Judith Stacy – The Blushing Bride (страница 8)

Meg nodded. “But Jason pays his crew in cash. Since he doesn’t own any of the businesses in town, his men can shop wherever they want.”

Amanda pushed her plate aside. “Still, to be so controlling….”

“Jason’s no saint,” Meg said. “But he is fair. That’s why I think you should go to him again this morning and explain about your plan to bring brides up here.”

Amanda remembered the look on Jason Kruger’s face last night and shook her head. “He seemed adamant.”

“But it’s a wonderful idea. You’ve come this far, Amanda, you can’t just leave without giving it one more try,” Meg said. “All the women here would be so grateful.”

Amanda mulled it over. She had come a long way and she deserved another chance. Maybe Jason would see things differently in the light of day. Once he heard her plan he might welcome the idea of brides on his mountain, as long as he didn’t have to marry one of them himself.

She’d been so determined, so anxious when she left San Francisco. Making the difficult trip, waiting in Beaumont two long days hadn’t deterred her. Even the rough trip up the mountain wasn’t enough to make her lose the enthusiasm for her plan. Nothing was, except meeting Jason Kruger.

Something about that man unsettled her. What was it?

Amanda didn’t want to think too hard on that notion. “All right,” she said. “I’ll give it another try.”

She rose from the table filled with determination and purpose once again. She’d talk to Jason Kruger.

What could he do but say no?

Chapter Four

The gray dawn clung to the treetops as Amanda left Meg McGee’s house carrying her satchel and her hopes for the future, in search of Jason Kruger.

It didn’t seem quite fair that her dreams hinged on that particular man. Amanda had run the Becoming Brides Matrimonial Service for a little more than a year and she had plans for her business, for herself.

And for her prospective brides. They’d come to her with hopes and dreams of their own. A family, a husband, children, a home. All were things she could provide, with the right contacts.

Amanda picked her way along the rutted road. No, being dependent on the whim of Jason Kruger for her success and the happiness of her brides was not desirable at all. But at the moment, she had no choice.

What Amanda hadn’t seen last night when she arrived in the dark took her by surprise as she made her way down the road. The logging camp and town had been quite literally carved out of the mountain. A wall of thick trees towering two hundred feet in the air surrounded a large clearing. Inside lay the town, which was behind Amanda as she headed west, and in front of her was the logging camp. Off to her right was the sawmill and millpond.

The bone-rattling road that had brought her up from Beaumont last night separated the camp from the town, then continued on, winding its way up the mountain. The bunkhouse, storehouse and cookhouse lay ahead of her in the heart of the camp. A few smaller buildings were scattered between them, including barns and animal pens where horses and oxen stood, waiting to start their day of toil.

Across the road was Jason Kruger’s office. A house sat behind it; she guessed it belonged to the Kruger brothers. Absently, Amanda wondered what it looked like inside. Probably not one doily or lace cloth in the place.

There was wood everywhere. Amanda had never seen so much wood. Wooden houses, wooden shingles, wooden furniture. Stumps, slivers and shavings of wood, broken boards, sawdust. The air smelled of trees, sweet sawdust and sap.

The camp had the feel of hasty construction about it, as if it had been thrown together out of necessity in a rush to get on to more important matters.

No one was out at this hour. Meg had told Amanda she would find the men in the cookhouse before heading up the mountain for the day. Jason would be there, too.

A rumble of voices drew Amanda to the large building Meg had described. Delicious scents drifted on the air. Amanda paused outside the door, straightened her skirt and touched her hand to her hat. While the other women she’d met in camp dressed more simply, Amanda was here to conduct business, and it was important that her appearance reflect that.

She started inside, then stopped. She wasn’t all that anxious to meet Jason Kruger again.

Or was she?

He’d been on her mind all morning, even before Meg had suggested she talk with him again. She remembered last night and how irritating he’d been. How demanding. How arrogant.

How she’d called him those terrible names.

Amanda wasn’t all that experienced at business, but it probably wasn’t good to call your prospective customer thoughtless, inconsiderate and rude, and still expect him to do business with you. Even if he deserved to be called all those names.

