Romance: My Stepbrother's Plaything

by Valentine, Annie

  “Go! Get away from the building!” Emily urged everyone toward the hills, and in a matter of minutes, they had all migrated toward the edge of the parking area. The stood with their hands over their mouths, watching in horror as Lancaster Textile Company erupted in flames. Emily gulped and reached for Leila’s arm.

  Large red fire trucks appeared on the scene a few minutes later, and the girls watched as a team of firemen unrolled thick rubber hoses. Their first spray attempted to put out a thick flame that licked the side of the building, but it was unsuccessful. A police car flew up to the parking area, and then an ambulance. Emily’s mouth dropped open as she watched their efforts to get the fire under control. One of the police officers stepped out of the car and then grabbed a megaphone from inside the vehicle.

  “We need everyone to back away from the building. If you live close by, please start to make your way home. If you need transportation, one of our officers will assist you. Please. Stay away from the building.” He clicked the off-switch and then climbed back inside his car. Emily took Leila’s hand and then inched away from the lot. Most of the girls were too shocked to move very far, but slowly, they all made their way toward town.

  When they could barely see the building behind them, Emily and Leila stood quietly on the sidewalk. Leila started to cry and Emily draped an arm around her shoulder. People looked at them as they made their way through town, wondering why they looked so forsaken. The two listened as the sound of sirens echoed in the distance, and then eventually made their way up the steps and into the apartment. Emily turned on the radio that sat on their coffee table and tuned in the news. The story of the Lancaster Textile Company fire was all over the airwaves.

  “What are we going to do?” Leila sat on the edge of the couch and cried. “The building is gone.” She buried her face in her hands and then reached across the table for a tissue. Emily shook her head and then moved closer to Leila.

  “Don’t worry yet, Leila. They haven’t even said what would happen. What’s important now is that everyone made it out safe. I’m sure that when it all settles down, we’ll hear form Finn and he’ll give us instructions on where to go next.” Emily nodded her head, confident that Finn would somehow come to their rescue as soon as he knew what he was going to do next.

  “Emily, we don’t know if he even had insurance. It costs building owners a lot of money to carry it, and around here I think it’s pretty rare if they do. If he just lost his building and has no insurance…” She shook her head slowly and then sighed. “Then we aren’t going to have any kind of job.” She dropped her gaze to the floor and Emily realized that Leila might be right. What would they do if Finn had nothing to offer them?

  The sky grew dark and a somber aura fell over the town. The sirens had eased up and both Emily and Leila looked out her window to see if they could make out any activity coming from the building. When they were convinced that all was now said and done, they both changed for bed and got ready to go to sleep. “Leila?” Emily called out to her cousin from across the room.

  “What, Em?” Leila lied awake, staring at the ceiling, wondering what the next day would bring.

  “Maybe this is like a purging.” Emily looked across the room and then turned her head back toward her pillow. “Maybe this all happened for a reason.” She wasn’t one to put too much faith in the supernatural, but in the pit of her stomach, she had a peculiar feeling that the fire was symbolic. “I mean, maybe this is what we’ve been waiting for all along.” She looked over at Leila but got no response.

  “The only thing that this fire symbolized was faulty wiring in an old, stone building, Emily. And I’ll bet you my last dime that tomorrow morning the news reveals that Finn had no insurance. All of us are going to be out of work. What’s so symbolic about that?” Leila huffed and then turned over in her bed. Emily sighed and then fluffed up her pillow.

  “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.” Emily figured that Leila would probably be right. Yet she still thought that the fire meant something, that it didn’t just destroy their workplace for no reason. There had to be something deeper to what would happen next. If they really did find themselves with no work, then they’d just have to forge ahead like they’d always done, and find new means for survival.

  By the time Emily and Leila had fallen asleep, the latest news report revealed that Finn Dillmore, sole proprietor of Lancaster Textile Company, had just lost his building and all of its contents to an unexplained fire. The report further explained that Mr. Dillmore had no insurance, and that he had no intentions of re-opening the company in another building since all of his assets had been destroyed in the fire.

