7
Ginny arose at five-thirty to begin breakfast and clean the rooms of the men who were departing for the gold fields. There would be plenty more to take their places. She had eight rooms and could place two in a room, three if another wanted to sleep on the floor. Rooms were in short supply, with many miners pitching tents. She expected to fill the vacant spots as soon as the current occupants pulled out.
Once she cleaned and rented the rooms, she would put out her “All Full” sign that Pete had hand lettered. After that, she could turn her attention to planning menus for occupants who wished to purchase meals while at the hotel.
She had taken inventory of her supplies and knew what she would need for baking. Thanks to Jack, she had meat and fish at hand. And there was a bountiful supply of vegetables in the garden. They were of remarkable size, making her wonder if the soil was better than that in San Francisco where she had attempted to raise a few pitiful crops.
When Pete came down, he ate cold bacon and a slice of bread spread thickly with butter.
Ginny made a mental note to make butter the next day. She’d done it every week in San Francisco. If she planned to offer breakfast, she would have to do it more often now.
“I’ll be leaving in a week.” Pete said. “Are you ready to handle this place by yourself?”
His question unsettled her. Was she truly ready to be on her own? She supposed she would find out. Nonetheless, she wanted him to feel he had left his hotel in capable hands.
“I’m ready. I’ll have it running smoothly when you come back. I think we’ll make more money, too, by offering meals.”
“You’re a hard worker, that’s for sure.”
If only he knew. Ginny had worked while other little girls were playing with their dolls. She was cooking, cleaning and planning meals, unable to remember a time when she didn’t. Yet, she didn’t mind. Her mother insisted these were skills she needed. And Ginny did all she could to help her frail, sweet mother. Even now, when she smelled lavender, or paused to admire fabric in a store window, nostalgia and a sense of loss touched her. She remembered how her mother loved the scent, and had once sewn Ginny pretty dresses when they had the money for such things.
“If anything happens to me, I want you to have this place, to keep it open.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to you. You’ll come back rich.” Ginny said it with conviction, not wanting to face the thought of losing her new friend and business partner.
Pete grinned, showing the gap in his teeth. “Of course nothing’s going to happen, but just in case.”
“Thanks, Pete.” She reached out and gave him a spontaneous hug. “I promise I’ll treat this place like my own while you’re gone.”
Pete looked startled, then stiffly hugged back for just a second before disentangling himself. He nodded and wiped the coffee out of his gray whiskers. “You cook good.”
Ginny thought she saw moisture at the corners of his eyes, but he looked away quickly, so perhaps she imagined it. . His manner was rough, yet he was kind, and had taken a chance on her.
He left to get more provisions for his trip.
Ginny collected the used linens and went out to begin boiling sheets in an iron pot in the backyard. As she wrung the last one out and hung it on the line strung across the porch, she heard footsteps. She smiled when she turned, seeing Jack come around the corner of the hotel.
“I’ll bring moose steaks by tonight,” he said as he came near. “When do you plan on serving meals regularly?”
“I should be ready by next week,” she answered, acknowledging the fluttery feeling in her heart as happiness at seeing him.
“Maybe I’ll get a taste before I leave.” He grinned hopefully.
“Of course you will. I’ll invite you for dinner with Pete and I.” Despite her words, Ginny felt a pang of regret. He would be gone for over a month. She missed him already.
“I’m worried about leaving you here alone,” Jack said somberly. “There are a lot of crooked people here. I don’t want you to fall into their hands.”
“I’ve heard about some of them. However, there are plenty of people around and the sheriff has stopped in. I’ve been on my own most of my life. I’ve had to take care of myself. I won’t get taken.” Elation filled her as she spoke, because Jack really cared about her safety.
“I hope not. I want to come back and find you safe and well.” He sounded as though he feared he would return and find her gone. He must care for her.
“I worry about you, too.” She responded, wanting him to know that she cared about him, too. “You’re out in the wild with the beasts and weather. Something might happen to you.”
His face lit with an endearing smile. “Does this mean that you might care for me?”