As Jason Kruger did.

There was nothing she could do but continue on. Talk to Jason, present her plan, and hope for the best. Though he’d probably be less than happy to see her again, Amanda consoled herself with the thought that the worst he could do was say no. He certainly wouldn’t toss her over his shoulder, lash her to the wagon, and send the team careening down his mountain, back to Beaumont.

Amanda shifted her satchel from one hand to the other. Her future lay inside this cookhouse, in the hands of Jason Kruger. She drew in a deep breath and walked inside.

Rows of long tables holding platters of food filled the room. Men crowded the benches eating from tin plates, drinking steaming coffee from tin cups. The cook, a round-bellied man in a soiled apron, stood in the corner. The men kept their heads down, eating and talking while young boys, the cook’s helpers, scurried down the aisles refilling cups, bringing more platters of food.

Amanda raised on tiptoes looking over the sea of bobbing heads. There must have been fifty men here and she wasn’t sure how she’d find Jason among them.

A man seated at the table nearest Amanda noticed her. He did a double take, elbowed the man beside him, and pointed.

That man looked, then the one seated beside him looked, until the whole table was staring. Their hands stilled halfway to their mouths.

The table beside those men noticed Amanda, then the next table, and the next.

Silence crossed the cookhouse like ripples in a pond. No metal forks clicked against tin plates. No coffee slurped from cups. The cook’s helpers stopped between the tables. The room froze in reverent silence.

Fifty faces turned to Amanda. Fifty pairs of eyes widened. Fifty jaws sagged.

The thought that she was glad she’d dressed for the moment skittered through Amanda’s head.

Across the room, in the far corner, one man rose from the table. Tall. Wide chest. Straight shoulders.

Thoughtless, inconsiderate, rude.

Handsome.

Jason Kruger.

Amanda’s heart sped up urging her to run. Toward him, or away from him? She wasn’t sure.

Jason charged across the room frowning and scowling even more than last night. For an instant Amanda wondered if she’d been wrong. Might he do something worse than simply say no? Being lashed to a wagon careening down the mountain didn’t seem outside of the realm of possibility at the moment.

Jason stopped in front of her, towering over her, crowding her. His glare gave off heat. It ensnared Amanda, refusing to let her back away.

She gazed up at his hard, angry face. “Good morning, Mr. Kruger.”

“What the hell are you—”

Jason stopped and glanced back at the men sitting like fifty statues at the tables. He lowered his voice.

“What are you doing in here?”

“I have a business proposition to discuss with you, Mr. Kruger.”

He nodded toward the door. “Get outside.”

Amanda’s spine stiffened and her chin went up. “Mr. Kruger, I will not be ordered about like a servant.”

Jason pressed his lips together, holding in his simmering anger. “Miss Pierce, would you kindly step outside? Before you get yourself mauled by fifty men?”

Amanda peeked around Jason at the men staring at her. “They seem harmless to me.”

“Some of these men haven’t laid eyes on a woman like you in months.”

“A woman like me?” Amanda asked. “And what sort of woman would that be?”

Jason faltered. His angry expression collapsed as his gaze raked her from head to toe. His lips twitched as if he wanted to spit out a mouthful of words, but he held them in.

“Would you just go outside?” Jason glared down at her. “Please?”

The morning sunlight crept over the treetops as Amanda stepped out of the cookhouse. Before she could pause, Jason clamped onto her elbow and propelled her across the road. The chatter inside the cookhouse started up again.

Jason stared at her and tugged down on his hat brim, bringing it lower over his eyes.

“Look, Miss Pierce, I haven’t got a lot of time. I’ve got a business to run. I’m sorry you got hauled up here for nothing, but I’m not going to marry you and that’s all there is to it.”

“As it happens, Mr. Kruger, I have no desire to marry you,” Amanda said.

He looked offended now. “How’s that?”

“As you said last night, the letter I received was a mistake,” Amanda said. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t work out a mutually beneficial arrangement.”