A Christmas Proposal (A Wyoming Mail Order Bride Holiday 2)

by Annie Boone

  “I just might, actually. We’re getting really busy here at the inn. I want to hire someone I can train to do several things. I need my father to approve it, but I think he will,” Dorothy answered. “What are your skills?”

  “Oh, I’ve never had a job before, but I’m a fast learner and a hard worker. I think I’d be happiest with a job that wasn’t mundane. It seems like this place is busy so it wouldn’t be boring! I would work very hard for you,” Lillian smiled brightly.

  “Well, I was hoping for someone with at least a little work experience. I need help at the desk and possibly someone to wait tables for the lunch time crowd. Does that interest you? Do you think you could learn those things?”

  “I know I could learn them and I think I’d enjoy it here. I promise I won’t disappoint you if you give me a chance.”

  “I’m sure you won’t. You know, I definitely need the help. So, let’s go ahead and give this a try. I’ll bring you on for a one month trial and we’ll see how it goes. How does that sound to you?”

  “I think it sounds like a perfect plan!” exclaimed Lillian. She was over the moon excited that she’d found a job. It was a trial, but she was going to do everything she could to learn fast and make herself indispensable in her learning period.

  Dorothy smiled at Lillian and reached out to shake her hand. “Be here in the lobby tomorrow morning at eight o’clock and we’ll get started, then.”

  “I will. Thank you so much, Dorothy. I’m very happy about the opportunity,” Lillian replied.

  When Dorothy had gone, Lillian couldn’t stop smiling. Things were falling into place. Her marriage had fallen through, but the Good Lord was still watching over her. She truly felt like He was working in her life. Her lodging was taken care of for two months. She had found a job in a place that was respectable and interesting. She believed that eventually she would find a way to become part of the town and make friends. And she had the rest of the day today to explore. She was very happy about that.

  “Thank you again, Lord, for looking out for me,” she whispered.

  “Excuse me?” asked a young lady as she came around the corner. “Did I overhear that you’ve gotten the job?”

  Lillian smiled warily. She thought this girl was one of the wait staff, but she wasn’t sure. “Uh, we did agree to a trial. Who are you? Um, if you don’t mind me asking.”

  “Daphne. My name’s Daphne. I wait tables for the breakfast meal. Sometimes I do lunch, too, when Dorothy needs the help. I’m glad she finally got around to officially opening up the position. She’s been saying she was going to do it for ages. She’s a dream to work for. You’re going to love her. And her father’s a dear. I just love him!”

  Both women laughed. Daphne out loud and Lillian more politely.

  “How long have you worked here?” Lillian asked.

  “Oh, about three years, I think. I lose track of time,” answered Daphne.

  “Do you know the story of the inn? I meant to ask Dorothy, but she had to leave,” asked Lillian.

  Daphne looked around her to see if any of the breakfast customers needed help. The crowd was thinning out and it looked like everyone was taken care of for the moment. “Oh yes. The inn is fairly new, but it’s already had two owners. The first owner built it in 1868, I believe. I don’t think I ever knew his name. Hmm. Well, anyway, it was the first hotel in the area and it mainly was a place for railroad workers and cattle drivers to stay. He died suddenly in 1870 and his wife didn’t want to keep it.”

  “Oh my. What a terrible thing for her. Losing her husband and her livelihood, too. It must have been frightening.”

  “I’m sure it was. But she got lucky that Mr. Barnes, Dorothy’s father had just come to Cheyenne looking to open a clothing shop. He stayed in the inn and heard that it was for sale. So, he bought it instead of opening the clothing shop.”

  “How lucky for her!” said Lillian with a smile. “God looks out for His sheep, doesn’t he?”

  “It appears He does. Mr. Barnes went back to Chicago and brought his little family back with him. Dorothy was already twenty years old but she decided to move with her mother and father. Now she runs most of the operation by herself.”

  “That’s a big job! No wonder she needs some help.”

