by Anna Schmidt
“If the ladies are ready…” Aidan continued.
“The ladies are cleaning up a mess in the kitchen.” Perkins stepped away from the door, an invitation for the three men to enter the house. “And I had every intention of seeing them safely home.”
Aidan smiled. “Still, three is better than one when there could be trouble, don’t you agree?”
Perkins let out a growl. “Dolly, the girls are leaving,” he shouted. He began removing capes and cloaks from a hall tree and doling them out as Mrs. Perkins and the three Harvey Girls appeared.
Nick fixed his gaze on Grace, taking careful stock of her clothing and face to see if he could find any evidence that might tell him Perkins had succeeded in his assault. But when she realized he was back—two weeks sooner than expected—her smile of pure surprise and delight calmed him. He offered her his arm. “Miss Rogers, may I see you home?”
“Thank you,” she murmured before turning back to Mrs. Perkins. “I hope we were able to help you, Mrs. Perkins. I think your ideas for the tea are quite wonderful.”
The banker’s wife blushed and then squeezed Grace’s hand. “You are too kind,” she said. “You’re sure you’re all right?”
“I’m fine. And I will replace the broken cup and plate.”
“Don’t be absurd. The truth is I always hated that pattern. Mr. Perkins has been promising me a new set of china for years now, haven’t you, Jasper?”
Another growl.
“Well,” Aidan said, once again taking charge, “we’d best be on our way. Wouldn’t want Miss Kaufmann worrying about our best Harvey Girls now, would we?”
The six of them walked two by two as they headed back to the hotel. Emma and Aidan set the pace, maintaining a distinct separation between them as they hurried along as if they were late for an appointment. Lily and Jake kept up a lively conversation, punctuated by Lily’s delighted laughter as she regaled the men with her version of the look on Jasper Perkins’s face when the three women presented themselves at the bank. But all Nick could think about was the scene he’d witnessed through the kitchen window and the helplessness he’d felt to do anything to protect his wife.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” Grace said, hooking her arm through his. “I missed you terribly, and every day seemed more like a week.”
“Did he…” He found he could not bring himself to finish the question.
“Nothing happened, Nick. I’m fine.”
“Don’t say nothing happened, Grace. I saw him put his hands on you.” He stopped walking to allow the others to go ahead of them and give them some privacy. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’m fine, Nick. I promise.”
“Good.” He linked arms with her. They walked across the plaza in silence.
As they approached the hotel, Grace let out a long breath as if she’d been holding something back. “Nick, about Mr. Perkins, you aren’t planning to…retaliate in any way, are you?”
“I’d like to, but no.”
“Good.”
“Not good, Grace. You think I want to let him get away with hounding you the way Jake says he has done? What if he’s done the same to other women before you?” He clenched his fists. “Men like that with their big houses and money and—”
She tightened her hold on him. “He didn’t hurt me, Nick. He can’t hurt us, so please let it go.”
But as it turned out, Grace had greatly underestimated Jasper Perkins. Not two days later, Nick came to the bank to make a deposit for the Lombards and pay the third installment on his loan. As he passed the glass window of Perkins’s office, the banker stood and came to the door.
“Hopkins, a word,” he said before heading back to his desk, leaving the door open.
Nick weighed his options. There was a chance that Perkins had some business with Mr. Lombard he wanted Nick to deliver. More likely, he wanted to revisit the evening he’d tried to assault Grace. Nick stepped just inside the door.
“Close the door and have a seat.” Perkins busied himself with some papers on his desk and did not look up.
Nick followed the man’s instructions, shutting the office door and then sitting on the edge of one of the pair of wooden chairs that faced the banker.
Perkins took his time, deliberately making Nick wait. Finally, he leaned back in his chair, which squealed in protest under his weight as he stared straight at Nick.
“I’m afraid the bank needs to foreclose on your loan. As you know, times are hard, and the bank must look closely at every loan with an eye to how quickly—and likely—it will be paid off.”
Nick’s heart pounded as he saw his future with Grace slipping away. He cleared his throat and forced himself to steady his voice. “I’ve made payments on time.”
Perkins ignored his protest. “It has come to our attention that you have recently traveled to California and, given the nature of your profession, we feel you are a risk to simply take off and leave us without payment for the land. After all, men of your kind, in your line of work…”
It was bull of the highest order, and Nick was sure Perkins knew it.
“Who is ‘we’? I’d like to make my case in front of the whole group.”
Perkins smiled. “Your case? Oh no, my boy, I’m afraid you misunderstand. The loan has already been foreclosed. You will get a portion returned from what you gave in payment over the last two months.”
“A portion?”
“Interest. Fees. The bank has expenses to cover. You can of course pay the loan in full immediately…”
“You know darn well I can’t do that.”
“I believe my brother-in-law cosigned the note? Perhaps he—”
“I am not going to ask Mr. Lombard to bail me out on this. If my money’s not good enough for you—”
“Now, now. Let’s not lose our tempers, shall we? Perhaps we could come to some sort of gentleman’s agreement and dispense with this entire unpleasant business.”
