Uncertain Alliance

by Davis, Mary

  Conner appeared with two chairs.

  He motioned for Arthur to take a seat. “Alice just left.”

  “I know.” Arthur sat.

  Finn looked at Conner. “These two need a little privacy.”

  Conner nodded and took Miles’s hand. “You want to see the dogs?”

  Miles grinned. “Doggy.” The three left for the back.

  Arthur motioned to the other chair.

  Ian joined him. “What can I do for you?”

  “I haven’t much time, so I’ll get to the point. Marry my granddaughter.”

  Ian sputtered. He would like nothing better, but even he could tell he had a long way to go to gain her confidence enough to suggest he might propose. “I don’t think Alice has known me long enough or likes me well enough for such a proposition.”

  Arthur drilled his gray gaze into him. “Do you love her?”

  He wasn’t going to answer that. “Did you talk to her about this?”

  Arthur raised his stump arm. “I may not be the man I once was, but I am still patriarch of this family.”

  “You would force her to marry?”

  “Arranged marriages are not completely a thing of the past.”

  But they weren’t as popular as they once were. They certainly were never widely popular with young ladies forced into a loveless marriage. “I have learned that Alice is a self-sufficient woman. She may not take kindly to the issues being forced upon her.”

  Arthur drew in a deep breath. “You let me worry about that. She’ll do as I tell her. I’m an old man. I won’t always be around for her. I need to know she’ll be looked after when I’m gone.”

  Ian was sure, given the right circumstances, Alice could do well providing for herself and anyone else in her care. “You’d better ask her first.”

  Arthur waggled his head back and forth. “Back to my earlier question. Do you love her?”

  He stared at the old man, unsure if he should answer. He wished Conner would come in and interrupt, but he knew he wouldn’t. “I do.” The confession exploded joy in his heart.

  “If she agrees, will you marry her?”

  He really wanted Conner to return now. He wanted to say yes but was reluctant to say so for some reason. He felt backed into a corner. Somehow either answer would be wrong.

  ❧

  Alice fetched the remaining dirty dishes off the table. It had been a good day at the store with Ian. She was glad he’d asked her to call him by his given name.

  “Alice, sit down.” Grandpa patted the table.

  “I need to finish cleaning up.” She tested the water in the pan to see if it was hot enough to wash the dishes in. Still a bit cool. She wanted to get her chores done so she could finish the scarf she’d started. They sold well at the pharmacy; that was mainly Ian’s doing. He pointed out their benefit to nearly every customer.

  “Come. Sit. I need to talk to you.” Grandpa moved her chair with his foot.

  She grabbed her knitting and sat. “What is it?” The needles clicked as she worked.

  “I’m not getting any younger.”

  “Don’t talk like that. You aren’t that old.” Why did he always have to remind her of his age?

  “What man lives long enough to meet his great-grandchild?”

  She gathered both needles together and covered his hand with one of her own. “A man who has been blessed by the Lord.”

  Grandpa turned his hand over and squeezed hers. “Alice, look at me. Really look at me. I’m an old man. I’m tired and weary. This old body is barely hanging on. I’m ready to go home to Jesus and see my bonny Erin.”

  “Grandpa, please don’t.” She was painfully aware how tired and weary he was. That was why she worked so hard.

  He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “You live in a dream world, lass. One where I will live forever.”

  Tears rimmed her eyes. Truth hurt. She didn’t want to think about Grandpa dying. “If I think about life without you, it’ll be too much. I’ll break.”

  “I know. You take the weight of all of us upon yourself.” He released her hand and sat straighter. “That is why I have made a decision. You need someone to help you.”

  Her tears ebbed. She didn’t like the turn his voice had taken. He knew she was not going to like what he was about to tell her. “We’re doing just fine.”

  “Not so well as you like to think. I have decided that you will marry again.”

  “What? I don’t think marriage is a good idea. I didn’t do so well picking a husband the first time.”

  “That’s why I’m going to choose for you. Mr. MacGregor will be your husband.”

  Mr. MacGregor! Somehow this was his doing. Had he been planning this all along? “Shouldn’t Mr. MacGregor have a say in this matter?” She would talk to him first and tell him to turn down Grandpa’s offer.

  “He said yes.”

  ❧

  The bell over the door jingled; then the door slammed. Ian looked up from the book he was showing Burl. An icy glare from Alice met him. He was glad that no customers were in the store yet.

  She came over. “Burl, change into your old clothes.”

  “But these are my work clothes.”

  “You’re not staying.”

  “But I just got here.”

  “Go.”

  Burl folded his arms. “I’m learnin’.”

  Something had upset Alice, and Ian might have a guess at what. It would be best if he didn’t aggravate her further. “Burl, do as your sister says.” Arthur should have waited.

  Burl turned to him. “But—”

  “Now.”

  Burl jumped off the stool and shuffled to the back. “Alice—”

  “It’s Mrs. Dempsey.”

  So they were back to that. “I can see you’re upset.” He spoke calmly to help defuse her anger.

  “Have you been planning this from the beginning?”

  “Planning what?” He knew what but wanted to stall for time to think.

  Her face turned red. “Forcing me to marry you?”

