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

  “Did he bring it up again this morning?”

  “Yes, he did, and the girls and I accepted his proposal of marriage. With the girls needing to get ready for school this morning, we haven’t had time to discuss when the wedding will be and where we’ll be living and working.”

  Esther’s face pinched for a second when Helen hinted they didn’t know where their future might lead them, but it wouldn’t be at the hotel.

  “What did you tell the girls when you didn’t start your tasks here in the hotel this morning?”

  “I explained we were taking a week off from our duties in the hotel, as Ethan might be looking for a new job in Clear Creek or in another town.”

  “Another town?”

  “That’s possible. Ethan will soon have four daughters who will count on him for support and we’ll move to where he finds a job.”

  “But we just returned from our trip because I couldn’t stand being away any longer from Ethan. You can’t marry Ethan and move away!” Esther pleaded.

  Someone knocked on the office door. “Hey, you have customers out here,” a man spoke loudly from the other side of the door. “Can we get some assistance?”

  Helen rose from her chair, walked to the door and eased it open to see four men standing in line in front of the hotel desk.

  “The owner will be out in a moment to help you,” Helen said before looking back at Esther. Helen wanted to help the guests, but it wasn’t her place anymore.

  “Well it better be quick because the chamber pot tipped over in my room,” the man said without a hint of remorse.

  “And I need clean towels,” the man behind the first called out.

  “Mrs. Paulson, I believe I need to leave so you may tend to your guest’s needs. Good day,” Helen said to Esther, then walked past the men to the dining room.

  Nothing was solved from their conversation, but Helen now knew why Esther was so fixated on controlling Ethan. Could they stay in Clear Creek, or would it be better for their new family to have some distance between them and Ethan’s parents?

  “Ma’am, are you Mrs. Higby?” The fourth man in line spoke to Helen as she walked by the group.

  “Yes, I am. Who might you be?” The man’s coat was patched but clean. He held his hat in one hand and dried flowers of some variety in his other. The dark-haired man looked to be in his mid-forties.

  “I’m Fritz Stein, from south of Clear Creek. I’m a recent widower and heard there was a free woman in town.” He made it sound like she had a sign hanging around her neck saying “Free Woman”.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Uh, my wife died last month and I’m needing a woman to replace her.” The man looked up and down her body as if sizing up the quality of a cow.

  “I’m sincerely sorry for your wife’s death, Mr. Stein, but...”

  “Gertrude was a good woman, but she left behind a lot of work.” Mr. Stein shook his head, then shoved the handful of dried stems toward Helen.

  “Uh, thank you.” Helen recognizing the stems of lavender and put them to her nose, inhaling the scent until the dust on the plant matter made her sneeze.

  “Gertrude grew lots of stuff in her gardens and dried them for later use.”

  “Yes, I recognize these as dried lavender. Mr. Stein, I’m already...”

  “I guess it’s lavender. I didn’t pay much attention to what she grew, just the food she put on my plate.

  “Anyway, I got a quarter section of grass and plowed ground on the north side of the creek south of here. Two-room sod house, barn, livestock. Cave of food for the winter thanks to my wife.

  “Three boys, but all have left home. By the time they were fifteen it was time for them to be on their own, so then it was just me and my wife.”

  “I have four daughters, from age ten to two.” Helen couldn’t help smiling when Mr. Stein’s face fell in disappointment.

  “Uh, I was planning on you being single.”

  “I’m sorry, but I’ve been widowed, more than once, but I have four lovely daughters to show for my marriages. But just this morning I became...”

  The man grimaced and looked down to the floor, acting offended.

  “I hadn’t planned on raising more kids, let alone girls. Have they done any farm work?”

  “No, but it doesn’t matter. I....”

  “Nope, I don’t want you then. Good luck finding a husband,” the man huffed, stuffing his hat back on his head and grabbing the dried lavender back from Helen’s hand before turning to exit the hotel.

  “Have you had other proposals, Helen?” Esther asked as she walked up beside Helen.

