“What did you find out?” Nick asked with no accusation, his voice soft and his tone gentle. Frances wanted to grab his face and kiss him.
“Like what bank the safe deposit box key might be from? He only did business with two that I can remember. I hadn’t been looking for things he might have kept there besides his money, but the last time I looked at his account he had nearly half a million dollars in the bank. That was a week before he died.” She met Charles’ gaze. “So, yes, I know how much money ought to be in the account.”
“Then tomorrow should be an interesting day,” Mr. Littrell said and then moved on to discussing other details that didn’t interest her.
“Do you think we’ll all need to be there tomorrow?” Nick whispered.
“Probably not.” Frances shifted closer, sensing he was up to something. “What do you have in mind?”
“I’m real curious about that safe deposit box key.” Nick hoped how close she was sitting was a good sign. He’d spent way too much of the evening debating with himself whether to tell Frances how he felt. “I’m sure the trained professionals will handle the legal and financial things.”
“And the others will look after our interests, including asking if Father kept a safe deposit box there,” she said with a nod. “Are you thinking we should check the other bank while everyone is busy?”
“It’ll save time.”
“Divide and conquer.” Frances kissed his cheek. “I like it.”
“Are you lovebirds even paying attention?”
“Sorry.” Nick straightened.
As the others went on talking, he had to resist touching his cheek where she’d spontaneously kissed him. She seemed to feel everything so strongly, more than anyone he’d ever known before. Her passion for life had been one of the first things that had drawn him to her. He hadn’t known her two days before he’d felt like a moth drawn to a candle.
Nick had to tell her he was in love with her. Once they cleared up the inheritance issue tomorrow, it would be a matter of days or weeks before she could move forward with the annulment. Frances might be spontaneous, but she also didn’t like having things thrown at her. His gut told him this was something she’d need time to stew over before having to decide.
Once the attorney left, Charles’ family joined them. They spent the rest of the evening in lively conversation and even played some games. It reminded Nick of his own family. As Frances rose for her turn at charades, he decided to tell her first thing in the morning. If she didn’t take his suggestion well, it might be the last night he got to spend with her.
“You’re even more quiet tonight than usual,” Luke said.
“Got a lot on my mind.” Nick didn’t want anything between himself and his brother-in-law. “Frances and I aren’t planning to come with y’all to the bank tomorrow.”
“Oh?”
Nick explained what they meant to do. “We figure while all ya’ll are getting an accounting of the estate, you can ask about a safe deposit box. Me and Frances can check it out at the other bank she mentioned. It might all be for nothing, but then we’ll know. We can join you when we’re finished.”
“I don’t know.” Luke rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful. “I don’t have a problem with you two going off on your own, but I don’t think it’d be smart to bring whatever William Lancaster wants right to him.”
“That Littrell said he told Lancaster he didn’t need to attend. If he’s stolen the girls’ fortunes, it’d be pretty gutsy to show up.”
“That man’s arrogance knows no bounds, believe me,” Luke said, his expression now grim. “If you two find something, hire a messenger to bring us word at the bank. We can meet back here to decide what to do with whatever you find.”
“And what if it turns out the safe deposit box is where you’re at?” Nick asked.
“We’ll wait to ask about that until after we’ve finished with the other business.”
“It’s a plan then.”
“I’m glad to see you and Frances so happy,” Luke said, clapping Nick on the shoulder. “I was surprised when she came around so easily to the idea of getting married. Who’d have thought?”
“Not me, that’s for sure.” Nick grinned, even though the knot in his stomach had tightened. It could all end tomorrow.
15
Nick shifted under Frances, and she woke from a pleasant dream. It was the first time in days that she hadn’t dreamed of her father’s death. Remembering how Nick had held her while she’d cried the last night on the train, she brought her hand to his cheek and cupped it. She loved the feel of his cleanly shaved face, but she found she also liked this early morning scruff.
Cuddled with Nick in the mornings, she always felt even closer to him. She ran her fingers lightly along his jaw. Her fingers found his lips, and she outlined them. Nick made that funny growl sound he sometimes did when she touched him. He brought his hand up to cover hers.
“You’re driving me crazy,” he said, his voice rough.
Frances lifted up on her elbow, grinning. “Does it tickle?”
“No, my love, it does something else.” His fiercely penetrating gaze startled her.
Then the endearment echoed in her mind, and she flopped onto her back. It was time to get dressed for the day. She started to get up, but Nick’s hand found hers.
“I need to talk to you about something important.” He laced their fingers. “I’m in love with you, Frances.”
No. A stab of pain skewered her heart, and she didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t. It wasn’t allowed. She’d told him she wasn’t going to marry anyone for real.
“I’m only telling you because I think you should know how I feel.” His next words came out in a hurry, as though he were afraid he might not get them out otherwise. “I’m not trying to put any pressure on you. All I’m asking is for you to give some thought to the possibility of staying married to me.”
