Gabrielle Meyer - Inherited - Unexpected Family

She didn’t have a penny to her name. How would she pay for legal fees?

“And,” Mr. Hall continued, “until then, Mr. Allen isn’t required to house you and your sisters. You’ll need to find somewhere to live.”

Elizabeth sank into a chair nearby and tried not to let panic overwhelm her. She’d been in a similar situation right after her father had left, before she found work with Mr. Brown. She had been so desperate to keep her sisters alive and there hadn’t been any work to speak of, she’d almost sacrificed her virtue. Would she be required to make that choice again?

* * *

Jude watched Elizabeth collapse into the chair, her shoulders rolling forward in defeat. She hadn’t received the news she’d hoped for—yet neither had he. It was clear these were Clarence’s daughters and they had nowhere else to go. He wouldn’t sit back and let the worst happen to them, no matter what it might cost his business. What kind of a man would he be? Especially when he spent his life protecting defenseless women just like her.

The Bell sisters weren’t all that different from the others, after all. They were victims of their circumstances and forced to make the best of their lives. Some women went into prostitution to provide for themselves and their families—but Elizabeth had been able to avoid that trap. She was clutching her father’s letter as if it was a lifeline, and in many ways, it was.

“I have a proposition, Elizabeth.”

She glanced up, yet didn’t really look at him.

“I have no doubt Clarence wrote that letter,” Jude said, “and regardless if it’s binding or not, I’d like to propose a solution.”

“What?” Her gaze finally focused on his face, though mistrust lay deep in her eyes.

Roald also looked at Jude, though with more calculation than Elizabeth.

“Shall we take a walk and discuss the terms of the agreement?” Jude asked her.

“W-What kind of an agreement?” She stood slowly and looked at him like he was about to propose a tryst.

“It’s a proper agreement,” he said quickly. “I’ll not ask anything immoral of you.”

Her cheeks filled with color and he looked away from her. If only she knew who she was talking to.

Elizabeth offered her hand to Roald. “It was nice to meet you.”

Roald bent over her hand in a great show of aplomb. “The pleasure was all mine. I do hope we meet again soon.”

Could Roald be the one who would capture Elizabeth’s attention? It wouldn’t be a bad match. Roald was loud and boisterous, but he made a decent living and was a good man. Yet he didn’t seem right for Elizabeth. She was almost regal in her bearing and she deserved someone who would complement her graciousness and not draw all the attention, as Roald was wont to do.

Jude opened the door and waited until Elizabeth passed.

“Sorry for troubling you,” he said to Roald.

Roald’s eyes were on Elizabeth. “No trouble at all.”

Jude joined Elizabeth on the boardwalk. She watched him warily and he wondered if she had trusted any man since her father left her.

“What is your proposition, Mr. Allen?”

The street bustled with people and several men stop to stare at Elizabeth. “Would you like to take a walk as we discuss my idea?”

She nodded and he led her up Broadway, past the Northern and toward the river.

“I am sorry about your loss,” he began. “And I’m sorry that your father left the way he did. I wish he would have told me about you and let me know he was offering his share of the hotel to you, but he didn’t and I’ve made plans and adjustments accordingly.”

She was silent as she walked beside him. He wished he knew what she was thinking.

“So I have a proposition. I will allow you and your sisters to continue living at the Northern, if you work for your room and board—”

“My father didn’t intend for us to simply work there,” she said with frustration in her voice. “He intended for us to be owners.”

“You didn’t let me finish.” He tipped his hat at an acquaintance, but didn’t stop to chat, though the young man looked like he wanted an introduction. “This town is rough—too rough for a sensible woman. I don’t know what your father was thinking when he wrote that letter. The frontier is no place for an unmarried lady to make her way.”

Elizabeth stopped and put her hands on her hips. “Are you saying I’m too weak to endure the frontier?”

He also stopped. “It’s nothing personal. Most women would struggle.”

“I’m not most women.”

“Maybe not, but you’ll be hard-pressed to make it through the year. After winter sets in you’ll be stuck—if you make it that long. So here’s my proposition. If you can make it until January, I will put you and your sisters on the deed. If, before that time, you decide life in Little Falls isn’t what you had hoped, I will pay for you and your sisters to go back to Rockford. I don’t have enough to buy your share of the hotel, but I have a little saved that could set you up in a comfortable place to live.” He hoped it wouldn’t come to that. If she and Grace were married before then, he wouldn’t have to pay for them to go back. They would all be happy then. Elizabeth and Grace would have homes with husbands to provide for their needs, and he’d have his hotel.

She started walking again, her shoulders stiff. “I think you underestimate me, Mr. Allen.”

“Call me Jude.”

“I’ll make it until winter,” she said with certainty, “and beyond. You’re stuck with me until I can earn enough money to buy your share of the hotel.”

“Buy my share?” He reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her.

She looked down at his hand and up into his eyes, a pretty scowl on her face.

“It’s not for sale,” he said.

She lifted her chin. “Everything is for sale.”

“Not my hotel.”

She pulled her arm out of his grasp. “It’s my hotel, too—or, at least, it will be when I am still here in January. As soon as I have enough money saved, I intend to buy your share. It might take me a long time, but I have no intentions of going anywhere or doing anything else.”

Jude clenched his jaw. “I could make you leave right now, if I wanted.”

Her face grew still as she studied him.

“I won’t do that,” he said a bit more quietly. “I wouldn’t turn any woman out on the street, especially Clarence’s daughters.”

She swallowed and some of her bluster faded. “Thank you for that.”

“But I have no interest in having a business partner.” Especially a woman. “So my proposition still stands. You and your sisters may stay at the Northern, provided you work for your room and board, and if you make it until January I will put your name on the deed—and no more talk of buying my share.” He started walking again. “It’s not for sale and it won’t be for sale.”

She walked beside him, but she didn’t say anything until they reached the river and stopped to watch the logs float past. The waterfall was to their left, with the dam, sawmill, gristmill and cabinet shop on the eastern bank. Abram and Charlotte Cooper’s home was at the bottom of the hill where their boys were running around in the yard.

Jude turned to face Elizabeth. The sun played with the highlights in her hair and bathed her face. Her blue eyes reflected the water, and the wind toyed with the tendrils of hair playing about her cheeks. He had to steel himself against letting his thoughts wander. She was a beautiful woman, and he couldn’t deny he was attracted to her, but he had no unrealistic hopes about winning her affection. She was destined for another man and the sooner the better.

“Are you amenable to my proposition?” he asked.

She finally looked up at him. “It’s not what I had hoped when I came to Little Falls, but it’s far better than the alternative.” She nodded. “I agree.”