“No, no, I’m fine, really.”
“Well, then. If you’re fine, you can come to dinner!” Edna Petunia smiled triumphantly and helped Dorothy up. Groaning, Dorothy followed her down the stairs.
Dinner did make her feel a bit better—Edna Petunia had prepared a pot roast with all her favorite fixings—but she still carried a heavy weight on her shoulders. After she finished eating, she knew what she had to do.
“Cletus, may I use your study this evening?”
Cletus looked surprised, but nodded his head. Anything for his girls.
Dorothy went into the study and began composing a letter. It was the hardest one she’d ever had to write, but she knew it needed to be done. When she had finished, she signed and marked it with Cletus’s seal that bore the name “Sanders.” Feeling like she had accomplished something, she went upstairs to her room where she was finally able to sleep.
The next morning, Dorothy woke up as the sun was rising and left much earlier than usual for Carter’s house. She slipped her letter through the mail slot and left without so much as knocking on the door.
Carter rose promptly at seven as he always did, scrambled a few eggs and bacon in a skillet, and took breakfast in his study, waiting for Dorothy to arrive for the day. It was incredible how much he looked forward to the moment she walked through the door. He couldn’t believe that just a few months before, he had never met her. The easy way they spoke to one another—and the undeniable attraction he had for her—made it seem like she’d always been a presence in his life.
Still, he knew he had to change. It was time to start acting much more professional. She was a good and wholesome girl, and he couldn’t take advantage of the situation. She was his employee, and that was what she had to remain. He found himself wondering what she would be like in the city. She got along so well with everyone—he could see her thriving in a different setting, where she could meet more people and have even more friends than she did in her small town.
But that was just a foolish dream. Dorothy would stay put in Nowhere with her family. They clearly were all very attached to one another. He couldn’t come between them. And, most importantly, he had a job to do. An obligation to his client. If Dorothy would ever show up—
Carter frowned. It was now quarter after eight. It wasn’t at all like Dorothy to be late. He walked to the front of the house to check if he could see her on her way. He saw a small white envelope on the floor near the door addressed to him. He picked it up and carried it into his study. He slit it with a letter opener and unfolded it, then began to read.
Mr. Reeves,
I regretfully need to give you my notice. I can no longer continue to work for you. You have provided me a wonderful learning opportunity, and I have enjoyed getting to know you, but I can no longer be your secretary. At the risk of sounding unprofessional, I have developed feelings for you, and I cannot keep these feelings separate from my work. It wouldn’t be fair to you or to me. I am very sorry for any inconvenience I have caused you.
Yours,
Dorothy Sanders
Carter exhaled sharply as he read the last few sentences. He felt his heart racing. She couldn’t leave him. He needed her. His case was set to go to the town judge in less than a week. She was the one who knew where all the files were and how everything fit together. And more than that, he had counted on her sweet and kind nature, how she always saw the best in everyone…including him.
There was only one thing he could do, and that was to find her and convince her that she’d made a terrible mistake.
It was nearly eight-thirty when he set out from his house. He worried that he would lose most or all of the morning, but felt it was necessary for the case. He needed to focus on that first.
When he arrived at the Sanders’ house, the main buggy he recognized from the evening before was gone, and there was no sign of Cletus, Edna Petunia, or any of the sisters. He cursed his luck. At every other point that summer, Dorothy’s sisters had seemed to be everywhere he looked. Now that he needed to find her, they had all disappeared.
He decided to try to find her at the mercantile.
When he pulled up and hitched his horses to the post, he saw Ruby outside, two babies wrapped in thick blankets tucked into her arms.
“Good day, Mrs. Darcy.”
“Hello. You must be Mr. Reeves. I’ve heard a lot about you from my sisters and parents.”
“I’m afraid I have a rather delicate issue.” At this, Ruby looked at him knowingly.
“Come on inside, Mr. Reeves. I’ll fix you a cup of tea.”
