Accidentally Amish (28 page)

Hans Sieber looked dubious when he saw how Jakob’s letter was addressed.

“She is at the stationer’s shop off High Street,” Jakob said firmly.

“Should not the letter be addressed to the owner of the shop?”

“I do not wish to correspond with the owner.”

Sieber raised his eyebrows.

“If you don’t wish to take the letter,” Jakob said, “I will ask someone else.”

“We have been friends a long time, Jakob.”

“This is why I trust you.” Jakob met his friend’s gaze.

Sieber nodded and added the letter to his satchel, along with Jakob’s supply list.

Riding to the Stehleys’ land, Jakob pondered how many days he should give Elizabeth to consider his carefully crafted words and planned his own departure for Philadelphia accordingly. The children could stay with the Zimmermans.

I
’ve got to get to the bank,” Annie told Jamie. “They’re expecting me promptly at ten.”

“You can go just as soon as you sign this letter.” Jamie laid a single sheet of paper in front of her.

Annie scanned the page. “This should do it. We’re officially severing the company’s relationship with Richard D. Stebbins, attorney at law.”

“I can send it by courier, and he’ll have it inside twenty minutes.” Jamie tapped the paper on the desk with a triumphant index finger.

“Handy having a courier service across the street, eh?”

“Then sign the stinkin’ page and make it official.”

Annie picked up a black pen, with the thin rolling point she favored, and signed her name with flourish.

“Careful there.” Jamie wagged a finger in warning. “The signature has to look right enough to be legal.”

Annie laughed. “We’re done with Mr. Stebbins. After I sign the documents to buy Barrett out, we can focus on moving forward.”

Jamie picked up the signed letter and creased it in neat thirds before sliding it into an envelope. “I miss Barrett. It’s not like him to just up and leave this way.”

“I miss him, too,” Annie said. And she did. Annie had withheld most of the story from her staff. Let them remember Barrett with fondness, she figured, even if they thought he lost his marbles for leaving. “I don’t think I’ll be long at the bank. The new attorney assures me he has arranged for the papers to be ready for signature when I get there.”

“When you get back, I’ll get Liam-Ryder Industries on the line.”

Annie nodded. Liam-Ryder Industries had been patient for two weeks. She couldn’t keep ignoring a prospective client with the deep pockets this company seemed to have.

“I’m calling the courier right now.” Jamie stepped out of Annie’s office to her own desk and picked up the phone.

Annie checked the list on her phone to see what else she had to do before she could go to Westcliffe sometime in the next few days. Eli’s brown book was already on the front seat of her car.

Tom steered the red truck into the parking lot, pulled up in front of the building, and shifted into P
ARK
. “Are you sure about this?”

Beside him, Rufus nodded. “It seems the most peaceable thing to do.”

“It’s a lot of nuisance for you to bank all the way over here. People would come to your aid if they knew Karl somehow got his fingers into the bank decisions. Give them a chance to help.”

Rufus shook his head. “I am not trying to cause harm to Karl Kramer. I simply want to earn a living.”

“I could come in with you.”

Rufus smiled. “You’re a good friend even if you are
English.
But I will be fine. I have my tax returns showing my business history and value. I can put up my share of the family land if I have to.”

“Okay, then.” Tom straightened behind the steering wheel. “I figure it will take about two hours to go see my mother. If you need a place to wait, there’s a little garden area behind the bank. I’ll look for you and honk.”

Holding a soft, deerskin satchel, Rufus got out of the car and watched Tom’s truck merge into the unforgiving traffic of Powers Boulevard, eight lanes across. He could not imagine driving a buggy in this town. All Rufus needed in Colorado Springs was a bank manager with a fair-minded sense of business practices. He stepped onto the sidewalk and paced over to the front door.

It was not far to the bank. Still, ever since Rick beat her to the restaurant where she was supposed to meet Barrett, Annie scanned the road whenever she drove. Rick could still try to interfere with signing papers. His grill could show up in her rearview mirror any moment.