  “That wasn’t my idea. I would never make you do anything you didn’t want to do.”

  “No, you just carefully put all the pieces into place so I’d have no other recourse. You made it so I and my whole family would be completely dependent on you so when marriage came up, I’d fall into your arms with gratitude.”

  “It’s not like that, Alice.”

  She glowered at his using her first name. He didn’t care. She’d offered him the use of it, so he would.

  “You gave me a job when you probably didn’t need more help here, and you’re teaching Burl.”

  Neither one of those was cause for her anger. “I only wanted to help.”

  “Did Burl even break into your store, or did the two of you cook that up?”

  He could fix this if she would only listen. “Would you just calm down?”

  “Now I’m a hysterical woman?”

  Just a bit, but he didn’t think it would help the situation to say so.

  “Maybe you plotted with Miss Morgan to fire me so you could save me by giving me a job and I’d be so grateful. . .I’d. . . oooh.” She turned toward the back. “Burl, hurry up!”

  “Alice, would you listen to yourself? All this plotting and scheming. I did none of those things you are accusing me of.”

  She pinned him with a cold blue glare. “You didn’t talk to my grandfather about marrying me behind my back?”

  “Well, yes I did, but—”

  “But nothing.”

  This wasn’t going so well. “You have made me out to be some sort of monster.”

  “You are no monster; you’re worse. You can tell a monster on sight; he looks evil. You came as a friend then betrayed me and stabbed me in the back. I thought you were a nice man. I guess I was wrong.”

  “Alice, why are you so mad?” Burl had tears in his eyes. “Why are you yellin’ at Mr. MacGregor?”

  “Come on, Burl. We’re leaving.”
>
  “I wanna stay.” Burl folded his arms.

  “You are never to step foot in this store again. Do you understand me?”

  Burl’s bottom lip quivered, and he nodded.

  She pointed a finger at Ian. “Is that understood?”

  He just needed a minute to explain how it all had happened and held his hands out from his sides. “Can we sit down and talk about this?”

  “Burl is not to be in here again.”

  She was being unreasonable, but he nodded anyway. Maybe if he agreed with her, she would be amenable to talking this over when she wasn’t so upset.

  She pointed her finger at Conner who stood behind the far end of the counter, looking as though he were trying to be invisible.

  He nodded before she could make her demand.

  She put her hand on Burl’s shoulder and turned to leave.

  He couldn’t let her leave like this and grabbed her arm, turning her back around. “I am a nice man. Marriage was your grandfather’s idea.”

  “But you agreed to it.”

  “Only if you were agreeable.”

  “Well, I’m not. So you’d better tell my grandfather that the deal is off.” She shook loose from his grip and walked out. Burl gave a sorrowful look back with tears on his cheeks. He wiped them away with his shirtsleeve.

  The poor boy. She was mad at him, so why couldn’t Burl stay? Ian had enjoyed teaching such an eager young mind. He sent up a quick prayer asking what he was to do now and how he could continue to help Alice and her family.

  Conner let out a long whistle.

  He turned to Conner. “I had a feeling Arthur’s proposal was too good to be true.”

  “Are you going to go after her?”

  “I don’t think that would be wise in her present state, but I do think I’ll go talk to Arthur. Let him know the outcome of his little plan.” He’d been making progress with Alice, but thanks to Arthur’s little scheme, it was all ruined.

  “Won’t she be there and be mad at you for being there?”

  “I don’t think she’ll go straight home. She won’t want to be this upset when she faces her grandfather. She’ll make an effort to look for a new job or go clear her head. Don’t you think?”

  “The secrets of the feminine mind, what man can fathom? What are you going to tell him?”

  “That the wedding is off. Without Alice’s consent, I won’t force matrimony.”

  “But you want to marry her, right?”

  “Not like this.” He headed out the door and found himself quickly at Alice’s apartment. He hesitated for a moment before knocking.

  After hearing a scuffle of shoe soles on the floor, Miles opened the door with Arthur hobbling close behind.

  “Hello, little man.” He looked up. “Hello, Arthur.”

  “Come in.” Arthur closed the door behind him and maneuvered himself over to the table and sat. “Please sit.”

  He took the chair adjacent to the old man. “When Alice arrived at the store this morning, she was in quite a state.”

  “She told you then.”

  He leaned on the table. “Arthur, she’s not happy with me at all. She’ll never marry me this way.”

  “She’ll simmer down.”

  “Not on this.” He leaned forward on the table. “She ordered Burl never to set foot in my store, and I seriously doubt she will ever come in there again. She does not want to marry me under any circumstances.”

  “She’ll simmer down.”

  “I don’t think so. She thinks I’ve been planning this from the start.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “She thinks I was somehow responsible for her getting fired so she would have to work for me.”

  “She’ll simmer down.”

  “You didn’t see how upset she was.”

  “She’ll simmer down.”

  He shook his head. “You keep saying that. How can you be so sure?”

  “She’s just like my Erin, all hot and bothered, but Erin always simmered down and came to her senses.” Arthur patted his hand. “You’ll see. She’ll marry you.”

  “No, Arthur. I don’t want any part of your plan.”

