Lorna Loves a Lawyer: A Historical Western Romance (Brides with Grit Book 9)

by Linda K. Hubalek

“A fine glass of wine with dinner can still be appreciated from time to time,” Lyle grinned, showing the dimple Lorna started to watch for each time he smiled.

  “So, here’s to my first night in my new home, in my new state.” This time Lorna lifted her glass to gently clink it against Lyle’s. “And I pray I have enough business not to starve.”

  Lyle’s words made Lorna frown, thinking of her own problems again. He had family, both nearby and back East if he needed help. A sober reminder again that she was all alone.

  Lorna noticed Lyle had gone silent, staring at her as she sat thinking of her troubles.

  “I would like to become friends, Lorna. Except for my family, no one thinks highly of me here—yet—so I’d appreciate your friendship.”

  “I don’t believe people think highly of me, either, so I may hurt your reputation rather than the other way around.”

  “You had a bad situation happen to you, which wasn’t your fault. Don’t let people look down their noses at you for that reason. Either ignore them, or befriend them.”

  “That’s easier said than done at times.”

  “Well, I agree but I’m up to the challenge. Say, my sister and brother-in-law plan to bring in a picnic supper tomorrow evening. In other words, Cora wants to see my new home. Would you please join us?”

  “I don’t think that’s a wise idea.”

  “Why not?”

  “A single woman shouldn’t go into a bachelor’s home.”

  “You’re a married woman, and my sister and brother-in-law will be in my home, too. Anyway, I don’t think it’s anyone’s business, if we’re platonic friends, visiting each other’s homes as neighbors do.”

  “You have a point…”

  “One which I’ll keep pointing out to you. I’ll come calling when they arrive tomorrow evening.”

  With that final comment, Lyle trotted down her staircase and up his to his new home. She did want to see how the apartment was furnished. Besides enough furniture to fill a whole house, other furnishings were carted upstairs. What color of rugs and drapes had he picked out? Any artwork by artists she might recognize?

  As long as she could remember, she’d lived with her paternal grandmother in her huge house in the best district of Boston. Lorna took spacious, tastefully decorated rooms for granted growing up. The home hadn’t been updated since Lorna came to live there, but it was still an elegant place to reside.

  Lorna was an only child, her mother died when she was very young, and her father was gone most of the year. Her father died before Lorna’s sixteenth birthday, but she wasn’t very close to him, due to his constant traveling. But now, thinking of how Lyle might be furnishing his home, made her homesick for Boston, her childhood home and her small family.

  Lorna sat back against the open door again, stuck her bare legs out straight on the landing, and pulled up her skirt to catch the slight breeze on her sweaty skin. She took another sip of lemonade, wondering how long she would make it last before it warmed.

  She hated to admit it, but Mr. Elison—Lyle—was right. She’d been ignoring the outreach of the townspeople to help her. Well, some people like Mrs. Paulson, seemed delighted that Lorna had become poor overnight, thus keeping her status higher than she, the newcomer. But, what Lorna thought, as people being busybodies, was people genuinely interested in getting to know her. Being a young town, everyone was a new resident at some point, so all were familiar with the feeling.

  Lorna had been ignoring what was happening to her, selfishly wallowing in pity, instead of facing up to the fact she’d soon be a mother. A tiny person was going to depend on her for food, shelter and…love.

  Chapter 2

  “Good morning, Lorna. How are you feeling this morning?” Lyle had been patiently waiting for service in the café for fifteen minutes, but wasn’t going to complain.

  “I haven’t thrown up on anyone’s shoes yet today,” Lorna smartly replied as she set a cup of coffee on his table and left without taking his order. She’d hit the table hard enough with the cup that some of the hot liquid had sloshed out. Maybe he’d give her a minute before he caught her attention again for a napkin to slop up the liquid. He didn’t have any silverware yet either.

