Reverie (Hollow Hearts Book 1) (20 page)

With Isaac’s help and gentle hands they had Hetty home and settled just as the sun left the sky. Isaac tried to hide his surprise at the state of the house, reminding himself that she’d only been here for a few days. He silently signaled to his mother with a nod of his head. Elizabeth caught his meaning and they both got to work. He quickly built a fire to warm the house. While his mother and Lottie got a bed made up on the floor near the fireplace, Isaac slipped into the bedroom to check on Hetty. She was sitting up in the bed, only a thin quilt warding off the chill. She smiled when he entered, and he it took every bit of strength he had not to lean down and take her lips with his.

“Are you comfortable?” he asked.

“Yes, thank you, Isaac. I appreciate you arranging for your mother and Lottie to be here. This medicine is stronger than I expected. I don’t think I’ll be much company,” she said yawning.

“It’s fine. You get some rest. I’ll be back first thing in the morning to check on you.”

She closed her eyes and within moments was breathing deeply. He knew she was already asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he gently brushed her hair from her forehead. She looked so peaceful and Isaac felt a calm rush through him. He knew his purpose was to take care of her, to spend the rest of his life making her happy, to be the reason her beautiful face was full of contentment. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and turned to leave. Before going out the door he looked back at the woman God created for him and whispered, “I love you.”

Hetty work early the next morning feeling more refreshed than she expected. Her arm still ached, but she felt well rested and ready to help with the aftermath of the fire. She rose from her bed, dressing quickly in a wool skirt and muslin blouse. She was careful not to jerk or bump her arm in the process. Despite the added pain of trying to pull her long hair into a workable bun, she managed to accomplish the task. She took a moment to examine her burn. It still looked terribly red and puffy, so she gently washed it, applied more of the salve Doc Winters gave her, and wrapped it in a fresh bandage. 

She quietly opened the door to her bedroom, not wanting to wake Elizabeth and Lottie who were still sleeping near the fireplace. Hetty felt terrible that she wasn’t very good company last night. Once the medicine took over she was asleep before she had the chance to visit with her guests. Careful not to make too much noise, she found her coat and scarf and slipped out the front door. She would love to make breakfast for her guests, but she had yet to buy supplies to stock her kitchen. Since moving in a few days ago she’d just continued to eat a light breakfast at the orphanage in between her daily tasks.

The morning air was cold and biting, but Hetty didn’t mind. She loved this time of year, especially with the town decked out in holiday colors. She waved at a few business owners who were busy opening their shops for the day. Mr. Davis was attempting to sweep the snow away from the mercantile door, with little luck. The wind continued to blow snow right back where he’d just swept. But that didn’t stop him from whistling while he swept. As she approached the orphanage things seemed disturbingly quiet.
Most of the men who are helping must not have arrived yet
, she thought. They’d be along soon enough with more work than they could probably handle.

Hetty walked up the front steps and gently turned the knob to the door.
Unlocked. Catherine must already be here.
Hetty stepped into the house and nearly choked at the strong stench of smoke. The walls looked dingy and dirty, the floor a near disaster of soot and footprints. She couldn’t imagine what state the kitchen was in. She needed to find Catherine. As she walked down the hall toward the kitchen she heard two voices, one sounding rather irate. She pushed the swinging door open and saw what looked like Catherine and Sol having a heated argument in the midst of disrepair that was their kitchen.

“Sol, that stove worked just fine until you put your hands on it yesterday. How could I not think this entire fiasco is your fault?!” Catherine yelled.

“Miss Catherine, I told you last year you needed to replace that stove. It had seen better days even before you got it used. Frankly this was just an accident waiting to happen,” Sol stated.

“Oh, this is just ridiculous! There is no use talking to you, old man! You obviously don’t care that I lost my kitchen. How are we going to have the party now?” Catherine said.

Hetty walked through the door. “I don’t think the party should be the concern right now.”

Catherine turned and glared at Hetty. “You! You’re the one who told me to hire this old coot! It’s your fault as much as his!”

Hetty stood there stunned by Catherine’s blame and anger. This wasn’t her fault any more than it was Sol’s. 

“Don’t blame Miss Hetty. She’s done nothing wrong,” Sol stated, his voice full of confidence.

“Well, she better figure out how to fix this if she wants to keep her job.” Catherine turned toward Hetty. “A little burn better not stop you from getting your work done. I expect the party to happen as scheduled and you’re going to see that it does. Now, I’ll be at the church checking on things.” She pointed at Hetty and said, “Fix this!” before swishing her skirt and walking out the door.

Hetty tried not to take offense to Catherine’s behavior. She’d been on the receiving end of such outbursts since she lived here as a child. It was part of the reason Hetty learned so quickly to just keep her head down, her voice quiet, and her work done.
She must be under a terrible amount of stress
, Hetty thought.

