by Tia Siren
“That will be five cents,” He said, setting the paper she’d given him to the side. She dug out five pennies from her bag and gave them to him.
“When will the letter be sent?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Do you know when it will arrive in Arizona?”
“Should be near the end of next week, I’d say. If you want it there sooner, you have to send a telegraph.”
“No. I will wait.”
“As you wish.” He turned away as if he was dismissing her.
She didn’t say anything and turned back to the front door.
As she walked home, she thought about Mark. What a coincidence. He starts talking to her the day she decides to leave and travel all the way across the country, probably never to return.
Though if he was wealthy, perhaps he would be kind enough to send her home for the holidays. Or maybe he would want to come along, too. Maybe he would be a kind and generous man who would take care of her the rest of her days?
Or maybe he was looking for a new housekeeper or a workhorse.
She shook her head and laughed softly under her breath. A wealthy man wasn’t going to need a wife to be a workhorse. He could pay anyone he wanted to do work for him. She debated whether she wanted to tell her family. Should she warn them that she was leaving? Surely, she couldn’t just disappear. She had to tell them. She had to tell them tonight.
She helped her mother prepare dinner and even set the table for the family. While she set the plates down, she noticed her mother watching her. She stopped and looked at her. “What is it, mother?”
“You are very helpful tonight. Is everything okay?”
Caroline smiled. “Yes, of course.” She shook her head and went about what she was doing.
When the family was all seated and they gave thanks for the food, her mother stood to fill the plates.
Caroline debated when she should tell them – before or after they ate. They seemed comfortable, free from the problem that was haunting them. She waited for the right time.
The time came when David spoke up, revealing what they were all thinking. “Dad, have you thought anything more about our financial problem?”
The family fell quiet. Dottie moaned a little and lowered her head, sitting back in her chair.
“I think I have a solution.” Caroline spoke up. They all looked at her. Dottie’s eyes were wide. She looked at them all and tried to smile. “I have answered an ad for a bride to go to the West. There is a wealthy man there who placed the ad I responded to.”
She recognized shock on their faces. Her announcement had rendered them speechless.
“I know it’s a surprise. I didn’t even think of such a thing until I saw the ad in the paper today. I…think it’s the only thing we can do at this point.”
“But…we’ll never see you again,” Dottie said, her voice weak. Caroline could see she was about to burst into fresh tears.
She got up and went to her sister, who stood up to meet her. She wrapped her arms around Dottie and held her close.
“Of course you will,” She said. “He has a lot of money. I’ll come back often. And if I am able, I will ask him to help our restaurant.”
The rest of her family got up and surrounded her.
“It’s going to be all right,” She said, softly, feeling surrounded by their love. “You will see.”
Chapter Three
Caroline read the letter from the man, George O’Doyle, as she rode on the train. He sounded very businesslike. She wondered if he had a kind heart. She wondered if he was interested in what was best for the bride he had sent for or if he was just trying out something new.
Marriage was serious business. She felt it was, anyway. It was a bond between a man, woman, and God. She wondered if he felt that way, too. She hoped so. There was no mention of his religious beliefs in the letter. He described his house, which was apparently massive and mentioned that he owned a casino and several restaurants in the state. He traveled a lot, to keep track of his businesses. The post was not fast enough, he remarked. Plus, he wanted to see how the businesses were being run with his own eyes. He wanted to know all of his employees and make sure they were being rewarded for hard work.
Her eyes stuck on the word “restaurants”. She was impressed that he took the time to comment that he wanted to know his employees were taken care of. That was how her father had always run his business. He gave incentives to his employees so that they would stay and work hard for him. In her initial letter, she had said that she worked in a restaurant and as a secretary without saying that it was her father’s restaurant. That might have given him more of a reason to choose her. It had apparently worked.
She did tell him her family owned a business and that she was looking to start a new life. She wasn’t sure what else to say. She glanced to the side and looked at the newspaper sitting beside her on the bench. More headlines about the president. His first month in office had been a success so far. He was liked.
She looked back at the letter, scanning his handwriting. It was elegant and legible. She had no trouble reading it. That had to be from all the business he wrote. She lowered the letter to her lap and looked out the window at the passing scenery. It would be a while before she got there. She decided a nap would be best so that she wouldn’t be too tired when she got there. The motion of the train would help her sleep, she was sure.
A few hours later, she woke with a start, opening her eyes wide awake. She pushed herself up from the cushion she had put under her head and looked out the window. It certainly didn’t look like Virginia.
“Do you know where we are?” She asked one of the other passengers in a soft voice. He looked up from his book.
“I believe we are in Arizona. Where are you going?”
“Flagstaff.”
“That should be the next stop. Good thing you woke up.”
She nodded. “Yes, that’s true.”
