by Karen Kirst
Rhett lifted a brow. “I thought you said you were going down the block to visit your folks with Helen.”
“I’ll make it there eventually.” She lifted the carafe, then placed it on the low table. “First, I was going to bring y’all some coffee. Then I started eavesdropping. I’d apologize to y’all, but I wouldn’t mean it, so I won’t.”
Quinn called out to his wife, “Helen, you might as well come in, too.”
She at least had the grace to look a little guilty. However, that cleared up as she realized her husband was more interested in wrapping his arm around her waist and pressing a kiss to her hair than he was in the conversation. Helen shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t see anything wrong with the men banding together to support each other. However, it would be nice of y’all to give Ellie back her list since it belongs to her.”
“She doesn’t need it anymore,” Quinn insisted. “She made her match with Lawson.”
Rhett crossed his arms. “She let me go around thinking my match was Amy instead of Isabelle.”
Isabelle shook her head at them. “Listen to yourselves. She’s helped all of y’all find love in one way or another even if it was only through a point in the right direction. Y’all aren’t entitled to her help. She’s given it because she considers you her friends. These attitudes are no way to repay her. Rhett, as nervous as you were around Amy when you thought she was your match, I can understand why she wouldn’t tell you about me. If y’all don’t think she’s involved enough in your club, then invite her to be. She might appreciate having at least a little control over something she set in motion.”
Chris exchanged glances with Rhett and Quinn, feeling just as taken to task as they looked. Rhett was the first to admit what they were all thinking. “Isabelle is right.”
Quinn rubbed his jaw. “I guess we ought to find a way to thank Ellie.”
Realizing everyone was looking at him with expectation, Chris searched his mind for something to say. “I’ll try to make sure Ellie knows I appreciate all she’s done. It’s just…uh… Well, I’m not entirely certain I should be in this club. I mean, the list does say that Adelaide is my match, but that doesn’t really help me all that much.”
Quinn sat on the settee and tugged his wife down beside him. “Maybe you aren’t using it right. Have you told Adelaide she’s your match? That’s what made Helen agree to marry me.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Quinn caught Chris’s eye and nodded while silently mouthing the list.
Helen caught him and placed a stilling hand on her husband’s chest. “Stop it. You’ll give Chris false expectations. The list may have given you the courage to ask me, but we both know I originally agreed only because I wanted to be a mother to the nieces and nephews you were raising.”
Isabelle grinned. “And she was attracted to you. She told me that herself.”
“Did she, now?”
“Uh-oh,” Chris teased. “Helen had a crush on Quinn.”
A blush rose in Helen’s cheeks even as she shook her head at them. “Y’all are ridiculous. How can this possibly be new information to anyone? Especially you, Quinn.”
“It isn’t new…just mighty interesting,” Quinn winked at her before turning back to the subject at hand. “Chris, I still think you should use the list to help you propose.”
Rhett shook his head. “You don’t have to use the list for anything. It’s there to confirm that it’s time to go after the woman you’re matched with. Stop worrying about her breaking your heart. Focus on wooing her so hard and so well she wouldn’t even think of it.”
Helen smiled. “Is that what you did, Rhett?”
Isabelle’s heart showed in her eyes as she looked at her husband. “That’s what he’s still doing.”
Chris felt his heart melt a little as he glanced back and forth between the two couples before him. The love and trust they had for each other was so deep and genuine that it felt almost tangible. He wished he could bottle it up and apply it directly to his relationship. However, it was impossible to shortcut his way to what these couples had. He knew their stories. They’d built what they had now from the ground up through courage, commitment and perseverance. If that’s what he wanted, he’d have to go about it the same way. He only wished he could be more certain that he and Adelaide were up to the challenge.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Sunlight streamed through the windows onto the bare wood floor of Adelaide’s new bedroom in Peppin. She followed its path to kneel on the broad window seat. She raised the pane up as high as it would go. A gust of wind filled the room, teasing at her hair and bringing with it the heady scent of honeysuckle. She took a deep breath of it before leaving the bedroom and heading down the stairs.