  “Well, I’d better tend to the customers left here from the breakfast crowd,” said Daphne reluctantly. “I’d rather stay and chat but duty calls.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Thanks for filling me in on the history.” Lillian took her napkin from her lap and placed it on the table. She pushed her chair back and got up to go to her room. She was looking forward to the day of exploring.

  ***

  Lillian went back upstairs to her room after breakfast. Thankful that she didn’t have to rush to get ready to go out on a job hunt, she decided to do something at least a little productive. She went to her bags and put away her skirts, blouses and dresses. She didn’t have a really large wardrobe, but she wanted to take care of what she did have. There was a small dresser across from the bed, where she placed her rouge, powder, mirror and brush.

  After she was settled, she went back downstairs. Her plan was to take a walk to the center of town and do a little shopping for a few things she needed. She was in the lobby and realized it was lunch time. She wasn’t hungry, but she thought it might be interesting to see how busy the restaurant was while they were serving lunch. Meekly, she walked through the tables where a few patrons sat. She imagined waiting on them, when a man stopped her.

  “Excuse me, miss, but do you work here?”

  Lillian didn’t really know how to answer him, but she found that she couldn’t speak when she looked at him. His piercing blue eyes stunned her and he had a nice handsome face with a strong jaw. He was clean shaven and had lovely dark brown hair. He smiled, startling her back to the present.

  Lillian touched her forehead with the back of her hand. “Well, yes, and no. I suppose I don’t really work here yet. I start tomorrow.”

  “Well, if you wouldn’t mind finding my waitress for me. She’s been a while and I have to get back to work.”

  She wondered where he might work, when he asked, “What’s your name?”

  “Lillian,” she said, tucking her chin.

  “Well, thank you, Lillian. I’m Dean. Pleased to meet you.” He extended his hand and she shook it daintily.

  “My pleasure,” she said and then nearly ran toward the kitchen to find either Daphne or Dorothy since she didn’t know which one would be working at lunch.

  She walked through the door where the cook stirred a wonderful smelling stew. Then, he switched his attention to a loaf of bread and began slicing it. He didn’t pay her much attention.

  Lillian turned and saw Daphne come into the kitchen with her hand wrapped in a towel.

  “What happened, Daphne?”

  “Silly me. I tried to do Chef’s job, since we’ve been short a worker. I thought I could get a loaf of bread out, but I cut my finger nearly clean off. I’ll probably have to see the doctor.”

  “Let’s see.”

  Daphne unwrapped her hand and Lillian was shocked at the amount of blood. Then she wrapped it back again.

  “Is it too deep?” she asked.

  “I believe so.”

  “Then I’ll just have to learn fast. Go see the doctor and I’ll take over.”

  Daphne gave her a concerned look, but Lillian nearly pushed him out the door to go get help. She was of no use with a bloody finger. Once she was gone, Lillian went back to the gentleman’s table who needed Daphne to wait on him.

  “Well, it seems I’m the only one on staff who can help. Your waiter has suffered an injury.”

  “Oh no. I’m sorry to hear that. How will you run the establishment on your own, being it’s not even your first day yet?” Dean looked at her with pity.

  “I don’t know. But I’ll figure it out. What can I get you?” She didn’t need pity. She was going
to get to work and serve all of her eight patrons.

  “I’ll have the special.”

  “The special?” Lillian asked, biting her bottom lip.

  “It’s the stew today. Be sure some toast is on the plate as well. Most of the patrons will order the special. You’ll do fine. You seem like an ambitious woman.” He smiled again, and she could feel heat rise in her cheeks. She nodded and turned before he could tell she was blushing.

  On her way back to the kitchen, she stopped and took another order. Once inside the kitchen, she gave the orders to Chef, by way of a pad of paper and pencil she found. Chef just nodded at her and went back to stirring the stew.

  Next, Lillian found the beverage station and poured a glass of water for Dean and a glass for the other patron. Then she headed back out to the floor. Once she set down Dean’s glass, he said, “Could I get a lemon wedge?” with a smirk.