But nothing was there. A bedraggled soccer mom in a white minivan. Businessmen with Bluetooth headsets in their ears and miniature offices spread across the front seats of the vehicles. Teens in aging hand-me-down cars heading for the movies. No bronze Jeep. No Rick.

Rufus entered the bank and asked to speak to a loan officer. He ignored the strange looks he always garnered when he came to town. Black suspenders pressed tracks into his white cotton shirt. Today he wore a black felt hat instead of his usual straw hat. Everybody who saw him did a double take and then politely acted as if it were perfectly normal to see an Amish man standing in the bank waiting patiently to apply for a business line of credit in Colorado Springs. Rufus was used to it.

“Mr. Endicott will see you now.” Rufus was glad to duck into one of the offices and out of sight of the customers traipsing in and out of the lobby.

Barrett opted to sign the agreement in advance, so Annie knew she would not see him. She was just as relieved as he was to avoid a face-to-face meeting at this point.
What would he do now?
she wondered. He would have money, at least. But knowing Barrett, money was not the real question. He loved the frenzied din of a challenge. Lee Solano insisted on a thorough noncompete clause in the documents that dissolved the partnership, but Barrett could take off with his own ideas and build another company.

The branch manager was waiting for her when Annie entered the bank, and led her past a row of small offices with closed doors flanked by tall, narrow windows. The manager’s office was larger and less cell-like. He slid a packet of papers across a smooth, uncluttered, glass-topped desk.

“Three copies of everything,” he said. “Please sign all three, and I’ll assemble one set for you.”

Knowing she would sign in his absence, Lee had prepared Annie well for what the papers would be. Annie scanned each one to make sure it corresponded to what Lee directed and signed all three sets. In a matter of minutes, she had a manila envelope of documents in her hand and watched while the bank manager transferred funds as Barrett had previously directed. The company account showed considerably fewer assets, but Annie now held 100 percent of the company and anything it might create. She stood and shook hands with the bank manager, tucked her manila envelope under one arm, and left the bank.

He was waiting for her when she turned the corner on the sidewalk.

Rick Stebbins backed her up against the brick and crunched a piece of paper in her face. “How quaint. Sending a letter by courier. This means nothing.”

“It means you have nothing to do with me,” Annie answered evenly.

Rick pulled the envelope out from under her arm. “Is this what I think it is?”

“It’s no business of yours.” She smelled onion on his breath and knew where he had eaten his morning omelet.

Rick lifted the envelope flap and pulled the papers up a few inches. “So it’s done, then. You and Barrett are no more.”

Annie said nothing. His breath hovered over her face. She fought to keep her own breathing from turning ragged.

“You can’t think it would be over that easily.” Rick’s brooding eyes held Annie’s in a vise now. “Barrett was never the goal.”

Annie felt his breath. He had never leaned in so close except to kiss her.

Rufus left the bank encouraged. He would have to wait for a letter confirming the line of credit, but the loan officer saw no reason not to think it would be approved. It was too early to expect Tom would be waiting. Rufus opted to wander behind the bank.

He stopped in his tracks. A man in a dark suit leaned against the brick with one arm, his face close to a woman’s. At first Rufus thought he would disturb a romantic moment if he kept walking.
English
would kiss anywhere, after all. It did not matter who was watching.

The man’s arm blocked the woman’s face, but the color of her hair made Rufus suck his breath in. His eyes moved from her hair to assess her height and form.

Annalise. In trouble.

Rufus said nothing, just stepped right up to the pair and stared into the man’s eyes.

The man jerked away from the brick. “What are you looking at?”

Rufus turned his eyes to Annalise. “Is everything all right, Annalise?”

“You know this guy?” Rick asked.

“None of your business,” Annalise answered.

“Perhaps you should be on your way.” Rufus spoke calmly and firmly to the man.

The man slapped an envelope against Annalise’s chest. “I’m very good at what I do.”

“So am I.” Annalise pushed on the man’s chest with one hand and gripped the envelope with the other.

The man glared at Rufus and got into a bronze vehicle and roared away.

Annalise was trembling now. Rufus wished he could gather her into his arms the way he had when she fell at the motel.