“Oh, you haven’t heard it all. He’ll pay off the loan if she’ll marry him! That’s …”
“Unethical.” Calvin squared his shoulders and sat straighter in the chair. “Maybe I should go have a talk with Harper.”
Liddy could stand no more. “No! I couldn’t ask you to do that, Mr. McAllister. He’d only get mad and might decide to foreclose now.”
“He can’t do that, Mrs. Evans. Not legally. Not if your payments are up-to-date.” His warm brown eyes met hers, and Liddy wondered why she had never noticed how good-looking he was.
She dismissed the thought with a shake of her head. “I can’t let you do that. It’s my problem. I thank you for your offer, though.”
“Have you thought of applying for a loan at another bank?”
“Mr. McAllister, I’m a widow, with a farm that’s too big for me to handle on my own. Who would give me credit?”
Cal leaned forward and propped his arms on the table. “Don’t give up hope, Mrs. Evans. I think it’s possible to get you out from under this stress. I’d like to help if I can.”
Liddy was speechless. Calvin McAllister didn’t know her. Why would he even want to try to help her? She watched as he unfolded his long legs and stood up. He dug in his pocket and pulled out some coins and laid them on the table.
“Mighty good lunch, Emma. And that was the best apple pie I believe I’ve ever tasted, Mrs. Evans. I’ll be in touch with you soon.” With that, he put his hat on and walked out the door.
Liddy looked across the table and watched a huge grin spread across Emma’s face. Her friend got up and came around to hug her. “Oh, Liddy. I know Cal will come up with something! I don’t know why I didn’t think to ask him to help you before now.”
“Emma, I can’t believe it. You’ve been talking to him about me? Before today?”
Emma hugged her once more before reaching for their cups. “I just worry about you, Liddy. I thought he might have an idea of what to do. He’s a good man. He’ll come up with something. I just know he will.”
Liddy couldn’t think of a reply as she watched Emma head for the kitchen. She felt dazed. It’d been a long day. She’d been up gathering eggs at dawn, after putting six pies in to bake. She’d tended her garden and picked only the best and freshest produce to bring in to Emma. After she’d delivered it all, she’d gone to the bank to ask Mr. Harper, one more time, to give her an extension on this month’s payment.
She sighed deeply. What good would an extension have been anyway? Another payment would still be due next month … and the month after that. There was no end to them. She wanted to keep the farm for the child she was carrying, but, at the moment, there just didn’t seem to be any way to do that. Unless she married Harper. A shiver slid down her spine at the very thought and she shook her head. There was no way she could or would agree to that.
Emma returned with fresh tea, and Liddy welcomed it without speaking. After several sips, she felt the anger at her friend drain away. She met Emma’s smile with one of her own and shook her head.
“What am I going to do with you, Emma? You shout my life story to anyone who’ll listen; make a man I barely know feel that he has to help me, then you sit here grinning like the cat who caught the canary!”
“I’m grinning because, for the first time, I feel that you may be able to keep that farm you love so much. And that Douglas Harper might be thwarted in his plans to have that farm—and you.”
Liddy hid her smile behind her teacup. Emma was the best friend she’d ever known, and as exasperating as she was right this minute, she wouldn’t know what to do without her. “I can assure you. Douglas Harper may well end up with my farm. But he will never end up with me.”
Emma chuckled. “That’s a relief. For it would only be over my dead body that I would let you make such a deal.”
“Thank you for wanting to help me, Emma. I really do appreciate it. But unless I can figure something out, I think I may have to take you up on your generous offer to stay with you until after the baby is born.”
As though on cue, the baby kicked within her. Liddy smiled and placed her hand over the movement.
“My offer still stands. You know that. But now that Cal is trying to figure something out, I don’t think it will come to that.”
“You seem to have gotten to know him well.” Was there something going on between Emma and Calvin? She’d thought that Emma was sweet on the new deputy in town, but …
“I think he just gets tired of his own cooking. And he brings the girls in a lot, too. He’s really good with his girls, Liddy, but I think they need a woman’s touch.”
