“I tried to convince them otherwise.” Noah's palms came up in his defense. “But the family are in debt to their landlord, Mr. Malone, and you know how Beatrice's father is.” He narrowed his eyes and growled out the name. “So there will be no grace for them with him, as everyone knows.”
“Can an older sister stay home with them? Or an old aunt?” His mother sat up. “The mill is no place for those little ones.”
“Most of these mothers have no one to tend to their children.” He sighed back onto the couch. “But I'm not sure how much longer we can function without a true catastrophe happening to one of them. It's a wonder George hasn't seen any of the near disasters already. With his magnanimous nature”—he raised his brows to his mother, sarcasm lathering his words—“he'd find a way to blame the workers, which would only drive more of the families away.”
“George.” His mother's eyes closed, but she quickly opened them to focus back on him. “What if you hired someone to see to the children?”
“With what money? I've already given up part of my salary to give a raise to some of the weavers we've had for years. I could try speaking to George again, but he won't listen. I can't understand him. In his effort to conserve funds, he's going to kill the mill, and there's nothing I can do about it.”
“Well, I'm full up with George and his horribleness. I plan to meet with my solicitor as soon as he is back in town and go over our family's resources. Your father wasn't the most magnanimous of men either, but he knew how to run a business, and the mill has lost more money in the two years since your father's death than I can understand.”
“What do you mean to do?”
“Investigate.” Her fists came down on her lap. “How is the family money and mill ownership truly distributed? Who owns what? I was in too much shock from your father's death and Clarice's elopement to remember anything from the reading of the will, but I'm not as muddleheaded now. I've never even questioned George's claim to the full inheritance but blindly trusted him to take all the weight of everything from my hands because I could barely manage my own emotions.” Her lips pinched into a grim line before she looked back up at him. “Was there a trust? Do you recall?”
“George took over so many of the conversations with the lawyer at the time, I wasn't privy to more specifics.” Did something in particular trigger her sudden curiosity about the business, her apparent frustration?
“I know I own this house, but I want to make sure I know what else is going on, because something is not adding up with George's behavior, the mill's loss of workers, and these thefts. It's almost as if George is …”
“Sabotaging the mill?”
His mother's gaze flashed to his. “Do you think he'd stoop to such a level? To his own family?”
“I hope not.” Though his business choices would suggest otherwise. “But perhaps there's a desperation or some business or personal decision he's trying to cover?” He studied her as she stared into the fire, hands fisted tightly together on her lap. “Mother, what's going on?”
She turned her gaze on him. “Do you realize that Kizzie avoided us yesterday after church?”
“You saw her? I searched but didn't—”
“I don't believe she wanted us to notice her, but I heard Charlie's laugh in the middle of the service and looked back and saw her.”
Tension knotted in Noah's stomach. “Perhaps she had business to attend to.”
“She rushed out after the service, Noah, without a word to us.” His mother shook her head. “She's not the sort to act in such a way unless provoked. She's too forthright for such behavior.”
“Provoked?” He sat up straighter. “By what? Who?”
Mother rubbed her forehead, pausing a moment before looking back at him. “Case overheard part of a conversation George had with Kizzie last week when she was leaving after dinner with me. I think it may have caused her to keep her distance.”
“Last week?” Noah sat up. “And you're just learning of it now?”
“He mentioned it to Taylor this morning, and Taylor suggested Case discuss it with me.” Mother ran a hand down her face. “Her choice to avoid us only proves her good intentions all the more, but I refuse to allow her to think that we believe the same thing George does. I've grown to care for that dear girl, as I know have you.”
The knot in his stomach burst into flames and poured heat through his body. He stood. “What did he say to her?”
Mother relayed what Case shared, inciting a groan from Noah as he paced in front of the fire. “Investigate, Mother. Find some way to put reins on George, because if we do not find a way to catch him, so help me, I may end up proving how much stronger I really am than him.”
It was true.
George had spent the two years since Father's death sitting behind a desk and driving to meetings around the county.
Noah had worked, learning all the aspects of the mill, helping in every area. Pulling the weight he could to ensure the mill continued to function.
“And what are we to do about Kizzie?”
Noah looked out the window into the darkness. “First thing in the morning, I'll pay a visit to Carters and work this out.”
After an early breakfast, Noah proved true to his word. He had Case saddle one of the stallions, and as the dawn peeked over the mountains, Noah rode toward town.
