A Home for Her Heart

by Janet Lee Barton

  “Mrs. Heaton and her son know and—”

  “But they knew from the first. And they won’t tell anyone else. They wouldn’t feel it was their place to.”

  “And it isn’t. It’s your place. But the timing should be the Lord’s. He will let you know when the time is right, and give you the words to say to your friends. He knows your heart and His timing will be perfect. Just trust in Him.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “I do, Aunt Bea.” And she did. She prayed each night that the Lord would guide her in what to do. She didn’t for a minute think that He wanted her to keep her true identity secret, but she wasn’t sure how to handle it all. So she would trust that He would let her know when and how and whom to tell first.

  Until then she’d have to live with the consequences of keeping her secret. There were always consequences to not being totally truthful. Elizabeth wished she’d thought about them and asked the Lord to guide her before she—

  “Supper is served, ma’am,” Amanda announced.

  “Come along, Elizabeth. Cook has prepared something light to hold us until later. Then I can’t wait for you to see your costume. I think you’re going to love it.”

  All Elizabeth cared about was that the mask would cover enough of her face that John wouldn’t be able to tell it was her if he were there.

  * * *

  John dreaded these things with all that was in him. Masquerade parties were his absolute least favorite kind of event to cover, especially as he had to go in costume, too. The Tribune paid for the rental—otherwise he would not have accepted the assignment.

  Tonight he was dressed as a steamboat captain and he had to admit he felt at home in the attire, in spite of the odd looks he garnered on the trolley. It brought back memories of steamboat trips between Natchez and New Orleans back when his dreams were down South and before—

  The trolley came to a stop and jarred him out of his reverie.

  It was his stop and he stepped off into one of the wealthier neighborhoods of the city, not far off Fifth Avenue. As he turned the corner and found the street he needed, he wished he’d taken a hack. At least it would have let him off at the doorstep and he wouldn’t have had to endure so many curious stares. But as John got closer to the residence and he encountered others dressed in costume all headed in the same direction, he breathed a sigh of relief. He’d be sure to get a ride back to Heaton house.

  He’d reluctantly brought a mask along and donned it just as he reached the Barclay mansion, but he would take it off later so that those who wanted to get their names in the paper would know him and seek him out instead of him having to guess whom it was he was talking to.

  He showed the Tribune’s invitation to the butler and after the man had assured himself it was indeed genuine, he was given the nod to go on in. Most of the people there were familiar with him and the fact that he wrote for the society column. They would welcome him with more warmth than the butler had.

  Of course, he realized that if it weren’t for the fact that he was with the Tribune, they’d never give him a second of their time. To his way of thinking, there wasn’t much difference between the very wealthy in the South where he’d been raised and those here in the North.

  He moved with the others toward the ballroom, looking in the other rooms as they passed each one. Mrs. Heaton’s home was decorated beautifully, with very nice furnishings, but this was another level altogether and one he wasn’t comfortable in at all.

  The ornate trim work, huge wall murals and lavish furnishings made him glad he was in costume. He didn’t belong in this kind of setting and he’d be glad when the new guy got these assignments.

  He made his way into the ballroom, which was already at near capacity. There were all manner of costumes, and with masks on many, it took him a while to spot the people he usually saw at this kind of event. Many of them would be leaving to go to their summer homes for the season before long. They did occasionally come back into the city for a special occasion, but for the most part they’d stay gone until late summer, early fall. He couldn’t blame them. It could get awfully hot in the city and many of them had summer homes on the water where it’d be much cooler.

  John turned and spotted whom he thought were the Astors on the other side of the room and... He took a second glance. There was a young woman dressed as a flower girl who caught his attention and when she looked his way, their glances collided and John had a feeling he’d met her before, even as her face was covered with a mask. There was something about her eyes. He started her way, but she turned just then and went in another direction. In only a matter of seconds, he’d lost her in the crowd.

  He shrugged. He’d probably seen her at any number of these events in the past few years. She could be the daughter of one of these couples.

  He took his mask off and turned again and was surprised to see Mr. And Mrs. Barclay come up to him. They did not wear masks and it was a relief to be able to know whom he was talking to.

  “Mr. Talbot, it is you, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, sir, it is.”

  “How good to see you here,” Mr. Barclay said. “I read your article about the tenements in this morning’s paper and thought it so excellent!”

  “Why thank you, sir. I’m hoping to do more articles in the future.”

  “I’m sure you will. And I look forward to reading them. Something must be done about the conditions of those buildings.”

  “You did a wonderful job on your article about the Ladies’ Aide child-care homes, too,” Mrs. Barclay said. “We hope we’ll get a good write-up on our party to raise money for them tonight.”

  “I’ll do my best, Mrs. Barclay.”

  “I know you will. You’ve been covering the efforts to help in an admirable way. You go on and mingle around. We’ll look forward to reading your next article.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.” John inclined his head as the two walked off to greet other guests. They’d mentioned his article about the tenements. If he could get the people in this room to follow them, it could go a long way in furthering his career.

