Nadine Trades Her Partner

by Linda Hubalek

Nadine took a deep breath, pasted a smile on her face, and turned toward Elise. “Yes, what do you need?”

  “Wesley had the morning off, and he’s going to drive out into the country to show me the area. Could you please go with us?”

  “Why? I’m sure you’d rather be alone with him.”

  “No, I would not. We have no interest in each other, Nadine. It was your father who suggested Wesley take me out. The countryside is so much different in Kansas than Pennsylvania, and your father thought I should see it while it’s a nice day.”

  “Oh. Well, my father didn’t mention it to me, so I need to work instead of taking time off. Please enjoy your drive,” Nadine said as she hurried out of the dining room.

  She would rather mop a dirty floor than spend time with Elise and Wesley anyway.

  “Nadine—” Elise started to say something else, but Nadine left the room instead of turning back to her. Nadine knew she was acting childish but couldn’t seem to stop herself. Elise was so beautiful, poised, and closer to Wesley’s age than herself.

  “Nadine, you can take time off to go with Wesley and Elise,” her father said. She hadn’t realized he’d heard their conversation.

  “Thank you, Father, I had other plans for today, so I’ll pass,” Nadine said as she smiled and walked past him to go upstairs. She needed a little privacy in her room before starting her day. She could never move up to assistant manager if she let her feelings show. If Wesley left for another job, she’d want to take over his position.

  *

  Nadine sat quietly and ate her noon meal as Elise talked about their buggy ride. They’d gone as far northwest as the Bar E Ranch to see the Hamner’s large sandstone home, and naturally, Cora Hamner had invited them in for forenoon coffee. Nadine could imagine how Elise would compliment Cora’s collection of crystal and cut glass ware in the country home and be the perfect guest.

  Wesley glanced Nadine’s direction as they ate but said nothing to add to Elise’s narrative. Nadine concentrated on eating her stew and then excused herself from the table, anxious to get away from the couple.

  Great. Now she was considering them a couple? She had to curb her jealousy!

  “Nadine, could you meet me in the office in fifteen minutes?” her mother asked.

  “Of course, see you then,” Nadine nodded and left to finish cleaning a room before meeting her mother. What did she want? Personal or something about hotel maintenance? Nadine would find out in a few minutes.

  Nadine came back downstairs at the appointed time and was surprised to see Wesley sitting across the desk from her mother.

  “What did you need, Mama?” Nadine asked as she sat down beside Wesley, acting like the proper employee.

  “Millie Wilerson asked that we host a surprise birthday party for their daughter Beth’s fifteenth birthday, next Friday evening.”

  “Oh, how fun for Beth! She’ll be so happy,” Nadine gushed. Beth was one of her sister Daphne’s closest friends.

  “I’m turning this party over to you and Wesley. Please take care of everything,” her mother said as she rose and abruptly left the office.

  “Excuse me, Mama?” Nadine rose and touched her mother’s arm before she walked through the doorway. “What do you mean by everything?”

  “You know what all needs to be done, Nadine. You’ve planned events through the years,” her mother waved her off and walked around the check-in desk, leaving Nadine staring after her.

  Yes, she had done enough of these that she could do it without Wesley’s help too. Nadine turned back around and walked back into the office, sitting in the desk chair her mother had vacated.

  “I do know how to plan the party, and don’t need your help, Wesley,” Nadine said as she moved a paper tablet in front of her on the desk and reached for a pencil to start her list.

  “Helen said we are to do it together,” Wesley quietly stated. “Shall we talk about what needs to be done, while you make a list of tasks? Then we can split the things to be done between us to be sure we’re ready for the party.”

  Okay, Wesley was professional, and she could be too.

  “We need to talk to Mrs. Wilerson to see if she’s going to notify the guests or if we’re to do it,” Nadine said as she wrote it down.

  “And what time the event will start and end.”

  “Refreshments, she wants us to serve.”

  “She might want to make her daughter’s cake, but we’d need to provide other food and drinks,” Nadine added.

