Angie's Hope (Valentine Mail Order Bride 7)

by Lorena Dove

  “Oh,” he said, and looked down at this cup. Then his eyes rose again to meet hers. “I see. Are you in love then?”

  At the sound of the word “love,” Angie’s heart did a small flip. To hear him speak that word, to see it formed on his lips, made her long to hear it again and again, only from him.”

  “No, I am not in love,” she said. “And—I don’t know quite how to say this, but here it is. It is a fake engagement. A planned deception in which the gentleman and I are both fully participating.”

  Now Cal was intrigued. This honest creature, so sincere and eyes so true, was wittingly involved in a public deception? He leaned forward and encouraged her with his eyes to keep talking.

  Angie talked. She told him about her mother’s botched engagement and subsequent marriage below her station to her father. She spoke of her love for her father, and his work and dedication to the church and his parish. She told him about Elmer, and how her mother had planned for them to marry her entire life. And then she told him of seeing Elmer again after five years, and realizing she felt nothing beyond common affection for him.

  “At the time, I thought that was enough of a basis to begin any marriage. And for many, it is…”

  “But not for you,” Cal said. “Not for Angela.”

  The way he said her name again caused her heart to flip. “Elmer told me the truth, and for that I will always be grateful to him. Indeed, he could not hide the fact that he was in love with another woman. The way he said her name, the look in his eyes when he spoke of her, when I heard and saw that, I knew I could never settle for marriage to any man who didn’t love me.”

  “And so you lied for him. But why? He could have dishonored the arrangement your parents made without involving you. Then the shame would all be his.”

  “I wasn’t going to. But then at my Bible study that night, my friends had decided to find husbands for themselves out west. They are all good girls, but by circumstance found themselves unable to secure a suitable marriage in New York. I only looked through the ads for fun, but when I saw yours from Kansas City, I thought it must be a sign. I knew my mother would let me come visit Henry. And, well, here I am.”

  “Yes, here you are.”

  “There you are!” The echo came from Nancy standing at the door to the café. “You’ve been missing for hours, Angie! Come quickly, Henry is looking for you!”

  Angie and Cal stood up. “Cal Jones, may I present my sister, Nancy Simmons. Nancy, this is Cal.”

  Cal nodded.

  “Oh my,” Nancy said.

  Angie gathered up her things and shook Cal’s hand.

  “I hope I shall see you again soon, Mr. Jones.”

  “Tomorrow, Angela. See me tomorrow.”

  Angie blushed as she pushed Nancy, still staring at Cal, toward the door.

  “Oh my,” Nancy repeated. And then, when they were outside, “Angie, was that really your Cal?”

  Angie laughed and her heart soared on the winter air. “He’s not ‘my Cal,’ silly.”

  “Well? What did you think? Do you like him? He certainly is handsome!”

  “Yes, he is. And I like him very much.”

  ~*~*~*~

  Angie got home in time to persuade Henry that she had lost track of time enjoying her walk in the park. He was suspicious that she had been gone by herself for two hours, but couldn’t waste any more time worrying about it.

  “I’ve got enough trouble on my hands, Angie, without worrying about your safety or your reputation.”

  “My reputation?” The implied accusation irritated her. “Leave me to manage my reputation, Henry. I think it matters more to me than to you.”

  Henry cocked one eyebrow in surprise at Angie’s outburst. Then he turned on one heel and retreated to the parlor.

  For the next two days, Nancy and Angie went to the park together. They would meet Cal in the café, and Nancy would read her book at the next table while Cal and Angie talked. He told her of his work as a ferryman, and how he came to learn carpentry repairing the ferry and later riverboat furnishings. The lure of adventure and promise of gold had taken him to Colorado, and Angie could scarcely believe his stories of tracking streams to their source in the mountains, panning for gold, filing claims, and making what he thought was good progress toward a fortune.

  “Then one day, I was turning in my gold at the weighing station, when I learned that some of the miner’s claims had come up false. I checked into it, and found that mine as well had been challenged. It seems a larger mining company had locked up all the acreage for miles around five years before, and the clerk’s office had made a mistake. They allowed many of us to prove up the claims before letting us know. And now, for all I know, no one is working those streams.”

