Harlequin Historical May 2021--Box Set 2 of 2

by Elizabeth Rolls

  “Birdie?”

  He nodded. “Their oldest, Thomas, named the dog when they first got him. Tommy was only two.”

  As she giggled, the screen door on the house banged, and a squeal split the air.

  “Jenny! Jenny Sommers! Dear heavens, it is you!” Franny handed Seth the baby in her arms and ran down the steps.

  Climbing out of the car, Connor grinned as Jenny jumped from the vehicle.

  “‘Franny, oh, Franny,” she said, hugging the other woman. “It’s so good to see you!” As they separated, Jenny wiped at her eyes. “You look exactly the same.”

  “Banana oil!” Franny said in her boisterous way. “I’ve got boobs! I never had those before. Only have them now because I had another baby and am nursing her!”

  That was something Connor could have lived his entire life without hearing, but he’d live with it because it had made Jenny laugh out loud.

  “Look at you!” Franny continued. “You always were such a doll!” As if she just noticed him, Franny asked, “Wasn’t she, Connor?”

  “Yes,” he agreed as he arrived at that side of the car.

  “When Seth told me that you’d run into Jenny, I told him if you didn’t tell him where she was, I was never going to talk to you again.” Franny let out another squeal. “Now, I’ll love you forever!” She gave him one of her jubilant hugs and then grabbed Jenny’s arm and tugged her toward the house. “Come in, come in—we have so much to talk about. So much to catch up on.”

  Connor followed in their wake and stopped next to Seth on the porch. “I hope we aren’t interrupting anything.”

  Seth shook his head. “Perfect timing, I’d just called your house. You didn’t answer, but I’d been prepared to tell you that I might have to move in with you if you didn’t tell me where Franny could find Jenny.”

  “I’m glad we stopped by.”

  “Me, too.” Seth tickled the baby in his arms beneath her chin. “Looks like you and I will be watching four kids for the next couple of hours.”

  Connor dug in his pocket. “I have a pack of gum.”

  “That’ll help,” Seth said.

  * * *

  When Connor had asked if she’d wanted to see Franny, Jenny had questioned the sanity of that. She’d worked hard to keep herself as separated from her old life as possible, yet talking with Connor had opened something inside her. She had found strength and resilience over the years, but had never found pride. Not for herself, and maybe it was time for that. Time to stop letting the past overshadow all that she had accomplished.

  Franny didn’t leave time for her to contemplate anything. In no time, they were chatting, laughing and reminiscing; it was as if the years between now and the last time they’d seen each other had completely vanished.

  Until long after they’d consumed a pot of tea, discussed a list of people Jenny had been curious about and she’d been introduced to all four of Franny’s children, who had then been ushered outside to play under the watchful eyes of Connor and Seth. That’s when Franny brought up Jenny’s disappearance. She’d known it would come up. It had to, and this was Franny. The years had come back then with a vengeance, and Jenny had to decide how to react to those memories.

  Seth had brought the baby inside, for Franny to nurse, and they were sitting in the living room, just the two of them and the baby in Franny’s arms. “I’d thought you’d run away to New York, to be with Connor,” Franny said. “Until he returned, looking for you.”

  Jenny smoothed the print on the brocade pillow beside her.

  “At first, I thought he was just trying to cover up where you really were, you know, like keeping you hid from your mother or something, but he was so beside himself, that...” Franny’s short, dark curls bobbed as she shook her head. “I knew he wasn’t lying. That he didn’t know where you were, either.”

  Jenny bit down on her bottom lip. It was hard to imagine how little trust she’d had in Connor back then, and how unfair she’d been to him by instantly believing the worst.

  “I’m sorry, I still haven’t learned when to keep my mouth—”

  “No.” Jenny shook her head. “It’s fine. Of course you would have been curious as to what happened. If it had been the other way around, I would have been, too.” Connor was right about her having a beautiful daughter, and she was proud to be Emily’s mother. “I have a daughter. Her name is Emily. She’s six.”

