“But why are you helping me?”
He squashed out his cigar and rose from his desk, moving to a nearby window overlooking the street. “Miss Hart, you would not believe the people who have streamed into this office and out again, wanting me to help you get back on your feet after the fire. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it. Even Father Paul came in and Sister Mary Lou.”
Tears began to form in her eyes and she blinked them back. “But I’m sure you had to tell them that my own father has refused to back me.”
Steel gray eyes pierced hers. “That’s the thing that got me. Everyone who came in here said you were a wonderful young lady with a good head on your shoulders. Yet your father wished to withdraw your line of credit.”
“That reminds me.” Rebecca retrieved the bag from her friend, Sister Mary Lou. “I need to leave payment with the teller.”
“No need, miss. It’s already been taken care of.”
“How?”
“A little here and a little there all adds up, doesn’t it?”
“You mean…” Tears clogged her throat, preventing her from completing her sentence.
He nodded. “I thought to myself, a businesswoman who can command that kind of loyalty in such a short time deserves a break.”
Did he know about Peevey? The grapevine might have already spread the word.
“In any event, although I couldn’t see anything here on the mainland, I prayed over it and the answer was right in front of me.” Jenkins displayed a For Rent sign that included a picture of the building. “So I’d say your true Father was, and is, watching out for you.”
At that, tears overflowed and Rebecca fished a handkerchief from her reticule. “I don’t know how I can thank you.”
“Just be successful, do what I said, and that will be all the thanks my missus and I could hope for.” He tapped his ashes into a brass tray. “She’d love to see her brother again. None of us are getting any younger.”
“Why don’t you come back with your young man and you can sign the papers?”
“With Garrett?”
“Seeing as he’ll eventually be inhabiting the building, too, and owning it with you, I think that’s prudent. It’s good business, Miss Hart.”
Did Garrett see her as good business? Was she substituting another man for her father and his control over her? She squared her shoulders. “And if Mr. Christy prefers not to co-sign?”
***
Garrett surveyed the stacks of crates and whistled. If Rebecca listened to his plan, what would it cost to transport them to the island store? He turned to his pa and Cordelia. “You reckon her pa will try to come and take all this?”
Cordelia held up several sheets and first showed them to Tom. “I totaled the invoices and she’d have to come up with a fair amount.”
Pa took the papers. “I’ll pay them myself before we let that little gal ask Daggenhart for a penny. Lousy so and so.”
“Pa, Daggenhart is my future father-in-law.” Garrett dipped his chin.
“Truth is truth, son.”
The innkeeper tapped the sides of the crates on the right side of the room. “All of this merchandise was free. Can you believe it?”
“Free?” Tom leaned over one of the open crates, in which lay four teacup sets.
Garrett couldn’t fathom it.
“Samples?” Pa made a face. “What could she do with china samples?”
Mrs. Lilly joined him, clutching a pitcher of lemonade and a set of nested glasses. “Those cups would be perfect for a tea room as would the comestibles.”
Comestibles?
Tom leaned in. “Food,” he whispered.
“Don’t think tea, cookies, and crackers qualify as my kind of food.” Garrett pried open another box. “Now here’s some good stuff. Cherries, apple slices, and peaches.”
Rebecca’s eyes widened as she entered the workshop. Garrett opened his arms to her as she shot right toward him, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. He pressed his head against her forehead. “What’s wrong, love?”
“Nothing.” She sniffed and dabbed at her nose with a wadded up handkerchief. He fished his own clean one from his pocket and handed it to her. She turned to face Mrs. Lilly. “As I was walking back here, I had that same idea—that all those mismatched but beautiful teacups and saucers would be perfect for a tea room.”
“How about a tea shop with a tea room? With enough room upstairs so Pearl and Frenchie and the kids could stay on the island, too?” Garrett leaned away from her to look into her eyes.
They both spoke at the same time, “I’ve got the place!”
Laughter broke out and then Pa clapped his hands. Cordelia, Moose, and Mrs. Lilly joined in, too.
Pa gestured for the others to follow him out. “Looks like these two got some talking to do.”