  “That doesn’t seem fair!” Angie protested. “What did you do?”

  “What could I do? I left those parts for work in Kansas, coal mining. It was horrible and I hated it, except for one thing.”

  “What was that?”

  “It’s how I came to place my ad and meet you.”

  Angie smiled. Cal had been lead by providence to reach out, and God had answered by leading her to him. She knew it in her heart.

  “And now what are you doing? Certainly you can’t be mining if you are meeting me here for three days in a row.”

  “Now I am taking on work as a carpenter again. I’ve contracted to two shops in town, and am getting to start the first project tomorrow.”

  “Oh,” Angie sighed. “So, you won’t be able to meet anymore then?”

  “Not here. Not like this,” Cal said. “Angie, I want to call on you at your brother’s house. I want to court you properly, and see….” His voice trailed off.

  “See what?” Angie asked.

  Cal swallowed hard and looked directly in her eyes. “See if this is for real the way I think it is.”

  Angie couldn’t breathe. He felt the same way as she did. In only three days’ time, over hours of talking, she knew in her mind what her heart was feeling. She was in love with Cal Jones.

  “I would like that very much,” Angie whispered. Then suddenly she shook her head. “There’s only one problem. Technically, my family thinks I’m still engaged to Elmer.”

  “You said he was going to write soon, didn’t you?” Cal asked. “I’ll wait for you to let me know. We’ll find a way to be introduced properly. I want to do this by the book.”

  Do what? Angie thought, but she couldn’t ask.

  “We’ll have to wait a bit after I get Elmer’s letter,” Angie said. “Henry has enough trouble as it is right now, without me hopping from a botched engagement into a … a… into an acquaintance with another man.” She blushed.

  “What trouble?” Cal was kind enough to gloss over her embarrassment. “What’s the matter with Henry?”

  Angie told him what she knew about the coal mine problem and the railroad prices. “Henry’s had losses from gold mine claims as well, and if he loses his interests in the mines, I fear he’ll be bankrupt. Mr. Adams, his partner, wants to force a strike to cripple the railroads.”

  “A strike? Won’t that hurt the workers? They can’t afford to not be paid. And all the businesses in town need the railroads. Who is this Mr. Adams to push such a calamity on the people here?”

  “His name is Sherman Adams, and he is the most disagreeable man. He comes every day and he and Henry have it out. So far, Henry is holding strong, waiting for word from Elmer. I guess we’re both waiting for news from Elmer.” Angie smiled.

  “I’ve got to warn Joe,” Cal said grimly. “Talk of a strike and railroad stoppage will knock him and Ella to their knees. No one in the mining towns has enough money saved to eat if they’re out of work more than a few days. I’ve been begging him to leave the mines. The pay is not worth it, and it gets wrapped up in credit at the company store anyway. Joe would be better coming to Kansas City and trying his luck.”

  Cal stood to leave and Angie could see the concern and determination on his f
ace. Her heart reached out to him, and she was proud of his fierce loyalty to his friend, and to the welfare of the people in the mining town. She knew Henry felt the same way.

  “I’ll be back in a day or two, Angela. I’ll come by Henry’s house every day. If I see a blue cloth hanging in the upper window, I’ll know you’ve had your letter from Elmer. And don’t worry. I will be introduced to you.”

  He took her hand and kissed it, called good-bye to Nancy, and he was gone.

  Chapter Nine

  Angie awoke depressed the next morning. She had been energized for the entire week by her walks to the park, first in hopes of finding Cal Jones, and then by the amazing way they had talked and learned all about each other. She felt she had known Cal for years, not days.

  And the way he looked at her and spoke her name—just thinking of it made her heart hurt. It squeezed in her chest and took her breath away. She finally knew the meaning of heartache. She felt it completely when she wasn’t with Cal.

  Each day, she had looked for a letter from Elmer. She and Henry both snatched up the mail in anticipation. Finally, the letters came: One for her, and one for Henry, from Elmer in New York.