She edged past the servants who were on the way up with the headboard for her parents’ room. This was most of the staff’s last day, since their services wouldn’t be needed in Peppin. They would each receive a bonus at the end of the day and a train ticket back to Houston. That’s why Rose stood on the front porch directing traffic with the finesse of a seasoned policeman. Adelaide gathered her courage, then ran over to give her mother a quick hug. “Thank you for changing your mind.”
Rose froze in surprise before hugging her back. “You’re welcome, dear. Although I’m altogether convinced I’m going to regret this decision.”
“Uh-uh. It’s too late to change your mind now.”
“Don’t I know it?” Rose’s focus shifted over Adelaide’s shoulder into the house. “Wait! You can’t leave the settee in the dining room.”
Adelaide stepped aside to let her mother rush off to deal with the latest crisis. Taking the brick-paved path across the front lawn, Adelaide met up with Everett beside the wagons parked on the street. He took the hug and thanks she offered before nodding toward the front porch. “That was nice to see. I’m hoping that moving here will allow us to spend more time together as a family and help us grow closer.”
Wondering if that actually might be possible, she glanced back at the two-story Queen Anne–style house. Painted in shades of blue with white trim, it had a porch that spanned the entire front of the house. It was substantially smaller than the house they’d had in Houston, but there was still plenty of room for the three of them. It represented a fresh slate and brand-new memories. She figured those memories might as well be good ones, so she nodded. “I hope so, too.”
“Speaking of family, or perhaps I should say possible future family, where’s Chris? I thought for sure he’d meet us at the station.”
She bit her lip. “I didn’t tell him we were coming. He’s done so much for us already. I didn’t want him to think he had to help us move in, too.”
“You mean he doesn’t know you’re here?” Everett waved a hand in the general direction of Main Street. “Go find him. He’ll want to see you. If he offers to help, just tell him we have it covered.”
“Shouldn’t I stay and help, though?”
“There isn’t much that you can do while we’re unloading the wagons. We’ll need you to tell us how you want your furniture set up in your room, but we’re a couple of hours away from that stage. Go on, now. Get going.”
“All right, I’m going.” She laughed as she set off down the street. It only took a few minutes to reach Johansen’s Mercantile. Olan was the first to greet her so she went over to lean against the front counter. “Mr. Johansen, you’re looking well. It’s good to see you behind the counter again.”
“It’s good to be back and thank you. You’re the second person who has told me that today. I guess all that resting Doc Williams told me to do must be paying off. Does Chris know you’re back in town?”
“No. I was looking for him.” She glanced around the store, but only saw August near the back helping a customer. “Is he working right now?”
“He’s off today, but he did pass through on the way to the café a few minutes ago. I think he’s still there.”
She thanked him and hurried across the street. The
moment she stepped into the café she spotted Chris facing away from her at one of the tables across the room. A flurry of butterflies took flight in her belly. She hadn’t seen him in nearly two weeks. What if he’d changed his mind about courting her? Well, she still had every intention of going through with a real courtship even though it didn’t seem one bit less terrifying or foolhardy than it had when she’d first agreed to it.
She swallowed hard, lifted her chin and tried to ignore the curious glances she drew. If the folks in this wonderful, nosy town expected another exhibition like the one they’d seen in the mercantile, they would be sorely disappointed. Noticing that he was intent on his newspaper, she paused, trying to decide how to best approach him without startling him. She could simply call his name, but that was such a boring way to surprise someone. And now folks in the café were really staring.
Decision made, she backed up a few feet to ask Maddie for a little help. The woman loaned her a pencil and a page out of her small order book. Adelaide scribbled a quick message, then handed it to Maddie before slipping outside to wait in the soft shadows of the alleyway beside the café. Maddie must have delivered it immediately for Adelaide heard the hollow ring of footsteps on the wooden sidewalk in a matter of seconds. Chris stepped into the alley, caught sight of her and grinned. “Well, it’s about time. Get over here.”
