Mail Order Mix-Up

by Christine Johnson

  She stuck her thumb in her mouth.

  Pearl smiled. “I like your doll.”

  The rag doll had seen better days. A button eye was missing, half the yarn hair was gone and it hadn’t seen the wash in a long time.

  “I had one like that when I—” Pearl halted. They did not need to know she grew up in an orphanage or that she, too, had refused to let anyone touch her Dollie. That rag doll had been her last connection to her parents. She’d clung to it as if that would bring her mama and papa back. Sadie must have suffered similar loss. “I loved my Dollie. Does yours have a name?”

  Sadie just looked back with solemn eyes.

  Pearl rose, having made no progress. School would be difficult for Isaac and Sadie if they refused to talk.

  “She calls it Baby,” Garrett mumbled, his color high.

  “Pearl—Miss Lawson—is not here in response to the advertisement,” Roland needlessly pointed out.

  Garrett’s gaze drifted to the other three women, and Roland once again swooped into action.

  “Where are my manners?” Roland introduced each of the ladies in turn.

  Fiona no longer bubbled over with witty comments. Her gaze circled the room repeatedly, and she looked ready to accuse the men of what Pearl had already noticed. The advertisement had misled them. Louise didn’t even look up at Garrett. She hung back and said little more than the children. Pearl walked her trembling friend closer to the prospective groom once Roland introduced her.

  “Amanda and I have been friends since we were Sadie’s age.”

  Amanda instinctively looked at the little girl and smiled softly. “Would you like me to make you a pretty new dress?”

  Sadie’s eyes widened, and she nodded her head while holding out her rag doll.

  “Oh, a matching one for your doll, too?”

  Amanda had always had a gift with children. Where Pearl loved to see a child learn and grow, Amanda took them into her confidence. As a consequence, children adored her. Already she had made progress with little Sadie.

  Her father’s expression had soured, however. “I’m not wasting money on frivolous things.”

  That startled Amanda, who stared at Garrett as if he’d just confessed to murder. “A new dress for school is hardly frivolous.”

  Pearl could have cheered. While adults might make her friend nervous, Amanda would rise to defend any child. Clearly, Sadie needed some encouragement, which she wasn’t getting from her father. Unless, of course, he couldn’t afford a new dress.

  Pearl looked Garrett Decker in the eye. “We will work something out. Amanda can create beautiful things with the needle.”

  His set jaw told her she’d meddled where she didn’t belong. Oh, dear, this wasn’t going well for Amanda. Not at all.

  “Come to think of it,” Roland interjected, “we’ve got some odds and ends of fabric at the store that I was going to throw away. If you and Miss Porter would like to look through them, I’d give you any that you think you can use.”

  Amanda gushed her thanks, but Roland wasn’t looking at her. He sought Pearl’s approval. She had to swallow the lump in her throat. Even though the scraps were probably too small to make a dress, the gesture meant a lot, for it smoothed over the differences that had sprung up between his brother and Amanda.

  Pearl couldn’t help but smile. “We are most grateful.”

  His trace of sheepish concern vanished in a brilliant smile. “Then we accept, don’t we, Garrett?”

  Roland’s brother had not unlocked his jaw, even though his little girl looked up at him with the most hopeful, tremulous expression that Pearl had ever seen. Her heart just about broke. She would do anything to bring a smile to that little girl’s lips. Anything.

  Garrett puffed out his breath. “I don’t want to owe anyone.”

  “I’ll pay any costs,” Amanda offered.

  Pearl stared at her friend. Between them, they had only enough for room and board until school began. Where was she going to get money to pay for thread and ribbon and whatever else she needed?

  Roland laughed and clapped his brother on the shoulder. “Isn’t that like you, always counting your pennies?”

  A snort from behind Pearl reminded her that Fiona and Louise were also in the room. She turned to see Fiona standing with her arms crossed and a fire brewing in her eyes.