She waited patiently, just gazing out the window. When the attendant came to announce the next stop, she began to gather her things. She patted her hair down and put her bonnet on. She started to pull on her coat when the young man who had spoken to her said, “You won’t need a coat. It’s not cold out here. You have never been here in Arizona before?”
She shook her head. “No, I haven’t.”
“Well, it’s plenty warm here. You won’t want to wear too much. You may overheat and that would be bad for your health.”
She nodded this time. “All right. Thank you for the advice.”
He nodded back. “Anytime, young lady. Enjoy your stay in Arizona.”
“Thank you very much.”
She stood up when the train stopped.
The platform was quite empty. She was one of a handful of people who stepped off the train. She immediately spotted George O’Doyle. He was an outstanding man, his red hair, and stout figure a sight among the rest. He was dressed in clothes that looked new and held himself up straight. He held his hat in his hand and when she looked at him, he didn’t look away.
She smiled and he smiled back, taking steps toward her. She picked up her bag and went toward him.
“You are Caroline?”
She nodded. She liked his voice. It was friendly. She was glad of that.
“And you are George.”
His smile widened and she could see straight teeth in his mouth. She wondered what he did to keep them so clean. She hoped he would let her in on his trick because her parents’ methods had never made her teeth as clean as she wanted them.
He put out his hand and she shook it, politely. Then she curtsied to him and he laughed.
“Well now that the formalities are done, shall we go? Are you hungry? We can stop for food if you are.”
“I am definitely hungry,” She said. “I would love something good to eat.”
“We’ll go to my restaurant in town. You can have anything on the menu and as much of it as you want.”
Her stomach grumbled appreciatively
and she looked up at him as they walked.
“I think my stomach just thanked you.”
He laughed. “You’re welcome, Caroline’s stomach.”
She laughed with him and felt more comfortable than she had expected. He was several inches taller than her, with a broad chest and his jeans fit him well. She pressed her lips together.
“I got this for you,” He said, holding out a small folded fabric fan to her. She spread it out to look at the picture painted on it. It was a field of yellow with a great many colorful butterflies flittering around.
“This is beautiful, George! Thank you so much!”
He looked pleased that she liked it and nodded. “You’re welcome. I want to make you feel as much at home here as possible. You’re going to need this because it’s going to be a while before you need a coat or jacket. It can get a little chilly here in the evenings and at night, but you won’t typically need a coat like you would in Virginia.”
She noticed almost immediately that everyone in town showed George a lot of respect. They deferred to him in the street and greeted him in friendly voices. His response was always, “How are ya?” in a loud voice without waiting for an answer as he went on.
As they drove through the town in a lovely carriage that didn’t look like any of the others, she looked around her, taking in the incredible difference she saw from her hometown. The first thing she noticed what that it was very dusty. Very dusty. There weren’t very many women here and none that she saw were dressed like her.
Then again, she was a stranger here. She assumed she would quickly assimilate, wearing the same light dresses she saw all around her. There were more stores and shops here than she expected. She saw a saddle shop and a blacksmith and several other places that were hard to find in Virginia. The main road was crushed rocks mixed in with the dirt. There were side streets off of the main road that seemed to stretch on for miles, heading off into the distant mountains. Small cottages and shacks lined the roads with plenty of land in between them.
The carriage rocked back and forth as they rode. She was jostled a little and grabbed the window of the door.
“You all right?”
“Yes, I am. Thank you.”
“We are almost there. You’ll find that it doesn’t take long at all to get around in a carriage.”
“It’s certainly much smaller than my hometown.”
“Were there a lot of people there?”
“Oh yes.” She nodded, looking back out at the passing shops. She saw a sign on the one they were approaching that hung out so that passersby could see what it said.
O’Doyle’s Restaurant.
She didn’t think that was very creative. She pressed her lips together to keep from smiling.
“All right, here we are.” He got out when the carriage came to a stop and held his hand out to her. She took it and stepped down. She looked back up at the sign above her head. It also said, “best food in Flagstaff” under the name.
If it wasn’t the best food, it certainly had an atmosphere that made up for it. The inside was lit up with gas lamps. The tables in the middle of the room were round and had soft cushioned chairs to sit in. They looked to be made of deep mahogany wood. The sides of the restaurant were lined with shiny wooden tables with chairs for four people on either side. They were also cushioned.
There was a bar at the end of the room, with a bartender behind it. He looked up when they came in and lifted one hand. “Hello, George!” He called out.
The two of them walked to the bar.
“Hello, Sam. It’s good to see you today. How have you been?”
“Doing well, sir. We’ve been doing good business, too, no problems there.”
“That’s good to hear, Sam, good to hear.” George nodded. “I’d like to introduce Caroline. She has come all the way from Virginia to be a companion for me.”
Sam turned impressed eyes to Caroline and she could see that he approved. The corners of her lips raised in a soft smile.
