Henrietta's Heart

by Pat Dale

  “Normally, I would agree. But this is dirty politics. I’m not going to use the paper to smear Hattie. I just won’t.”

  “It’s not a smear. They’re telling the truth. You just don’t want to face it.” The woman’s drawl vanished.

  “Truth? The truth is, I can’t believe your attitude right now, Sheila. Whose side are you on, anyway?”

  “My attitude? That’s really funny. I’ve tried my best to help you keep this place going. I’d do anything for you. Anything, but you totally ignore me.”

  “I don’t ignore you.”

  “The heck you don’t!”

  “Sheila, that’s not true. I appreciate all you do.”

  “What I do for the paper, maybe. But not me, as a woman. You got all hot and excited about Hattie in her nice suit this morning but you didn’t even notice what I was wearing. You don’t really care about me, do you?”

  “I like you. What else can I say?”

  She shook her head rapidly, long curls whirling around her face. “I guess there’s really nothing else to say.”

  Brad gaped at her, unable to find words to address her statement. She snatched up her jacket and bolted from the room, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  He slumped in the chair and dropped his head into his hands. What am I going to do now?

  Hattie’s predicament demanded his attention, losing a valued employee should be first and foremost in his mind. At the moment it seemed Hattie was much more important.

  The memory of the petite redhead’s lips under his obliterated other thoughts. Just as she’d done a decade ago, Hattie seared his heart. He heaved a sigh and lifted his head. Sheila be damned. There’s no use in fighting it. Hattie’s the love of my life and somehow I have to convince her of that.

  * * *

  Hattie looked up from her desk to find him staring at her through the doorway. “Hi, Brad. What’s up?”

  “My heart rate for one thing. I need to talk to you.”

  “Is something wrong?”

  “I don’t know. That’s part of what I want to find out. We need to talk.”

  “Brad, I’ve never seen you like this.”

  She wondered what the reason was for the scowl darkening his face. His silence unnerved her a bit. “Something must have happened. What is it?”

  “Something did. I think I just came to my senses.”

  His intensity brought her to her feet and she moved toward the door. Was Manley causing havoc downstairs? When she stepped past him, Brad whirled her around and planted a kiss on her mouth. For long seconds she reveled in the embrace.

  Glory be! Whatever he has to say, it can wait. Especially if he keeps this up, maybe it can wait forever.

  “Wow. You come to your senses and you knock mine into the next county. What was that all about?”

  “I love you, Hattie McCall. As much as I’ve tried not to, I can’t help myself. I need to know how you feel about me.”

  She waited for a long moment, struggling to master her emotions. Part of her wanted to fall into his arms again and let him carry her off to some happily ever after place. The trouble was, she couldn’t get past him and Sheila without a better explanation.

  “I love you, too. Very much, Brad. But I need to know what your relationship is with Sheila. It’s pretty obvious she’s in love with you.”

  “I wouldn’t know about that, and I don’t care. I like Sheila. She’s a good worker, but that’s all it is between us.”

  “I’d like to believe that.”

  “Then believe it.”

  Cold silence was all she could muster.

  “But you can’t?”

  “But, I can’t.”

  “I don’t know what I have to do. Maybe I’m just not good enough for you.”

  “Oh, Brad. You’re good enough. If anything, I’m the one that isn’t good enough.”

  “No way. I wish I could find a way to prove Sheila means nothing to me, other than being a good employee.”

  “I do, too. But how do you explain her rubbing your back the other night. And kissing you on the ear.”

  “You saw that?”

  “I was going to ask you to go with me to get something to eat. From the looks of it, hunger was kind of low on your list of priorities at the time.”

  “I know that must have looked bad, but I had no control over what she was doing.”

  “No control? But you liked it, I bet.”

  “It led nowhere. If you’d stayed around a few more minutes, you’d have seen her leave. Alone.”

  “Well, maybe I did jump to conclusions. But when I saw you on the floor with her in your lap, you have to admit that looked pretty bad.”

  “No kidding, but it really happened the way I said. She flew through the door, ran into me, and fell. She actually skinned her knee.”

  “And of course you had to come to her aid. I understand.”

  “From the look on your face, I’m not sure about that. But for what it’s worth, I’m telling the truth. Now, I’ve got something that needs to be done and I can’t wait any longer. Something very important. I’ll be back in time for our date.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I can’t tell you yet but I think you’ll be surprised. And pleased.”

