“If you two will excuse me, I’m going out for a little while,” Randall said as he stood up.
“Going where? It’s Sunday night.” Mary Ellen frowned.
“Mary Ellen, why do you keep reminding me what day of the week it is?” Randall laughed.
“Oh, you know what I mean.” Mary Ellen flushed.
“Yes dear, I do. Because of Harrison’s birthday celebration, I’m afraid I neglected a few things at the office yesterday. I want to run down there and get a few things done before the morning.”
William stood up, as if he too was going to leave.
“William, there is no reason for you to run off just because I’m going to the office. Why don’t you stay and keep Mary Ellen company? I’m sure she’d like that. It’s still early.”
“How long do you think you’ll be?” she asked.
“Don’t expect me until much later. I have quite a bit to do, and before I come home I’ll want to unwind a little. So I might stop for a drink.”
• • • •
“It always makes me nervous when he goes to one of those places,” Mary Ellen said after her husband was gone.
“Why?”
“I always hear about the raids.”
“Even if there is a raid, nothing will happen to Randall.”
“I wonder where he’s really going,” Mary Ellen asked.
“You don’t think he’s going to the office?”
“Do you?”
“Are you upset?”
“Not upset…reflective.”
William didn’t ask what she meant, but sat quietly and watched her. She looked as if she had more to say.
“For over six years we’ve been pretending to have a normal marriage. But it wasn’t normal. Last night we acknowledged the emperor has no clothes. I didn’t appreciate the full extent of what Randall meant when he told me he only expected discretion. I thought about it a lot today. And when he left tonight, I realized he was telling me he plans to live his own life, and I can live mine, providing I’m discreet.”
“How do you feel about that?” William studied Mary Ellen. He couldn’t help but wonder what had been the catalyst for last night’s events.
Mary Ellen sat there a moment considering William’s question. Her expression was both thoughtful and serious. Finally, she gave him her answer.
“Liberating, I think.”
They were both silent for a few moments, before William asked, “The house seems quiet, where is everyone tonight?”
“I suspect out, or in bed. It’s a little late for any of them to be roaming around the house. Mrs. Parker turns in much earlier than she used to, and Jane left for the evening, no reason for her to stay here with Harrison gone. I don’t imagine she’ll be back until tomorrow. Why?”
William stood up and put his hand out. Mary Ellen cocked her head curiously, but took his hand in hers and stood up with him. He looked at her.
“I’ve also been reflecting on what you told me last night, and have thought of little else. I keep coming back to two things…”
“What two things?”
“That I love you and that I am tired of wasting precious time. Come upstairs with me Mary Ellen, now.”
Paralyzed momentarily, Mary Ellen reminded herself to breathe. She’d never been as excruciatingly aware of her own heart beat as she was in that moment. Even the pit of her belly chose this time to make its presence known by twisting anxiously. Instead of giving a verbal answer, she simply went with William submissively and willingly.
Without saying another word, they walked from the parlor, down the hall and up the staircase leading to the floor with the family bedrooms.
Mary Ellen’s bedchamber was dark. Before closing the door, William walked to the window and opened the curtain, letting in the moonlight. He then closed the door.
Not quite sure what to do, Mary Ellen stood in the center of the bedroom and watched him. Taking his time, William began unfastening the back of her dress. It fell to the floor in a silky heap. She closed her eyes briefly and savored the sensation of his hands moving over her body, as he removed her undergarments.
Her eyes fluttered opened and she watched as he removed his clothing. She stood in the middle of the room, completely nude. His gaze locked on her. When his state of undress matched hers, he led her to the bed.
• • • •
The sound of footsteps coming up the staircase broke the silence.
“Randall’s home,” Mary Ellen murmured. Two quilts covered their bodies as she snuggled into William’s embrace.
“Does he ever come in here?” He dropped a kiss on the top of her head.
“No.”
The footsteps hit the landing, then disappeared down the hallway. There was a sound of a door opening and shutting. William rolled over on top of Mary Ellen and made love to her for the third time that night.
An hour later, he kissed her and told her he needed to go home.
“I just remembered, your car is in the driveway, Randall has obviously seen it,” Mary Ellen commented as she laid in the bed and watched him dress.
“Then I suppose I’m a cad if I leave you alone to face your husband. You want me to stay?”
“That would be interesting. But no, go home, I’ll be fine.”
• • • •
“Good morning, dear,” Randall greeted as Mary Ellen joined him in the dining room. He was reading the morning paper and drinking a cup of coffee. She poured herself a cup and sat at the table with him.
“Did you get all your work done?” she asked.
“Yes, I did. Did you and William have a nice visit?”
“Yes, very nice. Thank you.”
“I see he stayed rather late. I hope he remembers we have a nine o’clock meeting.”
“I’m sure he does.”
“Don’t forget, Mary Ellen, we’re going to the theatre Friday night.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“Did I mention, you are looking very lovely this morning?”
