The Housekeeper's Proposal

by Barbara Goss

  Jeremy nodded and smiled. “I’d wondered about that.”

  Kate continued, “According to Geraldine and Jeb, Ethel hated Helen, but she hasn’t said too much about it to me. I think I’ll try to question her more tomorrow. Geraldine is so sweet and she never stops talking, but Ethel is harder to get information from. Abe’s hard to read, though he’s always proper and not as outgoing as Jeb.”

  “Well,” he said as they walked up to the front door, “you’ve gotten their personalities down pat. I agree with your observations.”

  Kate stopped dead in her tracks. “I can’t go in the front door!”

  “Why ever not?” he asked.

  “I’m a servant. I have to use the back door,” she turned to walk around to the back, but he grabbed her arm.

  “When you’re with me, you can enter any door you want. Now, come,” he said, opening the front door.

  Kate could hardly wait for Jeremy to come home and take her to visit her old homestead. In the meantime, she decided to discover what Ethel might tell her about Helen. She went upstairs and found her making a bed in the blue room.

  “Hello, Ethel,” she said when Ethel looked up from her work. “Any problems to report?”

  “No, Kate, all’s well,” she said without so much as a smile; Ethel rarely smiled.

  Kate sat down on a wooden chair by the bed. “I’m convinced Mr. Walker couldn’t step on an ant, much less kill someone.” She tried to sound nonchalant. “What was his wife like, anyway?”

  “A royal pain. Always get this, do that,” Ethel said. “Mr. Walker didn’t care for her and I think he may have been pushed a bit too far. Still water runs deep, you know.”

  Kate was taken aback by her answer. So far, Ethel had been the only one to even hint at the possibility that Jeremy could kill someone. She certainly wouldn’t have visited an abandoned house with him if she’d thought even for one moment that he could kill anyone.

  “That’s true, of course,” Kate replied. “Where do you think she went for the weeks before she died?”

  “I think she tried to find the father of her baby and when she couldn’t find him, she came back. Mr. Walker had to be disappointed at her return and had to think about getting himself out of the marriage another way,” Ethel said.

  Kate considered her words before saying, “He could have gotten an annulment.”

  “They take time. Once the baby had been born, being her husband, he’d legally be the kid’s father and have to support him or her for years.” Ethel picked up the dirty linen and walked to the door.

  “Don’t let him fool you—he runs his business with an iron fist, and he can do the same at home,” Ethel said. “Beware of the wolf in sheep’s clothing.” She left the room.

  Kate shivered. Could Jeremy be a murderer? She tried to banish the notion, but even the slightest bit of doubt was enough to give Kate the shivers. Ethel had brought up some interesting arguments in regard to Jeremy having to support Helen’s child if they’d stayed married.

  Would she be safe going to an empty house with Jeremy? She waved away her fear. Of course, she’d be safe. She wouldn’t let Ethel’s opinion faze her.

  She still had time before Jeremy came home, so she made preparations for their pot roast dinner. The roast had been warming on the stove for a few hours by then, and she just needed to mash some potatoes and whip up some biscuits. For dessert, she’d made him a strawberry and rhubarb pie.

  It was another lovely spring day, so she decided to spend some time outside. She walked around to the back of the house to admire the garden. Jake had made the flowerbed in the shape of a figure eight and some of the annual flowers had already started to pop up from the ground. She saw that Jake was planting some new flowers on the other side of the bed, so she walked over.

  “Hello, I’m Kate Hammond, the new housekeeper.”

  The young man stood. “Nice to meet you, Miss Hammond. I’m Jake Haskell. I’ve known your brother for years. How is he?”

  “Ornery as ever, Jake.”

  “Ah, he’s a good one, Griff is,” he said. “Say, aren’t you the one who found that body?”

  Kate nodded. “I’m the unfortunate one.”

  “A shame. She was too young to die.” He shook his head. “I think Mr. Walker got himself into a jam and didn’t know how to get himself out of it.”