“Don’t make excuses for her, girl,” Sol said quietly behind her.

“I know,” Hetty said meekly.

“We’ll figure this out. For now, though, we need to get out of here. The men will be here soon to begin cleaning up. They think they can have everything fixed and rebuilt in about a week. Until then Catherine says the cooking needs to be done at the cafe. Old Mr. Wilkins is gonna let Faith do the regular cooking for the children over there. I don’t think Catherine wants me near a kitchen for a while.” He winked and threw his arm around her shoulder.

Isaac pulled to wagon to a stop outside Hetty’s house. He had his tools and all the wood he could spare loaded in the back. Elias was already at the orphanage clearing away debris so they could begin rebuilding the kitchen as soon as possible. He loved the way the whole town had come together in a time of crisis, though something told him it wasn’t for Catherine’s benefit but rather for the children. That woman just rubbed him the wrong way! He hated how she treated people like they were below her, barking orders and never giving the children much affection. It was no wonder Hetty believed she was so undeserving of even the simplest of gifts—especially family. She’d never been treated like family in the one home she’d ever had. He didn’t yet know how to fix the mess he’d made with Hetty, but until then he was determined to treat her like the family he believed she was.

Isaac knocked softly on the door. His mother answered quickly and ushered him inside. He was even more shocked at the state of Hetty’s house.
What is going on here?
he thought. Chairs were turned over, cupboards were opened, and blankets were piled everywhere. “Mother, what are you doing?”

“Oh, that crazy girl! She sneaked out early this morning—no doubt trying to get back to work. Well, I’ll just show her. Leave me alone here and I’m going to clean this place so shiny she’s going to think she’s in a different house,” Elizabeth said, moving a bucket over toward the window.

“You’re cleaning her house?” Isaac asked, a bit surprised, but still seeing the humor in his mother rushing around.

“Yes, I am. This is what family does. We take care of each other. She hurt her arm and she’s still going to sneak out to keep working. Well, fine. I’ll just stay here and do my part to give our girl the home she deserves.” Elizabeth lifted a rag from the steaming bucket and began scrubbing the window.

Isaac had to laugh. This was what happened when his mother meant business. There was no telling her otherwise when she got these ideas in her head. She was a force to be reckoned with. He imagined this was also her way of apologizing for her less than stellar behavior when Hetty left her job at the ranch.

“Is there anything you need from me, mother?” Isaac asked.

“Yes, actually there is. I made a list of basic supplies she’ll need. She doesn’t even have tea here. Can you take the list to Mr. Davis and tell him we’ll pick it up later?”

Lottie ran over to Isaac and lifted her arms. “I’m helping Grandma for Hetty.”

Isaac scooped her up and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “I’ll bet you are!” He gave Lottie a quick hug and set her down. “I’ll be back in a while, mother. And, Lottie? Keep an eye on your crazy grandma.” The child giggled.

Hetty knew she needed to take it easy; her arm was throbbing. But she was determined to finish the room before taking a break. She’d carried all the soiled linens from the house first thing this morning. Jessica, one of the older children at the orphanage, had set up a laundry station outside the church. Somehow she’d convinced the younger children to help by making it a game, dividing up the tasks and giving each child a turn to help. Things were moving along surprisingly fast. Plus, several women from town had shown up early this morning to lend a hand where it was needed. Thanks to a constant fire inside the church and quilts draped over the pews, the laundry would likely be done tomorrow. That just left the cleaning to Hetty. She’d scrubbed the hallway from top to bottom, stopping every half hour to dump out her dirty cleaning water. The front room was nearly done; she just needed to finish wiping down the furniture. The dining room was next on her list, and she’d need to tackle the other downstairs room after that. She couldn’t worry about the kitchen or the damaged bedroom upstairs until all repairs were made. But she’d aired out the house, given the dormitory rooms a good sweep, and was sure the children could sleep here tonight.

Hetty paused to stretch and work the kink out of her back. Bending over to scrub the floor wasn’t easy when she needed to avoid putting pressure on her injured arm, but she was making do. If need be she could finish the cleaning tomorrow. That still gave her a day to make the house presentable for the party Catherine was determined to have. Thankfully, the Christmas tree the children had decorated was fine. She hated to think of their broken hearts if they came back to the house to find it destroyed. She stood up to stretch when she heard someone behind her.

“It’s coming along, Hetty,” Catherine said.

“Thank you.” That was as close to a compliment as Hetty was going to get.

“I’ve been thinking about the party. Things here are in such disarray that it would really be better if we hosted it somewhere else.” Catherine ran her finger over the window sill, no doubt checking for dust or debris.

“Catherine, I know you want to do something to honor the people who have given their time and money to the orphanage, but I think they’d understand if you canceled because of recent circumstances. Or at the very least simplified things—especially since we have so many people to thank for their help because of the fire.”

“Are you in charge?” Catherine asked.