“Thank you, Randall.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
With the release of the musical “The Jazz Singer” in 1927 the era of the silent movie was coming to an end. As Hollywood moved into the 1930s it entered what would be termed its Golden Age.
Infamous Black Tuesday, heralding the Stock Market Crash of 1929, signified the end of the Roaring Twenties’ era of excess and prosperity and the beginning of the Great Depression. By the end of 1932 Coulson-Hunter Enterprises had closed up their plants in Virginia and Philadelphia. After relocating the home office in Chicago, both the Coulson and Hunter Philadelphia estates were sold.
On March 4, 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn into the office of President of the United States. The next day in Germany, the Nazi Party won the majority in parliament. The following month, Utah became the 38th state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, thus ending federal prohibition in America.
In the spring of 1933, Harrison Coulson turned fourteen.
While not as ostentatious as the Philadelphia Coulson estate, the Chicago townhouse Mary Ellen shared with her husband and son was located in one of the finer Chicago neighborhoods, and she preferred it to her Philadelphia residence. One advantage, William’s townhouse was on the same street. None of their household staff from Philadelphia had relocated to Chicago and Mrs. Parker had passed away four years prior to the move.
Edward Browning died one month to the day after Mrs. Parker. Prior to his death, Mary Ellen and Harrison made annual trips to Virginia. By the time of her father’s death, none of her brothers was living at home—and none lived in Virginia. Her step-mother inherited the house Randall Coulson had purchased for the Browning family. Mary Ellen had never gotten close with her step-mother, and after her father’s death, never heard from the woman again. She received occasional letters from her brothers, yet they had all moved out west, living in Oregon, Arizona and California.
One casualty of the move was William’s private library. Unable to house all the books at his townhouse, he was forced to store the remainder of his collection. For Randall the downsizing was more devastating and he promised Mary Ellen that someday they would live in a house even grander than their Philadelphia estate. She was quite happy with their new accommodations, yet accepted her husband’s promise for his benefit. In spite of personal sacrifices, Coulson-Hunter Enterprises’ financial future was optimistic.
• • • •
Mary Ellen walked into the sunny parlor of her townhouse while reading a letter that had just arrived in the mail. William and Randall were sitting in the room discussing business.
Randall glanced up at his wife and frowned. She was wearing slacks, a style he’d never become accustomed to.
“You have some lovely dresses,” Randall commented. Mary Ellen just smiled and then sat down on the couch and continued to read.
“It could be worse, Randall, I understand women out west have taken to wearing their husband’s jeans,” William said.
“You don’t like my outfit?” Mary Ellen looked up from her letter, addressing her inquiry to William.
“I think you always look lovely.”
“Please stop flattering my wife, William. She’s become far too independent.”
“Oh Randall, you know I make you the perfect wife!” Mary Ellen laughed, then folded her letter and tucked it back into the envelope.
“I suppose you do. Did I get any mail?”
“Oh I’m sorry. I left it on the table in the entry. Do you want me to get it for you?”
“No, that’s fine. Who’s the letter from?”
“My brother, Frank.”
“The one in Oregon?” William asked.
“No, Arizona.”
“Aside from having to tolerate women wearing their husband’s denims, I envy your brothers’ sense of adventure. Moving out west sounds rather appealing right now,” Randall told her.
“I thought you liked Chicago?” Mary Ellen asked.
“I had an interesting dream last night,” Randall told them.
“About moving west?” Mary Ellen asked.
“In the dream I purchased an enormous piece of land in the southwest.”
“A ranch?” Mary Ellen asked. “If we lived on a ranch, I’d have to wear jeans you know. Of course, you don’t wear them so I would have to buy you some if I want to borrow them.”
“Do you want to hear this dream, or not?” Randall sounded only slightly annoyed.
“Yes…sorry.” Mary Ellen grinned.
“No, it was not a ranch. I developed a pre-planned community. My own city. The economy was fueled by tourism and we opened a plant there, to give people a place to work.”
“Ahh, I know what spurred that dream!” William laughed. “It was that discussion we had last night about what’s wrong with Chicago, and how you would fix it!”
“Perhaps, but the idea is intriguing.”
“You know what this means don’t you?” William asked. “We’re moving west.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because two of your husband’s more brilliant ideas were each inspired by a dream.”
“Is that true?” Mary Ellen asked. She’d never heard that before.
“That is stretching it a bit, William.” Randall chuckled. “After my father died I had a dream William and I went into business together. I suppose that’s one he is talking about.”
“Yes. And the other was the Chicago merger,” William reminded him.
“Moving to our own western frontier community might give me an excuse to wear men’s denims but I’d miss the cultural opportunities of the city, such as the theatre. Which by the way is tonight, so I hope you two wrap up whatever business you’ve been working on all afternoon so you can get ready,” Mary Ellen told them.
“Anything to get you out of those slacks and into a dress,” Randall teased. He then directed a question to William.