She laughed and stepped right into his waiting embrace for a tight hug. She finally eased back just enough to look into his eyes. The relief there made her realize that he hadn’t been entirely sure she’d actually return. She was glad that he’d actually wanted her to. Her hands slid down to wrap around his waist while she let her head rest on his shoulder. His deep voice rumbled in her ear with a hint of uncertainty. “You’re here to stay?”
She took a step backward out of his embrace, but he caught her hands so she couldn’t go much farther than that. She nodded. Her knees began to bounce with nervous energy to a happy beat only she could hear. Swinging their hands back and forth, she widened her eyes. “I’m so excited!”
He laughed, then leaned down to place a featherlight kiss on her mouth. “We should go back inside.”
“But there are so many people in there.”
“Exactly. There’s safety in numbers.” He stepped behind her to catch her waist in his hands and propel her toward the sidewalk. “Have you eaten dinner?”
“No.” She leaned back against his chest, using her weight to bring them to a stop before they reached the sunlight. “Wait!”
“What?”
She placed her hands over his. “We can’t step out there like this. We have to at least pretend to be respectable.”
“Says the woman who sent me a note in front of the entire café that told me to meet her in an alleyway.” He released her waist with a light squeeze. He guided her onto the sidewalk and back into the café where he pulled out her chair for her, then seated himself. “All right. Tell me everything. When did you get here?”
“We arrived about twenty minutes ago on the train. Pa had sent the wagons ahead with our things so we met up with the drivers at the livery. We brought almost our entire house staff down for the move. They’re all unloading the wagons now, but they leave tomorrow, so that’s when the fun begins for my family when it comes to unpacking. Right now, everything is pretty hectic. I think part of the reason Pa shooed me off to find you was so I’d be out of the way.”
“Well, I’m glad he did.” His smile turned into a concern frown. “How were things in Houston?”
Adelaide shrugged. “Honestly, I was too busy packing to see much of the fallout from the newspaper crisis while I was there. Mother went on a few farewell visits, but she didn’t tell me how they went. Pa had so much to do that I could barely catch him coming and going. Speaking of fathers, I saw yours a few minutes ago at the mercantile. He seems to be doing better.”
“We’re still working through a few things, but you’re right. He is improving. In general, he’s more relaxed now, which means he can rest better and actually get some sleep. Apparently he wasn’t doing much of that before, which only made his symptoms worse. All of that means he doesn’t have nervous spells as often.”
“Good. I’m so glad to hear that.” She bit her lip. “What about us? I mean, has he said anything?”
He grinned. “Not a word. I think he kind of ended up scaring himself with that whole mail-order bride scheme. I’m guessing it seemed like a good idea in theory but it became too real too quickly when the actual stranger showed up at his door wanting to marry his son. It didn’t help that Britta was a little different than how she’d been presented in the letters.”
“Different how?”
“She’s younger for one thing. The letters said she was nineteen. She admitted to seventeen, but I wouldn’t put it past her to be only sixteen. She also said she had a better command of English than she actually does. However, I can’t really fault her on that because learning a new language and having to live immersed in it are two different things. Besides, you know how much I struggled with the transition myself. I guess the main thing is…” He stopped himself with a shake of his head. “I probably shouldn’t say all of this. I feel like I’m gossiping about her.”
She took his hand. “You aren’t gossiping. You’re informing me, and it’s only right that I know. After all, she was brought here for you.”
“All right. Well, this isn’t a big problem anymore because I talked to her about it, but when she first came…” He lowered his voice. “She was a little bold.” He shrugged. “You saw her kiss me at the station so you know what I mean.”
“Yes, I do,” she said, battling the ridiculous urge to wipe his mouth with a napkin as though that would erase her memory of that kiss. “Has she done anything since then?”
“Not really. At least, nothing I couldn’t handle.”
