Ilsa: Read online

  “There’s gratitude for you.” Kade gave his brother-in-law a playful punch in the arm. “I let you live in my house rent-free and all I get is complaints.”

  “Where did you live before you moved out of town?” Ilsa asked Caterina.

  “Right here at the restaurant. I have a nice apartment upstairs. Kade owned the property before we wed, but I refused to trek to the outhouse in the winter. When the weather was no longer freezing, we moved out there and Tony took over the apartment.” Caterina reached out and ruffled her brother’s thick hair. “He keeps an eye on things when I’m not here.”

  “You don’t know what you’d do without your favorite brother around.” Tony gave Caterina a teasing smile and yanked on her apron strings.

  She slapped at his hand and laughed. “You’re lucky you are my favorite or I’d throw you out on your ear.”

  “How many brothers do you have?” Ilsa asked, wondering if there were more handsome, charming boys like Tony at home.

  “Five and this one is the last, thank goodness.” Caterina’s statement made them all laugh.

  “Says the bambina who tormented us all.” Tony poked Caterina’s arm, making her swat at him again.

  “What does bambina mean?” Ilsa asked, looking from Tony to Caterina.

  “Baby girl,” Caterina said, sticking her tongue out at Tony as she turned to take a pie out of the oven. “I was the youngest.”

  “And the most spoiled.” Tony caught the damp dishtowel Caterina threw at him before it hit him in the face. “I see you still haven’t learned how to tame the wild cat you married,” Tony remarked to Kade, jumping to his feet and ducking the spoon Caterina tossed at his head.

  “Get out of my kitchen!” Caterina yelled, waving the knife in her hand menacingly at her brother.

  Not accustomed to people yelling or wielding cutlery as weapons, Ilsa sat ramrod straight, holding her breath. Waiting for Aundy to suggest they leave before witnessing some domestic episode that was none of their business, she was dismayed when her sister sat calmly watching Tony and Caterina fight. She thought she witnessed her wink at Kade.

  “I’m going, you spiteful thing.” Tony kissed Caterina on her cheek, then Aundy.

  He started to bend down to kiss Ilsa’s, but she gasped in surprise and drew away from him.

  Straightening abruptly, he studied her a moment before accepting the bundle of paper-wrapped cookies Caterina handed him

  “Goodbye, my friends. The ice won’t deliver itself, so I need to get to it. I’ll see you at the ranch for harvest.” With a wave, he disappeared out the kitchen door.

  “We better get back to the store and pick up our things.” Aundy stood then carried her teacup and plate to the sink. Ilsa followed her sister and set her things down in the huge sink.

  “I’m so glad you girls stopped by,” Caterina said, all smiles now that Tony was no longer tormenting her. “If you need help with the food, let me know. I can always come out in the mornings for a while.”

  “That’s sweet of you to offer, but I know you’ve got your hands full with things here.” Aundy hugged her friend as they walked to the door. “Thank you for that delicious treat, though.”

  “Wait,” Caterina said, wrapping several of the fried pastries in a napkin and handing it to Aundy. “I know how much Garrett loves these. Take him a few.”

  “I’ll try to make it home with them.” Aundy gave Caterina a saucy grin. “They might disappear before we get back to the ranch.”

  “I’ll call later and ask Garrett if he got them,” Caterina said, walking the two sisters out the door.

  “No fair checking up on us with modern technology.” Aundy grinned over her shoulder as they stepped off the back porch. “Kade, be sure and bring Ike with you when you come to help with harvest. We’ve missed seeing him.”

  “I will, if he feels like coming. The heat makes him almost as temperamental as my wife.” Kade grunted as Caterina jabbed an elbow in his side.

  “Thank you for the delicious treat,” Ilsa said, lifting a hand in farewell as she and Aundy walked around to the front of the restaurant and back down the street.

  “At least now you know where to find Caterina’s restaurant.” As they walked along, Aundy pointed out various shops and cautioned Ilsa not to stand above the grates she saw in the boardwalk.

  “What are they for?” Ilsa said, looking down at one while they waited for a wagon to pass by so they could cross the street.