  “Pennies?” Fiona said now that everyone’s attention had shifted to her. “Your advertisement said you were wealthy. Now you’re talking about counting pennies? What kind of man are you to lure us here under false pretenses?”

  Though Louise didn’t verbally second the sentiment, her dismay spoke volumes. Amanda, naturally, said nothing, but Pearl had never shied from speaking her mind.

  “The advertisement did hint that you were a man of means. I believe it said you had a handsome inheritance.” She dug in her bag to find the crumpled bit of paper and came up empty. What had she done with it?

  “Now, ladies, I’m sure this little misunderstanding can all be cleared up over supper.” Roland waved them toward the table. “Have a seat, and I’ll be right back with the stew.” He scooted through the door beyond the table faster than a rat abandoning a sinking ship.

  “Little misunderstanding?” Fiona shook her head. “This is not a misunderstanding. This is deception, pure and simple. I know better than to throw good after bad. I’m here to make a good match, not marry a pauper. I could have had that in New York.”

  Pearl wondered why Fiona hadn’t stayed in New York. A thriving musical career should have brought her to the attention of men of wealth. For her to throw herself into such an uncertain situation, something must have happened.

  She didn’t have time to contemplate it, for with a final toss of her head, sending the feathers on her hat dancing, Fiona stomped toward the door. “Come, Louise, Amanda. We can’t let these men get away with this. Stew!” She said the word as if it was the final insult.

  Louise meekly followed, but Amanda hesitated, torn between obeying Fiona and staying behind with the children. She looked to Pearl for answers, but Pearl would not tell her friend what to do. Amanda must learn to trust her instincts and the Lord instead of relying on the advice of others.

  Amanda looked back at little Sadie, who clung to her father’s hand. “I like stew. Do you?”

  For the first time, Garrett Decker’s expression cracked. “She doesn’t talk. Not since...” He stroked his daughter’s head.

  Pearl squeezed back a tear. He didn’t have to finish for both her and Amanda to understand. Little Sadie hadn’t spoken since her mama died or left. The vivid memory of watching her father walk away returned with an ache. Be a good girl, Pearl. Her papa’s admonition had carried with it the hope that if she was good enough, maybe then her mama would get well and her parents would come back for her.

  They never did.

  Roland walked back into the room carrying a pot of stew. “Can you fetch the bowls, Isaac? The spoons, Sadie?”

  The children hurried off.

  He looked around the room and then at his brother. “You sure do know how to clear out a room.”

  Pearl again noted the six chairs. Maybe that had been the plan the whole time.

  * * *

  Roland’s brother had barely finished saying grace when Pearl began to point out her friend’s virtues.

  “Amanda is an excellent housekeeper, and she’s wonderful with children.”

  What Pearl said mattered far less to Roland than the charming tilt of her head and spark in her eyes. The two individuals at the center of her persuasion paid the potato and cabbage stew an uncommon amount of interest. Pearl barely touched hers, while the children watched the two ladies with a mix of curiosity and fear.

  Most men would find Amanda the prettier of the two ladies, but he preferred Pearl’s ch
estnut hair and lively green eyes. The fact that her spoon spent more time pointing at Garrett than in the bowl struck him as hilarious. His brother wouldn’t know what to do with a spitfire like Pearl. He, on the other hand... That was foolish thinking. She’d flat-out told him that her teaching contract prohibited marriage, and he wasn’t ready to settle down, Mr. Holmes’s cajoling aside. He had a factory to build.

  “What are you going to do?” Pearl’s demand settled on him.

  He had no idea what she was talking about, but a little charm usually settled down whatever chafed a woman. “Proceed with my plans.”

  Her stormy expression told him he’d failed to hit the mark.

  “And your plans do not include cleaning up after the mess you caused.”

  The sparking eyes weren’t quite so wonderful when her fury was directed at him.

  He tried to placate her. “As I told you, I did not place that advertisement.”

  “Neither did I,” Garrett stated in no uncertain terms.

