Chapter 22
“So there we were, eating dinner, and Alexei couldn’t keep his eyes off her.” Sacha waved his fork over his plate, never mind he nearly ended up flinging a piece of baked salmon across the room.
“Yes, but did he smile?” Yuri leaned back in his chair, soaking in the fun of having Sacha and Alexei sitting around the cramped table. They’d arrived that morning, but this was the first meal they’d sat down to as a family.
“I could keep my eyes off Laurel perfectly fine.” Alexei scowled at Sacha, who sat around the corner from his place at the head of the table. “It just so happened that there was nothing else in the room worth looking at.”
Mikhail slapped him on the back. “Are you falling in love, brother?”
“I am not falling in anything.” Alexei stabbed a piece of salmon on his plate with unnecessary force. “Laurel Farnsworth and I are just friends.”
“That’s why he took her for a walk after dinner.” Sacha winked. “Because they’re just friends.”
Laughter erupted around the table.
Or rather, everyone except Alexei laughed. He just sat there with a deepening scowl.
“I can already see it in my mind.” Yuri took a sip of water. “Alexei will fall in love with this woman and move to San Francisco, where he wanted to be all along.”
“I just told you I’m not in love with her.” Alexei set his fork down with a thud. “And I told her father no to the job too. Times change.”
Yuri’s laughter died so fast, it felt like the air had been sucked from the room. Across the table, Sacha stopped eating mid-bite, a piece of salmon dangling from his fork. Even Maggie had stilled with her teacup halfway to her mouth.
“What job?” Mikhail leaned forward in his chair, his golden eyes pinned to Alexei.
Alexei pinched the bridge of his nose and sucked in a breath. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to say anything about it. I’m tired and being careless with my words.”
“Farnsworth offered you a job?” Sacha frowned. “When was this? You didn’t say anything to me about it.”
Alexei shrugged. “Because it doesn’t matter. I’m not going to take it.”
“Is it what Sacha said? Would you be working for Mr. Farnsworth at his shipyard?” Maggie asked.
“It’s managing his shipyard, yes.” Alexei shoved another bite of food into his mouth.
“Would it pay well?” Mikhail had gone from leaning forward to sitting back in his chair as he analyzed Alexei.
“Like I said, it doesn’t matter. I’m not going.”
“Let me try to understand. One of the wealthiest shipbuilders on the Pacific Coast offered you a fancy job filled with money and invited you to move down there where you’ll be near the daughter he can’t seem to marry off?
” Mikhail crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t tell me I’m the only one who sees where this is going. ”
Alexei threw up his hands. “It’s not going anywhere because I’m not going to take it. I’m not leaving Alaska or any of you.”
“There was a time when that was the only thing you wanted.” Sacha wiped his beard with his napkin.
Alexei just shook his head. “That was a lifetime ago.”
“Well, that’s a relief.” Yuri leaned back in his chair. “I was already trying to picture you in one of those San Francisco suits with a stiff collar, shiny shoes, and no wood chips in sight. I doubt even a merry heart could survive that.”
Mikhail snorted into his coffee, and Bryony tried to hide a grin behind her hand.
“Don’t worry,” Yuri added, eyes dancing as Alexei scowled at him. “We’d have sent care packages—bits of sawdust and sea salt—just to remind you where you belong.”
Alexei just shook his head. “They’ll be no need for care packages filled with sawdust, I assure you.
I was never meant to have what I wanted to have in San Francisco with Clarise.
I have no desire to move down there now.
I feel bad for Laurel more than anything.
I can’t promise there’s something romantic there, but I can’t promise there’s not.
” He moved his hand to his chest, rubbing his palm back and forth over his breastbone.
“That will take some time to figure out, but the one thing I know is that I’m not leaving Sitka. ”
He took a sip of water, then raised his eyes and moved them around the table.
“But there is something of interest all of you should know. While I was in San Francisco, I sent a telegram to Secretary Gray about the villages of Klawock and Kasaan being forced to relocate and Governor Caldwell requiring anyone who trades with an Indian village to register as an Indian agent. The secretary sent me a telegram back almost immediately. He had no idea any of this was happening, and he’ll be returning to Alaska to look into these matters himself. ”
“He will?” Yuri raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t think he cared what happened here, as long as it doesn’t mess up something he’s trying to do in Washington, DC.”