  “This is the second one. The first man who asked me was a widower with eight children. Although I’m sure the children were in desperate need of a mother, I had to put my daughters needs first and declined his offer.”

  “Maybe there will be better offers in the future for you,” Esther hinted.

  “As I was trying to tell Mr. Stein, Ethan asked me to marry him this morning and I said yes.”

  ***

  “Come in, come in! The boys just left for school so you’re just in time to join Patrick for a second cup of coffee.” Kaitlyn Reagan greeted them at the parsonage door when Ethan knocked. He and Helen had walked Iva Mae and Maridell to school, and then decided to stop to talk to the pastor and his wife. The problems with his mother were weighing on both their minds and they needed counsel.

  “Hang your wraps on the coat rack and then walk back to the kitchen. I’m going to fetch a few toys from the younger boys’ room to keep Avalee and Luella occupied.”

  “Cookies?” Luella smiled sweetly up to Kaitlyn as Helen helped her out of her coat.

  “Luella, we just ate breakfast...” Helen reminded her youngest daughter.

  “But the girls know I always keep the cookie jar full of oatmeal cookies, don’t you?” Kaitlyn teased.

  “Yes,” both girls answered expectantly.

  Kaitlyn laughed and shook her head. “It’s so nice to have polite little girls in the house for a change.”

  Conversation around the Reagan’s kitchen table stayed on safe topics until the girls finished their cookies and were in the dining room playing with two stuffed bears.

  “I gather something happened at the hotel since you’re both here and not working this morning?” Pastor Reagan asked before taking another sip of coffee.

  Ethan slowly nodded his head, thinking back to last night.

  “Mother interrupted my asking Helen to marry me last night, and I exploded. I finally had enough of my mother running my life, and that was the last straw. So I told her ‘I quit’!”

  Ethan threw up his hands just like he did last night in exasperation. “I’m not going to manage the hotel for her if she won’t accept me wanting to marry Helen and the girls. Helen also agreed to leave her job because Mother would fire her as soon as I was out the door.”

  “I’m sorry you had words with your mother, Ethan. You’ve been a very patient and loving son to your parents.”

  “I’ve always tried to honor and please my mother and father, but...I need to start my own life now. I love Helen and the girls and want my own family.”

  “Did your father add anything to the discussion?”

  “He contradicted Mother by telling us we could stay in the hotel suite until after the holidays, when they’d hire a new hotel manager. That would give us a roof over our heads until I find us a place to live and me a job.”

  “So will there be a wedding?” Kaitlyn asked Helen.

  “Yes, the girls—and I—love and adore Ethan so it was a unanimous vote when Ethan asked us to marry him this morning.” Ethan reached for Helen’s hand and gave it a squeeze. She’d always be his support through good times and bad.

  “Have you talked to your mother this morning, Ethan?” the pastor asked.

  Helen spoke up instead. “Esther asked to speak to me alone when we came downstairs for breakfast. She told me she’d lost all her babies except for Ethan. She
couldn’t let go of her only child…and asked me not to marry Ethan. Then we were interrupted by customers, so I left so she could help them.”

  Pastor Reagan shook his head. “Your mother and I have talked about her losses, and I’m afraid I’ve failed to give her any peace or closure. Can you accept she may never change?”

  Ethan looked at Helen when she reached for his hand and asked, “Ethan, if you had a choice, what would you like to do for a living? Would you like to run a hotel somewhere, or go back to building railroads, start a newspaper in town?

  “You can do anything you want. I’d support you in whatever you want to do and where ever you want to live. My past has taught me to be flexible.”

  Ethan tried to read any negative emotion in Helen’s face, but she was sincere. She’d consider anything he proposed to do.

  “I did enjoy managing the hotel, once you taught me how to do it.” And he had always enjoyed working with his father. Was there any possibility he and his mother could come to terms on how to run the hotel, and they stay there?

