Helen Heals A Hotelier (Brides With Grit Book 10) Read online

  “I saw a new piano. Will this be the first event you’ve used it for?”

  “You bought a piano??” Esther gasped.

  “The room, and the piano are used every week by groups now, but we first used it on Thanksgiving.”

  “What? You served a meal on Thanksgiving Day? That couldn’t have been worth the time and expense to be open with everyone eating at home with their families.”

  Helen looked at Ethan, waiting for him to answer, but he was stalling. Okay, I’ll get this over with.

  “Actually we had a community meal here at no charge to those who ate. The turkeys, potatoes and stuffing were prepared and donated by the hotel and area merchants, and guests brought desserts or something else to add to the meal.”

  “Again, I don’t see how that would have been profitable to feed a few people,” Esther grumbled.

  Elvin looked sideways at Ethan, trying to see how it turned out. “So how many people did you have for your Thanksgiving dinner? Ten, twenty, thirty?”

  Helen smiled at Elvin. “We served one hundred and forty-two meals at the first Annual Clear Creek Community Thanksgiving Dinner.”

  Elvin slapped his forehead and let out a howl of glee. Esther stood staring at Helen in disbelief.

  “Wow! One hundred and forty-two people in here? Where’d you put them all?”

  “The kids ate on the floor and we borrowed chairs from every house who offered them and set them in the dining room, hospitality room and lobby. The Reagan boys brought the chairs over to the hotel for the day and then delivered them back to the homes afterwards.” Ethan grinned at his father, happy with his response.

  “The rugs! You ruined them!” Esther must have just realized she didn’t see them in the dining room.

  “We rolled them up that morning and never laid them back down. It’s easier to keep the wood floors clean with all the mud and snow people tromp in this time of year, than watch the rugs turn filthy.”

  “It has saved the staff a lot of time, Mother.”

  “That afternoon we had a ‘prettiest pie’ contest, visited, sang, played games...and gave out gifts of hats and mittens to many who needed them,” Helen added, ignoring Esther’s outburst.

  “So how many people do you expect for your Christmas open house, pray tell?” Elvin grinned.

  Ethan looked at Helen for the answer since she’d been planning it.

  “Because we’ve advertised it as an open house, I suspect we’ll have people coming and going all afternoon, with the biggest crowd during the children’s program. Every parent and grandparent will want to see their child perform.”

  “How much is this going to cost the hotel?”

  “Ingredients for sixty dozen cookies, multiple pounds of taffy, fudge and divinity and coffee, tea and hot cocoa. I’m expecting close to two hundred people, depending on the weather of course.

  “You’ll run the business in the ground with all your expenses!”

  “Esther, please lower your voice. We have a hotel full of guests who could hear you.” Elvin sternly told his wife.

  “I have the books laid out in the office if you’d like to go in and look at them,” Helen pointed to the door behind them.

  Esther opened the door, then stopped to look around. “What have you done with the room? Why is there a cot in here?”

  “Helen organized the office and hung some pictures so the room looks tidy when the door is open. The cot is for the night clerk to catch a few winks of sleep when not on duty.”

  “A night clerk? Why?” Elvin asked with interest.

  “Because we’re usually full now and have people coming and going at all hours. Archie Prater and I take turns on the night shift. Helen is at the desk during the day if she’s not filling in an employee’s day off.”

  “Why would anyone get a day off?” Helen had expected that question from Esther.

  Helen looked Esther directly in the eye when she answered the woman. She wasn’t going to budge on this issue. “Because everyone deserves a day, or two, off each week to be with their families and get their own chores done.”

  Helen sensed Esther would question and undermine her work at the hotel, and she wasn’t looking forward to working with the woman. It also worried Helen that Ethan would slip back into his mother’s way of doing things, losing his new found confidence along the way.

  If that was the case, there wouldn’t be any future with Ethan. She’d never marry a man who wouldn’t put her and her daughters first in his life.

