Grooms with Honor Series, Books 7-9

by Linda K. Hubalek

  “Kaitlyn, I’m very sorry I missed your special dinner. Grandma thought of it half way through the dinner and feels bad about it, too.

  “Apology accepted. Now back to Holly. What are your intentions?”

  Forks dropped on the dessert plates, and all eyes were on Nolan, including hers.

  Did Kaitlyn just say intentions, meaning...like courting her? Holly held her breath waiting for Nolan’s response.

  “Yes, I’m offering Holly a full-time job, starting tomorrow morning.”

  Well, that was clear. He wasn’t interested in courting her then.

  “Holly?” Nolan was standing by her chair now.

  “Of course, I want the job. That’s why I’m in Kansas, Nolan.” What else could she say?

  “Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Nolan hurried out of the dining room; back to the boots he’d just taken off, but not before looking back at Ki, then over to her. Was he jealous of the blacksmith? Probably so, thinking they’d end up together because of their heritage. Ki seemed like a nice man, but Holly had feelings for Nolan. And it wasn’t brotherly love, as she felt for the Reagan brothers.

  Chapter 13

  Nolan finally crept out of the house at six in the morning. He couldn’t sleep last night, wondering what he’d find in the café, since his grandfather wouldn’t give him the key to go inside this past weekend. Nolan had peaked through the dirty windows Saturday afternoon, seeing chairs turned upside down on top of the tables in the dining room, but he couldn’t see into the kitchen. The back door didn’t have a window, and he felt foolish wanting to find a ladder to look in the high window that did let light filter in the room.

  Gramps said they’d go in this morning, but Grandma had given him the key after Gramps went to bed. Nolan figured she wanted him to get a head start of looking around before they arrived later in the morning.

  Nolan had thought about waiting for Holly, too, but she was another reason he couldn’t sleep last night. She looked happy sitting around the dining room table with all the Reagans. He never thought of the Reagan brothers as rivals, but he did yesterday seeing Mack with his arm around Holly’s chair, smiling and teasing with her.

  Then there was the new blacksmith staring at Holly as if she was dessert. Why had Kaitlyn invited Jones to dinner? Because he had the same heritage as Holly? Nolan had forgotten about Holly’s differences until he saw the striking match they made.

  Why was he even thinking about Holly in this way? She was going to be his waitress, no, more like his partner as they rebuilt the café’s menu and clientele.

  Something else struck Nolan. Most people enjoyed Holly’s playing yesterday, but some people sat crossed armed and frowning. Would they balk eating at the café if an Indian woman was cooking and serving food?

  Nolan struck a match so he could see to unlock the door. The lock needed some work, but the door opened. The smell of dirt, mold, and old grease hit Nolan’s senses. He shut the door, walking through the kitchen door by memory to find the oil lamp, sitting on its usual end-of-the day spot on the center of the worktable.

  He took off the cold chimney and set it on the table, struck another match to light the wick and adjusted it before putting the chimney back on. It was so sooty it didn’t allow much light very far into the room.

  “Coffee ready?”

  Nolan swung around ready to hit the intruder with a piece of firewood until he recognized the voice.

  “Jeepers, Mack! You about gave me a heart attack!”

  “That’s why I asked before I was in swinging distance of your arm.”

  “Well, it will be a while before coffee is hot to enjoy. I just cleaned out the stove’s ashes and found a little firewood to start the stove. After I cleaned the chimney lamp so I could see in here.” Nolan was already frustrated and could use a cup of coffee too, but first, he’d have to find coffee beans and the grinder and... Jeepers, the kitchen was a mess.

  “I brought a pail of water so I’ll rinse the pot and get it on the stove for you. I used to know my way around the kitchen, helping when we were kids, so I’ll find the beans in the pantry and get to grinding.”

  Nolan shut the fuel door and noticed his hand print on the hob, the stovetop.

  “You know the chimney, and the pipe to the stove is probably full of creosote,” Mack pointed towards the top of the stove.

  “Yes, and the whole stove needs to be scraped of soot and rust, but I wanted some heat in here before my grandparents and Holly arrive.”

