The house seemed oddly quiet. She walked through the front room to find Ethan hadn’t bothered to build a fire in the fireplace.
That’s odd, she thought as she stepped into the kitchen and flicked on the light, only to find her brother and his wife locked in a passionate embrace.
Lottie screamed and Ethan muttered a word that shocked Elsa as she spun around and left the room. “Good night!” she yelled then stormed down the hall to the bathroom.
Rather than linger in a hot bath, her one luxury after spending the day on her feet at the bakery, she took a quick bath then retreated to her bedroom.
Curled on her side beneath warm quilts, sleep remained elusive. She heard the sound of murmurs as Lottie and Ethan readied for bed. Finally, the lights were all off and silence settled over the house, then it began.
Lottie giggled and the deep rumble of Ethan’s voice carried through the bedroom wall.
“No, no, no!” Elsa chanted, grabbing her blanket and pillow. She fled her room for the relative quiet of the parlor where she flopped down on the couch and folded the pillow over her ears. What had her idiotic, lunkheaded brother done bringing home a wife?
Chapter Nine
“Thanks for your help, Fred,” Tom Grove said as the two men stepped outside into the bright afternoon sunlight. “I’m not sure I’d have been able to get the press running without you.”
Sunbeams refracted off the piles of snow along the edge of the street, glistening like diamonds in the frosty winter air. Fred yanked on his gloves and turned to grin at his friend. “I’m always happy to help.”
“That’s why you’re such a good friend, Fred. Do you have plans for dinner? You could join…” Tom stopped midsentence and pointed across the street toward the upper floor of the bakery where Elsa Lindstrom pushed up one window after another then stuck her head outside, dragging in a gulp of air. She leaned so far out, she would have fallen if she hadn’t snatched onto the edge of the window and dragged herself back in.
“What is that woman up to now?” Fred asked, concern evident in his voice. “She’s going to break her fool neck if she isn’t careful.” Not lingering long enough to bid Tom good day, he marched across the street and opened the bakery door with such force, the bell above it fell to the floor with a loud clank.
“Elsa?” he bellowed, as he slammed the door and started for the stairs he knew were located just off the kitchen.
A startled scream sent him pounding up the steps three at a time. At the top, he pushed open the door and stepped into a large, open room every bit as cold as it was outside with the windows all open.
“Elsa? What in tarnation are you doing up here?” he yelled, retracing his steps out of the room.
A loud clatter drew him down a narrow hall to a bedroom where Elsa picked herself up off the floor next to an overturned chair.
“Fred Decker! Is it your goal in life to scare me witless?” Elsa glared at him as he gave her a hand and pulled her to her feet. “What are you doing here, hollering like a madman?” She straightened her skirts and huffed indignantly. “Why are you here?”
“I was across the street and saw you practically topple out the window on your head, that’s why. If you aren’t going to take care of yourself, I reckon I need to do it for you. I’d say that’s your brother’s job, but he seems rather occupied with other matters recently.”
Apparently, those “other matters” stirred Elsa’s fury because she spun around, grabbed a broom, and started batting at the cobwebs in the corner of the room as though she was battling deadly vipers.
Fred stood back and watched her for a minute, observed her stiff shoulders and the anger oozing from her. Evidently, Elsa didn’t like the fact her brother had wed so suddenly and unexpectedly. The night Ethan had insisted he stay for dinner after helping unload their supplies, it was clear Elsa wasn’t pleased with the idea of the marriage. Right now, if Elsa’s little sister-in-law had been standing in the room, he wasn’t sure the baker wouldn’t beat the poor woman with the broom.
The thought of the friendly, sweet woman taking such a strong dislike to anyone, especially the woman her brother married, made him work to hide his smile.
“Elsa?” Fred moved behind her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” she snapped, and attacked a cobweb with more vigor.
If she didn’t calm down, Fred worried she’d push a hole clear through the wall. He’d never seen anyone assail cobwebs with such fervent force. He again tamped down his amusement and motioned to her broom. “It looks like you’re picturing Ethan’s wife in that corner and wishing you could sweep her out with the trash.”