  She felt like slapping him, but she smiled and replied, “Why, certainly. I’ll be right back with it.”

  Dean chuckled. “It’s okay. Really. I can have water without it.”

  “No you can’t. It’s no trouble at all.” She hurried back to the kitchen.

  The lemons were at the beverage station, but she didn’t know where a knife was. She turned and asked Chef, “Where’s a knife for slicing the fruit?”

  Chef pointed to a drawer and murmured, “Don’t cut your finger off.”

  Lillian’s mouth dropped open, but she had no time to listen to his quips. She sliced the lemon and took two wedges to Dean.

  “Why thank you,” he said, then squeezed the lemons into the glass of water.

  “Anything else? I’ll have your lunch out in just a moment.”

  “No. That’ll do it for now, Lillian.”

  Before Dean could twinkle his ocean blue eyes at her again, she was asking the next patrons how she could serve them. She didn’t have time to stop and socialize even though she would very much like to. Dean was a very handsome man.

  She wasn’t sure where Dorothy was, but she hoped she wouldn’t be annoyed that she jumped in when Daphne needed to leave to take care of her injury. She figured that Dorothy would be pleased at her attitude and work ethic, but she did make some mistakes since she hadn’t had time to get trained. She was hoping that what she did that day would be viewed as a good thing instead of a bad thing.

  Soon after lunch was finished, Daphne was back at the Mountain View. She came in with a big white bandage on her finger.

  “Well, three stitches. I am so sorry to leave you like that. How did it go?” Daphne asked Lillian.

  “It went great!” Dorothy proclaimed, coming around through the kitchen. “Thank you so much for filling in today, Lillian. I know you weren’t supposed to start until tomorrow, but it appears we really needed you today. Daphne? How are you?”

  “I’m fine, Dorothy. I was on my way to find you when Lillian came up. I just left it with her when she said she thought I needed the doctor. She was right. Three stitches.” Daphne smiled at her boss and her new co-worker with a tired look on her face.

  “Well, I’m glad you went to get help. Take a day or two off and let your finger start to heal. I think Lillian will be able to work with me to cover you for a few days. Lillian? Is that something you can do?” Dorothy asked.

  “Sure, I can do it. I’m happy to get started.”

  “The days off will help me, I think,” said Daphne. “Lillian, I appreciate your help for the next day or so. I look forward to getting to know you better when I return.”

  “And I, you.” Lillian reached a hand to Daphne’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I really hope the pain will ease.”

  As Lillian cleared tables, Dorothy walked over to her and handed her a dollar bill. “What’s this,” asked Lillian.

  “It’s a bonus. You did a great job today, and I really appreciate it that you pitched in to help. You weren’t even an official employee yet and you could have spent your day doing anything you wanted. You chose to help me out. You might be interested to know that I got two compliments from patrons about you, too. Your first day and you handle the lunch crowd alone? Thank you.”

  “Thank you,” she said. Feeling a little embarrassed about the money, Lillian took the dollar and slipped it into her skirt pocket. She smiled inside, very proud of herself. Then she wondered if Dean had been one of the complimenting patrons. Dean. She would think about him all night, most likely. She was so glad she came to Cheyenne, even if she wasn’t married. Now, she had a job, a new friend in Daphne, and a place to stay. Things couldn’t get much better.

  Chapter Four

  The next day, Dorothy showed Lillian some of the things she hadn’t already figured out in her training by fire from the day before. She learned that she should’ve been offering dessert and that they did offer sugar for coffee. She’d been so grateful that all her male patrons yesterday took their coffee black and nobody asked for anything to go into it.

  Chef seemed disgruntled when Lillian tried to talk to him in the kitchen. He was a no-nonsense man and he didn’t want to be bothered while he was dong his work. Chef would roll his eyes or make grumbling noises but eventually he would answer her questions. It was clear he thought she was asking things she should already know, but Lillian didn’t care. She liked working at the Mountain View. She was able to interact with all the western folks and she was slowly learning more about Cheyenne.

