Grace guided her to a chair next to an elderly couple sitting on the sofa and made the introductions. “Olivia, this is Hiram and Aggie Hanover. They have been surrogate parents to me and my sisters since we arrived. They are people you can count on.”
Olivia nodded to the Hanovers. “It’s so nice to meet you both.”
She sat in the chair offered next to the Hanovers and crossed her ankles, her hands folded in her lap.
Grace continued the introductions. “This is my sister, Faith and her husband, Liam. Liam and Hiram are partners in their law firm that took care of Christopher’s affairs while—”
Grace shot a shocked look toward the Hanovers and then at her husband. “I think I’ll go check on the coffee.” A tearful Grace turned to her. “I’m so very sorry, Miss Palmer.” Then she disappeared down the hall, leaving Olivia very confused.
Her escort stood and announced he was leaving too. “I’ll just go check on the horses. I’ll be outside if anyone needs anything—” She watched him shoot a pointed look toward the man called Liam who nodded his understanding in return.
Olivia suddenly had a bad feeling about the behavior of these strangers. “I don’t think I understand what’s going on here. Where is Christopher? Why isn’t he here?” She searched the faces of these strangers for answers.
“Perhaps I can shed some light on your confusion, Miss Palmer.” She looked up to see the man from the train leaning against the wall, glaring at her with those same hooded eyes. The man who had been so rude, whom she’d hoped to never lay eyes upon again. The man who made her breath catch at the sight of him.
Everyone turned to him. Hiram and Liam both stood in front of her as if to protect her. From what? Who was this man and what was he doing in Christopher’s house?
Hiram spoke first. “Chance, this isn’t the time or the place. Why don’t we let Miss Palmer get settled before—”
The man from the train, Chance, they called him, walked into the room and took a seat in the chair across from Olivia. “I think this is the perfect time and place, Hiram.” The man’s sarcasm wasn’t lost on Olivia.
“Exactly what is going on here and where is Christopher? I demand to know.” Olivia’s body shook with trepidation.
“Is that right? You demand to know.” The man’s rudeness was as caustic as ever.
Aggie Hanover stood and placed an arm around Olivia’s shoulders. “Chance, I’m going to have to insist you not use that tone toward Miss Palmer.”
“Very well then, I’ll try to temper my boorish behavior while I explain to Miss Palmer here, what has transpired since she last heard from my brother.” He turned to her and impaled her with those dark gray eyes of his. “It seems you have entered into a legal contract with my brother to become his bride and the mother of my nieces and nephews.”
This man was Christopher’s brother? That couldn’t be possible. Their personalities were as different as night and day, although now that she really looked at him, he did remind her of Christopher’s picture.
“That’s correct.” Olivia cut a nervous look to the two attorneys. “Is there an issue with that contract? I thought everything was above board. Are you telling me now that it isn’t?” Her heart punched at her ribs in dread.
She watched Hiram stand and pace the room again. “It’s all very above board, Miss Palmer. The contract is ironclad.”
“Then what seems to be the problem?” Her bad feeling continued to grow with every moment Christopher failed to appear.
“The problem, Miss Palmer, is if you knew my brother as well as you say you do,” the rude man from the train explained, “you would already know that your groom—my brother—is dead.”
* * *
Chance watched the shock on his brother’s mail-order bride’s face. If she had known about Christopher’s death, she was a damned good actress.
“Why don’t we take Miss Palmer to my house and get her settled in until we can get all of this sorted out, shall we?” Aggie Hanover offered. “I’d like to give her the opportunity to rest after her long trip. It must be a shock to learn her fiancé has died.” She cut a look toward him and added. “I would think everyone would be more understanding of the situation.”
“Oh, I understand the situation perfectly. I understand that this woman came here to marry my brother. And, I also understand that she has been taking money from him for months. What I don’t understand is why? Chris would never have agreed to marry someone he had never laid eyes on—unless there was some underlying reason we have yet to discover.” He pointed an accusatory look toward the woman in question. When she didn’t respond to his accusation, he continued. “It is completely out of character for Chris to act so impulsively or irresponsibly.”
