by Faye Sonja
The woman sighed in irritation. “No, she won’t.”
Robert narrowed his eyes; his own irritation now growing. “You’re Ms. Haines.” It wasn’t a question.
A smile that had nothing to do with joy touched her small mouth. “Well, nothing gets past you, now does it?”
Robert blinked a few times and then shook his head. So this was Ms. Eve Haines? She was cute, but Robert could already see why the woman had had to put an ad out to find a husband. “I’m Robert Manning.”
“Congratulations. Where do I send the card?”
Robert sighed. This conversation was not going well. “Ms. Haines, I wrote to you about your... well, your ad.”
Eve narrowed her eyes again, they flickered over his face. A moment later, her eyes grew wide. She gasped. Eve’s eyes darted around the room before she motioned him into the office behind her. Robert walked in and heard the door close behind him.
The office was small, but awards lined the walls. Haines Press was truly a literary prize here in the Midwest. Robert watched Eve walk past him and take the seat behind the desk before he took one of his own in front of it. Settling himself in, Robert braced himself.
Eve placed her hands on the desk and stared at the man sitting in the chair across from her. Robert Manning. How had he found her? She’d put an ad out for a woman who needed to marry that owned a publishing company in Kansas, but she’d never said Haines Press. That would have been like throwing meat to a pack of wolves. She’d made sure the ad had been discreet, so how had Robert known?
Almost a hundred men had responded to Eve’s ad, but she remembered Robert’s letter. He’d been a good candidate; in her top ten. He’s had the right education, he had graduated at the top of his class from one of the best schools in the country, and he’d even studied abroad for a spell. He’d even worked as Head Editor for the best paper in New York. He was exactly what the investors would have wanted, and admittedly, she’d been impressed herself. Eve had actually been surprised that he’d wanted to come out west at all. A man with his credentials should have been easily able to have whatever job he wanted. They’d written to one another a few times and Robert seemed just too good to be true on paper. But just before Eve invited him out to Kansas, she’d dismissed the idea after reading his last letter.
Eve studied the man in front of her. He looked quite comfortable in his own skin. He wore a light gray suit that had to have been tailored for his imposing form. He was wide in the shoulders; which caused the back of his chair to completely disappear behind him. His white shirt was just a few shades lighter than his pale skin. His face was a unique combination of muscle and defining bones. He had Scandinavian blood. The hair he wore was pushed back and short, matching the crimson color of the sun as it set over the horizon; an orangey-red color with faint streams of gold showing throughout. His hair was definitely like a sunset, but the promise of night came with his eyes. They were rich, yet deep pools of blue; like a dark, clear moonless sky.
Robert’s elbows rested casually on the arms of the chair. His long fingers were laced together in front of him. Eve looked him in the eyes and found him to be watching her as well. She didn’t like that. “How’d you find me?”
Robert shrugged. “I have sources back east. I had someone look into what I could gather from your letters. I heard about the passing of your father.”
Eve narrowed her eyes. “Sources?”
Robert smoothed a hand down the clean hard plain of his jaw. He looked away briefly before meeting Eve’s eyes again. “I knew who you were before I had ever wrote to you.”
Eve frowned further. “How?”
“You kept the ad very vague, but there aren’t that many publishing houses out here with your level of success. Plus, this is one of the only companies that is currently being run by a woman.”
Eve sighed, trying to cool the inner heat that was building. “Is there a problem with a woman running a company?”
Robert straightened further in his chair. “I believe such adventures are more suited for a man.”
Eve stood. She’d heard enough. “This meeting is over, Mr. Manning.”
“But there are other reasons that I have come, Ms. Haines.”
Eve retook her seat; slowly. “And what would those be?”
Robert looked down at the hands that were once again in his lap. “As I said in my letters, your father’s writings were of great influence in my life. I believe I’ve read them all.”
Eve closed her eyes. She remembered that fact about Robert. “Yes, it was one of the reasons that I kept replying to your letters.”