  “I think I’ll read mine upstairs, if you don’t mind, Henry,” Angie said. Her heart was light that this would be the last moment of deception regarding her fake engagement.

  “Yes, certainly,” Henry said distractedly. He had already opened his letter and was reading it as he walked into the parlor and closed the door.

  Angie raced up to her room and sat on the bed. She tore open the letter and began to read.

  Dear Angie,

  You’re a wonderful person and a great friend. I tell all whom we know of your character and loveliness. I duly apologize to you for being the reason behind the chaos in your life. I am extremely sorry for causing you pain and trouble that this letter must portend.

  I am dissolving our engagement and hold no further claim to you. My heart belongs to another, and you are not in love with me. With this simple truth, we shall face the slings and arrows of society that may condemn us.

  I have informed my parents and even spent the afternoon with yours to tell them of our decision. I am sure you will hear soon from them and can rightly convey my sincere apologies, for they could not hear me well when I tried to extend them.

  I hope you will be happy in your life, and I will try to earn the love of the woman for whom I have caused you so much trouble.

  Yours Sincerely,

  Elmer Farley

  Angie laughed out loud. She was surely the first woman who giggled with mirth upon enduring a broken engagement—and so near to Valentine’s Day, when love was meant to blossom into marriage. Nancy came in to the room.

  “So, it has happened then? Thank goodness!” Nancy said. “Here, let me see for myself.”

  Nancy read the letter and the two did feel bad for their parents. “I’ve been writing to Mother,” Nancy said. “I’m sure she will tell me everything, and I’ll do my best to console her.”

  “I’m going down to tell Henry,” Angie said. “I don’t want this to go on another minute.”

  “Wait!” Nancy stopped her from leaving the room. “Don’t you think you should be the least bit sad? At first, anyway.”

  “Oh, you’re right,” Angie said. “And I forgot something else.” Angie went to the wash basin and sprinkled some water around her eyes, then dabbed most of it off with a cotton cloth. She dried her hands, and smiling at Nancy, hung the blue cloth in the window.

  * **

  Henry and Mr. Adams were consulting in the parlor when the girls went down. They waited for a while, but Angie was impatient and told Nancy that if she didn’t tell her news right away, Henry would wonder why she waited.

  She knocked lightly on the door.

  “Come in,” answered Henry. He sounded tired.

  “Oh, Henry!” Angie sniffled. She wasn’t the least bit sad that Elmer had finally ended their fake engagement. But she had to do everything in her power to act that way, if just for a few days.

  “What’s the matter? Has something happened?” Henry immediately noticed Angie’s hair was disheveled and she was sniffing and crying.

  “Oh, Henry! It’s Elmer. I don’t know what to say!”

  Nancy came in and took the letter from Angie’s hand. “She’s in no condition to talk. Here, read for yourself.” She handed the letter to Henry.

  He looked at both girls in surprise and read the letter out loud. He kept looking from the letter to Angie as he went through it. She sniffed and cried throughout. Finally he was finished and held it down to his side.

  “The cad. The nerve! How dare he break your engagement?” Henry started.

  “I’m sure I don’t know, but we did talk before he left.” Angie said.

  “You talked? You knew this would happen?”

  “I wasn’t sure, but it seemed that Elmer was in love all along with someone else.”

  Henry just stared at her. “And our business interests, is that fake too? Suppose he is just putting me off? In his letter to me, he says he is still working on a solution to the low coal prices. Am I to believe him now, like a – like a silly girl?”

  Angie drew in a sharp breath, but remembered her brother was in shock to learn of something she herself had wished for weeks now would be over.

  “Let’s take this calmly, Henry,” Mr. Adams said. He turned to Angie.

  “My dear, in your present circumstances I’m sure you must know what this means.”

  “It means I am no longer engaged, Mr. Adams,” Angie said.

  “Yes, true. But more than that. Surely you know that other men will wonder. Why would he break it off with you? Perhaps some indiscretion on your part, or some unknown irredeemable fault?” He tried to smile at her, but was so unused to the muscle movement that it came off more as a sneer.