Hiram rose and stood next to his wife. “Chance, perhaps it would be best to follow Aggie’s advice and let Miss Palmer get settled. Tomorrow will be time enough to take care of any business, don’t you agree?”
He didn’t agree. Not in the least, but he was a shrewd enough businessman to know when he was at a disadvantage. Miss Palmer had somehow gained a champion in Aggie Hanover. And if he were at odds with Aggie, he would be at odds with Hiram.
“Very well. I suspect tomorrow’s reading of my brother’s will shall set all of this mess to rights, but I would like to see the children, if no one has any objections to that.”
He raised his eyebrows in question toward Miss Palmer who wasn’t even looking at him. Instead, she was twisting a lace handkerchief between her slender trembling fingers in her lap.
He switched his gaze to Aggie and Hiram. Aggie answered his question. “The children are settled at a neighbor’s house and when I checked in on them less than an hour ago, they were playing merrily with their friends. I know you are anxious to see them, but don’t you think tomorrow is soon enough to remind them of all the changes that are coming to their young lives? Give them one more night to just be children.”
Chance couldn’t argue against that point. As much as he wanted to see the children, he knew Aggie was right and nodded his agreement. “Alright. I’ll leave them be until tomorrow.”
Hiram nodded and smiled at him. “Very sound decision, Chance. Very sound indeed. Now, Aggie and I will take Miss Palmer to our house where she can clean up, enjoy a good meal, and get some much-needed rest.”
He watched Hiram gather his wife and Miss Palmer and leave by the front door, followed by Liam and his wife, Faith. John’s wife, Grace, reappeared and followed the others out the door closing it softly behind her with a gentle click.
Chance stood and listened to the heartbreaking quiet of his brother’s house. The few times he had visited in the past, it had been full of life and chaos and noise. All the things that made him uneasy, but now, it was quiet—as a grave.
The irony of that thought wasn’t lost on Chance. A soft click at the front door signaled John’s return. “Everyone has gone to the Hanovers so I thought I’d stay and talk, that is if you want me to. I can go if you want to be alone.” His friend offered.
“No, I’m glad you stayed behind. I need someone to help me make sense of all this”.
Chance walked to his brother’s liquor buffet and poured himself a drink. He needed one after today’s revelations.
He turned to John and raised the crystal decanter holding the amber liquid. “Want one?”
“No thanks, I’m not much of a drinker—anymore.” John said.
Chance replaced the stopper on the crystal decanter, picked up his glass, and took the chair across from where John sat. He didn’t waste any time with social niceties.
“What happened to my brother, John? What would make him do something so out of character. Chris was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, but he wasn’t irresponsible.”
John agreed. “Chris is—was—one of the most level-headed men I’ve ever known. His agreement with Miss Palmer may be as simple as Hiram and Liam said. Chris wanted a wife and Miss Palmer needs a school.
“Regardless of how you feel ab
out this situation, Chance, it was Chris’s decision to enter into this agreement, and since he is no longer able to keep it, his will may change everything for Miss Palmer and those children.”
Chance stood and paced around his brother’s parlor. “Why not just read it now and save us all the suspense?” he demanded to know.
John grinned. “I think Hiram did what any good husband would do. He took Miss Palmer to his home because that’s what Aggie wanted. And Aggie is a mother hen when it comes to her orphans. She wanted to give Miss Palmer a chance to rest and relax. After all, the woman just arrived from a very long trip to find out her husband-to-be is dead. That kind of news takes some time to take in, don’t you think?”
Chance snorted. “What you aren’t saying is that they may have been trying to rescue Miss Palmer from my verbal thrashings.”
“That’s a possibility too, I suppose.” John’s deep voice chuckled.
