The Blushing Bride

by Judith Stacy

  She understood. The cookhouse was the busiest place in the camp, busier than the sawmill or logging operation. As fast as one meal was served and cleared, another got under way.

  “We’re breaking ground on the dormitory this morning,” Jason said. “Looks like we’ll have sunshine all day.”

  Amanda glanced out the door at the gray dawn receding into the trees. The rain had stopped during the night. The ground was soft, but wouldn’t be that way for long.

  Amanda smiled. “Looks like things are moving right along.”

  “Looks that way,” Jason said.

  They stared at each other for a long minute, neither anxious to move on or say anything. Looking was enough. For now.

  Finally, Jason broke eye contact. “I’d better get to work.”

  “So had I,” she said and gave herself a little shake.

  He smiled, and she smiled back at him.

  “Well, I’m going now,” he said.

  “Yes, me too.”

  “Let me know if you need anything,” Jason said.

  “I will.”

  He headed toward the door.

  “Jason?”

  Stopping quickly, he turned back. “Yes?”

  Amanda walked nearer but stopped before she got too close. “A couple of times you’ve asked me a question. I’ve been deliberately evasive. I wondered—if you’re still interested—if you’d have some time to talk later this evening?”

  He nodded thoughtfully. “Sure.”

  “Good. After supper?”

  He smiled. “Sounds fine.”

  As he left the cookhouse, Amanda couldn’t help but follow him with her eyes. He stopped at the door and looked back. She saw the tiniest smile on his lips before he disappeared outside. A little piece of her went with him. A little piece of him stayed with her.

  “Ladies? Could I have your attention, please?”

  Amanda lowered herself onto one of the three benches surrounding the two tables in the cookhouse that had been pushed together for her manners classes. Seated around her was the total population of women on the mountain, all six of them.

  Meg McGee was there, of course, and Amanda was glad to have her. Of all the women on the mountain, Meg was the one she could count on the most. Amanda had explained the reason for this meeting to Meg, who’d agreed that it was necessary.

  Becky sat at the table beside her aunt, Polly Minton, who ran the laundry on the mountain. Gladys Duncan sat next to Polly, the two of them good friends since their recipe dispute had been settled by Amanda the night she’d arrived in the lumber camp.

  The other two ladies Amanda hadn’t met before. Idelle Turner’s husband worked in the sawmill. She served as schoolteacher for the few children who lived there. Frances Conroy’s husband ran the barber shop in town.

  “Would anyone care for more coffee?” Amanda asked, holding up the tin pot.

  The blue, speckled table service wasn’t exactly what Amanda had wanted for her meeting today, but since there wasn’t a single teapot to be found on the entire mountain she’d had to make do. The cake Meg had baked had gone over well, as had the selection of candies she’d bought in Beaumont.

  “So, what’s the point of this here get-together?” Frances Conroy asked, holding out her cup for more coffee.

  Amanda poured and set the pot aside. “All you women here have a very important role in the arrival of the brides. I wanted to consult with you before things proceed any further.”

  “Yeah?” Polly Minton asked. “Like what?”

  “A number of things,” Amanda said. “First, there will be a number of financial opportunities coming available. I want you ladies to have first chance at them.”

  Gladys Duncan angled her wide shoulders closer to the table. “What did you have in mind?”

  “Polly’s general store, for example,” Amanda said.

  “Shoot, it’s not much of a store,” Polly said.

  Amanda couldn’t disagree. Polly ran the laundry out of half her building and used the other half for a small general store that offered a few essentials the lumberjacks needed.

  “I expect that to change when the brides arrive,” Amanda said. “The women will need things, for themselves, for the homes they’ll be making. The trip down the mountain to Beaumont is long and hard. I think a fully-stocked store right here beside the lumber camp would do well.”

  Becky perked up. “Heck, yeah. That’s a great idea.”

  “Naw, I don’t know,” Polly said. “Truth is, I don’t make much of nothing off those dry goods I sell.”

