Wanted: Shopkeeper (Silverpines Book 4) Read online

  Contents

  Wanted: Shopkeeper

  Description

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Epilogue

  A Note From Sophie

  A Note From Sophie

  Wanted:

  Shopkeeper

  Sophie Dawson

  © 2018 Sophie Dawson

  Kindle Edition

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 978-1-63376-032-5

  No part of this publication maybe reproduced or distributed in print or electronic form without prior permission of the author. Please respect the hard work of the author and do not participate in or encourage the piracy of copyrighted materials.

  This is a work of fiction. Most of the places within the story are fictitious but some are real. You will most likely recognize those which are. Those you don’t are made up by me. The people, unless you recognize the name of a real historical person, are not real. They, too, have been created by me or by my friend and author George McVey. This is true of Nugget Nate and Penny Ryder and Nathan Ryder, The Preacher, who may or may not show up in this book. Even if real historical people are mentioned, their lives may or may not adhere strictly to documented historical reference. In other words, what they do or say has little bearing in fact and they probably didn’t do or say it. This is a fictional story after all.

  Dedication

  Wanted: Shopkeeper is dedicated to Joy Wriston who lost her battle with cancer on April 18, 2018. She was a sweet person willing to give critique and suggestions to make my novels better. I praise God for her life and look forward to seeing her in heaven.

  Silverpines, Oregon

  1899

  Millie Messer is exhausted and overwhelmed with raising her children and running the mercantile after the death of her husband in the earthquakes that devastated Silverpines. She does what many of the young widows and daughters are doing: Advertise for a Mail Order Husband. She thinks she’s found the perfect man to become her helpmate and new father for her four children.

  Clay Cutler has a secret, two actually. One will be revealed when he steps off the train in Silverpines. He only hopes Millie doesn’t renege on marrying him when she finds out. The other he’ll keep to himself until it’s necessary to reveal it.

  Millie is shocked when not only Clay steps off the train but five children with him. All she wanted was a shopkeeper. Now there are nine children in the family. All she knows is that there are lots of meals to cook and laundry to do. That and the outlaws, conmen, and swindlers who’ve come to town. Plus, she knows he’s keeping something from her.

  Will a new husband and nine children be too much for Millie? Will Clay’s secret keep her from trusting him? Will it help protect the town from those who want to cause harm? What mischief can nine children get into? Is Clay the Wanted: Shopkeeper who will heal Millie’s broken heart?

  CHAPTER ONE

  SILVERPINES, OREGON

  Late May 1899

  Dear Mrs. Messer,

  Thank you for responding so quickly to my inquiry. Please, once more, accept my heartfelt sympathy to your loss. I know what you are going through as I lost my beloved Lucy this past January. It is my hope that we can help each other through our grief.

  I will reiterate what I told you in my previous letter about myself. I am thirty-four years of age. I have been involved in merchandizing from a very young age as my father owned the general store in Stones Creek, Colorado. Upon his death my siblings and I inherited Cutler’s General Store. Enclosed you will find the newspaper clipping detailing this transition. I am standing farthest to the right in the photograph.

  You may wonder why I am interested in moving to Oregon when I am established in Stones Creek. The answer is two-fold. The town holds many fond memories as well as family and friends. These include all my memories of Lucy and her loss has dimmed my desire to remain in the community. As the third child of five there is also limited opportunity for growth and advancement within the family business.

  If you accept my offer to become your husband I will sell my part of the business here in Stones Creek. I have many years of experience in all aspects of running a mercantile. I believe we could be partners in continuing the success of your business.

  There is no need to send funds for travel to Oregon as I have not only savings but will have the proceeds from the sale of my portion of Cutler’s General Store.

  I have included a letter of reference from Pastor Noah Preston who has known me my entire life. You mentioned in your letter the desire for a faithful Christian husband. I hope this lays any worry you might have on this topic to rest.

  I look forward to your reply. I believe I could be in Silverpines within two weeks of receipt of your acceptance of me as your husband to be. With God’s help we could aid each other in our grief and I know I can lift the burden you carry of your family and the mercantile.

  Awaiting your response.

  Sincerely,

  Clayton Ryder Cutler

  Millie laid the letter on the kitchen table where she was sitting. It was nearly ten o’clock at night, the darkness lit only by the oil lamp she’d carried up from the mercantile she and her family lived above.

  She was exhausted. With four children ages from ten-year-old Fern down to eighteen-month-old Abe to tend and the mercantile to run there were simply not enough hours in the day to do all that needed to be done.

  Add in her grief at the death of her husband, Sherman, during the terrible events at the time of the earthquakes that hit Silverpines in mid-April and Millie was simply existing, trying to keep up. Each day was harder than the last. Tears of grief and exhaustion came nightly when she finally climbed into her lonely bed unable to face one more of the many tasks that needed to be done.