  He’d have to check the seams of the cook stove water reservoir, too. The soldered seams could come loose and the reservoir leak if it was allowed to go dry.

  “So why you here so early in the morning?” Nolan knew this wasn’t a chance stopping by.

  “Thought I’d offer to help get the café running again. You can wipe down the walls in the dining room, but I think they’ll need a coat of whitewash. I have the tools and ladders to paint. Need to check the tables and chairs, too. I know there are a few wobbly chairs in the group and you don’t want a customer to fall.”

  “Good point.”

  “I also brought over a wheelbarrow for you to use. There’s bound to be some wormy flour and some canned goods that need to be hauled away before your grandfather insists it’s still good.”

  Nolan sighed and rubbed his face, probably smearing soot streaks. What had he gotten himself into? He was naive thinking his grandparents were fine and he’d just walk in and take over without a lick of work.

  “Hey, a few days’ work and this place will be ready to open again. You’ll be surprised how many people will stop in and lend a hand. The town wants the café open again.”

  “I’m surprised someone hasn’t come into town and opened a new one.”

  “There’s been inquiries, so it was good timing to come back now rather than later.”

  Mack picked up one of the lamps and opened the pantry door, then jumped back as a little creature ran over his boots.

  “Better add mouse traps to your first shopping list.” Then Mack and the light disappeared to hunt for the coffee beans and grinder.

  Nolan picked up a rag by the dry sink, flipped it in the air a few times, and watched the dust fly out of it. Nothing like a dirty rag to try to wipe down a dirty table.

  “I like Holly,” Mack announced returning with the lamp in one hand and balancing the bean grinder and a small bag of coffee beans in the crook of his other arm.

  “Well, you can’t have her!” Nolan spit out without thinking.

  “So you like Holly, huh? Relax; Ma has unofficially adopted her, so I think of her as my new little sister.”

  That cooled Nolan’s frustrations a little since Mack was very friendly to Holly yesterday.

  “How about the rest of your brothers?”

  “Can’t speak for them, but I’m sure they feel the same way. ‘Course Angus and Fergus haven’t met her yet.” Mack smiled, probably to watch Nolan’s face flush again.

  “What do you know about Kiowa Jones?”

  “Oh, now you might get some competition there.”

  “Is that why your ma invited him to dinner?”

  “Nah. Da, Isaac, and Ki were visiting together, so of course, Ma invited him to eat with us.”

  “Where’s he from?”

  “Never has told his story. Came into town when Jim Anderson had the blacksmith shop for sale. He and Karin decided to move their family home to Illinois. I did hear Ki paid Jim in cash.”

  “I wonder where he got that amount of money.”

  “Don’t know, but I’m sure he had to live on his own money for a time. It took people a while to start bringing work to him, but they didn’t have any choice without another blacksmith in this area.”

  “Huh. Maybe he’s had another profession like Jim Anderson did.” The former blacksmith was actually an ordained Lutheran minister who had lost his faith trying to help Civil War soldiers. Only Mack’s parents knew this for many years until Jim’s fiancée Kari
n Jimson found him in Clear Creek ten years later.

  “Maybe you can talk to Ki and found out his story since you’re new in town, at least to him.”

  Nolan might have to do that...out of curiosity, of course. But then again, Nolan had promised Holly new grave markers for her family. Could Jones fashion iron crosses in time for Christmas? It was worth asking about.

  “Nolan?” They turned when they heard Holly’s voice at the front door.

  “Wait until I come to you with a light,” Nolan called back while picking up a lamp. Even though the café was a mess, he was glad Holly was here. She was turning out to be his “light” to happiness.

  “Good morning, Holly,” Mack greeted when Nolan brought her into the kitchen. “How’d you sneak past Ma?”

  “Well, I could say as quietly as I could, but then I found this basket and note on top of my cape on the chair by the back door.”

  She put the basket on the table and handed Nolan the note to read.

