A Ready-Made Texas Family

by Angel Moore

  She smiled at him. “No, but thank you kindly. We’ll get through.”

  “So that’s why that new fella didn’t know about my room.” He nodded in understanding. “Is he the new owner?”

  He wasn’t the first person to assume that she would not retain ownership of the hotel. “No. It’s Green’s Grand Hotel. It will stay in our family.”

  Mr. Thornhill leaned in and lowered his voice. “Are you sure that’s the smartest course of action for you? A woman in business isn’t attractive to men. And it’s awfully taxing on a young lady to learn all that has to be learned to be successful.”

  “I haven’t found that to be the situation at all, Mr. Thornhill.” She almost laughed. “And while I appreciate your concern, the matters of business as it relates to the hotel are well in hand. Now let’s get you that breakfast so I can get room eight ready for you.”

  Charlotte left Mr. Thornhill at a table by the window with a cup of hot coffee and a plate of pancakes ordered from the kitchen.

  Nathan was making notes in the registration book and looked up when she neared the desk. He looked around as if confirming that he would not be overheard. “I did not require your help with that guest. You’ve given away a meal that he would have gladly paid for and promised that I will relocate my things, though I don’t have any time to spare this morning.”

  “The cost of a meal is nothing in comparison to the amount of money Mr. Thornhill brings to the hotel every year.” She took the pen from his hand and moved behind the desk, effectively forcing him to withdraw. “It will take only a few minutes for you to move your things. Ask the maid to clean the room. I think Nora is working in the rooms on that wing this morning. Tell her that I said it’s for Mr. Thornhill.” She smiled as another one of the visiting mayors approached the desk. Under her breath she added, “It will help her tremendously if you strip the linens from the bed.”

  He glowered at her. “I am not—”

  “Good morning, sir. Welcome to Green’s Grand Hotel. We’re pleased to have you staying with us.” From behind the desk, she made a shooing motion at Nathan. It was probably unkind, and her father would have scolded her for doing it, but his arrogance had annoyed her.

  It was a full half hour before she saw Nathan again. He was on the landing at the top of the stairs and greeted Mr. Thornhill. She overheard him say, “I’m so sorry for the delay. You must forgive me for not realizing that the room is always reserved for you when you are in Gran Colina.” Nathan took the man’s valise and walked down the hall with him.

  When Nathan came back to the desk, she chuckled. “Thank you for your cooperation.”

  “You are welcome.” He picked up a notepad. “I’ll be in the kitchen with Mrs. Atkins, going over the menu for the next two weeks.”

  “I will do that.”

  “I’ve studied the books and have a good idea of what and when your mother ordered things. Are you familiar with that information?”

  She wondered why he seemed so detached and professional. “No, but it can’t be that difficult. Momma did her ordering every Friday morning. I can do that.”

  He raised his eyebrows and tapped a pencil against the edge of the notebook. “You do know that today is Saturday?”

  “Yes, why?” It dawned on her that she hadn’t placed the order the day before. Her mind had been distracted by Nathan’s arrival and the children’s sadness. “Oh, no. Did Mrs. Atkins say something to you?”

  “When I stopped into the kitchen for breakfast this morning, she asked if the order would be arriving before lunch. She said the menu she prepared for the mayors who are here was based on the notes she found in your mother’s journals in the kitchen. She doesn’t have all the ingredients she needs for supper.” He slid the pencil behind his ear. “I thought it best to rectify that immediately.”

  “That’s why you didn’t want to move your things.” Another deep breath helped her swallow her pride. “I’m sorry, Nathan.”

  “I accept your apology, but we must get these details handled. If you’ll let me get through today, we can talk this evening. There are some things that can’t wait until then, but I won’t do anything without your knowledge that would require your input.”

  She nodded, and he left her. There was so much to do. How had her parents made it look so easy? Greeting the guests and baking had been her contribution. She needed to pay close attention to learn every aspect of the hotel business.

