An Inconvenient Marriage
Ruth Ann Nordin
Ruth Ann Nordin’s Books
Springfield, Nebraska
An Inconvenient Marriage - Smashwords Edition
Published by Ruth Ann Nordin at Smashwords
Copyright © 2010 by Ruth Ann Nordin
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Copyright photo: Shutterstock.com – used with permission.
For my dad and Karen who have the most beautiful love story I ever heard.
Scripture taken from the New Kings James version of the Bible.
Chapter One
December 1899
Jake Mitchell was good at two things: making money and managing people. What he wasn’t good at was getting Sue Lewis to stop coming by the bank where he worked every day. It wasn’t that Sue was outwardly rude, but she was persistent and vocal. This particular day was no exception. He was sitting in his office when he heard her enter the bank.
“I want to speak to someone in charge here,” she told one of the tellers.
Jake closed his light blue eyes and ran his hand through his short dark brown straight hair. He rubbed his neatly trimmed beard and sighed. He was only thirty-five but when he heard her nagging voice, he felt like he was sixty. She could wear any man out.
“Mr. Mitchell, that woman is back,” George Leroy said.
“So? Take care of it,” he replied.
“I’ve done everything I can but she won’t go away.”
Jake shook his head. How did George ever expect to take over as president when his father retired if he couldn’t handle one woman? “I’m the vice president, George. I’ll be working under you soon enough. You need to learn to handle these kinds of customers.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You handle people better than I do.”
“Now is the perfect opportunity for you to work on that.”
He heard her constant demands for a resolution to her family’s debt every day for the past two weeks. She came in around noon every single day and said the same thing. He had unsuccessfully tried to resolve her dispute, but she wouldn’t listen to any of the logic he presented to her.
“I don’t want to talk to her,” George whined.
“I talked to her on Monday,” Jake said. “Now it’s your turn.”
“I talked to her yesterday. And Mr. Edwards talked to her last Friday.”
“So we’re all taking turns?” He sighed. “Then it’s Edwards’ turn again. We’ll just go in circles because there’s nothing else to do. We can’t solve her problem.”
Noah Edwards was in charge of the mortgages. He really was the ideal person for her to talk to, though it wouldn’t do her any good.
“Miss, you can’t just walk back there,” the teller exclaimed.
“I will not be treated so rudely,” she snapped. “I know my rights as a customer.”
Jake cringed as she walked past the teller and into his office. He made a mental note to buy a lock for his door.
Sue was actually easy on the eyes, despite the fact that she wore her blond curly hair in a bun. Her face was nice to look at. Her hourglass figure and ample bosom were even better. Her green eyes and fair complexion would grab the attention of any man, but her aggressive behavior turned men off, which was why she was still single at thirty-three. No man wanted a nag for a wife. They also didn’t want the debt she came with. Every man knew that her parents were in desperate financial straits and if they married her, they would have to take that debt on themselves. Considering the size of the debt, Jake understood why men shuddered to even consider a courtship with her. Had she been blessed to remove either her debt or nagging, she might have succeeded in marrying someone. However, she had two strikes against her, and those were two strikes too many.
“I demand to have a conversation with you since you’re the vice president,” she ordered.
Jake sighed. The teller had no experience to withstand her stormy emotions.
George and the teller quickly left the office.
Great. Now I’m stuck with her. “I have nothing new to say to you,” Jake finally told her. “You don’t have a case.”
She sat in the chair in front of his desk and folded her arms. “I won’t go away until the issue is resolved.”
“It is resolved.” Why am I wasting my time? The woman simply refused to listen to reason.
“Not to my satisfaction.”
Suddenly, an idea came to him. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll stay here all day if I have to. I won’t leave just because you run and hide,” she warned as he stood up.
He stopped himself from rolling his eyes. “I said I would be right back.” He made sure to emphasize the words “right back.” He grumbled as he left the office and went to the backroom where he could grab her family’s folder. He shut the file cabinet in irritation and stomped back to his office.
Her eyes grew wide.
She didn’t expect me to actually return. He placed the folder on his desk and opened it. “Have you seen these contracts?”
She shifted uncomfortably in the chair. Her hard expression disappeared. “Yes,” she softly replied.
He looked at her in disbelief. How could a woman change her mood so quickly? Her gentle expression drained him of his anger. He sighed. He didn’t like what he would have to say next but knew there was no alternative.
“Your father signed the contracts, and he is legally bound to uphold them. If he fails to pay his debts, then he will lose the house and the farm. He is already five months late in his payments. We sent a letter notifying him that foreclosure is imminent. I’m sorry but there is nothing we can do unless he gets current on his back payments.”
