Chapter 17 — The Golden Goose

Stephanie went straight to Stratford Place. As her heels crossed the threshold, she yelled out, her voice frantic. “Daddy, where are you? I need to talk to you.”

She found him in his study, sitting in his overstuffed chair with his feet propped up on the ottoman, reading the newspaper. The horned rimmed glasses he was wearing made him look exceptionally intimidating.

“Shut the door, Stephanie,” he said, peering up at her. “News travels fast in Brier Hill County.”

As soon as the door closed behind her, she could tell by the look on his face that he knew she’d lied to him last night. It was as if he had been expecting her. She knew he would hammer the truth out of her; he always did. Still, she wasn’t sure how much he knew, and she didn’t want to dump bad news on him all at once.

He put down the newspaper. “Sit down, Stephanie.” His voice was condescending.

She sat down in a chair opposite him and waited. He picked up a tumbler from the stand and took a long swallow of bourbon, then lit a cigar.

The silence was almost more than she could bear. Finally, he looked at her squarely and said, “Do you know what you’ve done?”

“Well, I…,” she said nervously.

Daniel cut her off. “You have stained our family name,” he said sharply. “It’s a mockery. We have sent the wedding invitations out.” He grew quiet, his expression stern. “You are so irresponsible—you’ve married Thomas Shrock—an Amish man.”

Mustering up all the courage she could manage, she said in a tight voice. “I thought the sorceress was blessing me. The sorceress used magic, and the pen signed my name to the marriage document. It was a mistake; I should never have gone there.”

“It sure as hell was,” Daniel said, flipping ashes off his cigar into the ashtray.

“I guess you know I was at the exorcism last night,” she said.

“Yes. The sheriff called me after I spoke to you. He told me everything. I didn’t call you because I knew about the shooting and thought you had been through enough for one night. I was waiting for you to come to me.” He chomped down on his cigar. “But you didn’t come this morning. You went to Thomas Shrock’s.”

Stephanie hated cigar smoke and got up and paced the room. She went to the window and looked out. “The Amish accused me of being a witch,” she said, barely able to believe it. And the exorcism went the opposite of the way Thomas thought it would. To make a long story short, Thomas did nothing to defend me when the Amish turned on me. If it weren’t for Sawyer Rhodes, coming to my aid, they might have killed me.”

“I’m grateful to Sawyer. The sheriff gave me a full report. But you must remember, Sawyer is an accused murderer. And the fact of the matter is you should not have gone to the exorcism,” Daniel scolded. “Why does it surprise you that Thomas stood with his people?” Without waiting for her to answer, he said, “Thomas is an Amish deacon. They’re cultish. It is my understanding that it was his idea to do the exorcism, and he put you in a perilous situation. Now, do you understand why I don’t want you in a relationship with him? You were almost killed. If you hadn’t been there, it would not have happened.”

Stephanie folded her arms and stared out the window. “It’s all my fault, and if you want the truth, I had a crush on Thomas from the age of fifteen. I was going to come to you and ask if he could court me. But once I got back from college, he told me that he’d been with Maddie Yoder. It put a damper on the relationship. But last night at the exorcism, the truth flashed before me. He had little or no regard for me. He stood with his people and did whatever Bishop Jon told him to do.” She paused and dropped her eyes. “I’m completely disillusioned by men. I’ve decided to become a spinster. I cannot marry Richard.”

Daniel had that look on his face that he always had right before he was ready to discipline her. His face turned red, and then he glowered.

She put her hands on her hips. “What?” Her hands dropped to her side when he grew even redder.

“You’ve been making bad choices since Hedy died and you inherited the estate. I think you have some growing up to do. I’ve tried to be a good father to you and set a good example. And now you tell me that you’re going to let one man determine whether you are going to marry or not. A woman needs a husband. You don’t want to be a spinster like Becca, do you? There’s a lot of old family money at stake. Hedy left you everything she had. You’ve done nothing to earn it. You don’t have a clue how to manage money. There are investments, stocks, and bonds. It isn’t easy to build an empire. You need Richard. With wise investments, Richard could triple everything you have. You’re already the richest woman in the county. ”

Stephanie grew bold. “I disagree. I’m perfectly capable of managing the estate and the investments. I don’t need a man to validate who I am. Times have changed. Even Jane Austen chose not to marry. I want a life like hers. Frankly, men are a lot of trouble. I see no reason to marry.”

