There was a look in his eyes the night before when she was holding Mandy that made her think he might have deeper feelings for her, but then again, perhaps he was thinking of Ann and the life they’d planned together.
Her board lit up in several places, and she put thoughts of Sam out of her mind for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day. She was thinking about him entirely too much lately and she needed to put a halt to it. Now.
“Operator? Are you there?”
“Yes ma’am. Whom may I connect you to?”
“No one. I just wanted to set my clock. Can you give me the correct time?”
Emma looked at the clock on the wall at the back of the room. “It’s 4:35, ma’am.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled as she disconnected the line. It still tickled her that so many people looked to her and the other operators to find out all manner of information. She was glad she liked reading the newspaper, for although it wasn’t listed as a requirement, it had turned out to be a necessity to keep up with her callers’ questions. And even then she couldn’t answer them all.
“Good afternoon. Whom may I connect you to?” Emma asked as she plugged into a lit socket.
“Connect me to 2338.”
Something about the number niggled at the back of her mind, but it wasn’t until the line was connected and she heard the man on the other line say, “This is Joe,” that Emma realized this was the number she’d been trying to remember. The one where they’d been talking about stopping the meeting! She held her breath as the man she’d connected said, “I got word there’s going to be another one of those meetings in one of those nice neighborhoods. The one we’ve been checking out from time to time.”
“When?”
“Paper says a week from Thursday.”
Emma felt sick at her stomach, and she held her breath as she listened.
“That gives us time to plan,” the man named Joe said.
“I’ll be over in about an hour and we’ll get it laid out.”
“See you then.”
Emma heard a click, and the light went out over both lines. She committed the calling number of 2568 along with the called number of 2338 to memory until she could write it down, while her heart pounded so hard she could barely catch her breath. What did she do now? Did she dare tell her supervisor she’d been eavesdropping? She shook her head. No. She didn’t even have anything concrete to go on unless she told what she’d overheard the last time. It would look as if she made a habit of listening in on her callers’ conversations and she didn’t.
She looked at the clock and saw that she only had a few minutes of her shift left. Hopefully, Sam would meet her trolley and she could tell him about it. Then she remembered that she’d miss him, but she had to check in on Mandy. She’d have to try to call Sam later and let him know what she’d heard. After finding out there had been trouble after overhearing these two men’s conversation before, she had to tell someone. But what meeting were they talking about? She must have missed something in the morning paper. She’d have to go over it again when she got home.
❧
Sam hoped he didn’t miss Emma. He’d stopped by Mrs. Holloway’s looking for her, and found she’d planned to check on Mandy right after work but would be home for dinner.
But dark was coming earlier now, and he didn’t like the idea of her traveling by herself at night. Mrs. Holloway seemed relieved that he would be seeing Emma home and invited him to have dinner with them. He gladly accepted.
He hopped on the next trolley headed for the orphanage and prayed he didn’t miss Emma. It really didn’t surprise him that she was checking on the baby after watching her the evening before. He hadn’t been able to get the vision of her holding baby Mandy out of his mind. If anyone was meant to be a mother, he was certain it was Emma. As many children as needed parents in the city, it was a shame that a single woman couldn’t adopt one. But then again, a single woman had to work for a living, and she’d have to find someone to keep the child, and that would cost her more. Besides, he felt it was better if the mother stayed at home and took care of household matters.
That’s what he would want his wife to do. He wondered how Emma felt about that. Her job wasn’t necessarily one a woman would want forever, at least not compared to Esther’s, which was training Esther to be a pharmacist. Unless Emma wanted to go into management and become a supervisor.
He didn’t really know what Emma’s dreams were, but he hoped that they were to be a wife and mother one day. And he hoped he entered into her dreams as she had his.
The trolley came to a stop, and Emma stood in line to get on. The person beside Sam hurried off, and he kept his own seat, saving the one next to him for Emma.
She stepped on and he called, “Emma!”
Sam was pleased when she looked around and spotted him, a smile on her face. She looked glad to see him, but perhaps it was wishful thinking on his part and she was just happy after seeing Mandy.
But her smile held, and he felt a grin spread across his face as she stepped down the aisle and took the seat beside him.
“Sam. Where are you headed? Were you going to see Mrs. Robertson at the orphanage?”
“No. I came to escort you home. I just don’t like you being out after dark by yourself.”
“It’s not dark yet.”
“No, but it will be by the time we get back to Mrs. Holloway’s. She invited me to dinner.”
“Good, I was hoping to be able to talk to you this evening.”
His heart slammed against his chest. “You were?”
“Yes, I overheard something that I must tell you about.”
His chest deflated. Her gladness to see him had nothing to do with her feelings. “What happened?”
Emma pulled a slip of paper out of her reticule, looked around to make sure there was no one behind them, and then handed the paper to him. “The number I tried to remember before was 2338; the man answering is Joe someone—I have no idea what his last name is—and the caller is calling from 2568. Anyway, they are planning something for a meeting being held a week from this coming Thursday.”
“But we don’t know what meeting?”