  Chapter 12

  His mother kept asking him questions as they walked through the light dusting of snow to church, but his mind always drifted back to the group of girls he was walking behind.

  Their moving into the hotel had enriched his life in more ways than he knew possible. Just carrying Luella now, her little arms wrapped around his neck, gave him joy. Iva Mae beside her mother, prim and proper walking ahead of him, while Maridell and Avalee skipped several feet ahead of their group, singing some little tune.

  The girls were happy, adjusted to their new community, and Ethan couldn’t help feel pleased he was part of the reason it had happened.

  As a thank you for dusting the upstairs suites, Ethan bought each girl a new winter cape and a matching winter bonnet right before Thanksgiving. It was getting colder and the girls needed warm outer garments which fit. He’d also commissioned a lady in town to knit a pair of mittens and a scarf for each girl, different colors so they couldn’t mix up the sets, and the girls received these gifts on Thanksgiving Day after helping with the day. The girls did pitch in as best they could around the hotel, always mindful and polite to the hotel guests.

  Helen knew he was helping her out, but didn’t protest in front of the girls, but she’d commented after the fact. Actually, Ethan had fun ordering the coats and picking out the yarn colors for the girls.

  “Ethan, we’re in the church now. You can put Luella down.” His mother pulled him out of his daydreaming and he did as she said.

  He watched Helen hold her hand out to Luella and walk to the pew they’d been sitting in each Sunday. It was on the left side of the church aisle, a row behind where Lorna and Lyle sat with Cora, Dagmar, and whichever three or four children raced to win seats by their “Uncle Daggy”. The man always had a child or two on his lap, no matter if it was in church or at a social gathering.

  “Welcome back to Clear Creek, Paulsons. How was your trip?” Ethan felt his mother’s hand on his arm and he turned toward the speaker. He listened to what his parents said to the Taylors, drawn into the conversation.

  “Time to find our seats. Pastor Reagan is standing up front waiting for us,” his mother said pulling Ethan to the right into the pew they used to sit in before his parents left for their trip.

  “Mother, Helen has saved seats for us...” He glanced to the left and saw Helen staring at him. After a long second she inhaled a deep breath, raised her chin a bit and turned her attention to the front of the church.

  “Shh. This is where we sit in church, Ethan. Now sit down. People are watching.”

  So Ethan sat down, between his parents, feeling like he was ten years old again...or thirty since this is how they’d always sat in their pew before his parents left on their trip, and the arrival of Helen and the girls to the hotel.

  Ethan stiffened when Will Schaeffer and his two young children walked into church late, then slid in the seats Helen had saved for him and his parents. Helen politely nodded to them before turning back to listen to the pastor.

  Schaeffer, a rancher south of town, had lost his wife two months ago to consumption and this was the first Ethan had seen Will and his family back in church.

  Ethan watched Will glance at Helen throughout the service and it made him uneasy. Had Will heard about Helen’s mail-order fiasco and decided to see if she was available to marry? By the looks of Will’s children, they needed a mother in their lives. The little girl’s braids were sloppy and the boy’s jacket had a tear in the sleeve. Ethan f
elt sorry for the family, but not bad enough to lose Helen and the girls to them.

  “Excuse me, excuse me, Father.” Ethan squeezed by his father, trying to get out of the pew after the service was over. Schaeffer and Helen were standing in the pew introducing themselves and their children to each other.

  “Ethan, will you need extra chairs for your open house next Sunday?” Ethan stopped moving toward Helen when Kaitlyn Reagan asked her question.

  “Uh, yes, please. I’d appreciate the boys bringing chairs over like they did last month, say by half past one o’clock, if that doesn’t rush everyone’s Sunday dinner.”

  “I’ll be sure my husband keeps his sermon short next Sunday then, so we’ll have plenty of time for dinner,” Kaitlyn said, before moving on to another conversation.

  Shoot! Now the aisle was full of church members visiting and Ethan couldn’t reach Helen without pushing people out of the way.

