A Home for Her Heart Page 7

  “Good. I’m glad to hear it.”

  John’s words managed to surprise her. One minute she thought he wished he were working on his own and the next she thought he might not mind so much that they were working together. The man could make her laugh one minute and make her steam the next, but most of all, John had just confused her to no end.

  * * *

  The next evening, just as dinner was getting underway, Elizabeth was called to the telephone to find her aunt on the other end.

  “Elizabeth, dear, I wanted to remind you about the Barclays’ masquerade party for charity this coming Friday.”

  “Masquerade party?”

  “Yes, dear. Remember, they want me to be the speaker and you promised to come with me and help take up the collections?”

  Oh, yes, it had been in the planning for months, but Elizabeth had totally forgotten about it.

  Normally Elizabeth was happy to help her aunt, but with how busy she was with the articles, she hated to take time off. Still, she had agreed. And besides, this was the aunt who had always been there for her and made the way easier with Papa. She couldn’t try to get out of it.

  “Of course, Aunt Bea. What time do I need to be there?”

  “You can come here straight after work. I’ll have your costume ready and waiting for you. I found a lovely one and I can’t wait for you to see it. You’ll stay the night, of course.”

  “Of course. But I need to be back here fairly early. We’re all going on a picnic to Central Park.”

  “I’ll make sure you get up early, then. I look forward to seeing you, dear.”

  “I look forward to seeing you, too, Aunt Bea.” Elizabeth hung up the receiver and released a sigh. At least it was a masquerade party. She had no way of knowing if any reporters would be invited, but assumed they would. And it was possible that John could still be assigned to something like this. But she was becoming quite nervous about running into him. She’d seen him at several balls and functions her aunt insisted she attend. She’d always assumed that she could use working for the Delineator as an excuse to be there. And she did almost always write an article for the magazine. But if she were ever introduced as her aunt’s niece in his hearing, she was afraid he’d unravel her secret.

  If she knew he wouldn’t think badly of her, she’d almost be encouraged to make it happen. She was so very tired of keeping who she really was a secret. Perhaps she should have sought the Lord’s guidance before she decided to go by her mother’s maiden name. In the darkened alcove, she bowed her head and silently prayed.

  Dear Lord, please forgive me for not always seeking Your guidance. I went out on my own and made a decision without coming to You about it. And now, I’m living with the consequences of worrying if my friends will hate me once they know I’ve not been totally truthful with them since I came to Heaton House. I am so afraid they will feel betrayed in some way.... But I know the time is coming when I must tell them. Please let me know when the time is right and give me the right words to say. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

  She brushed a tear that ran down her cheek and took a deep breath. She needed to join the others or Mrs. Heaton would send someone after her.

  She hurried to the dining room and slid into her chair beside John.

  “Everything all right?” he asked quietly.

  “Yes, of course. It was my aunt wanting me to come stay with her on Friday evening.”

  “But what about the picnic on Saturday?” Mrs. Heaton asked. “You will still be able to make it, won’t you?”

  “Yes, I’ll be back in plenty of time. I wouldn’t miss it.”

  “Good,” Mrs. Heaton said.

  “I’ve got to cover a society thing that night,” John said. “I hope it isn’t too late getting over with. But I’m looking forward to the picnic, too.”

  Elizabeth caught her breath. Was he covering the Barclay party she was going to? Oh, please, no. And she couldn’t ask. Oh, she hoped her aunt had a good mask for her to wear.

  “I’m glad everyone will be able to make it,” Mrs. Heaton said. “Millicent has agreed to take pictures of all of us, but we’ll need to get someone to take some that include her, too.”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem,” Millicent said. “There are always people around that are willing to take a few photos.”

  “That’s true. But I want to hire you to take some family photos of me, Michael and Violet, and Rebecca and Jenny.”

  “Oh, Mrs. Heaton, I’ll do that for free. After all, Michael has loaned me a room to develop in and I—” She clapped her hand over her mouth. “I totally forgot that I brought home the photos you took when you and John were out on Monday, Elizabeth! I’ll go get them right now!”

  She started to jump up, but Elizabeth waved her back to her chair. “No, don’t worry about it, Millicent. You can get them after dinner. We can’t do anything with them right now anyway. Sit back down and enjoy your meal.”

  “You got some really good shots,” Millicent said.

  “I know they aren’t as good as yours, but hopefully they’ll work to be able to prove what we saw,” Elizabeth said.

  “You’re going to keep track of all that, right, Elizabeth?” John asked.

  “I am.” She’d already told him she would. Did he not trust her? “Unless you want to do it.”

  “No. I have— I’m glad you offered to.”

  Was he going to say he had enough to do? There was no way to know and Elizabeth told herself to quit being so suspicious of everything that came out of his mouth. What was wrong with her anyway? “It’s the least I could do with you doing so much of the research.”

  “What is it you are going to research?” Luke asked.

  “I’m going down to city hall to see if I can find out who owns some of these buildings as no one we’ve talked to so far seems to know.”

