Hearts Aglow (37 page)

Albright looked at his fingernails as if something had magically appeared there. “The day-to-day running of your company is hardly my concern.” He lifted his gaze to Deborah. “Wouldn’t you agree, Miss Vandermark?”

Euphanel saw her daughter stiffen. Deborah returned the man’s gaze without difficulty. She opened her mouth to speak, but Euphanel decided it might serve them better to remain silent. She jumped to her feet and held up her hand.

“I’m sorry, but I must put an end to this meeting. I’m afraid we need to see the constable before heading back to the house. We found ourselves vandalized last evening, and it is important we contact the law officials in order to see if they can figure out who might be responsible.” She looked to Deborah, hoping she would remain silent. She did.

Stuart and Mr. Longstreet got to their feet, and with this, the others followed suit. Deborah took hold of Euphanel’s arm and gave her a light squeeze as if to reassure her.

Arjan looked to Albright and Longstreet. “I reckon the best thing for me is to have a lawyer of our own look into matters.” He turned to Zed. “I’ll be in touch. You let me know if you need anything.”

Zed seemed overwhelmed by the turn the discussion had taken. “I’m sure sorry about this Arjan – Euphanel. I’ll do what I can to get the matter straightened out.”

Euphanel reached out with her free hand and patted Zed’s arm. “I know you will. You’ve always been a good friend to my family. I know we can trust you to do what’s right.”

Once they’d spoken to the constable about the attack on their home, the Vandermarks climbed into the wagon and headed out of town. Deborah was furious with the actions of Stuart Albright.

“He’s only doing this to punish G.W. and Lizzie. He’s punishing me, as well, because he knows that I encouraged Lizzie to leave him at the altar. I suppose this is really all my fault.”

“Nonsense,” Arjan said. “Ain’t nobody’s fault but Mr. Albright’s and Mr. Longstreet’s. Zed isn’t a part of this. You saw how upset he was.”

“Poor man.” Mother met Uncle Arjan’s gaze. “I feel so bad for him – for Rachel, too. They are going to suffer tremendously from this.”

“I should have known Stuart would try something like this,” Deborah muttered. “He said he would punish Lizzie, and now he has.”

“I suppose we must tell Lizzie and G.W. what’s happened. This certainly will be upsetting to them.”

“Now, Nell, you can’t hardly keep this from ’em. G.W. is handling the books, and Lizzie knows the kind of man Albright is. They may both expect somethin’ like this.”

Deborah eased back in the leather carriage seat and frowned. “What if Stuart also had something to do with the attack last night?” The question hung in the air for several moments before her mother turned.

“We can’t know that for sure. Like Ralph said – if we didn’t see anyone, there’s little hope of figuring out who was responsible.”

“I can’t help but think this is all related,” Deborah replied. “Stuart hates us and would stop at nothing to see us pay for what he perceives as our wrongdoings.”

“But he wasn’t even in town until this morning,” Mother reminded.

“She’s right,” Uncle Arjan threw out. “Can’t say he did it when he wasn’t even here.”

“He didn’t have to be here to pay others to do his dirty work. Same with the mill.”

“Now be careful what you say, little gal,” Arjan replied with a glance over his shoulder. “You can’t go accusin’ a man without proof.”

“Why not? Folks around here weren’t at all shy about accusing me of inappropriate behavior. They gossiped and told stories each time Christopher and I worked together. They didn’t think it was proper for me to be a doctor; then they didn’t feel it was proper for us to court if I was going to insist on being a doctor. It’s not right that townfolk can accuse me in such a way, then refuse to listen when we know that Stuart only wishes us ill for what happened with G.W. and Lizzie.”

Arjan seemed to understand her anger and gave her a sympathetic nod. “I can see what you mean, but Albright and Longstreet would have no reason to burn their own mill down. They’re sufferin’ in this, too.”

“Not if they have insurance,” Deborah replied. “The policy is between the two of them. They will make money whether Mr. Perkins does or not. They can easily take their profits from the insurance and never look back.”

“Oh, Arjan, you don’t suppose she’s right?”

Deborah could see her uncle’s face darken. “If she is right,” he said, fixing his gaze on the road ahead, “then we’re dealin’ with men of much worse character than I figured.”

“I can’t speak for Jael’s father,” Deborah said, shaking her head, “but Stuart is a demanding man who would have forced a woman into marriage purely to keep from losing his inheritance. He’s the very kind of man who would cut his nose off to spite his face . . . or burn his mill in order to make us pay.”

C
HAPTER 28

Deborah pored over the contract once again. She chided herself for not having been more thorough in her examination. Especially since she was the one to encourage her family to accept it. Had she been less prideful – less focused on what she perceived as her intelligence in business dealings – then perhaps she would have suggested they go to a lawyer.

“This contract is vague enough that I suppose they can manipulate it however they want,” Deborah said, pushing away from the desk.

“It’s not like we were used to havin’ a contract,” Arjan said. “I never wanted one in the first place, but Zed needed it for the bank.” Her uncle shook his head. “That wood can’t sit on the ground forever – it’ll rot. Which may be exactly what Albright wants.”

Deborah looked at the office door. “Where are G.W. and Lizzie now?”

“They’re helping Sissy bring in the laundry,” Mother replied. “Why?”

She drew a deep breath. “I think we need to tell them the truth now. Stuart isn’t the kind of man who will keep this a secret. I say we call them in here and simply explain the situation for what it is. But it will be hard on Lizzie. She’ll blame herself.”

“I don’t want her to feel responsible,” Mother said.

“Then we need to tell ’em the truth, Euphanel.”

