A Home for Her Heart Read online

  “She’s doing fine. She and Jenny, along with Michael and Violet, will be here for Sunday dinner as usual tomorrow.”

  Elizabeth smiled. Everyone loved having Rebecca’s young daughter around. She livened things up around the dinner table.

  “Did you and Elizabeth get any shopping done?” Luke asked Kathleen.

  “I did purchase something, but we mostly window-shopped for ideas and fabrics. I have a better idea of what I want now, and where to look for things.”

  “And it’s all still a secret I assume?”

  “Most of it.”

  Luke sighed and shook his head. “Are you going to be locked away with more planning tonight?”

  Kathleen smiled at him. “Not tonight.”

  “Good.”

  Elizabeth couldn’t help but smile as she witnessed the look Luke gave her friend. It was obvious the two were deeply in love and she was very happy for them. Sometimes even a little envious, even though she had no intention of giving her heart to any man. After finding her fiancée didn’t love her but only the money he’d have access to, how could she ever trust that any other man truly cared about her and not her inheritance? How could she trust that her heart wouldn’t be broken again? She didn’t believe it was possible to ever be able to trust that way again.

  John leaned near and broke into her thoughts. “You’re awfully quiet tonight. In fact, you haven’t seemed yourself since our run-in the other day.”

  His concern surprised her and frustrated her all at the same time. The look in his eyes reminded her of what it’d felt like to be held by him that day she’d barreled into him and how it had taken her breath away. Something she’d been trying not to think about ever since. “I’m fine.”

  “You’re sure? You seem a little—”

  “I’m fine, John,” she repeated. At least she would be if he didn’t keep asking if she was. What was it about this man that had her catching her breath one minute and ready to bop him over the head the next?

  “If you say so.” He turned his attention to Millicent across the table from them. “I’m looking forward to seeing the photos you shot.”

  “Thank you. I should have made a set for each of you, but I only developed one. I suppose you two will have to decide who gets what. I don’t imagine your editors will want to publish the same ones anyway.”

  Elizabeth hadn’t thought about it until now, but Millicent was right. “I’m sure you took enough that it won’t be a problem.”

  “I hope so.”

  As some of the others began scooting their chairs out from the table, John said, “It appears dinner is over. Let’s go see what you have.”

  “I’ll run upstairs and get them,” Millicent said.

  “We’ll be in the little parlor,” Elizabeth said. “Come on back when you come down.” She scooted her own chair out and stood before John had a chance to help her. If he thought he was going to get the best pictures, he was wrong. She might write fluff, but she knew what was needed to appeal to the women who read the Delineator and she was going to make sure she got it.

  * * *

  John and Elizabeth followed Kathleen and Luke to the back parlor and took seats around the small table. John pulled up an extra one for Millicent. They’d barely settled in their seats before she joined them.

  She took a seat John pulled up for her and spread the photographs out on the table.

  “Oh, Millicent, these are very good,” John said.

  They were very good. She’d caught shots that Elizabeth couldn’t remember her taking. But John’s high praise of her work when all he’d allow Elizabeth of her articles was that they were nice ruffled her feathers. And that it did annoyed her most of all. Not about to let on how she felt, she added her praise to the others. “I can’t see any way our editors aren’t going to want to feature some of these photos.”

  John already had a grasp on several and Elizabeth decided right then and there that he wasn’t going to take just any he wanted. She quickly picked several up and began to go through them.

  “Hey, I haven’t seen those yet,” John said.

  “And I didn’t get a chance to look at the ones you’re holding. I’ll choose from these and you choose from those and we’ll split up the rest.”

  “Oh, my, I hope I didn’t whip up trouble when I asked for you both to do articles. I—”

  “You haven’t provoked anything, Kathleen,” Luke said.

  “I hope I haven’t, either,” Millicent added.

  Elizabeth sighed. “You haven’t stirred up anything, ladies.”

  “Elizabeth is right. I shouldn’t have grabbed so many before she had a chance to look at them. I’m sorry.”

  Oh, now he’d made her look really bad-tempered. Well, maybe not. She seemed to have done that on her own and there was nothing to do now but apologize. “I’m sorry if I sounded miffed. Want to start over, John?”

  He laid the photos on the table. “That’s a good idea. But I will ask for this one, unless you have a real need for it.”

  The photo he held up was one Millicent had taken as they were walking up the stairs. It showed a broken stair rail and somehow included a shot of the broken window on the next floor and was a good example of the deplorable condition of the whole building.

  “As long as I get the next pick.”

  “Thank you.” John motioned to the photos. “You choose next.”

  She moved the photos around until she saw the one she especially wanted, the one she’d asked Millicent to take. She caught her breath as she looked at it. Not only had Millicent caught the rat in the pile of trash, there were eyes peeking out from the rubble. A whole family of rats probably lived there. She shuddered. “You are very talented, Millicent. I’ll take this one.”

  John raised an eyebrow and grinned. “Perhaps I should have given you first choice.”