  The bell over the front door rang, and Alfred Murray entered the lobby. He looked around until he caught sight of her. She went to meet him.

  “What can I do for you, Mr. Murray?”

  He glanced at his shoes and then at her. “I’d like to...” He paused, as he often did when he was nervous. Words didn’t come quickly to the town barber, but everyone knew that to press him would make the words even slower. “I’d like to ask if you’d...”

  Michael came out of the restaurant and marched up to her. “Charlotte, me and Sarah are ready for you to help us.”

  Mr. Murray looked at Michael and waited. Charlotte knew he’d start his request again at the beginning.

  “Michael, you must not interrupt.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “You may wait quietly while I speak to Mr. Murray.”

  The deflated look that crossed the man’s face was sad. “Miss Green, I want to ask if you would, if you and I, if—”

  Michael broke in again. “Charlotte, I can’t wait. Sarah already went outside.”

  Charlotte looked at Michael. “Where did she go?”

  “To the cemetery. You said we could put flowers on the grave today. She went to pick flowers and put them on the grave. She said you wouldn’t come ’cause you’re so busy.”

  “How long has she been gone?” She tightened her hold on Michael’s shoulder.

  “I don’t know. She finished eating before me. I had more pancakes.”

  “Mr. Murray, I’m sorry, but I have to find Sarah. I can’t let her go there by herself.” The barber looked stunned but only nodded.

  Nathan walked through the restaurant door and retrieved a ledger from the registration desk. He would have walked by her without comment, but she grabbed his arm.

  “Will you help Mr. Murray? Sarah has gone to the cemetery alone. I have to catch up to her.” She didn’t wait for an answer, but grabbed Michael’s hand and raced out the door with him.

  Charlotte took off at a run down the porch steps. Michael was a fast runner, so she hoisted the hem of her dress and cut through the alley beside the bank. They ran by trash bins and empty crates. Twice she stumbled and thought she would fall, but with Michael’s help to catch her balance, she was able to keep moving.

  “Don’t go so fast, Charlotte.” Michael was slowing now. “Sarah knows the way to the cemetery.” He stopped running and walked. With each step his gait slowed.

  She finally stopped with a stitch in her side and leaned over to be at eye level with him. “We have to get to her. She could be very sad if she is there alone.”

  “I don’t want to go. I told her I didn’t want to go.” His bottom lip slid out in a pout. “We don’t need to go there. Momma and Pa aren’t there.”

  “Oh, Michael, I’m so sorry, but I have to find her.” She looked over his shoulder at the way they’d come. “You can go home if you want. I’ll find Sarah and bring her back.”

  “Really? I don’t have to go?”

  “No, you don’t.” She stood straight again. “I want you to head home and wait for me. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  He sniffed. “I will.” He turned and bolted at full speed.

  Her sorrow for him was as strong as the fear she held for Sarah being in the cemetery alone. Perhaps she shouldn’t have allowed them to attend the funeral for their parents. Maybe it was too much for Sarah’s young mind to absorb.

  Charlotte lifted her skirt in both ha
nds to keep from tripping and ran the rest of the way to the cemetery. The gate was open, and she pushed it wide. She stopped still inside the fence. She looked in every direction at once, but Sarah was nowhere to be found.

  “Sarah! Sarah!” She made herself wait to see if her sister would answer. After a few seconds she called again. This time she tried to sound calm. “Sarah, where are you? Sarah, honey, I can’t see you. Are you here?”

  On feet as heavy as lead, Charlotte began to walk toward the fresh graves of her parents. “Sarah.” She used the singsong voice that Sarah loved so well. “Sarah. Where are you?”

  She stopped again to listen and heard nothing. A few more steps and she would arrive at the end of the row where her parents were buried.

  “Sarah, I’m not upset with you for coming. Please tell me where you are. I want to be here with you.” She eased herself closer to the grave. “Michael said you brought flowers. Are they your favorite? I know they’re pretty.”

