Rebecca Hagan Lee (39 page)

“Now,” he said.

“Yes,” she breathed.

And with that, James cupped his hands under her thighs and lifted her up to meet him. Elizabeth locked her long legs around his waist as James buried himself in her warmth. He threw back his head, bared his teeth, and hung on, as her woman’s body tightened around him and he thrust higher, harder, spilling himself inside her.

“
I CAN’T STAND
it any longer,” Will announced as he joined them for breakfast the following morning. He stared at the lavish buffet spread out in the dining room at Craig House and at the Treasures’ bowls of porridge, then laid his knife and fork aside. Something strange was going on. Both sides of James’s face was blotched with a dark stain and Elizabeth sported a black half moon on her right cheek and a pair of gloves—at breakfast. “What the devil is going on here this morning?”

James looked across the table at Will and said, with a perfectly serious expression on his face, “What makes you think there’s something going on?”

“Well, cripes, Jamie,” Will uttered, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “I’m not stupid or blind. I can see what’s happening between the two of you.” He turned to Elizabeth and smiled. “I don’t mean to embarrass you, Beth,” he said when she blushed. “I just want to let you know you have my best wishes. Both of you.” He stared at his best friend. “What I don’t understand is why we’re enjoying steak and eggs today while the Treasures are eating
their usual mush or why Beth’s a wee bit formal this morning.”

“Is she?” James asked. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Will leveled his gaze at James, “Oh, come now, Jamie, even your mother—a stickler for etiquette if I’ve ever seen one—removes her gloves for meals.” He frowned as Elizabeth tried and failed to bite back a smile. “And what the devil is that on your faces?”

Elizabeth giggled.

“Is that all?” James asked, casting a brief conspiratory glance at Elizabeth. “I’m worried about you, Will,” he continued. “You’re usually much more observant.”

“There’s more?” Will appeared stunned.

“Look around you.” James nodded at the little girls seated beside and across from Will.

Will followed his gaze to Ruby and Garnet, who sat calmly eating their oatmeal, each sharing their seat with a new doll. “Good heavens!” he exclaimed in mock horror. “The civil war has ended. It’s actually quiet in here. And what are these?” He leaned closer to Garnet. “New dolls?”

Garnet looked up from her bowl of oatmeal and grinned. “Baby.”

Will studied the dolls. Their glossy black hair was bobbed to just below the chin, and the doll Garnet held in her arms had a fringe of hair cut short and straight across her forehead, just like Garnet’s. Their eyes were painted a warm shade of brown and lined to hint at their almond shape, and their mouths were bow-shaped and painted a delicate pink. Will was amazed by the resemblance to the Treasures. “Where did you find these dolls?” he asked. “They’re exquisite.”

“On the shelves in the nursery,” James replied proudly.

Will wrinkled his brow. He’d been upstairs to the nursery many times, and he never remembered seeing them before. Two or three French fashion dolls, but not … He looked closer at the clothes they were wearing—the height of Parisian fashion.

“Elizabeth modified them a bit last night.”

“You did this?” Will was impressed. “How?”

Elizabeth removed her gloves and held, up her hands so he could see the black stains. “India ink.”

Will began to laugh, then turned to look at James, and suddenly realized the marks on his face were palm prints. Obviously Elizabeth’s palm prints.

“I helped,” James added, grinning.

“I don’t believe it!” Will laughed. “I wish I had been here. The sight of you two modifying those dolls must have been something.”

James and Elizabeth shared another conspiratorial glance, and the temperature in the room seemed to rise a few degrees. Elizabeth blushed.

“Yes,” James agreed in a low husky tone, “it was.” And he had some very interesting ink marks on less visible parts of his anatomy to prove it.

“
JAMIE,” WILL BEGAN
when James returned from helping Elizabeth take the girls to the nursery. “We’ve got problems. In the camps.”

James shrugged. “There are always problems in the camps.”

“Not like this,” Will said. “Jamie, the miners are feuding almost as badly as Ruby and Garnet were. I’m afraid it could get real ugly and real dangerous.

James looked at Will and read the seriousness of the situation in Will’s eyes. “I don’t suppose buying all the workers new dolls is going to bring peace and contentment to the settlements.”

“Well, the buying part might work, but I don’t know, Jamie. We already pay higher wages than any other company. And we’ve already implemented a five-day work week, instead of six. And we pay for overtime and holidays. I don’t know what else we can do. But I don’t like this situation, Jamie. I’ve never seen it so volatile. Anti-Chinese sentiment is running high. Tempers are flaring. And if we
don’t do something soon, somebody’s going to get killed.”

“What do you suggest we do?”

Will shook his head. “I’ve talked to them until I’m blue in the face. They’re not listening to me. You’re the owner of Craig Capital, maybe you should go up there and try to negotiate.”

“What about offering blocks of common stock?”

Will thought about it. “It might work, but we’re both going to have to go up there and make the offer in person.”

James shook his head as he paced the length of the dining room and back. “I can’t go, Will. You’ll have to go alone.”