Carter followed Ruby inside the mercantile, where he saw a few young boys playing. “I don’t want to be any trouble to you, Mrs. Darcy.”
“It’s no trouble at all. Tell me, what’s on your mind?” Ruby set the twin babies down into a double bassinette and busied herself fixing tea for Mr. Reeves. “Do you take cream or sugar?”
“No, I don’t need either. Thank you.” Carter hesitated, unsure how much he wanted to reveal. The woman had a kind face, but she was also Dorothy’s sister. He couldn’t afford to make any more members of the Sanders family angry with him. “The trouble is, your sister has put in her notice…she doesn’t want to work for me anymore. I’d like to talk it through with her, but I don’t know where I can find her.”
“Did you try the house? Before Dorothy started her job with you, she was there almost every day, doing chores to help Edna Petunia and Cletus.” Ruby brought the cup of tea over to Carter, and he waited for it to cool off.
“I did. No one was there.”
“Hmm. In that case, I know Dorothy does sometimes help out at the church. Our sister, Sarah Jane, is the wife of the pastor there. You might try there.”
“Thank you. I’ll give that a try.” Carter sipped at the tea, still steaming from the kettle.
“You’re welcome. I’m going to get to the back to work on some inventory. But Mr. Reeves?” Ruby seemed hesitant.
“Yes?”
“I’m not sure how much you know about my sister. But please understand that she’s got a good heart, and she’d never hurt a fly. That sometimes means her feelings are pretty sensitive. Please be careful, whatever it is you’re talking to her about.”
“I understand. Thank you, Mrs. Darcy.” Carter felt worse and worse. If Dorothy had left him in a tough position, it was only because of his confusing actions toward her. The trouble was, he didn’t know how he felt about her. He found himself wanting to spend time with her, thinking about her soft lips and her gentle touch. Their kiss that night outside the mercantile had been unlike anything he’d felt for a woman before.
However, he also had a job to do. He had an obligation to his client. And if Dorothy wasn’t going to help him, he was going to have to figure it out on his own.
Dorothy was having a miserable day. Edna Petunia had seen how glum she was at breakfast and declared that they were all going to take a trip. The girls packed a picnic lunch full of bread, cheeses, and meats. Cletus prepared the wagon.
Since Ruby, Opal, Evelyn, Penny, and Sarah Jane had married, they no longer lived at home. Gertrude and Alice worked outside of the house during the day. That left just Betsy, Hope, Minnie, Martha, Theresa, Hattie, and Katie in addition to Dorothy. It was still a large bunch for a wagon, so Cletus made two trips. Edna Petunia had told Dorothy she knew the perfect spot for a picnic.
Dorothy was in the second group to ride to the picnic, and Cletus pulled up to a spot just outside Nowhere. Her sisters were setting up the picnic blankets and unpacking their lunch. There were logs surrounding the remains of a campfire and a tree stump. When Cletus got out of the wagon and tied up the horses, he went straight to the tree stump and sat down on it as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Edna Petunia sat in his lap and they looked proudly at their girls.
“How did you know there was a campfire all the way out here, Cletus?” Everyone seemed surprised at the pretty spot in the middle of the forest. Edna and Cletus sh
ared a knowing smile.
“This here is a very special place for Edna and me. In fact, I believe this is where I got my first taste of her pep—”
“Delicious cooking!” Dorothy interjected. She knew that if Cletus and Edna kept spilling intimate details, all of the girls would quickly lose their appetites. Cletus sighed, but stopped his inappropriate talk as Dorothy passed around some plates, but she caught Edna Petunia whispering something in Cletus’s ear that made the old man turn bright red. Dorothy didn’t want to know.
The family tucked in to their lunch and enjoyed the scampering animals and blowing leaves of the forest. Everything was quiet and peaceful, and for the most part, Dorothy forgot all about Carter Reeves. Until—
“Dorothy, why aren’t you at work with Mr. Reeves?” Theresa asked bluntly. Katie gave her a panicky look, and put a finger to her lips.
