Page 14 of Ellen Found
“So young,” she said.
“Both of them.” He eyed the Regulator on the wall. “Got a minute?”
“I’ll stop the clock’s hands if I have to. Tell me.” He needed to talk and she wanted to listen.
“Clare’s sister in Helena invited me to move in with her and her husband, and we did. I never have trouble finding work. I answered that same ad you did and started work here last May. Mr. Child put me in charge of the carpenters, and I answer directly to Mr. Reamer.”
“I knew you had a lot of responsibility.”
“Trouble came when I told Amanda I wastaking Gwen along, too. She told me I was crazy to do that and an unfit parent.”
“Which you are neither.”
“Thanks,” he said with a brief smile. “Amanda has no children. She pleaded with me to leave Gwen with her. I can’t. Gwen is mine. Mine and Clare’s. It’s hard though. Can you clear it with Mrs. Quincy?”
Ellen knew she had no power or standing. What was she thinking? “I will,” she said firmly. “We’ll do fine.”
Where was her courage coming from? Maybe from the quiet man with heavy responsibilities and a small child.I like this man, she thought. The feeling was novel, and she wanted it to linger.
She had another thought. “I wish we could offer Gwen wages. Women need money of their own. At least, I always wanted that.”
She felt he was measuring her in that same way she had seen him stare at a board before he started to saw. “How about you offer Gwen one dollar a week, which I will slip to you on the sly?”
“Done,” she said. “Bring her over. See how easy that was?”
She meant it as a joke. He appraised her again, serious. “A mere thank-you is inadequate.”
If Mrs. Quincy had objections when Ellen approached her about it, she stifled them. “We can use her help,” was Ellen’s clinching argument.
“I believe we can, Ellie,” was all she said. “You’re in charge of her.”
Gwen and her father came over after breakfast when Mr. Reamer gave the crew his daily list of projects. Charles helped Gwen off with her coat, kissed her cheek, and went about his business for the day.
“We have a lot of potatoes,” Ellen said, kneeling down. She found a potato peeler. “Let me show you how to peel them.”
The child nodded. “I’ll miss Mrs. McTavish and her little boy,” she said, taking the peeler and looking it over.
“They’ll be better off in a warmer climate, and she won’t cough so much.”
Ellen sat her down at the table and brought over a bowl of scrubbed potatoes. “We’ll work together,” she told the child. She glanced at Mrs. Quincy, who, to her surprise,watched them with an expression she might be tempted to call tender, were this anyone but Mrs. Quincy.
This turned into a day of surprises. Charles had said his daughter still liked a nap. After lunch, when Gwen started tugging on her eyelashes, Ellen took Gwen to her room, removed her shoes, and covered her with a blanket. When she came back later to check, Plato had curled up with Gwen.
“Good for you, Plato,” she whispered. “Every lady needs a bodyguard.”
Gwen made sure her father had an extra serving of mashed potatoes that night. “I mashed these,” she announced.
He hugged her. “Never better.” He smiled at Ellen. “Thank you. I know Gwen is in good hands.”
She saw how tired he was, how tired they all were. Until the newly built fireplace was ready, the lobby was still going to be cold. Even working indoors was no proof against Yellowstone in the winter.
He helped Gwen with her coat. “We’ll be eating here now, since the McTavishes are gone. I’m no cook.”
“He isn’t,” Gwen agreed.
Ellen walked with them through the dark lobby. Charles stopped when his daughter stooped down to pet Plato, who had come up silently beside the child. “Uh... careful.”
“He’s my friend,” Gwen said.