Robert smiled. “Your father’s fairytales. They were written for you, were they not?”
Eve smiled. Not many people associated her father’s fairytales with her. They’d been out of print for years. Eve had been Adam’s only child, but Robert was the first stranger to piece that together. “Yeah, they were.”
Robert’s face seemed to glow then. His hair seemed brighter. His skin more warm. “My mother used to read his books to me. Your father’s work is the reason I fell in love with writing, Ms. Haines. My greatest regret is that I never had the honor of meeting him, but I would be glad to help you keep Haines Publishing alive.”
Eve shook her head. “I don’t know…” Robert was great on one hand, but so very wrong on the other.
Robert was very still. “Have you ever been married?”
Eve noticed that at times, Robert’s diction took on a more European pronunciation even though he’d been born in America. Certain words he used sounded almost melodic; soothing even. It was driving her crazy. She didn’t like Robert. She didn’t like his question. She didn’t like where this conversation was going. “I stopped writing you, Mr. Manning. Whether I am or have ever been married is no longer any of your concern.”
A long, leisurely blink came from his hooded eyes; as if he were bored. “You haven’t, have you?”
Eve looked away. She almost had, but at the last minute, the man had left. Men were all the same. “I didn’t say yes or no.”
“Who runs this company?”
Eve looked back at him; narrowing her eyes. “I do,’ she said.
Robert narrowed his eyes. “Are you married?”
Eve hesitated. “No.”
“Has the position been spoken for?”
Eve stared with all the fire her hazel eyes could summon. “Again, my concerns are none of yours.”
A smile slowly crossed Robert’s face. “I’m now under the impression, Ms. Haines, that you do not wish to be married.”
“What’s your point, Mr. Manning?”
“You don’t want to give up control of this company and you don’t want to give up your hand in marriage. Why does one put out an ad to give up two things that one does not wish to give?”
Eve’s hazel eyes widened right before she attempted a neutral look, but it was too late. Robert’s brilliant smile told her that she was caught. “You’re being forced to do both.”
“This is really none of your concern, Mr. Manning,” Eve said in the sing-song voice she sometimes used with her boys.
Robert’s eyes grew more vivid. “Shareholders? Am I right? Shareholders are telling you to marry. Tell me I’m wrong.” He sounded so eager; his eyes seemed to darken, as if that were possible.
Eve tried to cover her panic with impatience. “I’ve got a company to run, Mr. Manning.”
Robert shook his head. “But for how long? Is there a deadline? There’s got to be a deadline. How soon is the deadline?”
She crossed her arms.
Robert grinned further; now sitting at the edge of his seat. “How close is the deadline?”
Eve looked away again and sighed. “Three days.”
Robert’s laugh poured from his lips; causing Eve to shiver from the rich deep tone. She didn’t like being laughed at, but that didn’t seem to bother Robert. “So, in three days, what happens?”
Eve’s face fell. “I’m so glad you can find the jo
y in all of this.”
Robert opened his arms. “And you can’t? I made it just in time to save you!”
Eve began to shake her head. “No way. Not you.” Eve would not marry Robert; especially now that she’d seen him in the flesh. On one hand, Robert was everything that Eve needed, but managed to be everything she didn’t need at the same time. Robert was the perfect man for the company, but the exact person she didn’t want to marry. “You should have gotten the hint when I stopped writing you, Mr. Manning, but apparently, you did not.”
Robert looked at Eve with a look of confusion. “Why did you stop writing me?”
“Because you would not agree to my terms.”
“And what were those terms again?”
“I made it very clear that I only wanted a marriage in name.”
Robert waved her off; leaning back into his chair. “Yes, but I knew you’d change your mind once we had the chance to meet.”
Eve laughed for the first time that day. “Why on Earth would you assume a silly thing like that?”
Robert gestured to himself. “Is it not obvious?”
Eve looked him over again and congratulated herself for not turning red. “I don’t have your fancy European education, Mr. Manning. So, you’re gonna have to spell it out for me in plain American English.”