“Hello there, Caroline. It’s good to meet you. I hope you enjoy it here in Arizona. Virginia is nothing like this.”
“So I have noticed.” She nodded. “But I like it so far.”
“Good to hear!”
She could see George smiling in her peripheral vision. It gave her a good feeling in her chest.
“I think you’ll like ol’ Red here, too,” Sam said with a smirk, looking at his boss. “He’s one of a kind that’s for sure!”
“Hey now. That doesn’t sound too good. What are you trying to do, scare her off?” George laughed.
“He can’t scare me off,” Caroline said, giving George a bigger smile than she had Sam. He noticed her eyes sparkled when he smiled at her. It gave him a pleasant warm feeling. He reached out instinctively and put his hand on her back. She felt it there and was embarrassed to realize her cheeks were flushing. Just his fingers and hands felt strong to her and it made her heart flutter slightly.
It was a wonderful feeling. She wished he would never take his hand away.
“Yep, she’s here to stay,” George announced. “Send us the best serving girl so I can get her the best food that she wants and make sure the best cooks are making it, would you?”
“Oh, I’ll be sure to tell them you are here with a very special guest, boss. You got it.”
“Thanks.” George nodded and turned to steer Caroline in the direction of a table in the middle of the room. “This is where I always sit,” He said as he pulled her chair out for her. “I like to look around and make sure I see that things are going well.”
She sat down, saying, “Yes, I read in your letter that you are very conscientious about your business. I’m glad of that, I must say.” She spread her napkin on her lap and looked back up at him. “In my work as a secretary, I was always told I had a head for business, but you know…women aren’t in the position to do business like you men.”
He shook his head sitting in a chair that was closer to her than across the table. “That’s nonsense, in my opinion. Women are just as capable of running a business.”
“I do like that opinion.”
He hesitated for a moment, gazing at her. His stare didn’t make her feel uncomfortable. Instead, she felt exhilarated.
“You said that your parents own a restaurant in Virginia?”
She suddenly felt nervous. She had forgotten about her pledge to ask him for money to help their restaurant and save it. “Uh, yes, they do.”
“Is it successful?”
“It’s been successful for many years,” She responded.
“In that case, perhaps you can help me run one of my restaurants and take some of my burden off of me.”
“I can do that.” She nodded with a smile. “I certainly can do that.”
Chapter Four
She picked up the plates from the table, resting the eating utensils and resting them on top. She carried them to the back, passing through the door quietly.
It had been three weeks since her arrival in Arizona and as she suspected, she had assimilated well. She was used to the drastic difference in weather and had made several friends in the Flagstaff restaurant.
George had taken her to the other restaurants he owned and gave her a tour of his casino. He was told her he had gained his wealth by gambling in the first place. He was excellent at it. She had watched him in action and was very impressed.
He only gambled for fun now, because all the money he used at the casino went back into his own pocket. He had thought that was hilarious and she laughed with him about it.
After getting to know George well, she had finally decided to ask him for help for her family that evening at dinner. The house he owned was absolutely huge, no doubt. There was room for at least a half dozen children.
She was nervous to talk to him about it, but she had come to know him as not just a good businessman but also a kind gentleman. He had asked her to stay for a month to make sure it was what she wanted. He’d given her the option of w
orking in the restaurant or just being at home all the time. Since there was a maid and cook, she had very little she needed to do for him there.
So she had chosen to work in the restaurant so that she wouldn’t be bored. She noticed George came around the restaurant quite often during the day and had one time even pulled up his shirt sleeves to help cook food in the kitchen.
She thought about the discussion she needed to have with him the entire day. She rehearsed what she wanted to say over and over. Her heart beat hard in nervousness and excitement. She was nervous he would think it was the only reason she had come, which it actually was. She didn’t want him to think badly of her. But she had worked hard to show him that she was a good woman and would do what she was required from him willingly. Over time, she felt her feelings growing for him. She was glad of that because it would make being married to him easier.
A knock at the door brought her attention away from her thoughts. She had been getting ready for her date with her soon-to-be husband and was staring in the mirror.
“Come in!” She called softly.
The door opened and George stood there. He gazed at her and smiled.
“You look lovely, Caroline.”
She smiled and blushed. “Thank you, George.”
“Are you ready to go?”
“I am.”
She turned off the lamp beside her and walked to the door, noticing how his body was outlined by the light behind him. It made her heart skip a beat and she knew she was done for in this situation. He had her heart. Hopefully, he wouldn’t think badly of her when she needed to ask her favor.
He took her hand and led her down the stairs to the ground floor. She reached for her long sweater, but he stopped her hand.
“You won’t need that,” He said.
“But it’s chilly out, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “Yes, it’s cool. Regardless, dear, you won’t need it.”
She gazed at him for a moment in confusion. “O…okay, George. Where are we going?”