An Unsinkable Love(53)
Teddy'll want to meet her too, yup, she will."
Malcolm steered Bree inside the building, which turned out to be a store. Bree had never seen, or smelled, anything like it. It seemed to contain everything imaginable. Tall shelves ringed the walls and divided the floor into aisles. Big barrels and wooden crates were scattered in corners and any place there was room to walk by. Fresh produce filled the crates to overflowing, smoked meats and fragrant herbs dangled from the ceiling, bolts of fabric lay willy-nilly on shelves alongside kegs of nails. Her head swam with the effort to see everything. Malcolm urged her forward to a long counter hugging one side of the room. A portly woman stood watching them, her big grin bracketed by fat, rosy cheeks.
She stepped from behind the counter and embraced Malcolm fiercely, but her motherly affection didn't stir a surge 178
An Unsinkable Love
by Terri Benson
of jealousy the way Melody's overly affectionate mauling had.
After a few pats on his back, Teddy stepped away and gave him a once-over. "Well, you didn't waste away eatin' all that furin food, so I guess it didn't do you no harm." She looked askance at Bree and back to Malcolm. "Where are your manners, boy?"
He slipped his arm around the woman's beefy shoulder and pushed her over to where Bree stood watching. "Teddy, this is Bree Barry. Bree, this is Theodora Michaels, Caleb's wife.
Teddy, Bree and I are going to marry."
"Well I never ... What do you think, Caleb? The boy's gettin' married. You tell your ma she can count on me to help. It's been too long without such a joyous occasion.
There's still hard feelin's need to be smoothed over, and a wedding's just the thing to do it."
Malcolm agreed and, with a wave, steered Bree out into the bright sunlight. He took a deep breath and grinned at her.
"You better get used to it. It's a small town, and we'll be going through this with everyone we meet."
Bree smiled. "I don't mind a bit. I'd like to know all your friends." She didn't add she hoped that's all any of them were, but the thought stuck in the back of her mind. "What are the hard feelings Teddy mentioned?"
"A strike at the mill. People haven't gotten over it yet."
The morning passed quickly. Bree was left with a montage of faces and names swirling in her head, and the fear she'd never get the right name with the right face. They stopped in a small café and lunched on savory lobster cakes and a bottle of light wine. Bree felt quite carefree as they exited the 179
An Unsinkable Love
by Terri Benson
restaurant, but her happiness died as she noticed Eldon leaning casually against the fender of the Mercer.
"Glad you took my advice and decided to tend to your girl, Malcolm. Leaving her on her lonesome while you putter around in an office might put ideas in some young buck's head."
"Don't worry, Eldon. I'll keep Bree close by. In fact, I was just going to take her to the mill for a tour. She and Mother have some splendid ideas for next year's line. I expect they'll both be spending quite of bit of time there with me from now on."
Bree had no trouble figuring out the emotion flickering across Eldon's face this time. It was pure hatred. Malcolm obviously saw it, too. "I'll be calling on the members of the board over the next few weeks. It's time they understand as majority stockholder, I expect to run the company. I'll make sure there's always a place for you, Eldon. Never fear. So long as you and Mother are married, I'll keep you on in some capacity."
"Don't make too many plans, you young pup. I've put a lot of work into the company and the board knows it. They're not going to let you waltz in and take over."
With an enigmatic smile Malcolm replied, "We'll see, won't we?"
Eldon turned on his heel and strode to the Rolls Royce, which idled quietly at the curb. It swerved away into the street with a muted roar, the narrow tires spitting gravel.
Bree watched as Malcolm stared after the speeding car with narrowed eyes, his cheek flexing.
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* * * *
They spent the afternoon on the promised mill tour. Bree was dumbfounded at the sheer size of the plant. The main building stood two stories tall and covered acres of ground.
The weaving shed, boiler building with tall smokestack, cotton and wool warehouses and cottages for the workers spread out even more. Inside the factory, she held her hands over her ears to shut out the din as hundreds of bobbins fed white threads into clattering weaving machines nonstop. Malcolm showed her other rooms used for carding, looping, knitting and warping, explaining how different parts of the mill turned out nubby woolens, smooth worsteds, cambric, satin, lawn, batiste, linen and silks. Once woven, the plain fabrics would be sent to finishing factories for bleaching and dyeing before going on to their last stop to be made into garments. He promised to show her those factories soon.