Robert gave another slow blink. “You’ve successfully run this company for the last six months. I believe that you’re much smarter than you’re letting on, Ms. Haines.”
Heat spread up her neck that time. Eve’s hands fisted underneath the table. “Just say what you want to say, Mr. Manning.”
Robert smiled. “I’m not something that you scrape off the bottom of the barrel, Ms. Haines.”
“Meaning?”
“I’m a catch.”
Eve laughed and laughed and laughed. Robert was just too much; obviously very much stuck on himself.
“Mr. Manning, if you think a smile and wink is going to win me over, then I’ve been giving you the wrong impression. I’m raising two little cowboys all on my own. If all it took was a pretty smile to win me over, then I’d surely be dead.”
Robert was laughing by now. “We are going to have very much fun together are we?”
Eve’s smile fell. “You are not listening to me.”
“You’ve backed yourself into a corner, Ms. Haines. Take the blessing that the Good Lord is giving you, and run with it.”
Eve’s eyes fluttered a few times at the man in front of her and she couldn’t understand what he couldn’t see. She stood, deciding that she’d have to show him. Eve walked over to the office door and held it open. “A train heading for New York leaves in a few days, Mr. Manning. I’m sure you’ll have more than enough time to take in the sights of our fair town before you go.”
Robert stood, still smiling. He walked over to meet her at the door. His eyes of deep, misty pond water blue stared down at her. “I’ll be at the inn when you need me.”
Eve shook her head. “Have a good day, Mr. Manning.”
Robert’s laugh floated through the door as he left and sent a chill through Eve. She did not need a man like Robert Manning hanging around. Eve had all the men she needed in her life with her two boys, Clark and Lewis. With those two, her plate was full.
* * *
2
Chapter TWO
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“ Whether I am or have ever been married
is no longer any of your concern.”
The young prince offered to save the Princess Evelyn, but Evelyn refused, because she needed no recusing. She was on an adventure. So, the prince asked if he could join the princess on the adventure, and Princess Evelyn said ‘yes’.
Eve could hear a yell come from the back of the house right before she looked up and saw Lewis and Clark running across the upstairs corridor and spotted the long sticks they held in their hands before they disappeared behind the wall. Another yell later and they were running in the opposite direction, returning from where they’d come from on the other side. They hadn’t noticed their mother’s presence. Good, Eve thought. It meant she’d get a few minutes of grown up talk in before they would devour her attention.
“Looks like they’re being pirates again.”
Eve turned to her friend and smiled. Florence Tilson was one of Haines Press’ best illustrators. Florence was only nineteen, but somehow, Eve could easily connect with the younger woman. Florence’s long hair was the brightest blond Eve had ever seen. Florence was so blond, her hair was almost white. She wore it in deep, heavy curls. It was flipped away from her face and then rippled past her shoulders. Her skin was the color of warm cream, which never tanned; defying the Kansas heat. She was gorgeous, but her most impressive feature was her eyes. They were lavender. Eve had never seen eyes that color before. So vividly purple they were. Not blue, not green, but a rich violet that made Florence so very attractive, and also quite irresistible to the young men in town. Today, she wore a peach tubular dress, with pleats and ruffled layers that stopped just below her knee.
Eve grabbed her hand. “Yes, they're distracted for now, but it’s only a matter of time before someone is forced to walk to the poop deck and the game would be over, so we’d better hurry. “ She walked further into the main room while pulling Florence along.
The house was a grand structure that had taken Adam Haines, Sr. more than ten years to complete. The foyer was wide and led into the large great room with twin sprawling staircases that sat on each side of the room, meeting in the middle on the second floor. All the rooms were located on the upper levels while the kitchen, office, and ballroom were located down the long, wide halls on either side of the foyer. The house had a series of hidden staircases and floors that had entertained Eve while growing up. Seeing the boys enjoying it just as much as she had warmed her heart.