That did not sound good. She frowned. “Chris, girls like that don’t need to be ‘handled.’ They need to be avoided.”
“That’s kind of hard to do since my mother is giving her English lessons. She eats supper with my family most nights. If I avoid her, it means avoiding my family. They feel responsible for her since she came to America in response to my parents’ erroneous promise. She has no family of her own here, no one else to look after her. We tried contacting the chaperone she traveled with, but haven’t heard anything back yet. The situation isn’t ideal by any means. I’ve got it under control, though. Trust me.”
Adelaide met his honest blue eyes and didn’t doubt for a second that he thought he had everything under control. Whether he truly did or not was still to be seen. Her past actually didn’t give her much guidance on how to deal with this. As far as she knew, her father had been the one chasing women. But with Chris, women simply came chasing after him. She wanted to trust him, but how long could a man in his position hold out when a woman like Britta had set her sights on him? She could only hope the answer to that question was forever. She just wasn’t sure she could trust that it would be.
*
Chris was determined to follow Rhett’s advice by wooing Adelaide to the best of his abilities. He hadn’t had much of a chance to do so in the week since she’d arrived. He’d had work and she’d needed a chance to settle in to her new house. Today was his first real opportunity, so after his shift at the mercantile ended, he made sure to pick her up on time for Rhett and Isabelle’s housewarming party. Chris introduced her to the few people she didn’t already know. Then Rhett and Isabelle asked for everyone’s attention.
Rhett put an arm around his wife’s waist. “We just wanted to take the chance to thank all of y’all for coming and for your gifts.”
Isabelle added, “Violet begged me to let her be in charge of our first game today. I think most of you already know this, but my little sister has a flare for the dramatic so I apologize in advance for any theatrics.” Isabelle lowered her voice to a stage whisper. “She also wanted to make an entrance so… Violet, we’re ready!”
The sixte
en-year-old stepped into the parlor, setting off a twitter of laughter. She’d donned a long coat, a policeman’s cap and a handlebar mustache. She affected a deep Scottish brogue. “My name is Inspector Bradley of Scotland Yard.”
“Good accent, Vi,” Wes called before elbowing Gabe Nolan who was standing next to him. “I helped her with that. Got in touch with my roots.”
The dark-haired artist rolled his eyes. “I know. I was there visiting the Bradleys with you.”
Violet lifted her chin and glared at them. “Gents, please. Simply because you were boarders in the former Bradley Boardinghouse does not mean you get to interrupt.”
Nearby, Britta shook her head and leaned toward Chris’s brother August to ask in Norwegian, “Is that English? What is she saying?”
Britta listened intently to August’s quiet translation as Violet continued. “The name of the game is Murder. In my hands are the cards that hold your fate. Take one and pass them on. If you receive an ace, that makes you the murderer. Your weapon of choice? A simple, stealthy wink. Everyone else, I’m afraid you’re potential victims. When you’re winked at you must silently count to five and then die without revealing the murderer. I get three guesses. If I fail, then I’m afraid you’re all dead. Y’all are all standing pretty much in a circle so the game can begin once all the cards have been dispersed. Just keep talking amongst yourselves, and keep an eye out for the murderer.”
Chris took one of the cards, then glanced down at it to find he had the ace. Sticking it in his pocket, he passed the remaining two to Adelaide. She passed the last one to Helen, who stood beside her. The two women seemed to have hit it off immediately. Since Helen had grown up in Austin, they’d spent the last few minutes comparing experiences of society life in the big city. Chris had been content to stay by Adelaide’s side and listen to them chat. He knew how important it was to Adelaide that she make new friends at this party. Now he was too busy locking eyes with potential victims to listen. His first two winks went to Rhett and Isabelle. Five seconds later, they cried out in unison. They looked at each other in surprise, then embraced and collapsed to the floor as one. Violet hurried toward them to investigate, then scanned the circle of suspects with narrowed eyes.