  He smiled as he made his way around the room, hearing bits and pieces of conversation—sounded mostly like gossip to him—until the Barclays moved to a stage that had been set up and began to address their guests.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we want to get this party under way for the reason it was called. As you all know the Ladies’ Aide Society is in need of donations to open more child-care homes in the city. These are helping those living in the tenements, giving the children a safe place to stay while their parents work to make a living and try to better themselves and their families,” Mr. Barclay said.

  He moved back and let his wife speak. “To explain more about it, we’ve asked Mrs. Beatrice Watson to speak about how these homes are making a difference.”

  A woman John had seen at several other charity events made her way to them and looked out onto the crowd.

  “On the behalf of the Ladies’ Aide Society, I thank you all for turning out for this event.”

  She spoke more, but John was familiar with the speech and he looked around the room, trying to see who he could recognize. Most had masks on, but some didn’t. He’d be able to describe the costumes of many and do an overall article about the event—at least well enough to satisfy his editor and the Barclays. And maybe he could get out of there early enough to get his article written before he went to bed.

  “And now, ladies and gentlemen, we have several young ladies who will be accepting your donations.” Mrs. Watson had wasted no time getting to the reason for the party.

  John turned to see her point out the young woman on her right. It was the same one he’d thought familiar earlier. She looked out around the room and her gaze met his once more. Those eyes, even from this distance, made him surer than ever that he knew her or at the very least had met her bef
ore. But with that mask covering most of her face, there was no way to tell who she was, especially from a distance. He began to move a little closer to her through the crowd.

  “Our Miss Flower Girl and—” she pointed to the young woman to her left “—Marie Antoinette will be mingling among you this evening. Please empty those pockets for our good cause.”

  With that, the flower girl broke eye contact with him and the two young women smiled, stepped into the crowd on opposite sides of the room, and began to mingle. The flower girl was on the other side of the room from John and he headed in that direction to see if he could recognize her voice as she spoke to the people giving donations. But each time he got close, she turned to another person trying to get her attention, or someone wanting to make sure their name got in the paper stopped him.

  By the time they were called in for a late supper, he’d lost sight of her once again. After taking a quick glance around to see if he could spot the flower girl, he gave up trying to find her and decided to forgo the late supper. He’d eaten a good meal at Heaton House before he came and he’d spotted enough of those in society who would expect to see their names connected to giving to the cause of the Ladies’ Aide Society. All he had to do now was get his article written and put the flower girl out of his mind. Surely, if he knew her, she would have come up to him, wouldn’t she?

  * * *

  Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief when she opened the door to Heaton House the next morning—even as she prayed that John hadn’t recognized her from the night before. She’d caught him heading her way several times that evening, and it was only through quick thinking on her part and him getting stopped at the most opportune time that she’d managed to stay several steps ahead of him all evening. He’d certainly looked the part of a riverboat captain, tall and broad-shouldered, and very handsome. His broad-brimmed hat shadowed his face, giving him a slightly dangerous look, like a hero in one of Luke’s dime novels. When she’d first noticed him looking at her, it’d taken her breath away.

  And while she knew she needed to let her secret out, she hadn’t wanted it to be in a public place and not before she knew what to say.

  Surely he couldn’t have recognized her from any distance—not with the full-face mask she’d made sure never to take off. Now she braced herself as she entered the dining room to join the others for breakfast.

  “Elizabeth, you made it back and in plenty of time for our outing, too!” Kathleen exclaimed on her entrance.

  Elizabeth smiled and took a quick glance in John’s direction. The look he shot her made her pulse speed up. He seemed happy to see her, and with no hint that he’d recognized her the night before. She turned and expelled a huge sigh of relief as she took a plate from the sideboard and began to fill it. “My aunt likes to sleep in on Saturday, so I told her goodbye at bedtime and set my alarm. I didn’t want to bother her cook for breakfast, but I’m glad I made it back in time to join you all.”

  “Did you have a nice visit with your aunt?” John asked as she slipped into the seat he’d gotten up to pull out for her.

  “I did.” Still no indication that he’d recognized her in any way the evening before. Thank You, Lord. “We had a very nice time catching up with each other. How was your evening?”

  “Much the same as always at those kind of things. I think there was a good turnout, as usual and, Mrs. Heaton, you’ll be glad to know that I heard they took in a great deal to help the Ladies’ Aide Society with the child-care homes.”

  “That is wonderful news,” Mrs. Heaton said from the head of the table. “We’ll be able to open up another one very soon. The ones we have now are at capacity, as Kathleen knows. I think Colleen has all they can handle now.”

  “Oh, they’d take in more, if they needed to, Mrs. Heaton,” Kathleen said. “But I’m glad that there are more in the planning stages and that people are still willing to help.”

  John leaned toward Elizabeth. “I think we can feel glad about that. It appears our articles have helped garner attention.”

  So, much as he hated covering the social scene, he’d decided to use it for something he did care about. And he did seem genuinely happy that the event had been a success. John seemed to be thinking of more than his career lately. Or maybe he always had and she hadn’t noticed. And why was she noticing so much about him now?

  “I’m trying to emphasize that the need for more homes still exists in the article I’ve written about the affair last night.”

  “I think that’s a wonderful idea, John.”

  “So do I,” Mrs. Heaton and Kathleen both said in unison.

