He took a step back to see who had interrupted their conversation and had saved her from answering.
“Gordon?” she squealed and jumped into the man’s arms as he spun her around. “You’re home!”
Gordon Blythe had courted Hannah on and off for nearly five years. He’d moved to town shortly after she returned from Oregon that fateful summer and, at first, had been a much-needed distraction from Eli Whittaker. In the beginning, she’d just believed that her interest was one-sided, but the young man had soon made it apparently clear that his intentions were romantic. Being just a year older than she, he’d had no problem playing suitor to a seventeen-year-old girl and had helped to restore confidence in herself.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, thrilled to see him. “I was told that you wouldn’t be coming home until the end of the month.
“Can’t I miss my girl?” He squeezed a little tighter. “You are even more beautiful than I remember,” he said with a smile, setting her back down on the floor and placing a light kiss on her cheek. “How is that possible?” he whispered in her ear.
Hannah’s face flooded with heat, but she was pleased by his words. It was hard to admit, but she took an indulgent satisfaction in showing Eli that someone could see her that way.
“Gordon, this is…” she turned to introduce him to Eli, but the latter had disappeared. She scanned the barn for him, catching a glimpse of his back as he disappeared around the outside of the barn doors.
“Gordon,” she said again, returning her attention to the man she’d grown to care so much about, “I’ve missed you too. I was beginning to think that maybe you’d run into some of those genteel women at university and forgotten all about me.”
“Not possible.”
She looked back at the door where Eli had gone, a surprise twinge of disappointment tainting the otherwise happy reunion.
What a day this was turning out to be.
Chapter 9
“Mr. Whittaker,” the older, balding man called after him, hustling to catch up. “I was hoping for a chance to speak with you. My name is Grisham Wendell and I own the Stone Creek sawmill. Well, for now that is.”
“How are you, Mr. Wendell?” Eli asked as he shook the man’s hand, grateful for the distraction.
“I find myself with a bit of a conundrum.”
“How’s that?” Eli glanced around, hoping to see one of the Redbournes or another familiar face, but to no avail.
“Jameson told me that you are related to Isaiah Whittaker. Is that true?”
“Yes, sir. He is my father.”
The man looked pleased as punch at this news.
“I don’t suppose he might be interested in expanding his business this far east?”
“I hate to disappoint you, Mr. Wendell, but my father expands into areas densely populated with forests. Stone Creek just does not have the volume of lumber available for what he prides himself on doing.”
The miller dropped his shoulders, his optimism deflating in an instant.
“You know, Stone Creek and the surrounding cities do have several forests of rare fine woods including black walnut, white ash, and black cherry, not to mention several species of maple and oak.”
A weighty stone seemed to deposit itself in the center of Eli’s gut. The rarity of finding forests full of black walnut trees was almost unheard of.
“Why do you want my father to buy your mill, Mr. Wendell? There are plenty of businessmen who would certainly be interested. And, if you want to keep any of those fine woods, you probably don’t want Whittaker Industries to take over.”
Isaiah Whittaker was a great businessman, but he certainly didn’t care about the land his company decimated each year. Eli had tried time and again to get him to plant new trees in place of the ones they cut down, but he’d been told that nature was good at rebuilding on her own and didn’t need the likes of them interfering. He believed that his father just didn’t want to spend the extra time, effort, or resources on a non-profitable project.
“He’ll tell you he’s in the business of progress,” Eli continued, “but he’s in the destruction business. He’d destroy your beautiful forests. Even the smallest copses of trees would fall prey to his greed.” If there was one thing he’d learned from working with his father, it was not to mince words.
“I um, well, I…”
“Look, Mr. Wendell, Raine told me that you invited several lumbermen to come to the festivities here to show them your mill. Why don’t you focus on selling to one of them?”
“Are you not a lumberjack? I saw how you performed out there today. You are a man who has been around the lumber trade your whole life, yes?”
“Yes, but what? You want to sell your mill to me?”
“Why not?”
Eli looked past the man and into the barn where he could see Hannah dancing with her beau, laughing at whatever he’d just told her. He dropped his head, then kicked at a pebble on the ground.
“Because I’m nothing like my father.” He raised his eyes enough to look at Mr. Wendell. “Besides, I’ve had another offer and will likely be moving to Texas to start a mill there.”
“Mr. Whittaker,” the man grabbed his arm, “I beg you to reconsider.”
“Why?” He looked down at the mill owner’s hand, which he promptly snatched away. “Why is it so important for you that I buy your mill?”
“For starters, from the way you spoke about keeping the beauty of the woods intact, I believe you to be a man of conscience. I think that’s just what this town needs. A good businessman with an appreciation for the beauty Stone Creek has to offer.”
Eli raised a brow.
“And,” Mr. Wendell looked down at his feet, “no one else showed up today. I don’t even know if my messages are getting through anymore. I sent fancy, linen invitations by courier, but it seems our little town doesn’t create enough of a draw for the bigger companies.”
“I see.”
