Free Contract to Wed by Holly Bush

said
she needs more help.”
    “I didn’t realize there was a problem. But if she needs
staff, then fine. I don’t understand why she didn’t say something to me,
though.”
    “Because she does not want to fail in your eyes,
Maximillian. She will continue on working fourteen or even sixteen hours a day,
seven days a week, rather than admit to you that she needs help.”
    “She’s working fourteen or sixteen hours a day? That’s
ridiculous!”
    “Yes, it is, and she is unable to double check on other’s
work, such as the laundry and the maids because she starts in the kitchens at
four in the morning and does not go home until eight in the evening.”
    “I had no idea,” he said. “That’s far too much work for
her.”
    “She also needs help managing her staff. Setting the
expectations and then leaving them to succeed or fail. Instead, she does all
the work herself.”
    “How did you figure this out?”
    Jolene arched a brow. “I examined the ledgers she keeps, and
I watched the cleaning routines of the upstairs maids. It wasn’t that
difficult. I spoke to her earlier this week about bed linens that needed
repaired or mended. I went to the kitchens a few nights ago near midnight for
some milk when I couldn’t sleep and found her sewing away by the light of a
lamp.”
    Maximillian wiped his face with his hand.
    “If you don’t know what to look for, you wouldn’t know,
Maximillian,” she said. “I do know what to look for although it will take me
some time to get accustomed to the size of the food budget here. It is
extensive, even with a sizable kitchen garden and chickens. You still must buy
sugar, salt, pork, fruit, coffee, and large amounts of it all, as well as many
other items. Maria does a very good job with her inventories, but I am going to
help her in that area and would like to also hire an older, more responsible
person to manage the household staff outside of the kitchens.”
    “Do whatever is necessary, Jolene, and if there is something
for me to do, just let me know. The house expenses have stayed relatively even
for years, but the ranch has expanded, meaning more mouths to feed and more
laundry and more work for the inside staff. I didn’t think about until now when
you pointed it out.”
    “We will get things straightened out quickly, Maximillian.”
    “The budget is yours to manage,” he said.

 
    Chapter Eight
     
    Jolene came down the staircase
shortly before seven when the McCastors were due to arrive. Her dress was a
blue color that made her hair look blonder than usual and matched her eyes. She
swept past Max into the dining rooms and had a quiet conversation with the
staff standing there. She came out to the foyer where he stood and fussed over
the massive crystal vase filled with cut flowers that now sat on the large
round table. Some of the flowers were four feet tall and he wondered how much
that had set him back. He had to admit, though, that the arrangement was a
finishing touch that he would have never thought of.
    “Hey, Boss,” Zeb said as he joined them. “Mrs. Shelby.”
    “Good evening, Mr. Moran,” she replied as she looked around
the rooms.
    “No need to be nervous, Jolene,” Max said. “The McCastors
have been here many times. They’re friends.”
    She looked at him strangely. “Nervous? I am not nervous in
the least.”
    “I think what she’s saying is why should she be nervous over
a Dallas business owner,” Zeb said.
    “No, Mr. Moran,” she said as she turned with some fire in her
eyes. “I could entertain Queen Victoria and would not be nervous. It matters
little who the guest is if one is prepared.”
    “Here they come,” he said as he heard a carriage roll under
the portico. He walked to the doorway and stopped as Jolene slipped her arm
through his. He looked down where her bare arm with some silver bracelets
clinking together wrapped around his. She was slender without looking sickly,
her skin a pale pink. She motioned them forward.
    He