“Because, because…because he’s not good for me. If I kept working for him, I would have done things that I might have lived to regret.”
“Like what?” Theresa wondered out loud. Katie elbowed her.
“That’s a topic for a different day, Theresa.” Edna Petunia gave Theresa a firm look, and that ended all discussion on the subject.
After that, Dorothy’s sisters tried to steer the conversation to different areas, but the damage was done. She was withdrawn and silent for the rest of the picnic, her thoughts focused on Carter. She felt like she might just feel that way forever.
Chapter 6
On his third day without Dorothy, Carter woke up earlier than usual to a banging on his door. For a brief instant, he imagined that it was Dorothy, that she changed her mind. He smiled at the thought as he rolled over in his bed, hoping to get back to sleep. But the banging continued.
Pulling an overcoat on over his bed clothes, he went to the door. Who could possibly be calling on him at so early? He opened the door cautiously, and saw none other than Edna Petunia Sanders.
“I don’t have much time, so please let me in. I don’t want Dorothy to know I’m here.”
Carter had no choice but to let the old woman in. He offered her a seat in his parlor, which, like most of the house, was bare. He thought about offering her tea, but before he could, Edna started talking so quickly it was all he could do to listen to everything she said.
“Our Dorothy’s in a state over you, Mr. Reeves. I don’t know exactly what you said to her, but now that she’s no longer working for you, she’s just devastated. I’ve never seen the girl like that in all the years she’s lived with us.”
“I’m sorry.” Carter felt like ever since he had met the Sanders family, all he did was apologize.
“Well?” Edna Petunia glared at Carter expectantly.
“Well, what?”
“What are you going to do about it?”
Carter was exhausted. All he kept thinking was his current situation would never occur in the city. People had manners and decorum. Old women wouldn’t come barging into his house at the crack of dawn to harass him about their adopted daughters. It was a more dignified life.
However, he also couldn’t deny the fact that he’d never felt half as much for any of the women he’d met in Austin as he felt for Dorothy Sanders. There was something about her that was so special and right for him…which made his present situation even more upsetting.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, you’d better figure it out—and fast!” With that, Edna Petunia stood and huffed out of the room.
Carter shook his head, weary and confused. He was not used to people expressing their opinions so freely. It was exhausting.
He boiled water on the stove to make coffee, deciding to get an early start to his day. He had very little time before he had to present a compelling argument to the judge.
Two hours and an entire pot of coffee later, Carter was at his wit’s end. He couldn’t find anything without Dorothy. She knew all the right places to look and could direct him to anything he was looking for.
Carter heard louder banging on the door. He swung the door open angrily and steadied himself for Edna Petunia’s wrath. To his surprise, it was a man wearing a cowboy hat and a plaid shirt.
“Mr. Robert Parrish. Pleased to make your acquaintance officially, Mr. Reeves.”
“Mr. Parrish! Come in, come in.”
Carter had never met his client in person before. Their correspondence had been through letters. Mr. Parrish’s cousin lived in Austin and had heard that Carter was one of the best young lawyers in the entire state, plus he charged a fair rate for his services. Mr. Parrish had hired him sight-unseen.
Carter ushered him into his parlor. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”
“I’ll get right to the point—I’m nervous about the case. I’ve never been to court before, and I want to make sure it goes my way.”
“That’s common, Mr. Parrish.”
“Please, call me Robert.”
“Yes, Robert. Try not to worry too much. You’ll just need to state your name, promise to tell the truth, and answer a few very basic questions.”
“Okay, that doesn’t sound too bad. Can you show me what you’ve got so far?”
Carter was startled. Normally, showing a client all of his files a few days before court would be no problem. But in this case, he was floundering. He barely could find what he needed for his opening remarks, let alone the entire case file that would go before the judge.
“I’m afraid you’ve caught me on a busy day, Robert. Can you come back tomorrow, around two o’clock?” Carter thought that would give him enough time to prepare the case files. Robert looked worried, but nodded.