  “What kind of other food? Cookies? Ice cream?” Wesley asked, and Nadine looked up at him. Wesley was so handsome with his clean-shaven face and his blond hair barely touching his jacket collar.

  “Nadine?” Wesley asked when Nadine got lost in her train of thought.

  “Oh, I know Beth loves molasses cookies. We could go with a fall theme and have hot cider and hot chocolate too,” Nadine recovered and wrote her thoughts down on paper.

  “What about the games?”

  Nadine’s eyes strayed to Wesley’s lips, reminiscing about the kissing game they participated in the first time the group of twelve met. No, it wasn’t a game she could recommend to Millie for her daughter and guests to play.

  “Taffy pull and candy making would be fun for this time of year. And they could all bring samples home to enjoy later,” Nadine suggested.

  “I can’t say I’ve ever pulled taffy. You might have to make a batch with me before the party to be sure I know how,” Wesley said, causing Nadine to feel the blush coloring her cheeks.

  And they might have to meet in the closet again because Wesley kissing her was a treat to her senses.

  Wesley rose from his chair, breaking Nadine’s stream of thoughts.

  “Do you want to check in with Millie on these questions, or shall I?” Wesley asked, and Nadine looked down at her list.

  “I can take this list over to her now and report back to you,” Nadine said as she also rose, seeing that the meeting was over.

  Wesley smiled and nodded, and Nadine smiled back, feeling an easement to the tensions that had been straining their last few days.

  “I’m sorry for acting silly about Elise, Wesley. I shouldn’t be jealous, but—”

  “No, you shouldn’t because there is nothing going on between her and me.”

  Nadine met his eyes and nodded before leaving the room. She did like Wesley and would like to see where their relationship could go.

  *

  Nadine wasn’t gone an hour, but her feelings toward Wesley changed again as soon as she got back to the hotel and heard voices in the broom closet.

  She yanked the door open and gasped as Wesley laughed at something Elise was apparently saying. They were facing each other, holding on to each other’s forearms too.

  “Oh, it’s not what it looks like,” Elise said as she blushed and hurried out of the closet.

  “It’s not?” Nadine asked as she gritted her teeth.

  “One of the girls must have locked us in,” Wesley shrugged as he followed Elise out of the closet.

  “The girls are in school. Are you sure you didn’t invite Elise into the closet to steal a kiss?” Nadine hissed.

  “No, I didn’t ask or pull Elise in the closet. I was in there getting the mop out because I spilled coffee in the office. She came behind me, asking if I needed any help, and she got pushed in. The lock clicked before I could get around her to catch the door from closing. End of story.”

  “I’m not sure I believe you, Wesley.”

  “Whatever,” Wesley said as he reached back in to grab the mop and walked down the hall.

  “I got the list from Millie. Want to go over it with me?” Nadine said in a panic. She shouldn’t have accused Wesley of doing anything with Elise. She knew he wouldn’t have taken advantage of Elise in that way.

  Wesley called back without turning around. “You said you can take care of the party yourself, so I’ll stay out of your way.”

  And then he walked away from Nadine, leaving h
er feeling stupid and frightened. Why was she trying to push Wesley away? They worked well together, and both had feelings for each other. Wesley acted like this was the last straw, though. He was done with her petty behavior, and she couldn’t blame him.

  “Why are you out of the closet already? I was just coming back to open the door,” Phoebe asked.

  Nadine whirled around to face Phoebe.

  What? Phoebe pushed Wesley and Elise together? Of course, Wesley was telling the truth.

  “What are you doing out of school?” Nadine asked as she tried not to get mad at her little sister. Phoebe was only trying to help Nadine as she’d asked her sisters to do.

  “I forgot my homework at home. Luella said I could run home to get it. When I saw you two in the closet, I closed the door as I went by. I was going to open it as soon as I got my papers upstairs and came back down to go back.”

  “Um, I guess someone else went by and unlocked it. Phoebe, getting locked in the closet, is getting a little old. Could you and Cecilia not do that anymore?”