  “Just as well wait outside for her, Son. She’ll be along shortly.” Ethan turned back to his father, realizing he’d been watching Ethan panic about not being at Helen’s side.

  “I don’t want Schaeffer to get any ideas...” Ethan hinted to his father and they walked together out of the church.

  “Then you better make up your mind and act on it soon.”

  Ethan stared at his father. “Would...that be all right with you and Mother?”

  “It’s not our decision to make, Ethan.”

  “But Mother...”

  “Your mother should have absolutely nothing to say about your future family.”

  Elvin looked around before leaning close to Ethan. “I suggested your mother and I take our trip so you’d learn to stand on your own feet. Your mother won’t let you live your own life until you declare your independence. I don’t want you to hurt her, of course, but you need to make a decision, and then stand by it.”

  Ethan listened to his father, but felt torn just the same. He ran a hand over his face, then looked back to see if Helen had emerged from the church yet. Why wasn’t she outside by now? Was Schaeffer still talking to her, or someone else?

  “Do you love Helen, and her girls?”

  Ethan’s head snapped back at his father’s question.

  “Yes, or no?” His father pushed him for an answer.

  “Yes, but...”

  “Is the ‘but’ about Helen or your mother?”

  “Elvin, Ethan, it’s cold standing out here. Let’s go home.” Esther’s appearance beside them cut off future conversation.

  “You go on. I’m going to wait for Helen and the girls.”

  “I don’t think she’d appreciate that since Mr. Schaeffer asked her and the girls to eat with his family at the café.”

  Ethan sighed, then turned to follow his parents down the boardwalk to the hotel. Would Helen accept a proposal from Will to get out of the hotel?

  From hearsay Will was a decent man and his ranch was doing okay. Maybe Ethan should keep quiet and let Helen and the girls move on. They’d have someone to take care of them, his mother would be happy they were gone and he’d...miss them terribly.

  Was he brave enough to move out of the hotel and Clear Creek if his mother made their living here intolerable?

  Then you better make up your mind and act on it soon. His father’s words played over and over in his mind.

  Helen needed a home for her family and might accept an offer from Schaeffer if Ethan didn’t declare his feelings—or if his mother fired Helen and pushed them out of the hotel.

  Or would Helen refuse his offer because of his mother’s bossing everyone around?

  It was time to talk to both women he loved.

  He’d talk to Helen first to see if she loved him enough to put up with his mother, and then Ethan had to explain to his mother why Helen–and his soon-to-be daughters—would take priority over his parents and their hotel.

  ***

  Helen watched Esther set up one roadblock then another to keep Ethan away from her and the girls since the Paulsons arrived home. She wouldn’t be surprised if the woman hadn’t sent word out to Mr. Schaeffer, to let him know there was an available replacement for his deceased wife staying at the hotel, too. The man clearly wasn’t ready to marry yet, nor his children ready for a new mother. Dinner at the cafe was awkward, him talking about how much he missed his wife and the children’s tearing at their mother’s mention. Helen ended up consoling him, telling about losing her daughter’s fathers, and how they had survived.

  The meal with the Schaeffers drained all their spirits, bringing back memories they’d pushed back since moving into the hotel.

  Helen and her girls spent the afternoon in the suite by themselves, cuddling on the settee, talking or napping, instead of seeking Ethan’s company like they normally would on a Sunday.

  And Ethan didn’t knock on their closed door either, making Helen wonder if he wasn’t heeding his mother’s warning to stay away from them.

  It hurt to think Ethan didn’t love them enough to stand up to his mother, but if that was going to be the case, it was best to move on.

  If Mr. Schaeffer didn’t propose, there would be others coming around. If Mrs. Paulson made them leave the hotel, Helen would find another job and place to live until...whatever life brought their way.