  “Maybe Michael could help in some way,” Mrs. Heaton suggested.

  “Oh, believe me, I’ve already talked to him and he’s willing to. I just need to get some names for us to go on.”

  “I’m sure you all will find them out sooner or later,” Kathleen encouraged them.

  The front door opened just then and Julia breezed in, looking flushed and excited.

  “I’m so sorry I’m late for dinner, Mrs. Heaton.” She slipped into her chair across the table.

  “Don’t worry about it, dear. We kept a plate warm for you.”

  As if on cue, Gretchen came through from the kitchen and set a plate down in front of Julia.

  “Oh, thank you. I think I may be too excited to eat, though.”

  “Why? What’s happened, Julia?” Mrs. Heaton asked.

  Her eyes fairly sparkled and Elizabeth leaned forward, as eager to hear what her friend was about to say as everyone else.

  “Well, I-I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’ve received some correspondence from Oklahoma Territory.”

  It wasn’t hard to notice something like that. All their mail was put on a table in the foyer and although it was sorted to each person, one could sometimes see the return address of the top letters.

  “Well, as I sort them, I must admit to knowing. I didn’t want to appear nosy by asking about them, though.”

  “Well, considering my news, I probably should have told you about them before now.”

  Everyone around the table grew quiet, waiting for Julia’s news.

  “Well, please do tell us what you are so excited about, dear,” Mrs. Heaton said.

  “Well, seeing so many come through Ellis Island, I’ve been inspired and have been thinking about going out West. There are a lot of opportunities in the territory. And well, when I mentioned as much to my superior at work today, I was offered a promotion to stay here.”

  “Why, that’s wonderful news, Julia—if you are goin
g to stay,” Elizabeth said.

  “Yes, it is,” Millicent added. “But I imagine it will make it more difficult for you to leave. What are you going to do?”

  “For now, I’m going to stay here. I’ll have a raise in pay and that will allow me to save more money for when I decide where exactly I want to go.”

  “And give us some time to get used to the idea of you leaving,” Mrs. Heaton said. “I’d hate to see you go, but I can understand wanting to head out West. I have a cousin who did just that years ago.”

  “Where did she go, Mrs. Heaton?” Elizabeth was surprised at the small twinge of envy she felt. Here she thought she was independent, but to move away from all that was familiar—

  “She was part of the Oklahoma Land Run and settled out there.”

  “Oh, my. That is exciting. To be in on settling a new area. I don’t think I’m quite that brave,” Elizabeth said. “If I were, I might tag right along with Julia when she goes.”

  * * *

  John didn’t like the sound of Elizabeth’s words. Surely she wouldn’t up and take off for the Wild West!

  “You wouldn’t really, would you?” he whispered as everyone began to give Julia suggestions on where she might want to go.

  She shook her head. “I’m not that brave. Besides, Heaton House is home to me. I can’t imagine taking off and leaving everyone.”

  The odd tightness in John’s chest lightened a bit. “I’m glad. I’m sure there is a lot happening out West, but it can’t compare to what goes on in this city.”

  “I don’t think so, either.”

  “I haven’t heard from my cousin in a while,” Mrs. Heaton was saying. “Perhaps I should write her and see how she likes it there and find out what it is like for you, Julia. It might be a place you’d like to go and you’d have at least one contact.”

  “That would be nice of you, Mrs. Heaton. I’d love to find out more. But I’m happy to be staying here for a while longer and thrilled that this promotion will make it possible for me to go out West one of these days. It gives me time to plan. So, please do write your cousin. I’m excited to see what she says about it all.”

  Talk around the table turned to places everyone had been. Luke had actually been all the way to Arizona and New Mexico and was planning on taking Kathleen out there to see it at some point.

  By the time the meal ended, John had almost begun to think he’d like to go just to see what it was like one day. Almost. But with his career about to take of, he wasn’t going anywhere.

  He slid out Elizabeth’s chair from the table and she stood. “Thank you, John. Do you want to see the photos Millicent developed?”

  “I do.”

  “I’ll run up and get them,” Millicent said. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Meet us in the back parlor, okay?”

  The other girl gave a little nod as she hurried out of the room.

  “Do you want to see more photos of what we looked at on Monday, Kathleen?”

  “Of course.”

  She and Luke followed Elizabeth and him to the small back parlor but before any of them could take a seat, Millicent was back with a packet she handed to Elizabeth. “I’m going back to the big parlor—Julia is playing the piano and I don’t want to miss that. See you all later.”

  She scurried out of the room fast as she could.

  “I think we must have scared her away last time.” Elizabeth looked sad as she took a seat at the table.

  “It was my fault,” John said. “I am sorry for that night.”

  Elizabeth took the seat he held out for her and rewarded him with a smile. “I am, too. I wasn’t on my best behavior.”

  Luke chuckled as he pulled out a chair for Kathleen and took his seat. “You two almost scared me that evening. Play nice this time.”

  “We will,” John said. “They are your photographs, Elizabeth. You take the first look.”

