“There’s no space to play in our room, unless it’s jumping from one bed to the other, and Momma said we couldn’t do that.”
Helen sighed. Leave it up to Maridell to point out the cramped space in their free room.
“Good point, Maridell. How about I give Iva Mae a book to read to you all in the lobby?” That suggestion perked up the girls’ interest.
“What book?” Iva Mae asked. Her oldest daughter was a fair reader, but hadn’t had a chance to read since leaving York.
“I picked up Little Women at Taylor’s Mercantile today. Have you read it?” How did Mr. Paulson know to pick out a popular book the girls had been begging for her to buy?
“Really?! Little Women?” Iva Mae’s squeal showed her excitement. “Where is it?” Three girls had already scrambled out of their chairs and one more trying to when Ethan held up his hand.
“Wait. What do you say?” Mr. Paulson asked with authority.
“May we be excused from the table and get the book?”
“Yes, you may on both accounts. The book is on the shelf below the front desk.” Mr. Paulson’s words trailed behind the running girls, soon out of sight while she and Mr. Paulson still sat at the dining room table.
“Sounds like I picked the right book. The title Little Women reminded me of your girls,” Mr. Paulson smiled, but his face turned serious.
“Could we move to my office to visit? It’s a small room behind the lobby desk and we would be close if the girls need something.”
Helen stood, hating to leave the mess on the table for the waitress, but she had no choice with Mr. Paulson’s request. He gestured for her to leave the room so she walked in front of him to the room behind the desk. Helen had noticed the door, but it had been closed whenever she’d been by it.
Mr. Paulson walked around her to open the door and push it open for her to enter. Besides the desk and swivel wooden chair behind the desk, there were three upholstered chairs, two in front of the desk, and one on the right wall. A bookcase on the back wall had piles of books haphazardly piled on the shelves instead of neatly lined up to show their spines. Papers on the desk looked like they needed to be straightened, anyway according to Helen’s standards. Maybe Mr. Paulson worked best on a cluttered desk.
“Please have a seat. We’ll leave the door open unless a guest comes up to the desk. I leave the office door closed for a reason,” Mr. Paulson grimaced.
“We opened the hotel this summer and I still haven’t organized the office like it should be.”
Or he didn’t like that kind of work would be another reason. Her late husband, Arvid, always told his employees, “Do the job you hate, first, so that way it’s out of the way.” Whether it was the maids emptying chamber pots, the cooks chopping onions, or paying bills, the day always went better if the toughest job was done first. And she knew that because she’d done all three jobs in her time at the hotel.
Chapter 5
Ethan sat at his desk, tenting his fingers as he waited for her to finish her evaluation of his office. He inwardly grimaced, knowing the piles of papers looked untidy, but he knew what papers were where—mostly. June, the hotel housekeeper, was told not to bother cleaning in the office, since she couldn’t find the desk to polish it anyway, so it was dusty, as were the shelves and the floor. If the girls came in here they would have fun drawing pictures in the dust.
Mrs. Higby’s eyes widened when she realized he was waiting to speak.
“I’m sorry, I just got caught up in...”
She was pretty when her face turned pink from embarrassment. It wasn’t nice to think that, but it was true.
“That’s quite all right. You’ve had a shock today.”
“I never expected to go through a fraudulent marriage today. I still can’t comprehend why Mr. Jensen—or whatever his name is—would do such a thing to a woman. At least I only had to endure the marriage ceremony to the stranger. I can’t imagine what Lorna, and who knows how many other women, had to go through on their wedding night, too.”
She shuddered her shoulders like she had something creepy crawly on her back.
Her remark made Ethan pause, thinking what it must be like for a mail-order bride to meet a man, marry and consummate the marriage before getting to know the real person behind the letter writer. How many marriages turned out truly happy? How many women ended up married to an abusive man, never knowing it until after the ceremony?
And how many people didn’t reveal children in their letters? Helen didn’t tell what’s his name. Ethan was sure women arrived in their new home not realizing they’d just married a widower with a house full of children, either.
Why did women agree to be mail-order brides? He only had to look across the desk at Mrs. Higby’s too-thin figure, not eating so her four fatherless daughters could instead, to figure out why. They did it to survive in many cases.
At least they landed in the right town to have this terrible thing happen to them. The people in Clear Creek generally were decent people, all settling here from somewhere else after the Civil War ended.
“I’m sorry we have to have this conversation, Mrs. Higby, but...”
“I understand you can’t let us stay here, but...”
Ethan stopped and put his hand up because she was about to protest, but he needed to put her mind to ease.
“I’m sorry we’re having this conversations because it means your marriage didn’t go as you’d planned. You don’t have to leave, as the community fund is helping you out. Cora Hamner, set up this fund with money from her grandfather’s estate to help families when emergencies hit them.”
Her pretty face changed from pink to pale and pink again as emotions displayed her feelings.
“Your family is welcome to stay here as long as you need to, unless you want to travel back to Pennsylvania?”
“We’d be in as bad or worse situation as we are here, so...” Mrs. Higby raised her shoulders a second before dropping them again in silent admission.
