and a fire brewing in her eyes.
“Pennies?” Fiona said now that everyone’s attention had shifted to her. “Your advertisement said you were wealthy. Now you’re talking about counting pennies? What kind of man are you to lure us here under false pretenses?”
Though Louise didn’t verbally second the sentiment, her dismay spoke volumes. Amanda, naturally, said nothing, but Pearl had never shied from speaking her mind.
“The advertisement did hint that you were a man of means. I believe it said you had a handsome inheritance.” She dug in her bag to find the crumpled bit of paper and came up empty. What had she done with it?
“Now, ladies, I’m sure this little misunderstanding can all be cleared up over supper.” Roland waved them toward the table. “Have a seat, and I’ll be right back with the stew.” He scooted through the door beyond the table faster than a rat abandoning a sinking ship.
“Little misunderstanding?” Fiona shook her head. “This is not a misunderstanding. This is deception, pure and simple. I know better than to throw good after bad. I’m here to make a good match, not marry a pauper. I could have had that in New York.”
Pearl wondered why Fiona hadn’t stayed in New York. A thriving musical career should have brought her to the attention of men of wealth. For her to throw herself into such an uncertain situation, something must have happened.
She didn’t have time to contemplate it, for with a final toss of her head, sending the feathers on her hat dancing, Fiona stomped toward the door. “Come, Louise, Amanda. We can’t let these men get away with this. Stew!” She said the word as if it was the final insult.
Louise meekly followed, but Amanda hesitated, torn between obeying Fiona and staying behind with the children. She looked to Pearl for answers, but Pearl would not tell her friend what to do. Amanda must learn to trust her instincts and the Lord instead of relying on the advice of others.
Amanda looked back at little Sadie, who clung to her father’s hand. “I like stew. Do you?”
For the first time, Garrett Decker’s expression cracked. “She doesn’t talk. Not since...” He stroked his daughter’s head.
Pearl squeezed back a tear. He didn’t have to finish for both her and Amanda to understand. Little Sadie hadn’t spoken since her mama died or left. The vivid memory of watching her father walk away returned with an ache. Be a good girl, Pearl. Her papa’s admonition had carried with it the hope that if she was good enough, maybe then her mama would get well and her parents would come back for her.
They never did.
Roland walked back into the room carrying a pot of stew. “Can you fetch the bowls, Isaac? The spoons, Sadie?”
The children hurried off.
He looked around the room and then at his brother. “You sure do know how to clear out a room.”
Pearl again noted the six chairs. Maybe that had been the plan the whole time.
* * *
Roland’s brother had barely finished saying grace when Pearl began to point out her friend’s virtues.
“Amanda is an excellent housekeeper, and she’s wonderful with children.”
What Pearl said mattered far less to Roland than the charming tilt of her head and spark in her eyes. The two individuals at the center of her persuasion paid the potato and cabbage stew an uncommon amount of interest. Pearl barely touched hers, while the children watched the two ladies with a mix of curiosity and fear.
Most men would find Amanda the prettier of the two ladies, but he preferred Pearl’s chestnut hair and lively green eyes. The fact that her spoon spent more time pointing at Garrett than in the bowl struck him as hilarious. His brother wouldn’t know what to do with a spitfire like Pearl. He, on the other hand... That was foolish thinking. She’d flat-out told him that her teaching contract prohibited marriage, and he wasn’t ready to settle down, Mr. Holmes’s cajoling aside. He had a factory to build.
“What are you going to do?” Pearl’s demand settled on him.
He had no idea what she was talking about, but a little charm usually settled down whatever chafed a woman. “Proceed with my plans.”
Her stormy expression told him he’d failed to hit the mark.
“And your plans do not include cleaning up after the mess you caused.”
The sparking eyes weren’t quite so wonderful when her fury was directed at him.
He tried to placate her. “As I told you, I did not place that advertisement.”
“Neither did I,” Garrett stated in no uncertain terms.
The children looked down at their bowls of stew the moment Roland glanced in their direction. Odd. They were never this interested in eating. Garrett must not have given them a good midday meal. He began to address Pearl when out of the corner of his eye he saw Isaac whisper something to Sadie. No doubt about it. Something was going on between those two.
“I don’t care which of you placed that advertisement.” Pearl pointed her spoon first at Garrett and then at Roland. “Three women have spent their savings and traveled a great distance in response to it. I expect you to honor your words.”
Garrett’s jaw dropped.
Roland stifled a snicker. Seeing his older brother squirm was worth the trouble.
“I’m not marrying,” Garrett stated. “I don’t care what you threaten.”
Sadie made an odd squeaking sound, and Isaac wiggled like his chair was on fire.
Finally the boy stood. “May we be excused? Sadie don’t feel good.”
“Doesn’t,” Pearl said, correcting Isaac.
Garrett ignored her. “You may go. Take your bowls and spoons to the kitchen.”
The children clattered out of the room with their dishes. No doubt they would head outdoors after dropping the bowls and spoons in the washtub. That left just four at the table. Amanda picked at her stew, head bowed. Pearl had a strange expression on her face, and Garrett scowled.
“Why did you have to bring up that advertisement in front of the children?” Garrett was not happy. “Isaac keeps begging me for a new ma. Says Sadie needs a woman about the house, but we’re doing just fine. She can get all the womanly time she needs with Mrs. Calloway or Mrs. Elder.”
Color highlighted Pearl’s cheeks. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken with the children present.”
Garrett accepted the apology with a stiff nod.
“They’ll get over it.” Roland tried to make light of things in order to bring back the sparkle in Pearl’s eye. “They’re young.”
Pearl turned back to him. “When did they lose their mother?”
Garrett frowned, but the question hit Roland like a bullet. He shivered. The chill of that day still hadn’t left his