  “They let air and light into the tunnels in the Underground. And before you ask, it is no fit place for a lady. There are card rooms, saloons, and women of loose moral character there. Some of the men like to prowl through the tunnels and wait for a lady to step on a grate, trying to peek up her skirt. Of course, no lady in town would be caught dead or alive standing over one of the things.”

  Appalled, Ilsa’s hand went to her throat and she stared at her sister. “That’s horrible. Whoever would do such a thing?”

  “It is horrible, so just remember to stay away from the grates and never, ever go to the Underground,” Aundy cautioned, not willing to admit she once dressed like a man and went down to the city beneath the city to find someone willing to sell her sheep. The only people who knew what she’d done were Garrett, Li Hong, and a saloon girl named Marnie who saw through her disguise.

  Ilsa certainly didn’t need to know all the things Aundy had done that were less than ladylike since she moved to Pendleton. Her prim and proper little sister might faint if she knew Aundy had learned how to shoot and hunt, and could even rope a steer from the back of her horse, Bell.

  Mr. Johnson greeted them warmly upon their return to the mercantile and helped carry Aundy’s purchases out to the waiting buggy.

  “Thank you for your business, Aundy. It’s appreciated, as always,” the man said, handing Aundy one of the lemon drops she loved so much after she paid her bill. He offered one to Ilsa, but she shook her head. She always found the candy too sour for her liking, preferring peppermints. “I hope you have a bumper crop of wheat this year.”

  “Me, too. Garrett and J.B. have high hopes for the yield,” Aundy said, smiling at the storeowner. “Thank you again.”

  Turning around to leave the store, Ilsa bumped into a firm chest and looked up into a handsome face. The man was well dressed in an expensive suit and offered her a pleasant smile. Taking a step back, she felt his hands still gripping her arms. Short of yanking her arms away or pushing at his hands, she didn’t know what to do.

  The training her aunt insisted she learn in deportment and manners never covered the friendly touches and looks the men in this western town seemed to dole out freely. Aundy saved her before she could decide her best course of action by taking one of the man’s hands in hers and smiling at him warmly.

  “Grant, how nice to see you.”

  “Aundy. I didn’t have the opportunity to meet your sister after church yesterday. At least I assume this beautiful creature is your long-awaited sister.”

  “She is indeed,” Aundy said, putting her arm around Ilsa’s shoulders. “Ilsa, this is our friend and banker, Grant Hill.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hill.” Ilsa mustered another charming smile. After meeting all the ranch hands Saturday and people at church yesterday, and a few people this morning, Ilsa was thoroughly worn out of introductions and smiling charmingly. She thought her cheeks were actually beginning to ache.

  “The pleasure is all mine, Miss… Miss…”

  “Thorsen,” Ilsa provided, taking another step away from the man. His obvious awareness of her left her uncomfortable. She was ready to go back to the ranch where she could at least hide in the house from all the interested male gazes.

  “In town stocking up on supplies, I see,” Grant said, walking them out to the buggy. He helped Ilsa climb up to the seat then failed to relinquish her hand.

  Gently pulling it away from him, she purposely avoided looking his direction. She pretended to focus her attention on smoothing dow
n her skirt and straightening her gloves.

  “Yes. The harvest crew will be at our house Wednesday morning, so we’ve got a lot of food to prepare between now and then.” Aundy picked up the reins and released the brake. Guiding the horse into the street, she grinned at Grant. “If you want to get your hands dirty, you’re always welcome to join in the fun.”

  “I think I’ll pass, but thank you for that most generous offer.” Grant smiled and tipped his hat to them.

  Aundy laughed as she snapped the reins and urged the horse toward home.

  “My gracious, you know a lot of interesting people,” Ilsa observed as they left the town behind them and drove on the road that would take them to Nash’s Folly.

  “Interesting in a good way?” Aundy asked, realizing Ilsa wasn’t accustomed to people like Tony or Caterina who loudly and frequently bickered with each other. Her sister was familiar with a more cultured atmosphere where things were no doubt quiet, subdued and, in Aundy’s opinion, utterly boring.