  Chapter 3

  “Well, you were right.” Emily pushed a newspaper in front of Leila as they sat inside Griffin Café. Martha had already given them hugs and expressed her condolences over their tragic loss. “He lost everything. We’ve got no work.” Emily shook her head and sipped her coffee. Leila opened up the paper and then scanned the front page.

  The article stated that the building was burned beyond recognition by a fire and that the cause was unknown. It went on to state that no restoration process would be initiated. Mr. Dillmore expressed his sadness for the loss, and was quoted saying that he “…saw no option for supplying further work to his employees.” Leila shook her head and then shoved the paper across the table. Emily raised her eyebrows.

  “So now what do we do?” The gears in Emily’s mind were already turning. How would they pay their rent next month? What would they do to make ends meet? There was no other textile company in all of Lancaster, and neither of the cousins had reliable transportation to get them over to London where they might find some kind of comparable work. The prospects seemed dismal.

  “We start to ask everyone we know, and we scour the newspaper.” Leila wasn’t one to accept defeat. She was a survivor and she knew that they could find something as long as they persisted. Emily wasn’t sure how to process the news. She wanted to feel relieved that she had finally gotten her wish and that she would no longer have to walk the long, dingy halls to her work space. Yet she also felt a pang of loss. She imagined how crushed Finn must feel, and she realized that there was nothing she could do to rectify the situation for anyone.

  “Maybe we should ask Martha if she needs any help in the café.” Emily whispered across the table and then had a sip of her coffee. “It’s worth a try, right?” She looked over her shoulder as Martha pulled a large rack of pastries from the oven. Leila shook her head.

  “Martha has both of her daughters here to help her out. I can guarantee that she does not need any extra hands.” Leila had opened up the classifieds section of the newspaper and was running her eyes across the ads. “I was thinking that maybe we could go down to the post office and see if they need any mail carriers or cashiers.” Leila sounded proud of her suggestion but Emily scoffed.

  “They would never hire us. We have no experience, and to be a carrier you need to know all of Lancaster like the back of your hand. We don’t have cars, and we haven’t even traveled to the south side of the town. I’m not being pessimistic, Leila, but I just know we need to think of something else.” Emily bit her lower lip.

  “Hey, Emily. What about this?” Leila scooted closer to the edge of her chair and then shoved the paper across the table. She had circled an ad with a red marker, and Emily read it over then laughed.

  “You’re joking, right?” Emily held the paper up to her face and then laughed out loud. “Texas rancher seeks submissive and domesticated woman for marriage of convenience?” Emily covered her mouth with her hand and then laughed out loud again. “Leila, this is some kind of joke, I’m sure.” Emily tossed the paper onto the table and then took a sip of her coffee. Leila snatched up the paper and then opened it back up to the ad.

  “Emily. Listen to the rest of it. He needs help.” Leila cleared her throat and then read the rest of the ad out loud. “I am a successful business man who requires assistance raining my two orphane
d nieces, and in exchange for marriage, will offer you my plentiful acreage to live quietly and happily.” Leila shrugged and then set down the paper. “How bad could that really be?” She wondered why Emily didn’t think it was a good idea.

  “First of all…” Emily cleared her throat and then laughed. She just couldn’t take it seriously. “Okay, let me get myself together here, Leila.” She took a long sip of her coffee and then laughed out loud once more. “First of all, it is ludicrous. This is a total stranger. He claims to be a successful business man that owns some ranch and yet he can’t take care of two kids? Why doesn’t he just hire a nanny?”

  Emily scoffed and then walked away from the table. She ordered a red raspberry Danish from Martha, then carried it back to the table and sat down with a curious expression on her face. “You aren’t really considering this as an option, are you, Leila?” Emily was concerned that her cousin was thinking out of desperation.