  She opened the packet and pulled out the photos. She’d taken more than John realized. She began to look at them and then handed him several and he, in turn, handed them to Kathleen, who handed them to Luke.

  “These are quite good, Elizabeth. This is the second building we looked at on Monday, right?” The photo he held up was of a staircase missing several spindles, leaving an opening where a small child could easily fall through. And it also showed the dirt built up on the staircase and more cracked windows.

  “It is. And thank you. They are better than I thought they were.”

  “They easily show what condition the buildings are in.”

  “I’ll be sure to get them recorded as to which building they were of and the date the photos were taken.” Elizabeth was quite pleased with how they turned out. They weren’t quite as good as Millicent’s but they’d do the job. “If you want any, John, feel free to take them. You’ll have articles out before I do”

  “Thank you, Elizabeth. I would like this one and this one...and this one. Unless you want them.”

  They were the first two of children playing in the streets or sitting on the stoops. She’d taken several of them, so she’d have others to work with. She shook her head. “No, that’s fine. I can use some of the others.”

  “Why, you two can get along after all, can’t you?” Luke teased.

  John glanced at Elizabeth and smiled. “We can.”

  “And we do,” Elizabeth added. “Most of the time anyway.”

  They all laughed and headed toward the parlor. Julia was playing one of their favorites, “The Sidewalks of New York,” and they joined the others around the piano to sing along.

  John stood right behind Elizabeth and enjoyed the sound of her sweet alto and the way it blended with his tenor. The scent of whatever it was she washed her hair with wafted up as she swayed back and forth to the music. He should be working, but he’d do it later.

  It was nice to spend an evening like this with friends. And it was one of the reasons he enjoyed living at Heaton House. These people were family to him. He’d miss Luke and Kathleen when they moved away, and Julia, too, for that matter. He counted on seeing the couple even after they moved out, but still things would be different. He wondered what boarders might take their place, but he knew Mrs. Heaton was selective in whom she rented to—only once or twice had she rented to someone who didn’t get along with the others.

  The group sang several other songs before breaking up and heading to their rooms.

  “Thanks for the photos, Elizabeth.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I’m going down to city hall tomorrow to see what I can find out about these buildings. I hope it doesn’t take too long, but some of the guys have told me it could take weeks to find the current owners. I’ll let you know how it’s going.”

  “Thank you, John.”

  His chest suddenly tightened at the smile she gave him. “You’re welcome. Good night.”

  “Good night.”

  He watched as she went upstairs with the other women. Working with her really hadn’t been bad at all. In fact, he’d come to enjoy it. Perhaps too much for his own good.

  Chapter Seven

  Between matching the photos to the buildings they were taken from and helping Kathleen with her wedding plans, the week passed swiftly and it was Friday before Elizabeth knew it.

  She headed straight to her aunt’s apartment from work, hoping the evening would pass as fast as the week had. She would much have preferred spending the evening visiting with her aunt than going to a masquerade party. But it was for charity and she’d be able to go on the next day’s outing with the others.

  Amanda let her in and led her to her aunt’s study where she had a pot of tea waiting.

  “Elizabeth, dear, I’m so glad to see you,” her aunt exclaimed, jumping up and coming to give her a hug. “Come have a spot o
f tea and then we’ll have a bite to eat before we must get ready for this evening.”

  She led Elizabeth into the parlor and quickly poured her a cup.

  “Thank you, Aunt Bea. It’s good to see you, too.” She took a seat on one end of the sofa, knowing her aunt would take the other.

  “You’ll love the costume I picked up for you. And I remembered to get a mask large enough to cover your beautiful face.” At that she grimaced. “I wish you weren’t so determined to hide at these kind of things.”

  “I’ve told you, Aunt Bea. One of the reporters that sometimes covers these events lives at Heaton House, and while I am regretting my decision to use Mother’s maiden name instead of Papa’s, I don’t particularly want to be found out in the middle of a charity event.”

  And she didn’t want it to be John who discovered she was Elizabeth Anderson Reynolds, heiress to the Charles Edward Reynolds of Boston, and not just Elizabeth Anderson.

  “I do understand, dear. I wish I’d tried to talk you out of that idea at the time. But I didn’t, so part of the blame must lie on my shoulders as well as yours.”

  “No, Aunt Bea, the blame rests with me. Everyone is so sweet at Heaton House, even had I let them know who I really was, I’m sure they would have accepted me sooner or later. But for them to find out now...” She shook her head.

  “I’m sure they will still accept you, Elizabeth. If you’ve come to care for them, I’m sure they feel the same for you.”

  Tears sprung to Elizabeth’s eyes and she jumped up and went to look out the window. “And that means they might feel I’ve betrayed their trust in me. Oh, Aunt Bea, aside from you and Papa, they are like family to me and I so hate to disappoint them.”

  “Elizabeth, dear, come sit back down.”

  Elizabeth did as asked and her aunt reached out to give her a hug. “I can see you’re distressed. And I do think the only way you’re going to get past it is to tell them.”

  Elizabeth released a large sigh and nodded. “I know. But I don’t know when or how.”