Wanted: Shopkeeper (Silverpines Book 4) Read online

  Movement from Grace caused Millie to stand. She knew what that squirming was. “Fern, please give Abe back to me. I believe Grace needs the necessary. Please take her into the station.” She tipped Grace’s face up. “Will you go with her?” The girl nodded, jumping from foot to foot. Ida clutched her sister’s hand. “Do you want to go with them?”

  Ida nodded and the trio moved to the building. Opal followed behind.

  Millie turned, hearing the cart rumble across the platform. Clay’s eyes were searching for his daughters. She stepped up to him. “Fern took them to the necessary. They will be back in a moment.”

  “Is she old enough to handle that responsibility?” He looked at the depot, concern in his gaze.

  “Yes, they will be fine.” All the boys were examining the tracks so Millie took the opportunity to speak without small ears hearing. Abe, in her arms, didn’t count. “You and I need to have a private conversation.”

  She saw Clay swallow. “Yes, I suppose we do. Please don’t be angry.”

  “We’ll see when you give me valid reasons for you to have neglected to mention you had five children. With my four that makes nine. I wanted a husband to ease my burden, not add to it.”

  “Pa.” Grace ran across the platform to him with Ida following close behind.

  “We’ll go for a walk once the children are settled at the inn. If that is okay with you, that is.”

  Millie sighed. “I suppose I’ll keep the mercantile closed the rest of the day. I need to figure out what to make everyone for dinner and supper. I’m sure your children are hungry.”

  The three Cutler boys and Reuben bounded up on the last words with large grins on their faces.

  Millie was able to open the mercantile for a few hours in the afternoon. Clay had taken everyone to the cafe for dinner, easing her burden to provide a meal on short notice. Now, Fern was monitoring the four youngest napping in the apartment above the store. Reuben was escorting the boys around town, getting into who knew what kind of trouble.

  Millie had stayed in the apartment waiting for the young ones to settle to sleep. She took the time to peel and slice potatoes, making two large pans of scalloped potatoes and ham. They would be put in the oven later to be ready to feed everyone for supper. The walk she and Clay would take to speak privately was going to wait until evening.

  Clay was wandering around the store, familiarizing himself with what was carried and where it was displayed. The regular organization of the merchandise wasn’t evident. Some of the shelves were damaged in the quakes and not yet repaired. Items were just stacked where there was room to place them. There were regularly carried items which weren’t available. Stock was low on others. Notes were pinned to empty shelves stating that orders had been placed and to check back to see if they had arrived.

  Clay also noted the structural damage to the building. It seemed repairs had been started but not finished or poorly done. He’d see that everything was repaired properly. He’d learned some carpentry from Massot, Stones Creek’s crusty builder. Clay wasn’t a master builder by any means but he could do what was needed to repair the mercantile. New windows would have to be ordered. All the buildings in town needed them. Many, including this one, had tarps nailed across the openings. It made the room dim and depressing.

  The inn he and his family were staying in had served as an infirmary, as had the saloon, after the twin disasters had decimated Silverpines and wiped Timbertown off the map. Rebuilding was slowly happening but with the railroad having been stopped for so long, supplies were slow to get to town. River traffic had been stopped for a while with the mudslide and logjam. It hadn’t stopped the conmen from getting to town. Millie had told him of the outlaws who had come and the protection ring that had been set up by Roy Terhall.

  It seemed the man had gathered unsavory men who were doing the ‘repairs’ and outlaws who had been kicked out of their gangs and begun trying to extort money from the vulnerable women left widows or fatherless by the disaster. It was one reason Millie had posted her advertisement.

  It might be the reason for his Calling to come to Silverpines. He needed to think and pray about that as well as whether to mention his Callings to Millie. He hoped she didn’t think he was a lunatic. In Stones Creek nothing was thought about the Callings. They were understood. Clay wasn’t sure if his ancestry would mean anything to the people of Silverpines or not.