  “But all of that would change when the brides arrive,” Amanda said.

  “Can you guarantee that?” Polly asked.

  “Well, no,” Amanda admitted. “I can’t guarantee anything. But I see it as a strong possibility.”

  “Sure,” Becky said. “Those new brides will be shopping to beat the band.”

  “To tell you the truth, I don’t much like selling stuff, putting out my hard-earned money, then watching it sit around on a shelf hoping somebody will take a notion to buy it,” Polly said. She shook her head. “Besides, I haven’t got the kind of money it takes to buy that much stock.”

  Amanda looked around the table. “What about you other ladies? Would any of you care to take on that business?”

  They glanced at each other, then shook their heads.

  “I’m just like Polly,” Idelle said. “I haven’t got enough money to start up a store.”

  A murmur went around the table and Amanda realized that was the general consensus of the women.

  “All right,” Amanda said. “That’s understandable. I just hope each of you will keep your mind open for the business opportunities that come along.”

  The women nodded and Amanda moved on.

  “I’m planning a get-acquainted social when the brides arrive,” Amanda said.

  “You mean like a dance?” Becky asked.

  “Yes,” Amanda said. “I’d like to get your suggestions on what we should do.”

  While the women hadn’t shown much interest in expanding or starting businesses on the mountain, they had lots of ideas for the social. Amanda made notes, committees were formed, food and decorations decided on.

  “My husband picks banjo, a little,” Idelle said. “He and some of the other boys get together every once in a while. They got a guitar, fiddle and harmonica. I bet they’d play, seeing as how it’s a special occasion.”

  “Sounds wonderful,” Amanda said, making a note on the tablet in front of her. “If you ladies think of anything else we should do, please let me know.”

  Frances sipped the last of her coffee. “Did you ever figure out who it was that sent you that letter in the first place? The one claiming to be Mr. Kruger looking for a wife?”

  Amanda had been so busy she hadn’t thought any more about the forged letter that had brought her to the mountain.

  “Whoever sent it,” Meg said, “I’m glad they did. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be getting any more women up here.”

  “Amen to that,” Gladys said.

  The ladies got up from the table and headed for the door. Amanda gathered up the dishes. Meg stayed behind to help.

  “I think you could run a store,” Amanda said. “In fact, I think you should do it.”

  Meg looked up. “Me?”

  “Yes, you,” Amanda said. “You told me you and your husband ran several businesses. You certainly have the experience.”

  “But I don’t have the money to get started.”

  Amanda thought for a moment. “What you need is a partner. Someone who could put up the money for the inventory. You could run the store. Then, you two could split the profits.”

  Meg shook her head. “I don’t know where I’d find someone willing to do that.”

  “But you’d do it if you had a partner?” Amanda asked.

  “Of course,” Meg said. “I have Todd to provide for. I barely scrape by now. Having a business with a steady income would be the answer to
my prayers.”

  “I might have a partner in mind for you,” Amanda said.

  “You?” Meg asked hopefully.

  Amanda shrugged. “You never know what could happen.”

  Meg lifted the tray of dirty cups and plates and headed for the kitchen. “I’ll get started on the curtains this afternoon.”

  Amanda had hired Meg to sew the curtains for the brides’ dormitory. She could have done the work herself, but knew Meg needed the money. It was a good way to help out her friend.

  “Good,” Amanda called, just before Meg disappeared into the kitchen. “Jason says the dormitory will be ready pretty quickly.”

  Standing alone in the cookhouse, Amanda felt a warmth creep through her. She turned and saw Jason striding through the door. He smiled and she realized how glad she was to see him.

  “How did your meeting go?” he asked, stopping in front of her.

  “Very well. The ladies are all excited about the arrival of the brides. The social should be quite an affair.”

  “The biggest this mountain has ever seen,” Jason said and grinned.

  Amanda smiled back because they both knew there’d never been a social on Jason’s mountain before.