  Charlotte walked as lightly as she could, listening for her sister after every step. Almost imperceptible at first, she heard whimpering.

  “Sarah, I’m here. Show me where you are.”

  Sarah broke out in earnest sobs, and Charlotte saw her behind a large gravestone.

  “I couldn’t find any pretty flowers.” Sarah sat with her knees up and her head buried in her crossed arms. “Momma loves pretty flowers. I want her to have pretty flowers.”

  Charlotte crumpled to her knees beside her sister. “I can help you find flowers.”

  Sarah reached down and picked up the wildflowers she had brought. “These were the only ones I saw. They’re purple. Momma loves pink.”

  Charlotte reached out and tugged at the tendrils of Sarah’s blond hair. “You know Momma always loved every flower you ever brought her.” She slid her hand under Sarah’s chin and lifted the child’s wet face to look into her eyes. “These flowers are beautiful. God made all the flowers. I promise Momma would love these, too.”

  “But I can’t find Momma. I looked everywhere, but I’m too little. I can’t see over the tall rocks.” Sarah pointed at the grave marker that blocked her view.

  Oh, how she wanted to take away Sarah’s pain. “I’ll help you. Next time, ask me to come with you and you won’t be lost.” She stood and held her hand out for Sarah.

  Sarah rubbed the sleeve of her dress across her wet face and slid her hand into Charlotte’s. “You were busy. Michael said you were busy.”

  Charlotte pulled Sarah to her feet. “I’m never too busy for either of you.”

  They walked together in silence to the end of the row. Charlotte stood hand in hand with her young sister, and they wept at the foot of their mother’s grave. She didn’t know if her heart would ever heal. The pain of Ma’s death flooded over Charlotte in a wave of sorrow as it joined her fresh loss. She’d been a little older than Sarah when Ma had passed. She knew that pain all too well. How could this young child understand when Charlotte was grown and couldn’t?

  Chapter Three

  Nathan dragged the bed frame he’d found in the attic into the small room Charlotte had given him. He set it up against the far wall of the room and added the mattress to it. He was pleased with the items he’d gathered to make the place into a home. A table and chair in the corner by the window gave him somewhere to work or have a quiet meal. When the owner of the mercantile had made a delivery in the afternoon, Nathan had pressed him to help move a wardrobe into the room. The stationmaster had delivered the trunk filled with his belongings. All that remained was to clean everything and put his things away.

  He would do that after his planning meeting with Charlotte. A cloud of dust floated to the floor as he brushed his hands together. A quick check of the time showed that he needed to arrive at Charlotte’s door in three minutes. He slid his arms into the sleeves of his jacket and grabbed his notes.

  At the bottom of the attic stairs he encountered Mr. Thornhill. “Good evening, sir. I hope you will enjoy your dinner with Mayor Livingston tonight.”

  “I always do. The food here is always excellent, though I told Miss Green how sad I am that the Greens were in such a horrible accident.”

  “I’m sure she appreciated your condolences.” Nathan descended the final steps and said, “I hope your room is satisfactory.”

  “Yes. Just as I expected. You being new means you don’t know my story. My wife and I traveled to Gran Colina after we were married. This is the first hotel we ever stayed in, and room eight was our room. We returned at least once every year until she passed, and Mr. Green always made sure we had room eight. When the Good Lord called her home, I just kept coming. We visited here so often that it became a part of our lives.”

  “Thank you for sharing with me, Mr. Thornhill. I apologize for your wait, but I am glad Miss Green was aware of the situation.”

  The lobby was buzzing with the noise of several mayors talking at the same time. Nathan smiled as he watched the skilled politicians trying to convince each other of one thing or another.

  He joined Charlotte behind the desk. “Did you get some rest this afternoon?”

  She nodded. “I was able to spend time with the children and share an early supper. That is restful to my soul if not my body. They’re at a very active age. Thank you for covering the desk. I hope it didn’t hinder you from placing the order for Mrs. Atkins.”