In the main room, Eve and Florence spotted Clara, Eve’s after school sitter, sitting by the writing desk on the right side of the room underneath the staircase. Sunlight poured in through the large windows behind her, creating a soft halo around her form. Clara’s head was leaned down, as she wrote feverously in a book; giving the rest of the room her back and the long neck that sat under her short black hair. Eve looked to Florence and placed a finger over her lips; giving her the signal for silence. Florence’s eyes danced with mischief before she nodded her agreement. The two women quietly placed their bags down on one of the larger of two brown couches before silently walking over to Clara. They both peaked over Clara’s shoulder just as the book slammed close. Eve and Florence jumped back and Clara turned around in the chair; a disapproving look on her black brows; her blue-green eyes set ablaze. “No looking until it’s done,” she hissed.
Eve raised her hand in defense, but she was smiling. “Oh, you know I couldn’t resist.” Clara Cain was one of Haines Press’ best writers, and she was in the midst of working on her next mystery novel.
Clara slipped the book into her own bag that leaned against the bottom of the writing desk; all the while, she kept her deep lake colored eyes trained on Eve. “Sorry boss, but you’ll just have to wait like the rest of the world.”
Florence sighed and spoke in a far off tone. “You can’t blame a woman for trying. You’re like, the best writer, ever.”
Clara smiled a small sad smile. “And no one would ever know.”
Eve placed a hand on Clara’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “We’ll know.” Clara Cain was a great writer, but she was also a woman; which meant that if she wanted her work to get attention, she’d have to write under a man’s name. Women's literature was barely respected and the most popular female novelists were normally romance writers. To society, romance was a genre appropriate for women, but not crime and mystery. What could a woman possibly know about crime? No, the world wasn’t ready for that. So, Clara Cain’s ghost name was C.C. Reed, only Eve and Florence knew who she really wa
s.
Clara, at twenty-four, was closer to Eve’s twenty-seven years, but Eve liked both of the women’s opinions equally; and right now, she needed their help.
Eve went to sit down on the larger of the two white couches in the room; Florence joined her. Clara just turned around her chair, opening herself to the room. Eve slipped her shoes off and curled one foot up under her, leaving the other to dangle to the floor. She placed her hands on her lap and tried to breathe through the rising tempo of her heart. “You both know that my three month deadline is up in three days. In three days, I might not be your boss.”
Clara let out a rough sigh; she hated the subject just as much as Eve did. “Are they really going to force you to marry in three days? We don’t need a man to run the Haines Press. You do a great job.”
Florence grabbed ahold of Eve’s hands, but didn’t say anything. She just gave Eve a look of sadness. Eve looked away.
Clara spoke again. “If they kick you out, then I’ll quit.”
Eve’s head popped up. “You’d really give up writing?”
Clara shrugged. “Writing was your idea anyway. If you go, it goes too.” Clara kept her face neutral, but there was a height in her chin; defiance. Clara was so strong. So much stronger than Eve. “I couldn’t ask you to do that. The world needs your work.”
Florence spoke then. “And we need you.” She smiled. Eve smiled back. She valued their support. “Would you quit too if I left?” Eve asked.
Florence took her hand back and seemed to close in on herself. Her head went down. “I couldn’t. I have too many bills to pay.”
“Eddie should be paying your bills,” Clara hissed. She had one arm leaned across the back of the chair with her head leaning into it. Her black cashmere dress hung low to the floor. Clara always wore black. “When’s the last time Eddie had a job?” she asked. Clara’s water-colored eyes were fitted on Florence.
Florence turned to Eve for support, but Florence would find some support there. Clara’s words held a lot of bite, but they still rang true. Eddie was Florence’s live-in boyfriend whose day job involved sleeping, and his night job involved gambling and drinking Florence’s hard earned money away. Eve had tried on many an occasion to get Florence to move in with her; the Haines House was bigger than what Eve needed, but Florence refused. She wouldn’t leave Eddie, which did nothing but cause Eve to worry. Florence was a dreamer. “Eddie said he’s looking. Just give him time.”