He nodded. “We’ll be out at daylight.”
Ross left the hotel as customers streamed inside for dinner. She hoped he was searching for a temporary place to live, but with gold lining his pockets, the gambling tables would be a persuasive distraction. She hadn’t suspected it before, but it seemed that Ross liked to gamble after all.
After helping Stephan serve dinner, she checked on Fanny. The woman was sitting on the made bed, her trunk open in front of her, a crumpled handkerchief in her hands.
Fanny didn’t look over at her. “Ross said he doesn’t have enough gold to buy back his share of the hotel.”
“That’s true,” Isabelle said, sitting in the rocking chair by the window. “There’s typically more money to be had in providing goods and services to gold seekers than in actually finding gold.”
Fanny blew her nose into the handkerchief. “You could loan us the money, Isabelle. We’ll pay you back.”
“I can’t go into partnership with Ross again.”
Fanny dabbed at her swollen eyes and then dropped the handkerchief back into her lap. “Then partner with me. We could continue operating the hotel together.”
She considered the woman’s words. It was never her intent to work alone, but a business partnership was a precarious affair, even with someone you trusted. While Fanny firmly appreciated the finer things in life, she didn’t want to work to provide hospitality to their guests. A partnership with her, Isabelle feared, would mean Fanny and Ross would continue living right in these rooms, enjoying the food and safety in this hotel, with Fanny too preoccupied to help in the kitchen or upstairs in the guest rooms.
And if a boy like Micah ever came into the hotel again, she felt certain Fanny would be the first one to alert Rodney that they had a runaway.
She took a deep breath. “I can’t partner with either of you, Fanny.”
Fanny sat up straighter, her tears drying. “I know you two were lovers.”
Isabelle cringed. “I didn’t know Ross was married.”
“I wrote him every month,” Fanny said. “Surely you must have suspected.”
“He said the letters were from his sister.”
She snorted, turning the handkerchief. “I’m willing to overlook what you’ve done in the past, if you will help us with our future.”
“What I’ve done ...” Isabelle’s voice trailed off.
“I believe the people of Sacramento deserve to know the truth about the proprietor of the Golden Hotel.”
Isabelle stared at the woman, appalled at her threat.
“What will they say when they discover you had an affair with a married man?” Fanny asked, the tears gone.
Aunt Emeline would say it didn’t matter what people thought because the past didn’t define her. She too was a daughter of God. Fanny’s attempt to slander her wouldn’t change who she was—or who she wanted to be.
She rocked back and forth in the chair. “I can choose to forgive Ross, but I can’t overlook what he’s done to both of us.”
“Ross said we have to leave in the morning.”
“You need to begin again as husband and wife.”
Fanny’s eyes narrowed. “It’s selfish of you to put us out like this.”
“I’m not putting you out. Ross has enough money to provide for you. I’m certain he will find work at another hotel soon.”
Fanny stood up, brushing the wrinkles from her dress as she walked toward the door. “Is there any food left from dinner?”
“I believe so.”
She leaned against the doorpost, seeming to prop herself up against it. “Ross and I are going to start a grand hotel together. One much finer than the Golden.”
“Then I shall come have dinner at your place.”
