Strong and Stubborn (41 page)

“That'll keep you busy for a good while.” He tried to sound hearty, but Mike heard the bitter note beneath his cheery words. It was glaringly obvious this wasn't the first time the loggers invaded the workshop, and he didn't like knowing they'd stormed the castle in his absence.

How much time had they spent with Naomi? And how much progress had they made while he'd been gone? The smile he'd hitched on his face slid off as questions mounted.

“Not as busy as Bear.” Bobsley gestured to where Riordan sat, bent nearly double over a table littered with headless matchsticks.

“What are you making?” Mike's curiosity got the better of him, since he couldn't usher the intruders out the door anytime soon.

“Shutters.” With a single blunt fingertip, Bear nudged one completed set across the rough surface of the worktable. The squared matchsticks, divested of their sulfur-dipped ends, had been fitted and glued at slight angles within a larger frame. The tilted edges looked remarkably like raised shutters, perfect for a dollhouse.

“That's impressive.” He didn't try to pick one up—they might not yet be dry. “These will look even better after we paint the trim.”

“They're all so creative and patient, working on these things.” Naomi favored the entire room with a brilliant smile. “If you ask me, this dollhouse is shaping up to be something very special.”

To a man, they agreed. Mike could tell that the men were all thinking along the same lines; a project with Naomi at the helm couldn't be anything less than extraordinary. A woman like her demanded the best a man could give, and they would work their fingers to the bone before admitting defeat. None of them were just working on dollhouse pieces. They were working to win the woman.

“I'm sorry to say that you'll be losing us, but we really must go home.” Charlotte clasped her hands over her bosom as though sincerely wrenched at the prospect of leaving Hope Falls. Or as though she thought the town would feel bereft after her defection.

Sadly, Naomi didn't feel that way at all. She wouldn't have believed it, after the extremes they'd come through in the past, but the longer her sister stayed, the more strained things became. She'd breathe easier after Charlotte left. And as for Harry … well, Naomi long ago saw his betrayal in choosing her sister as a blessing. In spite of everything—or perhaps because of it—she didn't want him.

After a too-long pause, the men figured out that Charlotte expected protests and requests that she prolong her stay in town. Muttering and grumbling, they made a suitably incoherent response.

“Yes. I, too, need to be getting back to the office.” Corning stood, but he didn't seem much taller than when he was sitting. “Rest assured that I will tell anyone who asks that the Hope Falls sawmill is a sound proposition and an absolutely worthy investment.”

“Our stay here has been marked with sorrow.” Charlotte regained the proverbial floor. She probably interpreted the men's restless shifting for regret at her imminent departure rather than a disgruntled signal that she should stop holding up everyone's dinner. At any rate, she didn't sit down so they could start eating.

“The passing of Mrs. Cash gave you reason to mourn, and I simply can't ignore the fact that now Hope Falls needs a reason to rejoice.” She utterly ignored mutters over her mispronunciation of Arla's last name, instead flinging her arms wide as though to embrace everyone in the room. “So before we take our leave, I intend to put together a party. A sort of backwoods ball, you could say. I'll arrange for music and dancing and refreshments so we can all enjoy one final evening together. A very … special evening.”

A chill of foreboding raised gooseflesh on Naomi's arms. The way Charlotte paused before saying “special” was cause for concern.

“Any dance will be special, since we ain't never had one before.” One of the men lessened the room's expectant tension.

“Ah, but this one will be very special indeed.” Charlotte's gaze sought Naomi's, and her smile held more than a hint of triumph. “You see, in but a few nights' time, my sister will reveal the secret she's been keeping from all of you. Or I'll do it for her.”

Naomi's heart skidded to a stop. It didn't simply skip a beat; it jumped, sputtered, and ceased working altogether.
She can't mean it. What about her protests that the past would harm her and Harry?

“See how shy she is?” Charlotte made sure every eye in the room took in the heated flush creeping up her neck like a mottled rash. “That's why she needs her sister to give her this nudge. If I don't do something before I leave, Naomi might never reveal which of you men she wants to marry. She's too afraid of insulting the others!”

Relief brought air back into her lungs and even more blood rushing to redden her face.
She didn't mean
that
secret. Charlotte's just being dramatic. This won't ruin me, it just …
Naomi's thoughts hitched as Charlotte gave her deadline.

“In two nights, my big sister will choose her groom!”

W
ho is he?” Lacey wasted no time demanding an answer. As soon as they shut the door to the house and sent baby Dorothy upstairs with her nursemaid, the women rounded on Naomi in curious indignation.

“I don't know.” Naomi sank into a wingback chair and moaned.

“Why is your sister forcing your hand?” Evie couldn't sit, too agitated to do anything but pace the parlor. “We all agreed you'd have as much time as you needed to choose a husband. No rushing, and at least two of us need to approve your selection beforehand. Did Charlotte know this before she waltzed in and dropped her decree?”

“Even if she didn't know the particulars, she knew better than to do this.” Cora sat on the settee, spine ramrod straight. “I say we don't go along with it. Why should any of us dance to her tune and let her play puppeteer with Naomi's future? It's idiocy.”