  “Emily. It could turn out to be the perfect solution. Both of us are good with kids. We basically helped raise our little cousins back when Aunt Gussie and Uncle Tom were having problems, remember?” Leila had a serious expression on her face, and Emily realized that she was, indeed, serious about her proposition. “Why don’t we at least respond to the ad and see what he has to say?” Leila couldn’t see any harm that could come from simply responding to an ad.

  “Okay, Leila, if you say so.” Emily took another bite of her Danish and then looked out the window. Most of the snow that had fallen the week before was now sitting in an icy heap outside. The plows had moved it all to the corners of the street, and all of the exhaust from the motorists had colored it a smoky gray color. Emily figured that it wouldn’t hurt her to simply humor Leila’s request.

  “Thanks, Emily. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get the break that we’ve both been hoping for.” Leila smiled and then had a sip of her tea. It was the first time that she had ever hinted toward wanting something other than tedious textile work. Emily was both surprised and pleased. She looked out the window once more and then picked up the paper, ready to respond to the ad.

  “His postal address is 3532 Running River Road, in Lubbock, Texas. If you get me an envelope and a stamp, I’ll write the letter.” Emily smiled at Leila. Just then Martha appeared form behind her counter. She sat down next to Emily and patted her on the shoulder.

  “Don’t you two go worrying yourselves sick over this.” She looked at both cousins and then sighed. “I’m sure that you’ll both be able to put your heads together and find a new way to support yourself. Besides, the textile industry is slowly losing ground in this part of England.” Martha spoke with a nostalgic tone and then got up from the table to wait on more customers. Emily tapped her pen on the table and Leila took her cue.

  “I’ll be back in a little while with a stamped envelope.” She winked at Emily and then put on her coat. Martha went on chatting with her customers and Emily gazed out the window. What would happen if this man really did respond to their letter? What if he decided to accept their offer? Who would become the bride? How would they even get out to Texas with no money? Where would they stay? Her mind buzzed with possibility and uncertainty.

  Leila walked in silence through the town and toward the post office. Along the way, she passed one of her co-workers who trudged along the icy streets with a child in tow. “Hi, Leila.” Amber spoke through her thick scarf and Leila stopped to greet her.

  “Amber. How are you?” Seeing another Lancaster Textile employee filled her with emotion and she immediately threw her arms around her friend. “Are you oaky?” She stood back to look at amber’s son had hidden behind her legs.

  “I’m okay, but I’m very worried. We still can’t find work. I just left the post office because I thought they might have a few options, but they are closed for hiring. I just don’t know what I’m going to do. Ethan was laid off three months ago, and then he hurt his back doing odd jobs, so all of our income depends on me now.” Amber looked down to the ground and Leila felt a tear come other eye.

  “I’m so sorry, Amber.” Leila wanted to offer a solution but she didn’t have one. She thought about Emily’s prediction about the post office not being a viable option. “Maybe you can try to sell some of your knitting work.” Leila tried to offer a helpful suggestion. She had seen many of Amber’s pieces and she thought that there must be someone, somewhere, who would like to buy some of them. Amber shook her head.

  “I don’t even have the money to buy new supplies right now, Leila. I need something where I can get paid on the spot, and I need something soon. It’s not just me, you know. Many of the girls from our company are out here now looking for employment and none of them are finding anything.” Amber tried to look hopeful, but she couldn’t even muster up a smile.

  “If I hear of anything, I’ll let you know. Emily and I are in the same boat.” Leila nodded her head, hoping that amber realized she wasn’t alone in her troubles. She gave Amber’s son a pat on the head and then they parted ways. Leila entered the post office, bought her envelope and her stamp, and then made her way back to Griffin’s Café where Emily awaited her return.

  “Here you go. Let’s get busy.” Leila placed the stamped envelope on the table and then sat down. Emily had already written her letter, and she handed it over to Leila. “Wow. You already finished it. Why don’t you read it out loud?” Leila looked enthusiastically at Emily and then leaned forward in her seat. Emily smiled and then cleared her throat.

