Bartered Bride Romance Collection (63 page)

“I have an account.”

Frank blinked, unable to mask his surprise. “You do?”

“Donald Potter opened it more than six months ago.”

“Mr. Potter opened an account for Thomas Hard …” The banker’s words tapered off as understanding dawned. “You’re Thomas Hardin.”

“In the flesh.” Thomas couldn’t—and didn’t want to—hide the grin.

Frank sat up straight, took the notes from Thomas’s hand, and opened the ledger on his desk. Dipping the pen in ink, he quickly made some notations, then fixed Thomas a receipt.

“This isn’t correct,” Thomas said after glancing at his balance.

“I assure you, I never err in my figures.”

“Well, although it occurs to me to let the mistake remain, as it is in my favor, common courtesy demands otherwise.”

Frank turned a bit red in the face. “I assure you, there is no error.”

And there wasn’t, at least not in addition and subtraction.

Thomas’s finger didn’t have far to trace. There should have been only three transactions listed: his original deposit, his withdrawal for the Kincaid ranch, and the deposit he’d just made. Instead there were four. “When was this twenty-dollar deposit made?”

“This morning. About noon I found a double eagle on top of a note asking me to credit it to your account. It was left on the front table. I assumed you were too busy to wait. I did wonder why you were so trusting.”

“Let me see the note.”

Frank pulled open the bottom drawer of his desk. Clamped together was a stack of paperwork that Thomas figured represented today’s dealings. August 22nd had been a busy day, it looked like. The note—written on the back of what looked to be a handbill from some long-gone patent medicine man—about the twenty-dollar deposit was at the bottom.

Chicken scratch might be easier to read. Thomas’s name and the amount were barely distinguishable scrawls.

“What do you mean, call you Roberta?” Bess’s hands, buried deep in a mass of sourdough, stilled. “I’m not sure I can do that.”

“Why not?” Bertie said, picking up a glass to dry. “It’s my name.” And while Bertie might be a name for a squirt, Roberta was a name for a woman.

At first Bertie had loved helping in the restaurant. Just standing on the wooden floors, looking at the gold trim, and admiring the sparkling chandelier made her feel like she was getting away with something decadent. After all, this used to be a place where spirits were sold. Somehow Bertie figured the ground should open up and swallow her whole just for being inside.

It was hard to believe that Gideon once ran a saloon. She gave the glass one last swipe. Drying dishes ruined the shady atmosphere somewhat. Her staid, one-eyed brother-in-law rated as the most serious of the three Craig girls’ husbands. And God must still be smiling at the idea of a former saloon hosting Sunday morning sermons. Or at least it did before the new church was built and Gideon moved the piano over. Now that Luke took to preaching on Parson Harris’s off-weeks, besides housing the school, the new church got plenty of use.

Bess took the glass from Bertie’s hand. “Dry them smoothly, then set them upside-down. Why do you want to be called Roberta? Yes, it is your name, but you’ve always refused to answer when we use it.”

“I was”—Bertie thought fast—“being unreasonable.”

Bess started kneading again. “Anything else you want us to do differently?”

“I’m done with school. I passed the test, right?”

“Yes, you did.”

“Can I work here at the restaurant for pay, maybe as a waitress?” Bess bit the inside of her lip so severely that Bertie could see the indent. “I’ll talk with Gideon. We are getting busier, and Regina could use some help. But …”

“But what?”

“What you can do,” Bess said quietly, “is teach school.” Bertie made a lemonade face. Bess laughed. “It’s not that bad.”

But it was that bad, Bertie thought a few weeks later. The Smit boys weren’t that impressed with the change, especially Leonard, who moaned every day for a week about the loss of his beloved Mrs. Riker. Just when Bertie thought she’d reached her limit and might need to knock the two boys’ heads together, Jethro decided he’d reached the age to notice girls. Anna was too young to be a contender; the former soiled dove, Regina, was too old and, well, too worldly; and that left Bertie, who was only five years Jethro’s senior.

Unfortunately, Bertie would rather find frogs in her lunch box than have Jethro’s puppy-dog eyes follow her every movement. Some days it was all she could do not to stomp her feet and throw a tantrum in front of her students. Instead, she imitated Matty’s patient voice and tried to stay calm. Still, she always felt relief when three o’clock rolled around.

Today was no exception. She waved good-bye to her pupils from the church’s door. Jethro and Leonard disappeared down the street. For them, school meant freedom from the never-ending chores of a ranch. Mr. Smit did without them because he thought schooling might make them better ranchers in the long haul. He didn’t even complain about sending them to school during the peak months of July and August. He claimed concern that they’d missed so much schooling. Bertie did admire that he wanted what was best for his boys. Gossip in Lickwind had Mr. Smit pegged as a wealthy man.

Anna rode behind her father on a horse so broad it could have carried Tien-Lu and five more men his size. Neither mentioned Bertie’s absence from the Two Horse. Either they thought she was too busy to drop by or they didn’t miss her. Tien-Lu just bowed and nodded his approval all the while appraising her with his shiny, black eyes as if she were supposed to say something, know something, do something.