  Franny’s mouth dropped open, then she glanced at the door, frowning. “Six? So you and Connor—”

  “No,” Jenny interrupted again. “Emily isn’t Connor’s daughter.” She shrugged, mainly to herself, because if she hadn’t been so insecure back then, things would have been different. Very different. That also meant she wouldn’t have Emily, and she’d never wish for that.

  A sense of relief, of love, that she did have her daughter filled her. “I became pregnant that summer, while Connor was gone, and when my mother found out, she took me to a home for unwed mothers.” After telling Connor, repeating the story to Franny was easy. “I ran away from the home, and ever since then, I’ve been helping other girls who have escaped.”

  Franny had a hand over her mouth. “Jenny, I—”

  “Please don’t say you’re sorry,” Jenny said. “Emily is an amazing girl, so kind and caring, and lovable, and I love what I’m doing. I’ve delivered dozens of babies and each one is such a miracle, it’s truly incredible.”

  “I can imagine it is.” Franny looked down at the baby in her arms. “I’ve never even been awake when my babies entered the world, but I’ve never failed to be amazed the first time I’ve held them that I created them. Me and Seth. This whole new little person.” Her signature laugh echoed off the ceiling. “Then they hit about two years old, and become little monsters. That’s when I swear, someone else had a hand in creating them.”

  Jenny laughed. “Oh, Franny. It’s so good to see you. To talk to you.”

  Growing serious, Franny asked, “Did your mother take you to the home over in Albany? I’m asking because that’s where Sarah Foreman went—did you know her? She was a year younger than me.”

  Jenny shook her head.

  “Well, that’s the one that Sarah went to, in Albany. They said she had to give her baby up for adoption, so her parents adopted him. They still claim that they adopted him while Sarah was staying with her aunt in Maine, but everyone pretty much knows he’s Sarah’s son, not her younger brother.”

  “That’s not uncommon,” Jenny said. “The home does force the girls to give up their babies, and those who have been disowned don’t have a choice, other than running away.”

  “And you help them. Horsefeathers, that’s the real bee’s knees, Jenny. Good for you.”

  “Thank you, but what I’ve been doing isn’t enough. Connor has agreed to help me to see if we can have new laws made, so the girls are treated better and don’t have to give up their babies if they don’t want to.”

  “He is?” Franny continued before Jenny could respond. “That sounds like Connor, though, doesn’t it? He’s still the good guy you used to know.”

  “Yes, he is,” Jenny agreed.

  “If there is anything Seth and I can do to help, let us know.” Franny lifted the baby and set her over one shoulder while buttoning up her blouse with her other hand. “I have to ask, Jenny. How did you end up pregnant? You never so much as looked at anyone besides Connor.”

  Jenny sighed. “I acted foolishly one night. Thought I hated Connor and, well, it just happened. I never saw Emily’s father again. He doesn’t know about her and I need to keep it that way.”

  “Why?”

  “For several reasons,” Jenny answered.

  Franny nodded, then shrugged. “I was pregnant when Seth and I got married, and when Tommy was born, I was sure everyone was checking the calendar, counting the months between our wedding and his birth, but
no one seemed to care. If they did, I didn’t hear about it. Then came Bradley, Jill, and now Betsy.” With a chuckle, Franny added, “Trust me, nobody cares how many months are between any of them.”

  “You have a beautiful family, and a beautiful home—I’m so happy for you.” Jenny truly was happy. “It was so good seeing you again.”

  “Wait! Don’t you dare say you are leaving.”

  “I have to soon. It’s a long drive home and then Connor has to turn around and come back to Rochester.”