  “I got a crew started on the dormitory,” Jason said.

  “I guess you really are agreeable with having women on your mountain.”

  His gaze deepened. “Some more than others.”

  Amanda blushed.

  “Want to come take a look?” Jason asked, and nodded toward the door.

  Shady ambled into the cookhouse and stopped just inside the doorway. His eyes narrowed.

  “You’d best get down to your office,” he said.

  A feeling of dread tingled down Amanda’s spine. She glanced up at Jason and saw him tense.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Somebody just rode up from Beaumont looking for you. You and Ethan both.”

  “Who is it?” Jason asked.

  “Didn’t get the name.” Shady hitched up his trousers. “But he claims he’s your brother.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Amanda would have known the boy standing on the porch of Jason’s office was his brother, even if no one had told her.

  She couldn’t have guessed it, however, by Jason’s reaction to him.

  The young man was around thirteen, Amanda guessed, with the same dark hair and green eyes that Jason and Ethan both had. He was small and skinny. His facial features were soft but would grow into the same hard lines as his brothers.

  And like Jason, he didn’t look all that pleased to see his brother.

  Amanda shared an uncomfortable glance with Shady, who’d come down from the cookhouse with them. Shady flipped a coin to the driver who’d brought the boy up from Beaumont and sent him on his way.

  The brothers hadn’t rushed together for an embrace, not even a handshake. The boy stood at one end of the porch surrounded by a valise and several boxes held together with twine. Jason stood at the other. They eyed each other warily.

  Jason glared at him. “Which one are you?”

  “Brandon,” he replied. “Which one are you?”

  “Jason.”

  “The oldest. Right?”

  “And you’re the baby.”

  “The youngest,” Brandon corrected him, and bristled slightly. He pulled an envelope from his coat pocket. “This is for you. From Mama.”

  Brandon crossed to the center of the porch, exactly halfway to Jason, and stopped. He held out the envelope. Jason strode forward with one big step, snatched it from his hand and ripped it open.

  “Hey there, little brother.”

  Ethan’s voice carried to them as he hiked down from the sawmill. He leapt up the porch steps and threw his arms around the boy, then stepped back and held him at arm’s length.

  “You’re not Brandon, are you?” Ethan asked, smiling.

  “Yeah,” he replied, and looked uncomfortable with the brotherly embrace.

  “Damn, boy, when did you do all that growing?” Ethan hugged him again. “When did I last see you?”

  Brandon shrugged as if he didn’t know and didn’t care. Ethan patted his shoulder. “What brings you here?”

  “She sent him.” Jason slapped the letter against his palm and spoke the worse curse words Amanda had ever heard. Even Shady cringed.

  “Ma sent him?” Ethan asked.

  “She’s gone to England with Pa.” Jason cursed again and looked at Brandon. “How come she dumped you here? Has she already sent you to every other relative we have?”

  “Look,” Brandon said, “all I want to know is if I’m staying or going.”

  “Staying, of course,” Ethan said before Jason had a chance to speak. He picked up the valise. “Come on. Let’s get you settled.”

  “You handle it,” Jason barked. “I’ve got work to do.”

  He spun around and stalked away.

  Stunned, Amanda stood there for a moment watching him go, his anger showing in his strides. She turned back to Brandon. If he was hurt, he didn’t show it. But neither was he happy to be here, even though Ethan was going to great lengths to balance out Jason’s reaction to him, to make him feel welcome.

  Amanda went after Jason. She called his name twice and was sure he heard her, but he didn’t stop. She hiked up her skirt and ran, and finally at the bottom of the skid road that led up the mountain he whirled around.

  “What?” he barked.

  Amanda fell back a step, unprepared for the venom in his tone or the raw anger on his face. She didn’t know what to say, what she expected to do when she went after him. Except that he was hurting and she wanted to help him.