“Yeah, and they don’t need an audience.” Tom winked as he took Jo’s elbow and escorted her from the room.
Pa called over his shoulder, “All right if that inventory is my wedding present?”
18
Mackinac Island
Rebecca pinched herself as she surveyed the new shop situated smack dab in the heart of downtown.
“You gotta stop doing that or you’ll be black and blue before long.” Garrett swept an errant curl from her eyes.
“I can’t believe how big it is.” She waved her arms overhead “And look how clean.”
“I like clean.” He leaned in and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Clean is good.”
“We’ve been saved so much work.”
“Which means we have more time for this.” Garrett nuzzled her neck, tickling her, and she laughed, then pulled away.
“Better hold those thoughts until after we’re married, Mr. Christy.” But when he drew her closer, again, she didn’t protest, only sighed in satisfaction.
Garrett kissed the top of her head. “I will…”
She laughed as he pressed against her and kissed her soundly. “I don’t know if I believe you.”
Garrett slowly released her and held her at arm’s length. “What I can’t believe is that you’re supposed to open shop tomorrow.”
“Believe it! Jo sent her baked goods over, just like she said she would every week.” Cookies, pies, cakes, and doughnuts covered the new marble-topped counter.
“Mr. Doud’s market will keep you supplied with any extras you need.” Garrett scanned the open shelves, filled about halfway.
“Pearl already has a menu planned for us for tonight.” She pressed her hands to her hot cheeks. “And Frenchie found us our own carriage and horses for a steal.”
“You might not feel that way when you see the feed bill.” He clucked his tongue. “Big horses come with big appetites.”
“True, but you have to admit they’re beautiful.”
“That they are. And Frenchie will have them busy in no time and likely drum up some business for himself.”
“Whatever makes him happy.” Soon Garrett would make her the happiest woman on earth. And a happier couple than Pearl and Frenchie she’d never seen.
“Rebecca, you’ve done me the honor of accepting my proposal, but there’s one more thing I wish to ask.” His handsome features hardened into a serious mask.
“What is it?”
“I think you’ve forgotten a special event in St. Ignace.” He took two steps in, lifted her off her feet and spun her around. “Will you accompany me to the Lumberjacks’ Ball?”
When he set her back down on the dark hardwood floor she tapped her toe and frowned. “Will banker Jenkins forgive us for shutting down shop for a few days?”
Garrett closed one eye and squinted at her out of the other. “I think you need to say yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Pastor Jones is performing a wedding right after the dance, and I’d like us both to attend.”
She tried to keep a straight face and not laugh at his audacity. “You can’t tell me Richard got Juliana to marry him already.”
>
“Nah, they haven’t even had a date.”
They both laughed. “Some men move fast.”
“Especially the Christy men.” He winked at her. “I tell you what. I’m gonna give you a clue as to who is getting wed.”
Jutting out her chin, she gazed into his dark eyes. “What kind of clue?”
“Close your eyes.”
She mimicked his earlier one-eyed squint, but he shook his index finger at her.
“No cheating. Both eyes closed.”
Closing her eyes, she inhaled the scent of tealeaves, sweet pastries, and Garrett’s hair tonic. He lifted her chin with two fingers and then stepped in and wrapped his arms around her. She wasn’t afraid as his hands wrapped around her neck and pulled her hairpins free. This man would never harm her. Rebecca relaxed and her lips parted allowing him to deepen the kiss. He groaned as he broke free and then trailed kisses down first one side of her neck and then the other. She gasped as he unbuttoned her top two mother of pearl buttons and pressed a gentle kiss to the scar left there so many years earlier. A scar he’d healed with his love. Trembling, she clutched his muscular forearms.
He stepped back, reached into his pocket, and drew out a heart-shaped garnet pendant—one his mother had worn into her father’s shop when she came to town. The delicate rose-gold chain unfolded as he held it out, unclasped it, and then encircled her neck with it. His fingers trembled against her neck as he struggled to close the tiny clasp.
“I think I know, Garrett.” She pressed a finger to the heart.
“Do you?” His voice broke as he raised her left hand to his lips and gazed down at her with a fire in his eyes.
