Grumbling and groaning, the line of men slowly shuffled out, promising each other they would return earlier the next night.
Eli wiped the sweat off his forehead, and hurried over to Sylvia, who held audience with two mesmerized cowboys. “My dear, I think it’s time you got off your feet. You must be exhausted.”
She turned a brilliant smile his way, and Eli’s heart did a double thump. He placed his hand firmly on her lower back and ushered her to the table in the back of the restaurant reserved for him.
Sylvia sat in the chair Eli held for her, and sighed. “Did I do all right?” She fanned herself with a lacy handkerchief.
“You did fine, Sylvia. I don’t know how we managed until you arrived.” He squeezed her hand. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll get us some tea.”
Eli hurried into the kitchen, thinking he drank more tea today than he had in his whole life. Now that he had Sylvia hidden in the back of the restaurant, he took a deep, calming breath, for the first time all night.
Nate stopped the buggy in front of The Golden Buck at precisely nine o’clock. The sign on the door said, “Closed,” the inside shone no light, and when he tried the door it was locked. Confused, he knocked on the glass a few times. Finally, a woman wiping her hands on an apron came to the door, and shouted through the glass, “We’re closed. Too many people tonight. Ran out of food a long time ago.”
“I’m here to collect my mother-in-law,” Nate shouted back at her.
The woman frowned and shrugged.
Nate cupped his hands over his mouth, pressed them against the glass, and yelled. “Mrs. Sylvia Hardwick?”
“Oh, yes.” She flipped the lock and opened the door. “She’s in the back there with Mr. Benson.” She waved her hand toward a dark corner of the restaurant.
Nate could hear voices coming from the back, but the scant light hid whoever sat there. He walked toward the voices. “Sylvia?”
“I’m ov
er here, Nathan.” Reflected in the soft light from the lone candle sitting on the table, Sylvia sang out, and waved her hand in the air.
Eli stood, and extended his hand to Nate. The two men shook. “I’m here to escort Sylvia home.”
Eli glanced between Sylvia and Nate. “I planned to see her home.”
Sylvia waved her hand again. “Thanks for coming for me, Nathan, but I’m still enjoying my tea, and since Eli can drive me, you can go on home. I’ll be there shortly.”
At the smug look on the older man’s face, Nate swallowed a chuckle. “I appreciate you seeing Mrs. Hardwick home.” He turned and walked past the quiet tables and let himself out the door.
He still laughed softly when he walked in his front door. The boys and Julia-Rose were all sleeping, so peaceful silence met him. He left the front door unlocked for Sylvia, and went upstairs to his bedroom.
Angel sat on the bed, propped on pillows, reading a book. She smiled at Nate when he came in.
“What’s so funny?” She closed the book and placed it on the table next to her.
“Darlin’.” He pulled his shirt out of his pants as he came around to her side of the bed and sat on the edge. “Your stepmother is something else.”
“Oh no, what did she do now? Burn down the restaurant?”
“Well, apparently so many diners came to the restaurant tonight, they ran out of food. And when I arrived to collect Sylvia, she and Eli Benson were holed up in a dark corner of the restaurant, sipping tea. Can you imagine? Eli, sipping tea? He looked like someone just took away his candy when I told him I had come to drive her home.”
Angel covered her mouth with her hand and giggled. “No!”
“Yes. He said he would bring her home, and Sylvia agreed she didn’t want to leave that wonderful cup of tea yet.”
Angel doubled over with laughter, and Nate joined her. After a few minutes, she wiped her eyes and said, “Obtaining employment might be the best thing that ever happened to Sylvia.”
“No.” He stood, walked over to his side of the bed, and took off his clothes. “It might be the best thing that ever happened to us.”
Eli should have been thrilled. The Golden Buck continued to have a waiting line every night. In a town where the single men outnumbered the single women by a large margin, it was to be expected. But he groused and grumbled through most nights. That many of the men came to gawk at his hostess caused him to behave like a lunatic. He’d seen the snickers on several customers’ faces as he followed in her wake like a puppy, but he had stopped caring over an hour ago.
Sylvia continued to be oblivious to all the attention, and treated everyone with her genuine smile and open friendliness. When he’d presented her with her first week’s pay, he thought for one minute she would kiss him. With sparkling eyes, she’d told him she would go to the bank first thing the next morning, and open her very own bank account in her name. Something she’d never had before.