“But the late fees associated with those back payments will make it impossible to get current.”
“We can waive those late fees if we receive an additional month’s payment in advance.”
“Mr. Mitchell, there are circumstances that have greatly affected my family. We lost most of our crops in the fields last summer during the hail storm, and the tornado killed a great number of the cattle in the fields.”
“I sympathize with you. There are two other farmers who are facing the same situation you are. If we made provisions for you, we’d have to do it for everyone who suffered hardships, and then we’d lose so much money, we’d have to go out of business. I know banking can be a cold business but we do need to make a profit in order to stay open.”
Her mouth tightened. “Surely, three farms aren’t going to hurt your business so badly. We can work out a deal. Perhaps, we could offer our crops or cattle.”
“I already arranged that with the other two farmers. Their debts are considerably smaller than your father’s debt. Even if you were to offer food and cattle fo
r ten years, it wouldn’t be enough to pay what you owe.”
“There should be something you can do,” she protested, quickly getting upset again.
He frowned. What right did she have to be upset with him? “I wasn’t the one who made the poor financial decisions your father did. He borrowed so much against his house and land that he buried himself in a hole he can’t get out of.”
“That was to cover the expenses for my youngest brother’s heart surgery. He would have died if we didn’t do it. Really, you are heartless. I would think that even if you had an ounce of humanity in you, you would forgive part of the debt.”
“The surgery wasn’t the only thing that got your family in trouble. Your grandfather had a substantial gambling problem.”
“So my father is to pay for his father’s sins?”
“Yes, since he insists on living on the property your grandfather borrowed against.”
She banged her fists on the sides of the chair and glared at him.
He wasn’t going to be intimidated by her. “Like I said, I am sorry but if we bailed your father out, we would lose too much money. This isn’t personal.” He struggled to remain calm but her continual insistence to bother him was getting on his nerves.
“I will come by every day until we can work something out.”
“Then I will put your own chair in the lobby so you can be comfortable out there. But I will not be talking to you again. As far as I’m concerned, the matter is closed. The best thing for your family to do is to move off the farm and purchase a reasonable residence in town. At least then, their debts will be eliminated and they can go about their lives.”
She gasped. “That farm has been in our family for three generations. It is to go to my brother and his wife.”
“He’ll have to do something else. It’s not that big of a deal. What use is it to hold onto something that isn’t working?”
“You don’t understand sentimental value. You have a cold heart.”
“Maybe so but I do understand common sense. You can’t pay your debts if you don’t have money. The best thing your father can do for you is to wipe the slate clean. Perhaps with your family’s debt out of the way, you’ll find a man who’s willing to overlook your constant nagging.”
She stood up, her nostrils flaring in anger. “I have tried to be decent with you. If it weren’t for your money, you would have absolutely nothing to offer a woman.”
His face grew red. “I have been as nice as to you as I can possibly be, but you are impossible to deal with. It’s not my fault that you refuse to listen to reason. You know what the contracts say. Your father signed them with his eyes wide open. If there’s anyone you should be mad at, it’s him. I didn’t condemn your brothers and sisters to a lifetime of poverty.”
“My father is an honorable man who would give his life for his family.”
“Really? Then why can’t he give up the farm so his family can have a better life?”
“This bank does not care for its customers. The bottom line is the dollar. The only reason people come here is because there is no alternative.”
“You are dismissed.”
“Not until this matter is resolved.”
“It is resolved.”
“Not to my satisfaction!” she yelled.
He noted the looks from the customers as they turned to his office. “That’s it. I’m calling security.” He had enough. He angrily walked out of the room and called the guard to take her away.
As the guard dragged her out of his office, kicking and screaming, she vowed, “I will come back every day until you resolve this matter.”
He groaned. She meant it too. He used to enjoy working here, but with her constant irrational demands, it wasn’t easy to come to work. He glanced at George. “You’re handling her tomorrow!” he barked before he slammed his office door.
***
After work, Jake took the horse-drawn buggy to his house. It wasn’t a mansion, but it was elegant in appearance. He prided himself on the way he kept the white two story home with blue trim. The gardener did an excellent job trimming the shrubbery and trees. The grass was cut short. The inside of the house was spotless and cared for by his maid and butler. Though he had six bedrooms, four bathrooms, two parlors, a large dining room, a kitchen, and a den, he rarely had visitors. He was content to stay by himself, but he enjoyed owning fine things and spared no expense for his furnishings.
Mr. Reynolds stopped the buggy so he could get out.
“Henry,” he told the taxi driver, “I’m going to need to go to the business meeting tonight at seven. Can you have the buggy ready at 6:30?”