“I can’t say I disagree with their motive, but how do they know she isn’t some kind of con artist? I would think Hiram more perceptive than to take a thief into his house.”
His first instinct had been to strangle the woman as soon as he realized who she was. After all, this woman had been taking money from his brother for at least six months, maybe longer. He had a right to be upset—for Christopher’s sake.
“That should answer your question right there, Chance. Hiram wouldn’t. And neither would Christopher. So, perhaps it is you who have misjudged Miss Palmer.”
“Maybe, but I’m not willing to welcome her into the fold just yet. Not until I know more about her and the reasons behind Christopher’s proposal and the money she took from him.
“Tell me, John. Why would a decent woman accept a marriage proposal from a man she had never met and travel to a place she had never been? It doesn’t make sense to me. She’s got to be up to something. What kind of woman would do that sort of thing?”
The giant of a man leaned back in his chair and studied him for a moment. He took a deep breath as if he had come to some sort of conclusion. “Chance, how many times have you visited your brother here in Creede in the last four years since he and his family moved here?”
Chance didn’t know where the big man was going with this but he’d play along. “Three, maybe four times, I think. Why?”
“I wondered if, during those visits, especially after Tessa’s death, you noticed any behavior from your brother that would make you question his decisions?”
“Um, no. Not that I can think of. Why? Did you? Notice something?” Chance was suddenly very interested in hearing what his friend had to say. Maybe he could shed light on this whole crazy situation.
“That’s because Christopher was as grounded on the day he died as he was when he first moved his family to Creede. And, while his decision to offer marriage to a woman he had never met may not make sense to you now, perhaps when you have more information, it will. You must know that not every situation is black and white. There are all shades of gray in between.”
Chance watched the big man hesitate again, and then he said. “To answer your question what kind of woman would do that sort of thing, let me tell you about my experiences with that sort of woman as you call her. You know my wife, Grace, was a mail-order bride, don’t you?”
Chance was stunned at John’s admission. No one had ever even hinted at the possibility. “Why, no I had no idea. You both seem so happy and in love. Like Chris and Tessa were.”
John laughed in his deep booming voice. “It didn’t start out that way. Not at all. I didn’t order my mail-order bride. My friend, Billy Buchanan, did it as a surprise. It didn’t go well at first.”
“I would assume not. Why did you marry her then if you didn’t want a wife?” Chance pushed for answers, hoping to understand his brother’s motives for this disastrous turn of events.
“I was devastated when my first wife, Lizzie, died so suddenly. I’m sure Chris felt the same way when Tessa died, leaving him with four children to raise alone. I wallowed in my grief for so long, it became painful for my friends to watch.”
Chance felt the punch of guilt in his gut and wished he had come a few months ago when he received Christopher’s letters. He knew something was off, and he told Chris he would come soon. Well, it wasn’t soon enough and now it was too late.
“Don’t look so stricken, Chance. You can’t do anything to help Chris, but you can still do something for his children. And they are what’s most important right now.
“My friend, Billy, tried to help me out of my black hole. His heart was in the right place, I suppose. Anyway, he ordered a mail-order bride for me hoping to make me forget about Lizzie and my son.
“But Billy didn’t know about Grace’s trouble with the law. It was only after we were married and expecting a baby that I found out Grace was wanted for murder—of which she wasn’t guilty.”
Chance rose from his seat and paced the floor. “See, that’s exactly my point. How do we know this Palmer woman isn’t a criminal? How do we know she won’t steal Chris’s children’s inheritance and disappear into the night? Perhaps she has an accomplice out there somewhere just waiting to—”
“Chance. Get a hold of yourself. An accomplice for what? Where’s all this conspiracy theory coming from? It isn’t like you to run off half-cocked without hard evidence. What’s really behind all of this suspicion of Miss Palmer?”
Chance’s grief for his brother mingled with his frustration at the situation. He slammed his fist against the wallpapered wall and felt the sting against his knuckles. John remained silent.