“He cares if he thinks whatever’s happening will lead to poorer relations with the tribes,” Alexei answered. “He wants them to relinquish their claim to tribal lands and move to larger cities and villages. He’s likely concerned that whatever the new governor is up to will hinder that.”
“Wonder what the governor will say when Gray arrives.” Mikhail took a sip of coffee.
“He’ll probably find a way to impound another ship or take away another one of our contracts,” Alexei muttered.
“Let’s hope that’s all he does.” Bryony had gotten up from the table and was starting to dish out cake.
“Enough about this mess.” Alexei took the cake Bryony handed him and cut into it with the side of his fork. “What happened here while I was gone? Anything I should know about?”
“Nothing.” Yuri scooped up his last bite of potatoes. “It was nothing other than boring.”
Mikhail smirked. “Yuri didn’t even try to finish your audit, and I think he only answered half of your correspondence. I hope you’re planning to work twelve hours or better for the next week.”
Yuri held up his hands. “Look, I’m happy to help with the family business.
Really. I’ll move down to San Francisco and manage the new shipyard, and you can send me to Portland or Seattle to see if I can procure shipping contracts there.
Just don’t ask me to check shipping manifests against warehouse inventory.
All those numbers are enough to drive a man insane. ”
A knock sounded at the back door. Yuri exchanged a glance with Mikhail. It was strange to have someone knocking in the middle of dinner, and especially at the kitchen door. A person would have had to cross through the tree-lined backyard to reach it.
The knock sounded again, and Sacha started to push back his chair. “Let me see—”
“It’s probably for me.” Alexei was already standing. He was seated closest to the door anyway, and he reached it in only a few seconds.
But despite the fact everyone was curious about their unexpected visitor, he only opened the door partway, his body blocking their view.
“Can I help you?” Confusion laced Alexei’s voice.
Yuri was half tempted to stand and go to the door, just to see who it was, rather than eat his cake. Then the person at the door spoke.
“Is Yuri here?”
Rosalind. He dropped his fork and sprang to his feet. Was something wrong?
“Is this about the letters?” Alexei asked.
A hard ball formed in Yuri’s stomach. He hadn’t yet told Alexei about his plans to help Rosalind escape.
In fact, Alexei hadn’t been home long enough for anyone to tell him about what Rosalind was suffering at the hands of her father.
That wasn’t exactly the type of thing they’d discuss at the dinner table where little ears were present.
Alexei stepped to the side so Yuri could greet her.
“Is everything all right?” He couldn’t think of a single good reason that would propel Rosalind from her house after dark and cause her to sneak up to their back door at a time of day when her father might very well notice she was gone.
“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Bryony came up behind him. “It’s been too long since we visited.”
“I can’t stay.” Rosalind stood just beyond the doorframe, her chest heaving and eyes glancing around without settling on any one thing. Snow dusted the top of her hatless head, and wisps of hair had come loose around her face. It was the most disheveled he’d ever seen her.
“I just . . .” She licked her lips, then glanced around again before she opened her cloak and shoved two slim journals at his chest. “Can you give these to your brother-in-law? The Deputy Marshal?”
Then she turned and fled into the night.
“Ros! Wait!” he called, but she was already gone, leaving only a set of footprints behind her in the snow.
“What is it?” Alexei asked.
“I don’t know.” He handed one of the journals to Alexei, not sure whether he should be chasing after Rosalind.
Alexei opened it and scanned the page for a moment, his eyebrows pinched together. “Is this . . . Is this what I think it is?”
“What did she give you?” Mikhail asked from behind them. “Come inside and shut the door so we can see.”
Alexei shook his head, his eyes still pinned to the page. “It appears to be proof of Preston Caldwell falsifying the number of seals harvested last year.”
“What?” Sacha jumped up from the table so quickly, his chair nearly toppled backward.
Yuri opened the ledger he was still holding. It wasn’t a record of the number of seals killed, not like Alexei’s ledger. This one was filled with names and dates and payment amounts.
“This isn’t right,” he whispered.
“Obviously.” Alexei flipped a page. “Secretary Gray will want to know about it. Immediately. If only there was a way to send a telegram straight from Sitka. The best I can do is write one and send it with the Alliance when it leaves in the morning. The captain can wire it for me when he gets to port, but that’s a three day delay. ”