A Love For Keeps (Truly Yours Digital Editions) (2 page)

Meagan felt almost giddy when they walked out of the bank and started for home. “Oh, Mama, I think he’s going to loan us the money!”

Her mother’s smile told her she was every bit as hopeful as Meagan was. “I hope so, dear. He has kind eyes, and he certainly listened to us. He could have told us no today, so he must seriously be contemplating making us a loan.”

“I’m sure he is.” Meagan silently prayed that Nate Brooks was as good a man as he appeared to be and that he would approve the loan. Otherwise, she wasn’t sure what they were going to do. But she knew that God would provide a way for them to get by. He always had.

It was amazing how much brighter the mid-February day seemed as they branched off Main at Spring, continuing past some of the homes that were built on the rocks above. Most of the houses had wide porches overlooking the road below. Meagan loved the way Eureka Springs was built on winding roads up and down the mountainsides. They continued on Spring, up the hill to Mountain, and then to the corner of Mountain and Montgomery, where they lived. The air seemed a touch warmer and the sky bluer than when they’d first started out. The pine trees even seemed greener. It wouldn’t be long until winter gave way to spring, and Meagan could feel the change beginning. She’d been so concerned with the business of the day and worries about her family that she hadn’t taken time to enjoy the beautiful day.

Her sisters must have been watching for them because as soon as Meagan and her mother rounded the corner, the girls ran out of the house to meet them.

“Well,” ten-year-old Becca said, “did you get a loan?”

“And is Mama going to get to quit working so hard?” fifteen-year-old Sarah asked.

“We’re hoping so,” Meagan said. “Mr. Brooks will be coming tomorrow to look at the house and see how we mean to turn part of it into a shop. And he wants to see samples of my work.”

“And then we’ll get the loan?” Sarah asked.

Mama put an arm around her as they walked up the steps to the front porch and inside the house. “We hope so. But we want to make sure the house is as clean as it can be and that there aren’t any stains on the dresses Meagan has made us.”

“Mama, our home is always clean,” Sarah said.

“I know. But we want it spotless for tomorrow.” Of one accord, they headed to the kitchen, where they always discussed important things.

“We’ll help, Mama,” Becca said.

“I know you will, dear,” their mother said, putting on the teakettle. “Let’s have a bite to eat, and then we will get busy.”

“What are we going to do if he says no?” Becca asked. “Before long, I’ll be able to work at the Crescent, too.”

“Maybe I can help clean Mrs. Elliot’s house,” Sarah added. “She’s gettin’ old and—”

“Girls, you aren’t going to have to go to work. If Mr. Brooks says no, I’ll keep working at the Crescent Hotel. It’s not bad, really.”

“And I can still sew for people. I just won’t be able to charge as much.”

“Everything is going to be all right, girls. I’m sure Mr. Brooks is going to loan us some money. We just have to make the best impression we can.” Mama let out a big sigh and smiled. “But let us pray about it.” She bowed her head, and her daughters did the same. “Dear Father, You know what we want and need. You’ve given Meagan a wonderful talent, and she wishes to use it to help this family. We pray that, if it’s in Your will, we will get the loan we need to get Meagan started in her dressmaking business. But we only want it if it be Your will. It is in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”

“Amen,” Meagan and her sisters said in unison.

“It’s time to get to it,” Mama said. “I’m so thankful I don’t have to go into work today. We have much to do.”

Meagan put on an apron and began cutting thick slices of bread to go with the soup her mother had put on before they left the house that morning. They enjoyed their meal but didn’t dawdle over it. They had a lot to get done in a short amount of time.

Sarah was right. Their home was always clean. Still, so much counted on Nate Brooks’s impression of it and them, that they did a thorough cleaning much like what they’d done just a few weeks ago. The good thing was that they
had
cleaned so well then. While Meagan took the rugs outside and beat them until there was no dust left to fly, Mama went over to Mrs. Morrison’s to ask if Meagan might be able to borrow the dresses she’d made her so that she could show them to Mr. Brooks the next day. Becca mopped floors, while Sarah dusted every inch of the house.

By the time their mother returned from Mrs. Morrison’s, they were ready for a break. Meagan brewed a pot of tea while her mother told her about the visit. “Nelda said she would run the dresses over in the morning. She wants to make sure they are pressed. She is so excited for you, dear.”

“Mama, we don’t even know if we’ll get the loan. It’s a little premature for her to be excited.”

“She’s sure we will get the loan and even offered to come tell Mr. Brooks how much she loves your creations, if we need her to.”

“That’s very sweet of her. I hope he’ll be able to tell the quality of my work by looking at it himself. But it’s nice to know that Mrs. Morrison will give me a good recommendation, if we need it.” Meagan smiled and took a sip of tea.

“If we had more time, we could go all over town collecting what you’d made. You’d have more frocks to show him.”

“It will be fine, Mama. We have a lot to show him. And I have some of my designs I can bring out, too.”

“He’s going to love them all,” Sarah assured her. “Why, we look as good as anyone else at school or at church.”

“Thank you, Sarah.” Meagan gave her younger sister a hug. “I’m very hopeful all will go well.”

They finished their tea and then pitched in to shine the windows. By early evening, they were all ready to stop for the day as they heated up the soup left over from their noon meal.

“The house fairly shines, it’s so clean,” Becca said.