  “Connor! That man would drive to the moon and back for you.” Franny stood. “You aren’t leaving because the four of us are going out for dinner. You can’t say no because I haven’t gone anywhere, except the grocer, since this little one was born.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “I’m sorry about this; I just couldn’t say no to Franny. She hasn’t been out of the house since Betsy was born, and was so excited to go for dinner. Practically before I knew what was happening, she was on the phone to her mother-in-law, asking her to come over and sit with the children. Her mother-in-law said yes, and Franny was so excited about what she wanted to wear, I just couldn’t say no. Just couldn’t.”

  Connor listened to her apology and her reasonings, the same ones he’d already heard twice, while parking in the lot near Pinion’s Supper Club.

  “I know it’s a long drive for you to take me home and then back again,” she continued. “I will give you money for gas, and money to stay at the Bird’s Inn, if you want.”

  He looked at her. “Are you done?”

  “Done what?”

  “Justifying going out to eat with Franny and Seth.”

  “I just—well, you’re being awfully nice about everything and I don’t want to impose any further.”

  “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be here.” He leaned closer, looked her in the eyes. “And you wouldn’t be, either.” Reaching behind him, he opened his door. “So let’s just accept it and have fun.” He climbed out then, and hurried around to open her door.

  She stepped out and looked at the building. “This is Pinion’s.”

  “Yes, it is.” This was where she’d seen him with his cousin Beth, as he was leaving his father’s birthday. “Is that all right?”

  She grinned and nodded. “Yes, it’s fine.”

  He winked at her, shut her car door. “Good, because it’s still the best restaurant in town.” He laid a hand on her back, to escort her across the parking lot. “And they host the best speakeasy in their back room.”

  Her heels nearly dug into the concrete as she skidded to a stop. “A speakeasy? Surely Franny wouldn’t have—”

  He nodded. “This is where she said to meet them.”

  “She did?”

  Putting pressure on her back, he guided her toward the door. “Yes, she did.”

  As if right on cue, the door opened and Nelson Pinion, the owner, greeted him, “Connor McCormick! I haven’t seen you in ages. Come, come, I have your table ready.”

  “Good evening, Nelson,” Connor greeted. “I’m assuming Seth called for reservations.”

  “That he did,” Nelson said as they stepped inside. “But you must tell me how you McCormick men do it?”

  “Do what?”

  Nelson, the flirt that he was, took Jenny’s hand. “Find the most beautiful women in the world. Look at this one. She’s the image of the angel in my dreams.”

  Connor rubbed Jenny’s back. “She definitely is beautiful, Nelson. This is Jenny Sommers.”

  “Jenny, oh, Jenny, you make my heart sing, sweet, Jenny,” Nelson sang in a deep baritone.

  “Keep trying, Nelson—she’s with me,” Connor said, winking at Jenny. Her blush was so adorable the desire to kiss her, right here in front of Nelson, struck so hard and fast he had to rock back on his heels to stop himself.

  “I see that. You McCormick men always guard your queens.” Nelson shook his head. “I hear Mick married his today.”

  “He did,” Connor replied. “It was a small ceremony at the house, but I’ll do my best to convince them to have a reception here, just to make you happy.”

  “Oh, that would. That would. A dual party. For both the McCormick twins. People will come from miles away to attend.”

  From past experience, Connor knew Nelson would carry on as long as he let him. “Is our table ready?”

  “Yes, of course, with champagne on the table for my favorite people. This way.”

  He led them into the restaurant. The speakeasy was the back room, which was also the banquet hall where members of the supper club could host private parties. Candles, with their little flames flickering, sat upon the snowy-white tablecloths draped over each table, providing a golden glow to the room.

  Connor nodded greetings to people he knew as he escorted Jenny to their reserved table, the very one he’d asked Seth to reserve. It was a corner booth, giving them privacy and more comfortable seating than the wooden chairs.

  Once she’d slid onto the dual bench seat, he thanked Nelson and then sat beside her.

  “Alcohol is illegal,” she whispered, looking at the bottle in the standing metal ice bucket near the edge of the table.

  “Selling and transporting it is illegal. Consuming it is not.”

  “That’s hogwash.”

