“He and Paddy are making kindling out back.”
“Where are the workers I hired to complete the hotel?” Sam asked, the scar in his eyebrow bent with a frown. “I expected things to be finished when I returned.”
“Much has happened for both of us.” Father crossed his arms and looked between us. “Is there something you’d like to tell me?”
I glanced at Sam and then at Father, unable to hide my excitement despite his strange behavior. “We have had success finding gold. A lot of gold.” I planned to keep half of it for Father and Hazel and put the other half in a safe deposit box for my parents in 1929. “Sixty-five thousand dollars, Father.”
His white eyebrows came up in surprise. “That’s a lot of money, Ally.”
“And if we invest it wisely, it could mean everything for you and Hazel.”
“For you, as well.”
“Of course.” I almost forgot that he didn’t know I might not be here in four weeks.
“But that is not what is on my mind.” He nodded at Hazel. “Run on outside and help Johnnie and Paddy. I need to speak to Ally and Mr. Kendal in private.”
Hazel frowned, but she knew better than to disobey and was soon gone.
Father turned to us again, displeasure in his face. “A man named Mr. Dixon came up the hill a week ago. Word spread quickly that he encountered Sam Kendal on the trail and he had a woman with him. A woman who fit your description, Ally.”
My cheeks warmed at the disapproval in his voice—and how Sam might interpret it.
“You said that no one would know who you were,” Father told me. “That no one would care. But you were wrong. It’s all anyone in Portsmouth Square has been talking about this past week. Before Mr. Dixon’s arrival, the Reverend Mr. Green and I had started to work on plans for our school. I was telling everyone that you would be a teacher there. But since Mr. Dixon’s arrival, we haven’t raised a single dollar.” He looked at Sam now. “You might not care in Sydney Town, but up here, your business will live and die on your reputation, young man. People already think the worst of you, and now they think the same of Ally.”
Sam inhaled a breath as my father’s words hit their mark.
I had been so worried about my reputation in 1929 with Spencer. Why hadn’t I been as concerned about how my reputation might look in 1849 with Sam?
“To quell the rumors, I had to tell people you were married,” Father continued.
“Father!”
“I wasn’t just thinking of you and Sam. You have Hazel to consider, Ally.”
I was speechless. I hadn’t anticipated causing a scandal, especially with all the other lawlessness and immoral activities rampant in San Francisco.
“The businessmen are already looking for reasons to send you back to Sydney Town,” Father said to Sam. “You can’t give their wives fuel for the fire.”
Sam’s jaw was tight as he listened to Father, but he said nothing.
“What will you do, Mr. Kendal?” Father asked. “Will you marry Ally to protect her reputation and her sister’s?”
I shook my head in protest. “Sam shouldn’t have to marry me because—”
Sam put his hand on my arm. “I would not have to be forced or coerced, Ally.”
“But—” I swallowed the nerves. “I cannot ask you—”
“I think a visit to Reverend Green is the best course of action.” Father nodded. “If Sam is going to open a respectable establishment here on the hill, he needs a respectable name. And if we’re going to open a school, so do you, Ally.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think—”
“You created this problem,” Father said. “And though it’s not what I had hoped, this is where we find ourselves.”
“This is absurd. I cannot marry Sam.”
Even as the words slipped out of my mouth, I knew I’d misspoken. The look on Sam’s face pierced my heart. I’d come to know him and his mannerisms on the trail. He hid his feelings well, but his eyes never lied. When he lowered his hand and stepped back, my pulse escalated.