  “I know you’re upset—”

  “Upset? You’re damn right I’m upset!” Jason pointed down the hill to the office. “Is this what I have to look forward to having women on my mountain? Kids showing up? Kids getting dumped off? Families falling apart? Mothers who care more about the almighty dollar than their own children?”

  Amanda faced his anger calmly. “I know you resent your mother for the way she raised you, but that’s no reason to think that sort of thing will happen when the brides arrive.”

  “And why the hell not?” Jason cursed bitterly. “I’m supposed to look forward to seeing my men turn into sniveling cowards who knuckle under to their wives’ wishes? Watch them become sissies afraid to speak their minds?”

  “I know you blame your father for not standing up to your mother,” Amanda said, “but there’s no need to take it out on your brother.”

  “What the hell am I supposed to do with him? He ought to be in school. He ought to have his parents looking after him. How the hell am I supposed to know how to take care of him?”

  “If you’ll just give it a little time—”

  “Time?” Jason demanded. “That’s just what I want. Time. Time to look at that kid every day and be reminded of how I got passed around from one relative to the next. How nobody wanted me. How they couldn’t wait until I left.”

  “Then perhaps a little compassion would smooth things between you two,” Amanda said softly.

  “I run a lumber camp—not an orphanage. I’ve got a business to build, a railroad contract to fill, and—thanks to you—brides to get ready for.”

  The words hit Amanda as if she’d been slapped. “Are you sorry now that you agreed to having the brides here?”

  “Damn right I am!”

  “Then you’re sorry that I’m here, too?”

  “Why the hell shouldn’t I be?”

  She’d come after Jason to help him, soothe things for him because she could see how hurt he was. She’d been prepared for his anger. But she hadn’t expected this.

  “You’re sorry I’m here?” she asked again softly.

  “Everything was going just fine before you got here!” Jason swung his arm encompassing the entire camp. “And now look at what’s happening!”

  Amanda braced herself, warding off the hurt she felt. “You don’t mean that
,” she said softly.

  “Hell if I don’t.”

  Jason stalked up the mountain and didn’t look back.

  The house shared by the Kruger brothers was the largest on the mountain, built with slightly more care than some of the other buildings there. Amanda climbed the steps to the porch wondering what she’d find inside, wondering why she didn’t have better sense than to go there.

  The front door stood open so she knocked on the frame and glanced inside. She could see that the house wasn’t one big room, as the others on the mountain. It had a parlor and kitchen, and a hallway that led to bedrooms.

  “Ethan?” Amanda called.

  She heard muffled voices from down the hallway but got no response. Amanda knocked and called his name once more.

  She’d left Jason hiking up the skid road a short time ago. A few minutes had passed while she watched him, while she tried to rein in her own feelings. Understandably, he was angry. She accepted that and couldn’t blame him. But still, she was torn between understanding and dealing with the hurt he’d inflicted on her.

  He’d said he was sorry she’d come to his mountain. He’d said it and meant it. Amanda had no doubt about that. Her throat tightened. She gulped to keep tears from springing to her eyes.

  At that moment she’d never felt more alone in her life—and she’d felt alone more than once—standing at the foot of the skid road watching Jason walk away, and knowing how he felt about her. He’d spoken the words in anger, but he’d meant them.

  Amanda gave herself a little shake and rapped harder on the door frame. “Ethan?”

  His head poked out of one of the rooms down the hall. He smiled when he saw her and walked to meet her.

  “I’m getting Brandon settled,” Ethan said, and nodded back down the hallway.

  Amanda glanced out the door, up the mountain. “I’m worried about Jason. I think you should talk to him.”

  Ethan peered out the door, then turned back to Amanda. “Nope. No sense trying to talk to him when he gets like this.”

  “He’s very upset about your parents leaving Brandon here.”

  “I know,” Ethan said. “But it’s best to leave him alone.”

  Maybe she should have done just that, Amanda thought. Maybe she shouldn’t have gone after him. Maybe she’d made a mistake.