  “What can you mean, sir, an indiscretion?” Angie said indignantly. She didn’t like his words, or his tones. As for the look on his face; she hadn’t liked that since the day she first met him.

  Henry looked from Mr. Adams to Angie and could see the beginning of a sale being made. He knew enough about Sherman’s business practices to understand when he was forming an idea.

  “As for you Henry, you get no relief from Mr. Farley as well. By now, surely he would have some news of progress for you. And yet you still insist that a strike to force the railroad companies to pay a higher price for our coal is a bad idea. It seems,” Mr. Adams moved in for the kill. “It seems to me that your family will be ruined; one financially and the other socially. All for love of this Mr. Elmer Farley.”

  Angie listened in horror as she understood where Mr. Adams was going with his speech. He wouldn’t bother pointing out the obvious to them, and making it seem as bad as possible, if he weren’t about to propose a solution. And she was sure it would be of benefit to him.

  “What are you saying, then, Sherman?” Henry asked. “You’ve got something in mind.”

  “It seems to me, a grand solution could solve all of our … problems,” Mr. Adams said. He walked stiffly closer to Angie, so close that she could smell the alcohol from the cheap cologne that he wore to cover his profuse sweating.

  “I won’t leave myself out of this sad tale of woe. For I, you see, have been in need of a wife for quite some time. I could have my pick, of course, but for want of time to find a sensible woman.”

  Angie began to shake her head slowly from side to side. “No. No.” She said.

  Mr. Adams came closer and put a hand on her arm. She physically shrank from his touch, but was paralyzed in place as he continued.

  “We are all friends, here, and partners, after all. Let’s say you will get your prices eventually, Henry. All you need is a little cash flow to get you through. And let’s say your reputation isn’t ruined, Angie. Surely some man will take you once the more prominent suitors fall away. And let’s just say …” here he drew closer still to Angie, who was now pushed against the back of t
he couch and could retreat no further. “Let’s just say I’ve had my eye on you, and would consider it worth my time, and money, to make you my wife. Yes, you’ll do just fine.” He grinned/grimaced even more.

  “Impossible!” Angie breathed. “I will never marry for anything less than love, and I do not, I cannot love you, Mr. Adams.”

  “How quaint,” he said, releasing his grip and stepping back. “What about you, Henry. Surely you can see how this solves all our problems?”

  “Lend me the cash, you know I’m good for it,” Henry said. “But leave Angie out of this.”

  “Now that wouldn’t be entirely reasonable, would it?” Mr. Adams said. “Me take all the risk and get none of the reward? And you two off, scot-free? No. I’ll make the deal, if you agree to make Angie my wife.”

  Nancy could be silent no longer. She raced to her brother’s side. “You can’t say yes, Henry! She’s not yours to give away! She’s your sister and yes, you should approve, but you can’t agree for her! Henry!”

  “Nancy, calm down,” Henry said. “Nobody is agreeing to anything.” He looked at Angie.

  She breathed for the first time since Mr. Adams had begun talking. Henry would protect her.

  “I’d like to talk to Angie alone.”

  “Yes. Well. You two think about my offer. But be warned, it ends at sunset tonight. I shall be back for your answer before then.” He picked up his hat and can, and waddled out of the room and out the front door.

  Angie broke into true sobs as soon as he left. She couldn’t talk, and just the smell remaining in the air after him and the look on his face caused her great fear and pain.

  Henry came to her side and sat her down on the couch. “Nancy, run and make some tea. We need to think about this.”

  “Think about this!” Angie cried. “There’s nothing to think about! I could never marry that horrible Sherman Adams!”

  “Angie, perhaps you have not quite been honest with me about you and Elmer,” Henry said. He waited for her to look at him. With a small movement of her chin, she acknowledged the truth. “Well, I haven’t been fully honest with you about our financial situation. You see, it’s not just that I’m losing money in my business. A few months ago, I convinced Father to invest his savings with me also. If I am ruined, so will he be, and he and Mother will be moved from the parsonage—to the poorhouse.”