Slowly, Elsa lowered the broom and turned around to stare at him. Her shoulders slumped and she looked defeated. Tears welled in her eyes and her lip began to quiver. The broom clattered to the floor as she lifted both hands to her face and started to cry.
“Aw, Elsa, don’t cry. Shh. It’s okay. Whatever is wrong, we’ll fix it,” Fred said in a low, soothing tone Blake had taught him to use with skittish horses. “It’s going to be okay.” He stepped in front of her and enveloped her in his arms. She burrowed her face against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist as her tears continued. Elsa held onto him as if he was the lone lifeline keeping her anchored in a violent storm.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. Please don’t cry.” Fred had never been able to withstand a woman’s tears. His mother had been able to summon them on cue with artistic flair, so he’d grown immune to them at an early age. But any other female that cried left him nearly undone.
And a female who already had her fingers twined around his heart pushed him close to a state of panic. Fred reached down and lifted Elsa’s chin, determined to stop her tears with the quickest means possible — a kiss.
The tender brushing of his lips against hers, though, sparked something Fred had spent weeks trying to forget and ignore. Before rational thought took over, he lifted Elsa in his arms and kissed her deeply, thoroughly, lovingly.
Although he half-expected her to haul off and cuff him upside the head, her hands slid up his arms, across his shoulders, and caressed the back of his neck as she pressed closer against him.
“Oh, mercy!” she finally gasped, at last coming to her senses.
Fred unhurriedly lowered her to her feet, but he didn’t let her go. Instead, he placed a soft kiss to the tip of her nose then used his thumbs to brush away her tears. “What’s wrong, Elsa? Talk to me.”
“Everything’s wrong,” she whispered on a sniffle. “Nothing has been right since Ethan came home with her.”
In spite of his head telling him to turn around, leave, and not come back, Fred righted the fallen chair, sat down, and tugged Elsa onto his lap. The fact she didn’t fuss at him confirmed his suspicion that she was completely distraught.
“What’s wrong with Lottie? She seems like a nice girl. Doesn’t her father own the wholesale company where you purchased your supplies?”
“Yes,” Elsa said, snuggling against his chest. “She’s gracious, and mannerly, and I might like her if she hadn’t gone and married my brother.”
Fred bit back a grin and continued holding Elsa, gently stroking his hand up and down her back. The comforting motion had calmed the little ones in town when their mamas asked him to hold them. In fact, he’d watched after Erin Dodd and Maura Granger a few times and he’d soothed their worries just like he worked to do with Elsa.
“So why don’t you like her, other than Ethan married her without your permission.”
“He certainly doesn’t require my permission.” Elsa sniffed, refusing to look at him.
Fred continued to seek the root of the problem. “Is she rude? Mean? Has she gossiped about you? Threatened you?”
“No, of course not.” Elsa tipped back her head and looked at him. The raw pain in her eyes made his heart hurt.
He knew Elsa and Ethan shared a unique bond, close as only twin siblings could be. Eth
an’s sudden wedding no doubt drove something between the two of them that might never be removed. Elsa was no longer the number one female in Ethan’s eyes or heart. While it was right that he fall in love and marry, that it happened without warning had caught Elsa unprepared and thoroughly by surprise. Fred figured Elsa just needed time to adjust to the changes in her life.
Absently, his hand continued to rub across her back.“Then what is the problem and what are you doing up here trying to freeze or plummet to your death in a snowbank?”
A slight smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “I’m not trying to freeze or fall to my death. I haven’t been cold since Ethan returned with Lottie. In fact, it seems anger is a wonderful source of energy and heat.”
Fred chuckled and gave Elsa a hug before he leaned back and looked at her again. “What are you doing up here, beyond airing the place out and giving icicles a chance to form on the ceiling?”
“I’m going to move in here.”
Fred almost dropped her at the shock of her announcement, but managed to pull her back against his chest before she fell off his lap. “You’re what?”
