Her standards.What, exactly, did he mean bythat? She gave a nod. “I believe it is. What in the world will you do with two hundred acres?”
“I thought I might build a house for myself and my wife ... and any children we might have.” His tone was softer than Eleanor had ever heard it. No man she’d known back east would talk about starting a family with such honesty. “I might also expand my business and set up a second mill.”
Eleanor folded her arms over her chest. “That would take two hundred acres?”
“No, but what’s wrong in having the land to use as I please?”
She opened her mouth to reply but found she didn’t have a ready answer to his bothersome question.
Whatwaswrong with that?
“Here you are.” The waitress put two glasses of lemonade on the table. “Would you care for anything else?”
Carter looked at Eleanor. “Are you hungry?”
“No, I’m fine. Just the lemonade, please.” She took the glass in hand and sampled the drink. It was cold and had just the right amount of tartness.
“We won’t need anything else. At least for now.”
The woman smiled at him and left them to their drinks.
For a moment, silence settled over the table. Best to change the subject before they ended up in an argument. “Have you and your father figured out what you will do now that the train is leaving Kalispell?”
Carter’s brows arched. “We’re going to invest in our own freight wagons and teams. We’ll need to hire men to run the routes as well, so at least there will be jobs in the offing.”
“That sounds like it will cost you a great deal. Are you sure that’s the right investment with the railroad pulling out?” She pressed her lips together for a moment. “I’m sorry. That is none of my business.”
Carter laughed. “I don’t mind answering your questions, Ellie. While I won’t go into particulars, I can tell you it’s the best thing for our town and our business right now. God has always taken care of us. My goal is to be a good steward and leave the rest up to Him.”
It always came back to his faith in God. Carter was just like Mama. He thought no part of life was untouched by the hand of Almighty God.
She tucked the thought away to examine at a later time. “What about the comments Mr. Grinnell made about the national park? If they build hotels and restaurants, they will probably need all the flour you can manufacture. That should help.”
He took a sip and nodded. “It will, but how does that fitin with your ideas of land management? I thought you were all about leaving the land untouched.”
She was. Of course she was. However, it was starting to seem there were other sides to the issue of national parks, conservation, and land ownership she hadn’t considered. “I am. But apparently that isn’t monetarily feasible.”
“But you’re against them building in the park and making roads and such?”
“I think so.” This conversation was starting to give her a headache.
“Even if it allows people to be able to see the magnificence that is there? And provides the funds to keep the land protected?”
She weighed his questions for several moments as she sipped on her lemonade. “I probably need to examine this in a bit more depth.”
“That’s fair. It’s always wise to think things through.” He chuckled. “But then, my dad teases me foroverthinking. Apparently, I have a knack for that.”
His confession made her feel at ease. The tension slipped from her shoulders. How nice to have an intelligent discussion with a friend.
Her heart skidded to a stop. Did she just acknowledge that Carter was her friend? She began to laugh.
“What’s tickled your funny bone, Miss Briggs?” He waggled his eyebrows at her.
“Nowyou use your manners.” The laughter bubbled up even more and she couldn’t stop. “I just thought...” She covered her mouth with her hand and worked to contain her giggles. “I just thought of you ... as afriend.”She widened her eyes.
His wide smile made his eyes even more handsome—and warmed her insides considerably.
“Watch out, Ellie Briggs. I think you just might have admitted that you like me.”
