objection she was prepared to make.

  “If you must know,” she said stiffly, “while I like and even admire you, I don’t think we would suit well together, not as husband and wife. Our lives and our backgrounds are much too different.”

  Backgrounds? Did that mean what he thought it did?

  But she wasn’t quite done. “This doesn’t change anything regarding your stay here. You and the children are more than welcome to remain for as long as you need to. And I hope we can remain friends while you are here. I merely thought it important that you understand exactly where my feelings lie.”

  “Oh, I think you’ve made that crystal clear. And don’t worry, I won’t be bothering you again with anything other than business concerning the children. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go out on the porch for a breath of fresh air.”

  He couldn’t believe this had happened—it was like being back in Uncle Corbitt’s home once more. He’d thought she understood who he was, but apparently not. Or rather, who he was didn’t measure up to her standards. He should have realized her feelings on the matter when she’d kept pressing for him to ask Adam for a job at the bank.

  She wanted to remain friends—he wasn’t sure that was possible. Civil was about the best he’d be able to manage.

  He’d made a fool of himself. It was time he pressed for a resolution to this matter of the Hatcherville property.

  He couldn’t move out of here soon enough.

  *

  Eileen’s shoulders slumped as she watched him leave the room. That hadn’t been easy or pleasant, but it had been necessary. Much as she’d like it to be otherwise, she knew that she would end up making him unhappy if she agreed to marry him. She had only to look at the marriage between her own parents to know the truth of that. Marrying her father had ruined her mother’s life and turned her into a bitter, unhappy woman. She couldn’t stand the thought of doing that to Simon.

  Eileen trudged up the stairs to her room. Yes, she’d absolutely done the right thing.

  So why did she feel as if her heart was breaking?

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  To Eileen’s relief, at breakfast the next morning, the kids provided most of the conversation with their rehashing of their favorite parts of yesterday’s celebration. Hopefully no one noticed the lack of any interaction between her and Simon.

  Just before they finished the meal, Dovie spoke up.

  “I’ve been thinking. Being as all of you will be here for Christmas, I thought it might be a good idea for each of us to select one person from the group to give a gift to. We can pull names out of a hat to make it fair.”

  This sparked a little buzz of excitement around the table and everyone generally seemed to think it was a good idea.

  “To make it even more special,” Dovie said, “why don’t we make something h
andcrafted for whoever’s name we get rather than going out and buying something?”

  “That sounds like a lovely idea,” Eileen agreed. It would keep anyone from feeling inadequate due to not having money.

  “But what if we don’t know how to make anything?” Albert asked.

  “Oh, I don’t think that will be a problem.” Eileen gave the boy an encouraging smile. “Use your imagination. You can draw a picture, or build something, or sew something—it’ll be fun.”

  “What might make it even more fun is if we keep it secret from the person whose name we draw,” Dovie suggested.

  “Secrets are fun,” Molly said. “Like the secret room. ”

  Fern, naturally, had misgivings. “What if the matter of the Hatcherville property gets settled faster than Uncle Simon thought and we get to leave here before Christmas?”

  Eileen winced at the girl’s telling use of the words get to. “Then we will exchange gifts a little early,” she said. “But I’m hoping you’ll plan to be here for Christmas, regardless.” She cast a quick look toward Simon, but he wasn’t looking her way.

  “If we’re here for Christmas, can we have a tree?” Rose asked.

  “I think we can work something out. You’ll just need to talk your uncle Simon into cutting one down for us.”

  Simon did look up at that, but his gaze slid right past hers and landed on Rose with a smile. “We’ll go out a couple of days before Christmas and find us a nice, full one.”

  Molly clapped her hands. “We can put it in the secret room and decorate it with lots of pretty things. It’ll be the most beautiful Christmas room ever.”

  Eileen thought about the elegant decorations she’d had before her fall from grace. Molly would have been enchanted by them. “I’m afraid I don’t have any decorations.”

  “That’s okay.” Dovie waved a hand, as if waving a baton. “We can make those, too. That’ll be more fun anyway.”

  Thirty minutes later Eileen looked at the name she had drawn and felt her heart sink. Fern. The girl would never welcome any gift from her.

  Of course, since it was supposed to be secret, no one would know if she swapped names with someone. And she was certain Fern would prefer a gift from just about anyone else over her.

  She followed Dovie into the kitchen, relieved to find they were alone for the moment. “I have a favor to ask.”

  Dovie crossed her arms over her chest. “What can I do for you?

  “Would you mind trading names with me?”

  Dovie gave her a surprised look. “Now, why would you want to do that? You don’t even know who I have.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I drew Fern’s name. The girl doesn’t care for me, and I think perhaps she would appreciate anything you would give her much more than something from me.”

  “Nonsense.” Dovie patted her hand. “Perhaps this is your opportunity to make friends with Fern. She doesn’t really dislike you, you know. She’s just hurt and confused by the blows life’s landed on her, and she needs someone to lash out at. Be patient with her.”

  Eileen tried again. “I’m being patient. It’s just not bearing any fruit yet.”

  Dovie raised a brow. “Tell me this. If one of the children came to you with a request to swap names because they didn’t get along with the person whose name they had, what would you tell them?”

  Eileen winced at that, then sighed. “I would tell them that they should try to work things out.” She gave in. “Very well, I’ll see what I can come up with.”

  Eileen slowly exited the kitchen, trying to decide what kind of gift she could come up with that Fern would like.

