A Texas Legacy Christmas (8 page)

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.”

Zack groaned. “I’d better go settle my children.”

Late Tuesday afternoon, an hour before helping Simeon with dinner, Chloe busied herself by dusting the furniture in the parlor. She loved the richness of the old wood and the elegance of the overstuffed chairs in deep green and gold and the sofa with a mixture of both colors. The small tables were topped with doilies for those times boarders set their coffee cups on the rich wood. Once she couldn’t find a speck of dust either on the floor or on the furniture, she rolled up the rugs and took them outside for a good beating. Satisfied that the parlor truly invited everyone to step inside, she turned her attention to bookkeeping and the cash box.

She still basked in memories of the past Sunday with Zack and the twins. And seeing them morning and night rooted her heart in what she thought would never happen—Zack Kahler might one day look at her and not see the pitiful little girl but a full-grown woman who loved him very much. Zack was different. He’d never abuse her. Not like the other men and boys she’d encountered.

“A penny for your thoughts?” Mr. Barton interrupted her musings and sent her thoughts scattering into the corners of her mind like little mice heading for their holes.

In her reverie, she hadn’t heard the bell jingle over the door.

“My, Mr. Barton. I didn’t hear you come in.”

He grinned somewhat boyishly and strolled to her side. “It’s good to know your concentration is on the books. I look at them every night while the boarders are sleeping, and they are always in perfect order.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you’re pleased.” She didn’t want to think again about what he’d done to her on her first day of work.

“Did you enjoy your day off?”

“Very much.”

“I saw you at church on Sunday evening. How commendable of you to help one of our boarders with his children.” His tone edged slightly toward condescending.

While her mind searched for the right words, she offered her brightest smile. “They are lovely children.”

“The amount of time Zack Kahler has been gone from town and the absence of a wife has a bit of scandal to it. Don’t you think?”

“Not really. Mr. Kahler has never married, and the children came from an orphanage in New York. Very dire circumstances.”

“I see. That explains it all.”

“Yes sir.”

“Mind you don’t neglect your duties while he is a guest here.”

Chloe stiffened. “My first loyalties are to you, sir.”

He offered a faint smile. “Me, Miss Weaver?”

“Precisely, the boardinghouse and my bookkeeping duties.”

He glanced down at the registration book. “Perhaps they are one and the same. If you’d permit it.” With those words, he gave her a nod and disappeared around the corner. A moment later, the kitchen door creaked open, then shut.

Chloe didn’t need a New York university education to understand exactly what Mr. Barton implied. If not for Zack and how she’d loved him for years, she might consider Mr. Barton. He was a good man—simply lonely. And that she understood.

She’d allowed herself to slip into a dream world again. Was she being foolish? Zack needed help, and she’d been there to give it. When she considered his education, status in the community, and ambition to succeed in life, why would he ever give Chloe, a young woman with a Comanche heritage, a second look?

*****

Friday morning, Zack tapped at the typewriter on his desk. He used two fingers and had to be careful not to make a mistake. Someday when he had the money, he’d hire someone to type up his articles. Until then, he’d labor hours over this machine.

He’d spent Tuesday and Wednesday contacting business owners about their advertisements in the
Frontier Press
. Some were a bit skeptical about his new ideas. He wanted to give business owners something fresh and appealing to bring in more revenue, but some folks resented change and preferred the old ads. He’d contacted a few national businesses while still in New York and had secured advertising from Calumet Baking Powder, Maxwell House Blend Coffee, tooth powder, and razor blades. It was a beginning. He needed to plan a day in Houston to study the Post and the Chronicle.

The first week of December, the weekly paper would officially become a daily. Next week, he planned to call on the folks in neighboring towns. His thoughts were to feature each town and their local news along with what was happening in the county, state, and world. He’d wire Austin for the latest news from Governor Campbell’s office, and he had connections in Washington for the current events surrounding the White House and President Taft.

Miss Scott indicated an interest in a women’s page, so he hired her to write that column. He wanted the folks around Kahlerville to read the society news from their own paper. Everything from communication to cooking interested him, because those topics sold newspapers. He loved this business. It simply excited him, as though his veins were filled with newspaper ink.