  “Would you rather see her become another man’s wife?”

  His eyes widened. “What?”

  Arthur smiled. “That’s what I thought. You love her.”

  “But I would never force her to marry me.”

  “But I would.”

  The old man must be losing his mind. “Why?”

  “I’m old. She needs someone to take care of her.”

  He made it all sound so easy. “I don’t think she sees it that way.”

  “I need to know that she has a good man to take care of her before I die. It’s the least I can do for her if not the only thing.” Arthur raised his stump.

  “Arthur, I’m sure you have many good years left.”

  “Only the good Lord knows that for sure.”

  Ian rubbed a hand over his face. Arthur was exasperating. He wouldn’t listen any more than Alice would. “If something should happen to you, I promise to look after Alice, Burl, and Miles.”

  “Her husband will do that. Will that be you?”

  “You are a stubborn old man.”

  Arthur smiled. “When I know what’s right, I don’t back down. Alice takes too much on her slim shoulders. I’ll see her married before I die.”

  No wonder Alice had come to Ian. She knew she couldn’t reason with her grandfather.

  Arthur looked at him. “Do you agree with me that she would be better off if she were married and had someone to share the burdens with?”

  Ian reluctantly nodded.

  “Are you going to be the one?”

  He didn’t want to agree to anything. He was already in enough trouble. “Let’s give her some time to cool off and get used to the idea.”

  “Don’t take too much time. I’m not going to live forever.”

  If a person could postpone dying by a simple act of the will, Arthur would live another eighty or more years.

  ❧

  Alice stopped outside her apartment door and took a deep breath. She’d calmed down considerably since seeing Ian—Mr. MacGregor. She’d put Burl back into school. . .against his will. She was ready to face Grandpa. When he asked why she wasn’t at work, she’d tell him that she’d been given the day off. That would give Mr. MacGregor some time to tell him that the wedding was off. She opened the door and was surprised to see Ian sitting at her table.

  He stood and dipped his head to her. “Mrs. Dempsey. I was just leaving.” He put on his bowler hat, and as he passed her, he said, “It’s all taken care of. It is as you wished it. Your final pay and the money for the scarves still at the store are on the table.”

  An ache ripped open inside her as she watch him walk out the door and out of her life. A part of her wanted to call him back.

  “You’ve made a fine mess. I’ll talk to him in a few days and put this all right.” Grandpa looked so sad and disappointed in her.

  She didn’t know what to say. Did she not want Grandpa to bother at all? Or did she want him to make it “all right” in his eyes? She missed Ian already.

  She looked at the money on the table. She didn’t even want it. She went to her room and closed the door; then she lay across the bed and cried but had no idea why. Was it because of the disappointment on Grandpa’s face? Was it because she’d made a fool of herself in front of Ian and yelled at him? Was it because her emotions were just a huge jumble and crying was her only release? Was it because she had to face going back out and searching for a job that wouldn’t be there? Or was it because she knew she would eventually have to go crawling back to Ian?

  If only everything could go back to the way it was before, when Ian looked at her in that way he did. She’d disappointed Grandpa and hurt Ian. Why did they have to insist she marry Ian?

  Fourteen

  Ian sat at the counter with his ledger book open before him, unable to concentrate. He wasn’t even sure if he neede
d to do anything in the ledger. It had been only a few hours, but he missed her. Nothing else seemed to matter but Alice. He’d do anything to change the events of the past twenty-four hours. Lord, show me how to fix this and how to help her.

  “I think you have a visitor,” Conner said.

  He hadn’t heard the bell but glanced up anyway. No one. He furrowed his brow at Conner.

  Conner pointed toward the door. “Outside.”

  He looked through door glass and saw Burl. “He’s not supposed to be here.”

  “I think that’s why he’s standing outside. He knows he’s not supposed to come inside.”

  Smart boy. He went to the door and stepped outside. “Where are you supposed to be?”

  Burl shrugged.

  If he knew Alice, she’d put him back into school, and he’d say it was about time for lunch. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”

  “I don’t learn nothin’ there. I want you to teach me. Alice doesn’t have to know that I’m here, not iffin you say it’s all right.”

  He wanted to keep Burl there with him but knew he couldn’t—or rather, shouldn’t. If he wanted to win her back, he had to abide by her wishes. . .for the time being. “Your sister made it quite clear that she does not want you in my store. You’d best go back to school before you get in trouble.”

  “Iffin we were to meet on the street or something, we could talk, right? Alice never said nothin’ about that.”

  He had to smile. This boy was going to figure out a way to get what he wanted.

  Burl’s face brightened. “Like, let’s say just after school, iffin I was at the vacant lot up on Fifth Street and you happened to show up, that would be okay because I’m not in your store. I promise not to get into any trouble and go to school iffin you came and brought your books.”

  No wonder Alice thought he was plotting against her. She had a family of schemers. First Grandpa, now Burl. If she wasn’t so stubborn and unyielding, maybe they all wouldn’t have to. “I could do for an afternoon walk each day around three.” And maybe he could finally train Burl out of using iffin.

  Burl smiled then started to run off but stopped and turned. “Thanks.”