“I don’t need both. One person to help will be more than enough. I want Clara.”
“Clara? She’s my best maid. How do you expect me to run the hotel without quality people?”
“She’s my friend and helped save me from an abduction. Look around town, Michael. Widows and daughters are trying to put their lives back together. You will not have trouble finding someone to replace her. Many of the women are considering leaving town. Since business is growing, you could hire two new maids and help all of us and the town.”
Michael thought for a minute and then nodded. “All right, I will keep your secrets, you can have Clara to help at home, but only if you promise to limit the time you spend working here. I did tell Miss Edie that I would allow you to come to the Inn more often.”
“Allow me?” Ella Grace asked crossing her arms across her chest.
Michael threw up his hands. “Wrong words. Sorry. I won’t say anything. You come in as often as you feel up to it.”
“Better,” Ella Grace smiled.
After a few minutes of hugging and kissing, they returned to the lobby both happy with the outcome of their conversation.
Chapter Four
Ella Grace opened the front door of Howard House and called, “Hello, anyone home?”
A chorus of young female voices answered her before she saw her younger sisters rush toward the door. She hugged them all and then turned to Miss Edie.
“Thank you for talking to Michael. He agreed I could work at the Inn if it doesn’t tire me. He also agreed with me that we don’t need a maid and a cook, just someone to help and we’re hiring Clara. It will be lovely to have a friend at the house, and she can stay in the room off the kitchen. It’s larger than her room at the Inn. I convinced Michael to hire two of the town’s women who need jobs since their husbands were killed. Everything worked out well, and you did it all, Miss Edie.”
Miss Edie clapped her hands. “Wonderful. You will need some help later in your pregnancy, and Clara is a sweet girl. Would you like a cup of tea, dear?”
“No, I ate too many cookies, but I would like to steal Katie away from her work for a little bit. I have some things she could help me with, please.” Ella Grace winked at Miss Edie.
Miss Edie smiled broadly at Ella Grace. “The girls are studying right now, and if the babies wake, I will care for them. Run along and have some sister time.” She shooed them out the door.
“What do you need help with?” Katie asked as they walked toward Ella Grace’s house.
“It’s a secret. I can share it with you because I need help.” They settled in Ella Grace’s parlor, and she explained how she was convinced to play matchmaker for both Miss Edie and Miss Ethel.
Katie laughed out loud, “You agreed to this scheme? You certainly have your hands full.”
“Our hands, dear sister. Miss Edie and Miss Ethel both agree I could share the letters with you so we can find the perfect matches. Michael was a bit skeptical, but he agreed to receive letters for Miss Ethel at the Inn. Letters for Miss Edie will come here. Well, letters meant for them will arrive here or at the Inn and we have to look at them as if they were meant for the other one.” Ella Grace bit her lip and shook her head.
Katie laughed again. “I’ll help. This could get confusing. When do you suppose we’ll get letters?”
Shrugging her shoulders, Ella Grace said, “I’m not sure. The two letters went out today along with yours. I suppose within two weeks. Letters between Michael’s mother and me travel from Gentle Falls and back in about a week. Having the train running makes the mail much faster. It takes a bit for the paper to be published, so I guess two weeks maybe three.”
Katie nodded, “Do you think we can find a husband for Miss Edie and Miss Ethel and if we do, how do we convince them to get married?”
Ella Grace threw up her hands, “I told them I would find the best man from the letters, but it is up to them to tell each other the truth. I refuse to be the bearer of bad news or good news depending on how they take this.”
“Don’t forget I should receive a few letters, too. At least I hope I do. Our dear guardians thought it would be a good idea to ask for a hard worker hoping that would scare away any man that isn’t serious. I hope it doesn’t scare them all,” Katie said with a nervous smile.
“No worries, Michael is positive you’re the perfect match for his best friend, Benjamin. Remember, he will arrive on Monday’s train and you’re coming for supper. Maybe you won’t need the letters.”
Katie intertwined her fingers and held them close to her chest. “I’m nervous about all of this. Meeting a man I don’t know and writing to men that might not be who they seem. What if I answer a letter from someone cruel, untruthful, or a criminal? I could be in trouble.”
“Miss Ethel will shoot him, and you can go on and answer the next letter,” Ella Grace said hoping to ease Katie’s apprehension.
“There is that, I suppose. I doubt she would shoot someone, but she would scare them. I’ll try not to worry about all of this.”
Ella Grace nodded, “No more worries. With any luck, Benjamin will steal your heart, and you can ignore the letters.”
They chatted and laughed for a while over the chaos that might ensue when the sisters shared their secrets before
