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“Don’t worry yet, Leila. They haven’t even said what would happen. What’s important now is that everyone made it out safe. I’m sure that when it all settles down, we’ll hear form Finn and he’ll give us instructions on where to go next.” Emily nodded her head, confident that Finn would somehow come to their rescue as soon as he knew what he was going to do next.
“Emily, we don’t know if he even had insurance. It costs building owners a lot of money to carry it, and around here I think it’s pretty rare if they do. If he just lost his building and has no insurance…” She shook her head slowly and then sighed. “Then we aren’t going to have any kind of job.” She dropped her gaze to the floor and Emily realized that Leila might be right. What would they do if Finn had nothing to offer them?
The sky grew dark and a somber aura fell over the town. The sirens had eased up and both Emily and Leila looked out her window to see if they could make out any activity coming from the building. When they were convinced that all was now said and done, they both changed for bed and got ready to go to sleep. “Leila?” Emily called out to her cousin from across the room.
“What, Em?” Leila lied awake, staring at the ceiling, wondering what the next day would bring.
“Maybe this is like a purging.” Emily looked across the room and then turned her head back toward her pillow. “Maybe this all happened for a reason.” She wasn’t one to put too much faith in the supernatural, but in the pit of her stomach, she had a peculiar feeling that the fire was symbolic. “I mean, maybe this is what we’ve been waiting for all along.” She looked over at Leila but got no response.
“The only thing that this fire symbolized was faulty wiring in an old, stone building, Emily. And I’ll bet you my last dime that tomorrow morning the news reveals that Finn had no insurance. All of us are going to be out of work. What’s so symbolic about that?” Leila huffed and then turned over in her bed. Emily sighed and then fluffed up her pillow.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.” Emily figured that Leila would probably be right. Yet she still thought that the fire meant something, that it didn’t just destroy their workplace for no reason. There had to be something deeper to what would happen next. If they really did find themselves with no work, then they’d just have to forge ahead like they’d always done, and find new means for survival.
By the time Emily and Leila had fallen asleep, the latest news report revealed that Finn Dillmore, sole proprietor of Lancaster Textile Company, had just lost his building and all of its contents to an unexplained fire. The report further explained that Mr. Dillmore had no insurance, and that he had no intentions of re-opening the company in another building since all of his assets had been destroyed in the fire.
Chapter 3
“Well, you were right.” Emily pushed a newspaper in front of Leila as they sat inside Griffin Café. Martha had already given them hugs and expressed her condolences over their tragic loss. “He lost everything. We’ve got no work.” Emily shook her head and sipped her coffee. Leila opened up the paper and then scanned the front page.
The article stated that the building was burned beyond recognition by a fire and that the cause was unknown. It went on to state that no restoration process would be initiated. Mr. Dillmore expressed his sadness for the loss, and was quoted saying that he “…saw no option for supplying further work to his employees.” Leila shook her head and then shoved the paper across the table. Emily raised her eyebrows.
“So now what do we do?” The gears in Emily’s mind were already turning. How would they pay their rent next month? What would they do to make ends meet? There was no other textile company in all of Lancaster, and neither of the cousins had reliable transportation to get them over to London where they might find some kind of comparable work. The prospects seemed dismal.
“We start to ask everyone we know, and we scour the newspaper.” Leila wasn’t one to accept defeat. She was a survivor and she knew that they could find something as long as they persisted. Emily wasn’t sure how to process the news. She wanted to feel relieved that she had finally gotten her wish and that she would no longer have to walk the long, dingy halls to her work space. Yet she also felt a pang of loss. She imagined how crushed Finn must feel, and she realized that there was nothing she could do to rectify the situation for anyone.
“Maybe we should ask Martha if she needs any help in the café.” Emily whispered across the table and then had a sip of her coffee. “It’s worth a try, right?” She looked over her shoulder as Martha pulled a large rack of pastries from the oven. Leila shook her head.
“Martha has both of her daughters here to help her out. I can guarantee that she does not need any extra hands.” Leila had opened up the classifieds section of the newspaper and was running her eyes across the ads. “I was thinking that maybe we could go down to the post office and see if they need any mail carriers or cashiers.” Leila sounded proud of her suggestion but Emily scoffed.
“They would never hire us. We have no experience, and to be a carrier you need to know all of Lancaster like the back of your hand. We don’t have cars, and we haven’t even traveled to the south side of the town. I’m not being pessimistic, Leila, but I just know we need to think of something else.” Emily bit her lower lip.