  “You think he killed her?” she asked in a loud whisper.

  “Who else?”

  “I don’t know, but he couldn’t have put her in the cellar,” Kate said. “He was on his way home from the lumberyard at the time.”

  “No, but Jeb would do just about anything for him,” Jake said. “As would Abe, for that matter.”

  “Have you ever seen Mr. Walker angry enough to kill someone?” she asked.

  “No,” Jake said, “but just the same, he’s the only one with a motive.”

  “It was nice meeting you, Jake. I’ll let you get back to your planting.”

  So far, Kate had only heard good things about Jeremy from Jeb and Geraldine and she still felt sure he wasn’t able to harm anyone, but so far that day, however, she’d heard the total opposite—she didn’t know what to think.

  Chapter 10

  Once again, Kate and Jeremy headed down the road toward her old homestead. She didn’t put her arm through his this time, so they walked side by side. The night before, she’d felt the need to show him she cared, owing to his sad childhood story, but now that element of sympathy was missing. She’d had slight doubts after questioning Ethel and Jake, but upon Jeremy’s arrival home, when he'd walked into the kitchen, his eyes lit up when he spotted her, and that was when the doubts had vanished.

  “How was your morning at the lumberyard?”

  “Great. Two big orders were successfully delivered, and we took four new orders. People are moving to Hays and building houses, and since we’re the only lumberyard…it’s profitable, but busy.”

  “Yes. The whole north side of town has one home after another popping up. I think it helped when Hays stopped the cattle drives from coming here, don’t you?” she asked.

  “Oh, certainly,” Jeremy said. “No one wanted to go into town when the cattlemen were around. There were constant shootings and killings. Having a good sheriff helps, too, I have to say, although there’s little love between Griff and me, he does a good job.”

  Kate smiled proudly. “He does.”

  “Have you accomplished any more of your interrogating?” Jeremy asked.

  “Yes, but I don’t feel up to talking about it just now.”

  “I thought we were partners.”

  “I planned to tell you, just not right now,” Kate said. “We’re almost at the house, and I’m so excited, I can’t think straight.”

  “Fair enough,” Jeremy said.

  When they got there, Jeremy checked and discovered all the doors locked.

  “I’ll climb in through the window and come around and open the front door,” he said. “Okay?”

  “That would be great.” She smiled. It felt so good just to be standing on the porch of the old place. While Jeremy climbed in through the window, she reminisced about how she’d once sat on that very same porch with her grandmother, snapping string beans.

  Jeremy opened the front door and Kate stepped inside. Though the porch had stirred her memories, the inside of the house did not. The few pieces of furniture Griff had left behind, lay overturned and garbage was strewn about; it was a mess. She stood gazing around at it all in disbelief “Squatters, probably,” he said.

  “This has no resemblance to my home at all.” She walked through the sitting room and shivered. “It looks as if no one else has lived here since we left.”

  Kate started up the stairs to walk through the bedrooms and Jeremy followed. “This was my room,” she said, stopping in front of one of the bedroom doors. “My bed was there, and…what’s that?” She pointed to a colored object on the floor.

  Jeremy bent and picked it up. “It looks like a
hair ribbon.” He held it out so Kate could see. “Don’t tell me it once belonged to you?”

  “No, but there’s something about it. I’ve seen this unusual style of ribbon before. See the silver thread woven through it? She shrugged. “Perhaps I saw it in the general store.”

  “Shall we take it with us or leave it here?” Jeremy asked.

  Leave it. I have plenty of ribbons and it’s all dirty, besides.”

  Jeremy set the ribbon on the windowsill. He led her down the stairs, through to the back of the house, and into the kitchen.

  “It looks like someone has stayed here very recently,” he said.

  “How can you tell?”

  “The pieces of bread on the counter in the kitchen aren’t green yet. They’re hard, though,” he said, picking up a bit of a crust and tapping it on the counter.