To be honest, both the restaurant and school paled in comparison to the excitement of helping at the Two Horse. Helping at a place where she obviously wasn’t missed. Thomas Hardin never even came to town. She’d never even had time to let him know that she wasn’t his squirt.

Bertie stopped waving once Regina and Walter entered the restaurant. Besides Bess, Regina was the Back Porch’s only waitress. She did a great job, and many of the patrons requested her. Bertie shook her head as she thought of the fancy banker, Frank Llewellyn, who often left the comfort of his home to eat at The Back Porch. And since Regina hired on as his housekeeper, the banker was almost bearable, although when Regina had time to clean was anybody’s guess.

Still Regina’s little brother, Walter, claimed Lewellyn was tolerable to live with. Though for a boy, living in Llewellyn’s house was like living in a mansion, not that Walter had ever seen a mansion.

Watching Regina and Walter enter the restaurant made Bertie think about Harry, Gideon’s old barkeep. She missed him. He’d been offered Regina’s job, but he claimed it didn’t pay enough. Odd jobs didn’t suit him, schooling didn’t inspire him, and Lickwind no longer seemed to have anything to offer him. One morning he’d not shown up for class, and that afternoon Bertie watched him board the Union Pacific for parts unknown.

The wind kicked up, sending Bertie’s dress whipping around her legs. Maybe a storm was brewing. She closed the door and went to her desk. Actually, sometimes she liked the quiet of the church after all the students were gone. Growing up as the youngest Craig girl, she’d never spent much quiet, private time indoors. Seemed there was always a sister hanging around wanting to know what she was doing or wanting to tell her what to do. She’d escaped outdoors for solitude.

A few hours later, after she’d graded all the papers and outlined the next day’s lesson, she blew out the lantern and headed down the steps.

Mr. Smit rode his horse straight for the church. Funny, it was much too early for a rancher to cease work. He took off his hat before he slid off his horse.

“Mr. Smit.” Bertie hoped the man—who always looked like he had a stomachache—wasn’t here to court. Since Bertie took on the role of schoolmarm, half the cowboys in Lickwind decided she was on the market.

“I need to be talking to you about my boys.”

Oh, good. He was here to discuss Jethro’s crush. She could deal with that. “Jethro will outgrow this, Mr. Smit, I’m sure.”

“I’m disturbed that my boys have to be in a classroom with a dirty Chinese child.”

“Dirty? The child is quite clean.”

Mr. Smit’s face reddened. “I shoulda came back when yer sister was a-teaching. She being older and all. But the truth is, I didn’t have time. And now I’m here to tell ya that if the little Chinese girl continues in this school, my boys will stay home.”

“Your boys are doing great. They’ve gone from being illiterate to reading from the second primer. That’s extraordinary. You’d deny them an education because of your fear of a five-year-old girl?”

If anything, Mr. Smit’s face reddened even more. “Not sure I want them in a classroom with a female got a tongue like yours.”

“I’m not removing Anna from my classroom. Good day, Mr. Smit.”

Mr. Smit got back on his horse, shaking his head. “You’re young. I’ll be talking to that brother-in-law of yours. He’ll set things right. My boys have a right to an education. They’re Americans.”

Bertie closed the door behind her. Bess had already experienced outrage from Mr. Smit about Regina. Looked like it was Bertie’s turn to deal with the man’s prejudice. This time, however, Mr. Smit was picking on a defenseless child. Regina had been no stranger to the callousness of men.

If Bertie had her way, Anna would never witness it.

Chapter 5

J
osiah Temple entered the restaurant as dusk spread out over the town. He strode purposely for his favorite table by the front window. Bertie grimaced. Her table. She’d already had a rotten day and now had to wait on the man who made her skin crawl. He reminded her of Ellis.

“Coffee?” she asked.

“Yes, and I need to talk to Gideon.”

“I’ll tell him.”

The men went through four cups of coffee before Josiah pushed away from the table and left. Gideon looked ready to smash a window. Bertie and Bess peered from the kitchen door and slowly came out. Gideon changed the front sign to CLOSED, and brushing a hand across his eyes, he walked toward them.

“Bertie, something happen at school today that you want to share with me?”

“Mr. Smit came to visit.”

“Mr. Smit!” Bess exclaimed. “Is Leonard sweet on you?”

“No, Jethro is, but that’s not why Mr. Smit paid me a visit.”

“Seems the school board’s against the idea of a Chinese child attending public school.” Gideon leaned against the counter and shook his head. “According to them, you either have to prohibit her from attending or stop using the church.”

“What?” Bess gasped.

“Who makes up the school board?” Bertie asked.

“Llewellyn, Potter, Linus Hatch.”

“Then why is Temple delivering the news?”

“Because he somehow swayed their opinions,” Bess said grimly.

“I refuse to stop Anna from attending school,” Bertie said.

“Fact is,” Gideon said, “you can’t refuse.”

Bess’s eyes sparked with challenge. “She can, and she w—”

“Josiah says he’s already met with the school board members, and they’re in agreement.”

“Those men attend church!” Bess exclaimed. “How could they? I expect this type of prejudice from Temple but not from the others. I’ll go talk to them.”