  The devastating earthquakes hadn’t taken only Sherman. Both married and single young men had died in the collapse of the Pike Silver Mine with the first quake in April and the mudslide at the Timbertown logging camp the following day after the second. The deaths left many young single women and widows in vulnerable situations and no decent men to give the protection of marriage.

  Within days unscrupulous men began arriving in Silverpines trying to swindle the women out of the businesses their husbands and fathers left behind. There were offers for purchase at far below the value of ranches and businesses. Men hired to repair damaged buildings who did shoddy work and expected to be paid premium wages for it. A man who came to town and set up a protection syndicate. These were what caused Millie to attend the meeting at Betsy Sewell’s home in mid-May.

  At the meeting Betsy had explained how she’d advertised for a husband in the Grooms Gazette, a pamphlet which posted for Mail-Order-Brides. She’d met her new husband, who was also Silverpines’ new town marshal through her advertisement. Millie knew she needed help with the store as well as with her children. There simply weren’t enough hours in the day to do her chores, tend the children, mind the store, and learn all that was necessary to run the business.

  Of all the responses she’d received, the one from Clayton Ryder Cutler had impressed her the most. Rather than ask a lot of questions about the mercantile, he’d expressed his sympathy for her loss and asked how she and the children were coping. He’d told of his willingness to move to Silverpines and help her manage the mercantile.

&n
bsp; At the end of his letter of inquiry, Mr. Cutler included a short prayer asking for God’s protection over her and her children. Also that she would know whom it was God wanted her to accept as her new husband and helpmate. His letter had shone with the light of the Lord in answer to her prayers for His will.

  Millie carefully folded the letter and slipped it back into its envelope. She picked up her fountain pen and put it to paper asking that Mr. Clayton Ryder Cutler move to Silverpines, Oregon and take her as his wife.

  Dear Mr. Cutler,

  I offer my sympathies for your loss and accept yours for mine. I do hope this letter relieves you somewhat of your grief and helps you look to the future with hope as I am now.

  I am pleased to accept your willingness to move to Silverpines and become my husband. I do want to reiterate that I have four children. Fern is ten-years-old and has accepted the burden of caring for her siblings since the death of their father and my needing to work in the mercantile daily. I wish to lift that from her young shoulders. Reuben is eight and very precocious. Opal is four and has been quite despondent since the tragic events. Abe is only eighteen months. It grieves me that he will not remember his father who loved him and the rest of the children so deeply.

  Your experience with the family’s general store is welcome as I find that, though I often worked alongside my husband, I know little about the management. That as well as the repairs and other issues that have arisen since the disaster have me looking forward to your arrival.

  Please send me a telegram as to your arrival. By the first of June the railroad will begin its regular schedule.

  Thank you, again, for being willing to make this move and take on me and my children. With God’s help we will build a successful marriage honoring both your wife and my husband.

  Sincerely yours,

  Millie Messer

  Clay reread the letter though he knew it by heart. He only hoped Millie had the same optimism when the train arrived in Silverpines. He had told the truth in everything he’d written in the letters he sent her. It was the volume of the omissions that worried him. He had no one to blame but himself if she rejected him on sight. Pastor Noah had warned him he risked everything if he didn’t apprise her of his situation before he arrived.

  Clay looked up at the ceiling of the railcar. Lord, you Called me to come. I’ve always trusted your Callings but none have required this amount of faith. I have so many doubts. You’ve always been faithful in making each work out and I know You will this time too. Forgive my doubts. Please make the meeting go well. Amen.

  The conductor’s call of, “Silverpines, next stop. Silverpines, Oregon in ten minutes,” pulled Clay out of his prayer. He looked down as a small hand tapped his knee.

  “Pa, that’s where we get off, isn’t it?” Grace, his five-year-old daughter asked, her eyes shining with excitement and the curiosity always present in her gaze.

  “Yes, Pumpkin. It’s where we get off and meet the family we will join to ours.”

  “And I’ll have a whole new town to explore.” Grace lifted the ever-present magnifying glass to her face, her eye enlarging as the lens was pressed close.

  “Yes. Now, help me gather our things. First, go make sure the boys do the same.”

  “Yes, Pa.” Grace ran to the seat behind to relay the message while Clay sent another prayer up that an explosion of TNT wasn’t waiting for him at the Silverpines train depot.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “STAND BESIDE ME, please.” Millie held Abe on her hip while Fern stood beside her holding Opal’s hand. Reuben bounced on his toes on her other side. They could hear the whistle announcing the arrival of the train that carried the man who would be her new husband.

  Millie bit her lip to keep the tears from filling her eyes and overflowing. She missed Sherman so much. She didn’t want to marry again, at least not now, but there was no way she could run the mercantile and raise their children.

  Each was reacting to the loss of their father in their own way. Even Abe who was only a year and a half was fussier and woke up in the night crying, which he hadn’t done since he was a couple months old. All the children were clingy and out of sorts. She was too. Millie was simply exhausted. So much had happened in the past eight weeks.