“Such as?”
“We are men who each have something the other wants. You want land of your own. I have a purely paternal interest in a certain waitress you seem to have befriended. I understand her family has fallen on hard times, and I should like to become her benefactor.”
Nick was on his feet before the man could say another word. He placed his hands flat on the banker’s desk and leaned in so they were nose to nose. “You know what you can do with your loan, Perkins?” He closed his hands around papers on the desk, uncaring whether they had anything to do with his accounts or not, and wadded them into balls. He pushed away from the desk, still clutching the wadded papers, and dropped them in a wastebasket to one side of the desk before leaving.
* * *
Jasper Perkins did not come to the hotel all that week, and Grace relaxed back into the daily routine. Nick had come to town every evening since his return from California, and they spent those hours in the abandoned cabin. He looked exhausted these days, and she urged him to stay at the ranch and get some rest, but he insisted. The thing was, in spite of the privacy of the cabin, he resisted making love to her. They kissed and touched, and he even showed her ways they could satisfy each other that did not involve the full union of their bodies.
He also seemed distracted, and one night when she began telling him an idea she’d had for the house they would build on the land, he cut her short. “We need to concentrate on the here and now, Grace,” he said. “A place of our own—well, that’s down the road a piece.”
“I know, but…”
She’d been snuggled close to him, her hand resting on his bare chest. Gently, he set her hand away and sat up. He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a long breath.
Her heart pounded. “Nick?”
“There’s no land, Grace, and there’s not likely to be for a long, long time.”
She sat up next to him,
their backs against the rough cabin wall. Despite the warmth from the fire, she pulled the blanket closer. “I don’t understand.”
He told her about the confrontation with Jasper Perkins. “He’s won, Grace.”
“But surely Mr. Lombard will—”
“I’m not going hat in hand to my boss to beg for rescue,” Nick said through gritted teeth.
She understood male pride. Her father had certainly struggled with it before accepting her help. But she also understood that pride could quickly become foolish vanity. She was sure that the Lombards would be appalled at what their brother-in-law had done. At the party, they had treated Nick more as a member of the family than hired help. And the way they had supported his desire to own his own homestead only further demonstrated their admiration for him.
“So the land—your land—now belongs to the bank?”
Nick nodded.
“Does that mean eventually the land will be posted for sale again?”
Nick shrugged. “Probably. It sure doesn’t do the bank any good just sitting there.” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Grace? What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?”
“I’m not sure. What if somebody else bought the land and they sold it back to you—you paid them, not the bank?”
He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “And you know somebody like that?”
“Well, no, but…”
He stood and buttoned his shirt. “It’s late. We need to get you back.” He reached for her coat.
In silence, they dressed, folded and stored the blanket, and extinguished the fire. And in silence, they walked back to the hotel. Just before they stepped into the circles of light made by the lamps that surrounded the building, Nick took her hand. He kissed her fingers.
“I don’t want you worrying about this, Grace. I’ll figure it out. You’ve got till February on your contract—plenty of time for us to work out a new plan. Right now, the important thing is that nothing spoils things for you.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, Wife, it’s coming on Christmas, and I don’t want our first holiday together to be sullied by worries we can’t do anything about.” He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on the top of her head. “I’ve got some special surprises in the works,” he said.
“Like what?”
He laughed, and this time, it was the full-throated laughter she loved. “Didn’t your ma ever tell you it can’t be a surprise if you know what it is?”
She gave him a coy smile. “It’s just that with your work and mine, if I need to schedule time off or something…”
“I’ll let you know in plenty of time,” he assured her. Then he kissed her the way he’d kissed her on their wedding night, and for the first time in days, she dared hope everything would be all right.
* * *
On the Friday before Christmas, she picked up her pay and headed straight to the Western Union office to wire half of it to her parents. In her last letter, Grace’s mother had urged her not to send money, assuring her that the family was fine. But there had been an undertone to the letter, something important missing. For the first time since Grace had left home, there was no note from her father scribbled at the bottom of the page.
She took the rest of her pay and went to the mercantile, where she selected small inexpensive gifts for her siblings, her parents, Lily, and Emma. But what to get for Nick?
In a case near the jars of penny candy, she spotted a pocketknife, inlaid with turquoise and something that looked like blond wood.
“That’s a beauty,” Mr. Tucker said, removing it from the case and handing it to her.
“What’s the wood?” she asked as she ran her thumb over the casing.
“It’s bone. Elk antler,” he said. He took the knife from her and opened all the attachments—a blade, of course, but also two smaller blades and the tiniest pair of scissors Grace had ever seen.
It was perfect.
“I expect it’s quite expensive,” Grace said.
He considered the knife. “Is it for Nick?”
Grace nodded.
“I could make you a good price. You could pay it off a little at a time, and there’d be no interest.” He held out the tag attached to the knife. “What would you say to half?”