“Since you told me this was your mother’s, I’m guessing your father is marrying…”
“That’s the guess I get from that good kissing? I’d hoped I’d scorched some sense into you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled a ring from his pocket.
When he slid down onto one knee, she pressed her hands to her mouth. He made a face of exasperation and raised his arm to grasp her left hand. “Got my mother’s ring back today from the jeweler.”
His mother’s ruby engagement ring had been too large and he’d taken it to be resized for her. “I love it. I love you.”
“I love you too much for us to delay this wedding any longer than we have to.” Garrett stood and rubbed his jaw. “Can’t believe you didn’t guess after my kiss. Maybe we better work on that.”
“Yes.”
“Another kiss?” He embraced her but she held her head away.
“Yes to something you asked.”
“You already said yes to marrying me.” He tried to kiss her but again she pulled away.
“Yes, I’ll go to the Lumberjacks’ Ball with you. And yes.”
He arched an eyebrow at her. “And the other?”
“Why, Mr. Christy—I wouldn’t miss that wedding for the world!”
“I reckon you better not.” Garrett’s fervent kiss and close embrace held promise for a future she’d never imagined.
Thank God, He had a better plan for her life, for their life together.
Thank you for reading this story! If you enjoyed The Lumberjacks’ Ball, would you consider writing a brief review (even a few sentences helps) on one of the review sites such as Amazon and goodreads?
Acknowledgements
First I want to thank God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; every book is for you! Thank you to my husband, Jeffrey, and my son, Clark, for bearing with me as I wrote this book. Also, thank you to Jackie Williams, my cousin by marriage, for her input, especially as to some of her family’s history during this time frame and about stories she’d heard.
Thank you Debbie Lynn Costello for help as critique partner for the entire project and Vicki McCollum, too, who joined us later. Thank you to my Pagels Pals Readers and Reviewers Group on Facebook. I don’t deserve the blessing of their support, but God has blessed me with them regardless! Thank you to my first line Beta readers Regina Fujitani, Bonnie Roof*, Tina St. Clair Rice and my other Beta readers, Angi Griffis, Rosemary “Chicki” Crawford Foley, Britney Adams**, and Gracie Louise Yost. Big hugs to blogger members Britney Adams**, Nancee Marchinowski, Anne Payne, Kathleen Belongia, Debbie Lynne Costello, Sonja Hoeke-Nishimoto, Cheryl Baranski, and Debbie Mitchell. Thank you to Sister Mary Lou Kwiatkowski (who let me borrow her name!), Libbie Cornett, Wendy Shoults, Susan Floyd Fletcher, Chris Granville, Kathy Maher, Maxie Lloyd-Hamilton Anderson, Betti Mace, Nancy McLeroy, Martha Phillips, Ann Lacy Ellison, Caryl Kane, Lisa Stifler, and Jean Kropid.
Thank you to Narielle Living for editing this novel. Any errors in the book are my own. Thank you, Cynthia Hickey, for my cover—you really captured the essence of Rebecca, who had a long journey to find her happiness, in God, again.
Thanks to the Overcoming with God “angels” who got drafted into my reviewer group Diana Flowers, Noela Nancarrow, Teresa Mathews and *Bonnie Roof. A “shout out” to the Facebook 1K1HR group, Facebook CIA group (in particular Valerie Comer and Jan Edttii Thompson), and my accountability partners Melanie Dickerson, Sarah E. Ladd, and Julie Klassen. Thank you to the Colonial Quills gang for supporting me even when I stray from the 18th century!
Author Notes
As I mentioned in The Fruitcake Challenge, I really am the descendant of lumberjacks and I even have a cousin who continues to work in the industry! The mighty pines of Michigan drew my ancestors up north. Michigan’s Eastern Upper Peninsula was becoming a busy place at the turn of the century. Although I grew up there, I still learned new things while researching this story. A number of resorts were built there during the 1890s as tourists discovered the beauty of the area.
