“There’s more,” Ella Grace added.
“You both received answers to the ads we placed, and we answered the letters for you. You each know that because we told you that much without letting the other know.”
“Hmm,” Miss Edie said. “I think I understand. Sister and I asked you to keep a secret, and you did it well. Is there a problem now?”
Ella Grace and Katie nodded their heads at the same time.
“Two brothers, Walt and Chet Worthington, are coming to town on the Wednesday morning train.”
Miss Ethel and Miss Edie’s eyes grew wide.
Then Ella Grace blurted. “They expect to marry you when they get here.”
“What?” Miss Ethel said.
“Oh, my,” was all Miss Edie could think of to say.
Miss Ethel turned to look at Miss Edie. “This explains all the talk about changing my hair and not dressing in dark colors.”
“You told me the same thing. I thought we were doing that to make the younger girls happier. You lied to me.”
“You lied to me, too, Sister.”
Ella Grace and Katie tried to make a graceful exit from the parlor but were stopped by Miss Ethel. “Oh no, you don’t. Sit back down and tell us why you told these men to come here. The last time we spoke about this you told me you were just going to respond and see what else they say.”
“We were, but we weren’t sure how to keep getting letters without you finding out or Widow Wallace asking questions. We had the letters sent to the Inn and thought if we told them they were welcome to visit, they might…well, I’m not sure. I think we made a mistake and now the two of you have grooms arriving the day after tomorrow,” Ella Grace explained.
“We didn’t mean for this to happen before we got the two of you to tell each other what you asked us to do, honestly,” Katie added.
Miss Ethel shook her head. “What’s done is done. All there is to do is meet the train, apologize, and send the men on their way.”
“But what if they’re handsome?” Miss Edie asked.
“You’re a grown woman, Edie, you can do what you want. I intend to apologize and send the man away.”
“It’s a shame they’re coming all this way and expect to have brides. We should at least meet them. They might be nice.”
Hoping to make things better, Ella Grace offered. “They owned a bookstore in Chicago. They’re going to open one here now that they’re moving to Silverpines.”
“Mercy,” Miss Edie said. “They are truly planning to stay here. I hope they’re handsome. Ethel, you should give this a chance. It might be wonderful.”
“Wonderful? I doubt it. The entire town will know the owners of the new bookstore came here to marry us. Embarrassing is a better word.”
“Hmm, I wonder what I should wear. Something pretty, I think. Don’t you?” Miss Edie asked Ella Grace and Katie.
“Don’t be silly, Sister. Wait, do these men know how old we are? Are they expecting young ladies?” Miss Ethel asked looking a bit pale.
“No,” Katie answered. We told them how old you are. The brothers are forty-six and forty-seven.”
Miss Ethel threw up her hands. “There is nothing to do but wait until Wednesday and meet these brothers.” She walked off toward the kitchen mumbling something about needing a cookie.
Miss Edie leaned closer to Katie and Ella Grace. “Did these men truly seem interested?”
“Yes, they did,” Katie explained. “We told them about you and how you run the orphanage.”
“My, my,” Miss Edie blushed. “Imagine after all this time I might have a man interested in me. Not that they weren’t when I was younger, but we had you girls, and you were most important.”
Ella Grace smiled at her kindly guardian. “Perhaps, this is your time to find more happiness. Being married is wonderful.”
Miss Edie patted her hair. “I may try one of those newer hairstyles I saw in a magazine, and I know just the dress I’m going to wear. Ethel might not be happy about this, but she did want you to place an ad for me to find a husband and maybe I will.”
Katie and Ella Grace looked at each other and smiled. This might work out after all.
Chapter Twenty-one
Miss Ethel stood on the train platform tapping her foot. The longer she waited for the train, the more her anger grew. How could her sister, Katie, and Ella Grace do this to her? A husband? She didn’t need a husband. She was perfectly happy. How was she going to deal with the stranger arriving shortly that expected her to marry him sight unseen? This was madness. She turned and glared at her sister, Edie.
While Ethel had given into the idea enough to wear a brown skirt and cream-colored blouse, Miss Edie wanted to look her best. Donning her favorite light blue dress with the navy trim, she added her small navy hat adorned with small light blue flowers. Tried as she might, Edie couldn’t get Ethel to agree to wear her hair more stylishly, but Edie had twisted her hair into a pretty knot at the nape of her neck. She had seen the style in one of Ella Grace’s magazines and thought it might make her look younger. Miss Edie was shocked when Ethel and the girls told her what they had done, and a man was coming to Silverpines expecting to marry her, but she took it in stride and decided to see what might happen.
Miss Edie’s excitement grew, and Miss Ethel’s foot tapping increased when they heard the train’s whistle blow.
The Worthington brothers had similar feelings. Walt mumbled that he still wasn’t sure about the idea, and Chet had a hard time controlling his excitement. When the depot came into