  Perhaps she could take one of the delicate lace handkerchiefs she still had and embroider Fern’s initials on it for her.

  She went to her trunk and threw open the lid.

  There, right on top where she’d placed it last night, was that beautiful iridescent shawl.

  She remembered the way Fern had looked at it, the almost-reverent way she’d stroked it.

  Eileen stroked it much the same way now. It was still the most beautiful thing she’d ever owned.

  Making up her mind, she shut the lid of the trunk and took the shawl to her bedside where her sewing box was stored.

  *

  Simon threw the board fresh from the saw onto the proper stack. It had been six days since Eileen had told him of her true feelings, and the sting still hadn’t gone away.

  So far they’d managed to remain civil, friendly even, but the tension was there, just below the surface, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep up the charade.

  The worst part about it was he found himself still attracted to her, more fool him. He still enjoyed listening to the emotion in her voice when she recounted her nightly fairy tales to the children. Still found the little selfless things she did for the children admirable. Still found his heart touched when she did something that revealed her vulnerability.

  Still ached to hold her in his arms again.

  Fool! Why couldn’t he just focus more on the snobbish reason she’d pushed him away?

  He looked up to see Adam standing across the way watching him. When their gazes met, Adam waved him over.

  Simon walked over to meet him, tugging off his work gloves as he went. What was up? Did they have some kind of decision on the case?

  It was hard to tell from the expression on Adam’s face if it was good news or bad.

  The two men shook hands and then Adam got right to business. “Mr. Fredrick has made an offer.”

  This was it. “What kind of offer?”

  “He’s willing to refund the amount you and your sister contributed to the purchase of the property in Hatcherville. Period. He is not willing to give you any partial ownership in or access to the property itself.”

  A not entirely unexpected offer. If Eileen had taught him nothing else, she’d taught him to plan ahead for every contingency. “Do you think this is a fair offer?”

  Adam spread his hands. “Fair is a relative term. I do think, however, it’s the best you can hope for from Mr. Fredrick unless you want to take your chances in court.”

  Simon rubbed his chin while he thought about it. The kids associated the place in Hatcherville with Miss Fredrick. How would they feel about settling somewhere else?

  On the other hand, there was no guarantee how it would go if they took the case to court—he could end up with nothing. And it was unfair to the kids and to Mrs. Pierce if he let this business continue to draw out when he could put an end to it now.

  With the money Mr. Fredrick was offering, he could find them another place. It wouldn’t be as big as the Hatcherville property, but as long as he found something sound and with enough land for them to have a proper garden and some farm animals, he could take care of adding on to the house over time.

  He met Adam’s gaze. “I accept his offer.”

  Adam nodded, not making any sort of judgment on the decision. “I’ll have the papers on my desk tomorrow morning for you to sign. The money should be wired to the bank by the end of the week.”

  Thanking Adam for his help, Simon went back to work feeling lighter of spirit. At last he was free to move forward again. To move out of Eileen’s house.

  To move out of her life.

  *

  That afternoon, when the kids got home from school, he gathered everyone together and explained the latest development.

  “So there you have it,” he said when he’d finished. “I’m sorry we won’t be able to move into the place in Hatcherville, but this will give us the opportunity to find a new place to call home.”

  “Maybe we could just stay here,” Molly suggested. “There’s plenty of room. And Mrs. Pierce could be our mommy. And Nana Dovie can be our grandma.”

  Simon avoided looking Eileen’s way. “But this isn’t our home, sweet pea. We promised Mrs. Pierce we’d be gone right after Christmas.” Perhaps even sooner.

  Not satisfied with his answer, Molly turned to Eileen. “You’
d like for us to stay, wouldn’t you?”

  Before Eileen could answer, Dovie spoke up. “There’s nothing to keep you from looking for a place right here in Turnabout, is there?”

  The kids perked up at that.

  “Really?” Harry said. “You mean we could keep going to school here with our new friends?”

  “And keep Miss Whitman for our teacher?” Rose added.

  “I suppose that’s one option,” Simon said slowly, not sure he wanted to go that way. But the more he thought about it, the more it appealed to him. It would actually have a lot of benefits. He wouldn’t need to uproot the children again, at least not entirely. Mrs. Leggett might be willing to become the permanent caretaker for the children if she didn’t have to move away from Turnabout. Hank had indicated Simon could go to work at the mill permanently if he wanted. And since he wouldn’t be living in this house, he really didn’t have to see much of Eileen at all.

  “But we wouldn’t live in this house anymore,” Molly lamented.

  “No, but you could come visit whenever you want,” Eileen said quickly. “And the secret room would always be available for you and Flossie to have tea parties in.”

  That cheered Molly up considerably. Simon supposed it would be up to Mrs. Leggett as to how often Molly visited here.

  Assuming he found a place in Turnabout.

  And assuming Mrs. Leggett would accept the job offer.

  *

  Two days later, Eileen sat in the parlor patching a pair of Albert’s pants and felt ready to scream. This stiff formality between her and Simon was driving her crazy. She longed for them to go back to the friendly relationship they’d had before she’d made the horrible mistake of flirting with him and encouraging that kiss. That sweet, tender, glorious kiss.

  She pricked her finger with her needle and lifted the digit to her mouth, tasting the metallic tang of blood. Feeling distracted and restless, Eileen put away her sewing and fetched her winter cape. She let Dovie know she was going for a walk, then headed out the door.

  She pushed open the front gate, then hesitated. Deciding she wasn’t in the mood for people, she turned away from town and headed toward the open countryside.