“Who are you taking tonight, are you still seeing Melinda Miller?”
Mary Ellen glanced over to William and for a brief moment, their eyes met. She looked down at the envelope in her hand, fidgeting with it a bit.
“Yes, Melinda will be going with us.”
“You’ve been seeing her for what, a little over two months now? Seems they typically wash out before the second month,” Randall chuckled.
William just shrugged and Mary Ellen smiled to herself. A part of her felt sorry for the women William dated, knowing that some were quite smitten with him. At 46 years of age, William Hunter was not just considered one of the more eligible bachelors in Chicago—he was the most elusive.
Thirty minutes later, Randall excused himself and left his wife and business partner alone.
“We lead a queer life, Mary Ellen.” William reached out and touched Mary Ellen’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze as he walked to the window. Gazing outside he looked not at the surrounding landscape but at his life.
“Do you have many regrets?” she asked.
“Thousands.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You’re not one of them.”
“I really like Melinda.”
“So do I. This will probably be the last time I take her out, I have a feeling she intends to break it off with me tonight.”
“Really? That doesn’t happen very often.” It was typically William who ended the courtship before the second month.
William turned from the window, walked back to the chair, and sat down.
“That’s one reason I didn’t feel compelled to break it off with her sooner. She seemed very comfortable with the fact I wasn’t making any attempts to further our intimacy beyond a discrete kiss goodnight. And I think she’s smitten with Ed Harper.”
“Well, Ed is more her age. She’s awful young. What is she, twenty-two?”
“True. But her father isn’t going to be thrilled. I believe he had high hopes his daughter would snag me, considering she’d lasted longer than the others.”
“Ed’s a nice young man,” Mary Ellen noted. She studied William’s face for a moment. He looked tired. “Are you all right, William?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know, you just look rather tired.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t sleep very well last night.”
“That’s what you told me the last time I asked.” The previous week she noticed he looked especially tired, and when she asked the same question, he gave the same answer.
“Then you should stop asking the question,” he said with a grin.
William stood up, walked to the doorway and glanced out. Seeing there was no one in the vicinity, he walked back to Mary Ellen. Standing behind the couch he rested his hands on her shoulders briefly, leaned down and kissed the side of her neck. Tilting her head to give him better access, a chill went down her spine.
“Are you coming over later?” William asked.
“Yes. After Randall makes whatever excuse he has planned for after we come home from the theatre. I’ll come over when he leaves.”
“What about Harrison?”
“He’ll be at a baseball game. Even if he wasn’t, you know teenage boys, they never see beyond their own lives.”
William walked back to the chair and sat down.
“He’s a good kid. Did he tell you he came over yesterday and helped me bring some boxes down from the attic?”
“No. What boxes?’
“They were from my grandparents’ ranch. Old photographs. I haven’t looked at them for years. Not since I packed them up after my grandmother’s funeral.”
“Think you’ll hang them?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t had time to go through them yet. Probably won’t get to it until next week.”
“So what inspired this spurt of nostalgia?”
“Not nostalgia really. I just need more storage space. I should have gone through those boxes instead of ha
uling them here from Philadelphia. I do miss having the room for my library.”
“I like it here much better than Philadelphia.”
“So do I.” He gave her a little wink.
• • • •
That evening they joined friends at the theatre. Randall escorted his wife and William brought the lovely Miss Miller. As William suspected, later that evening, as he took her home, Melinda tearfully explained she could no longer see him. Since she was the one to initiate the break up, there was no rush to find a replacement. Those in their social circles would assume he was nursing a broken heart, and wasn’t ready to see anyone.
Shortly after Randall and Mary Ellen returned home from the theatre, Randall made a convenient, yet not original excuse as to why he needed to go out for a while. Mary Ellen changed her clothes and slipped out of the townhouse unnoticed, shortly after her husband drove off.
Keeping her secret life was less complicated than it had been in Philadelphia. There was no live-in staff to contend with. In Chicago, members of their household staff were normally gone for the evening before she slipped off to William’s.
While her life was not typical – she was happy. Randall was happy. Mary Ellen suspected her husband knew about her relationship with William, yet it was never acknowledged. Of the three, William was the least content with the unorthodox arrangement. But he accepted it.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The next Sunday Mary Ellen walked over to William’s townhouse under the pretense of returning several books she’d borrowed. While she did need to return the books, that wasn’t the reason for the visit. She wanted to see the man she loved.
William had no household staff on Sunday, so she let herself into the house using the key he had given her. She entered from the side door, away from the prying eyes of neighbors.
“William!” she called out as she walked through the house. All was quiet on the lower level and she wondered if she would find him upstairs. He didn’t respond to her repeated calling, but she continued to look through the downstairs rooms. Thinking he was probably upstairs she almost didn’t check the kitchen, but changed her mind at the last moment.
She found him standing by the kitchen window, looking outside. He held something in his right hand. From where she stood it looked like a thick piece of paper or piece of cardboard.
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