Rimfire Bride (7 page)

Even as she was considering his attributes, a rather plump man approached her and stuck out his hand.

“How do you do, ma’am. I’m Jason Richards, and I’d like to ask for your vote for me in tomorrow’s election. I’m running for justice of the peace. Can I count on your vote?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Oh? And why not? I assure you, I can take care of any problem you might have.”

“You can’t solve my problem, sir.”

“Oh, but I can.” He reached into his upper
breast pocket and withdrew something and placed it under Jana’s plate. “Now can I count on your vote?”

Jana looked down and saw a folded bill.

“No, sir.” She handed the money back to the man without looking at the amount. “Your money won’t buy my vote, because I can’t vote. I just arrived in Bismarck last night, so I’m not a resident.”

“Oh, my dear, in Bismarck, that’s not a problem. Take the money, and, remember, I’m Jason Richards, running for justice of the peace.”

“Thank you, but no. Even if I could vote, I don’t think I’d vote for you. If buying votes is the way Bismarck is run, I’ll find another place to live. Good day, sir.”

The smile left Richards’s face and he glared at Jana. “You’ve just made a big mistake, girly. Yes, sir, a big mistake, and you’ll be sorry. Because you see, I
will
win, and if you so much as step into the street in the wrong place, I’ll have you before my bench.”

“So be it. You’re not buying my vote. Good day, Mr. Richards.”

Jason Richards put a stub of a cigar in his mouth, then turned and stomped out of the dining room.

At the neighboring
table, Drew had watched and listened with amusement to the entire exchange between the young woman and the rotund, despicable politician. He couldn’t help but think of the fairy tale he had read to the boys just a few evenings ago. Except in
The Beauty and the Beast
,
the beast had some redeeming qualities. As far as Drew knew, Richards had none.

When Drew realized that she was turning down Richards’s attempt to buy her vote, his interest in her went beyond just finding her to be exceptionally pretty. He got up from his table and walked over to her.

Jana saw the
handsome man from the other table come toward her, and she wondered if he, too, was going to try to buy her vote.

“Ma’am, I’d like to shake your hand, and on behalf of the honest people of Bismarck, I’d like to welcome you to our city. You are exactly the type of citizen we need in this town. I’m Drew Malone.”

“What are you running for?”

Drew laughed. “Why, nothing, ma’am. I overheard the way you handled our least favorite politician, and I wanted to tell you that I liked how you did it.”

“In that case, Mr. Malone, I’m Jana Hartmann.” She extended her hand, and when she looked up, she was struck by the man’s captivating blue eyes. For an instant, her gaze locked with his.

The other man who had been sitting at the table with Drew had approached, and he spoke to her, breaking the spell.

“Would it be an affront to you if we joined you? I’m Frank Allen. Mr. Malone and I are partners in the Allen and Malone Law Firm, and I believe I overheard you say you had a problem.”

“Did I say that?”

“You’ll have to excuse Frank, Miss Hartmann.
Sometimes he tries to horn in on other people’s affairs when he has no business doing that.” Drew moved toward his seat at his own table.

“No, wait. You said you were lawyers?”

“Yes, we are,” Frank said as he grasped Drew’s arm to keep him from returning to their table.

“Then maybe you can help me.”

Both men moved to her table and sat one on either side of Jana.

“What can we do?” Frank asked.

“As I said to the rather disagreeable Mr. Richards, I just arrived in Bismarck. My sister and I came last night on”—she paused for a second before she continued, knowing that what she was about to say would speak volumes about her economic status—“the emigrant train. It is our intention to go next spring with a group of like-minded people to form the community of New Salem.”

“New Salem? Have you heard of that, Drew?”

“I believe it might be in Morton County, about thirty miles west of here. Would that be the place, Miss Hartmann?”

“I’m not sure. We are waiting for Pastor Kling from the German Evangelical Synod to arrive in the spring, and then we will find out.”

“Miss Hartmann, wait a minute, let me get this straight. You don’t have any idea where you’re going?” Drew asked.

“No.”

“But you do know this man who is in charge, do you not? Pastor Kling, I think you said?”

“I’ve met him.”