“Because we’ll be spending time together, I’d ask you call me Ethan, and if I may address you as Helen?”
“I suppose that would be acceptable. People seem to be less formal here than back East.”
“I’ll use your proper name when we’re in public, but I like your first name, and I’d like to use it, Helen.” Ethan liked the tiny smile that hinted at the corner of her mouth.
“So where in Pennsylvania are you from?” Ethan was anxious to hear her life story and how she managed to survive with four daughters in tow.
“Gettysburg.” Helen’s face turned hard and still with the single word. Ethan sucked in his breath realizing what that could mean.
“Were you living there during the battle?” Everyone knew about the July 1863 Civil War battle because of the newspaper reports. The three-day battle killed nine thousand soldiers, three thousand horses and left thousands of soldiers wounded.
“Our farm was south of town where the battle took place.”
In other words, their land was covered with dead and wounded bodies at the end of the three-day fight. Did the family lose their home and outbuildings, too?
“I was twenty and newly married. Besides finding my husband among the dead, my father and two brothers perished also.” Helen stated the fact as she stared at her hands clasped on her lap.
Ethan closed his eyes, thinking of what it must have been like, searching for her loved ones in the mass of bodies, many maybe no longer recognizable due to their wounds. He’d read the townspeople were left to tend to the burial and wounded because so many thousands of soldiers were involved in this historic battle.
“Iva Mae’s father?”
“Ivan Rolander died before meeting his daughter. She’s ten years old now, and wiser than she should be at her age.”
“What did you do, after...” After burying your family?
“Marvin Montgomery, a merchant in Gettysburg, offered to let me and my mother move in with his family. His wife was an invalid and needed
help.”
“How long did you live there before marrying again?” The girls’ comments had made Ethan wonder how many men Helen had been involved with.
“My mother passed...but…I continued to live there until ‘68, when I moved to York, Pennsylvania, looking for a job and place to live.”
1868? How old was Maridell? About five or six?
“Yes, he was Maridell’s father, but not by my choice. I can see you calculating her birth. She turned six last month.”
Ethan didn’t say anything realizing it could have been a traumatic event when Maridell was conceived.
“One of the girls said you worked in a hotel in York?” Ethan tried to push the conversation through to hopefully a better time frame for Helen and the girls.
“Yes, a kindly older widower, Arvid Lindsmier, hired me as a maid and gave us room and board.” Helen had a sad smile on her face.
“After a year he asked me to marry him and I said yes for the girls’ sake.”
“So why aren’t you still there?”
“He died of a heart attack three years ago, and his older sons suggested I leave.”
“Avalee’s half-brothers?” Ethan guessed.
“Her relationship to them didn’t matter, nor the fact I’d been running the hotel for their father during his heart spells.” Helen arched her neck as to get a kink out of it.
“So, to finish my background, I married Luella’s father, Lawrence Higby, to put a roof over our heads. He was a railroad conductor and luckily gone most of the time. The fact that Luella was not the son he wanted, but also crippled, was his reasoning for surprising me with a divorce.” Helen’s lips were pursed tight with suppressed anger.
“And so since then...”
“We’ve survived while I waited for the answer of the mail-order bride advertisement I applied for. And we know how that turned out today.” Helen folded her arms against her chest in a mad gesture but tears were threatening to drop from her green eyes.
“I’m truly sorry for your problems. I think you received four wonderful daughters for your misfortunes, though.”
“Four children who deserve a better life, food, shelter and clothing than what I’ve been able to give them.” She said with a mixture of anger and despair. At least the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks had dried with her anger.
Ethan studied her as she looked back through the doorway to view the girls. They all sat huddled together on the sofa Ethan hoped his housekeeper had gotten around to cleaning. June was young and energetic, but forgot half of the things Ethan pointed out that needed to be done. Ethan felt his face flush when he realized June stared at him like he was a prime steak, not an employer giving her tasks to do. June would love to change her position from maid to wife. Is this what Helen had done in her situation at the York hotel, of course for the betterment of her girls?
Helen turned back, giving his office a critical eye as she studied the piles of papers he’d avoided. What was she thinking?
“Are you needing any help here at the hotel, Mr. Paulson?” Helen tilted her head, now studying him.
“I thought we settled on calling me Ethan. And why would you think I needed help here? I have a cook, waitress and housekeeper. And I take care of the book work.” Although I’m way behind.
“And who fills in when the help have a day off, or are sick?”
Helen caught him off guard. “Well, my mother did when she was here.” More like she bossed everyone around so they worked harder and didn’t dare miss a day of work.
“The housekeeping chores will increase with the weather turning to more mud, snow and ice. The floors will need a constant vigil so no one falls on a slick floor. And I’ll guarantee you’ll be washing more sheets and towels during the winter than you want to count.”
“You have good points since the hotel hasn’t gone through the seasons yet.”
“I also noticed most of your dining room tables are empty during meal times. Why is that?”
“We only serve meals to the hotel guests.” What was Helen getting at?
“If you would open the dining room to the public, you could expand your income and your staff pool, thus giving your employees time off. They shouldn’t be working seven days a week.”