“How old are they now? I see them in church, but it’s hard to tell.”
“Grace is six, and Amy is nine, I believe. They’re very sweet, but I think he could use some help with them.”
Liddy arched her back, trying to ease the ache she frequently felt. “I’m sure it’s not easy to raise children by one’s self. I know the thought scares me at times.”
Emma reached out and patted her hand. “You’re going to do just fine. Any child of yours will be very lucky, indeed.”
“I’m the lucky one. I have a part of Matthew left with me. I’ll have someone to care for and love. I just wish that Matthew could have known a little one was on the way.” Although she had suspected that she was in the “motherly way,” she hadn’t voiced her thoughts to Matthew. Her suspicions were confirmed only a few weeks after he died.
“I’m sure he does, Liddy,” Emma tried to reassure her.
Liddy nodded. “Yes, I’m sure, too.” She didn’t need to sit here turning maudlin. She had work to do at home. “I’d better be on my way. You’ve got your supper crowd to get ready for. I’ll get those pies and cakes to you first thing tomorrow.” She eased to her feet and retied her bonnet.
She’d left her buckboard tethered around back, so Emma walked Liddy through the kitchen. The fragrant aroma of simmering stew greeted her as she entered the swinging door. Old Ben, who helped in the kitchen, looked up from his work. “How do, Mrs. Evans. Those sure were some pretty pies you brought today. They’ll be gone in no time.”
“Thank you Ben. I’m glad they sell well.”
Emma called out after Liddy as she clambered up into the wagon. “You be careful, you hear? I think I might have to start sending Ben out after your deliveries soon. You could hurt yourself climbing in and out of that wagon.”
“I’m fine, Mother, I promise.” Liddy grinned at her friend. “I’ll let you know when it gets to be too much for me.”
“You’d better.”
Liddy waved good-bye, and with the flick of the reins, the horse started for home. She told herself she was being silly. There was nothing Calvin McAllister could do. But, hard as she tried, she couldn’t stop herself from feeling a small glimmer of hope. Maybe, just maybe, he could find a way to help.
Chapter 2
Calvin finished loading into the back of his wagon the last of his purchases from the Jaffa-Prager Company, Roswell’s large general store. The girls would be out of school soon and he would need to pick them up. He wondered if Mrs. Evans was still at the café. He still had time to tell her what his banker had said. She might, just possibly, get out from under that swine, Harper. Too bad her husband hadn’t known what kind of man he was dealing with when he bought the farm.
Cal had checked out both banks in town before he’d settled on one. Douglas Harper at Harper Bank had rubbed him the wrong way the very first time they met. The men at the Bank of Roswell had always been fair in their dealings. They were good Christian men. But Douglas Harper was another breed altogether. That man made his skin crawl.
He turned to cross the street just as Liddy Evans pulled her buckboard onto Main Street and headed out of town. For a moment, Cal debated about going after her, but his news would wait, and she’d looked awful tired at Emma’s. There was something fragile about her. Maybe it was because she was expecting a baby and, he knew all too well, that condition cou
ld be more delicate than he’d once realized. Maybe it was that she was a widow and had no man to handle things for her.
He didn’t know the reason for sure, but he did know this: Douglas Harper adding extra worry in her life right now bothered him. Bothered him a lot. Her farm wasn’t far from his and he knew the land was good and fertile. What would Harper do with the property if he foreclosed? A lot of people had been looking for land in these parts lately. Maybe he just wanted to jack the price up and get richer. Or maybe he wanted it for himself. The place wasn’t far out of town.
Cal pulled out his watch and looked at it. He would like to talk things over with Emma at the café, but it was nearly time for the girls to get out of school. He untied his horse, climbed up onto the wagon seat, and headed for the schoolhouse, but his thoughts remained on Liddy Evans’s problem.