“But,” the man waved his hands as if what he was about to say was extremely important, “most of them were city slickers who probably feel much the same as your father. If I had the choice, I would much rather sell to someone who cares about the land, wouldn’t you?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Wendell. I wish I could help, but I am not your man. I can’t move to Stone Creek. Not now.”
“But I thought you were sweet on Miss Hannah. Redbourne,” he added as if it wasn’t already painfully clear. “Everyone is talking about your proposal today. Are you taking her away from her family down to Texas?”
Eli wasn’t sure which to respond to first.
“The offer in Texas was actually from Hannah’s brother, Tag. But, I’m afraid you have been misinformed. Miss Redbourne is exactly the reason I can’t stay.”
“But—”
“Thank you for your offer and consideration, Mr. Wendell, but my answer is no.” He tipped a hat and walked around the man.
Raine stepped out from the barn, looking both directions before he caught Eli’s attention and ran to meet him.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I just needed some fresh air and Mr. Wendell was telling me about his mill and all the black walnut trees that grow around here.”
“Yes,” the sawmill owner called after them, “if you change your mind, I’ll be around.”
“Thank you, sir.” Eli nodded, then turned back toward the trail leading down to the lake.
“What was that all about?” Raine asked, matching his pace with ease.
“None of the lumbermen he invited showed up for the jubilee today, so I think he was hoping that I would either buy the place myself or convince my dad to expand out here.”
“And, I take it you told him no.”
“Yep.”
“Is this because I just saw Gordon Blythe inside? I should have never told you about him.”
“I’m glad you did. At least when Hannah jumped out of my arms into his, it wasn’t for that Hollings fella.”
“It’s all right. I lost the privilege of courting Hannah six years ago when I let her walk out of my life.”
“I won’t pretend to know your reasons, but I do know my sister. She was hurt, but she didn’t let it stop her. If anything, it made her stronger—and maybe a little more bull-headed.”
They both laughed.
“She’ll make up her own mind, but if you want to be a part of her life, you have to show her. Now,” he placed a hand on Eli’s shoulder and squeezed, “there are plenty of other women inside whose dance cards are not yet full. You may come from a place with one woman to every ten men, but with the influx of widows who came here last year after the mining disaster in Missouri, the odds are a little more in our favor.” He took a step back toward the barn, then looked back at Eli and tugged his head to the side. “Come on.”
Reluctantly, Eli followed Raine back into the makeshift dance hall and scanned the room. He figured if he was going to dance with anyone besides Hannah, he should make it one of the women sitting at the outer edges of the floor.
“Let’s make some women smile, Raine. What do you say?”
“What did you have in mind?”
Upon explaining his plan, Raine nodded emphatically. “I like how you think, my friend.” And he headed across the room to a small cluster of young women. Several sets of eyes widened as the oldest of the Redbourne children asked a plump young woman in a bright blue dress and carefully quaffed curls, followed by excited giggles.
He felt better already.
“Mrs. Redbourne,” he said with a smile as he approached the Redbourne matriarch, “may I have the pleasure of this dance?”
Leah chuckled, then with two raised brows placed her hand in his and he whisked her off in step with the fine fiddle jig her husband played.
For each of the next few songs, he asked a different woman, both the younger and the older wallflowers, to escort him around the floor. With Raine doing the same, it wasn’t long before Cole picked up on what they were doing and joined in, followed by his friend, Alaric. It spread quickly as more of the men joined in the fun. It was wonderful to see all the smiles and to hear the laughter that had increased exponentially over the course of the last few dances.
When the last strike of the fiddle faded, everyone clapped and whooped and hollered, clamoring for more.
“Ladies and gents, we’ve come to the end of our night,” the same man who’d been the announcer all day at the jubilee said, “and we’ll close with one last song for all you romantics out there.”
Raine stepped up onto the stage and took the fiddle from his dad and motioned to their mother. A grin spread across Jameson’s face as he jumped down and strode purposefully toward his wife.
Eli knew it was odd to watch them, but the only other couple he’d ever seen act so in love before was Jonah and Emma. It was nice to know that that kind of love was out there.
Eli caught sight of Hannah, who turned just at that moment to face him. Their eyes connected and his heart flitted unwittingly in his chest. She was beautiful.
“Mr. Eli?”
He dragged his gaze away from Hannah to look down at a young girl in a ragged brown sack dress with dirt smudges on her face and the most beautiful dark hair he’d ever seen. She couldn’t have been much older than four or five.
“Would you dance with me, please?” she asked in the sweetest little voice he had ever heard.
He glanced back up at Hannah with a shrug, knowing she’d saved this final dance for him.
She smiled with a gracious nod of concession.
“Why, it would be my pleasure, little one.” He whisked her up, her angelic laugh contagious as he placed one arm around her back, his opposite hand cradling hers as he moved back and forth with the tender strains of Raine’s fiddle as it sang its melodious tune.
Several times as he pranced the child around the dance floor, he passed by Hannah, who also danced with a child less than half her size, his small feet on top of hers as she danced the steps in perfect rhythm. Eli’s heart warmed even more toward the woman who, in his eyes, put all others to shame. When she glanced up and caught his stare, he thought it might be his undoing.
