A Love For Keeps (Truly Yours Digital Editions)

Meagan Snow walked out of the bank, trying not to let her mother know how discouraged she felt. All she had to do was look at the older woman to see she felt the very same way, if not more so.

“Meagan, I don’t know why I let you talk me into doing this,” Elsie Snow said as they walked down Main Street to the third bank they would try that morning. “We’ve already been turned down by two different banks. We should probably just go on home.”

“Mama, I am not giving up until we have no choice.” She couldn’t. It had been one thing for her mother to take in wash to help ends meet since Papa died. Meagan and her sisters, Becca and Sarah, could help her with that. However, the fact that Mama felt she had to take a part-time job helping to get the newly built Crescent Hotel ready to open was more than Meagan could take. It was time, as the oldest daughter, to help more than she had been. The mending she took in wasn’t enough. God had blessed her with a talent, and she intended to put it to use to help provide for her family. She could do no less. If they were successful in getting a loan, her mother would be able to quit the hotel position before long.

They entered the Connors Bank and walked up to the receptionist. “Good morning. I’m Meagan Snow and this is my mother, Elsie. We’d like to see a loan officer, if possible,” she said.

The receptionist gave Meagan and then her mother an appraising look before answering, “I’ll see if Mr. Brooks has time to see you. Please take a seat right over there.” She pointed to several settees in what Meagan assumed was a waiting area.

“Thank you,” Meagan’s mother said. One settee had a cuspidor sitting to the side of it. Meagan and her mother chose the other one. The way Mama twisted her lace-trimmed hankie between her fingers told Meagan how nervous she was.

Meagan covered those fingers with her hand and squeezed. “It’s going to be all right, Mama. This bank is much bigger than the others are. It surely has more money to loan.” She tried to sound positive, but the truth was she didn’t know what they were going to do if they couldn’t get a loan from this bank.

“I don’t think it’s that the other bankers didn’t have the money, dear. I’m sure they think we are a bad risk. Moreover, I’m afraid this one isn’t likely to be any different. The look on the impertinent young woman’s face tells me that.”

“Yes, I know. However, we know that we are not bad risks! And I will do my best to convince the bank manager of just that.”

It seemed they waited for a long time, but it was really only a few minutes. A nice-looking man followed the receptionist out of a nearby office, and as she pointed in their direction, he nodded and headed their way. He didn’t seem at all like the other two men they’d met with that day. Those men had been much older and …
stuffy
was the word that came to mind. The younger man who was striding over to them was of medium height, broad shouldered, and had deep brown hair. When he reached them, Meagan observed that his brown eyes had flecks of gold in them, and he was quite handsome when he smiled and held out his hand to her mother.

“Good morning, ladies. Mrs. Snow, Miss Snow, I’m Nate Brooks. What can I do for you today?”

“We need to apply for a business loan,” Meagan stated, bringing his attention to her.

“I see.” He paused and looked from Meagan to her mother and back again. “And what kind of loan are you looking to procure?”

“My daughter is a wonderful seamstress. She would like to start a dressmaking business in our home.”

“Oh, I see.” He nodded and motioned for them to follow him. “Please, come into my office and we’ll see what we can do.”

Meagan was afraid to get her hopes up, but this was the first time they had been invited inside an office and the first time anyone had seemed willing to listen to them. She prayed silently.
Dear Lord, please let this man see that we can make this business work. Please let him sense that we honor our word and will pay back every penny we borrow. Please let him lend us what we need, Father
.

Her opinion of the banker raised another notch when he held out a chair for her mother. She started to pull out her own chair, but his hand brushed hers as he did it for her. Meagan wasn’t prepared for the way her pulse began to race at the slight touch. She took the seat and tried to compose herself. This was a business meeting, after all.

Nate had held his office door open for the women, and once they were inside, he pulled out chairs, first for Mrs. Snow and then for her daughter, who’d started to pull out her own. He wasn’t sure if he could help them at all, but he hadn’t been able to turn them away. The expression on the older woman’s face was one of gracious resignation, and his heart had gone out to her. The daughter had more of a look of determination, and he was curious to hear what she had to say. She was lovely with black hair worn up in the style of the day. He wasn’t sure what they called it, but nearly every young woman he knew wore theirs dressed similarly. The style was very flattering to Miss Meagan Snow. She was quite striking with her big blue eyes and long dark lashes, and she’d smelled good when he pulled out the chair for her … of lavender water or some such thing. Nate brought his thoughts up short. He needed to keep his mind on business. “Please, tell me a little about yourself,” he said to the older woman.

“Well, I am a widow. My husband passed away a couple of years ago. He worked for the railroad. Then he came down with rheumatism, and for a while, it looked as if he was going to get better. But even the springs couldn’t help him. He came down with the influenza and never recovered.”

“I’m so sorry.” That explained why these two women needed a source of income.

“Thank you. He did provide a house for us, free and clear, but we need income and we’re willing to put our home up as collateral.”

He glanced at the younger woman and saw that she was watching her mother closely. It was obvious that she felt protective of her. He focused his gaze on Mrs. Snow, also. “You say you want to start a dressmaking business in your home?”

“Yes, we do. Well, it will be my daughter’s business. She’s the dressmaker. And a better one I’ve never seen. She’s even designed a few of her own.”

“Is that right, Miss Snow?”

“Yes. My mother has taken a
temporary
position at the Crescent. But I feel it is my duty, as the oldest child, to help bring in an income, and I believe I can make this work.” Her blue gaze met his from across the desk. “I don’t want Mama working outside the home any longer than necessary, and I’d never agree to us putting our home up to secure the loan if I didn’t believe I could make the shop a success.”

“Have you had any formal training?”

“No, Mr. Brooks, I have not. But I learned the basics from my mother—”

“She’s gone well past the basics,” Meagan’s mother interrupted. “She’s being much too modest. She’s expanded her knowledge well past mine by keeping up with the styles and making clothes for the whole family—I have two other daughters. And she’s even been paid to make frocks for some of our neighbors and friends.”

“I see.” He looked at Miss Snow. “So this will be your business?”

“Yes, sir. It will be.”

“And what is it you need to set this dressmaking shop up?”

“Well, we would need to turn one of our parlors into the actual shop or add on to our home.” Miss Snow took a folded sheet of paper out of her reticule and handed it to him as she continued, “I’d need a new sewing machine and enough fabrics and trims to be able to offer my clients good choices.”

He glanced at the paper. That she’d looked into what it would take to open her own shop was very apparent as he asked more questions.

“What kind of frocks do you specialize in?”

“I can make anything from everyday frocks to ball gowns.”

She seemed quite confident of her capabilities, and Nate wanted to give them a chance. “I think that your idea may be a good one. Still, before I could commit to lending you the money you need, I would want to visit your home and see what would be involved in turning part of it into a shop. And”—he looked at Miss Snow—” I’d need to see some samples of your work.”

He wasn’t sure if she would raise any objections but didn’t see how she could.

“That would be fine,” she said. “When would you like to come to our home?”

He looked at his schedule. “Would tomorrow at three o’clock be all right?”

“Will that be all right with you, Mama?” the daughter asked.

“I’ll be home from the Crescent by then. Three will be just fine,” the mother replied.

“Good.” Nate stood, signaling the end of the meeting. The two ladies did the same. “I’ll see you tomorrow at three, then.”

He showed them out of the office, and as they thanked him and walked away, they looked so very happy that he hoped he didn’t have to disappoint them.