A Time to Bloom (Leah's Garden #2)(39)

“And you will need funds to make this happen.” Mr. Young nodded as he spoke. “Because Miss Nielsen already has an account here, we will draft an agreement of the funds you will borrow and the timeline for repayment.”

“Understanding, of course, that repayment will not begin until the boardinghouse is open and bringing in cash above operating expenses,” Lark said.

Mr. Young tilted his head. “Within reason, of course.”

“And you could have that ready when?” Lark glanced over to catch a nod from her brother.

“The day after tomorrow?”

“Fine. Thank you.” Lark started to rise, so Anders did the same.

Anders extended his hand. “Good day to you.”

“I hope this is the first of many agreements,” Hiram Young said. He smiled and nodded to Lark. “Miss Nielsen.”

The two of them walked back out to the hitching post, where Starbright stood with one back foot cocked, tail swishing at the flies.

Lark blew out a breath. “I’m surprised at how smoothly that went.”

“Why? You’ve worked with him before. I mean, you bought that property and gave him cash, which might not have been the best plan, but . . .”

“We should have paid half down and asked him to carry the rest?”

“Possibly. I mean, you purchased that section with the house and windmill, and you have increased the value of the land with the addition to the house and building the barn, plus fencing, and you’re homesteading the next section. You’ve accomplished a great deal.”

“All because I outplayed a gambler.”

“And had been saving money. And made drastic decisions but carried them out for the best.”

“You think RJ will have some of the plans drawn up?”

“I know he was working on them this morning. We’ll see how far he has come.”

When they reached Forsythia and Adam’s house, RJ came down the stairs, rolled paper in his hands, after Robbie ran up the stairs to tell him he had company. “I was hoping you would come so we could talk about some of this.” RJ held up the roll.

“Use the table. I’ll put the coffee on.” Forsythia headed for the kitchen. “Robbie, please bring in some wood.”

“Me too,” announced Sofie and followed him out the door.

Lark arched an eyebrow at her sister.

“He wanted to do it, and I figured he could carry some, so now he fills the woodbox.”

A thud and a screeched “Maaa!” came through the back door.

“Now what?” Forsythia headed for the door, Lark on her heels. “Oh, Sofie.”

“She dropped that on her bare foot.” Robbie patted his sister’s shoulder. “Shh. See, no blood.”

Forsythia scooped up the little girl and set her on the porch rail to check out the foot. “No blood, no slivers. You’ll be fine.” Sofie raised her arms, and Forsythia scooped her up. “See, it’s all better now.”

Robbie carried his armload inside and dumped it in the box. Lark stacked split wood on her arm and did the same. Sofie scrambled to get down, picked up two pieces of wood, and limped after them.

Lark went back to the table, where RJ was laying out his drawings.

“I’ve drawn this building to be done in several stages so we can open part of it more quickly. Two stories, like you said. We can rough in the first section of the building, which has the kitchen and eating area on the first floor, and you can rent out the upper floor for men, and a separate room for women. They will have a place to lay a pallet or bedroll. It will be out of the weather, and they will eat downstairs. Better than a tent or a wagon bed. Many places started this way in the early days.”

Lark nodded and chewed on her lower lip. “You’re right, we could open much faster this way.”

“Are you planning on a cellar?”

“Yes.” She looked to Anders, who was nodding slowly. “Then separate rooms could be added later. And a second wing, someday. Forty by fifty each?”

“For the first, anyway.”

“We could go over and lay it out so they could start digging the cellar right away.”

He nodded. “As soon as you have someone to dig.”

Lark stared at the drawings on the table. They were really going ahead with this wild idea. She rose to check on Forsythia in the kitchen.

“Coffee’s ready,” Forsythia said. “Let’s take it out on the back porch where it’s cooler.”

“Where’s Climie?” Lark asked.

“Helping at the store. Adam is out on a call, a baby being born. The mother was in here last week, and there might be difficulties, so he asked them to come for him. He left early this morning.”

“Oh my.”

“I’ve been praying off and on all day.”

“First baby?”

Forsythia shook her head and walked out of the kitchen. “Would you gentlemen like to enjoy coffee out on the porch?”

“We’re going over to stake out the house, but we can do that too.” Anders studied his sister and dropped his voice. “Something wrong?”

“Adam left early this morning to assist with a baby being born.”

“I see.” He closed his eyes briefly, then took the coffeepot from her. “RJ, coffee’s ready.” He paused. “Sythia, you have any idea where the cord might be from when they laid out this house?”