  Elizabeth smiled and shook her head. “I’d have chosen the same one. Your turn now.”

  From then on they played nice and each had a good selection of photographs to show their editors.

  “I think you’ll be hanging a sign out on your own business before too long, Millicent,” Elizabeth said. “These are all very good and they show exactly what I hoped they would. Thank you.”

  “Thank you and John for allowing me to shoot these. I’m glad to be able to help garner attention to these places. Surely something will be done.”

  “That’s what we’re hoping for.”

  “Are we done for now?” John asked.

  Elizabeth nodded. “I suppose so. I’ll let you know which ones my editor wants to use, Millicent. I have no doubt that he’ll want several.”

  “Thank you, Elizabeth. I guess I’ll go join the others in the parlor. Sounds like they’re having a sing-along.”

  The sound of piano music drifted down the hall. “It does sound like that,” Luke said. “Want to join them, Kathleen?”

  “I’d love to.” She turned back to Elizabeth. “You coming?”

  “Not tonight. I think I’ll go up and take some notes on what I saw today and what Millicent’s photographs have brought to mind. I’ll see you all in the morning.”

  “What about you, John?” Luke asked.

  “No, I think I’ll go down and put the finishing touches on my article. Thank you for suggesting this, Kathleen. I think this may get me promoted one of these days.”

  And that’s what it was all about for him. Making a name for himself, getting it splashed on the front page of the Tribune. Elizabeth headed out the door, photos in hand. If she wasn’t so frustrated with him, she might feel sorry for him.

  * * *

  John felt unsettled as he went back to his room. He wasn’t in the mood to sing around a piano tonight. He’d upset Elizabeth and felt bad about it. She had a right to be a
ngry with him for grabbing the photos before she’d had a chance to look at them. But even though he’d apologized and she’d seemed to accept it, he could tell she still wasn’t happy when she went upstairs.

  And that wasn’t like Elizabeth at all. She was usually the most even-tempered of all the boarders, so much so that he sometimes liked to “get a rise” out of her as Ben had put it the other day. Her hazel eyes would flash almost gold and her face would flush a lovely shade of pink that went clear to her light blond hairline.

  But the last few days had been different—she’d seemed out of sorts ever since their collision the other day. He knew she’d been irritated about the last-minute summons to her aunt’s; maybe there were family problems he knew nothing about. There was more he didn’t know about Elizabeth than what he did, after all.

  And it did him no good to surmise what might be wrong. As the fiasco with Melody had shown him, his instincts where women were concerned seemed to always be wrong and weren’t to be trusted.

  Instead of working on his article, he took a seat in the easy chair Mrs. Heaton had added to each of the men’s rooms and leaned back his head. Melody. He didn’t think of her often anymore, only as a memory to remind him that he never wanted to put his heart on the line again.

  He’d thought he had it made down in Natchez, Mississippi. He was lead reporter of the Natchez Daily, and the owner’s daughter had begun to flirt with him, asking him to go on a picnic with her and even inviting him to dinner on occasion. John had begun to believe he had a real chance with her and had actually dreamed of the family they might have one day, if he ever got up enough nerve to ask her to marry him. But then his dreams crashed around him.

  A young new reporter was hired at the paper and began flirting with Melody. When John questioned her about it, she told John he was imagining things and not to worry, he was the one she cared about. But when John caught the two kissing in a darkened hallway, a fight ensued. Evidently the kiss wasn’t all one-sided because Melody took up for the other man and blamed John for the fight.

  Her father believed her, of course, and fired John then and there. Realizing that a terribly spoiled Melody had only led him on—whether out of boredom or cruelty, he didn’t know—but feeling he’d been made a fool, he caught a train to take him as far away as he could get the very next morning.

  From then on he decided never to fall prey to a woman’s wiles again—and particularly wealthy young women who gave no thought to others’ feelings. He might get lonely from time to time, but his heart was whole now and he intended to keep it that way, even if there were times when he longed for more.

  He had a good life and couldn’t complain. He enjoyed the family atmosphere living at Heaton House gave him and things at the paper were looking up. With his editor interested in a series of stories, he felt certain he was on the verge of getting the byline that would name him one of the best reporters in the city. And right now, that was all that really mattered.

  Chapter Four

  Normally Elizabeth would have stayed down and enjoyed the company of the other boarders, but she was still aggravated with John and didn’t feel up to faking a good mood.

  She went upstairs wondering why she was letting John get under her skin so much lately. Normally she was able to throw off her irritation at him, and sometimes even enjoyed the usually good-natured sparing back and forth between them.

  As she readied for bed, she wondered why things seemed to be changing. In the past few months, since they’d started working together to bring attention to the needs in the tenements and their first articles had received good attention, the spark of friendly competition that had always existed between them seemed to be settling down. Until tonight, when it was obvious that John was intent on getting the photographs he wanted before she had a chance to look at them. She hoped this working together, as Kathleen wanted them to, wasn’t going to turn that spark of competition into a flame.