  The children looked down at their bowls of stew the moment Roland glanced in their direction. Odd. They were never this interested in eating. Garrett must not have given them a good midday meal. He began to address Pearl when out of the corner of his eye he saw Isaac whisper something to Sadie. No doubt about it. Something was going on between those two.

  “I don’t care which of you placed that advertisement.” Pearl pointed her spoon first at Garrett and then at Roland. “Three women have spent their savings and traveled a great distance in response to it. I expect you to honor your words.”

  Garrett’s jaw dropped.

  Roland stifled a snicker. Seeing his older brother squirm was worth the trouble.

  “I’m not marrying,” Garrett stated. “I don’t care what you threaten.”

  Sadie made an odd squeaking sound, and Isaac wiggled like his chair was on fire.

  Finally the boy stood. “May we be excused? Sadie don’t feel good.”

  “Doesn’t,” Pearl said, correcting Isaac.

  Garrett ignored her. “You may go. Take your bowls and spoons to the kitchen.”

  The children clattered out of the room with their dishes. No doubt they would head outdoors after dropping the bowls and spoons in the washtub. That left just four at the table. Amanda picked at her stew, head bowed. Pearl had a strange expression on her face, and Garrett scowled.

  “Why did you have to bring up that advertisement in front of the children?” Garrett was not happy. “Isaac keeps begging me for a new ma. Says Sadie needs a woman about the house, but we’re doing just fine. She can get all the womanly time she needs with Mrs. Calloway or Mrs. Elder.”

  Color highlighted Pearl’s cheeks. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken with the children present.”

  Garrett accepted the apology with a stiff nod.

  “They’ll get over it.” Roland tried to make light of things in order to bring back the sparkle in Pearl’s eye. “They’re young.”

  Pearl turned back to him. “When did they lose their mother?”

  Garrett frowned, but the question hit Roland like a bullet. He shivered. The chill of that day still hadn’t left his bones. The water. The ice. Eva. He shook his head.

  “Almost a year and a half ago,” Garrett stated, his gaze piercing through Roland.

  Both women drew in a breath.

  “So tragic.” Amanda sighed.

  Pearl started to ask something but stopped. Unusual. She seldom bridled what she said. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Roland decided to put into words what she’d refused to say. “That’s why my brother needs a wife.”

  Garrett looked like he would spit nails at him. “I am not marrying. Sorry to disappoint you, ladies, but you’ve come here for no reason. Now that you know, you can catch a boat back home.”

  Amanda paled, but Pearl looked livid.

  Roland aimed to cut her off. “I will help with the fare to Chicago.”

  Pearl’s pressed lips indicated she wasn’t buying his generous offer. “Mr. Decker—”

  “Which one of us?” Roland asked.

  “Both.” She spat out the word. “I am not leaving and neither is Amanda. Fiona and Louise deserve better than a token effort to appease us. You brought them here. You will ensure all three ladies have enough money to get home.”

  Roland’s jaw dropped. “I can’t do that. It would cost...” He quickly calculated in his head. “A month’s wages. At least.”

  His brother was now grinning.

  Pearl was not done. “I do not want your money, and I doubt the other ladies would take it, either. We are perfectly capable of earning it. What they need is employment. Since you are responsible for this situation, I suggest you find jobs for them.”

  Roland could feel his temper rise. “There aren’t many jobs in Singapore, unless they plan to saw timber or work in one of the saloons.”

  Garrett coughed. Amanda gasped.

  Pearl glared. “I expect you to find them respectable jobs.”

  “Like I said, there aren’t many jobs here.”

  “Your general store must need another clerk.”

  Roland sputtered, “Impossible.”

  Garrett snickered.

  Pearl persisted. “If not the store, then at another respectable establishment.”

  “I might be able to find something for your friend.” The brunette was pretty enough to attract the interest of someone. Maybe the hotel needed housekeepers.