“But you don’t know him.”

“Ease up on her, Drew. She’s not in a court of law.” Frank laughed nervously.

“He’s right, Miss Hartmann, I’m sorry.”

“Well, you may have a point. I wanted to leave Chicago so badly that I really didn’t delve into all the particulars about New Salem.”

“You wanted to leave Chicago? Do you have a legal problem?” Drew asked. “Maybe we could help you.”

“No, it’s nothing like that.” Jana lowered her gaze, breaking any eye contact with either man. She took a deep breath. “I left because of something I read. The Northern Pacific Railway published a pamphlet that said a woman could homestead in Dakota, and I thought I could do that.”

A broad smile spread across Drew’s face. “Well, now, that I can understand. There are hundreds of other women right now in Burleigh County proving up their claims. And if that’s your problem, we can help you.”

“Before I do that, I have another problem.”

“And that would be . . . ?”

“I need a job.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. Bismarck is a boomtown right now with all the people moving in, and if we get to be the capital of the territory, there’ll be even more jobs. Have you ever worked before?”

“I taught school for three years.”

“You’re a schoolteacher, but you want to homestead? Proving up a homestead plot is hard work. Do you know anything about farming?”

Jana laughed.

“Did I say something funny?” Drew asked.

“I haven’t told you everything. I’ve been on a farm my whole life, except while I was away at college, but then I worked on the family farm anytime I was at home. My sister and I both know how to work.”

Drew smiled sheepishly. “That was my fault for making such an assumption. But as for a teaching position, I’m afraid all our teachers for this term are already contracted.”

“I thought as much,” Jana said, “but I’ll take whatever job I can get.”

“Maybe she can work at the new telephone exchange,” Frank suggested.

“That’s a good idea,” Drew said. “I can take you to see Charley Draper if you’d like. He has a crew out putting up wires now, and the exchange should be up and running in a couple of weeks.”

“Charley Draper? Is he the telegrapher?”

“Yes, have you already met Charley? He runs the Western Union office, and now he’s started the telephone exchange.”

“No, I haven’t met him, but I need to send a telegram, and when I inquired, his name was mentioned. I’m surprised that you are getting telephone service in Bismarck,” Jana said. “I wouldn’t have thought that.”

“We aren’t exactly uncivilized out here,” Drew said, perhaps a bit more sharply than he’d intended, as he thought of his mother-in-law’s constant harping that either he move “back to civilization” or that she be allowed to raise the boys in Evanston.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t intend to suggest otherwise,” Jana said.

“No, it was me. ‘Civilization’ is a sensitive subject right now,” Drew said. “As soon as we have our lunch, why don’t I take you to see Charley? I know he said he was looking for someone to help him run the exchange.”

“That sounds wonderfully kind of you. As I said, I planned to send a couple of telegrams, anyway.”

At well past
noon, Greta Kaiser came down the stairs of the hotel with the dollar Jana had left clutched in her hand. She saw a man standing behind the front desk, but he was conversing with an elderly man, so Greta went to what appeared to be a restaurant. She stepped through the bat-winged doors, stopping immediately as she looked around in confusion.

This didn’t look like any restaurant she had ever before seen, though if she had to admit it, she hadn’t been in many restaurants. Not a soul was sitting at any of the tables in the room.

She wondered if she was too late. Had lunch already been served, and had she missed it?

A man wearing a white apron came through a door that led to another room. He was carrying a tray of glasses, and he stopped short when he saw Greta standing there, almost dropping the tray.

“Girl, you gave me a start. Who ya lookin’ for?”

“I’m looking for dinner.”

The man laughed as he set the tray down and began putting the glasses under the polished counter. “I’m afraid you’re not going to find that here.”

Greta walked on into the room, stepping up to the bar to address the man as he continued to put the glasses away. “Has the restaurant already closed?” Greta looked around the empty room.

“Restaurant? Is that what you think this is?”

“Well, yes, I was told there was a place to eat off the lobby, so I came here.”

“Well, miss, this ain’t no restaurant. It’s a saloon. We don’t serve nothin’ here but drinks,” the man said with a broad smile.