Emma shook her head. “No. But one of the men said it was in the paper. But I don’t remember seeing it in this morning’s paper, and I thought I’d looked closely yesterday.”
“We can look again. Do you think Mrs. Holloway will still have yesterday’s paper? If not I can try to find one. Which one does she subscribe to? I can try to get copies of yesterday’s and today’s.”
“She takes the Tribune and the Times.”
“We’ll start there. If we can’t find anything about a meeting on that day, I’ll get some of the other papers to go through.”
“All right.”
“And thank you for trusting me,” Sam said, his chest finally expanding again with the realization that she did trust him enough to come to him with this information. He knew she didn’t like it that he was a policeman, but at least he seemed to have moved past her mistrust of him.
“I certainly don’t want something bad to happen to anyone without doing what I can to stop it. I know I don’t have much information for you to go on, but—”
“Just having the telephone numbers will help us more than you know, Emma,” Sam assured her. “We can acquire the addresses from knowing those and at least find out who these men are and put a tail on them. If you hear anything else, just let me know. That’s really all you can do. And if we aren’t able to stop them or find out what meeting they are talking about, it won’t be your fault.”
Emma let out a sigh and smiled. “Good. I couldn’t bear it if something else happened at one of those meetings because I didn’t tell someone what I’d heard.”
“You did the right thing, Emma. Now, how is Mandy this afternoon?”
Her smile was immediate. “Oh, so much better than last night. Mrs. Robertson said her fever broke last night and hasn’t
come back, and those two teeth finally broke through. She was playing and smiling. But one of the other girls had to distract her while I left.”
“She’s become quite attached to you.”
“No more than I have to her. But I think I might remind her of her mother. That is the only reason why I can see that she took such a liking to me from the very first.”
“Possibly. But you are very likable, you know.”
“Why, thank you, Sam.”
Emma ducked her head, and Sam was sure that if it had been light enough now, he’d have seen soft color flood Emma’s cheeks as she dipped her head and looked out the window.
They’d reached Emma’s home by then, and Jones welcomed them both into the house. Mrs. Holloway was gracious as always, and when Emma told her about the conversations she’d heard and what they were looking for, Mrs. Holloway had Jones bring them the newspapers from that day and the day before.
“I always keep them for a couple of days in case I don’t have time to read everything or need to check on something in an advertisement,” Mrs. Holloway said.
“That is a very good idea, Mrs. Holloway,” Sam said. “Especially today. If we can’t find what we’re looking for, I’ll try to at least get today’s copies for the other papers.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll find what you are looking for. The Tribune and the Times cover just about everything that goes on in the city.”
Jones brought in the papers, and only moments later they were spread all over the parlor.
“There is notice of several women’s suffrage meetings next week in the Times, two on Thursday,” Emma said, taking the page to Sam. “I wonder which one they are talking about?”
He skimmed the notice quickly. “It won’t matter. I’m sure we’ll have extra coverage at both after I tell the captain.”
“The notice is in the Tribune also. There’s even notice of the one we’re holding next week,” Mrs. Holloway said. She looked up at Sam. “You don’t think they’d target one as small as ours, do you?”
“I would hope not, but when these kinds of people get ideas to stop a movement, they could do anything. I’ll be sure to be here and see if I can get some off-duty cops to come, too. Just in case.” Sam prayed there wouldn’t be any problems for Mrs. Holloway’s group, but it seemed that the closer these women came to gaining support, those against them stepped up their efforts to try to put an end to the meetings. “Maybe I shouldn’t stay for dinner. I think I’d better go to the station to let my captain know what’s going on. We need to try to find out what these men are up to as soon as we can. Thank you, Emma and Mrs. Holloway. With your help, I’m sure we can put a crimp in their plans.”
“You might as well stay and eat, Sam. You have to eat anyway, and whatever it is they are planning isn’t until next week. You can leave right after we eat if you need to,” Emma suggested.
That’s all it took to persuade him. Emma wanted him to stay. He smiled down at her. “You’re right. I’ll go after dinner.”
She nodded. “Good. I’d hate to think you had to miss one of Mrs. Holloway’s dinners.”
He chuckled. “So would I.”
fifteen
Emma was happy Sam stayed for dinner. She’d come to worry about him often. Did he get enough rest? Did he eat right when he wasn’t eating with them? What did he do when he was home alone?
She didn’t like to think of him being lonely, and yet, she didn’t like to think there was a special woman in his life either. And she didn’t know how to go about finding out. But she needed to know, because try as she might to keep caring thoughts of him out of her mind, she couldn’t.
Now, as everyone said good-bye and headed toward the parlor, Emma saw Sam to the door and tried to think of a way to find out if he was interested in anyone. Or, if he was still mourning the loss of his wife.
“Will you let us know what your captain says?”
“I will.”
“Good.”
“Emma?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for deciding to come to me with what you heard.”
She gave a little nod. “Thanks for looking into it.”
“It’s my job, Emma.”