Thank you to the Fort DeBuade Museum in St. Ignace, Michigan, in particular for their website and for the wonderful historical pamphlet they produced. You can download it as the walking tour pdf. St. Ignace has an amazing history and was a busy place in the 1890s. I love the straits of Mackinac, with the three main areas of Mackinaw City, Mackinac Island, and St. Ignace. It is a beautiful area. The Michigan State Parks are a great place to visit when you are there and offer many historic programs.
The inspiration for the change in this story, originally a “sweet” romance, was a song I’d heard online when researching lumber camps and lumberjack music in the 19th century. The horrid song was about a murderous lumberjack who went to a young lady’s house, urged her to come out with him, takes her to the river and kills her. I was so shocked that someone would actually make such a heinous song, that I gave my story a twist with a young woman surviving such an attack.
Lumberjacks’ Balls might also be called Woodmen’s Dances or Woodcutters’ Balls, but regardless, a dance where the lumberjacks could enjoy themselves would be a rollicking time. The town of Newberry, Michigan, where I grew up even has a Woodcutters’ Ball that just took place in March, in conjunction with the Tahquamenon Logging Museum. If you ever get up to the area, be sure to stop in at the museum, which is filled with lumberjack paraphernalia and equipment. And you can even pop by and look into the log cabin where my grandmother, Maude Carrie Williams Fancett, grew up, as it is onsite!
Many legends about Mackinac Island abound. This was the spiritual center for the Native Americans, who populated the Great Lakes region. The area was heavily populated by the French, beginning in the 1600s, with many priests coming along with fur traders. I used some of the French surnames for the characters. A great many Scandinavian people immigrated to work in the mines as well as in the forests as lumberjacks. Finnish-speaking people became common, hence my workmen conversing in their native language.
Author Biography
Carrie Fancett Pagels, tagline “Hearts Overcoming Through Time,” writes for the Christian market. The Fruitcake Challenge is the first book in the Christy Lumber Camp Series and the second book is The Lumberjacks’ Ball (April, 2015) with Lilacs for the Lumber Camp the third book, releasing in late 2015. Her European-Colonial novel, Saving the Marquise’s Granddaughter, releas
es from White Rose/Pelican Group in 2015. Carrie won in Historical Genre for Family Fiction's “The Story 2014” contest, with her short story The Quilting Contest. This anthology is now available in print through Salem Publishing. Carrie received Honorable Mention for the Maggie Awards for Excellence, 2014.
Carrie's novella, Return to Shirley Plantation: A Civil War Romance, was an Amazon Civil War best seller for over six months and remained on the top-rated list for a year. Her short story "Snowed In" was published in Guidepost Books A Cup of Christmas Cheer (2013). She contributed a nonfiction chapter contribution to Selah Finalist God's Provision in Tough Times by Cynthia Howerter and LaTan Murphy (Lighthouse of the Carolinas, 2013). Represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary Agency. Founder of Colonial American Christian Writers group. Owner/administrator of the group blogs "Colonial Quills" and "Overcoming With God." Member of Romance Writers of America (RWA), American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), and FaithWriters. Dr. Pagels was a licensed psychologist for over twenty-five years. Married for twenty-seven years and has an adult daughter (an electrical engineer) and a middle school aged son.
Contact Information
Carrie Fancett Pagels’ website
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Links to purchase Carrie’s books
The Fruitcake Challenge (2014) In Paperback and Kindle and on Nook
A Cup of Christmas Cheer, Guidepost Books (2013)
Return to Shirley Plantation: A Civil War Romance, Helping Hands Press (2013) on Amazon
Return to Shirley Plantation at Barnes and Noble
God’s Provision in Tough Times, Lighthouse of the Carolinas (2013) on Amazon
Book One
The Fruitcake Challenge novella is the first book in The Christy Lumber Camp series and is also part of the Christmas Traditions Series. With endorsements from Serena Miller, Julie Lessman, Lisa Norato, MaryLu Tyndall, Kathleen Maher, and more, this book became a #1 Amazon Bestseller in Christian Historical Romance and was also a finalist in the Family Fiction Book of the Year, 2014. 4.7 out of 5 Stars and 66 reviews!
The Lumberjacks' Ball (The Christy Lumber Camp Series Book 2) Page 14