Free No Mortal Reason by Kathy Lynn Emerson

As for Saugus, Diana couldn’t help but feel that his patter was the build-up to a sales pitch, though she couldn’t imagine what he might hope to convince her to buy.
    “One of the farmers decided he wasn’t going to let us put any poles on his property.”
    Saugus shifted his chair a little closer to Diana. She inched away, put off by hair oil too liberally applied and by the man himself. He didn’t seem to notice her retreat.
    “The farmer owned both sides of the road, so there wasn’t anywhere else for us to go, so we went ahead and dug two holes in his roadside. Well, what did he do but send his wife and daughter out to squat down over those holes so we couldn’t put the poles in!”
    Saugus chuckled and finished the last dregs of coffee in his cup. Mrs. Saugus laughed merrily. Diana managed not to cringe. The woman’s behavior made her increasingly uncomfortable. It was as if she had undertaken the role of supportive wife but couldn’t manage it without overacting.
    “We were at a standoff for quite some time, but then the old farmer made a mistake. He shoved one of my workmen and I had him arrested for assault. While he was in jail, my men dug two extra holes—those women were still covering up the first two—and set two poles and strung a wire from one new pole to the other. When he got free, the farmer threatened to chop them both down, but by that time I had a lawyer to sic on him. In the end, he decided not to get his fingers burned.”
    “You seem to be involved in all kinds of projects, Mr. Saugus,” Diana said politely.
    “That’s how I make my money. Invest in a good thing and rake in the profits when it succeeds.”
    “And you think the Hotel Grant will succeed?”
    “Going to be another Saratoga Springs.”
    Since she could not imagine such a thing, or think of any sensible comment to make, Diana was relieved to have Ben arrive at that moment. In short order, Mr. and Mrs. Saugus had gone and Mrs. Ellington had brought Ben and Diana their meal. It was, as Diana had expected, a simple supper consisting of two chops, a baked potato, and a “slip on”—hot mince pie.
    “What do you know about Norman T. Saugus?” Diana asked Ben.
    “Not much. I gather he’s a speculator investing in your uncle’s hotel.”
    Diana repeated what Saugus had said, then added, “I’ve never been to Saratoga Springs, but isn’t it, er, much bigger than this?”
    “ Much bigger. Your uncle might succeed in making the Hotel Grant into a successful resort along the lines of some in the Adirondacks and the White Mountains. He could enlarge it to perhaps twice its present size. But to hope for more seems extraordinarily foolish. Saratoga Springs took decades to grow into what it is today, and that was with the support of the entire community. Hotel builders came in from outside. A number of them. Such a project couldn’t possibly be financed by one man, no matter how wealthy.”
    “I don’t believe Mr. Saugus is a rich entrepreneur. And I didn’t much care for him.”
    “What do you make of his wife?”
    “She doesn’t like him much, either.” Diana sighed and picked up her fork. “I wonder if I might have become the same sort of sycophant if Evan had lived?”
    “Never.”
    His certainty pleased Diana even as the sharp tone made her wince. She hadn’t meant to mention Evan’s name. She knew how much Ben hated to be reminded that she’d been married before. That they both knew Evan had been a liar and a cheat did not make matters any easier.
    In a way, she’d rubbed salt in a wound by making Ben wait for her answer to his marriage proposal. He was nothing like Evan, as she’d repeatedly assured him, but she’d taken her time about saying yes because she had wanted to make sure she did not make the same mistake twice. Impulsiveness was her one failing, and that first time she’d leapt into marriage without regard for the consequences.
    Mrs. Ellington appeared at Diana’s elbow with a pot of