As the song reached its last few strains, Eli opened his arms to the other small children who stood around the perimeter. Without hesitation, they all descended upon him and Hannah, climbed onto his legs and her skirt, up into their arms, and hanging off of them in one big sway of the dance.
When the music finally ended, the children all ran back to a haggard looking woman he recognized as one of his dance partners. She smiled at him and mouthed, ‘thank you.’
A little tug on his trousers drew his attention to the same little girl who’d asked him to dance. Her head cocked back, she raised a finger and bid him to come closer. He knelt beside her and she stood up on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear.
“Thank you,” she said in a slightly gravelly voice, then placed a sweet little kiss on his cheek before running to catch up with the rest of the children.
His heart melted for the second time today.
“You did well for yourself today, Mr. Whittaker,” Hannah said, as she walked up to him from the side.
Eli stood up next to her.
“It was an entertaining evening. I haven’t been to a dance like that in…I don’t think I’ve ever actually been to a dance like that.”
They laughed, then Hannah’s attention shifted to somewhere behind him.
“Excuse me a moment,” she said, darting past him and after the woman wrangling the children.
“She’s something else, isn’t she? My Hannah?” the young man who’d just returned from university said as he approached. “I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced.” He stuck a hand out to Eli. “Gordon Blythe. And I understand you are a family friend of the Redbournes. Eli, right?”
Eli bobbed his head affirmatively.
“Whittaker. We’ve been…friends…for a long time.”
“Well, Eli, longtime friend, I hope you enjoy your time in Stone Creek. I’m sure the Redbournes have you well taken care of, but if you need anything, I’m in town for the next few weeks.”
Eli really didn’t want to like Gordon, but from what he could tell, he seemed like good folk.
“Thanks.”
Gordon patted him on the shoulder and headed in the same direction as Hannah.
“Mr. Whittaker,” the announcer called from across the room as he made his way toward Eli. The stout man, adorned in a nice brown twill suit, looked like the epitome of a Fall Santa Claus with his well kempt white beard and rosy cheeks. “I must say, son, you made our Apple Harvest Jubilee a very interesting one today. I don’t suppose you’d consider a move to Stone Creek?”
“Why is that, sir?”
“As mayor of this town, I’m always on the lookout for folks that will bring something to the community and who I think will get something out of being here. You, son, are one of those people. Of course, you probably already heard that Mr. Wendell is selling his sawmill and I understand you come from the lumber business. Sounds like the perfect match to me.”
“Yes, sir, I heard about Mr. Wendell and even spoke with the man, but as I told him, I don’t think Stone Creek is the right place for me.”
“Well, we’ll see. You’re here for a few more days, right?”
“About a week.”
“We’ll change your mind. You’ll see. The folks around here are just salt of the earth, but we need more like you.”
“Mayor Nichols,” a small woman with graying hair and spectacles called from the entry, her arm in the air, waving to gain the man’s attention.
Nichols? Really?
Why was everyone trying to get him to stay in this little town?
People lingered in clusters around the spacious room, talking and laughing, and Eli realized this was the kind of life he had always longed for—away
from the lewdness and bawdy entertainment that so often followed the lumber camps. Being the boss’s son had come with its advantages, but he’d been encouraged to learn the business from every angle since the time he was twelve years old.
Hannah stepped into the room as several of the townspeople began taking down and extinguishing the strings of fire-lit lanterns that had given light to the festivities.
“Are you coming?” she asked, motioning for him to follow.
He caught up to her and together they walked out to where they’d left the buckboard. Mr. and Mrs. Redbourne sat on the front seat while Raine, Cole, and Gordon had already taken places in the back. Eli jumped up into the wagon, then turned, reached down to clasp Hannah’s hands in his and pulled her up beside him.
“Thank you,” she said, barely able to meet his eyes, then sat down between Gordon and Cole.
A few minutes into the drive behind several other wagons on their way back to their ranches and farms, the ethereal sound of music floated on the breeze, reaching his ears in a harmonious melody.
Leah started to hum, then Cole, then the rest, before they all started to sing along to the tune the other wagons had begun, and it swelled in an exquisite chorus of tranquility. It was quite unlike anything Eli had ever experienced and he found himself at a loss that he didn’t know the words to the song, so he simply attempted to hum along.
The buckboard came to a stop at a farm just outside of town.
“I’ll call on you tomorrow evening,” Gordon said to Hannah with a kiss to the back of her hand.
Eli looked away.
Gordon jumped up and out of the wagon and everyone waved goodbye and they pulled back out onto the main road, the music still carrying softly on the trail ahead of them.
As each wagon reached its destination, they waved, and their voices extinguished from the group. By the time they pulled up at Redbourne Ranch, it was simply the six of their voices combining together in a blended harmony of song. The last refrain finished, as if on cue, as the wagon came to a stop in front of the barn. Then, the spell was broken as everyone jumped up and hustled about, unhitching the wagon and taking care of the horses.
The Lumberjack Page 9