  “Okay. Here you go.” Emily took a quick sip of her coffee and then read the letter. “Dear Mister McBride, my name is Emily Fawn and I live in a small town in England called Lancaster. I am writing in response to the ad you placed in the Lancaster Times a few days ago, and I wanted to tell you that I think I’d be the perfect fit for your needs. I’m great with children, and I have lots of experience as a care-taker. My cousin, Leila, is also interested in the position, and she has equal experience. We hope to hear back from you soon.” Emily paused and then took a deep breath. Leila looked on with admiration.

  “Well, you sure can write a clear, concise letter, and I think it’s off to a good start. But…” Leila paused and furrowed her brow. “You know, it kind of sounds like I’m not really included in the offer as much as you.” She didn’t want Emily to take offense, but she didn’t think that this man in Texas was going to be interested in meeting two women, and then having to decide which to marry. She thought for a few seconds and then tilted her head in contemplation.

  “That’s really what you think?” Emily looked hurt and confused.

  “Well, kind of. I mean, think about it, Em. What man wants to have to decide between two women that respond to the same ad? I think you should do it. Even though I’m the one that found the ad, I think you’re a stronger person and I honestly think you’d do a better job. You send it yourself.” Leila sat back with a satisfied look on her face. She really meant what she had just said, and Emily knew it.

  “Okay. I’ll send it as the sole requester. But I’m going to ask him to consider having you come along with me. And if he won’t agree to that, then I’m going to find out what kind of work there might be near his ranch so that you can come out later.” Emily nodded her head, already visualizing a life on a ranch out in Texas.

  “You know, there could be a lot of other women sending letters to this man.” Leila leaned forward and scrunched her nose. She didn’t want Emily to get her hopes up. “But, I guess you have as much a chance as any of the others.” She shrugged and then got up to reach for her coat.

  “Hey, where are you going?” Emily wondered why Leila was leaving so abruptly.

  “I’m off to look for work.” She smiled and then buttoned up her coat, waved to Martha, and walked outside. Emily sat alone at the table, feeling somewhat confused by Leila’s behavior, but also a little bit optimistic that the man in Texas would choose her as his bride. What did she have to lose? She reviewed the letter once more, then added a few sentences and made a few edits. When
she was pleased with the final result, she folded it neatly in half and then slid it inside the envelope.

  Back at home Leila was busy scouring the other local papers for any leads. She didn’t turn up with much, and by the time Emily came home, she was ready to make dinner and resume her search until the next day. “Get the letter mailed?” Leila called out to Emily from the kitchen. Emily nodded with satisfaction.

  “I dropped it in the mailbox so it should be there in about a week.” Emily shrugged and then looked at Leila. “You know, I made sure to include you in the letter, Ley.” Emily didn’t think it would be fair to take the position if it were offered unless she knew that Leila would somehow benefit, as well.

  “I appreciate it, Emily. But seriously- I’ll find work, eventually. I wouldn’t want to travel out to Texas as a third wheel. I’m not mad, so don’t worry.” Leila smiled and then went about chopping vegetables for a soup that she had decided to prepare. “I’m sure that whatever happens, it will all be for the best.” Leila meant what she said. She set her carrots and her peppers into a large pot, and then started to make the broth. Emily sat down at the kitchen table.

  “I guess it doesn’t help for me to get my hopes up, anyway.” She knew that it was always like her to think the best and to assume that she’d get whatever she set her hopes on. She really hadn’t suffered too many big let-downs yet in life, so it made sense for her to think that life would always tilt in her favor.

  “I think that you have a good chance.” Leila didn’t look up from making her soup, but Emily could tell that she was sincere. “Who knows, Emily. Maybe you’ll be the first one in the family to finally see another part of the world.” Leila smiled and then scraped some onions into her pot. Emily sat quietly in thought. Then she nodded her head. She hoped that Leila was right.