And when his day was over and his whole body ached, he had Curly and Charlie to keep him company. Zack lifted his two forefingers from the typewriter and allowed his thoughts to venture toward Chloe. The twins loved her, and she doted on them as though they were the only two children in the whole world. How quickly they had adapted to their new life. And so had he.

Of course, he was partial, and he enjoyed every minute of it. He wanted to ask her about Thanksgiving. Uncle Morgan and Aunt Casey planned to have dinner at their ranch, and Zack really could use Chloe’s help with the twins. He shook his head and placed his fingers on the typewriter keys again. Who was he fooling? Chloe had tiptoed into his heart, and he wanted to keep her there. To think he’d allowed Elizabeth in New York to hurt him. She and Chloe were nothing alike.

Before Zack realized what had happened to the day, Lydia Anne and Stuart walked in with the twins. Zack did a double take, then stood.

“Were you two fighting at school today?”

Zack studied Lydia Anne, who was far too blond and pretty for a sixteen-year-old. But she was his parents’ problem. Lydia Anne smiled but didn’t say a word. His gaze swung to Stuart, the spitting image of Dad.

“Has everyone forgotten how to talk? Unless my eyes have deceived me, Curly has a black eye, and Charlie’s dress is dirty.” Zack stared at each one, but no one offered an answer. “Somebody had better speak up.”

“We were fighting, Poppy.” Charlie’s best little-girl voice wouldn’t melt him this afternoon.

Zack did his best to shove aside the work that still needed his attention and concentrate on the problem at hand. “Did Miss Scott send a note?”

“Yes sir.” Curly handed him a piece of paper.

“Oh my. It’s amazing how good your manners are today.” He read the note:

Zack,

Although I don’t condone fighting for any reason, the children are not entirely at fault for today’s incident. I suggest you ask them what happened, and I’ll be glad to speak with you about the matter.

Annabelle Scott

“What did she say?” Curly twisted the buckle on the right side of his overalls.

“She said I should ask you two what happened.”

The twins exchanged glances, then looked to Lydia Anne and Stuart.

“I’m not tellin’,” Stuart said. “And Lydia Anne wasn’t around.”

Curly’s shoulders fell. “We got into a fight because . . . because—”

“Just tell it,” Charlie said. “Never mind. I will. One of the big boys called me and Curly a bad name. I kicked him in the knee and told him we were not . . . what he said. That we had a poppy and our real mama and papa died. He said you only took us because you felt sorry for us. I kicked him again.”

“Then I punched him in the stomach,” Curly said. “And he blacked my eye.”

Zack wished he could have been there. He would have escorted that kid to his parents. “Listen, you two.” He sat on a chair and pulled them in front of him. “Fighting doesn’t solve anything. Now that boy will be picking on you even more. When someone tells lies about you or calls you a bad name, pretend you didn’t hear. All right?”

“Yes sir.”

How could two children have such angelic voices? He lifted Curly’s chin. “That’s quite a shiner. It needs some ice.” He glanced about the office. “I have a customer coming by any minute, but I’ll let Hank take care of it. Your eye is more important, and I think we have more to talk about.”

“I’ll take them to the boardinghouse and clean them up,” Lydia Anne said. “When Dad or Mama stops by, you can send them there.”

Zack reached into his pocket and pulled out his room key. Handing it to his sister, he saw one tear after another roll over Charlie’s cheeks. “I’ll be along within fifteen minutes.”

“Are you mad at us?” the little girl said.

He bent to her and Curly’s level. “No, I’m not mad, just sad that you were fighting.” He drew them both into his arms and hugged them. “Who was the boy?”

“Eli Scott,” Stuart said. “He’s a year older than Lydia Anne.”

Seventeen? A year older than Lydia Anne? Anger soared to the top of his head. A boy that old had no business picking on six-year-olds. Why, he was grown. The name didn’t sound familiar, but he’d find out who the boy was before the day was over. He wondered if Chloe remembered him from her days at school.

“Thanks, Lydia Anne, for looking after these two. I’m sure Simeon or Miss Chloe will help you with a piece of ice. Believe me, I’ll be talking to Miss Scott about Eli Scott.”

Thirty minutes later, Zack walked into the boardinghouse with his mother. He’d left work at the newspaper, but he was too furious to do anything but plan his speech to Miss Scott about the bully in her school. He’d already decided to pay a visit to the Scott home. And he would tonight if he could find out where the boy lived.

