Erin counted the money as quickly as she could, but already she knew there wasn’t enough kept at the shop to give Edgar all of what he wanted. She needed to go home and then head to the estate.
"What was that?" Erin muttered, startled by a noise.
Erin looked at the door and thought her mind was playing tricks on her. She went back to counting the money, but stopped once more after hearing someone screaming.
"Dale," Erin whispered, her eyes widening at the realisation of what had happened. "No, no, no," she repeated in a panic.
Erin was not gone long, but it seemed to be enough time for the men to fight.
Erin left the money behind and ran toward the door to go back to the other room.
"Dale!" Erin called her husband. "Dale!" She gasped, her hands covering her mouth.
Dale laid on the ground with Edgar’s foot on his chest. The Collins guards stormed in, but they remained by the door.
Edgar was unamused by the interaction. Dale wasn’t worth a fight.
Edgar moved his foot since Erin returned. "Is the money counted?" He asked.
Erin didn’t know what to say at first. She couldn’t get the sight of her husband on the floor out of her head.
Dale stood up and dusted off his clothes. It was an embarrassing sight, but luckily, there wasn’t anyone around to see it.
It happened so quickly after he tried to hit Edgar that Dale didn’t know how he ended up on the floor.
Dale was certain he saw Edgar reaching into his coat for a gun, which made him want to send for the town guards. This would be the perfect time to have Edgar arrested.
"See, Erin. They don’t care about you," Dale said, happy she finally saw it.
"I don’t care about you," Edgar admitted, speaking to Dale. "Time is money, and neither one of you can afford to keep me here. Where is the money?"
"Don’t," Dale instructed Erin. "We need to send for the town guards. It’s the first thing you should have done when he came here. He’s the one ruining your business."
"No," Erin replied, tired of going around in circles. "I only have what my shop made today, but there is more money at home."
Dale didn’t want to give away their money. Dale and Erin had plenty of people to care for. They couldn’t just give away money.
"It is final that I will give him the money. This is my shop, and whether you like it or not, Alessandra gave me money to be an owner. Either we give them back the money so she has no part in the business, or we leave it be and she continues to be paid," Erin suggested.
Erin hoped it would be the latter so she could have a tie to Alessandra. If Alessandra remained with the shop, then they would have to speak at some point.
"Would she be interested in staying? I would continue to pay her what she is owed," said Erin.
"You’ve already disappointed her once, Erin. I’m not giving you the chance to do it again. If Alessandra wants a dress shop, she’ll have her own," said Edgar.
"What?" Erin replied, shocked by this.
Erin knew the only reason Alessandra had an interest in a dress shop was because of her dreams. Owning a dress shop wasn’t something Alessandra wanted.
Alessandra had the mines, so she didn’t need another shop.
Dale laughed at the news. "The duchess would want a shop? The only reason your wife would want one would be to rival Erin’s business. Is that the kindness the town speaks of regarding your wife?"
Erin touched Dale’s arm to get him to stop. Mentioning Alessandra would place Dale in danger.
"I am going to give you the money I have here, and then I will personally take the rest to the estate. If you would allow it, I would like to speak with Alessandra. I want to apologise for the decisions I made," Erin said, hoping it wasn’t too late.
"You can show up at our gates, but I can’t make promises you’ll be let in. I’ll give you one more day to bring the rest of it. Hand over what you have now," said Edgar.
Erin grabbed Dale’s hand and pulled her along with him this time so he wouldn’t end up in a worse position than before.
"That was foolish of you to pick a fight with him," Erin said, disappointed with Dale. "He could have hurt you"
"I would like my wife to have my side and not think I started anything with that bastard. You can’t give him all of that money, Erin. Business has not been good as of late because of the foolish gossip," Dale said, angered by the sight of what Erin put aside.
"It is not Edgar’s fault that the townspeople are starting to speak of Kyle’s past friendship with Simon," Erin replied.
"I wouldn’t put it past that man to do this to ruin you. Why are you giving in so easily? You have been around that family for a long time to know many of their secrets. Tell me what you-"
"I know nothing," Erin quickly responded.
Even if she knew anything, Erin didn’t want to ruin her friendship with Alessandra even more than she already had. There was some hope for the friendship, and speaking of family secrets would not be the way to fix it.
Erin placed the money she counted into a wooden box.
Dale grabbed her hand and said, "I am not letting you do this."
"You cannot tell me what to do with my money. I understand why Kyle might be at odds with Edgar, but not you. No," Erin changed her mind. "I don’t understand why Kyle hates him as well. Unless Kyle knew of Simon’s plans, why was he upset that Edgar revealed everything?"
"Our troubles started long before he uncovered what Simon did. He’s a rude bastard," Dale said, reminded of his past run-ins with Edgar.
They didn’t like each other from their youth.
"Are you upset he wouldn’t be your friend? You married me knowing that I had become close to the Collinses. Your troubles with Edgar are not mine, and I will give him what he is owed," Erin said, picking up the box to take it to Edgar.
"We have others to care for," Dale reminded Erin.
"It is only you and me. If it is your mother you’ve been caring for, then it is time for your brother and father to help her. After all, they had such a hard time welcoming me into the family. Excuse me," Erin said, leaving Dale to give the money to Edgar.
It was almost over with only an apology left to be done.
Erin hoped that her visit to the estate tomorrow would bring good news regarding her friendship with Alessandra.