“Moving in here,” she said, stubbornly lifting her chin.
“Why?” he asked, realizing once her mind was made up there’d be no dissuading her. A woman living alone was asking for problems, but a single young woman as lovely as Elsa practically left the door open for trouble with an invitation to enter. The fact that a few of the Red Lantern’s dedicated customers still whispered about her being Gloria didn’t do anything to alleviate his concerns.
Elsa’s tone hardened. “Because I cannot stand to live in a house with that woman.”
“If she hasn’t done anything to upset or insult you, what’s causing the problem? Did she take over the house? Is she bossing you around? Is she making you cater to her every whim?”
Elsa shook her head. “Nothing like that, but she and Ethan are constantly…”
“Constantly what?”
Elsa shuddered with revulsion. “Kissing. They won’t stop kissing and hugging and embracing,” she said in a rush. “At night they… her giggles… and his…he…” Elsa swallowed hard. “I haven’t had a decent night of sleep since Ethan returned from Portland.”
Fred did his best to subdue his chuckles. He clamped his jaw and took a deep breath, but mirth rumbled in his chest and infuriated Elsa when she looked at his face and saw the merriment dancing in his eyes.
She smacked his shoulder with the flat of her hand and jumped to her feet. “It’s not funny, Fred! Not a bit of it! Why, it’s just… deplorable! That’s what it is!”
“Deplorable that your brother and his wife are obviously in love? Or that you aren’t?”
“Oh!” Aggravated, she stamped her foot. “Leave me alone, Fred Decker! I don’t need you or Ethan or Miss La-De-Da Lottie. I don’t need anyone.” Her voice cracked as she spoke and Fred wrapped her in his arms again as she cried out her frustration and fears.
When her sobs subsided and she’d calmed down, Fred handed her his handkerchief and she dabbed at her cheeks then blew her nose and took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry, Fred. I don’t know what’s come over me lately.” She released a long sigh. “I am happy for Ethan and I don’t hate Lottie, I just need some time to adjust to this change and I really, really need a little peace and quiet after a long day of working in the bakery.”
“And you think moving in here is the solution you need?”
Elsa nodded. “I do. Ethan and Lottie obviously need some time of their own, too. If I move in here, it will fix one of the most immediate problems.”
“There are others?” Fred asked, closing the window as the breeze grew colder and Elsa began to shiver.
“Ethan is so… occupied with Lottie, he hasn’t been helping in the bakery. I can’t keep on like this without some help. It’s almost the busy holiday season and Ethan always helps, but I have a feeling this year I won’t be able to depend on him. He’s only been in here once since you unloaded the supplies the other night.”
Fred felt bereft without her in his arms and wanted to pull her back against him, but shoved his hands into his pockets.“Don’t worry about it, Elsa. Everything will work out just fine. I’m sure of it.”
She gave him a dubious look, but stuffed his handkerchief in her apron pocket and picked up the broom.
“What can I help you with?” Fred took the broom from her hands.
“I can’t ask more of you, Fred.” She held a hand out for the broom.
Playfully, he swatted her on her backside. “Put me to work, Elsa. I’m yours for the afternoon.”
Four hours later, Fred sank onto a chair in Elsa’s kitchen with a weary groan. The woman was a maniac, determined to clean the entire upstairs in one afternoon. There were two bedrooms, a small bathroom, and the large sitting area. The twins had used the sitting area for storage and the rest of the rooms were empty. Now, Elsa wanted to convert the smaller bedroom into storage and make the rest of the upper rooms into her apartment.
Fred had moved barrels of flour, sacks of sugar and crates of spices until he felt like a pack mule. While he organized the storage room, Elsa went to work in the other bedroom. She cleaned it from top to bottom along with the bathroom. Tomorrow afternoon, she’d be able to finish cleaning the rest of the apartment. She wanted to clean the sitting area after supper, but Fred wasn’t sure he was up for it. In fact, a warm meal, a hot bath, and his bed sounded like the perfect way to end the day.