  For some reason, that gave Kate chills and she shuttered.

  “It’s nothing to worry about. There are always squatters and the homeless looking for shelter. Sometimes travelers might stop if they are need shelter for the night,” he said.

  “Is there anything else in here you’d like to see?” he asked.

  “Yes... my grandmother’s room.”

  Kate led him to the room off the dining area. When she looked inside her grandmother’s bedroom she froze in the doorway, let out a small scream, and threw herself into Jeremy’s arms.

  “Kate, what is it?” Jeremy said, taking full advantage of the situation to pull her closer.

  “Something just scampered across the floor and under the closet door.”

  “It’s probably just a mouse. With all the food left around, it’s no wonder.”

  Kate didn’t know why, but she began to cry. It seemed almost like someone had desecrated her family’s memories by trashing her home and housing mice.

  Jeremy rested his chin on her head and patted her back.

  Still clutching Jeremy tightly in case the mouse returned, Kate turned slightly and looked into the room.

  She stared at the bed, the very bed her grandmother had died in. She and Griff hadn’t taken it with them when they’d moved; there was no room for it in the small flat they’d rented. There it stood, alone in the room and unmade. Kate clearly remembered they’d left the bed neatly made up, covered with a quilt their grandmother had made. Now, the quilt was all crumpled up and entangled with the sheet. The bed had been slept in… Could it have been recently?

  She turned, rested her head on Jeremy’s chest, and continued to weep.

  “I’m sorry, Kate. Have you seen enough? Shall we leave?”

  She nodded against his chest, but instead of letting her go, he pulled her a bit closer. “I would never have brought you here if I had known the condition of the house and that it would upset you so.”

  Kate welcomed the comfort of his arms and chest. She found herself putting her arms around his back and clinging to him.

  Jeremy wasn’t sure how he should react. This beautiful—albeit upset—woman clung to him tightly. He felt so affected by her nearness that his mind led him to places he dared not go. He kept telling himself that she was just scared and upset. He had to remind himself that she wasn’t clinging to him because she cared for him, but because she was frightened. He kept patting her back, trying to console her as well as keep her close to him.

  When she raised her head and looked up at him, he came undone. Her watery eyes and blotchy, red nose melted him and, without giving it a moment’s thought, he found his lips moving toward hers. The moment their lips touched, he knew he’d made a huge mistake. He thought she’d pull away, maybe slap him and that would be the end of their relationship but she didn’t do any of those things.

  She seemed stunned at first, but then she began to return his kiss, driving him to the brink of his sanity. She actually kissed him back! Then, while still kissing him, she put her arms around his neck and caressed the back of it. Feeling lost and weak, he pulled her closer. The kiss felt amazing, and he didn’t want it to ever stop for fear he’d have to face her, and what might he say to her then?

  The kiss didn’t end. He sure wasn’t going to end it, but he did reposition his lips a few times, and she had done the same. They seemed to be like two hungry fish grabbing a worm and refusing to let it go no matter how much it wiggled.

  His hand automatically went to her waist, and he pulled her even closer as the kiss heated him to the boiling point. He knew she could feel his desire, but she didn’t pull away. He prayed she wouldn’t because he’d never felt anything this amazing in his entire life!

  When the kiss finally ended, he wasn’t sure which of them had broken it first.

  They were both quiet and trying to get their breathing back to normal again, and she hid her face against his chest as if embarrassed.

  He stroked her hair. “That kiss was amazing, Kate.”

  “How did it happen?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure. I hadn't planned it. I became drawn to your lips like a magnet to metal.” He paused and lifted her chin up so she would look at him. “Should I apologize?”

  “No. No apologies,” she murmured, “but I’m not sure amazing is the right word for that kiss. Earth-shattering might be a better description!”

  Jeremy had never wanted a woman so badly in his life. Not that he’d been with many, but Kate was the closest he’d ever come to being tempted to go further. He’d never lain with a woman, owing to his strict following of the Bible. He’d kissed a few women in his life, but never anything like that.