  “For all three ladies.” Pearl apparently considered that closed the conversation, for she rose. “Thank you for supper, gentlemen. I look forward to hearing from you, Roland. Garrett, I expect to see your children at the schoolhouse on the first day of class.”

  Roland stood, but he couldn’t think of a thing to say. Three jobs? Impossible.

  Pearl tugged on her gloves. “Come, Amanda. I believe our business here is done.”

  Garrett pushed back his chair. “Thank you for visiting, ladies.”

  Amanda shot him a shy smile, but Pearl merely nodded, apparently still peeved. After another curt nod, she swirled out of the house with Amanda in her wake.

  Roland sat down, exhausted.

  “That didn’t go well,” he murmured.

  Garrett laughed. “It’s good to see you take the brunt of feminine ire for a change.”

  “Don’t think you’re safe yet. Those women aren’t leaving Singapore anytime soon.” Therein lay the problem. Roland pulled the crumpled clipping from his watch pocket and smoothed it out on the table. “‘Widower with handsome inheritance seeks wife in booming town soon to rival Chicago. Well-furnished, comfortable house.’”

  “Your words.”

  “My words exactly, none of them true.”

  “I am a widower,” Garrett pointed out.

  “All right. One true statement. It’s easy to see why the women expected more. The advertisement specifies a house, not the top floor of a general store with sparse furnishings and cracks so wide that the snow drifts across the floor in the winter.”

  Garrett shrugged.

  “Then there’s the mention of a handsome inheritance.”

  “Ma’s sideboard.”

  “It is handsome, and you did inherit it.”

  “Eva loved it.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t lock it away in the stockroom with everything else.” Garrett had stripped the place of anything personal. Curtains, pictures and treasured furnishings all went into storage. “You can’t hide from the past.”

  Garrett glared at him. “Is that what you’re doing? Trying to push me into marriage when I’m not ready?” He pointed at the scrap of newspaper. “You placed that advertisement.”

  Roland shook his head. “I didn’t. That’s what’s so perpl
exing. No one had any reason to do that, even as a joke. If it had turned up in one of the local newspapers, I could see someone playing a joke on you, but not New York. What man at the mill would even think to send it to New York? Chicago’s closer.”

  Garrett still didn’t look convinced. “If you didn’t do it and no one in town did it, then who?”

  “It would have to be someone who stood to gain from it. Who would want to see you married?”

  “You.”

  “Besides me.”

  Garrett leaped up and paced to the window.

  Roland joined him. “Did you notice Sadie’s expression when Pearl mentioned the advertisement?”

  His brother said nothing.

  “And how Isaac reacted when you said you weren’t going to remarry? Not just disappointed. He almost looked guilty. Then he asked to be excused.”

  Garrett scrubbed his jaw. “They’re too young to understand.”

  “Are they? They understand their mama’s dead.”

  Garrett flinched.

  Roland persisted. “They need a woman in their lives. Especially Sadie.”

  Garrett hung his head. “I know, but how can I? There isn’t a day that I don’t think of Eva, but they were so young. Soon they won’t remember their mother. I don’t want that to happen.”

  “They won’t forget.” Roland wished he was certain of his words. “You won’t let them.”

  His big brother, burly enough to heft logs against the circular saw, trembled. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Let’s start by having a talk with Isaac and Sadie.”

  “You really think they did that?”

  “They were the only ones who could have snatched it out of the stove.”

  Garrett shook his head. “But send it to New York? How and why? Isaac wouldn’t even be able to read it, least of all figure out how to send it to a newspaper. And why New York?”

  “Eva was always talking about New York. Remember? How she wanted to go there? She made it sound like the shiniest, brightest city in the world.”

  “I would have taken her.”

  Roland ignored the jab. If he hadn’t been so certain that the future was in this part of the world, Eva might have stayed with him. Instead, she’d leaped at Garrett’s promise. “The point is that your children sent that fake advertisement to a real newspaper.”