“No food?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Why not? This is part of the hotel, isn’t it? Don’t you think some of the people who are staying here might want to eat?”

“You’ll have to talk to Mr. McGowan about that. He’s the one that runs the place.”

“Where will I find this Mr. McGowan?”

“Right now you’ll find him behind the check-in desk.”

“Thank you.”

Tom McGowan looked
up when the pretty, young woman approached his desk. At first glance he thought it was the same woman he had spoken to earlier, the woman who had booked the room for a week. Then he realized this must be the sister. He looked at the register to check her name.

“Yes, Miss Kaiser, may I help you?”

Greta looked surprised. “How do you know my name?”

Tom chuckled. “The only two young ladies staying in the Custer Hotel are you and your sister. She
made arrangements this morning for the two of you to stay for the rest of the week. Now, what can I do for you?”

Greta pointed toward the saloon. “Why don’t you serve food in there?”

“Well, Miss Kaiser, we don’t serve food in there because it’s a saloon. It’s where people come to drink.”

“When it’s time for dinner, or supper, where do they go?”

“We have restaurants in town. Nice ones. The Sheridan House probably has the finest dining room in the territory. I sent your sister there when she asked where she could go to eat.”

“Is the Sheridan House a hotel?”

“It is.”

“Let me ask you something, Mr. McGowan. When the people leave the—saloon—to go eat, aren’t they taking their money to another hotel? What if you served a meal here? Wouldn’t they stay for the meal? And if they stayed, wouldn’t you make more money?”

“I don’t know, I suppose so,” Tom agreed. “I’ve never really given it any thought.”

“She’s got you there, Tom,” the old man, who was now sitting in one of the chairs, chimed in. “I’ve been asking ya to feed us ever since I been staying here, but, no, not the Custer. No food here.”

“Hank, you know the reason we don’t serve food. Where would we put a dining room and a kitchen?”

“Oh, pish posh,” Greta said. “You could serve in that saloon. You already have the tables, and
what does it take to prepare and serve a meal but a stove, a pot, and a few bowls?”

“She’s right,” Hank said. “Think about how we do it on a steamer. We feed a whole crew with a lot less space than you got here.”

“A pot and a few bowls, huh?”

“Yes. You could serve a stew or a soup every day. And if I were you, I’d give it away for free. You’d make up the difference by selling more drinks.”

“By damn, listen to the woman. She’s makin’ a lot of sense,” Hank said.

Tom stroked his chin as he studied the young woman who was standing before him.

“I don’t suppose you have any suggestions as to who I might hire to fix this stew, do you?”

Greta thought this would be her opportunity to take some of the load off Jana’s shoulders. If she could convince Mr. McGowan to hire her, she could not only help with some of the expenses, she could prove to Jana—and to herself—that she wasn’t entirely helpless.

Greta smiled. “I have the perfect person in mind.”

Jana and Drew
left the dining room of the Sheridan House. On this chilly November day, as they walked toward the Western Union office, she noticed that Drew hadn’t even bothered to put on an overcoat over the brown town coat he was wearing. But how he was dressed wasn’t the only thing she noticed about him. She noticed his physique, perhaps as much as six inches taller than her own five feet eight inches, and she found he
was a most attractive man. She had been drawn to the deep blue of his eyes in the restaurant, but here in the sunlight they seemed to be almost magnetic.

Just then, Jana’s foot caught on a loose board in the walkway and she stumbled.

“I should have warned you about that,” Drew said as he grabbed Jana to prevent her from falling. “These boardwalks are quite new, and I’m afraid the carpenter didn’t do his job as well as he should have. Would you like to take my arm?”

Jana thought it strange how easily this man offered her his arm, as if it was expected. An aura of strength and self-confidence seemed to emanate from Drew. But there was something else.

No man had ever had such an effect on her, and she felt what she could only describe as magnetism, drawing her toward him. But with no real experience in such a situation, she didn’t know if this was normal.

She accepted his arm as if she had taken the arm of a gentleman hundreds of times before, and they continued down the street until they reached the Western Union office.

“I’ll be right
with you,” a man said without looking up as he continued to write rapidly while the telegraph key tapped out its message.