“Yes, it does. Mr. Brooks will find no dust in this house tomorrow,” Meagan said. “Now all that is left to do is to look over the clothing and make sure it looks fresh and clean. I’ll do any mending needed tonight before I go to bed.”

“I don’t think there will be much mending—you always keep up with that so well,” Mama stated. “But we’ll check, just to make sure, and I’ll brush whatever needs only that. Tomorrow we can take turns pressing.”

“Thank you, Mama.” Meagan sent up a silent prayer.
Dear Father, thank You for Mama. Please help us to get this loan so that she doesn’t have to work so hard. You know what we need, Lord. I trust that You will provide
.

Meagan sighed as she headed upstairs to see what needed mending. So much depended on the outcome of Mr. Brooks’s visit. It had been so hard to lose Papa. And then to see her mother so willingly give up the household help they’d had ever since Meagan could remember … well, that was hard to watch. Meagan didn’t mind helping her mother at all. What she did hate was the way some of her mother’s friends had just quit calling on her or had stopped sending her invitations. To make things worse, her mother felt it necessary to get a job at the hotel.

Meagan had been trying to help, taking in mending for neighbors and sewing for them. But she didn’t charge much because she felt they were doing her a favor by hiring her. She could make more money for the family, but she would have to go into business to do so. Their future hinged on tomorrow’s meeting.

Nate wouldn’t have gone to Abigail’s that evening except that she made it so very hard for him to say no. She was his late wife’s sister and the aunt of his six-year-old daughter. They were family, and she never failed to remind him of it. Not to mention that she was the daughter of the owner of the bank Nate managed. Mr. Connors had made no secret that his daughter knew many rich people who were always in need of a banker. To Jacob Connors’s way of thinking, Nate needed to mingle and make friends of them all.

Abigail always wanted Nate there for a number of reasons. For one thing, she needed his support at these social functions, and his presence was a way to help the bank’s business, too. After all, she invited people who were Nate’s clients—or certainly should be. Of course, she was a banker’s daughter and thought along the same lines as her father—or so she said.

Nate sighed as he raised the knocker on her front door. Abigail had moved into her own home several years before when she’d inherited it from her grandmother. It wasn’t a large home, but it was very nice and in one of the well-to-do neighborhoods in Eureka Springs.

Normally, she hired a butler for her parties, but tonight she opened the door herself and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek, as she always did. It never failed to make him uncomfortable. He had a feeling that she would like him to make it a real kiss, but she was Rose’s sister and he just couldn’t do that. He had no doubts that if he asked Rose to marry him, she’d have them walking down the aisle in a matter of weeks. He wasn’t ready for that step.

“I’m so glad you came, Nate. Thank you for arriving early.”

“You say that every time, Abigail.”

“I mean it every time.” She smiled and batted her eyelashes at him as she took hold of his arm and led him into her large parlor. “How is my Natalie tonight?”

“She wanted to come, too. I told her it was one of your stuffy adult parties and she wouldn’t enjoy herself.”

“Nate!”

“Well, she wouldn’t. And she agreed. I promised her I wouldn’t be late.”

“You always manage to leave early, Nate.”

“I have a daughter to take care of, Abigail.”

“I know that. You could have brought her over and put her to bed here.”

“We’ve been over that before, Abigail.” Occasionally, he had let Natalie stay overnight with her aunt Abigail, but that was only when he felt Abigail could give her the attention she needed.

“I know. I’ll have just the two of you over for dinner later in the week.”

“I’ll tell her.”

Nate was relieved when a knock at the door announced her other guests were beginning to arrive. He became weary of one-on-one conversation with Abigail after a few minutes. He greeted the others and mingled as much as he could before they were called to dinner. Two of her best friends, Jillian Burton and Rebecca Dobson, had come with their current suitors. Nate knew them through banking, too. Jillian’s beau was Reginald Fitzgerald, who ran his family’s jewelry store. Rebecca’s current beau was Edward Mitchell, who’d just opened a new furniture store in town.

Several other couples whom he’d only met a time or two showed up, but he was certain that if they were anyone he needed to know better, Abigail would see that he did. For now, he just wanted to eat and get home to his daughter. Abigail employed a housekeeper and hired an extra cook for her parties. When the housekeeper let Abigail know that dinner was ready to be served, Nate was glad. He would get home that much sooner.

The help served several courses that included roast duck and creamed potatoes with tiny English peas and crusty rolls. The food was wonderful, and Nate was able to enjoy it as he only needed to give half an ear to Abigail and her friends discussing the upcoming spring social season in Eureka Springs. The ladies’ talk about ball gowns and dressmakers, however, caught his attention and held it.

“I don’t know what we are going to do with Miss Elliot marrying and moving away at the end of the year,” Jillian said.

“We must get orders in quickly if we are to have the newest styles for this season,” Rebecca added.

“This town could use several more dressmakers. I don’t want to have to start going away to get my frocks,” Abigail said, “but I don’t know that we’ll have much choice if we keep losing seamstresses.”

Nate didn’t say anything, but if Miss Meagan Snow was as good a dressmaker as her mother claimed, setting them up in business might prove to be a good risk—a very good one, indeed.

Meagan woke on Tuesday, feeling both excited and apprehensive. She and her mother had worked into the night, too wound up to sleep, but they had only a few frocks to press. They felt confident that Mr. Brooks would appreciate their efforts.