Chance took a deep breath and rubbed his knuckles with his other hand. This was no time to allow his emotions to run out of control. He had to keep a level head. Once Chris’s will was read and he could legally make decisions for the estate’s property and the children, he would feel more in control. Right now, he needed someone he could trust. And that person was John.
“I’ll tell you what I know. Chris has been paying Olivia Palmer a fairly large sum of money every month for the last six months. There aren’t any notes to indicate what the money was for, which is very out of character for Chris. He was a fanatic about keeping his business’s books straight. I want to know why he was paying this woman and what the money was for.”
John shrugged his shoulders ”Why don’t you just ask her?”
“Because I don’t trust her,” Chance admitted.
“Why? You don’t really know her and it seems Chris did or he wouldn’t have given her the money or ask her to come to Creede and marry him.” John’s simple observation made Chance feel like a heel, but he owed his brother loyalty and he would remain suspicious of the woman until she vindicated herself in every way.
“She is taking money from my brother and she came here to marry him, sight unseen. What kind of wo—” Chance stopped short. He’d realized too late what the implications of his statement could be, since John had just told him his wife had been a mail-order bride.
He preferred not to have a physical altercation with his big friend, so he offered an apologetic smile. Besides, even though Chance was a pretty scrappy boxer, he doubted he would survive a round with this giant of a man.
John grinned. “It’s okay, Chance. I get it. Trust me. I had the same feelings you have on the subject. What kind of woman would do that? And I say to you, a desperate woman who will do whatever it takes to survive in this world.
“Look, when a woman has no family, she has very few options. Grace and Miss Palmer aren’t like the pampered high society women you are used to courting, Chance. They were orphaned through no fault of their own and they had a choice—make a decent living or make a living anyway they could. Both women decided decent was better, even though it is much harder in the long run.”
Chance shook his head in denial. “What you say may be true, John, but how could Chris make a contract with a woman he had never laid eyes on? Bring her into his home to raise his children? Into his bed? I just don’t get it. It isn’t li
ke my brother at all.”
“It’s regrettable Chris died before he could answer all your questions, Chance. Did he give you any indication how sick he was? And judging by Miss Palmer’s reaction, I don’t think he told her either.”
John’s sympathy was evident in his eyes, but Chance wanted more than sympathy. He wanted answers. “No, he never even hinted that he was ill. And yeah, the whole situation is regrettable. I wish I had come sooner. Maybe I could have helped him somehow, changed his mind about all this. I should have been here.”
“Look, Chance. I’ve gotten to know you during your visits here with Chris, and although I will admit, I haven’t spent as much time with you as I have with Chris, I do know this much about you. You hide your true self from people.”
Chance wasn’t comfortable with the turn this conversation had taken. “I think you might have misjudged me, John—”
“No, I haven’t. You want them to think you are unaffected by things, but I’ve seen your reaction when you watch your nieces and nephews giggle. Or the way your face lit up when you and Chris told stories about your childhood. As hard as you pretend you have a stone heart, I for one know better.
“Why don’t you give Miss Palmer a chance to prove herself. You might be surprised by the woman.”
Chance doubted that very seriously. He had already seen the woman in action on the train. How she played coy when she fell into his lap. And then again, when she feigned fatigue and lay against him, her hand straying to a place no decent young woman would go, all the while pretending to be an innocent.
Chance couldn’t believe he had actually been attracted to the woman. But now that he knew who she was and what she was, that was where his attraction and his interest in her ended.
As soon as Chris’s will was read tomorrow, he would ask Hiram to declare the marriage contract null and void. Then Miss Olivia Palmer could get back on that train and return to wherever it was she came from.
“Will you promise me to keep an open mind until all the facts are in?” John’s question pulled him from his thoughts.
Olivia’s Obligation: The Alphabet Mail Order Brides Page 3
