Lavinia topped the goblet off with wine and delivered it to the table. Only the one man had been given laudanum. And another one would get ipecac. “Supper is coming right up, fellas. Thanks for being patient.”
After everyone was served, the three stood in the kitchen doorway watching. Spoons clanked as the men shoveled in their meals as fast as they could.
“Be sure to save room for dried-apple pie,” Rhett said over the clatter.
“Two o’clock,” Lavinia whispered. “He’s nodding off.”
“Hey, what’s wrong?” the man beside Lavinia’s victim said. “Sam?”
The man’s head hit the table with a thud, directly beside his bowl. The other three at his table jumped up in surprise.
Rhett, Lavinia, and Lara hurried over.
Rhett looked around, alarmed. “What happened?”
“Don’t know. He just passed out.”
“Oh!” Lara’s eyes were large. She took a step back. “Has he been sick?” She said the lines she’d been given with flourish.
The bearded man named Jim narrowed his eyes at Lavinia. “Did you put something in our food?”
“What a thing to ask!” Rhett answered, his voice hard and steely. “I’m trying to start a restaurant here. Look around. Is anyone else sick?”
“Should we take him to the doctor’s?” Lara asked, wide-eyed.
“Maybe he’s just tired,” Lavinia replied. “We could lay him on the floor.”
Rhett took a small step back as well. “What if he’s got something?” He looked up at the gaping men.
Jim scowled. “He was fine two seconds ago.”
“Maybe he should go to the doctor’s,” his table partner said. “He’s a good man. Has a wife and boy. Regularly sends his pay home. I’d not want him to perish.”
Lavinia pointed. “The place is one street over. Easy to find.”
The occupants at his table carried him away.
The other man who’d been served the ipecac chose that moment to groan loudly. His spoon clattered to the table one moment before he gripped his stomach. Wide-eyed, he looked around in a panic. “I’m gonna be sick!”
The room erupted with worried voices.
Rhett ran over and handed him a glass of laudanum-dosed water. “Drink the whole thing. Maybe it’ll help settle your stomach.”
The man complied.
Rhett took the empty glass. “You better get to the doctor’s too.” He needn’t have spoken, because the lumberjack was already stumbling out the door, followed by a few friends. “We don’t know what we’re dealing with . . .”
Jim stepped up threateningly. “If you’ve done something to these men, you’ll pay!” He glanced at his own bowl on his table.
Others wiped their mouths and pushed away from their seats, as if waiting for the next victim to fall.
With a hand to his forehead, Rhett looked dubious. “I guess I’m getting off on the wrong foot here. I hope this isn’t the end for me and my restaurant.” He turned and gave Lavinia a secretive wink. “Any way you men could keep this under your hats? I’m already battling the rumor that this place is haunted. I’d not like to add fuel to the fire . . .”
Men rushed for the door faster than fleas off a drowning cat.
“I better go check on those men,” Rhett said to the few left behind. “I feel responsible since they were in my establishment when their ailments hit. You’re welcome to partake in dessert, if you’d like,” he said to the near-empty room.
“I’m staying in town with the men,” Jim said in the doorway. “The others can tell the foreman what’s up.” He narrowed his gaze at Rhett and the two women. “I don’t put nothin’ past you . . .”
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Pounding on Dr. Gannon’s locked infirmary door brought Rhett around. He’d stayed all night with the physician, looking after the two sleeping lumberjacks. After all, the crazy idea had been his, and as the hours passed, the possibility of the plan actually working felt more and more far-fetched. Lavinia had begged to stay, to help, but that wasn’t going to happen as long as he had breath to send her away. He remembered the kiss, and their walk, and the fact that she’d tell her sisters about her plans in only four more days. After that, her leaving would be set in stone. Until then, anything was possible, not that he deserved a chance at love . . .
He wiped a hand across his gritty face and nodded to Jeremy Gannon. The two had become fast friends.
“Open up!”
The bearded lumberjack called Jim.
As Gannon went to unlock the door, Rhett glanced down at their two victims, not yet awake from their long sleep. The night before, after the second man had emptied his gut into a bowl, the good doctor had helped him onto a cot by his sleeping friend. On a third cot, Cash lay, feigning sleep. At the side of his bed was a vomit bowl containing a mixture of rotten eggs and other offensive foodstuffs they’d collected from the butcher.
Jim barreled into the room, stopped when he spotted Cash’s form in the dark corner, and then went straight to his two comrades’ beds. He reached out and was about to touch the first man’s shoulder, but Rhett caught his arm.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Rhett warned. “Not yet, anyway. Not until we know what we’re dealing with here.”
“Why?” he barked.
Very carefully, with only the barest touch, Rhett peeled back the light sheet covering the fellow, and then pulled down the neckline of the man’s undershirt. A sprinkling of black dots showed on his chest. He quickly replaced the fabric.
Jim stepped back several feet. “What’s that?”
Dr. Gannon shrugged. “I’ve never seen the like, but I can’t say it’s not contagious.” He felt one sleeping lumberjack’s forehead and then made a show of thoroughly washing his hands. He briskly rubbed them dry. “We’ll know more in the next few days. Have you spoken with any of the other fellows yet?”