“I don’t like the idea of waiting another day, but I guess I trust you. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
Carter walked Robert out and watched the man ride off into the distance. He certainly had his work cut out for him. He searched through the journals of notes Dorothy had taken from his dictations, but it was useless. He was much slower without Dorothy’s patient assistance.
Finally, he threw the book he was reviewing to the ground. Enough was enough.
Carter saddled his horse and rode to the Sanders’ house. He knocked at the door, and Minnie answered it. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was.
“Hello, Mr. Reeves,” she said shyly.
“Hello, Minnie. Is Dorothy here?”
Minnie looked concerned. “Yes, but I don’t know if —”
Edna Petunia heard the conversation and came rushing to the front of the house. “Oh, yes, she’s here! Dorothy!” Edna screamed up the stairs.
Dorothy wondered what all the commotion was about. She walked downstairs carefully, not knowing what she was about to walk into. When she saw Carter standing in the entryway, her heart leapt into her throat.
“What are you doing here?” She knew her words were rude, but how could she be polite? He’d made it clear he didn’t want her.
“Miss Sanders, I need to see you outside. Now.”
Dorothy didn’t even think about refusing him. His tone made it clear he wasn’t going to accept an argument from her. She followed him outside and closed the door behind her.
Carter led her a few paces away from the house, stopping in the shadow of a large oak tree. He took her hand, and Dorothy’s heart raced even faster.
“Robert Parrish came to my house today, asking after the case file for his court date next week.”
Dorothy pulled her hand from his and crossed her arms. She didn’t understand how this was relevant to her.
“I can’t do it without you. I can’t be the lawyer he needs me to be without you by my side. You’ve done so much work, and I find that I can barely get by without you. I know I’ve said and done things I shouldn’t have. I’m not proud of it. The truth is, I genuinely care for you, Dorothy.”
She loved the way he called her by her given name.
“But—it’s too hard to work with you, knowing what we shared the other night. I don’t want to go too far with you. Do
you know what I mean?” Dorothy was worried her words might be too bold, but she didn’t know a plainer way to say what she was feeling.
Carter couldn’t stand it anymore. What she was saying made complete sense, and he understood her predicament. But he also couldn’t stop thinking about her lips. He took a step closer to Dorothy and pressed his mouth to hers, softly at first, then a bit harder. Dorothy kissed back at first, and then pulled away.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Dorothy, I couldn’t help myself! You have to believe me.”
“I don’t know what to believe.”
“Believe this—I care for you, deeply. And I also understand that we could never be together. We’re from two different worlds, and no amount of kissing can change that, as sad as it may be. But please, Dorothy, let’s both put our feelings aside just for the next week. I need you to work on the Parrish case with me.”
Dorothy’s mind was reeling. She felt weak-kneed from the kiss—it had been even more powerful than the night outside the mercantile. She wanted to jump into his arms and keep kissing him like that for the rest of time.
“I don’t know, Mr. Reeves. I just don’t know if I can do that.”
“I don’t know either, Dorothy. But we have to try—for Mr. Parrish. That estate is rightly his, but if I don’t prove that to the judge, he’ll be out on the streets without a penny to his name. He used his savings to pay my legal fees.”
Dorothy paused, considering. She wanted to do the right thing.
“You wouldn’t be doing it for me, Dorothy. You’d be doing it for Mr. Parrish.”
“All right. I’ll help you, but only until the case goes to the judge. Then, you’re on your own for packing up and getting out of Nowhere. I can’t see you again, Mr. Reeves.”
Carter looked hurt. “I see.”
“That’s the only way I can work with you again. Do you accept those terms?”
“Yes, Miss Sanders.” With that, he formally shook her hand and waved goodbye to her. “I’ll see you tomorrow at eight o’clock sharp.”
Dorothy (Orlan Orphans Book 7) Page 5