“Yes, sir,” Henry replied.
“Thank you.”
He walked to his house which was similar to other houses in the area. He enjoyed the Virginia city life for things rarely got boring. There were plenty of things a single man could do without the headache of dragging a woman along with him. He wasn’t opposed to women such as they were, but he had seen enough men lose their freedom to a wife. He was determined that such a fate would never happen to him. He had no intention of giving up his life of adventure.
“Good day, sir,” his butler greeted as he opened the door.
“Good day, Ralph. How is the misses doing?” Jake asked as he entered the house and took off his coat.
“Very well, sir. She is expecting any day now. The doctor says she is doing well.”
Ralph Border was married to Lydia, who was also the maid. When Jake hired them, they had just gotten married but had no means to support themselves, so Jake decided that he could use some help keeping up his house and gave them a job. They resided in one of the two bedrooms on the lower level of the house, and their soon-to-be-born baby would be in the next bedroom. Jake didn’t mind the company they provided, though he kept his distance. He didn’t believe in getting too close to anyone.
Jake went to his den that was decorated with a bear’s head and two deer heads, which he had mounted after hunting them. He had various collectible items, such as cigar boxes he never opened and paintings that he had collected from Europe on his travels. His den was his safe haven from the world. In it, he could relax and enjoy doing extra work he didn’t have time to accomplish during business hours. The large fireplace and the two plush blue chairs that sat in front of it was his secret reading place. The large oak desk contained his business documents which he kept in the top drawer on the right side. Other items in the room included a globe of the world, a bookcase full of his books, and antiques from his travels. It was a man’s room, with walls that resembled a log cabin and oak flooring to give it a rustic atmosphere. No other room in his house was like it.
He sat at the desk and pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. He would be leading the meeting that night since the president, Conrad Leroy, decided he was too old to be attending the meetings anymore. He wondered why George wasn’t already in the president’s position. He considered that his father wasn’t too sure of George’s competency. He realized George knew the job well enough, but did he have the leadership ability to run a bank?
Jake sighed. Such matters did not concern him. He had decided long ago that he would not work at that bank forever. He had his sights set on opening his own bank as soon as Conrad officially retired. Something about George bothered him, though he could never put his finger on it. He knew it was in his best interest to offer the people an alternative to the only bank that was currently in town. Competition was a good thing when it improved people’s lives. He hated to agree with Sue Lewis, but he did often wonder how much George cared for the customer. Conrad was an honorable man, but would George follow in his father’s footsteps? Deep down, Jake seriously questioned George’s professional ethics when his personal ethics were shoddy.
A light knocking on the door interrupted his thoughts.
“Enter,” he called out.
Lydia opened the door. “Dinner is ready, sir,” she softly said.
He smiled. Her face glo
wed with the impending arrival of her child. “Are you sure you feel up to cooking these days? I can always hire a temporary cook while you rest.” He folded the piece of paper and put it in the breast pocket of his dark blue suit.
“Oh, I am feeling fine.” He could tell that she appreciated his concern by the way she smiled. “I need something to do or else I’ll go crazy waiting for the little one to be born. It looks like he or she will be a Christmas baby.”
“Just don’t push yourself too hard. Ralph worries about you.”
“I know. He’s a wonderful husband.”
“And he’ll make a good father.”
Jake wasn’t opposed to marriage or children for others. He just didn’t wish those things for himself.
“Tonight’s menu is rib eye steak, baked potato, and green beans,” she informed him.
“No one makes steak like you do. Ralph is a lucky man.”
She blushed at his compliment.
“We both think the world of you, sir,” she said.
“Well, I think of you two as the brother and sister I never had. But enough emotional talk. I’m hungry.”
After he ate dinner, he insisted that Ralph and Lydia take the rest of the night off so they could enjoy their remaining moments alone before the little one arrived. He took Henry’s taxi to the bank and paid him the usual fare plus tip. A long time ago, Henry offered to taxi him anywhere he wanted to go. “It’s hard to find a man who tips as well you do, sir,” he admitted. Since Henry was punctual and maintained a clean buggy and horse and dressed nicely, Jake was glad to have his services every time he needed to go somewhere.
As soon as the five board members of the bank assembled into the backroom at the maple table, Jake began the meeting. He knew he had to mention Sue Lewis at the end of it.
“We need to figure out what we can do about her,” he began. “She’s not going to leave us alone until we foreclose or prevent a foreclosure. Are there any ideas?”
“Just foreclose,” George replied. “In three weeks, the Lewis farm and house will be ours. Then she won’t be a problem anymore.”
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