  Phoebe studied Nadine for a moment as if trying to figure out what they did wrong?

  “Sure. If you don’t need our help anymore…” Phoebe trailed off.

  “Thanks, but I’m sure. I need to take care of this myself from now on.”

  “Okay,” Phoebe shrugged as she turned to walk back to school.

  Nadine watched her sister, wishing she was at an age and not worried about boys yet. But she wasn’t, and she had a wonderful man who was interested in her.

  How could she prove to him he should take another chance on their potential future?

  Chapter 9

  This could be it, Wesley thought as he looked at the letter addressed to himself. There was no reason for anyone to write to him unless it had to do with his search for Lucy. And the return address was from Kansas City.

  He quickly walked through the biting cold and light snow to get back to the hotel. Wesley wanted to open the letter in private, even though postmaster Cullen Reagan would never tell anyone else if Wesley asked the man to keep the news to himself. That’s just how the postmaster was, very loyal to his job and his patrons.

  Wesley let himself in the hotel office, quickly taking off his coat and hat and throwing his outer garments toward the coatrack. At the moment, he didn’t care that his hat landed on the floor instead. Wesley needed to see what the letter said.

  He said down in the office chair and opened a desk drawer to find the letter opener. His hands trembled as he slid the opener through the top of the envelope and pulled out the single-page letter.

  Wesley scanned the letter, but he couldn’t focus on the words. He took a deep breath and then started reading the short letter out loud, word by word.

  “Mr. Preston,

  “Your letter of inquiry looking for a Lucy Weston was passed on to me by an acquaintance. My daughter, Lucy, does not have another brother. Please do not contact my family again, or I will have you arrested.

  “Mr. Arthur Smith”

  That’s it? That’s all the man had to say?

  Wesley flipped the sheet to paper to see if there was anything written on the other side, but it was blank.

  ...does not have another brother. If this Lucy was his sister, how many brothers did she have? At least the thought of his sister having siblings was a bit of comfort.

  I will have you arrested for…what?

  He guessed the man could come up with some charge against him.

  Wesley had found his sister because of one of the first letters he had written. He was almost positive he knew the name of her adopted father now, but he didn’t know anything about his sister. Did she even know she was adopted?

  Did Lucy still live at home? By her current age of twenty-three, it was very possible she was married and had children. And he had no clue her husband’s name if that was the case.

  I will have you arrested.

  What good would it do to go to Kansas City then, just to get arrested?

  Wesley dropped the letter on the desk, not bothering to retrieve it when the paper slipped off the corner of the desk onto the floor. He put his elbows on the desk and dropped his head into his hands, fisting his hair in frustration.

  Was this Lucy Smith, his sister, or not? And how could he find out if he couldn’t meet with her?

  Wesley grabbed the envelopes the girls had addressed for him and tossed them into the trash can beside the desk. At least he knew he didn’t have to write any more letters.

  He had to get out of the hotel, away from anybody, to think about what to do. Wesley grabbed his hat from the floor, flung his coat back on and hurried outside, back into the cold weather.

  Wesley half walked and jogged for the livery. Maybe a ride out into the country, make that a galloping rush would calm his turmoil. He’d ridden a lot in his younger years when he needed to get away from the farm for a bit.

  He slipped into the side door of the livery, looking around to see if a horse was saddled ready to rent.

  “Hey, Wesley. What you doing out in this cold weather?” Tobin asked as he peeked out of his office. “With this crappy weather, I hadn’t had any customers today.”

  “I need a runner to work off some frustrations. Got one saddled and ready to run?” Wesley asked impatiently.

  “No. Not in this weather. I wouldn’t subject one of my animals to it unless it was an emergency. What’s wrong, Wesley?”

  Wesley looked for a dirt clod or horse turd to kick in frustration, but Tobin kept the dirt floor of the livery too clean to find one.

  “I got a letter back about my sister, but her father said I’d be arrested if I contacted his family again,” Wesley growled.

  “Oh, my. I’m so sorry, Wesley. I can’t believe that’s the end of the search for your sister,” Tobin sympathized with Wesley, but it didn’t make him feel any better.

