The office was larger than she’d thought. Her attention was immediately caught by the open area on her left. It contained an ensemble of Sheraton furniture. The dark blue velvet cushions of the cherrywood sofa contrasted nicely with the maple veneer along its back. A low table of the same wood fronted the sofa and two padded chairs sat on either side, lyre-backs carved with bow-knotted wheat ears and sprays of other foliage. A large watercolor of what Annie assumed was a southern plantation house on a cream-colored wall. Light blue satin brocade drapes hung across the one window that fronted the street.
To her right was the expected work counter with a large, rolltop desk behind it and shelves full of ledgers along the wall. Mr. Haines rose from the desk.
“You are right on time, Miss Ferguson.” As he glanced at Niall, a slight flicker of annoyance crossed his face, which he quickly masked.
Annie couldn’t blame him for that. Niall’s insistence on coming inside was unneeded. “I always try to be prompt.”
“Excellent,” Mr. Haines replied and then gestured. “How do you like the office?”
“It looks like a parlor,” Niall said before Annie could respond. “I thought this was a place of business.”
Annie shot him a warning look and then smiled at Mr. Haines. “I like it. It feels homey.”
“My point. I see no reason not to surround myself with a few creature comforts even if…” Mr. Haines paused and gave Niall a pointed look. “…it is a place of business.”
Niall seemed oblivious. Instead, he pointed to a door on the far side of the room. “Does that lead to the warehouse?”
“Yes, but it’s restricted,” Mr. Haines said as Niall crossed the room and opened the door.
Niall glanced back. “I am representing Henderson Shipping and Henderson Shipping stores some of its stock here, nae?That gives me the right to inspect the place.” He turned and disappeared without waiting for an answer.
Annie bit back a groan. She knew what kind of an “inspection” Niall was about to make. And he was going to get an earful of what she thought about blundering through the warehouse with all his weaponry. “I am so sorry…” she started to say and then was surprised when Mr. Haines just smiled.
“Perhaps it is good that your…escort…sees where his products are. That way he will know everything is on the up-and-up and can only hold himself responsible for any mistakes in his shipments.”
“That is verra accommodating of ye, Mr. Haines,” Annie said. She couldn’t imagine any mistakes being made regarding shipments, especially since she would be the one in charge of making sure counts were accurate, but she did appreciate Mr. Haines not taking offense. What a kind, understanding man he was.
****
Niall finished making entries in the shipping ledgers and laid down his pen, suppressing a yawn. Accounting was definitely the most boring thing he’d ever done. He glanced at the brass clock on the wall, startled that it was already late afternoon. He’d spent hours with the damn books. No wonder he was bored.
Getting up to put the ledgers back on the shelf, Niall wondered how Annie’s first day on the job had gone. When he left her this morning, Haines had been explaining something about a running inventory control. Annie had hardly looked up, but Niall suspected that was because she was still upset with him.
He was pretty sure he had made the proper impression on the men working in the warehouse this morning when he’d done his “inspection.” He’d counted fifteen of them as he’d walked the narrow paths between boxes and barrels piled nearly to theceiling. Niall also made sure he had met every man’s eye before he left as well as told several that he considered Annie—Miss Ferguson—to be under his protection. Those men had promptly looked at the array of weapons he carried and nodded their assent.
Annie would more than likely want to throttle him for that if she found out. He doubted she would, though, since the men were not likely to admit such a thing to her. But they weren’t likely to forget it either, even if Niall showed up the next time wearing breeches and waistcoat. He’d simply exchange his sword for a musket and make sure at least two knife handles showed from the tops of his boots.
“I heard Archibald Haines hired Miss Ferguson,” Gustav said as Niall closed the door to Robert’s office and came into the larger front one.
“How did ye find that out?” Niall asked, not bothering to hide his surprise.
“Haines Consolidated is one of the largest warehouses for shipping, and some of the dockhands have relatives working there.” Gustav shrugged. “Word travels fast along the quay. The news probably got here before you did.”
“Um,” Niall replied noncommittally. It seemed men gossiped as much as women did. “I did a walk-through of the warehouse this morning, just to make sure it was a safe place for Annie—Miss Ferguson—to work. Everything seemed to be in order.”
The harbormaster nodded. “Haines runs a tight operation. He makes sure his deliveries arrive to the ships on time and, ever since one of the dock hands dropped a barrel of barley and cracked the lid, Mr. Haines always makes sure everything is loaded by the same workers each time so no damage occurs.”
“That sounds a little drastic over a barrel of spilled barley,” Niall said and hoped Haines wouldn’t be too harsh on Annie, especially since she wasn’t trained. But then, if Niall heardanything like that happening, he’d just have a talk with the man. Astrongtalk, if needed.
“Ja,” Gustav agreed, “but the man’s father was a tobacco lord and Haines is determined to get back the wealth that was lost.”
“I cannae blame him for that,” Niall said.
“I guess not,” Gustav answered. “A lot of the heirs to those lost fortunes meet regularly at Walker’s Hotel on Buchanan to discuss how to get their fortunes back.”
“Now that the shipping lanes have reopened, they will have the opportunity,” Niall said.
“What they want is government reform,” Gustav replied. “Lower tariffs on both imports and exports. The merchants complain all the time that the price of goods is too high.”