  “You know, your parents have only been back for a few days, and I’m sure it was a shock finding their hotel full of guests, diners, and little girls,” Pastor Reagan pointed out.

  “And we walked out leaving them to do all the work.” Now Ethan was feeling guilty.

  “Ethan, remember it’s their hotel. Those two could replace you two as part of the staff, so don’t feel bad. When you marry, your wife and children should come first.” Kaitlyn added her own advice.

  “Can I make a suggestion?” Everyone turned to Helen to hear what she had to say.

  “Ethan, what if we ask your parents if we could have our wedding reception at the hotel this Sunday, as part of Christmas open house?

  “Could you marry us this Sunday after the regular church service, Pastor Reagan?”

  “I’ve been told—by my wife—to cut the service short so everyone can eat dinner before their chairs are taken over to the hotel,” the pastor raised his eyebrows at Kaitlyn.

  “No one would mind if you skipped a sermon to perform a wedding instead, Patrick.”

  “But old Mrs. Benson wouldn’t get her morning nap in then.” her husband kidded her.

  Kaitlyn rolled her eyes. “She sleeps through the whole service anyway.”

  Ethan looked at Helen, she enjoying the couple’s bantering as much as he was.

  “Can we go out to the ranch to pick out new dresses for the wedding?” Avalee asked her mother. When had the girls wandered in from the dining room? Ethan was going to have to remember there was always going to be a girl—or four—listening in on his and Helen’s conversations once they were married.

  “Oh, that’s a wonderful idea, Avalee!” Kaitlyn exclaimed. “I’ll drive you out there!”

  “But you were out there not long ago and brought home a wagon load of dresses,” Ethan protested.

  “Oh, but there was an emerald green dress I tried on last time, that I know your mother would love for me to wear at our wedding…” Helen teased Ethan, waiting for him to catch on. Kaitlyn laughed with Helen as Ethan hung his head and shook it.

  If anyone could convince his mother to love his wife and children, it was Helen.

  Chapter 14

  Monday evening

  Helen and Ethan waited almost a half hour this evening, after Ethan heard his parents walk in their suite, to knock on their door. It was time to talk to his parents about their plans and smooth over the bad feelings caused by last night’s argument. Esther may never change her ways, but she was still Ethan’s mother and had always wanted what was best for her son.

  “May we come in to talk?” Ethan called out when they heard his father say “come in”.

  “Please do. We’re not moving for the rest of the night,” Elvin told them.

  They sat in the settee across from Ethan’s parents, both of whom sat in stuffed chairs with their feet up on ottomans.

  “Hello, Father, Mother. How was your day?” Ethan started with a neutral greeting.

  “My right knee is aching from going up and down the stairs so many times today,” Elvin replied. “It’s a lot more work to running the hotel when all the rooms are full.”

  Helen couldn’t help smiling, knowing the reason the hotel was full now.

  “I’m exhausted, and I can still smell that spilled chamber pot.” Esther wrinkled her nose and shuddered.

  “Well, thankfully you’ll be smelling sweet cinnamon rolls instead of chamber pots tomorrow, since you’re baking and cooking for Irma.”

  Esther’s eyes widened and narrowed at her son’s cheerful reminder of what she needed to do tomorrow.

  “We came over this evening to let you know we will be married in church Sunday morning.”

  Helen held her breath, waiting for Ethan’s parents reaction.

  “Congratulations to both of you!” Elvin struggled to get out of the chair, but Ethan put up his hand.

  “Please don’t try to get up since your knee is sore.”

  Ethan looked at Esther, hope in his eyes that his mother would approve.

  “I see. Are we invited to the wedding, if we choose to attend?” Esther quietly said, biting her bottom lip afterwards like she was trying to keep from crying.

  Ethan’s jaw tightened when his mother didn’t congratulate them. This wasn’t quite how Helen had planned this evening’s visit with Ethan’s parents.

  “Of course we’ll be attending your wedding, even if we shut down the hotel for the day. I would never miss your special day, Son.” Elvin looked over at Esther but she turned her head to the wall.