  The door scraped open and two men entered. They went straight to the counter with the brass National Cash Register on it. Millie was standing nearby and frowned when she saw them. Clay stepped back into the shadows. A tingling went up his spine. These men set off the feelings of his Calling.

  “I told you before, Mr. Terhall. I’m not paying you. Marshal Sewell is fully capable of providing the protection to the town and my business,” Millie said, eyeing both men.

  “Now, Mrs. Messer. I know you heard what happened to the barbershop. I’d hate for that to happen to your business.” The man was not overly tall and quite thin. Clay couldn’t see his face.

  “Shall I take your threats to the marshal?” Millie laid her hands on the counter, leaning forward just a bit.

  “And tell him what? It’s your word against mine.”

  “Just leave my store. You aren’t interested in purchasing anything. I could have you arrested for loitering.”

  Mr. Terhall picked up a tin of tobacco, placing it on the counter. He dug in his vest pocket and put some coins beside it. “There, I’ve purchased something. Keep the change. Come on, Vern. We have things to do.” He tipped his hat and the two men sauntered to the door, casting one last look at Millie.

  Clay came out of the shadows and approached the counter. “What happened to the barber shop?”

  Millie wiped her hand down her face. “It was broken into by Terhall’s men, so it seems. They broke a lot of the furnishings. Some of the businesses have paid what he’s wanting. Some of us haven’t. I chose not to.”

  Clay nodded. This wasn’t good. Protection racketeers doing damage to back up their threats. Although Terhall hadn’t specifically threatened Millie, the implication was there. He would look into this. He didn’t want his children to become fodder for a gangster.

  Noting Millie’s worried frown, Clay changed the focus of their conversation. “I see that there was an attempt at repairing the building damage.”

  Millie tucked a strand of hair that had come loose behind her ear. “That was supposed to be a competent structural repair. It soon became clear that he either didn’t know what he was doing or didn’t care. Once the wall was no longer in danger of collapsing, I told him his services were no longer needed. I don’t know when the repairs can be redone or who will do them, but at least the building won’t fall in on us.”

  She turned away to place some items on a shelf behind the counter. Her shoulders were slumped and he’d noted her exhaustion. It must have been awful for everyone in the town to go through such a devastating loss. Nearly every man between the ages of about eighteen through fifty had been killed in either the mine collapse or the mudslide.

  Widows and daughters were left to pick up the pieces of their lives and continue the businesses that supported them. As the mercantile owner, Millie would have had customers coming constantly to purchase the needed supplies to live and begin repairs to their homes and businesses.

  Clay hadn’t seen much of the town yet, but what he had seen showed extensive damaged to most structures. A few had collapsed. There was evidence of scavenging the ruins for useable wood.

  Guilt began to creep in. Maybe he should have told her about his children. She must see them only as another load on her already burdened shoulders. Then she wouldn’t have chosen him to come to Silverpines. He knew this was where he was supposed to be. Knew that his Calling wanted him here. He wasn’t sure what all he was supposed to do, but he would start by lifting some of the responsibility off her.

  There were things he could do right now as a beginning. He’d examine the half-ba
ked repairs and figure out what he needed to do them correctly. There were piles of trash in the corners. When the boys got back, Ryder and Nate could dispose of them.

  Merchandise was haphazardly arranged on the shelves. He figured the items had just been set there rather than in their proper places. That’s another thing the boys could do. Even Sherman and Millie’s son, Rueben, could help with that. There was shelving that was too damaged to repair. They’d need to be replaced.

  “Millie, I’m going to examine this repair work and see what I need to fix it. Is the lumberyard working?”

  “Can you fix it?” A small spark of hope appeared in the back of her eyes. Deep brown eyes that held such fatigue and despair.

  “I should be able to. I was taught some carpentry by a man in Stones Creek, Massot. He’s a master carpenter. I’m not anywhere close to his skills, but I should be able to do this. When you get windows, the boys and I can install them too. It’s time Ryder learned some skills and it won’t hurt the other boys to help either.”