Jim shook his head.
“How do you feel?” Rhett asked, rubbing his stomach. “I’m not feeling too great myself. Come here and look at this.” He lifted a lantern and went to the far wall, where Cash slept in the shadows.
Jim stayed where he was, watching from his side of the room.
Lowering the lantern, the light illuminated Cash’s face—they’d darkened his skin with red dye and then marked his neck and lower face with good-size black splotches, much larger and darker than on the lumberjack’s chest.
Dr. Gannon straightened. “I believe this case is a couple days farther along.”
Jim began to shake. “But that boy’s been out to the lumber camp. He’s talked with everyone.” His head jerked around to the doctor. “What can we do?” he asked in a quivering voice.
“I’m sorry, I really don’t know, but I’d warn everybody to lie low until we know the threat has passed. Don’t tax your constitutions. Drink lots—”
“Our what?”
“The balance inside your body that keeps you healthy. Just rest for a good week . . . No work at all.”
“I saw something like this in San Francisco,” Rhett whispered in a tortured voice. “Ten years back. Wiped out the whole dock. The doctors there called it the sleeping speckled plague.” He shook his head and walked to the window, a low moan slipping from his lips. “The city looked like a ghost town for months afterward . . .”
He didn’t have to say another word before Jim was backing out the door. He turned and raced toward the path that led to the meadow, and as soon as he was out of sight, Gannon, Rhett, and Cash burst into laughter.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
Congratulations, everyone,” Henry chortled, popping the top to an expensive bottle of champagne and filling eight glasses on his office desk. Blake and Clint, both wearing wide smiles, passed Lavinia and her sisters each a glass. Without another word they softly touched together their glasses, the clink a beautiful sound to Lavinia. So much had happened in six months. Life had gone from a day-to-day existence to living fully each breath she took.
Lavinia stood shoulder to shoulder with her sisters, oldest to youngest. Blake flanked Belle. Clint stood apart by the window, but Lavinia didn’t miss all the tender looks he and Mavis had exchanged within only the last few minutes, making her ache for Rhett. She’d have liked him to be permitted to be here, but today was a family affair, though it included the sheriff too, since he’d been as close as family to their father.
In a moment of quiet of auspiciousness, Mavis took the pen Henry offered and signed her name. She handed the pen to Belle, who carefully dipped the tip in the inkwell and put her new name on the line below. As soon as Emma signed the contract, she handed the pen to Lavinia, who judiciously wrote out her name, wanting her signature to be pretty. She placed the pen in Katie’s hand. Blake signed last.
Henry raised his glass once more and then downed the whole thing. “It’s done,” he said proudly. He immediately plopped into his chair and rubbed his forehead, bringing a round of laughs. He glanced up. “From the inception, I’d thought the idea far-fetched, but your father never wavered. His faith was firm, and now I can rest easy.”
With a cheer, everyone drained their glasses.
Henry stood. “And here’s to that ingenious young man Rhett Laughlin, who hatched the plan to slow the loggers. If not for him, eight days could have been disastrous. As it was, those fellas were afraid to lift a finger for fear of coming down with the sleeping speckled plague.”
Clint joined in with a chuckle. “I was out on the Dolores this morning. It’s quiet and lonely, but a good reminder for us to protect what we have. Just because something is strong doesn’t mean it can’t be lost.” His gaze touched Mavis. “Those men had families to think of. They wouldn’t risk their lives for a greedy foreman.”
Henry’s office had never felt so confining before. Was that because Lavinia intended to tell her sisters about her plans to return to Philadelphia? She imagined they’d be delighted, but Belle had, more times than not, stated how happy she was that they all lived together in Eden, as their father had hoped. Mavis was content here, as was Emma. Katie had the look of love in her eyes, and Lavinia figured she’d share her own news when the time was right. Lavinia adored Eden as much as any of her sisters, but she also had a dream. What about Rhett? Where does he fit into my life? That thought was silly. He had become her dearest friend, her confidant. The notion sent a painful slice through her heart. When his lips had been on hers, he’d felt like a lot more than that. She kicked away a warm surge of desire, as well as her confusing thoughts . . .
“Yes, congratulations, everyone,” she said. “The opposition felt impenetrable, but they were no match for us!”
Opening another bottle, Henry refilled their glasses.
They clinked glasses again, and Lavinia took a sip, the bubbles going straight up her nose. Her courage was waning. She needed to act quickly. “Excuse me, I have an announcement,” she said.
Belle’s and Katie’s blue gazes anchored onto her face, as did Emma’s emerald. Mavis, smartly dressed and wearing one of Lavinia’s creations on her head, responded, “Yes, Lavinia? Go ahead, we’re all listening.”
She blinked. Would everyone’s smiles disappear as soon as the words were out of her mouth? Why did it feel like she had a five-pound horseshoe stuck in her throat?
“Wait!” Emma sang out, excitement dancing in her eyes. “Before you go on, Lavinia, you must know both tulip-shaped hats you have on consignment sold! This morning! Sisters came into the store and had to have them. I knew you’d be excited to hear. They’re opening a shop of their own close to Mademoiselle de Sells. I guess Rhett is right. More men and more women! Congratulations, Lavinia. As soon as you can, I’d like you to design a few more for the shop.”