“Miss Scott can handle him,” Mama said. “Getting angry doesn’t solve a thing.”

Zack didn’t respond. Not that he didn’t have a mind full of comments about the age difference between the bully and his twins.

“Zack, I can read your mind without your saying a word.” Mama straightened to her barely five-foot frame. “Handle this in a proper manner. For right now, think about more pleasant things.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Now he knew how the twins felt when he corrected them.

“Have you asked Chloe to accompany you for Thanksgiving dinner?”

Maybe she did read his thoughts. “Not yet, but I will.”

“She’s a beautiful girl and so good with the children.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“I’m sure the problem at school can be explained away.” Mama nodded to punctuate her words.

Inside the boardinghouse, Zack and his mother found the family in the kitchen. Curly sat on a small worktable, and Chloe held a cloth, obviously containing ice, over his eye.

“How’s the patient?” Zack attempted to sound light. “Do we need to take him to the doctor?”

“If you ask me, the bully who did this needs two black eyes.” Simeon turned back to dusting slices of beef with flour. “But nobody asked me.”

Chloe shook her head, but she didn’t turn to acknowledge him or even speak.

“Miss Chloe cried,” Charlie said.

Confusion hit him. Had she been so upset over the twins’ abuse that she openly wept? He studied Lydia Anne’s and Stuart’s faces. Nothing. Then Lydia Anne moistened her lips.

“She knows Eli Scott, and that’s all I’m saying.”

“Chloe, has there been a mistake here, or is he a bully?” Zack said.

She sniffed. “He’s a bully.”

“Lydia Anne, has he bothered you and Stuart?”

“No. I think he’s afraid of Dad, Uncle Morgan, and Uncle Grant.”

“Do you know where he lives?”

Lydia Anne nodded. “He’s Miss Scott’s nephew.”

Zack remembered the note. Miss Scott hadn’t blamed the twins. “I’m going to take care of it tonight.”

Chloe slowly turned to face him. Her eyes were red, her face splotchy. “Don’t let him get by with this, Zack. If he’s not stopped, it’ll get worse.”

“Believe me, I won’t rest until this is settled.” Something in her tone told him Chloe had experienced a problem with Eli too. Later he’d ask. He took the icepack from her and noted her trembling fingers. Her reaction made him even angrier at the Scott kid. She turned away from him. No doubt her tears had embarrassed her.

Zack cringed. Curly’s eye was a mass of purple and blue, worse than before.

“I still wish you’d let Miss Scott handle this.” Mama peered around Zack to look at Curly’s eye. Her face paled.

“He’s horrible,” Lydia Anne said. “He steals lunch from the other kids and says things that should get him whipped. Miss Scott never hears or sees what he does, or she’d handle the matter.”

“All that has been taken care of.”

Zack whirled around to see Miss Scott standing in the doorway of the kitchen. She lifted her chin.

Simeon cleared his throat. “Do y’all think you could take your business to the dining room? I don’t think my kitchen can hold one more person.”

A few moments later, the group sat at a large table. Luckily, no one else was about. Zack had Curly on one knee and Charlie on the another.

“Eli is no longer at the school,” Miss Scott said. “I had him removed this afternoon after the incident with Curly and Charlie. I’d have been here sooner, but I needed to tell my brother about my decision.”

Zack nodded, observing the determined look on his old teacher’s face. A quick step into the past to a time when he used to get into fights flashed across his mind. She didn’t put up with it then, either. “I appreciate what you’ve done, Miss Scott. I understand Eli is your nephew.”

She swallowed. “Yes, and I’ve made excuses for him for far too long. He will not be permitted to return.” She paused and turned her attention to Chloe. “I’m sorry, Chloe. I should have removed him long before now.”

What had that bully done to her? Zack was furious again.

“Thank you, Miss Scott.” Chloe rose from her chair. “It’s time for me to help Simeon. Please excuse me.”

“And I must be getting along.” Miss Scott bent down toward the twins. “You have no reason to be afraid at school. Monday will be a new week with all the ugliness of Eli gone.” She cupped the chin of each child, then stood to face Zack. “Thank you for your understanding in this unfortunate situation.”