“I’d invite you to supper tonight, but I’m afraid I need to neaten up my cabin first. Would you dine with me tomorrow?”
She looked at him for a moment before nodding. “I suppose I could do that. Would you like for me to cook?”
“Are you a good cook, Miss Hazel?”
“I think you’re going to find out tomorrow evening, won’t you?”
2
An hour later, Hazel was ensconced in her room above the store of Dandy’s mercantile. The room wasn’t anything special, but it would do for a week or two . . . at least until her girls were settled and ready for her to go. Why did she hope they needed her to stay longer and they wouldn’t settle in as well as they usually did?
As she unpacked her things, she couldn’t help but think about George. He was a good man—a Mountie like her son and like all the men she sent her girls out to marry. There was something special about him that made her heart flutter in a way that hadn’t happened to her since she had first started courting Stanley.
It wasn’t that there was a resemblance between the men. Her Stanley had resembled nothing more than a tall beanpole in stature, while George . . . George was a man of many muscles. She looked at him in his red serge jacket, and she could feel his strength radiating from him. When she had held onto his arm as they’d walked to the church, it had made her feel so much more than a widow of a certain age—not that she was willing to reveal that age—should feel.
It was odd, and she hated to admit it even to herself, but she had some feelings growing inside her for George. She wasn’t sure if it was just that it had been so long since she’d shared her bed with a man—since before Stanley’s death, of course—or if he was really as special as he seemed to be. Either way, George seemed to be thinking of her the same way she was thinking of him, and she would have to give the new budding relationship as much time as it needed to flourish.
Hazel wouldn’t overstay her welcome though. She knew better. People didn’t like it when old ladies took up residence in their homes and refused to leave. No, she’d stay only as long as there was hope for something to develop between her and George and until the girls were settled. Not even a minute longer—unless the train wasn’t scheduled for ten minutes, but that was something she couldn’t help.
She sat at the foot of the small bed in the small spare room the Dandys had offered her, and she stared straight ahead for a moment, a small smile on her face. Hazel loved to be busy. She secretly read every romance novel she could put her hands on because romance novels made her happy. She had six in her bag right now, making it a great deal heavier than it should have been. Instead of reading, she was daydreaming about her own possible future with a certain man in red serge. There had to be something wrong with her.
She looked up at a knock on the door and smiled toward Mrs. Dandy—a sweet woman not much older than herself. She was certain the two of them could become bosom buddies if they allowed themselves to. Hazel had never had any particular problem making friends though. She was outgoing, friendly, and more important than anything else, she was a giver. If she thought someone needed something she had more than she did, she was happy to give it away.
“It’s time for supper, Mrs. Hughes. I invited one of the local Mounties to join us because I was told you have a son who is a Mountie.”
Hazel smiled, not needing to ask who the local Mountie who had been invited was. The other Mounties were all at home with their new brides, hopefully settling in well and not fighting with the women she had brought them. “Thank you, Mrs. Dandy. I appreciate you letting me know.”
She got to her feet and followed the other woman out of her room and to the dining room. When she’d arrived, she’d been led straight to her room, so she hadn’t had an opportunity to see the kitchen, dining area, sitting room. When they reached the dining room, she wasn’t surprised to see George sitting with Mr. Dandy.
George immediately rose to his feet, smiling at Hazel. She was pleased to see that he’d had the manners to not wear his hat in the house. No one taught manners anymore, and it was delightful to see a handsome, good man with manners. “Miss Hazel,” he said, bowing his head slightly.
Hazel smiled at him, trying not to let her utter delight show at his joining them for the evening meal. “George. I had no idea you’d be staying.”
George shrugged, his shoulders looking even broader and more muscular with the gesture. “I didn’t know I was staying either, but when Mrs. Dandy invited me, I couldn’t very well turn her down and pass up the opportunity to spend time with the most beautiful woman I’ve met in many years.”
Hazel shook her head, a smile on her face. “I think maybe it’s time for you to get fitted for some spectacles, George.” Secretly she was thrilled with the compliment. Stanley had told her how beautiful she was to him every single day. For another man to say the same thing brought back all those warm feelings she missed from having a soulmate.
George just smiled at her, seeming to understand the reason for her words. He walked over and pulled out the chair across from his own, waiting until she was seated and pushing the chair in. “The men seemed to be pleased with their matches so far. I half-expected Liam to come running to me, telling me I needed to get his mam here right away to help him figure out how to be with his new bride.”
Hazel laughed, loving the mental picture George’s words gave her. “Would Liam do that? Is he something of a mama’s boy?”
George shrugged as he took his seat again, his gaze never leaving Miss Hazel. “Maybe he is. Maybe he isn’t. I do know that he writes his mother and receives letters from her far more often than any of the other men do. I think that’s just showing a good solid upbringing though. Does your boy write you often?”
“Teddy? He used to, but usually now I find the letters I get from British Columbia are from his wife, Jess. Jess has more time to sit down and pen letters than Teddy does, and she is so much more newsy. Teddy’s letters were so sparse on details. He’d write the he missed my cooking more often than not. Sometimes he’d tell me he was lonely. Usually it was just him telling me that he was doing fine and missing me.” She leaned toward him, her forearms on the table. “Do you write to your mother?”