“Hey, Emily. What about this?” Leila scooted closer to the edge of her chair and then shoved the paper across the table. She had circled an ad with a red marker, and Emily read it over then laughed.
“You’re joking, right?” Emily held the paper up to her face and then laughed out loud. “Texas rancher seeks submissive and domesticated woman for marriage of convenience?” Emily covered her mouth with her hand and then laughed out loud again. “Leila, this is some kind of joke, I’m sure.” Emily tossed the paper onto the table and then took a sip of her coffee. Leila snatched up the paper and then opened it back up to the ad.
“Emily. Listen to the rest of it. He needs help.” Leila cleared her throat and then read the rest of the ad out loud. “I am a successful business man who requires assistance raining my two orphaned nieces, and in exchange for marriage, will offer you my plentiful acreage to live quietly and happily.” Leila shrugged and then set down the paper. “How bad could that really be?” She wondered why Emily didn’t think it was a good idea.
“First of all…” Emily cleared her throat and then laughed. She just couldn’t take it seriously. “Okay, let me get myself together here, Leila.” She took a long sip of her coffee and then laughed out loud once more. “First of all, it is ludicrous. This is a total stranger. He claims to be a successful business man that owns some ranch and yet he can’t take care of two kids? Why doesn’t he just hire a nanny?”
Emily scoffed and then walked away from the table. She ordered a red raspberry Danish from Martha, then carried it back to the table and sat down with a curious expression on her face. “You aren’t really considering this as an option, are you, Leila?” Emily was concerned that her cousin was thinking out of desperation.
“Emily. It could turn out to be the perfect solution. Both of us are good with kids. We basically helped raise our little cousins back when Aunt Gussie and Uncle Tom were having problems, remember?” Leila had a serious expression on her face, and Emily realized that she was, indeed, serious about her proposition. “Why don’t we at least respond to the ad and see what he has to say?” Leila couldn’t see any harm that could come from simply responding to an ad.
“Okay, Leila, if you say so.” Emily took another bite of her Danish and then looked out the window. Most of the snow that had fallen the week before was now sitting in an icy heap outside. The plows had moved it all to the corners of the street, and all of the exhaust from the motorists had colored it a smoky gray color. Emily figured that it wouldn’t hurt her to simply humor Leila’s request.
“Thanks, Emily. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get the break that we’ve both been hoping for.” Leila smiled and then had a sip of her tea. It was the first time that she had ever hinted toward wanting something other than tedious textile work. Emily was both surprised and pleased. She looked out the window once more and then picked up the paper, ready to respond to the ad.
“His postal address is 3532 Running River Road, in Lubbock, Texas. If you get me an envelope and a stamp, I’ll write the letter.” Emily smiled at Leila. Just then Martha appeared form behind her counter. She sat down next to Emily and patted her on the shoulder.
“Don’t you two go worrying yourselves sick over this.” She looked at both cousins and then sighed. “I’m sure that you’ll both be able to put your heads together and find a new way to support yourself. Besides, the textile industry is slowly losing ground in this part of England.” Martha spoke with a nostalgic tone and then got up from the table to wait on more customers. Emily tapped her pen on the table and Leila took her cue.
“I’ll be back in a little while with a stamped envelope.” She winked at Emily and then put on her coat. Martha went on chatting with her customers and Emily gazed out the window. What would happen if this man really did respond to their letter? What if he decided to accept their offer? Who would become the bride? How would they even get out to Texas with no money? Where would they stay? Her mind buzzed with possibility and uncertainty.
Leila walked in silence through the town and toward the post office. Along the way, she passed one of her co-workers who trudged along the icy streets with a child in tow. “Hi, Leila.” Amber spoke through her thick scarf and Leila stopped to greet her.
“Amber. How are you?” Seeing another Lancaster Textile employee filled her with emotion and she immediately threw her arms around her friend. “Are you oaky?” She stood back to look at amber’s son had hidden behind her legs.
“I’m okay, but I’m very worried. We still can’t find work. I just left the post office because I thought they might have a few options, but they are closed for hiring. I just don’t know what I’m going to do. Ethan was laid off three months ago, and then he hurt his back doing odd jobs, so all of our income depends on me now.” Amber looked down to the ground and Leila felt a tear come other eye.