  She couldn’t let that happen. It would affect all the others at Heaton House, almost forcing them to choose sides, and she couldn’t do that to them or Mrs. Heaton.

  She felt even worse about her attitude in front of Kathleen, Millicent and Luke. She tied her wrap tight around her waist and sat down at her writing desk. She pulled her Bible close and held it to her chest as she whispered, “Dear Lord, please forgive me for acting the way I have today. Please help me not to get so irritated at John—and please help me to control my words and actions when I do. I don’t know what it is about him that gets such a rise out of me, but please help me to laugh things off and not get so upset with him. I do want him to succeed at the Tribune. I want him to become a lead reporter. I just wish he weren’t so...full of himself so often.”

  She sighed and shook her head as she continued praying. “I’m sorry, Lord. There I go being judgmental of him. Please forgive me. I don’t want to be that way about anyone. I don’t want to be irritated at him. I don’t think he means to hurt my feelings or insult my work. At least I hope not. Please help me not to take his remarks so seriously, and not to show my temper when I do. Thank you for all my many blessings. Please help me to write these articles in such a way that they can help and, that in all I do, I bring glory to Your name. In Jesus’s name, Amen.”

  She took a cleansing breath, pulled her notepad toward her and began looking over the photos Millicent had taken. Ideas on each photo began to bubble up and she wrote notes on each of them. She wanted to get the story to her editor as soon as possible in the coming week. John’s article would be sure to come out first—the Tribune was a daily paper after all. But it was a good thing, because when the Delineator came out on the first of the month, her article would serve to reinforce the need for action on the part of the city to do something about the neglect. Together, their staggered articles could help, and that was what she concentrated on as she mulled over where she wanted to start and what she wanted to get across to her readers. And in such a way that it wouldn’t be considered fluff by John.

  * * *

  John had worked into the night and was nearly late for church the next morning. He slipped into the pew next to Elizabeth just as the congregation started singing the first hymn and breathed a sigh of relief when she smiled at him and offered to share her hymnal.

  She looked lovely, her blond hair piled up under a feathered hat that brought out the green in her hazel eyes. At least she didn’t seem upset with him anymore and for that he thanked the Lord. She actually looked more relaxed than she had since she was summoned to her aunt’s.

  He wasn’t sure why it bothered him so much when she was upset, but it did. He wanted to help but usually ended up being part of the problem when he said or did something stupid. He might as well face it. He was awkward around women. Didn’t know what to say half the time. Maybe it was because he hadn’t had a mother’s influence growing up. At least that was what he told himself most of the time. Truth was, most of the time, his instincts where women were involved seemed nonexistent—or at the very least—wrong.

  The sermon that morning was one on forgiveness and not judging each other. He prayed that Elizabeth had forgiven him for his selfish action of scooping up the photos he wanted before she had a chance to look at them the night before.

  Deep down he wished he wasn’t so quick to put himself first in situations and tried to tell himself that it was only because he’d been on his own too long and was used to looking out for himself. Without anyone to encourage him, to stand up for him—to just be there for him—at least until he came to Heaton House. He’d made real friends here, and yet he’d been let down so many times, he was a bit leery of trusting that those friendships were lifetime ones—no matter how much he wanted them to be.

  He stood with the others for the final hymn and closing prayer, getting a whiff of Elizabeth’s perfume as she stood beside him.

  As the group filed out into the aisle, Elizabeth smiled
at him again. “I thought you weren’t going to make it this morning when I didn’t see you at breakfast.”

  “I thought the same thing when I realized I hadn’t set my alarm clock and was late waking up.”

  They met up with the others at the bottom of the steps and everyone began the walk back to Heaton House. He and Elizabeth fell into step behind Luke and Kathleen with Mrs. Heaton and her family taking the lead.

  “Did you get much done on your article last night?” John asked.

  “Actually I did get more done than I thought I would.”

  “Good. I’m about finished with mine. I wondered...do you think we might have better luck in talking to some of the landlords of the places Kathleen tells us about if we visited them during the week? Do you think your boss would let you do that?”

  She seemed a bit surprised as she looked up at him. Maybe she didn’t want to work with him anymore after his photo grab the night before. “I promise, I’ll let you get first choice of the next batch of pictures.”

  She smiled then and the tightness in his chest relaxed.

  “I’ll keep you to that promise, John. And I’m sure I can go during the week. I think you’re right. We might have a better chance of getting information from some landlords during the week—at least they should be around. We can try it anyway. What day and time did you have in mind?”

  He shrugged. “How about tomorrow just after lunchtime? In fact, I’ll treat you to lunch and we can go from there. Surely we can catch a landlord in the early afternoon.”

  “Tomorrow should be fine. Where do you want to meet?”

  “I’ll come to your building and we’ll go from there.”

  “Okay. I’ll meet you in the foyer at noon.”

  That’d actually been easier than he thought it would be after last night. He had a feeling Elizabeth wasn’t thrilled to be working with him, and there were times he felt the same way. But Kathleen expected them to do so and neither of them had much choice in the matter. Might as well make it as pleasant as possible.