  “That would be wonderful. With the train running now, it shouldn’t be long before the windows get here. I’ve ordered what I need for both floors as well as a new door. There may even be some in the station warehouse now.

  “Also, there is probably lumber either in the warehouse or at the lumberyard. Miss Woodson is trying to run the lumberyard. Her father was killed in the mudslide at Timbertown. I helped her learn how to order lumber shipped in.”

  “I’ll figure out what I need and go see her tomorrow.”

  Running feet could be heard overhead and down the stairs. Soon Opal and Grace ran in from the back room.

  “Mama, Fern says Abe stinks. She doesn’t want to change him. I helped Ida go potty when she got up. She wants her papa. She’s crying again. Can me and Grace have a lemon drop?” Opal held Grace’s hand sidling up to the candy jars.

  “May Grace and I. Just one each. One mind you, Opal. No more,” Millie said as she went to the door, locking it and turning the framed slate with Closed written in chalk over. The other side had the hours the shop would be open for the day marked on it. “I’m closing the store now. Mr. Cutler, will you please find the boys and make sure they are cleaned up with hands washed when they come to supper?”

  Millie swept past him without so much as a glance. Clay watched Grace and Opal get a candy from the jar and pop them in their mouths. They ran by him with smiles and waves. At least one of the Messer females seemed to like him. He didn’t think Millie was too fond of him at the moment. Maybe when they spoke in private once the children were settled for the night he could explain why he hadn’t told her of his offspring.

  CHAPTER THREE

  THE OATMEAL BURPED in the pot sending up a hot bit that burned slightly when it landed on Millie’s hand. She stuck it in her mouth for a moment then wiped her skin with a dishtowel. Bacon was frying. She’d gone down to the ice box in the store and brought up what she hoped would be enough milk.

  Her children and the Cutler’s would be here in a few minutes for breakfast. Moving the pot to a cooler spot on the stove, she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. The ribbon she’d tied it back with was slipping down its dark length.

  Millie looked down at herself. She was going to have breakfast with strangers while she was in her dressing gown. How embarrassing. There just hadn’t been time to change into a day dress.

  Her night had been spent tossing and turning when she should have been sleeping. Questions, worries, responsibilities, tasks, orders, deliveries, burdens, and threats rolled through her mind whenever she closed her eyes. Over it all was grief.

  Millie missed Sherman so. He’d been her rock, her friend, her lover, the person she loved with all her heart. When he’d left that day to help with the rescue efforts in the mine she’d never thought he wouldn’t come back. The shock when the news had been brought had taken Millie to her knees.

  The shared grief of so many women and children had pulled the townsfolk left behind together. Most tried to carry on and support one another. Most of the businesses were now being run by wives and daughters of the men who had been killed in the mine collapse or mudslide.

  Millie was better prepared than most. She had worked beside Sherman in the mercantile so she knew some about how to proceed. She had to learn about the ordering and deliveries, but at least she knew how to run the cash register and wait on customers.

  Many of the women knew nothing of the businesses they were now trying to run. She’d helped several, including Tonya Woodson, the daughter of the lumber mill’s owner who died at Timbertown. She was only nineteen and knew absolutely nothing.

  Taking two loaves of bread from the bread drawer, Millie began cutting slices. Reuben had run to the bakery yesterday and bought them for her. There was no way she had time to make bread. She needed to get breakfast served, the dishes done, get dressed, and open the mercantile. Oh, she needed to figure something to fix for eleven people for the noon meal. Baked beans and boiled eggs would have to do.

  There was always laundry. She’d be so glad when Abe was potty trained. Diapers simply needed to be washed every day. Thank God Ida wasn’t in diapers.

  Then there was supper. What was she going to fix everyone? She’d send Fern and Reuben to the butcher for ground meat. She could make meatloaf, boiled potatoes, biscuits, green beans. Maybe she’d send one of the Cutler boys to the bakery for a cake for dessert. She didn’t have time to make one.

