“Well, you could either rent it out or sell it. But you needn’t rush to do anything. It’s not like you need the money.”
“No, that’s true. There’s still plenty in the bank.”
“And if you come back to live with us, your expenses will be minimal like before.”
“Oh, Pearl, I don’t know what would be best. I’m praying about it, but I just don’t feel like my prayers are getting past the ceiling.”
Esther made her way back across the shop and paused in front of Addie and Pearl. “I want to make sure you saw that I brought back my second camera, and it’s not even noon.”
Addie nodded. “Good work.”
Esther’s eyes narrowed as her expression grew haughty. “You’re going to regret not being nicer to me, Addie Bryant.” She turned and let her chin lead the way out of the shop.
“That girl is trouble,” Pearl declared. “She hasn’t a kind word for anyone.”
“So long as she does her job and doesn’t insult the customers, I suppose we can put up with her.” Addie didn’t want to dwell on Esther. Not when Isaac rested so heavily on her mind.
Tomorrow might well be the end of their friendship altogether, and Addie would have to decide what to do about the future. After all, Isaac intended to make this area his home. He had a job at the university and was attending Addie’s church. She would have to be the one to go if they couldn’t find a peaceable way to settle the situation.
But where would she go? She had no one in the world besides her friends here.
“Hey there, Hiram,” Esther said, sauntering up to the big man.
Hiram looked up from where he’d been poking trash with a stick and putting it in his bag. “Esther, fancy seeing you here.”
“I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I heard something I thought you might like to know.”
“What’s that?” He stopped what he was doing and leaned against the fence.
“Addie was just talking about selling her house. I guess someone broke into it, and that’s spoiled it for her. She said it doesn’t feel like home anymore.”
“Well, isn’t that interesting.” Hiram gave her a lazy smile.
“Pearl reminded her that she didn’t need to sell it right away since she had plenty of money in the bank.” Esther decided to embellish a little. “In fact, she’s quite wealthy.”
Hiram nodded. “Always knew she’d gotten out of the Yukon with a lot of gold.”
Esther’s eyes widened. “Gold? She struck it rich?”
“Yeah, married a man who made a fortune from a gambling hall and brothel.”
She gave a little gasp. This was a delicious turn of events. Esther was certain no one else knew about that. “Was she really married?”
“Yeah, although I don’t know why the man bothered. He already had her as his mistress.”
Esther tried not to look as delighted as she felt. “A mistress? Oh goodness, and here I thought she was a moral woman.”
“Oh, Addie was pretty moral. It wasn’t her doing that made her a mistress,” Hiram admitted. “Shep and I needed the money.” He laughed. “What can I say? She was available, and we sold her.”
A giggle came from Esther. How it delighted her toimagine Addie in such a position. She could hardly wait to use the information against her. Maybe that would shut her up once and for all.
“Look, we should have an arrangement,” Hiram said, giving it thought. “Why don’t you do this. If you want to get ahold of me, you can leave a message for me over there by the boat dock. There’s a wooden sign down there, and it has a little box attached for maps of the exposition. You could leave me a note underneath the maps. I’ll check it during the day around noon and when I quit for the day.”
“That would be easy enough,” she agreed.
“Good. That way if you hear something I need to know, you don’t have to worry about finding me. I wouldn’t want either of us to get in trouble and lose our jobs.”
“Your sister keeps threatening to fire me anyway.”
