Filed To Story: Alessia Mistaken as Mistress Book PDF Free
“Lemonade sounds good.” They filled tin cups and drank.
“Come on, I want you to meet some of the others.”
Alessia walked beside her, and Mary introduced her to the wives of the iron workers. Several of them wore dresses made over from Claire’s clothing. Even the children wore bright-colored shirts and pinafores. Alessia smiled, and hoped Claire would have been pleased to see her clothing make so many people happy.
A sharp-chinned young woman named Vella crooned at William and chatted with Alessia and Mary. “Your brother-in-law is the dearest man,” Vella exclaimed. “We look forward to this picnic every year. My sister’s husband works at Neligh Ironworks, and the workers don’t have it near as good as we do here.”
“Is your husband an iron worker?” Alessia asked.
“I’m not married yet.” She blushed. “My daddy is one of the furnace foremen.”
William got cranky, and Mary found Alessia a place to sit in the shade, where she fed him within the circle of young mothers and beneath the concealment of a flannel sheet.
He fell asleep immediately.
“Leave him here, and I’ll watch over him,” Mary said. David had fallen asleep, too, and Elissa and another little girl played with scrap dolls on a nearby coverlet.
Alessia glanced at the circle of pleasant-faced women.
“Please,” Mary said softly. “It’s the least I can do for you. You can enjoy yourself while he naps.”
“Well. If you’re sure you don’t mind.”
“Watching over a soundly sleepin’ baby isn’t nearly as tough as carin’ for a whole sick family,” she replied. “And I know you don’t want anything in return, but, well, I feel like we’re friends now. Friends do things like this.”
Alessia blinked back her surprise. And smiled. She could use a friend. “Thank you, Mary. I’ll wander for a while.”
Mary beamed.
Feeling quite liberated, Alessia walked among the families of the iron workers. It seemed everyone knew who she was. Of course they hadn’t seen her before, but her black mourning dress stood out from the clothing of the other women. Time after time, others stopped to share their sympathies or thank her for the material, or tell her they’d heard about her coming to the Cranes’ aid.
Surprisingly, they never made her feel like an outsider, and before long she recognized why. Whenever she observed Nicholas, she found him within clusters of the workers, sipping foamy beer, exchanging joking remarks or just sitting companionably in their groups. Even Leda remained with the older women most of the morning, sewing and visiting.
Alessia had seen the side of the Hallidays’ life-style that reminded her of her father’s, but she’d never seen this side-well, perhaps just a glimpse from time to time, such as Nicholas’s interaction with the Gruvers. Each person here today was in Nicholas’s employ, yet he walked among them like an equal.
Their livelihoods depended upon him. But Nicholas obviously believed his livelihood depended on them as well.
The iron workers were not wealthy. They lived in tiny shacklike homes, but their children were loved; they weren’t treated simply as small humans who should be ignored until they grew up. The concept warmed Alessia’s heart.
And Nicholas had afforded all this for his people. It was more than generosity. They earned adequate wages and had time off to spend with their families. He provided them with a sense of community and gave them the opportunity to share this carefree day. A new sense of pride and appreciation blossomed within Alessia.
A new level of excitement ran through the crowd, and the men congregated on a gently sloping bank near a shallow creek. The woman traveled that way, too, and Alessia returned for William so that Mary could join the others. He was awake and watching the leaves overhead in fascination.
“I thought you might like to see what they’re doing,” she said to Mary.
“You come, too. It’s a tug-of-war.”
Alessia changed William, found her parasol and followed.
The men were dividing into teams. About half, Nicholas among them, crossed the stream via a small bridge upstream and gathered on the opposite bank. He’d removed his jacket and rolled back his sleeves, and his shirt gleamed white in the sunlight.
The sight of him from this distance, tall and handsome and well respected, gave Alessia an odd proprietary feeling, and for a brief moment she wished she had the right to think of him in that manner. But she didn’t. She had no rights at all where Nicholas Halliday was concerned. But she wouldn’t ruin her day with self-disparaging thoughts, so she shook them off.
A long fat rope came into sight. One of the men tied a huge knot in the end and tossed that end across the stream. Nicholas caught it and men lined up behind him, taking their places along the length of rope.
The same formation took place on this side of the water, and the rope drew tight across the expanse.
A shot rang out, and the men on both sides pulled in opposite directions, some leaning clear back, all straining and grappling for footholds.
Shouts went up from the women. Several had run down to the bridge to watch.
Alessia had never seen anything like it. “Oh, my goodness,” she said, gripping the handle of her parasol. “If one side doesn’t pull hard enough, they’ll be dragged into the water!”
“That’s the idea,” Mary said with a laugh. “The winners are the ones with the dry shoes.”
Alessia laughed. “What fun!”
It seemed so strange to see Nicholas and Milos participating in the iron workers’ games.
The women and children around them shouted and cheered, calling out for their husbands and sons and fathers.
Dozens of pairs of feet dug into the creek bank, slipping, creating divots, grappling for footholds. Alessia held her breath and watched as Nicholas strained in tandem with the other men, the muscles beneath his shirt bunching, his face red and perspiring.
He worked frantically to keep his footing, losing inches at a time and doubling his efforts.
His team now toiled to keep Nicholas from the water’s edge. They gained a foot to the pleasure of the crowd, but then lost it again. A groan came up from the onlookers.
Alessia felt the tension in her own body. She clenched her fingers on the parasol and bounced on her strong leg in excitement.
She’d never seen people interact m quite this way before. She’d seen horse races and polo games and had played croquet, but this was different.
The man directly behind Nicholas lost his footing on the bank and slid, knocking Nicholas’s feet from under him. Nicholas clung to the rope, but couldn’t regain his footing. A third man stumbled and released the rope before he fell atop the men in front of him.
The woman went wild with screams and cheers.
Nicholas gained his feet only to have the rope drag him, laughing, into the water, followed by half a dozen of the men behind him. They slapped him on the back and he bent over with his hands on his knees, gulping air.
The men on this side of the stream hauled the rope in and the others released it before their feet, too, hit the water. The end of the rope dragged through the stream and came up on the bank. The smelters raised a cheer and slapped one another on the back.
Nicholas and his team made a production of stomping through the calf-high stream, splashing and sending water flying up the bank ahead of them.
The winners extended their hands and hauled them up the bank in easy camaraderie.
Alessia followed Mary and Vella and sat with the children while the women set the meal out. The task was accomplished in no time, and Alessia went in search of Leda. She discovered Nicholas with her, his white shirt damp and wrinkled. She glanced down.
A dark patch of mud stained the seat of his trousers, and he wore a worn pair of wet brogans she’d never seen before.
He turned his attention to the baby in her arms. “Did you like the tug-of-war, too, William?” he asked. “Soon as you get a few pounds on, you’ll help me.”
Leda handed Alessia a blanket to spread and took William. “You have to let him stay with me the rest of the afternoon. We old ladies need a little entertainment, too.”
They prepared plates from the huge spread of enormous dishes that had been laid out, and back at their blanket, they settled and ate. The food was delicious, and Alessia ate until she could hold no more.
The Cranes waved from a blanket nearby.
Alessia waved and observed their close-knit family for a few minutes. “Where’s Milos?” she asked.
Nicholas glanced across the crowded area unconcernedly. “Found someone to dine with, I’m sure. Here, I brought you a piece of pie.”