Liddy sat by the fire brushing the shine back into her light auburn hair and thinking back over her long day. She loved working in her garden, baking for Emma’s café, and taking care of her home. But she could do without the heavy laundry she took in.
She leaned back in the rocker and looked around her home. She would hate to lose this place. Matthew had worked so hard to build it, and their life had been here in these rooms. The parlor and kitchen spread across the front with two bedrooms behind. The house wasn’t large, but there was room to grow.
Liddy had enjoyed adding her own touches. She’d worked as fast as she could on her mother’s old sewing machine to make curtains for the windows. The quilts on the bed came from her childhood home. Matthew had always taken pride in the fact that she was a good housekeeper and an even better cook.
She went to take the steaming teakettle off the fire to brew a cup of tea. She missed pouring Matthew that last cup of coffee in the evenings. They used to sit by the fire, and he would tell about his day and all the plans he had for this place.
Liddy crossed the room and eased into the rocker with her tea. She leaned her head back and sighed deeply. She missed her husband, still. She missed the companionship, the closeness of married life. The baby stirred and kicked as if to let her know that she wasn’t alone. Liddy smiled and patted the spot where he’d moved.
She was sure she would always miss Matthew, but she thanked the Lord that she’d been left with his child. She would have someone to love and care for. It wouldn’t be long now. Just a few more months and she’d know if she had a little boy or a girl. It didn’t matter to her which, but she’d always thought of the baby as a boy. She knew she’d be happy with either and just prayed that he or she would be healthy.
Liddy took a sip of tea and put the rocker in motion. She’d provide the best she could for this child, farm or no farm. But, oh, how she wanted to be able to keep it, to let this child know how hard his father had worked to build the place up. To be able to leave the farm as an inheritance to that child one day. But that might not happen. The possibility looked less and less likely with each passing day.
Liddy admitted to a hope that Calvin McAllister could come up with a plan to help her keep the farm, but she didn’t have a clue as to what that could be. Still, he was nice to even offer.
She wondered again if he and Emma were sweet on each other and wished she’d asked her friend. She’d always thought of Cal as a loner, but he and Emma certainly seemed to know each other well. She wondered how hard it was for him to be raising two daughters without a wife, and her heart filled with compassion for them.
His girls were pretty little things and were always clean and neat when they were in church. They obeyed their father and were well-behaved during service. She wondered if they took after their mother or Cal. They had his dark hair, but both had blue eyes and fair skin. Cal’s complexion was darker, probably from working outside so much.
He was a very good-looking man, Liddy had to admit. He was tall and muscular, with such warm brown eyes. And he did seem a decent man. For a moment, she felt a little envious of her friend. Then she quickly chastised herself. Emma deserved happiness. She should be happy for her.
Liddy shook her thoughts away. Well, she was sure there was no way Calvin McAllister could help. Douglas Harper wasn’t going to give her an extension on paying the rest of this month’s payment. He’d told her that he’d been too lenient as it was by letting her pay by the month. And there was no way to be sure about the crop this year.
The alfalfa was there. Matthew had planted it two years ago, and they’d had a really good harvest last year. It was growing nicely now, and the future of a good crop looked bright. But there was no money left to meet the payments on the loan Matthew had taken out for farm equipment and improvements. And when it was time to harvest, what then? Liddy couldn’t do it herself, and there wasn’t enough money left to hire help.
Well, she couldn’t hire anyone, and that was all there was to it. And she was doing all she could to bring in money now. She simply didn’t have enough energy or hours left in a day to do more.
The clock chimed the hour, and Liddy realized that if she was going to get up early and get the wash on the line and her baking done before the kitchen heated up, she’d better get to bed. She banked the fire and picked up the lamp. After making sure everything was locked up tight, she went to her room.
She turned down her bed, slipped under the covers, and reached for her worn Bible. God’s Word brought her comfort as nothing else could. After reading several psalms, she blew out the light and said her nightly prayers. She closed her eyes, knowing that her life was in His hands, and no matter what happened with the farm, He would see her through.