“I couldn’t afford to pay you half that number now, Mr. Tucker. Thank you, but—”
He chuckled. “I’m saying half the price, Grace. Pay it off however you choose.”
“Yes,” she murmured before she could change her mind. “Yes, thank you. I’ll take it.”
She handed the merchant all but a dollar of what remained of her pay to cover the cost of all the gifts and the first payment on the knife for Nick. Frank wrapped everything in brown paper and tied the bundle with heavy string before setting it on the counter.
“Pleasure doing business with you, Grace.”
“Merry Christmas, Mr. Tucker!”
She fairly danced down the boardwalk, clutching the package to her chest as she imagined Nick’s surprise when he opened his gift. She giggled with girlish delight.
“Well, hello, Grace. Have you been doing a bit of shopping for Christmas?”
The voice stopped her cold. She turned to find Jasper Perkins at her side, crowding her so that she had little choice but to allow his shoulder to brush hers as they passed others in the street. Her emotions seesawed between her hatred of the man for taking Nick’s land from him and dread that he would remind her of what he no doubt saw as the unfinished business of that night in his kitchen.
“’Tis the season,” she replied with a gaiety she no longer felt.
“That’s quite a bundle. May I carry it for you?”
Grace clutched her package closer to her chest. “No, thank you.”
He let out a sigh and placed his hand on her elbow. “Ah, I imagine you are upset about that unfortunate business with your friend, Nick Hopkins.”
She tried to jerk her elbow free, but he tightened his grip.
“What if I were to tell you there was a very simple way you could make everything all right for Mr. Hopkins? An ill-timed mistake in the paperwork. No harm done. The land fully restored to his name?”
As he delivered these words, he smiled and tipped his hat to the ladies or nodded to the men they passed. He was without doubt the most despicable man Grace ever hoped to know. “I take by your silence and continued presence walking with me that I have piqued your interest,” he continued.
She had to admit he had that part right. “I’m listening,” she said.
“Grace, whatever you may think of me, I am not an unreasonable man. There is no future for the two of us—we both know that. All I want from you is one hour in my office after the bank has closed for the day. There is a back entrance where you can come and go undetected. I will be gentle, my dear, and once we have completed this assignation, I will not bother you again.”
“I…how…” She was speechless with fury.
“You see,” he went on as if she had neither tensed nor tried to speak, “it is your innocence that has the appeal for me. And once our hour together is done, that innocence will have been breached, and I will have no further need of you.”
With a strength she had no idea she possessed, she wrenched her arm free of his hold, stumbled to the edge of the boardwalk, and vomited into the gutter.
“My dear!” Perkins made a show of concern as several people paused on their way to complete their errands. “She’ll be fine,” he assured them. “A little too much fruit cake.”
He placed his hand on her back, and she shrugged him off, whirling to face him and wiping spittle from her lip with the back of her gloved hand. Her bundle of gifts lay in the dirt of the street. “Do not touch me,” she growled. “Do not ever touch or speak to me again.” She didn’t care who heard, although given the way othe
rs continued on their way, she doubted they had caught the words she’d delivered in a feral whisper.
“Or what?” Jasper Perkins’s face was very near hers. “Take care, girlie. I have been most reasonable and generous. So far. Give it some thought. I will wait for you tomorrow evening, my office. Use the rear entrance. I’ll leave the door unlocked.”
He retrieved her package and handed it to her.
“And if I don’t come?”
He smiled the triumphant smile of the devil himself. “Then my promise stands. I will make your life a living hell, Grace. Taking Mr. Hopkins’s land away is just a small sample of what I can do. Merry Christmas, my dear.” He tipped his hat and crossed the street.
Chapter 11
Grace did not sleep at all that night. Perhaps if she simply told Perkins that she was no longer a virgin, he would discard her as promised. She did not have to reveal that she and Nick were legally married, just that she was no longer chaste. She could reason with him, assure him she certainly did not expect him to honor his side of the bargain. Then she could help Nick find someone who would buy the land and sell it back to him. Everything would work out.
But the following day as she was finishing her shift, her nerves and the lack of sleep got the better of her. She dropped a soup tureen, smashing the crockery and splashing soup over the dining room floor and several surrounding white tablecloths. Fortunately, it was the end of the day, and the dining room was nearly empty of customers. Those that remained hastened to finish their meal and leave. Unfortunately, there had been other trying issues throughout the day, and when both Aidan Campbell and Miss K came running at the sound of the crash, Grace could see neither was in a forgiving mood.
Aidan moved to soothe the remaining customers while Miss K surveyed the damage and then turned her attention to Grace.
“I am so sorry. I—”
“You will clean up this mess, Grace. You will not leave until you have removed every spot from these tablecloths, scrubbed the floor, and reset the tables.”
Behind Miss Kaufmann, Grace saw the clock ticking off the seconds and minutes. Cleaning everything would take hours, and Mr. Perkins would be furious. “Yes, of course. But—”