Deborah was surprised by her uncle’s declaration. Mother looked at him oddly and he continued. “If we try to hide it, they’re goin’ to feel that we were lyin’ to them – even if it was to protect them. To my way of thinkin’, that would only serve to make them feel it was their fault.”

“How so?” Mother asked.

“Well, I’d figure that if I had nothin’ to do with it, folks wouldn’t be afraid to discuss it with me.”

“He’s right, Mother. You know that G.W. would rather be dealt with openly.”

Mother nodded. “I’ll go get them.” She rose slowly and hesitated. “I know that God will give us direction. I’m not going to let Mr. Albright’s underhanded actions take my sight from God’s faithfulness.”

With that, she walked from the office. Deborah looked to her uncle. “She’s right, you know.” She smiled ever so slightly. “I’m sure the devil uses these kinds of matters to steal our hope. Perhaps we just need to look at this in a different way.”

“What do you mean?” her uncle asked.

Deborah picked up the ledger. “First, we need to cut our costs.”

“My first suggestion would be to get rid of the workers, but I can’t very well produce logs without loggers.”

“What if we speak to the employees? If we explain the situation, maybe some sort of arrangement can be made.”

“Possibly,” Arjan agreed.

Mother returned with G.W. and Lizzie. Their expressions told Deborah that they knew the news wasn’t going to be good. Deborah got up from behind the desk and motioned G.W. to take his regular place. She moved quietly to the side of the room and remained standing. Lizzie crossed to stand beside her.

“What is this about?” she whispered.

“Trouble with the business.”

Lizzie frowned but said nothing more as Uncle Arjan began. “We called you here to let you know what we learned in the meeting with Mr. Perkins.” He paused and seemed to think about what to say next. “Mr. Albright and Mr. Longstreet have returned.”

“I should have come with you,” G.W. said, looking apprehensive. “I can tell this isn’t going to be what I want to hear.”

“Well, it’s not exactly what any of us wanted, but facts being what they are – it can’t be helped. The mill may not rebuild for a time. There was some sort of insurance policy held by Longstreet and Albright, and until the company can come out and assess the details of the fire, apparently nothing can be done.”

“So we cease production or find another buyer – is that it?” G.W. asked.

Arjan glanced at Mother and then to Deborah before he answered. “It’s not that simple. Apparently our contract requires that we stay in production, and that we can only sell to the Perkinsville mill. Since that mill is temporarily out of operation, we must stockpile our logs.”

“For how long?” G.W. asked.

“For as long as it takes them to make a decision,” Uncle Arjan answered.

“I don’t understand.” G.W. fixed his gaze on Deborah. “There’s something you aren’t telling us.”

“Not at all,” Mother said. “That’s why you’re here. The business arrangements have been complicated not only by the fire, but by the arrival of Mr. Albright and Mr. Longstreet.”

He frowned. “What have they got to do with this?”

Deborah took hold of Lizzie’s hand. “They now own the majority of the company. They have say over whether the mill gets rebuilt. They have the only insurance on the property and will obviously be the ones who hold the responsibility of paying the debts against the mill.”

“And Stuart warned us that he would get back at us,” Lizzie murmured.

For a moment, the room went silent. G.W.’s expression changed to one of anger. He looked to his uncle. “This is Albright’s idea?”

Arjan nodded. “He says they’ve had a lawyer look into it – a judge, too. They can force us to continue working in order to have the log quota available if and when they need them. We can’t sell to anyone else.”

“That’s hardly fair,” Lizzie said, shaking her head. “If they can’t take the logs, then they are breaking their part of the contract.”

“That’s what I presumed,” Deborah declared, “but apparently the wording leaves it open to question.”

“We can’t keep paying our workers if we aren’t getting paid,” G.W. said. “How are we supposed to run a business if we don’t have money coming in?”

Lizzie was growing more upset by the minute. Deborah turned to her sister-in-law and smiled. “We have some ideas. Why don’t you go sit beside Mother?”

Lizzie hesitated only a moment, then did exactly as Deborah suggested. Mother took hold of her hand and patted it reassuringly. “Please don’t fret.”

“This is outrageous. I’m gonna go give Albright a piece of my mind,” G.W. said, getting to his feet.

Deborah stepped forward. “Not until you hear me out.”

Everyone looked at her in surprise. Deborah looked to Uncle Arjan, who nodded.

Reluctantly, G.W. took his seat. “All right. Get to it.”

“Look, we know that Stuart Albright holds this family a grudge.” She gave careful thought to her words. “But that problem won’t help us accomplish what we need to do. God will avenge any wrongs done to us, and we need to look to Him to direct our steps.”

“Deborah’s right,” Arjan said. “We’ve started thinkin’ of some ways to handle the situation. First, I think we can all agree that we need to hold on to as much of our money as possible.”

“That will mean letting our workers go,” G.W. said. “How are we supposed to produce without workers?”

“We talked briefly about that,” Deborah said, hoping her words wouldn’t make G.W. feel they had planned things out behind his back. “That’s why we needed you here. What if we ask the men to work mainly for room and board with the promise that we will pay them in full within a certain time?”

“How can we be sure to meet that time frame?” G.W. asked.

Deborah gave a slight shrug. “The question of the mill can’t remain unanswered forever. We can get our own lawyer to help us.”

“That’s gonna take money we don’t have to spare.” G.W. practically growled the words.

“My father!” Lizzie declared. “Father would help us with the contract issues, and he wouldn’t expect pay. He said when he left that if there was anything at all he could do to help, he would, because it would give him a good excuse to come see us.” She fixed her husband with a smile. “He hasn’t yet seen the twins.”