  Five more children. Why didn’t Mr. Cutler tell her about his family? Well, it didn’t take a genius to figure that out. Would she have agreed to his suit if she knew he had five children? Millie hoped he had more than an answer to that question when they finally had a chance to talk.

  The plan to speak privately last evening hadn’t come to fruition. Ryder, the oldest Cutler, had come with a note shortly before they were supposed to take a walk and discuss the situation. Ida was afraid and didn’t want her pa to leave her in a strange room with only her siblings. Millie understood. For a toddler to lose her mother, then move across country to a strange town and stay in a strange place was difficult. She didn’t understand and needed the security of her pa being with her when she went to sleep.

  But it delayed Millie’s and Mr. Cutler’s conversation.

  And it wouldn’t happen until much later in the day. Millie could hear her children in their rooms and many footsteps coming up the staircase on the side of the building. She sighed, picked up her tongs and began moving bacon from the frying pan to the plate already piled high keeping warm in the oven.

  When a knock sounded on the door, Opal ran into the kitchen. “I’ll let them in, Mama. I can’t wait to see Grace again. She’s my best friend. I can’t wait until she’s my sister.”

  Taking a deep breath and straightening her shoulders, Millie stirred the pot of oatmeal. At least someone was glad there were more children in Silverpines.

  Clay surveyed the buildings of the downtown as he headed toward the lumberyard. He could see damage to all and some had collapsed. He could make a living for quite a while just repairing buildings. He’d come to Silverpines to marry Millie and work in her mercantile though.

  It was clear that she wasn’t happy he hadn’t let her know of his children. He didn’t blame her. He knew she had four of her own. The pressure of the mercantile, her children, the town’s massive losses and her own grief were enough of a burden. She’d advertised for a husband to help her. He’d brought more children whom she must see as only adding to her problems.

  His children were, at least to his way of thinking, well behaved, but they were children. Ryder was growing into a responsible young man but he was still only thirteen. He’d be an asset in helping at the store and with his siblings, as long as he didn’t disappear as soon as breakfast was over. Clay would make sure Nate and Ben didn’t give Millie problems either. They could do some in the store too: sweeping, straightening shelves, stocking. Grace and Ida were just too little to do much.

  A man rode
toward him, making Clay glance up. The prickle of his Calling had him studying the rider. This man was up to no good. Clay didn’t know what his purpose was or how he would achieve it, but he was sure it wasn’t for the benefit of others.

  Clay’s Callings weren’t the same as his grandmother’s or Great Uncle Nugget Nate Ryder but they helped him with life and helping others when needed. He could tell when someone wasn’t genuinely what they said they were. Especially those who were up to no good. He’d helped find some outlaw hideouts back in Colorado and knew a few things were going to happen before they did. Some things would just stand out so he wouldn’t overlook them, like the Grooms Gazette he’d noticed at Cutler’s General Store.

  He’d never looked at it before, just laid them on the shelf with the other periodicals. That day it seemed as if that paper was brighter than the rest. He couldn’t not pick it up and read the advertisements. The text of Millie’s ad stood out as if it was written in bold letters. That it was a Calling Clay had no doubt. The rest of the day was spent praying for God’s direction and clear indication of what Clay should do. That night, after the children were asleep, he’d written the letter that resulted in moving his family to Silverpines.

  The man dismounted in front of the saloon and went into the building. Clay walked on past, heading to the lumberyard. The owner and his son were both killed in the disaster. The daughter was trying to run the business. She was only nineteen and knew nothing of the workings of a lumberyard or mill. With Millie’s help the girl was learning and not drowning in the work.

  Clay entered the lumber mill office. The girl behind the counter looked up from her ledger. She looked as stressed as Millie did. Well, maybe not quite as much. Millie looked exhausted as well as having the weight of the world on her shoulders.

  “Good morning, sir. How can I help you?” the young woman asked.