An Unexpected Suitor by Anna Schmidt Read Free Book Online Page A

might to make sense of the bills, the orders and how she could possibly stay open for business with no staff, Nola’s mind kept wandering back to the church service that morning and to Harry’s request that she take a look at his play. Under other circumstances she would have been flattered. But how could she possibly trust him? He had one agenda and that was to acquire her property. She had to keep her wits about her and realize that everything Starbuck did or said was somehow tied to business.
    “Hello? Nola?”
    Nola’s spirits lifted at the call of her friend, Rachel Williams. With everything else on her mind, she had forgotten that Rachel was stopping by. “In here,” she called as she hastily stacked the business papers and set them aside, realizing she’d been so disconcerted by Starbuck’s request that she’d left her front door wide open.
    “More rain coming,” Rachel said as she entered the parlor and accepted Nola’s hug. “My hip is acting up again.” Using her cane she limped over to a chair.
    “Have you had lunch?” Nola asked.
    Rachel eyed the untouched tray on Nola’s desk. It had enough food on it to serve three people. “Perhaps I could just share yours?” Rachel suggested.
    Nola laughed. “I’ll get an extra place setting. We can eat there by the fireplace. No need for you to move,” she assured her friend.
    Rachel watched as Nola bustled about setting places, bringing the laden tray over so Rachel could make selections from its contents of small sandwiches, sweetbreads, fruits and cheeses. After Nola had poured glasses of iced tea for each of them she hovered, trying to decide if there was anything else she could do to make her guest welcome.
    “Stop fussing about, Nola, and sit,” Rachel said as she spread a linen napkin over her knees and reached for a cube of cheese. “Now tell me what the trouble is.” Nola started to protest but Rachel held up one finger. “A woman does not prepare mounds of food for herself if there isn’t something troubling her. It’s that cousin of mine, isn’t it?”
    “No. Yes. Not really. Actually he has the perfect solution to my troubles. He is willing to buy me out.”
    “So I heard. Ridiculous idea. The man has his finger in far too many pies if you ask me. Of course, no one did, least of all him.” She studied Nola closely. “You aren’t seriously thinking of selling to him, are you?”
    “I don’t want to—I don’t want to sell at all. I mean, what on earth would I do?”
    “You could travel?”
    “I suppose,” Nola replied without much conviction.
    “But the truth is this is your home—not just the building itself, but ’Sconset. So don’t sell.”
    “If only it were that simple. You must have heard by now that I’m short staffed?”
    Rachel nodded.
    “Well, even with business being as slow as it is now, Judy Lang and I can’t manage alone. Anyone locally who might be available is already employed for the season.”
    Rachel popped a finger sandwich into her mouth and chewed it slowly. “John Humboldt and I shared a lovely dinner just the other evening,” she said.
    Nola was used to Rachel’s flights of fancy that seemingly had little to do with the subject at hand. She knew that Rachel was mulling over an idea that she would share in time.
    “Our server was a lovely young man—a musician. He and his young family rent one of the cottages here in ’Sconset.” She glanced at Nola.
    Nola understood that there was a point to all of this, one she was not yet grasping. “That’s nice,” she ventured.
    “How large is your summer staff, Nola? Normally, I mean.”
    “Five or six people—two to help in the kitchen, two to serve and one or two to clear and set up the tables.”
    “What a coincidence. I believe Harrison mentioned he was hiring an additional six performers to complement the talent already in residence for the opening of the cabaret.”
    “He didn’t mention a specific number when he inquired about