Out of nowhere, anger surged through her. He’d ruined it. How could they stay friends if he felt this way?
Her eyes stung. She’d cried more since Christmas than she had the whole last year combined. And Nick had been there every time she had. She refused to cry in front of him again. Ripping her hand from his, she jumped from the bed. Without looking back at him, she went into the bathroom and slammed the door.
“Well, that went well,” Nick said to no one as he lay in the bed and stared at the ceiling. Without saying a word, she’d answered his question. Frances would have none of him when this was done. He’d served his purpose.
Maybe it was just as well. He’d stop pretending his marriage to her could be real and do his best to just be a friend like she wanted. It wasn’t her fault she didn’t return his affections.
A niggle of doubt crept into his mind. Please, Lord, don’t let me have ruined our friendship too.
Nick rose from the bed and went to choose his clothing for the day. He debated wearing his suit and finally decided against it. They’d be late arrivals to the main meeting and would be traveling around the city before then. He didn’t look forward to breathing the dirty air. He already missed the freezing but clean winds of Wyoming.
Would Frances ever speak to him again?
Drat it all. He should have kept his mouth shut until it was time for the annulment. Was she thinking he’d broken their contract? He groaned.
Now he’d had a taste of what it might be like to be married to Frances, could he go back to the way things had been before? What was the alternative? Going back to Texas and never seeing her again? At the moment, that seemed a worse alternative. Now wasn’t the time to make any final decisions.
Nick stood waiting by the bathroom door when she came out. She refused to meet his gaze, so he didn’t try to push a conversation she obviously didn’t want to have. As he bathed and dressed, he decided to pretend he hadn’t said anything. Perhaps if he acted as normally as he could—as though he’d kept his mouth shut—she’d start treating him the way she had before all of this.
>
“Do you remember where your father’s other bank is located?” Nick asked, as he stepped out of the bathroom.
“It’s called the Celtic Savings and Loan and isn’t all that far from his main bank.” She was pulling on one of her boots and still hadn’t looked at Nick, but at least she was talking to him again. “It being a savings and loan and not a bank is what got my attention.”
“Did you happen to notice if your father kept any funds there?”
“There wasn’t a lot.” Frances stood and finally looked at him. “It seemed like it was a fairly new account. At the time, I didn’t think much of it besides wondering why he’d decided to do business with someone else.”
“Shall we see if the others are down to breakfast yet?” Nick held out his hand for her as he had every morning since their engagement. Frances hesitated a moment but took it. He allowed himself to breathe. Thank you, Lord.
Charles and Maude were the only ones in the dining room when they got there, but the others soon arrived. It appeared Charles said something to the others because everyone seemed to know Nick and Frances would join them at the Indiana National Bank once they’d searched out the savings and loan.
As they rode one of the streetcars, Frances remained quiet. He didn’t intrude on her thoughts. They turned onto a circular drive.
“Wow,” he breathed, staring at a tall structure in the middle.
“That’s the Soldiers and Sailors Monument,” she said. “They dedicated it in 1902, and it’s a memorial to remember the Hoosiers who’ve served in wars. I wanted to go for the event, but Father didn’t want to deal with the crowds, so we waited a few weeks. Maude and Doris refused to go up the stairs to the observation tower.”
“But you did,” Nick said with a smile.
“Of course, I did.” Frances grinned back at him, and his heart seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. She said, “There’s an elevator which helps, but you still have to climb the thirty-seven exterior steps and then the forty-nine inside to reach the observatory. I counted them.”
She tugged on the bell, and the horse-drawn streetcar came to a stop. Frances, who’d insisted on sitting on the aisle seat of their bench, jumped up and was moving before Nick could offer her his arm. He followed her out to the sidewalk. She scanned the numbers on the building, seemingly oblivious to the people staring at her split skirts.
“There it is.” She pointed to a building.
Rather than be left behind again, Nick took her hand and strode toward it. They must have looked lost as they scanned the lobby because a gentleman in a suit approached them.
“How can I assist you?” The man, who spoke with only the hint of an Irish brogue, addressed his question to Nick.
“It’s my wife’s business,” he said.
“My father, who died last year, had an account here. I’ve been led to believe he might have kept a safe deposit box.” Frances pulled the key from her pocket and held it for the man to see.
“Ah, yes. I remember this case.” The man pinned her with a stern gaze. “Which would you be?”
“I’m Frances, the youngest,” she said without hesitation. “Did he leave any other questions that need to be answered?”
“Yes,” the man said, “but I will need to pull the file. We’ve already had one person demand information on the account, but he couldn’t answer your father’s questions. This way.”
“Do you think it was your uncle or one of his flunkies?” Nick whispered as they followed the man.
“Uncle because I doubt he’d have trusted anyone else.”
“Good point.”
The man led them to a small office and indicated two chairs on the other side of his desk. “May I have someone bring you something to drink?”
“We’re fine.” Frances sat in one of the chairs, so Nick took the other.