Then he glanced across the table at the woman smiling at him as she carried supper to the table.
“Do you need help?” he asked, starting to rise.
She placed a hand to his shoulder and pushed him back down. “Just rest, Fred. After dinner, I’m going to put you back to work.”
“I was afraid of that,” he muttered, watching her buzz around the kitchen with as much energy as she’d had when he arrived earlier in the afternoon. They’d talked about any number of topics except Ethan, Lottie, and how Elsa was going to break the news to them that she was moving out.
Fred didn’t like the idea of Elsa living alone, but he knew nothing would change her mind now. He promised to help her move her furniture tomorrow if Ethan wouldn’t. All she planned to bring was her bed and a few things that belonged to her grandmother that she didn’t want Lottie “getting her hands on,” as she put it.
Honestly, Fred wasn’t sure why Elsa disliked Lottie so much. He’d spoken with the woman several times in the last few days and found her to be witty, charming, and fun. If Elsa could bring herself to forgive her brother for whatever perceived slight she held against him, he thought she’d find a friend in Lottie.
After all, the girl had to be in love to leave her father’s posh Portland home and move to Hardman.
However, he had noticed Ethan’s absence at the bakery and the way the man strutted around town with his wife instead of working. No wonder Elsa was weary and short-tempered.
Elsa set the last of the dishes on the table and took a seat across from Fred. He bowed his head and waited, but silence filled the room. One eye popped open and he glanced at Elsa.
“Please, Fred,” she said, tears glistening in her eyes again.
He nodded then bowed his head and offered a brief but heartfelt prayer. When he finished, he draped a napkin over his lap and waited while Elsa passed him a deep bowl full of something fragrant and meaty.
“What are we dining on this evening?” he asked. Elsa had left him in the storage room earlier while she ran downstairs to make supper. As mouth-watering scents drifted upstairs, he decided he’d move anything she wanted as long as she planned to feed him.
“Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes, canned beets, and pressed cucumbers.”
Fred’s eyebrow cocked upward. “Where did you find a cucumber?”
“Ethan brought a few home. Apparently, there’s a greenhouse in Portland that grows them year-round.”
He helped himself to the food then studi
ed the meatballs and thinly sliced cucumbers before dipping his fork into the mashed potatoes and taking a bite. He’d start with something familiar. The meatballs he’d never tried and he wasn’t fond of beets, but took a small serving to keep Elsa happy.
Fifteen minutes later, he’d cleaned his plate, eaten a second helping of the meatballs, and even helped himself to a second spoon full of beets.
“That was incredible, Elsa. Thank you.”
Pleased by his praise, she ducked her head and shoved an uneaten meatball around on her plate. “You’re welcome, Fred. I appreciate your help and your friendship. It was brave of you to come upstairs today when I was acting rather…”
“Ornery? Cantankerous? Ridiculous?”
She grinned and threw her napkin at him. He caught it and handed it back to her.
“You really have been a good friend to me, Fred. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Before he could say something sentimental and foolish, something he’d wish he could take back, he rose to his feet. “Do you want help with the dishes, or would you like me to go upstairs and get started on wiping down the ceiling in the sitting room?”
“If you work on the ceiling, you should be done by the time I finish the dishes. We can wipe down the walls together. Other than washing the windows, everything upstairs will be clean.”
Fred nodded and retreated upstairs before he hauled Elsa into is arms. It had been pure bliss to sit with her on his lap that afternoon, with her fragrance ensnaring him and her warmth surrounding him.
But it couldn’t happen again. He knew she only saw him as a friend, one she could depend on when the rest of her world crumbled around her. And that’s all he could ever hope to be.
Chapter Ten
Feathery wisps formed from his breath in the early morning air as Fred left Festus at the livery stable and made his way into the heart of town. He’d just walked past the telegraph office when Horace Greenblum yanked open the door.
“Fred! You’ve got a message that just arrived!”
The Christmas Confection (Hardman Holidays Book 6) Page 11