  “Take this basket with you when you sneak...she actually wrote ‘sneak’...out this morning. Here are clean rags and soap, paper and pencil to make lists and cinnamon rolls for whoever shows up, for breakfast. I’ll take rolls over to the Clancy’s and try to stall them as long as I can for you. God bless your morning’s work...and tell Mack good morning since I’m sure he’s already there.”

  Nolan and Mack burst out laughing while Holly grinned. She’d already read the note.

  “Okay workers; let’s have breakfast and start cleaning and making lists of what we need to do to open again. Our day has officially been blessed by Ma Reagan.”

  “We’re here, anybody home?”

  Nolan tensed as he heard Kaitlyn call out her warning. But then things should go okay with his grandparents since there were extra people in the building with them.

  Millie Wilerson, the marshal’s wife, who used to bake pies for the café about a dozen years ago, and her sister, Darcie Shepard, the saddle maker’s wife, had arrived with buckets and mops right after their children left for school.

  Now, four hours after first opening the café door, the place looked and smelled a little better. The café walls and furniture still needed fresh coats of paint, curtains to replace the faded ones...and a half dozen mouse traps, but overall Nolan felt better than he had first thing this morning.

  “Nolan!” Mack whispered to get his attention. “Open the back door, so I can get this wheelbarrow of old stuff outside before your grandfather sees it!”

  Nolan did and was surprised when Millie and Darcie grabbed their coats and followed Mack out the back door.

  “Uh, wait...”

  “We’ll let you and Kaitlyn handle your grandfather. We’ll be back later,” Millie said while patting his cheek, heaven forbid, treating him like when he was a kid.

  Nolan stepping in the dining room, seeing Holly frozen on a ladder by the window, still holding a curtain she’d just taken down.

  “Well, Dan and Edna, look what all Nolan and Holly have done already this morning. The café will be open again before you know it.”

  Nolan waited for his grandfather to blow his top when he looked around the room, but his shoulders sagged instead.

  “Oh, Dan. The place looks so much better! Once it’s painted and polished up, it will be as good as new!” his grandmother exclaimed before smiling up at his grandfather.

  Nolan realized his grandfather was staring at Holly up on the ladder, so Nolan quickly went over to help her down to the floor.

  “Instead of washing those curtains, let’s make some new ones. I might go with a different color this time, Dan. And we need oil table clothes, too. I wonder if I could order them in a red and white check from Taylor’s mercantile.”

  “Hmm. I suppose that would work. Order an extra table cloth to put in my kitchen, too.”

  Nolan caught Kaitlyn’s alarmed stare as his grandfather limped through the door to the kitchen.

  Oh, oh. Did his grandparents think they were going to start running the café again? That wasn’t Nolan’s plan. Of course, he knew they would visit but...he didn’t want Gramps to think he’d be in charge of the place again.

  “Who cleaned out the pantry?! There was nothing wrong with...where’s the sack of flour? It was almost full!”

  “Here’s your first task at managing the café, Nolan, managing your grandfather. Please be patient with him. I already told him to be patient with you.”

  Kaitlyn handed him a small basket. “They wouldn’t eat these rolls before they came over here. I smell you’ve made coffee, so I suggest you all sit down, and have coffee and rolls before your first talk with your grandfather. And I suggest you say a prayer first. You’re going to need it.”

  With that, Kaitlyn opened the front door and left. Holly looked like she was ready to follow Kaitlyn, even though her cape was hanging in the kitchen by the back door.

  “Sorry,” Nolan laid his hand on Holly’s forearm. “You’re working until the end of the day, so you aren’t leaving me alone with them.”

  Nolan hated Holly looked nervous about spending time with his grandfather, but she was paid to handle this job, and he didn’t want to run the café without her, to be truthful to himself.

  Nolan held out his hand to Holly and waited for her to grasp it. “Come on, partner, we have a café to open.”

  Nolan’s grandparents were seated at the kitchen table when Nolan led Holly into the room. There was just a touch of hesitancy when he pulled out a chair for Holly to sit down, but she did.

  “How are Kaitlyn’s rolls?” Nolan asked to start the conversation around the table while he poured cups of coffee for him and Holly.