  “Thank you, ladies, I—”

  “Granma!” Mrs. Heaton’s granddaughter, Jenny, came rushing into the room, followed by her mother, Rebecca. “Did we get here in time for breakfast?”

  “You did! Are you hungry?”

  “I am! Mama said you’d have breakfast still, but I wasn’t sure about that.”

  Mrs. Heaton pulled her granddaughter into her lap and kissed her on the cheek. “Jenny, love, even if we didn’t have anything on the sideboard, I’d make sure you had breakfast.”

  “You would?”

  “I would. It’s what grandmothers do.”

  Elizabeth and John glanced at each other. Her heart went out to him and she wondered if he’d had a grandmother in his life. His mother died when he was so very young.

  She couldn’t remember either of her grandmothers. It’d been only her and her father, and of course Aunt Bea after her mother passed away. She swallowed hard, seeing Jenny cuddle up to her grandmother while her mother fixed her a plate. The look of love between the two was almost tangible. She was so glad the child had a grandmother in her life. She smiled across the table at Kathleen. Had it not been for her, the young girl might never have known she had a grandmother. But she did now, and what a blessing it was for them all.

  Rebecca took her seat after fixing a plate of her own and her smile took in everyone at the table. “She barely slept a wink last night. It’s not like she’s never seen Central Park. I took her when I could. But she’s so excited to be going with you all. She considers you part of her family now.”

  “Well, good. Because that’s how we all feel about her,” Ben said.

  Tears sprung to Elizabeth’s eyes. Jenny wasn’t much different than anyone else around this table. Mrs. Heaton had somehow managed to make them all feel like family. Sort of. The exception might be the way she felt about John.

  Lately there was something different about how Elizabeth felt about him, how her heart did a funny little twist and jump like it did last night when she saw him come into the room. Or how her pulse seemed to speed up when he smiled at her—like he was doing now. But she didn’t want to analyze it right now and maybe not ever.

  Feeling the color flood her cheeks, Elizabeth was glad when Michael and Violet arrived. Jenny looked up from the breakfast she was thoroughly enjoying and greeted them.

  “Aunt Violet and Uncle Michael! Mama said you’d be going with us, but you weren’t here and I didn’t think you would come.”

  “We wouldn’t miss a day at the park with you, Jenny!” her uncle said, giving her a kiss on the top of her head. The child exuded happiness—as did her mother, grandmother, aunt and uncle, although Rebecca was quieter about it all. There was a lot Elizabeth, and she assumed the others, didn’t know about Rebecca. Why she’d gone missing, what happened to her husband, and why she hadn’t sought out her mother? But Elizabeth wasn’t about to judge. Not when she had a secret of her own. Besides, it was none of her business. She was just glad the Heaton family had her back in their lives.

  Chapter Eight

  Soon as breakfast was over, the group hurried to get ready to go to Central Park while Mrs. Heaton went to the kitchen to make sure all the picnic food was ready. Colleen and her boys and Kathleen’s sister and nephews arri
ved just as everyone was gathering downstairs.

  The omnibus Mrs. Heaton had called for arrived right on time and they all piled in after making sure their lunch was onboard. The day was warm, but not too hot and it would be comfortable once they reached the park. The women had all chosen light skirts and shirtwaists; the men were in light-colored shirts, too.

  John took a seat beside Elizabeth and began to roll his blue-and-white shirtsleeves up as he watched Kathleen’s nephews, Collin and Brody, talking to Jenny. They were laughing and nodding and Jenny was giggling, her hand over her mouth. He couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about.

  “I’m so happy Kathleen and her sister and the boys made it out of the tenements,” Elizabeth said. “Look how happy they are now.”

  “It’s a big change in them since the first time we saw them, isn’t it?” John finished rolling up his sleeves and turned to Elizabeth. “They don’t have that heartbreakingly sad look anymore.”

  Elizabeth grinned. “No, they don’t. Look how animated they are talking to Jenny. I think they like trying to impress her with their tales.”

  “It appears that way.” John chuckled, seeing Collin spread his hands wide as he described something to the little girl. The young boy had her rapt attention. “Maybe I should take lessons from him.”

  “You, John? Is there someone you want to impress?”

  She looked at him, her hazel eyes a shade greener than usual and the expression in them had his breath catching in his throat. Did she care? He gave a little shrug. “There might be. But I’m never sure what to say to women and my instincts where they are concerned are—”

  “We’re here!” Jenny exclaimed as the omnibus came to a stop at their favorite picnicking area. Everyone began gathering baskets and blankets and hurrying off the omnibus, leaving John to let out a huge sigh of relief that the conversation between he and Elizabeth had been put to a stop.

  What was he thinking, confiding in her like that? He’d never told anyone what he’d just been about to tell her. Nor had he ever admitted—even to himself—that there was a woman he might want to impress. And while it surprised him that there was after the debacle with Melody, what really confused him was that the woman he’d most like to impress was the very one he had been speaking to. The one he knew deep down was way out of his league and only thought of him as a fellow boarder at Heaton House. Who didn’t seem to want to work with him, just as he’d felt about her...until recently.