A Fond Hope by Vanessa Lind

Author:Vanessa Lind [Vanessa Lind]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vanessa Lind Books
Published: 2022-12-24T00:00:00+00:00

Two days later, Hattie decided to make good on her plans to visit her ailing father. She wouldn’t have to stay long. And if he refused to see her—well, rejection from her parents was nothing new. And maybe, just maybe, her mother would share some news of George.

But as she got off the spur line train from Indianapolis at La Conner’s tiny station, she was already doubting her decision. Heavy with clouds, the skies looked foreboding, and a cold, brisk wind stung her face. She’d been away long enough to have forgotten how bitter a winter day could feel in the prairie town where she’d grown up.

Intending to stay only until the eastbound train came through later in the day, she’d brought no luggage. On foot, she set out down the town’s main street, where her father’s big grain elevators cast long winter shadows. It was in those elevators, and in those he controlled in every farming town within a fifty-mile radius, that her family’s wealth lay.

Farmers hated the prices Edgar Logan charged, taking a large chunk of what they earned whether the year was lean or prosperous. He’d also seized on the opportunity of war to expand his profits in a traitorous scheme to supply grain to the enemy. Hattie had discovered this when she decoded a letter from Pinkerton’s mailroom.

Ruts were frozen into the road, and after nearly turning her ankle on one of them, Hattie paid closer attention to her steps. She didn’t see the schoolboy until she’d almost run into him.

“Hey, lady.” The boy dodged around her, his cheeks red from the wind. “Watch where you’re going.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled. Then she straightened. She was no longer the ostracized schoolgirl. “Though I expect your mother would be dismayed to know you’d spoken so rudely to a stranger.”

The boy’s look of confidence crumpled. “You ain’t gonna tell her, are you?”

Hattie offered a measured smile. “So long as you promise to treat the next stranger you meet with more kindness, I expect we can keep your remarks between the two of us.”

He grinned, revealing a crooked tooth. “Thanks, Miss.” Then he took off running.

Ahead, occupying an entire town block, was the house where Hattie had grown up. Since leaving home, she’d seen more elegant abodes, including an estate outside of Nashville where she’d posed as a seamstress as part of her spying. But in a little town like La Conner, the Logan property stood out like the proverbial sore thumb. Hattie had come to hate the house, which for all its elegance had always felt dark and cold.

She ascended the walkway. At the paneled oak door, she squared her shoulders, then rapped the brass knocker. She was about to knock again when the door opened slightly, revealing the thin, careworn face of Sallie Higgins, her mother’s maid. How she’d managed these many years Hattie didn’t know. Lydia Logan was not an easy woman to work for.

“Miss Hattie.” Pressing her hands to her apron, Sallie offered a nervous smile. “You’ve come home.

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