  “No. We were able to work here in the lobby.”

  “Poor Sarah was so upset that it took several hours for her to relax.”

  “I understand that they are grieving. I hope you’re thinking of a way to help them through this time so you can focus on the future of the hotel.”

  She put down the pen. “You don’t have to remind me of my responsibilities for my siblings or the hotel. I’m fully aware of the workload I must carry.”

  It was difficult to see her under so much pressure that every statement was greeted as a challenge. He lowered his tone in an attempt to calm her. “I know you are, but it is imperative that we prioritize and schedule the things that must be done in a timely manner.”

  Charlotte closed the registration book with more force than was necessary. “That is why we are meeting now. Shall we?”

  She put the bell in a prominent place on the registration desk and held out her hand for him to precede her into her parlor. He waited until she was seated on the settee to take his place across from her.

  “Since you are aware of my father’s plans, I’d like you to lay out what you think should be done and in what order. We can discuss the benefits and possible problems. Then I’ll choose the course of action that I feel is best.”

  Nathan looked down at the notes in his lap. “Well, first I’d like to explain what has been ordered.”

  Charlotte sat a bit straighter and poised her pencil over the paper she had brought with her from the registration desk. “Okay. I gather from what you said that the bulk of the orders will be furniture for the hotel.”

  “There is a lot of furniture. There are also several items for the restaurant and the kitchen.”

  For the next hour and a half he explained in great detail all that her father and mother had decided to do.

  Charlotte rose from the settee. “Would you like a cup of tea? You’ve given me so much information that I need to think about. I want to ponder all of it before I decide.”

  He stood with her. “What if we have that tea in the kitchen of the hotel? Do you think the supper crowd has thinned out enough for you to do your baking?”

  “It may have. Just let me check on the children.” She returned a few minutes later. “They are sound asleep. I’m hoping they’ll rest well. The events of the week have kept them from sleeping. It’s a bit early, but I knew that their little bodies would take over and insist on rest soon enough.”

  They left the door ajar and went through the lobby to the empty restaurant.


  He looked around at the bare tables. The cloths had been stripped off and the chairs moved in preparation for the floors to be mopped.

  “The kitchen staff and maids work with great efficiency. Your parents established some excellent work habits here.”

  Charlotte pushed open the door to the kitchen. “Momma was one for cleanliness. She said even though she’d never found the verse in the Bible, she still believed cleanliness was next to godliness.”

  Nathan smiled at her. “It is a good way to live.” He put the kettle on to boil while she gathered cups.

  “Cream?”

  “Just sugar. And some of that pie from supper if there’s any left.”

  She opened the pie safe and pulled out the remnants of a buttermilk pie she’d made the night before. “I’m surprised. Usually it’s all gone before the supper crowd leaves.”

  “Well, I may have asked Mrs. Atkins to hold me a piece or two when I had a sandwich during a lull this afternoon.” He took the pie from her and sliced it. “I’m willing to share.”

  They sat at the table with their tea and pie and enjoyed the quiet after the busy day.

  She drained the last of her tea from the cup and set it on the table. “So you think the best thing we can do is deep clean the hotel from top to bottom and eliminate things in the weeks before the new furnishings arrive?”

  “Yes. The place is clean.” He brushed some lint from the knee of his pants. “Well, maybe not the attic. We’ll need to get rid of anything that will be replaced. Even if we can’t take it out of the room until the new furnishings arrive, I’d like to do a detailed inventory. Then we can go into each room and move quickly on the day the furniture arrives.”

  “What about the lobby and the restaurant?”

  “I noticed a lot of personal things in the lobby. Those will need to go.”

  “Personal items?” Charlotte used her finger to capture the last crumb of pie off her plate. She closed her eyes and savored the morsel.

  “Pictures. There is a portrait of Charles and Nancy over the fireplace, some figurines on the tables between the chairs. I noticed a couple of hats on the hall tree that weren’t taken by any of the guests today. Those sorts of things.”