  The morning hour in the café was busy with business people getting together to chat before opening their stores for the day. Lyle planned to have breakfast here every morning, when possible, to get to know the people who ran the town, so to speak. He was the only lawyer in town since Jeb Henderson had left Clear Creek, but that didn’t mean people would use his services until they trusted him. And it was going to take time to build their trust. It helped that people knew and liked his sister, but taking care of someone’s legal matters meant people had to get to know him, too. He was prepared for lawyer jokes, snubs and gossip. That came with a new job, especially when townsfolk had seen him in a different light last year. It would take a while for Lyle to prove he wasn’t just a rich gambler fooling around.

  “Hey! I need silverware!” A man called out to Lorna as she carried a plate of eggs and bacon past him. By the look of her green face, silverware was the last thing on her mind. Why did she work the breakfast shift if she couldn’t handle the smell of bacon right now?

  Because she had no other choice, thought Lyle, as he heard the back door slam open. It must be awful to be sick while being in a family way, especially when you have no family to help you.

  Lyle spied a basket of rolled up napkins and figured the silverware would be inside them. Apparently there wasn’t another waitress working the breakfast shift this morning so Lyle rose from his chair and strolled over to the basket. He picked up two, one for himself and other for a banker. “Who needs silverware?” Lyle raised his voice to be heard above the din of voices. Several men looked his way, then raised their hands.

  Lyle grabbed several sets from the basket and proceeded to walk around the room to hand them out.

  “Want to bring the coffee pot around since you’re up?” Someone joked.

  “Sure, just as well since I haven’t placed my order yet.”

  “You’ll have a while to wait then, so bring my plate of biscuits and gravy with the pot, will ya?”

  “Lorna! Get in here!” Lyle could hear Dan yelling in the back of the kitchen. “The customers want to eat their food before it gets cold!”

  Lyle picked up the plate of food at the kitchen window mentioned by the customer and another, which probably went to the same table.

  “Okay, who ordered three eggs, bacon and toast?” Lyle asked as he reached the table. As soon as it was taken, he went back to the kitchen window and picked up three more plates. Dan put two more plates up on the window sill from his side, not minding, apparently, that Lyle was taking the plates out to his customers.

  “Lorna!” Dan yelled again, but she wasn’t answering yet. He’d need to check on her once he caught up on the plates being delivered to the tables.

  “You our new waitress?” A man Lyle didn’t know asked him.

  “No, I’m Clear Creek’s new lawyer, Lyle Elison, at your service today. Just thought I’d help the waitress since she’s feeling poorly this morning.”

  “What’s wrong with her? Should I worry about food poisoning?”

  “She’s in the family way and going through a bad patch is all.”

  “Didn’t think you’d be one to help out.” This time Lyle recognized the speaker was Mr. Taylor of the mercantile in town. Lyle turned to address the man, because this could set the tone for his chance of a livelihood here.

  “Mr. Taylor, I apologize for my past behavior when I lived here previously. I realized my actions were selfish, even childish at times. Something opened my eyes to show me I could, and needed to, be a better person.”

  “So you think helping the pretty waitress will help you earn our business?”

  “At the moment, I’m just thinking of helping the woman who turns ill when she smells bacon.” Lyle held up a plate piled high with bacon and runny eggs. “Okay, who o
rdered this big plate of nausea?”

  Chuckles were heard around the room when someone reluctantly help up his hand.

  Lyle delivered food to five tables before there was a break in Dan’s lineup.

  “I’ll go check on Lorna, if that’s okay,” Lyle asked before walking through Dan’s kitchen. Lorna had been missing for several minutes and he was starting to worry about her.

  “Go ahead. It’s happening too often now. So, you gonna fill in for her each time she pukes?” Dan asked without looking up from adding a new batch of bacon strips in his skillet. How could Lorna return to work with a new batch of grease scenting the air again?

  Lyle slipped through the back door of the café without answering Dan. Why didn’t he have any compassion for the woman? Surely his wife, Edna, had the same problem when she was in the family way.

  “Lorna?” Lyle leaned over her slumped figure sitting on the bottom step of her staircase and leaning against the stairs post. Looks like her apron took a direct hit this time. Lyle tried to keep his stomach from adding to the smelly mess.

