the young bucks took a seat across from Charlotte at the table, still vying for her attention with compliments.
They were in their late teens and had come to Abram fresh off their family farms back East. Eager and energetic, they reminded Abram of himself when he’d left his parents’ home in Michigan eight years ago. He had been full of confidence and invigorated with optimism. Raised by a man who had founded the successful town of Cooper, Michigan, Abram had set out to make his father proud and start his own town. But it had been much harder than he’d realized and the reality of the obstacles had almost crushed his spirit as he went from Michigan to Iowa to Minnesota Territory.
Father had died before Abram could prove himself—and then Susanne had died. The only two people who had ever believed in him, and he had disappointed them both.
Now he must succeed for his sons.
“Shall we say grace?” Abram asked.
Charlotte closed her eyes and inhaled a slow breath. Her face lost all trace of grief and became almost serene.
Abram dipped his chin to pray. “For this meal, and our lives, Lord, we are eternally grateful. Amen.”
“Amen,” echoed the others.
Abram opened his eyes and watched as Charlotte opened hers. Their gazes met for only a moment before Caleb and Josiah nabbed her attention again. They reached for the platter of bacon at the same moment and then handed it to Charlotte as one, grins on their faces.
Charlotte suddenly seemed quite interested in them. “Maybe you gentlemen can help me.”
They looked at each other, their grins growing.
“We’d love to help,” Caleb said.
Abram picked up the coffeepot and poured the steaming brew into his blue-speckled mug. The aroma filled his nose and made his stomach rumble. He had stocked the pantry and cellar with a bountiful harvest, but he had little time to prepare a decent meal. For weeks all they had eaten was bacon and coffee. But with his appetite, he hardly cared.
“Could one of you take me to Susanne’s children?”
The coffee sloshed out of Abram’s cup and pooled on the table. “What?”
Josiah and Caleb grinned. “Yes,” they both said at the same moment.
“No,” Abram said with force. “I’ll take Miss Lee when I’m ready.” He wanted to be there when the boys met their aunt for the first time, and it would be impossible to go this evening.
Charlotte let out a sigh and then took two pieces of bacon off the platter.
The woman was definitely determined.
Here, at least, was something they had in common.
Yet a niggle at the back of his conscience suggested Charlotte wasn’t completely out of line in asking to take his boys. Susanne had never spoken an unkind word about her sister, and it didn’t surprise him that she’d want Charlotte to help raise the boys—but surely she didn’t want Charlotte to take them away from Abram. She wouldn’t want them separated by four hundred miles—which only left one solution.
If Charlotte wanted to help care for the boys, she would have to stay in Little Falls.
He hated to even contemplate such a thing, but the idea was there nonetheless.
Charlotte walked up the steep stairs, a lantern in hand, ready for bed. She was exhausted from a week of travel, but she didn’t know if she would sleep. The house her sister had written about was not what Charlotte had anticipated.
She could overlook the filth and the farm animals roaming about, but it was the sparse furnishings and lack of amenities that had surprised her. Susanne had boasted about how well Abram provided for her—yet Charlotte had not seen anything other than the bare necessities.
Charlotte pushed open the door on the left and shone the lantern into the interior. It was just as filthy as the rest of the house—and cold.
She set the lantern on the bureau and crossed the room to close the open window. If Abram thought he could mask the stale smell, he was wrong. What the house needed was a thorough cleaning, and no amount of fresh air would change that.
The room looked toward the west, where the Mississippi flowed under the light of a brilliant moon. Charlotte leaned against the window frame, hugging her arms about her waist, and allowed the weight of her grief to sting her eyes with tears. Would the pain ever subside?
She glanced around the room. A small cradle sat in one corner and Susanne’s Bible lay on a table next to the bed, but nothing else marked her sister’s presence.
Charlotte put her hand over her heart and sank down to the mattress. “Susanne, you had so many hopes and dreams.” She had written to Charlotte about their plans for Little Falls and their growing family. They had been living in Little Falls for three years, yet what did they have to show for their work? Had Susanne really believed Abram would build a town? How long would she have waited for him to succeed?
Forever, because Susanne believed in her husband and his vision. That was why she had left with him even though Charlotte had begged her to stay. The day they’d left Iowa City, without saying goodbye, Charlotte had mourned as if Susanne had died.
It had been just as painful as the day Charlotte’s fiancé, Thomas, had left Iowa City to go west in pursuit of gold. He had gone without saying goodbye and she had never heard from him again. She had half expected Susanne to never write, but thankfully her sister had kept up a steady correspondence.
Charlotte didn’t bother to change into a nightgown.
She locked the door and lay on the bed, curling up in a ball. Tears wet her cheeks and hair, and stained the pillow beneath her head. The last thing she recalled before falling asleep was the scurry of mice along the floorboard.
* * *
A rooster’s crow pulled Charlotte out of a fitful dream. Thomas had been calling to her, and when she’d raced toward him, he’d run away, taunting her to catch him if she could. She opened her eyes slowly and blinked several times before she recalled where she was.
A knock came at her door.
“Breakfast is ready.” Abram’s voice sounded just as stiff this morning as it had yesterday.
She wished her stomach wasn’t growling so she could stay in her room and not face him. Instead she got out of bed and looked at her reflection in the dusty mirror above the bureau. Her hair stuck out in disarray, her eyes were still gritty from the late-night tears and her dress was wrinkled. She tried to smooth down her curls and tucked some wayward strands behind her ear, but it was no use.
She checked inside her shoes for uninvited critters and, finding none, slipped them on and then unlocked the door. The smell of fresh bacon and coffee wafted up the stairwell. Was that all these men ate and drank?
Charlotte descended the stairs and entered the kitchen. This time there were five men at