Ethan opened his mouth to speak, but Helen continued talking.
“And how often is the big room off the dining room used?”
“Uh, we’ve used it twice. Once for our grand opening, and the other time for a surprise wedding reception.” At lease he could say it had been used.
“You could book the room for so many more uses, and not only for paid events. Start a morning men’s coffee hour, a woman’s afternoon club. Offer the room, free of charge, for certain gatherings so people think of the room when they need a large room—and food—for receptions. Have you set the date for your annual Christmas party yet?”
Ethan stared at the woman across the desk from him. Who was she? Helen had changed from an upset mother to...his mother. Well, full of ideas without his mother’s bristly attitude.
Ethan could still hear his mother’s command. You’re in charge of the hotel while we’re gone. We’ll see if you can handle it. It was his father’s idea to travel for a while, leaving Ethan to manage the hotel, probably without his mother’s interference. Ethan had to admit it hadn’t gone well the first weeks on his own. And he better be showing a profit on the books, besides a clean hotel when his parents returned, or he’d never be out from under his mother’s thumb.
“And so you’re asking if I need help because...”
“I would like to offer my help in exchange for our room and board and a small salary. I’m not helpless, especially since I’ve done about every job imaginable in a hotel.”
Ethan realized she would benefit from the job just as much as he would.
But what would his mother think of the girls running down the hall, or playing in the lobby? He’d figure it out before his parents arrived home in December. Surely the family would find another place to live by then.
“The community fund has paid for two weeks already, but I could upgrade your room to a suite for your work in the hotel.”
“A suite? Where is that? On the third floor? That’s usually the manager’s or owners quarters.”
Why didn’t she just say yes without asking questions he didn’t want to answer? Ethan fidgeted in his chair, feeling like a little boy caught in a lie.
“Yes, there are two suites on the third floor. One is mine and the other is my parents.”
“Oh, we couldn’t take over a family suite. We can manage in the room we are in.”
“My parents are traveling and I’m rattling around in the whole third floor by myself. I can easily move my clothing and few personal things into my parent’s suite while they are gone, and you can use my suite.”
“But...”
“Then you’d have a parlor, a small kitchen and dining room, two bedrooms and a bath room.”
“No...”
“Please, Momma? We had more room in a rail car than that little room upstairs.” When had Maridell slid into the room, with Avalee right beside her? Ethan looked out to the settee in the lobby and worried now that it was empty, well, except for the book lying upside down on the seat and the mud on the front of the seat June hadn’t gotten around to cleaning off yet. Where were the other two girls?
Helen looked down at Maridell and Avalee, then looked into the lobby.
“Where’s Iva Mae and Luella?”
“Luella had to potty,” Avalee answered while rubbing the front of her dress. Did she need to use the commode in their room, too?
Ethan rose from his chair thinking it was time for all the girls to go upstairs. When one little girl had to go, didn’t all the others have to go, too? He was thinking about his new lobby furniture again and didn’t want any more stains on them.
“Please think about it tonight and give me an answer in the morning,” Ethan urged Helen as he all but pushed them out of the o
ffice.
Helen, the tired version, was back in front of him now. The worried mother had taken the place of the formal hotel matron who he’d just been conversing with. A little hand on either side of her automatically reached for their mother’s and she complied, probably without a second thought.
“Thank you so much for all you’ve done for us today, Mr. Paulson. I don’t know what we would have done without yours and the communities’ help.”
“Please, call me Ethan. And you’re welcome, Helen.” Ethan wanted to pull her to his chest to give her comfort and support. Why hadn’t he ever had that urge with Sarah?
Chapter 6
Helen paused halfway down the stairs the next morning on their way to breakfast, taking in the interior of the hotel lobby. Large windows next to the double doors gave great light to the lobby, and also showed the dust on the furniture. Area rugs, more than she would have laid out, softened the echoing you could have gotten in a large area, but they needed a good brushing. She wondered if they had been taken out and beaten clean since they had been laid in place this summer.
A few large landscape paintings on the walls would help with the sounds bouncing around the room and give the lobby a nice touch of ambiance.
Furniture was of very good quality and set in three groupings for conversation. The light upholstery fabric showed dirt and stains already though.
The front waist-high desk had a pile of paperwork on the side, which Ethan worked on between waiting on customers, which were fewer than what she expected for such a nice hotel.
Of the twenty rooms, she guessed not half of them were occupied. What would it take to continually fill a nice hotel in this tiny frontier town? It was something to consider while planning her talk with Ethan. Helen had laid awake half the night, first thinking about the catastrophe of her latest marriage, and then thinking of ways to support her children.
Obviously, to her thinking anyway, taking over this hotel and promoting its potential would be the best job for her in town. If Ethan didn’t accept her proposal, she’d look for a waitress, cook or sales position, either here or in Ellsworth. Considering the amount of cowboys and cattle around Ellsworth, Helen preferred Clear Creek for the safety of her girls, and to be away from the smell of manure, which seemed to hang in the air in the cattle town.
Helen Heals A Hotelier (Brides With Grit Book 10) Page 5