“Well, it has so far. If I could just get my inheritance released, you would see for yourself how quickly things would go my way.”
Kenzie shook her head. “Don’t waste your time, Camri. She’ll find out soon enough that just as she uses people, people will be only too happy to use her.”
“Benjamin Franklin said, ‘Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.’”
“I don’t care what your friends say,” Victoria countered. “I know quite enough to take care of myself, and you can tell Mr. Franklin I said so.”
Camri and Kenzie exchanged a glance. Victoria had just proven Camri’s point. Kenzie turned her attention back to her stitching.
A knock sounded at the door, and Victoria turned as if to answer it, but Judith came down the stairs. “I’ll see who that is,” she called as she passed the sitting room.
Kenzie prayed it wasn’t Arthur. The last thing she wanted was to throw him out again. Within a moment, Judith appeared with a large bouquet of flowers.
“Oh, how beautiful,” Victoria said, coming to see them better. “Are they for me?”
Judith shook her head. “No, they’re for Kenzie, from Arthur Morgan. I tried to refuse them, but the deliveryman said Mr. Morgan told him that he was to leave them on the doorstep if we wouldn’t take them.”
“Very well.” Kenzie got up and put her sewing in the basket beside her chair. “Give them to me. I’ll put them in the trash.”
“No!” Victoria wrenched the flowers out of Judith’s hands. “You all are too cruel. That poor man has given you his heart, and you do nothing but crush his spirit with your snobbery. I’ll take the flowers to my room.”
Kenzie watched her disappear up the stairs and looked at Judith. “I think you should just let her have her inheritance and send her on her way. She’s going to be nothing but trouble to all of us.”
“I know, but Caleb said we were responsible for her. She’s just a spoiled child, and I’m the only family she has left.”
“I believe she’d happily rectify that if given a chance,” Camri countered. “I agree with Kenzie. Maybe you should discuss the matter with Judge Winters. There’s bound to be something you can do now that you’re her guardian. Caleb has a good heart and more confidence than I do that Victoria can change. I’d hate to see her hurt him.”
Judith nodded. “So would I.”
Another knock at the front door caught everyone’s attention. “I hope it isn’t more flowers,” Kenzie said, moving to answer it.
She opened the door to find Mrs. Fisher, Micah’s mother, along with several other ladies from the church. “Good afternoon, ladies. Won’t you come in?” Kenzie stepped back and admitted the women. There were five in total, and all seemed to be speaking at once.
“Please forgive our unannounced arrival,” Mrs. Fisher said, giving Kenzie a gentle pat on the arm.
Camri and Judith appeared in the sitting room doorway. “Mrs. Fisher,” Camri said, then nodded to the others. “Ladies. To what do we owe this pleasure?”
“We were working on some of the donations for the shelter and had an idea about hosting a party at the church to encourage the community to help. Even though our community is currently burdened with the recovery from the earthquake and fires, we heard that the relief camps will soon be discontinued. I don’t know if those are just rumors or true, but it got us thinking.”
Camri nodded. “Well, the army has pulled out. It surely won’t be long before they demand their tents and other supplies back. Why don’t we arrange ourselves around the dining table?”
“I’ll gather some refreshments,” Judith said smiling. “Kenzie, would you help me?”
Kenzie dutifully followed Judith into the kitchen, wondering at the strange pounding of her heart. She’d spoken to Mrs. Fisher on many occasions, but this was the first time since she had nearly accepted Micah’s proposal after Cousin George’s wedding. Would Mrs. Fisher someday be her mother-in-law?
Then she remembered the flowers Victoria had taken to her room, and her heart sank. Until she’d resolved this situation with Arthur, she wouldn’t be able to give Micah the answer they both desired.
Victoria had come to the top of the stairs and watched silently as the women chattered on and on and finally adjourned to the dining room. With all of them busy at whatever it was that had so captivated their attention, she would be able to slip out of the house. If they found out later that she was gone, she’d deal with the consequences then.
She waited nearly ten minutes, just to make sure they were fully ensconced in their discussion, before tiptoeing down the stairs. She paused at the front door, waiting to see if anyone would hear the floor creak and come to investigate. When no one did, Victoria eased the door open and stepped outside.
The skies looked like rain, but she couldn’t let that stop her now. She needed to see Arthur Morgan and learn if he’d arranged for his lawyer friend to help her. She had the feeling that Caleb’s trip to Kansas City was probably to arrange to put her in some dreadful finishing school, and if so, she desperately needed to have her options lined up.
She hurried down the street and made her way to Arthur’s hotel. The lobby was surprisingly deserted, and the clerk eyed her immediately upon her entrance. She had no choice but to speak to him.
“May I help you?” he asked in a curt tone that suggested he didn’t approve of her being there.
Victoria turned on the charm. “Oh, I do hope so. My brother Arthur Morgan is staying here, and Mama sent me to speak to him. Could you have him come downstairs to see me?”