  The gentle knocking on the suite door pulled Helen from her thoughts. The girls were in bed and she’d been sitting on the big chair by the fireplace, still mulling over her past and what to do next. The Pauslons return had changed the atmosphere of the hotel, and Helen wasn’t sure if the tension would ease, or escalate in the days to come. Helen couldn’t believe the change in attitudes of the hotel staff. The employees had changed from happy and helping, to sullen, grudgingly doing what Esther told them to do, even though the women knew their jobs and usually did them well.

  Helen wearily eased out of the chair to answer the door. She assumed it was Ethan but what would he say?

  Why did you have dinner with the Schaeffers? Why didn’t you come down to the dining room this evening? I’m sorry my mother was a bother today?

  Helen opened the door a crack, not surprised to see Ethan leaning against the door frame.

  “It’s late, Ethan. What do you want?”

  “I’d like to come in to talk.”

  “It’s not proper for you to be in here at this time of night, especially with your parents back in residence next door.”

  “Helen...”

  “Aren’t you supposed to be at the desk tonight?”

  “Yes, but...”

  “I’ll check on the girls, then come down to the office in a few minutes.”

  “Thank you. I’ll go back downstairs then,” Ethan’s face brightened at her saying they’d talk now.

  “Please sit down,” Ethan motioned to one of side chairs in the office when she’d came downstairs. After she was seated, he sat beside her in the other chair.

  Helen didn’t say anything, her hands folded in her lap, waiting for Ethan to say what was on his mind. He took a hold of her hands and slowly started rubbing her palms with his thumbs, apparently trying to think what to say.

  “I’m sorry for my mother’s rude comments and actions to you and the girls.”

  “No we don’t deserve them, but she should be apologizing to us, not you.”

  “And I doubt an apology from her will ever happen. That’s just the way she is.”

  “Yes, that’s just how some people are.”

  The conversation stalled then, but Helen was patient as Ethan needed to mull over what was going on with him and his parents. Nothing could happen between her and Ethan until the tension with his mother was over.

  “But, it’s time I start living my life like I want to, not my mother’s plan for me.”

  Ethan pulled her hands to his chest and looked into her eyes. “I love you and the girls, Helen. You’ve all brought joy and laughter into my life, something I didn’t realize I was missing until you moved into the hotel.”

  Helen held her br
eath, anticipating what Ethan would say next.

  Ethan slid from the chair with one knee on the floor, then took a deep breath.

  “Helen will you, and the girls please...”

  “No Ethan! I forbid it!” Esther shouted from the doorway of the office. “Get off the floor right now!”

  “No, mother, you get out of my life!” Ethan was on his feet, fists at his side as he yelled at his mother.

  “You can not marry a woman with four girls!”

  “That’s not your call, Mother!”

  Helen put her face in her hands, cringing as the two continued to yell at each other over her, oblivious of her still sitting between them in the chair.

  Even with their shouting match filling the air, she could hear doors opening upstairs and people murmuring, probably wondering what was going on down on the first floor.

  Footsteps pounded on the stairs then Elvin was in the doorway. “I could hear you yelling from the third floor! The guests upstairs are stepping out in to the hallway, wondering what’s going on down here!” Elvin said, glowering at Esther, then Ethan.

  “I was proposing to Helen, and Mother butted in saying she ‘forbid it’!”

  “Esther, you’ve got to let Ethan make his own decisions,” Elvin said, like he was tired of saying it over and over to his stubborn wife.

  “I know what’s best for my son. I built this hotel for him, for heaven’s sake. And now he wants to ruin my plans by marrying a woman whose had four children with four different men?!”

  “I didn’t ask you to build this hotel for me! I was happy working for the railroad. But thanks to Helen and her expertise, we’ve made your hotel a success.”

  Ethan glared at his mother a second longer, then went around to the front of the desk and yanked open the drawer where he kept the check ledger book. He pulled out the black book and tossed it on the desk, flipping it open to a blank check.

  “I have received room and board, plus a little spending now and then from you, but never a real paycheck from the hotel account, Mother. I acted as general manager while you were gone and this evening I tallied up the number of hours I worked for the hotel in your absence.”