“Well, no, but...”

“Though you might want to refrain from telling me how to run things around here. I’ve been doing this since before you were born, you know.”

Hetty nodded.

“But, I do believe there is something you can do to make up for the fact that this house is in shambles.”

Hetty knew the fire wasn’t her fault, but arguing with Catherine wasn’t going to prove anything. “Well, the cleaning will be done by tomorrow and I do have the dormitories ready for the children to return tonight.”

“That isn’t what I mean. I heard recently that Mrs. Calhoun was rather generous with what she left you. I hear that big house of hers now belongs to you. Is that correct?” Catherine asked.

Hetty hesitated. “Well...”

“Though I don’t know what she was thinking leaving such a grand estate to an orphan with no family. We certainly could have used it instead of this shack of a house.” Catherine looked around in disgust.

“Catherine, this house needs a bit of work, but it’s a solid building.”

“That’s not the point. The point is that you now own that large house and I believe you should consider being a bit less selfish and allow us to use the home for the party.”

Selfish? Hetty hadn’t considered herself to be selfish about any of this. She hadn’t flaunted what Mrs. Calhoun was generous enough to leave her. In fact, she hadn’t told anyone about the house except for Isaac, and he only knew of the small home she’d received. The house had only become hers a few days ago and it was still closed down from when Mrs. Calhoun left for Philadelphia several months ago.

“I don’t know that we’ll have time to get it opened up or aired out and decorated before the party. Besides I almost have things done here,” she said, rubbing her aching arm in the process.

“Well, this was part of your job anyway so it needed to be done. I’m suggesting you go a bit above and beyond like the rest of us have had to and let the party be hosted there,” Catherine said. She was trying to guilt Hetty into getting what she wanted. Truth be told, it was working.

Hetty looked down at her feet. “If that’s what you want I’ll figure it out.”

“Good. I’m going to start bringing the children back here. I’d hurry things up if I were you.”

Hetty felt the tears rise.
Why is she so mean to me? What did I ever do to make her dislike me so much? I’m a good person
, she thought.
I don’t deserve to be treated this way.
And for the first time she started to believe it.

Isaac and Elias picked up the rest of their tools. They’d made significant progress today. Thanks to the help of several men they’d managed to clear out the debris and begun to repair the structure. It would take several more days of work before things would be functional again, but at least the children would be taken care of.

Elias looked up at the sky. “Looks like a pretty bad storm is coming.”

Isaac agreed. The weather had held off for the past few days, but Montana winters were unpredictable. The sun could shine in the morning and by late afternoon they could be in the throes of a blizzard. He was afraid they were about to experience the latter. “Maybe we should just stay in town tonight. I’d hate to get snowed in on the ranch and not be here to help finish the work,” Isaac said.

“I think you might be right. Let me see if I can catch Roger. He’s not planning to come back tomorrow so maybe he can check on things tonight, feed the animals a little extra so they’ll be fine until we make it home,” Elias said.

“Sounds good. I’ll see if Joshua has any room at the livery for the night.”

Isaac left Elias to his task and drove the wagon over to the livery. He parked outside, set the brake, and jumped down. The sky was already getting darker. This was going to be a bad storm. “Hello!” he shouted. “Anyone here?”

Joshua came from around back and when he recognized Isaac his face turned cold. “Can I help you, Mr. Wheeler?”

“I hope so, Joshua. We’re going to stay in town tonight. With the storm coming we don’t know if we’ll be able to make it back in the morning. Can you board the horses for the night?”

“How many?” Joshua asked curtly.

“Just two, but I’d need to store the wagon as well,” Isaac said, sensing Joshua’s feelings toward him.

“I have room for two, but the wagon will need to be stored out back. Do you have something to cover whatever’s back there?”

“I do. I think it’ll just be for tonight, but I do appreciate it,” Isaac said.

“It’s my job. Let’s get the paperwork settled and you can be on your way.” Joshua took down a bit of information about the horses, their diets, and any special care they might need. He explained his feeding schedule, showed Isaac the stalls the horses would use, and they settled up the fee. Isaac reached out and shook Joshua’s hand, grateful he found a place to board the horses for the night. When he attempted to pull away Joshua didn’t let go of his hand. Isaac looked from his hand to Joshua’s eyes, noticing the anger and hurt within them.

“Promise me you’ll be good to her,” Joshua whispered.

Hetty
. Isaac knew the boy was struggling. Hetty had turned him down, told him he couldn’t court her, and clearly it still tore at Joshua. Isaac knew the feeling—imagining it was similar to how he felt when Hetty had refused him after their kiss. Why she had turned him down he didn’t know, but he sensed it had something to do with him—otherwise Joshua wouldn’t be making such a request. Maybe there was hope after all.

“I promise,” Isaac said.

Joshua nodded and motioned for him leave. They’d said everything they needed to say.