Jolted, Lavinia digested Emma’s words. At the looks of pride and sincere love on everyone’s faces, any thought that she was invisible, or didn’t belong in Eden, fled out the window. How absurd! She’d been silly thinking that, utterly silly. Leaving Eden now felt like a prison sentence, not a dream come true.
I’m allowed to change my mind. Circumstances have changed. I’ve changed. And not just because of Rhett either. The first moment I have I’ll telegraph Mr. Hansberry my apologies. My future lies here in Eden.
“Go on, sister-in-law—and now partner,” Blake joked. “We’re all listening. What’s the big news?”
What should she tell them? Suddenly, an idea struck her. One that had been waiting for her to embrace all along. She took a deep breath. “Lara has an idea she’s asked me to share. I believe it has merit. She thinks we should make the Five Sisters into a travel destination where Easterners come to get a taste of the West. The clean air and mountain walks are healthy. She says one ranch, and perhaps more by now, have already opened their homes. Money is being made hand over fist.” Everyone stared at her blankly. “It might be a great way to make our mark, a different mark, on the country.”
Blake broke out laughing, as if the idea were absurd.
Henry looked as if he couldn’t contain a smile of disbelief.
Clint’s eyebrow had crested so high, his thoughts were obvious.
But Belle, and the rest of her sisters, had a dreamy light in their eyes. Men and women really do think differently.
“We’d fix up the old ranch house—not too much, mind you—and that’s where guests would pay to stay,” she rushed on. “We’d take them on trail rides, campouts, and maybe even a cattle drive.”
Blake stepped forward, his palms raised. “Just hold on there! The Five Sisters is a working cattle ranch, and that’s what she’ll stay.”
“Says who?” Belle asked softly. “Don’t forget, we’re fifty-fifty partners now.”
Blake cut a look to Henry, who shrugged.
Mavis sipped from her glass and then sent Lavinia a smile. “I believe we have the topic for our first official ranch meeting next month.”
Blake groaned loudly. “And so it begins . . .”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
The morning of Lavinia’s birthday arrived quickly, but not so fast that Lavinia didn’t notice Rhett’s absence or miss his company. The prior week, with plotting the lumberjacks’ preopening supper, convincing them the whole lumber operation might be at risk of falling ill, and then making sure they took the warning to heart, was a whirlwind of excitement. The entire affair had been so much fun. She and Rhett had schemed about every aspect of the plot. He was smart, funny—and charming too. Actually, the most fascinating man she’d ever known. But for the last six days, including the contract signing, he’d stayed locked up in his restaurant as if he were avoiding her on purpose. Or maybe he was afraid she’d give him the sleeping speckled plague! She supposed he was practicing his menu, but still, that felt suspicious. Aromas floated over now and then, but she’d not gone to investigate. In truth, she felt more than a little hurt. But then she’d remember the kiss, the one she’d initiated by stepping willingly into his open arms. Maybe he was putting space between them so parting wouldn’t be so difficult when the time arrived. If he would ever show his face, she could tell him otherwise . . .
Did everyone in love feel so confused and agitated?
In love! That was impossible. She and Rhett were friends, nothing more.
She shrugged off her irritation as she drove the buggy toward the ranch. The weather was nice, mild. A cloud
of sparrows swept down toward her horse’s head and then playfully darted away. Later tonight, her sisters were throwing a small gathering for her birthday at her café. I’m twenty today, but I don’t feel a bit different. Quite possibly, she’d receive a letter from their father like Belle had last year. The prospect was exciting. When questioned, though, Henry was evasive and wouldn’t let on. She should prepare herself if it wasn’t to be. Maybe, toward the end, Father had been too weak to write to them all.
Approaching a dip in the road where the lane to the orphanage branched off, Lavinia slowed the buggy. Taking this part of the road too fast was hard on the buggy’s undercarriage. The gelding slowed to a walk, and she maneuvered him through the less rugged area.
“Lavinia!”
She snapped her head around.
Sister Agatha ran toward her, waving her hands. The young nun’s flushed face and disheveled brown habit robbed Lavinia of breath. A thousand horrible possibilities flashed through her mind.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Lavinia called when Sister Agatha was within hearing distance. Fear for the nuns and children sparked up her spine.
“It’s Jackie! We can’t find her. We returned from a picnic at the river, and she’s nowhere to be found. Sister Cecilia is doing another search of the grounds and house, but she asked me to go back to the river and hunt for her there.”
Lavinia reached out and helped the nun into the buggy. The gelding, who’d been headed to home and hay, was reluctant to turn around, but Lavinia got the job done. Jackie’s dear face, her red curls, and the way she always made Lavinia feel so special moved through her mind. “Where?” she asked once they were headed back. “What direction on the river?” She slapped the lines across the gelding’s back. The rig took off.
“Just down from the bridge that crosses Aspen Creek to the lumber mill,” Sister Agatha shouted. “Sister Cecilia likes the clearing by the alders. Do you know the spot?”
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