  “Good, I think. It’s just going to take some getting used to. You have to remember I’ve spent the better part of the last year in my room alone. Other than forced outings with Louisa and her choice of companions, I haven’t been able to interact with people on a frequent basis and the only yelling I ever heard was during one of her temper tantrums.”

  “What happened? You mentioned something about her discovering your business. What were you doing that made her so angry? You never really explained what business you were in.”

  Ilsa took a deep breath and looked at her hands. “I started designing dresses and making them for a few of her most elite clients. Some of them aren’t fond of our aunt and appreciated being able to work with me directly. I used to have my evenings and Sundays free to do as I pleased. That’s when I worked on their gowns. Louisa happened to notice one of them wearing a gown I created. She recognized my work but realized it wasn’t something that came out of her boutique. That’s when she discovered I’d been using the materials we inherited from our grandparents to start my own business. She had Dudley pack everything off to storage and overnight my business was no more. That’s also when she stopped trusting me to work in her shop and locked me in my room at her house.”

  “Oh, Ilsa, I’m sorry. That must have been devastating for you.” Aundy placed a warm hand on her sister’s arm. “I can’t imagine being trapped like that. I’d feel like a caged animal.”

  “A caged bird,” Ilsa muttered, low enough Aundy didn’t hear what she said. So often during the past year, she wished she could open the window and fly away.

  “How did you get the trunks shipped to me at Christmas?” Aundy asked.

  “I begged Dudley to send them before Louisa had them destroyed. My hope was that if I ever escaped and made it here, I’d have something available to start my own business.”

  “Do you know it will take more than trunks of fabric and notions? It requires a financial investment.” Aundy glanced at Ilsa then waved as they passed two neighbor children running through a pasture near the road.

  “I’m well aware of that fact and have money saved,” Ilsa said coolly. She knew she was helpless and hopeless at most things, but she wasn’t stupid. She’d saved every penny she could from the designs she’d sold, and miraculously her aunt hadn’t found her stash. Ilsa was certain she had more than enough to rent a space and purchase supplies to start her business.

  “And you got the money from the designs you made before Louisa imprisoned you?”

  “That’s correct. I’m fairly certain if I contacted some of my former clients, they’d be happy to purchase my designs again. I kept extensive notes on each one of them including their sizes, favorite styles, and color preferences.”

  “Aren’t you the clever girl?” Aundy raised an eyebrow at her sister, impressed with Ilsa’s head for business. Deciding she’d do all she could to help her sister follow her dreams, she gave her a warm smile. “If you bear with us through harvest, then maybe Garrett and I can help you with a business plan.”

  “Really?” Ilsa asked, excited at the thought of someday opening her own dress shop. She knew Aundy and Garrett were both very smart when it came to business matters. She would be so grateful for their assistance with her plans. “You’d really help me?”

  “Of course.” Aundy gave her a one-armed hug. “In case you haven’t figured it out, we’d drop everything in the middle of our busiest season and travel across the country for you.”

  Ilsa smiled, blinking away the tears that filled her eyes. “Yes, you would.”

  Tony left Caterina’s restaurant in a rush to get away from Ilsa.

  His mother would say the enchanting girl bewitched him. Suffering from the inability to get her out of his thoughts, he could find no other way to explain his sudden obsession with her other than to think she’d put him under a spell.

  Except Tony didn’t believe in spells or magic, so he’d have to stick with his first thought that God had delivered the woman he would love for a lifetime right to his door. Well, almost to his door. The door of his very good friends seemed close enough.

  If he could just get her to talk to him, spend time getting to know him, maybe she’d stop being so jumpy and tense around him.

  From her stiff carriage and perfect manners, he got the idea Ilsa needed to learn to relax and let her hair down. Tony thought he was the best-suited man for the job, since he intended to marry her, after all.

  Visions of taking down that golden hair she wore piled on her head danced through his thoughts as he cut ice and carried the heavy blocks out to his ice wagon. Covering the load with burlap and straw to help keep it cool, he set out on his morning deliveries.