“I’ve been up there alone, Jamie, and I’m telling you that it’s no use. They don’t want to deal with the second-in-command. They want you.”

“If I go,” James began. “If
we
go, who’s going to stay here and watch over Elizabeth and the girls? Would you want to leave them alone without knowing for sure whether or not Lo Peng’s hatchet men were hanging around?”

“Cripes,” Will cursed. “I forgot about that.”

“I haven’t.” James clenched his fists. If he stayed in Coryville, he put his company and all the men who worked for him at risk. And if he left town for the mining camps up in the high timber country, he could be leaving his family to face an even greater risk.

“Bring them with you,” Will said suddenly.

“My children are Chinese, Will. I don’t know if taking them into an area full of anti-Chinese sentiment will be good for them.”

“I don’t see that we’ve any other choice, Jamie. And I don’t think the anti-Chinese sentiment is personal. It’s about labor, Jamie. And economics. I don’t believe any of these men would make war on children. You know I wouldn’t recommend this course of action if I thought the Treasures were in any danger from the workers. In fact, I think it might be good for the men to see your children—to see any children. Most of them are a long way away from their families. They need to be reminded of what
they’re working for. Besides,” he added as an afterthought, “we’ll both be there to protect them.”

“It would be better than leaving them here,” James agreed. “You may be right. At least, it’s worth a shot.”

“Agreed,” Will said. “Bring Elizabeth and the Treasures and Delia and Mrs. G. and whoever else you need with you. You can have the cabin.”

“What about you?” James asked.

“I’ll bunk in the office,” Will decided.

“All right,” James said. “When do we leave?”

“As soon as you can,” Will told him. “I’d like to get up there to head off any further trouble. Tomorrow, if possible.”

“
IT’S IMPOSSIBLE, JAMES
,” Elizabeth told him. “I can’t have everyone packed and ready to leave by morning.”

“Pack what you think you’ll need,” James told her. “And if we need anything else, we’ll telegraph word to Mrs. G. and she can send it by express train to the camp.”

“What about Diamond? How are we going to feed her?” she asked, looking at James. “Tell me you aren’t planning to take the goat.” Although the nursery was stocked with cans of evaporated milk, Elizabeth knew James and Mrs. G. preferred to use fresh milk from the nanny goat James kept in the stable.

James laughed. “No, we’ll leave the goat here.”

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness! Because I don’t know how to milk a goat and I’m not eager to learn. And I don’t even want to think about traveling with one.”

“We’ll stop at Kellerman’s and pick up a case or two of canned milk. I hope we won’t be gone too long, and Diamond should manage fine on that until we return home.”

“What about Mrs. G.?” Elizabeth asked. “We’re supposed
to be planning the tea for the Coryville Ladies’ League next Friday afternoon.”

“Mrs. G. can plan the tea without you. Besides,” he added impishly, “if you go with me, you won’t have to wear gloves all the time for fear that someone will see your hands.”

JAMES CRAIG’S FAMILY
made quite a sight as they disembarked from the CCL express train at midafternoon the following day, after a three-hour journey. A dozen or so employees of Craig Capital paused to gape as the owner of Craig Capital, Ltd., exited the platform with his four children, their governess, the governess’s assistant, assorted trunks of clothing, and other children’s paraphernalia, including two baby carriages, and Will Keegan in tow. It was the first time any of the Craig Capital employees, other than Will, had ever seen James with his family.

The unease that had resided in the camp for weeks seemed to dissipate with the appearance of Elizabeth and Delia and the children. They seemed to represent James Craig’s willingness to do whatever was needed to work out the problems in the camp. That he had brought his children along, rather than be separated from them for days at a time, seemed to show his willingness to negotiate. Everyone had heard how devoted James Craig was to his daughters; now they could witness that devotion for themselves. That the four Craig Treasures were foundlings was also known in the camp. Despite rumors to the contrary, the truth of the Treasures origins had gotten out. It was talked
about in the Chinese section of the camp, where the word had spread from San Francisco through the Chinese grapevine, that Lo Peng allowed unwanted girl children to be taken to James Craig. And the Chinese workers were eager to get a look at the children to see how James Craig treated them. Speculation ran high among the Chinese as to why a man of James Cameron Craig’s power and wealth would choose to build a fortune for worthless girl children rather than sons. Most of the Irishmen, Welshmen, and Cornishmen also knew the Treasures were James’s adopted children. Word had spread among their groups of workers from the London and Edinburgh branch of Craig Capital that James Craig was an odd duck, choosing to adopt unwanted Chinese children, rather than remarry and have children of his own. Speculation ran high, in the London and Edinburgh branches of Craig Capital, as to whom James Craig intended to name as his heir, since he had no sons, only adopted daughters, to leave his fortune to.

The Treasures had napped during the journey and were now fairly crackling with excitement at the prospect of stretching their legs and exploring the camp. They’d been cooped up too long. They were accustomed to more freedom than they’d had on the train and were ready to play. Elizabeth watched the girls grow more and more excited and excitable as they followed Will into the cabin.