  “Let me help you upstairs to rest a minute.” He touched her shoulder to get her attention since she didn’t answer.

  “No,” she sighed heavily, “I need to get back to work.”

  He thought of the new batch of bacon cooking and knew that wasn’t a good idea. “Dan said to take a break,” he lied, as he reached under Lorna’s arms to pull her to her feet and turn her around, “besides, you need to change your apron”. Lyle stayed behind her, and her apron, as they slowly ascended the stairs.

  Heat hit them both in the face when Lyle opened the door to her room. It was already hot and stuffy in her room at eight in the morning?

  “Why isn’t your window open? You could use some fresh air in here.”

  “I can’t open it,” was all Lorna said as he helped her sit down on the cot which must suffice for her bed.

  Lyle used the one chair in the room to hold the door open to let in air, then took two steps over to look at the small window frame. It took several poundings with his fist to jar the bottom window pane enough to move.

  The room, barely twelve feet in width and length, originally meant to be used as a storage room and the window was just to let in light. The roof beams were exposed instead of a ceiling. There was no lath and plaster on the walls to give any kind of insulation to the room. Besides being hotter than Hades during the summer, this room would be colder than the North Pole during the winter.

  Why was she staying here? The room would have worked temporarily during the spring months, but not now, in Lyle’s opinion.

  Lyle took a wash cloth off the wash stand and dipped it in the water still in the wash basin. She’d been carrying water up these steep stairs and back outside every day. He guessed there was a chamber pot under the bed, but otherwise she’d be using the outhouse down the alley.

  “Here, put this wet cloth on your forehead. I’ll take off your boots and…apron.”

  “My apron?”

  “Don’t look! I’m going to untie it and wad it so it doesn’t make us both sicker.”

  Lyle took it off Lorna and tossed it out the door to the stair landing. Whatever she’d eaten for breakfast didn’t smell so good now.

  “Where’s your button hook?”

  “On the shelf above the wash stand, but I don’t want my shoes off.” Lyle turned to the wall she indicated and saw it.

  “Lie back and I’ll unbutton your shoes.”

  “No.” Lorna moved to tuck her feet under the cot instead of lying back in bed.

  “Worried you have smelly feet? Can’t be any worse than mine,” he chuckled, trying to put her mind to ease.

  “No. I’m embarrassed at all the holes in my socks,” she whispered.

  What could he say to her admission? For a rich woman—former rich woman—it must embarrass her greatly to admit her clothes were in need of repair. She’d probably never darned a holey sock in her life—bought new ones instead.

  It dawned on Lyle that people he’d made fun of in the past, because of their dress, were that way because they couldn’t afford better. Circumstances caused the patched knees on the boy’s pants, not lack of caring by his parents, if he was lucky to have two adults in his life.

  Lyle was drawn to Lorna when they first met—even when she was yelling at him. He liked her looks, along with her spark of temper. He couldn’t do anything about the attraction since she was married. But he could still be her friend, and help her during this difficult time.

  “It wouldn’t have bothered me; if you want to leave your shoes on, that’s fine. Just lie down a bit to let your stomach settle and I’ll let Dan know you’re resting a few minutes.”

  “Okay, just for a little bit,” Lorna relented before collapsing on the cot. Lyle figured she’d be asleep before he arrived at the bottom of her stairs.

  “Why is Lorna living in that stifling hot storeroom?” Lyle tossed Dan the question as soon as he was back in the kitchen.

  “Pass out those plates on the window sill, then we’ll talk when the next break hits.”

  Never in his life had Lyle served a meal to anyone, but he’d do his share this morning to help Lorna. After he delivered six plates of food, he picked up the coffee pot to refill cups.

  “If you don’t have any lawyer cases to work on, you can always fill in here at the café,” teased a customer.

  Remember, they are just teasing, nothing personal. “Might have to do that. I suppose I should get my own apron and be ready, huh?” Lyle met the man’s eyes and smiled. He needed to make friends instead of enemies in this town.