  “Archie Prater isn’t a church goer, so he works on Sundays so Ethan can take time off to attend church services. Perhaps you can see if he’s still willing to stay at the desk for you?” Helen suggested, hoping at least Ethan’s father would attend their ceremony.

  There was no use talking about the wedding reception being at the hotel now if Esther wasn’t behind the wedding.

  Helen rose, holding her hand out to Ethan. “Your parents are tired. Let’s go.”

  “I’m sorry,” Elvin said, while standing to walk them to the door. “Your mother...”

  Ethan waved a hand in the air dismissing his father’s apology before yanking open the door and storming out. Now Ethan would have another restless night’s sleep and worry his mother would never approve of his marrying her.

  Did tonight’s scene cause Helen to rethink their wedding? No, because Ethan loved and needed them as much as she and the girls did him. They’d try to replace the hole left in Ethan’s heart by his mother.

  Ethan leaned against the stair banister, looking ready to pull back and kick a few stair posts out of line. Helen stood behind him, slowly rubbing her hands up and down his back, not saying anything for a minute.

  “Please give her time, Ethan. Grief and pain from her past can’t be lifted in a day.”

  “I thought sure she’d change her mind after meeting you and the girls.”

  “Give her time, Ethan. The girls and I aren’t what she’d always planned for you and she needs time to adjust.”

  “You’re not saying to postpone...or call off the wedding are you?” The distress in Ethan’s eyes was almost as bad as Esther’s when they said they would marry. The two were more alike than they’d ever concede.

  “We’ll go ahead and marry as planned on Sunday, but I don’t think we should plan the reception being here.”

  “I wonder if there will even be an open house on Sunday. People will show up and...”

  “That’s up to your parents now, not us.”

  “How can you be so calm after the way Mother has treated you, Helen?” Ethan turned to face her, pulling her against his chest and wrapping his arms tightly around her.

  “I’ve been in worse situations so I won’t let her actions or words bother me.” What else could she say to Ethan? She hadn’t been as protected as Ethan and had faced many hard situations in her life.

  “Come on, Ethan. I
t’s time for the girls to be tucked in bed,” Helen pulled out of Ethan’s arms and took a step to the door.

  “Um...I’m going for a walk so I’ll be out a while.”

  Helen stepped back to Ethan and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “I’ll still be up if you want to talk on your return.”

  She walked in the door and closed it without looking back because she didn’t want him to see her tears. It really hurt Ethan when his mother didn’t give her approval for their wedding...and it had hurt Helen, too.

  ***

  Tuesday morning

  “All the men did was complain, after all the extra work I did for them this morning. ‘Where’s the other half of the roll, Esther? Helen’s rolls are twice as big, not stingy like yours.’

  “’Helen made our rolls with a special maple frosting’...ugh.”

  Ethan listened to his mother’s rants about the men’s coffee hour a minute before knocking on the office door to talk to his father.

  “Father, I thought I’d let you know I’m going to Salina to look for a job and a house. I hope to be home tonight rather than tomorrow.”

  “Are Helen and the girls going with you?”

  “No, the girls are in school. Helen and the other girls are visiting with Kaitlyn Reagan. They plan to drive out to the Bar E Ranch,” Ethan couldn’t help looking at his mother now with his next words. “Cora has special dresses for Helen and the girls to wear for our wedding.”

  “Thanks for letting us know, Ethan. I’ll watch for their return from their country drive.”

  Ethan set his hat on his head, ready to walk over to the depot, but he stopped to say one last thing.

  “Not sure why you’re sitting here in the office taking it easy, Mother. Tuesday is ‘free dessert’ day, which means your dining room will be packed with hungry eaters soon. Helen made cream puffs with a butterscotch filling last Tuesday. I’m sure customers will be comparing them to whatever special dessert you plan for today.” Ethan couldn’t help catching his father’s grin.

  “You mean people will eat here today because of a free dessert? For lunch?!”