  “Satisfactory, but not as good as your grandmother’s cinnamon rolls,” his grandfather said after swallowing his mouthful.

  “Ah, Holly’s a very good baker. We had a biscuit contest at the Montana—where she worked, and she won, hands down.”

  “How many bakers was she competing against?” Nolan’s grandfather asked.

  “Uh, just me.”

  “How’d she beat you? What recipe did you use?” Oops, Nolan shouldn’t have brought this up, watching Holly’s shoulders raise as if she was cringing.

  No use lying now. “Your recipe, Grandma. Everyone in the ‘café that evening voted, and it was three to one in favor of Holly’s recipe.

  “The local’s voted for her instead of you,” his grandfather accused him.

  “Nope. The ‘café fed a train load of stranded passengers, so they didn’t know who baked what biscuits.”

  Nolan took a deep breath to draw this conversation into the next.

  “Holly’s baking skills are why I asked her to travel to Kansas to work with me. Her pies rival Millie Wilerson’s, I kid you not.”

  “Millie’s pies and cakes are...legendary. That’s what brought business into our ‘café. It wasn’t Dan’s cooking.” Nolan watched his grandparents as they looked at each other with eyebrows raised. There must be a type of communication that forms when you’ve been married a long time, since the Reagan’s did this, too.

  “So, let’s talk about the ‘café. I always promised I’d come home to run the ‘café when you retired.”

  “I haven’t retired yet! Just...not in the ‘café everyday anymore.”

  “I’d like to take over the ‘café and run it, Gramps, with Holly’s help. I’d like to buy the ‘café building from the two of you, giving you a monthly payment, based on an agreement drawn up by Lyle Elison.”

  “I don’t want to sell it. I might feel better next week and want to go back to work.” Nolan felt sorry for his grandfather, knowing he was upset because of his failing health, not because Nolan wanted to “take away” the ‘café from him.

  “You’re delusional, Dan. Neither one of us can stand long enough to fix a meal at home anymore, let alone a restaurant full of customers.” Did it help or hinder that his grandmother was arguing his cause?

  “And I’m not sure if your ‘help’ should be working
in the dining room.”

  Nolan’s temper rose thinking of what his grandfather was insinuating about Holly.

  “Why?” If his grandfather said anything bad about Holly...he’d rethink reopening the ‘café, at least in his grandfather’s building.

  “If she’s busy baking, how is she going to wait on customers, too?”

  Nolan heard Holly—and his grandma—release their breaths, thinking Gramps was about to say something rude about Holly.

  His grandfather slapped his hand on the table, luckily not raising dust. “I’ll make a deal with you. Miss Brandt, you bake us biscuits, two kinds of pie, and two kinds of cake or another type of dessert you’d feed a crowd. Nolan, you need to make three days’ worth of meals for us to eat here, or at home, if the weather is bad. And it has to be different food, not just the same thing all the time. People get tired of the same menu.

  “If all the food is good, I’ll talk to Elison about writing up an agreement so you can buy the building. The rent from the apartment will help bring in income.”

  “I accept the challenge. Holly, are you up to it?” For the first time since Nolan’s grandparents arrived in the ‘café, Nolan noticed a twinkle in her eyes and a slight smile on her face.

  Was she thinking about Fred’s recipe book as he was? It was full of recipes different from what his grandfather had made.

  “Yes, I’d like for you to taste my baked goods,” Holly said with a sweet smile. Right now Nolan would like to share a sweet kiss with her to celebrate.

  He knew his grandfather would still be in the kitchen, at least for a while, when the weather permitted him to walk over here. When he knew “his” ‘café was open and thriving again, he’d be content to occasionally come over for the coffee hour instead of stewing that Nolan wasn’t doing things the right way.

  “Well, Holly and I will decide what to make, buy groceries, and plan to start your special meals tomorrow.”

  “Why not for noon today?” His grandfather asked, looking almost upset.

  “I’m going to let the stove grow cold and give it, the pipes, and the chimney, a good cleaning so we don’t burn the building down before I buy it.”