“You can be so empty-headed, Stephanie. Jane Austen did not come from a wealthy family. She wrote Pride and Prejudice and supported herself and her family. You could live a hundred years on the old money Hedy left you. You don’t have to work, but you will because you’re a Stratford. Our family has always worked hard and given to the community, and we expect you to do the same. There’s a lot of old family money at stake, and I cannot go to my grave worrying about whether you are well enough to manage the estates.” He paused and said, “Since this has happened, I’m questioning your stability. I’m considering putting you on an allowance until you can prove yourself to be stable. My God, it’s amazing what you’ve done in less than twenty-four hours. And you expect me to fix it.”

“An allowance!” Stephanie huffed. “If you think for a moment that I’m going to bend to you, I won’t. I will fight for what is rightfully mine; my inheritance belongs to me.”

“It won’t be much of a fight with what you’ve got in your sock and piggy bank,” Daniel countered.

Stephanie jutted her chin. “I have my own money.”

Daniel looked her straight in the eye. “You are bluffing. Stop talking nonsense. I suppose you have conjured up another fairy tale character. Maybe a goose who lays golden eggs.”

“Yes,” Stephanie said smartly. “I have a goose who lays golden eggs—quack, quack, quack.”

“You can be so damned annoying, Stephanie. You’re an intelligent girl, but somehow you managed to get yourself married to an Amish man today. I’m trying to reason with you, and you’re quacking at me like a damned duck.”

“You’ve always told me to be careful what I say because you can’t take words back—and so I quacked. I don’t want to argue with you, Daddy. And the truth is—I don’t want to be married to Thomas. I don’t want to be married at all. Besides, he’s been with Maddie Yoder. My feelings have changed.”

A smile curved at Daniel’s lips. “I’m curious. You’ve had a crush on Thomas since the age of fifteen. What happened? Are you finally growing out of your childhood crush?”

“The fact that he abandoned me during the exorcism was the deciding factor.” She struck a pose. “But there are other things: getting up at five a.m. to make him breakfast and pack a lunch bucket; having a baby every year; going to bed at eight o’clock every night and having sex whether you want to or not. A big family means everything to an Amish man. And I don’t want children.”

Daniel smiled broadly. “I’m impressed with your reasoning. I need to increase your allowance.”

Stephanie smiled. “Thank you, Daddy. I was going to mention that I went over budget this month. I had two chairs reupholstered, and the leaky roof on the North side of the house cost more than I thought.”

Daniel took a long puff of his cigar. “You’re very young to have the responsibilities that I’ve put on you. I know you’ve been under a lot of stress, but you were naïve to go to Thomas’s.” He flicked his cigar ashes into an ashtray, his expression stern. “I’m afraid you were set up by Thomas with this so-called marriage. They must have broken every speed limit in the village because they were at the courthouse to file the documents fifteen minutes before you walked in the door. It seemed out of order, and the clerk at the courthouse called me.”

“So, you took care of it—I’m not married?”

Daniel frowned. “I’m working on it. They presented a signed legal document to the clerk. The fact that Thomas is Amish will make it more difficult. There has never been a divorce among the Amish in Brier Hill County. In fact, I’ve never heard of an Amish divorce.”

“I don’t know if it means anything, but the marriage was never consummated.”

“I’m sure Richard will be very happy to hear that,” Judge said sarcastically. “You’re naïve but you’re not stupid.” Daniel stamped out his cigar in the ashtray. “Come to dinner tonight at six o’clock. We’ve invited the Coopers. Marguerite needs to clear some things with you about the wedding.”

“I don’t understand,” Stephanie said with a pathetic expression. “How can we move forward with the wedding when I’m married to Thomas.”

“I’m a Judge,” he said, standing up closing the distance between them. He held her at arm’s length. “If the sorceress can use magic, so can I. Your mother and I have worked hard to make this town what it is today. I have influence. Sometimes, Judges can make paperwork disappear.”

Stephanie heaved a sigh of relief. “You can fix it, Daddy? Thank you! I’ll never do anything like that again. I promise.”

His dark eyes looked stern. “And you need to tell Richard everything.”

“He knows?” Stephanie asked.

“Of course, Richard knows. Everyone in the county knows.”

“How will I ever explain it?” Stephanie had a worried expression. 

“Quack, Quack, Quack,” Judge replied with a wry smile, his dimples showing, making him look like Clark Gable. Everyone had always said her father look just like him and was the most handsome man in the county. He turned on his heel and walked out of the room. 

“See you at dinner,” Stephanie called after him.

“Don’t be late,” he said. Then he walked back and stood in the doorway, and asked, “Did you really buy the Robin’s Egg thread?” 

Stephanie bit her lip. “I was going to buy it—I really was—but…”

“I almost believed that one.” He grinned and strode way.