Naomi cleared her throat, if not her mind. “It's already done.” If she didn't go through with Charlotte's well-publicized plan, her sister might very well decide to reveal a more interesting secret. After all, Charlotte probably didn't trust Naomi to keep quiet, and Colorado Territory was such a long, long way from back home.

“She's right.” Lacey retraced Evie's circuit. “Charlotte's whipped Naomi's fellows into an awful lather. If Evie or I hadn't yet selected our fiancés, we could circumvent this. As it stands, we won't be able to buy more time for Naomi to decide. The men will be insulted and up in arms if she balks now. And Charlotte knows it.”

“She's very astute,” Naomi admitted. “She played this well.”

“I have a few other descriptions I'd use before ‘astute' occurred to me,” Evie harrumphed. “But why is she playing at all?”

“Isn't it obvious?” Lacey's nonchalance made Naomi worry anew.

“Is it obvious?” She winced at the quaver weakening her voice.

“Charlotte's jealous. She knows Harry chose the wrong wife, and by now Harry's had half a decade to realize his mistake. Braden's invitation threatened her—she came to make sure her husband didn't harbor feelings for Naomi.” Lacey stopped pacing in favor of shredding the ribbons dotting her skirts. “Now she's making sure Naomi's solidly married, just in case Harry invests in Hope Falls and takes it into his head to come down for another visit!”

“Well, we all knew I'd have to choose one of them eventually.” Naomi decided to lay out the facts and try to hide the doubts and protests thrumming through her thoughts. “And since I'm holding up your and Evie's weddings and drawing out the loggers' expectations, it couldn't go on much longer. At this point, I'll have to choose.”

“It's all my fault.” Lacey plopped down onto the settee with enough force to make Cora pop up before sinking back down. “If I hadn't convinced you all to run that accursed advertisement, Naomi wouldn't be trapped in this predicament. At the very least, I should have waited to announce my engagement with Dunstan until you'd had more time to get to know the men and make an informed decision!”

“Poppycock.” Naomi snorted. “It's not your fault I joined the ad, and after your private adventure in the mines became so public—with the men seeing you in those pants!—you had to announce your engagement. Stop taking credit for my mistakes, and help me choose.”

“I've always had a soft spot for Clump,” Evie confessed. “If not for Jake, I would've chosen him. You know he'd work hard to be a good provider, cherish his family, and not take you for granted.”

“Clump has a good heart.” Naomi's own estimation of the sincere German echoed Evie's sentiments almost exactly. But Clump didn't make Naomi's pulse pick up pace when he walked up, smiled, or spoke.

“So does Riordan. He's breaking up a fight or helping Granger every time we turn around. And you know a man that size can care for his own. You could do worse than a gentle giant,” Cora advised.

“That's true, too. Riordan looks like a Goliath, but he acts more like a David.” Naomi couldn't say that, for all his gentleness, Riordan's sheer size made her skittish. She couldn't marry him.

“Bobsley's too young.” Lacey flatly refused to consider the flighty high climber with the good-natured grin. “Gent's too old.”

“I wouldn't say that.”
I might think it, but I wouldn't say it!
“He's extremely conscientious, always thoughtful and well-mannered.”

“Excellent. Do keep him in mind if you ever decide to hire a butler.” Lacey's wry tone made it clear that Naomi hadn't convinced anyone she considered Gent and his top hat to be a viable option.

“What about Mr. Strode?” Cora ran a palm over her face as though trying to wipe away the day's difficulties. “He's fairly new, but I think you've spent more time with him than any of the others.”

“I like him.”
I want him. I'd choose him in a heartbeat!

Naomi ruthlessly reigned in her thoughts. Michael deserved a wife he could trust, and after her discussion with Charlotte, she owed her sister her silence. She couldn't tell him what she'd done, what kind of woman she was—even if she thought he'd overlook it.

The next words pained her before they were born. “But he's not one of the men who's courting me, so I can't consider him anyway.”

“You don't have much time,” Evie mused. “But if he's the one who suits you best, consider giving him something to think about.”

“That's not a bad idea. Try persuading him. He might be more interested than you suppose.” Lacey brightened. “Dunstan was.”

“Thanks for the advice.” Naomi forced a chuckle. “But I'll never be as persuasive as you. We're very different women, cousin.”

You have no idea just how different, and I hope it stays that way
.

“You have to change it.” Cora circled the fingers of her left hand around her right wrist and hung on tight to keep them from fluttering around while she spoke. “Since you didn't make it to dinner last night and you're the supposed head of Hope Falls, you can stop Mrs. Blinman's attempt to bully Naomi. Say you'll help!”

“So that's why they didn't leave this morning?” Braden sat still for a moment, mulling over this new information. “When I left Blinman and Corning yesterday, they sounded bound and determined to be on their way. If the doctor hadn't slipped me some morphine yesterday afternoon, I would've been there last night to intervene.”

“You can be there now,” Cora urged. “While it's mainly about refusing to let Naomi be pressured into a loveless marriage, there's another reason why Hope Falls shouldn't be holding this dance.”

She waited for him to mention Arla so she wouldn't have to speak around the lump that clogged her throat whenever she thought of her friend. But Braden sat there waiting for her to continue.

“Arla! She hasn't been gone for even a week,” Cora burst out.