“I will return in a moment after I have located the file.” The man left the room.
“I wish I could send a message to Maude and Doris, so they could be here for this.” Frances rubbed her temples.
“What if it turns out to have been much ado about nothing?”
“I loved that play. It was one of Father’s favorites too.” Frances struck a pose, the corners of her mouth lifting.
“He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man: and he that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a man, I am not for him.”
Nick had to resist the temptation to say that he had a good beard but decided it wouldn’t be safe and chose a quote instead.
“Friendship is constant in all other things.”
Frances finished the line, but her expression turned sad.
“Save in the office and affairs of love.”
Nick couldn’t help himself.
“I have railed so long against marriage. But doth not the appetite alter?”
“Stop,” Frances cried, jumping to her feet, her eyes now shiny.
Before he could apologize, the door opened. The man paused, wary, realizing he’d interrupted something.
Nick rose and took her hand, saying, “It’s been tough on my wife since the loss of her father. I don’t remember if you introduced yourself.”
“My name is Michael Boyle.”
“I’m Nicolas Reynolds,” Nick said extending his hand. “This is my wife, Frances Lancaster Reynolds.”
Mr. Boyle indicated the seats again and shifted around his chair. He made quite a ceremony of setting down the folder and opening it. He pulled out a sheet of paper.
“What is your middle name, Mrs. Reynolds?”
Frances’s grasp on Nick’s hand tightened a little, but she answered coolly enough.
“I never had one. None of us do. Our maiden names are now our middle names. Father said they weren’t necessary.”
“And your birthdays?” Mr. Boyle asked.
Frances stated each of them, including the years.
“There’s one final question. What did your mother bequeath each of her daughters?”
“Maude and Doris each received jewelry. She gave me riding lessons.”
For anyone else, Nick would have thought it a strange gift. He imagined Mr. Lancaster had thought his daughter too much of a tomboy already and had refused to let her ride.
“Very good. Your father’s instructions say he hoped the three of you would come together, but we were at liberty to give access to the box to any of you who could answer the questions. I will now escort you to a room where you will have privacy while you examine the contents.”
Frances’s took a deep breath but didn’t say anything. Mr. Boyle led them to a room and left. A small safe deposit box sat on a table in the center of the room.
“Whatever it is, it’s not very big,” Nick said.
Frances took a deep breath and went to the box. She stood by it but glanced over her shoulder at him, her expression expectant. He realized she was waiting for him to join her before unlocking it, so he did.
“We’ve done this together so far.” She brought her hand to one corner, and he put his on the other. Frances said, “Now.”
16
Nick stared at the single content. A skeleton key. Was this a sick joke? He glanced at Frances, surprised to find she wasn’t angry. Instead, she looked thoughtful.
“Do you know what it opens?” he asked.
“No, but I think I’ve seen it before.” She rubbed her temple. “I just can’t remember where.”
“So,” Nick asked, “you don’t think this whole safe deposit box thing is a wild-goose chase?”
“My father create a wild-goose chase?” Frances shook her head. “He never did anything without a purpose. He obviously suspected Uncle William and put protections in place.”
“Maybe one of your sisters will recognize what it unlocks.”
Frances reached inside the box and picked up the key. “What’s this?” She turned it over and exposed a tiny piece of paper wedged into the intricate bow at the top. When sh
e’d removed and unfolded it, it was only about half an inch wide with a single word on it. Her name.
Frances’s breath hitched, and her shoulders started to shake. Nick realized she was crying. He had no idea why it upset her, but he embraced her again while she sobbed.
When she calmed, he expected her to step back and pretend it hadn’t happened. She didn’t. He wished it could mean something that she stayed in his arms.
“He knew I’d be the one to find it,” she finally said, lifting her head from Nick’s shoulder.
“Your father?” He dropped his arms and stepped back.
“Yes.”
Frances went to the box and picked up the tiny scrap of paper she’d dropped. She put a finger inside her shirt and pulled out a chain. At the end was a locket, he’d never seen. He stepped closer as she opened it. Inside was a tiny picture of what looked like Frances, but the woman was too old to be her.
“Is that your mother?”
Frances nodded as she refolded the paper and put it inside the locket. She snapped it shut, and dropped it inside her shirt again.
“We need to go to my old house,” she said.
“Do you recall what it unlocks?” he asked.
“No, but I know it’s in the house.”
“When we meet up with the others at the bank, we can make arrangements to visit the house.”
“No.” Frances closed the lid to the box. “I need quiet to remember. If we have a bunch of people there, it’ll get in the way. They can come later. We need to go there first, just you and me.”
“All right.” He straightened his coat, still wet with her tears. “Is it a very big house?”
“Big enough, I guess. Not nearly as big as Luke’s, but his is a guest house too.”
As Nick watched her, understanding came to him. He loved Frances, but if she couldn’t love him back—as more than a friend—he couldn’t go back to the way it’d been. If she didn’t want them, it was over.
A Fella for Frances Page 11