Ginny felt herself flush. “You’re possibly the best man I’ve ever met. I’ll miss your company.” Her heart warmed. He was interested in her. Maybe…she stopped her flight of fancy. Right now, it was important that they be friends. They’d have time when he came back to pursue more, if he felt the same way. Surely, he would?
“Because you think I’m a good man?”
“Because you’re you.”
He kissed her gently on the cheek. “I’ll hurry back. I came to talk to Pete, but I wanted to see you first. You’ve become special to me. I knew you would from the moment I saw you. Of course I didn’t know if you were married.”
“I’m not married.” Ginny was almost breathless. He’d kissed her. He thought she was special. Could this become more? “I’m surprised you’re not. I’d think a handsome hunter like you could have any girl he wanted.”
He fixed her with a telling gaze. “I didn’t want any of those girls. God told me to wait.”
Ginny’s joy deflated. She felt dishonest. She had to explain to him that God had never been Someone she could count on. “I don’t share your faith.”
He smiled. “You will.”
“You’re sure, huh?”
“I’m sure. God will see to that. Have you read any of the Bible I gave you?”
“I read some every night,” she said, with a uncertain tone. “I still don’t understand everything, yet a lot of it makes sense. I’m starting to understand what you meant about not being good enough on my own.”
“If we could be good enough, Jesus would not have needed to die for us. Have you accepted that yet and made Him your Savior?” Jack was earnest in his questioning.
“No.” She tried to be gentle, knowing it meant a lot to him. “I want to read more and think about it. Maybe then.”
“God is patient. Eventually you’ll ask yourself what you’re waiting for.”
“Is that how it happened for you?”
Jack nodded. After a few more minutes of conversation about her hotel duties and plans, he left to talk to Pete about the trip.
She played the conversation over in her mind. Would she have good news to tell him when he returned? She wanted to believe as he did, to share his faith. Yet it had to be real. She would not lie to him and profess something she didn’t believe.
That night, she read the little Bible and offered a faltering prayer to God, asking for His guidance in her path to faith.
****
The next afternoon, a couple checked into the hotel. The woman, Molly, wore faded cotton pants that had seen days of hard wear. Her husband, Charles, was a stocky man with a black beard and plaid woolen shirt. He smelled of tobacco.
“We’d like a room for ten days,” Molly said. “ Then we’re heading out.” Molly had sharp features, accentuated by the ponytail that pulled her hair away from her face.
“You’re going to look for gold?” Ginny asked, making conversation as she turned the register for them to sign in.
“We got a claim already. We just need a few days to resupply. And unlike those other fools, we’re going to strike it rich.”
“I promised Molly an easy life in Canada where she can live like a lady.” Charles spoke up.
“Pshaw, I ain’t no lady and you know it, Charles.” Her blue eyes were striking, yet her gaze was hard.
“You could learn to be.”
Molly jerked a finger. “It’s him who’s most eager to be out of here.”
She rented them a room and they headed up with their bags.
Ginny wondered if they would really strike it rich. Since she’d been here, she’d learned that it wasn’t as easy as it had seemed. Few of the people returning from the gold fields had much of anything.
When Pete returned, she told him about renting the room. He’d heard of Charles and Molly Nelson. “You watch those two. Last time they went out their partners never came back.”
“What could they do here?” Ginny asked.
“One never knows, but stay alert,” Pete warned. He left early the next week.
Ginny locked the hotel door and walked with him to where he was to meet Jack. She glanced around. “Where are your supplies? I don’t see the sleds.”
“There’s too much mud and no snow here for the sleds,” Jack answered. “My uncle is waiting for us on the frozen trail with all the supplies, dogs and the sleds. We’ll walk up to meet him.”
She felt silly for not realizing the sleds wouldn’t work on the sloppy mud of melted snow. She had so much to learn. “Of course. Be careful, please, both of you.” She had to fight to keep the tears from forming.
Her first two friends in this strange new land, and both of them leaving at the same time. She wanted them to stay. But if they had to go, then she wanted both to return safely. Yet her greatest concern was for Jack.
She watched Jack as they walked up the makeshift road that led to the gold fields. He was a man of the land, facing danger with the skill of a warrior, and a natural grace that came with being one with the outdoors. Not many men commanded her admiration as he did. What would it be like to share life with such a man?