The next day dawned bright and sunny. Cal hadn’t slept well at all. He’d spent the better part of the night trying to figure a way to help Liddy Evans. After the restless night, he had to admit to himself that his offer to help was more than just trying to be a good neighbor.
He was attracted to her. Yet, considering her condition, he knew this fact was not something she would want to know. But he wanted to get to know her better and to find some way to help her keep her farm. He kept thinking about Mary and what if it’d been his wife who was trying to keep his place together for the girls. To think that a man like Harper would try to take advantage of a situation like that infuriated him.
Cal listened to the girls prattle as he took them to school. They were good girls, but they needed a woman’s touch. Little Grace could barely remember her mother, and Amy was getting to an age where she needed a woman to teach her all kinds of things. She’d shown an interest in learning how to cook, but he was doing all he could do to get any kind of a meal on the table. And, the way he figured it, his cooking shouldn’t be taught anyway. It simply wasn’t that good.
The girls never complained, though. He grinned to himself. But they sure were happy when he fed them at Emma’s place. He felt they needed better meals than he prepared, so he made sure they stopped at Emma’s several times a week.
He’d tried to hire someone to come in and cook for him and the girls, but none of the ladies in town wanted to make the drive out to his ranch. Besides, the married ones had more than enough to do just taking care of their own families. There just wasn’t a wealth of women in Roswell to begin with. Most of those that weren’t married either had their own businesses, like Emma, or they simply weren’t the kind of women he’d want his girls around. So, he plugged onward.
When he passed Liddy’s place, the idea hit. A good idea. One that would help her out and certainly help him, too. Why hadn’t he thought of it before? Cal flicked the reins and hurried the team along. He would drop the girls off and head for Emma’s. He’d burnt most of the bacon this morning and given the best pieces to the girls. He could use some breakfast, and if need be, he’d wait out the rush hour so he could run his idea by Emma. But he knew already what she’d say. This idea was a good one. He just knew it was.
Liddy pulled up to the back of Emma’s Café. Three cakes and three more apple pies sat covered with cloth on the floor of the wagon. Ben rushed out to help her carry
them in.
“Just in time, Mrs. Evans. A few minutes ago, Miss Emma served the last piece of pie we had in the kitchen. She told me to ask if you would have time for coffee this morning.”
Liddy set the last pie on the worktable in the kitchen and smiled at the old man. “I’ll make time, Ben. She’s out front?”
“Yes, ma’am, she sure is.”
Liddy headed through the swinging door into the dining room. She knew Emma always had a crowd for breakfast, but by this time of day, the café would be clearing out, and only those who had time to savor a second cup of coffee would be left.
Emma looked up from the cash box and grinned at her. “I’m so glad you are here. Cal’s been waiting for you.”
Surprised, Liddy looked around the room and found him at a table by the front window, looking into his coffee cup as if he were a million miles away.
“Cal? You mean, Mr. McAllister?” She wasn’t thrilled when her heartbeat sped up.
Emma grabbed her by the hand and practically dragged her across the room. “One and the same. He wants to talk to you.”
Was it possible? Had he come up with an idea? Liddy was afraid to hope, but that was exactly what she did as Cal looked up at her and immediately got to his feet.
“Mrs. Evans. I was hoping to have a chance to talk to you. Would you join me for breakfast or a cup of coffee?”
Emma gave her a little shove and she found herself sitting in the chair across from Calvin McAllister. “I … ah … I’ll take a cup of tea, thank you.”
Emma immediately scurried away and was back in a flash with a clean cup and a fresh pot of tea. She filled Liddy’s cup and then said, “If you’ll both excuse me, I have things to do in the back.”
Some friend, Liddy thought, as Emma disappeared into the kitchen. She spills my life history to the man and then won’t stick around to see what he has to say.
Love Is Patient Romance Collection Page 45