“I know. And. . .I’m sorry I wasn’t more accepting of you choosing to become a policeman at first. The department is fortunate to have you, Sam.” She looked up at him and smiled. “I’m sorry if I—”
“No need to be sorry about anything, Emma. I understand why you felt that way. It did sting a bit to think you thought others might influence me. But you had good reason for mistrusting the police department.”
“But I should have realized you’d never let yourself be corrupted by others. Still, to be honest, I don’t love what you do. It’s a dangerous job and. . .” She gave a little shrug.
❧
“Emma, one can get run over walking across the street.” His wife had.
“Oh Sam, I didn’t mean to bring up sad memories for you.”
“You didn’t. But I know how quickly something like that can happen. It does make one realize how fragile life is, and it also made me want to make a difference while I’m here. Does that make any sense at all to you?”
“It does. We should all feel that way. I’m just—”
Sam placed his fingers over her lips and shook his head. “Emma, shh. None of it is your fault.”
He could see the sympathy in her eyes and something more, something that had him dipping his head and capturing her lips in a brief, gentle kiss. He raised his head and looked into her eyes. For a second he’d thought he felt her respond, but she quickly ended the kiss and took a step back. Sam was thankful that she didn’t seem to take offense.
In fact, she didn’t seem to know what to say, and he decided it might be time to leave. “I’ll let you know what the captain says.”
She nodded and let out what sounded like a shaky breath, and Sam wondered if she’d been as affected by the quick kiss as he had been. “All right. Take care, Sam.”
He smiled at her and gave her chin a little nudge. “I always do, Emma. Try not to worry. The Lord has me covered.”
❧
Emma had just about given up hearing from Sam when the telephone rang. She didn’t wait for Jones to come to the parlor, hurrying into the foyer instead.
“No sir. She’s right here, Mr. Tucker,” Jones said as he saw Emma. He handed the receiver to her. “Mr. Tucker for you, Miss Emma.”
“Thank you, Jones.” She took the receiver from him and put her ear to the earpiece. “Sam?”
“Emma, I was just asking Jones if it was too late to speak with you. But I had a feeling you’d be pacing the floor waiting to hear what the captain said.”
“You were right. What did he say?”
“He’s quite pleased with the information. We’ve already got the addresses for both numbers and have men staking them out. This Joe person—his last name is Parker, by the way—has been arrested on numerous occasions and just got out of jail a few months ago. But we think the other guy—a Frank Carson—is the ringleader of a small gang that’s working for someone else. At any rate, we know who to look for, and if you hear anything more, please telephone me immediately. If you can’t get hold of me, ask for Captain Miller.”
Emma’s heart flooded with relief that she’d done the right thing by telling Sam. “I will.”
“I know you will. And Emma, try to get some sleep. If we can’t stop them from causing trouble, it’s not going to be your fault.”
“Thank you, Sam.”
“Thank you, Emma. You’ve been a great help to us. I’ll speak to you tomorrow. And oh, I was wondering. . .”
Emma caught her breath a moment. “Yes?”
“Would you like to go to church with me on Sunday? I’ve been telling Ann’s parents about you helping with my plan at the orphanage, and they’d like to meet you.”
Emma wasn’t sure what to say. Ann’s parents? Did she really want to meet them? Then again, how could she dec
line gracefully? “Yes, I’ll go to church with you.”
“Good. I’m glad,” Sam said. “I’ll talk to you more about it tomorrow and let you go get some rest. You’ll tell the others what the captain said?”
“I will.”
“ ’Night, Emma.”
“Good night, Sam.”
Emma put the receiver back in its holder and released a breath. All thought of the conversation she’d overheard and the captain’s reaction to it was forgotten for the moment, her thoughts spinning over Sam’s invitation.
“Emma?” Esther peeked her head out of the parlor. “Was that Sam?”
Emma nodded and hurried back to the parlor to tell them all what Sam had said about the captain. The rest she kept to herself, at least for now.
❧
Sam sat staring at the telephone at the police station. Emma had agreed to go to church with him and meet Ann’s parents. She had no way of knowing what a huge step he’d just taken. He hadn’t intended to ask her to go to church with him, but after kissing her—brief as it was—he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind.
He cared deeply about this woman, and there was no more denying it or evading it. He wanted to declare his love for her from the rooftops of the city, but he wasn’t sure she was ready to hear him just yet.
While she might finally trust him, she still didn’t like his profession, and she might not be willing to marry a policeman under any circumstances—not even if she loved him. His heart seemed to come to a standstill at that thought, and yet it didn’t keep him from loving her.
And he wanted her to meet Ann’s parents because they were part of his life and would be in hers, too, if he were so blessed as to win her heart and marry her.
But Sam didn’t feel he could declare his love for Emma just yet. It felt too soon. He’d just won her trust, or thought he had. But that didn’t mean she felt as deeply about him as he did her. Although he was almost certain she’d responded—however lightly—to his kiss, and he hoped with everything in him that he hadn’t imagined that she had. Still, even if she did, she deserved to be courted, and if things went as he hoped they would this Sunday, he prayed she would let him do just that.
Love Calling Page 13