  “Do you think we’ll be able to step back into our normal lives after this?” he asked.

  Kate studied him. “Do you mean forget it ever happened?”

  “No, never that,” he moaned hoarsely. “I meant, could still pretend to be housekeeper and employer?”

  “I could if we can be like we are now when we’re alone. Don’t forget our partnership, Jeremy—we have to clear your name.”

  He lifted her chin up again and looked into her eyes. “You mean you’d like to continue this loving relationship in private?”

  “I would,” she said. “More than anything.”

  He hugged her to him again and rocked her in his arms. “Now that I’ve been to heaven, I don’t want to go back either.”

  “We’ll have to be very good at acting,” she said.

  “And when the job is done, then what?” he whispered in her ear.

  “I don’t know. We’ll have to see how we feel then, I guess.”

  As they walked back to Jeremy’s house, he said, “You haven’t told me how your investigation went today.”

  After a brief hesitation, she said, “No, I didn’t. It wasn’t good at all.”

  “Tell me,” he said.

  “Ethel thinks you killed Helen and so does Jake. It upset me because their arguments were so convincing, I started to have doubts.”

  Jeremy stopped walking and turned her to face him. “Tell me you don’t still think I killed Helen. I really need to hear that from you.” How could he dream of a future for them if she thought him capable of doing such a heinous act?

  “I don’t. I did have lingering doubts, but now that I know you so much better, I know you couldn’t harm anyone,” she said.

  “Are you sure?” he asked. “No more doubts?”

  “I would never have returned your kiss—or even allowed it—if I had even the slightest doubt. My negative interviews today had instilled small doubts that nagged at me, but as soon as you came home from work and I saw the look in your eyes when you saw me, the doubts vanished.

  He breathed out and then smiled. “That means the world to me. I don’t care what anyone thinks of me anymore, except for you. I need you to believe in me. I knew that even before today, but I didn’t know why. I think I know why now.”

  Chapter 11

  Early Sunday morning, Kate rode the buggy back home so Griff could take a woman he was sweet on for a Sunday drive. After she and Griff attended church, she went home and laundered her
clothes despite her aunt’s offer to wash them for her—she enjoyed chores that would keep her mind off the body she’d recently found.

  While her clothes were drying, she pulled down the old, wooden recipe box from on top of the stove. Inside were all of her grandmother’s recipes; though her favorites were never put down on paper, Kate knew them from memory.

  She pulled out a few recipes and put them into her valise to take back to Jeremy’s. She’d spotted him in church, sitting in the back in the seat closest to the exit. She knew he’d be out the door right after the benediction so he wouldn’t have to face anyone. Poor Jeremy.

  She’d seen Griff only briefly as he’d returned home late, and she’d left early the following morning for Jeremy’s. They’d barely exchanged pleasantries, which suited her just fine.

  As she rode to Jeremy’s, she realized how anxious she was to see him again. She wondered how long it would be before they could be alone and kiss. She felt warmth in her chest just thinking about it, making her more determined to clear his name by finding out who had killed Helen.

  About a mile before she reached the Walkers’ house, she saw a rider racing toward her. Since it was the first time she’d ever met anyone on the road while traveling alone, she stiffened. The sun had just crested the horizon, and she couldn’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable out there in the wilderness alone. She reached down and touched the gun tucked into her boot, hoping she wouldn’t have to use it.

  As the rider approached, she saw him rein in, and she immediately smiled—Jeremy!

  He jumped off of his horse and walked over to her buggy.

  “I have to start earlier today, but I didn’t want to miss seeing you to wish you a pleasant day,” he said.

  She smiled. “I would have been very disappointed if I’d arrived at your house to find you’d already left for the day.”

  As he stood by her buggy, he reached out and touched her arm, sending goose bumps through her body. “May I sit with you for a few minutes?”