  “Just skip ordering bacon for a while and you can enjoy Lorna as your waitress again.”

  “She’s not the friendliest woman in this café.”

  “Or anywhere in town. Too snobby to say hello on the boardwalk.”

  “Never goes to church.”

  Lyle was surprised at the comments made around the table, but then maybe not. He was seeing Lorna from his view point, as a fellow Boston citizen, but these men were thinking of her as a woman who they thought didn’t want to make the effort to belong to their community.

  “Lyle, come back here.”

  Dan motioned him to the work table and chairs set up in the kitchen.

  “Pour us a cup of coffee since I’m guessing you have questions about Mrs. Jantz.”

  Lyle poured coffee into the two cups Dan had already set on the table, then put the coffee pot back on the stove before sitting down to face Dan.

  “Yes, I have questions. The main one being, why is Lorna living in that upstairs room when it is so unbearably hot up there?”

  “She won’t leave. I’ve tried to get her to move out, and she refuses to talk about it. Same as trying to fire her here. She’s a lousy waitress, but she shows up every day, so...”

  “What does Edna say about this?”

  “Edna says to put up with her helping in the café for now so Lorna has a place to eat and sleep.”

  “Has Lorna mentioned family back East?”

  “All I know is that Lorna lived with her grandmother, who had passed before she traveled to Kansas. So, I’m guessing Lorna didn’t have family to turn to, or had severed her ties for some reason.”

  “What’s going to happen when she has her baby?”

  “Don’t know, but she’ll learn quick, or finally ask for help. And why do you care, Elison?”

  “I’m living next door to her now, and can’t help but see her discomfort.”

  “You got some new customers, Dan. Better send your new waitress out here,” a man’s voice yelled above the noisy room of conversations and they could here others chuckling, probably referring Lyle as being the new waitress.

  Dan rose from the chair and headed toward the dining room door to tend to his customers. “If you don’t get any business next door, you’re welcome to come help me out again anytime.” Dan held his hand out to Lyle and he gratefully shook it. Lyle knew Dan was joking but he d
id extend his hand, so Lyle hoped he was making amends to his previous reputation in town.

  Lyle strolled out the back door of the café and looked up at the open door of the room above. Should he go back up and inquire if she needed anything else? He imagined she’d sleep a bit and come back down to the café. Dan indicated he was making do with whatever time Lorna was putting in at his business, so maybe it was best if Lyle kept his nose out of their arrangement. Heaven knows he had his work cut out for him to get his own establishment in order.

  Chapter 3

  “Now be careful, Cora, I don’t want you tumbling down the steps.”

  Lorna eavesdropped from behind her open door as Lyle’s family walked up the staircase to his home. She’d met the couple, so knew the over six-foot Swedish immigrant Dagmar was carefully walking behind his little five-foot, Boston-bred wife. The two were so opposite from the other, but showed love firmly made their marriage work.

  “Don’t think I can ‘tuck and roll’ here?” Cora teased her husband. Lorna wondered what she meant by that.

  “A tumble down this staircase would be higher than a bucking horse, so you better watch your step.” Lorna heard the Swede’s booming voice loud and clear as they neared the top of Lyle’s stairs.

  “Welcome to my new home, Cora and Dagmar,” Lyle warmly greeted them as they stood on the landing. “Please come in and make yourselves at home. I asked Lorna Jantz to join us this evening, so I’ll run down the stairs and escort her over.”

  Lorna could hear his sister say something, but since she was now inside his home, she didn’t hear her actual words. Did she approve or disapprove of Lyle asking her to join them?

  She heard Lyle trot down the steps so knew she wasn’t going to get away with not attending his planned evening. Lorna could plead she didn’t feel well, but she did want to see the furnishings and layout of his home.

  Lorna stepped out her doorway when she heard Lyle put his foot on the first step of her staircase. There was no reason for him to walk all the way up and back down the stairs when she knew he was there.