  Most of the patrons she waited on were very friendly and talkative. Some were interested in who she was, where she came from and where she was going. She told them all she was staying in town, and they seemed pleased to have her as a new citizen to their town.

  She poured a cup of coffee and took it to a customer. Once she set the cup down, Dean walked through the doors. They got busy at lunch and he was going to ruin her concentration. He was far too handsome and charming for her to have to work when he was around. She considered asking Dorothy to wait on him, but she really couldn’t ask her boss to do the job she had been hired to do.

  Dean walked past Lillian and sat right across from the table she was serving. After she took their order, she smiled at Dean, told him she’d be back, and then delivered the order to Chef.

  “Oh my,” Lillian said, flustered.

  “What is it?” Chef asked, looking up from his work on the lunch meal. “Something wrong? You ill?”

  “I’m fine, Chef. Just a customer has me on edge. Don’t worry.” She managed a weak smile and he went back to cooking.

  “Did I hear you say a customer is giving you trouble?” Dorothy asked.

  She had come out of nowhere and Lillian had no idea that she was even close, let alone been able to hear her offhanded comment. She hadn’t meant to cause a stir of any sort.

  “Oh, no. Not at all. It’s just a man who came in yesterday. He embarrassed me on purpose – just teasing me a little - and he’s so handsome.” Lillian blushed as she told Dorothy what was going on. “It’s just got me a little nervous, I suppose. Don’t worry, Dorothy. I won’t let it mess up my work.”

  “It sounds like he might be letting you know he’s sweet on you,” Dorothy said gently. “Get out there and take his order.” She pushed Lillian back toward the dining room with a chuckle.

  “I, um. Well, I need to collect myself first. I thought I could be professional, but he does make me jumpy,” Lillian said.

  “You waited on this entire establishment yesterday. Alone. You can do anything you want.” Dorothy pushed Lillian more forcefully toward the dining room and the lunch crowd.

  Wanting to strangle her new boss, she walked calmly over to Dean. “What can I get for you today?”

  “Meat pie, please. And water-“

  “With a lemon wedge, yes.”

  Dean smiled and wagged his finger at her. “You’re good. I can’t believe you remembered.”

  “Yes, I do. Anything else?” She tried to ignore his gorgeous face.

  “Perhaps soon,�
�� he said and winked.

  Lillian was sure she didn’t understand men. She and Andrew had nearly fallen in love through correspondence and then he runs off and falls in love with another woman in under a month. Now, there was this man, who seemed to like to watch her blush. Was he just fooling with her because he was a prankster, or was he truly flirting with her?

  Then she wondered again what he did for a living. He was dressed dapper with a nice sack coat, which hung on the back of his chair, a more formal waist coat and a neck tie. His pocket watch chain hung out of his pocket, promising to be real gold.

  Lillian looked up to see she had new comers who needed to be greeted. A man and a woman had just been seated. He flagged her with a finger and she went over and welcomed them. Smiling at the happy looking couple, she took their order. She felt Dean’s eyes on her, but she continued with what she was doing even though it was difficult to concentrate.

  She repeated their orders back to them. “So that’s the special for you, ma’am and a meat pie for you, sir?”

  “Um, no,” replied the lady. “I’m having a bowl of soup.”

  “Of course you are,” Lillian responded. “I’m sorry I repeated it back incorrectly. I do have you down for the chicken and vegetable soup. Your lunch will be ready shortly.” Lillian smiled, but inside she was mortified.

  Thinking about the handsome Dean and the possibility that he was sweet on her made her mind wander. That was not a good thing today. She promised herself that she would focus on work and nothing more until she was done for the day.

  Lillian cleared a few tables and Dean was still sitting, reading a paper. He’d finished his lunch and his dishes had already been cleared away. Lillian decided to check on him. She hadn’t been to his table in a while, but he hadn’t called her over either.

  “Is there anything else you need?” she asked.

  “No, thank you. I’ll be leaving now. I’ll see you tomorrow, Lillian,” Dean said, standing and reaching for his coat.