  “There’s got to be something you can do. Talk to Marshal Wilerson about it. Maybe he can contact the law in Kansas City for you?”

  “I don’t want to announce I’m coming to Kansas City and have the police at the railroad station ready to arrest me,” Wesley threw up his hands in frustration.

  “Okay. Go to the blacksmith shop and talk to Barton then. He’s always been the leader of our group and can think through things rationally. Or at least he’d let you pound on some hot iron to work out your frustrations.”

  Wesley sighed and hung his head, knowing Tobin was right about taking a horse out in this kind of weather for no other reason than to get the animal hot and sweaty while trying to outrun his frustrations.

  “Sorry, Tobin. I was just thinking of what I used to do when I was growing up on the farm.”

  “Come into the office, and we can talk. I got a pot of hot coffee and a tin of Molly’s sugar cookies I’ll share with you. Of course, I’m offering you cookies, but the boys might have found the tin, and it’s empty.”

  Wesley had to shake his head about Tobin’s sweet but mischievous boys.

  But it made him wish he could have a bunch of kids with Nadine. But he was partial to girls thinking not only of Cecilia and Phoebe but Peter’s and Maggie’s little girls, two-year-old Bonita and baby Alice, who they adopted last month.

  And his sister Lucy, who he’d last seen when she wasn’t much older than Bonita. No, she wouldn’t have remembered him, and maybe Mr. Smith was right in demanding he has no contact with her.

  Wesley followed Tobin into the office, and Tobin quickly shut the door and pushed a rolled-up rug against the bottom of the door to keep out the cold.

  “I just finished chores before you walked in and was having a cup of coffee to warm myself up before walking home.”

  “Grab the other cup on the shelf while I grab this tin—. Shoot, it’s too light to have any cookies in it,” Tobin sighed as he shook the tin. There wasn’t a crumb in it to rattle around.

  “That tin looks familiar. You sure Lucas didn’t take it to the barbershop and pass out the cookies for forenoon
coffee? I stopped to talk to Peter on my way to the post office this morning, and the gentlemen had cookies with their coffee.”

  “Very possible. Lucas is mobile enough to get in as much trouble as my boys.”

  “And you love every minute of it, don’t you, Tobin?”

  “You bet I am. Moving to Clear Creek was the best thing that ever happened to me, besides meeting my five best friends on the orphan train to Kansas.”

  That sobered up Wesley because he wished his sister could have been on the train and placed the same day as himself, instead of seven months later. He wouldn’t have spent years wondering where she was, only to find her and not be able to reach out to her.

  “You might not be able to do anything about Lucy right now, but there might be a chance for contact down the road. At least you know she’s probably safe and sound.”

  “True. At least that part of the mystery is solved for me.”

  “Now, what are you going to do about Nadine? The two of you didn’t look like you were on speaking terms at our group supper at Gordon’s home the other night.”

  “Don’t know, and at the moment, I don’t care. Nadine accused me of spending time with Elise, although she was the one hiding in the kitchen. And, then, to add salt to Nadine’s jealousy, somebody locked Elise and me in the broom closet yesterday afternoon. Nadine heard us talking in there waiting for that sneaky someone to unlock the door.”

  “Oh my, I bet Nadine was furious,” Tobin tsked.

  “Miffed is the word I’d use, since her professional hotel manners wouldn’t let her yell at me,” Wesley sighed. Why did he have to love such a stubborn woman?

  Because he just did, but if she didn’t love him back, what could he do?

  “I thought of going elsewhere to work for a while,” Wesley told Tobin to see what he’d say.

  “We’d all wish you could stay here, but you need to do what’s best for you. What else would you like to do?”

  “Elise said her father would hire me for his hotel in York, Pennsylvania.”

  “Do you want to be that far away from us? That’s your choice, of course.”

  “Have you ever wanted to travel back to New York City to see the orphanage or your old neighborhood?” Wesley asked because if he went to York it wouldn’t be far to visit his childhood home in New York.