George laughed. “Not afraid to ask what you want to know, are you?”
“No, I’m really not. I’ve found that if people spent less time beating around the bush, they would have the answers they’re looking for in a fraction of the time. I have no time or energy for waste, and those would be a lot of wasted words. Well, do you?”
George nodded. “My mother and I write at least once a week. She lost my father about five years ago, and I almost retired then to help her out, but she told me that it would be a shame if Canada lost one of its men in red serge just because she was lonely. So I stayed here and kept working.”
Hazel smiled at that. “I like that you were willing to go and help your mother out, but I like even more than you listened to her and did what she told you.” Hazel looked over and noticed that Mr. Dandy had been listening to every word. She refused to be embarrassed. “And do you write to your mother, Mr. Dandy?”
Mr. Dandy let out a bark of laughter. “I was wondering when the two of you would wake up from the rapture of each other’s eyes and notice I was here. My mother died when I was but a boy. I was raised by an elderly aunt and uncle who passed away shortly after I married Mrs. Dandy.”
“And how long ago was that?”
“We’ve been married thirty-eight years. It’s been a glorious life with a woman who means the world to me.” Mr. Dandy smiled as his wife carried a platter with roast beef to the table.
Miss Hazel had to resist the temptation to get up and help. She was paying for the meal as well as the room, though, and she knew most women wouldn’t allow her to help. And she loved sitting there with George, even when she was asking questions of Mr. Dandy, her full focus was still on the Mountie. “I think that’s lovely. I was only married eighteen years when my husband passed aw
ay.”
“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” George said softly. And he was sorry for her, but he was happy for himself. Miss Hazel was obviously a woman who would never allow herself to stray when she was committed to a man. So he only had a chance because of the other man’s death.
Hazel nodded. “It’s been a long time now.” And she felt that it was time for her to move on. It was almost as if the day she’d removed Stanley’s ring from her finger, she’d freed her heart to love again.
“When was the last time you saw your son?” George asked softly, changing the subject. He wanted to know all he could about her as soon as he could. The more he knew, the better he would be able to approach a courtship with her.
“It’s been about six weeks,” Hazel said softly. “Every time I drop off a new group of women, I go back through British Columbia to see him and his sweet wife.”
“I’m glad you get along so well with your daughter-in-law. That’s rare from what I’ve seen and heard over the years.”
Hazel grinned. “Well, remember, I did hand-pick her for Teddy. I’ve known Jess since she was a little girl, and she’s had a crush on my boy for years and years. I think it’s wonderful that he realized he loved her as well.”
“So tell me, Miss Hazel, what do you wish you could do but you never have?” George asked.
Mr. Dandy leaned back in his chair and just watched the conversation. There was obviously no point in him trying to participate anyway. The matchmaker and the Mountie were obviously enamored of one another.
“I want to travel. I decided to do just that a little over a year ago, and Jess and I went to Boston, but while I was there, I came up with the idea of her and Teddy getting married.” Miss Hazel looked down at her hands for a moment. “They were my very first match!”
“Just don’t match me with anyone, please.”
Miss Hazel eyed George for a moment. “I won’t. I can’t imagine you with a mail order bride.”
George wasn’t sure if her words were meant to soothe him or bother him. Either way, he was glad when the last dish was set on the table and Mrs. Dandy took her seat. “Will you pray over the meal, George?” she asked softly.
George nodded, bowing his head and saying a quick prayer of thanks. “Thank you for the invitation, Mrs. Dandy. I was getting ready to eat my own cooking again, and I always prefer yours.”
Mrs. Dandy smiled. “We’re always pleased to have you at our table, George. This town is going to miss you when you’re ready to retire.”
Miss Hazel looked at George. “How long have you been stationed here in Flying Squirrel?” she asked.
“Almost five years. At the end of this month it will be not only five years, but time for me to retire.”
She couldn’t help but wonder if she should plan to stay for the rest of the month then . . . if that’s how long he’d be there, maybe he would accompany her to British Columbia to see Teddy, Jess, and her darling grandbaby, Jack. “That’s a long time for a Mountie to be in one place.”
“They left me here to train the new men, and it was too close to my retirement for them to transfer me out. It made sense for me to stay.”
“Are you looking forward to retirement?” Miss Hazel forgot the Dandys were dining with them and only had eyes for George. When she and Stanley had courted so many years before, she’d had to observe all the social niceties, but now she was a matron, and no one was really watching her manners. That was a good thing because it wasn’t uncommon for her to be stuck up a tree.
George nodded. “I am. I’ve been on the force for more than thirty-five years. I’ve worked with First Nations, and I’ve worked in cities. It’s time for me to move on with my life. I think I’ll find a small lake up in the mountains somewhere, so far away from other people that no one can find me. I’ll never leave.”
“Can you do that? Do you have the ability to be completely self-sufficient?” she asked, a bit amazed. There were very few people who were skilled enough to pull something like that off.