  Rather than explaining how Nelson always provided his family with champagne during their meals because they were members of the supper club, he said, “No, that’s the law.” He poured a small amount in each of their glasses. Then held his up. “Cheers.”

  She touched her stemmed glass, but didn’t lift it up. “What are we toasting?”

  “Our plan.” He knew she couldn’t not toast that. “It’s a good one and is going to work. Get new regulations and laws in place.”

  She lifted her glass and clinked it against his. “Cheers.”

  He watched her take a small sip, then lick the sweetness of the champagne off her lips. The desire to do that for her forced him to look away. He’d tried hard to forget the feeling of kissing her, but that event had done nothing more than remind him of seven years ago, when they’d both been young and kissing each other had been an experiment they’d performed over and over until they’d perfected the merger of their lips into something spectacular.

  Her eyes twinkled as she asked, “What are you thinking so hard about?”

  “You,” he replied.

  “Oh?”

  “Yes. I’m glad you’re here.” He clinked his glass against hers again. “I’m glad I’m here, too.”

  “Me, too,” she said. “Me, too.”

  The arrival of Seth and Franny instantly filled the table with laughter, and for the next hour they ate and laughed as if everything was right in the world. That the four of them being together, as couples, was exactly how the universe wanted things.

  “So,” Franny said, with a clap of her hands after their plates had been cleared away. “Tell Seth and I how we can help with your plan to help unwed mothers.”

  Connor leaned back and draped his arm along the back of the booth. He was glad that so many people were stepping up to offer their help.

  “I’m not sure.” Jenny glanced at him. “We are hoping to take a couple of the girls to share their stores with the senator and some of the other ones are writing letters.”

  “I could ask Sarah to write a letter,” Franny said. “She was at that home.”

  “Does she know you know?” Jenny asked.

  “Yes,” Franny said.

  “Sarah who?” Seth asked.

  “And what does she know that you know?” Connor asked, growing lost.

  “Sarah Foreman, the blonde that works at the department store,” Franny replied.

  Connor knew her, and explained to Jenny, “She helped us with the wedding present today.” His mind was then caught up, and
he asked Franny, “She had a baby at the home for unwed mothers?”

  “Yes, her little brother, but not too many people know, so it’s not chin music.”

  “When?” Seth asked.

  Connor didn’t remember Sarah from school, but was wondering just how many girls did go to these homes.

  “When we were seniors,” Franny answered Seth.

  Connor looked at Jenny; that would have been around the same time she’d been at the home.

  She shook her head in answer to his silent question.

  “Sarah has never said who the father of her baby was,” Franny said, “but rumors at the time floated Donald Forsythe’s name. That could have just been because everyone knew that he was the father of Stephanie Graham’s baby. She did go live with her aunt. In California and is now married to an actor.”

  “You knew Stephanie,” Connor said to Jenny. “She was in the play, the girl that Donald tripped and she fell into the scene boards.”

  She nodded, but didn’t look his way. Probably remembering that event. She’d worked so hard on those scenes, and he’d been furious with Forsythe that night.

  “Remember how that scumbag flattened all the tires on your car after the play?” Seth asked.

  “Yes. The only reason I accepted that part in the play was to irritate him,” Connor answered. “He’d always been such a jerk, and had hated me since grade school when I beat him up for picking on the girls. If there’s one person I’ve been glad that I haven’t seen since high school, it’s him.”

  “You haven’t seen him because Stephanie’s older brother was set to kill him when he found out his sister was pregnant,” Franny said. “Donald left town and no one’s heard from him that I know of.”

  “She’d be the one to know,” Seth said, nudging his wife in the side.

  He’d never told anyone about the last time he’d seen Donald. “I saw him the morning I left for New York that summer. He was working at the train station, working as a baggage boy. He tried putting my luggage on the wrong train. On purpose. His boss caught him and the last I saw, he was getting his butt chewed. I just smiled and waved.”