  Hefting a large block, he held it balanced on a piece of sackcloth draped over his shoulder. Taking a step away from the back of his wagon, he glanced down the street, observing Grant Hill help Ilsa into Aundy’s buggy.

  Tony stood watching them with narrowed eyes, oblivious to the icy cold water soaking into his shirt and trickling down his back. The way Grant looked at Ilsa made his temper flare and hot jealousy pierce through him. Thoughts of pummeling the man who was his banker and friend nearly made him drop the ice and run down the street with fists swinging.

  Instead, he turned his attention back to his deliveries. Neither Aundy nor Ilsa saw him as he ducked around the side of a building with the ice he carried.

  Hurrying down the alley to the back door of a hotel, he realized if he didn’t get his roiling emotions for the exquisite girl under control, he was going to be in big trouble.

  Chapter Seven

  “Can you take this and run out to gather the eggs?” Aundy asked, handing Ilsa a sturdy basket.

  “Well, I…” Ilsa stammered. She watched Aundy gather the eggs the past few mornings and quite honestly, the chickens terrified her. Their beady little eyes and sharp beaks were enough to make her cautious, but then Nik told her the rooster was mean and would sink his spurs, whatever those were, into anyone who didn’t watch him.

  Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to remember her resolve to be brave. “Certainly. What do I have to do?”

  “Pick up the bucket of feed, open the door and close it behind you, then dump out the feed. While the chickens are busy eating, go into the coop and stick your hand in the nests to collect the eggs. Nothing to it,” Aundy said, kneading a lump of fragrant, yeasty bread dough.

  The sun was barely starting to send color streaking across the sky but Ilsa knew Aundy had been up for a couple of hours from the cookies and pies that cooled on the counter.

  She would still be in bed herself, but the loud clomping of Garrett’s boots on the porch awoke her as he ran out to greet the first wagon of the harvest crew when it arrived.

  “Okay. Nothing to it,” Ilsa repeated, gathering her courage.

  Drawing a deep breath, she carried the basket to the kitchen door and had her hand on the knob when Aundy spoke.

  “Just be mindful of Napoleon. That rooster can be
cantankerous.”

  “Stay away from the rooster,” Ilsa said, wishing her sister hadn’t felt the need to warn her about the chicken when she was already frightened.

  Walking out of the yard and over to the chicken pen by the barn, Ilsa decided haste was the best way to tackle the chore. If she moved quickly, the chickens would have less time to peck at her.

  Grabbing the bucket with the feed, she opened the door and stepped inside, wrinkling her nose at the strange smells that greeted her. She began tossing down handfuls of the feed, but once the chickens heard the rattle of their breakfast in the bucket, they rushed, clucking, out of the coop.

  Surrounded by the greedy, hungry birds, Ilsa nervously eyed them while tossing out another handful. Convinced they were about to eat her, she let out a squeak and upended the bucket before dropping it and racing to the coop.

  Sticking her shaking hand into the nests, she quickly gathered the eggs while her breath came in tight, anxiety-ridden gasps. She plucked the last egg from its straw-lined bed and set it in her basket with a sigh of relief.

  Hurrying back into the pen, she turned just as Napoleon flapped his wings, coming toward her. Sharp little daggers appeared to protrude from his legs and Ilsa just knew he was going to do her bodily harm.

  Screaming like the grim reaper himself reached icy fingers of death her direction, she swung the basket upward to block the bird and somehow managed to rain eggs down all over herself.

  The rooster hit the basket and thudded back to the ground. Braced for his attack, Ilsa jumped when strong hands gripped her arms and quickly tugged her out of the pen. She recognized Garrett’s voice as he offered his reassurance that she was fine.

  Brushing the egg yolk running down her forehead and over her face from her eyes, she looked up to discover not only all the hands and Aundy staring at her, but also the harvest crew that had already arrived.

  Her cheeks burned with embarrassment and she quickly turned away, but a warm, firm hand touched her shoulder.

  “It’s okay. Everyone has trouble at first with Napoleon,” Garrett said, patting her back soothingly, nearly choking as he worked to hold in his laughter. “Your sister has been threatening to make him into dumplings since the first time she set foot in there.”