“Well, I’d probably have to leave for supplies every year or so. I wish I wouldn’t though.”
Miss Hazel took a bite of her mashed potatoes, smiling over at Mrs. Dandy. “This meal is delicious.” When she was focused on George again, she said, “You won’t get lonely?”
George shrugged. “I don’t think I will, but the truth is there’s never been a time in my life when I haven’t been around people. Maybe I need them, and I just don’t realize it.”
She studied him carefully. She had always needed the people she loved, but she didn’t know if she needed to live in a busy city like the nation’s capital to be happy. Perhaps she did. “I don’t know if I need people or not,” she said softly. “I do know I’d never be happy if I didn’t have easy access to my grandson.”
George frowned at that. Was she telling him she didn’t like his ideas for the future? “I’m sure you’d adjust well, Miss Hazel. There’s something about you that tells me that you could handle anything thrown at you.”
Miss Hazel nodded, feeling a sadness deep inside her. “Maybe the difference is that I could handle it if I wanted to, but I have no desire to live in a world where I couldn’t see the people I love on a very regular basis.”
Mrs. Dandy realized there was something off, and like the experienced hostess she was, changed the subject adeptly, asking all about Miss Hazel’s grandson.
By the end of the meal, Hazel had forgotten all about the difference of opinion at supper, but George hadn’t. As soon as the meal was over, he walked around the table and pulled her chair out for her. “Would you care to go for a walk, Miss Hazel?”
Hazel smiled. “Nothing would make me happier. Could we walk near that beautiful little lake we saw when we got to town?”
George nodded, escorting her to the door. Just before he opened it, he turned to Mrs. Dandy. “Thank you for a wonderful meal. I promise to have her home before dark.”
It was all Miss Hazel could do not to giggle at the last thing he said. She hadn’t been answering to anyone about when she returned home in the evening for a great many years.
As soon as they’d descended the stairs and begun walking, George offered Hazel his arm. His mind was still on their suppertime conversation. “Were you trying to say that if a man offered you marriage and his undying love, but he didn’t live close to your grandchild, you wouldn’t marry him?”
Hazel immediately stopped walking. “I can’t imagine a man who loved me expecting me to choose.” Her words were simple and clearly stated. They were the full truth as she knew it. If George couldn’t see that she needed people she loved in her life, then he obviously wasn’t the man for her.
He nodded once and resumed walking, a frown on his face. The cabin he’d purchased was in Northwest Territories, not in British Columbia. Maybe he would have to look into relocating his retirement spot. But he was getting ahead of himself.
As they walked, he pointed out the natural beauty of the area. They walked around the lake, where a family of beavers was building a dam. It made her feel warm inside. Just like her son, Teddy, and his beautiful bride, Jess, were building their home and creating a life for themselves, so were these beavers. God’s creatures never ceased to amaze her.
They said little as they walked, just enjoying each other’s company, each of them thinking about the changes that would have to be made if they decided they wanted to spend their lives together. Hazel wasn’t sure if she was ready to give up her beautiful home in Ottawa where she’d lived with Stanley and raised Teddy.
George wasn’t sure he was ready to give up his beautiful lake with his small cabin, a place he’d dreamed about for the past ten years. She seemed awfully special to him, but she’d have to be more than special for him to be willing to make a change like that.
As he walked her back to the mercantile, his mind went to the mess in his home that needed to be cleaned up before she could come over and cook the next day. He absentmindedly leaned down to give her a pec
k on the cheek. “Goodnight, Miss Hazel. I’ll dream of you,” he said as he walked away.
Hazel stood staring after him, her hand on her cheek where his lips had brushed. What was the world coming to when an old lady like her had her heart fluttering over a man?
3
Miss Hazel woke the following morning with only one thing on her mind—George the Mountie.
She got up and went through her normal morning routine, fixing her hair and washing with the bowl of water provided by Mrs. Dandy. When she sat down to breakfast with the couple, Mrs. Dandy politely asked what she planned to do that day.
Miss Hazel looked at the other woman, a slight smile on her face. “I’ll visit at least two of the girls I brought out to be brides. One of my goals is to be certain they were all matched well and are happy. Then I’m going to cook dinner for George at his cabin tonight.”
Mrs. Dandy looked her in the eye. “You don’t worry that it would be unseemly for you to be alone with an unmarried man in his cabin at night?”
“At this point in my life, if I spend every minute thinking about others’ perceptions of me, I’ve missed out on something. I promise, nothing untoward will happen, but I must be able to live out my life in the way I see fit.”
Mrs. Dandy smiled. “I think that’s a brilliant way to look at things. If anyone says anything to me, I’ll be sure to tell them just so.”
“Would you happen to know the locations of the different Mounties’ homes? I need to be able to visit the ladies in their new homes and make sure they have what they need, in the way of supplies and skills.” Hazel shook her head. “I’ve learned that no matter how many times I teach a girl to bake a loaf of bread, some of them get out to their husband, and they have no idea how to use a different type of stove. I need to be there to guide them.”
“I think it’s lovely that you’re so conscientious about the matches you make. Do you make much money from your services?”
RNWMP: Bride for George Page 2