  First, the earthquake which had collapsed the Pike Silver Mine. The following day, the second quake caused further collapse of the mine taking the lives of the men trying to rescue those trapped miners. A massive mudslide of the rain soaked mountainside destroyed nearby Timbertown. Sherman’s life ended in the second earthquake while attempting to find anyone still alive in the mine. Its collapse had sealed the fate of any miners trapped as well as the rescuers.

  The physical strength needed to run the store had surprised Millie. Lifting, hauling, repairing what she could had taxed her body to its limits. Between the emotional and physical pressures Millie was totally drained.

  Fern and Reuben had been good help as the merchandise was either picked up and set to be sold or put in barrels to be disposed of. Even little Opal had spent some time dividing nails by length.

  Jackson Hershell, an orphan boy of thirteen came sometimes to help. He did odd jobs around town to earn money. He’d been busy since the earthquake since so many people needed help.

  Millie had kept the store closed until the Monday after the earthquakes. She needed the time to begin coming to grips with Sherman’s death. The store was a mess with everything shaken off the shelves and mixed together on the floor. The windows on the storefront were cracked. The doorframe twisted a bit so the door scraped the floor as it opened. The glass in the door was cracked. Fortunately most of the windows in the second story hadn’t broken.

  With the railroad tracks covered in mud no trains could come to town, stopping all commerce to and from Silverpines. What was useable in the store was placed on the shelves. What trash the children couldn’t put in barrels Millie simply swept into piles along the walls. There was still a large pile to be sorted in the back room. She didn’t have the time to deal with it. There were too many customers needing supplies to repair their buildings or replace household goods.

  Millie hadn’t known much about the suppliers Sherman ordered from. He had been a competent businessman, successfully building the reputation of Messer Mercantile over the years. She had sent letters to each supplier telling them of the disaster that Silverpines was now and that she would be sending large orders soon. With the railroad now running, orders had been sent. Shipments were arriving. She’d had no clue how she would move them from the railroad warehouse to the store. Clay Cutler arriving today would help with that. At least she hoped he would.

  The noise of the train slowing to a stop drowned out all thought. Abe covered his ears and frowned at her. He didn’t like loud noises. Millie bounced him slightly, watching the conductor place the step on the platform. She held her breath as the man from the newspaper clipping stepped from the train.

  Clay Cutler glanced at her then turned back. He helped a cute little girl off. She had strawberry blonde hair tumbling in messy waves and a broad smile. She looked around with wide curious eyes that took in everything around her. She focused on Millie and her children and the smile widened.

  Two boys jumped down and pushed at each other before Mr. Cutler said a sharp word to them. One looked to be about Reuben’s age, the other slightly older. They each carried satchels.

  Reaching up, the man took a small girl from the arms of a young teenage boy and turned from the train. He looked at Millie and began to slowly cross the platform, holding the toddler and being followed by the other four children.

  Millie gritted her teeth trying to keep the neutral expression on her face. He hadn’t said anything about having children. And there were five! She nearly collapsed as the weight of the added members to her family crashed onto her shoulders.

  “Mrs. Messer, I’m Clayton Cutler. These are my children. This is Ryder who’s thirteen. Nathan is eleven. Ben is eight. Grace is five and Ida is two.” />
  Millie must have smiled some sort of welcome as each child came into focus as they were introduced since they smiled back. They were obviously siblings with similar features though their hair varied between strawberry blonde and sandy brown. Eyes of either grey or deep blue studied her or her children somewhat warily. At least the older ones must have had a clue that they were a surprise to her.

  “Pleased to meet you... all. I’m Millie Messer. These are my children; Fern who is ten. Reuben is eight. My Opal is four and this is Abe who is a year and a half.” She bounced him a little as he looked at the children lined up next to their father.

  “Pleased to meet you all,” Clay said. “I’ll, um, see to our baggage. Come help me, boys.” He looked at Ida who he still held and set her down. “Grace, hold your sister’s hand. We’ll be right back.”

  Ida’s eyes got big and scared as she watched her father and brothers walk away. Ida began to cry. Millie’s heart broke. These children had lost their mother and now their home. “Here, Fern, take Abe for me, please. Reuben, you go help with the baggage. Come here, Grace, Ida. It’s going to be okay. Your father and brothers will be back in a moment.” Millie knelt, gathering the two girls into her arms. Opal came near and patted their backs, adding what comfort she could.

  A mound of trunks was growing next to the baggage car. In a very few minutes the door shut, the train blew its whistle, and pulled away from the station.

  Clay found the luggage cart and loaded everything onto it. It would be hard to drag along Main Street to Silverpines Inn as the street was dirt and rutted from wagons and horses during rainy times, which was often as the town wasn’t all that far up-river from the coast.