To Have and To Hold by Tracie Peterson, Judith Miller

you’ve prepared.”
    Thora cackled and meandered toward the kitchen with a slight wave of her hand. The woman’s behavior had done little to enhance Marshall’s appetite. For all he knew, she’d spent the morning dreaming up some way to poison him.

Chapter 7
    Much had happened during the past forty-eight hours—some of it interesting, some of it perplexing, and some of it downright annoying. The day before, Dr. Wahler and his daughters arrived on the afternoon boat—at least that’s what Audrey had been told. Thus far she’d not been introduced to the doctor or his children, an occurrence she had found most perplexing. Though she’d expected the doctor to stop at Bridal Fair before heading off to his own cottage, she surmised he had likely made a wise decision by settling the children into their new accommodations with as little fanfare as possible. A new home and strange surroundings could certainly overwhelm young children. If time permitted, she would visit the doctor’s cottage this afternoon and offer a proper welcome. For now, she needed to complete breakfast preparations.
    While she mixed cream into the eggs for a satisfying Saturday morning breakfast, her thoughts skittered like bacon grease in a hot skillet. Last evening Mr. Morley and Stuart Griggs, his architect, had met in the parlor to discuss drainage problems on the island, and in the midst of their discussion, her father had interrupted them to introduce Marshall Graham to Mr. Morley. She’d been surprised when her father rattled off Marshall’s credentials as a talented construction supervisor, but her surprise soon turned to annoyance. Her father had appeared as proud as a peacock. She’d briefly considered asking if Mr. Graham carried letters of recommendation to prove all the claims of his success, but she wouldn’t embarrass her father. Yet, if Marshall possessed his father’s penchant for alcohol—and she’d been told long ago that all of the Graham men enjoyed their liquor far too much—he had likely come south because he could no longer find work up north. Granted, he didn’t appear to be a drinker, but he was still relatively young. In a few more years, it would catch up with him, and the physical effects would become apparent, just as they had with her father.
    Last evening, the men had agreed to meet after breakfast, and Audrey now worried that her father’s recommendation of Mr. Graham could cause trouble. Truth be told, she’d been hard-pressed to hide her aggravation. She had hoped Marshall Graham would be boarding a boat and departing for Jekyl Island by now. She didn’t need the worry of a probable drinker moving into their home. She could only hope that Mr. Morley would realize he had no need of another supervisor for his project. And if he didn’t know it, she hoped the conversation during breakfast would prove her correct.
    As soon as the men arrived in the dining room and settled at their places, her father offered thanks for breakfast and asked God’s protection over the workers and a productive day for the men. His prayer gave Audrey the exact opening she wanted. While passing the biscuits, she directed her attention to Mr. Fenton, Mr. Uptegrove, and Mr. Parks. “You’ve been so busy that I haven’t heard a progress report regarding your venture into Biscayne the other day. I do hope you were successful.”
    Mr. Fenton helped himself to a biscuit, broke it in half, and slathered it with butter. “We had more men show up than either of us expected. Most of them will start the first of the week.” He peered down the table and met Audrey’s gaze. “Mostly single fellas. The married ones aren’t so keen on leaving their families behind all week, but I think we’ll have those old slave quarters filled with a good crew of workers real soon. Best part is that I found a man who was a cook in the army, and