  Brad returned to the Express and climbed into his Jeep. Somehow, he had to convince her nothing was going on between him and Sheila. Maybe it had been a mistake to try and make her jealous. It worked too well.

  In the meantime, he had some serious thinking to do regarding the future. As much as he’d once loved running the Express, the fire in his belly had gone out. With his helper in a rebellious mood, action was called for, and there was no time to lose. He headed home.

  “Mom, I’ve got to make a short trip, but I’ll be back in time for my date with Hattie tonight.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’d rather not say. I’ll tell you about it later.”

  “Well, all right, son. Be careful.”

  “I love you, Mom. Just trust me, please?”

  With that, he was down the steps and out the door. Amelia went over to the window and watched with a worried look as he drove away from the house. The phone diverted her attention.

  “Hi, Amelia. It’s Hattie. Is Brad there?”

  “Oh, Hattie, you just missed him.”

  “Is he coming back downtown?”

  “I don’t think so, dear. Said he had to do something and roared off in the Jeep.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. He did say he’d be back in time for your date.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  “I’m sorry, dear. He wasn’t in a mood to tell me much of anything.”

  “Sorry to bother you.”

  “You’re no bother. I just wish you’d called a few minutes sooner. Maybe he’d have told you what he’s up to.”

  “I doubt it. Brad has a way of keeping things to himself until he’s certain about what he’s going to do.”

  “I’m sure you’re right, dear.”

  “I’d better get back to my customers. The store’s really busy today. Talk to you later.”

  Hattie put down the phone and stared at the clock on the wall. Her blue mood suddenly plummeted off the scale into total blackness.

  What is he up to?

  * * *

  Brad rolled into Farmville just after three o’clock. He hoped it wasn’t too late to respond to a letter he’d received several weeks earlier. At the time, he hadn’t taken the Farmville mayor’s request seriously, but things had changed since then.

  Boy, have they changed!

  He stepped up to the counter in City Hall. “I don’t suppose Mayor Young is available?”

  The young woman looked up from her desk and smiled at him. “You’re in luck. Who should I say is calling?”

  “Brad Trimble, editor of the Leadburg Express.”

  “I’ll tell Sam, Mr. Trimble. Please have a seat.”

  She disappeared momentarily, and t
hen came back into the room with a pleasant-looking older man trailing her.

  “Well hello, Brad. I’m Sam Young. Welcome to Farmville.”

  “How do you do, Mayor Young? It’s good to meet you.”

  “My pleasure, and call me Sam, would you? We like to keep things pretty simple around here.”

  He felt his muscles relaxing. This mayor was nothing like the one he was used to. “I’ll bet you wonder why I’m here.”

  “Wouldn’t have anything to do with a letter I sent you some time back, would it?”

  “Yes, sir. Sorry it’s taken so long to get back to you.”

  “No problem. All good things take time, they say.”

  He winced, his mental focus diverted momentarily to a petite redhead and how much time that would take. “Right you are. I’d like to hear what you have in mind—if you have time to talk right now.”

  “I’ve got the time and Farmville sure has the need. Why don’t you come into the office and we can sit while we talk.” He turned to the receptionist. “Hold my calls, Betty.”

  Once they settled in his office Sam came straight to the point. “As I said in my letter, I’m concerned we no longer have a newspaper in town.”

  “I’d heard your editor retired last spring.”

  “He did that, for sure. Thought he had the Gazette sold, Ed did. Ed Smiley’s his name. The deal fell through at the last minute. Ed and his wife ran the place for decades. They’d already moved to Arizona and there was nobody to keep it going. I wrote to you in the hope you might want to expand your interests.”

  “I see. So the Gazette is for sale?”

  “Yep. And I suspect, at a bargain price. Ed was counting on the proceeds to help fund his retirement.”

  “Sounds like he could be in a bit of a pinch.”

  “I probably shouldn’t have told you that. I don’t want to see Ed taken to the cleaners. But, doggone it, we need our paper up and running.”

  “Why did you call me in particular?”

  “You’re young. Leadburg is pretty close by. And I’ve read enough of your editorials to know you have a way with words, and you’re pretty good at what you editors do.”

  “Thanks, Sam. Journalism is all I’ve dreamed of since I was a little kid. But to be honest, I hadn’t thought about expanding. What shape is the Gazette in?”

  “You mean physically?”

  “Yes. And financially.”

  Sam chuckled. “Probably needs a good dusting off. It’s been closed for over half a year. But the equipment’s in good shape. Ed upgraded his presses about five years ago.”

  “That sounds good.”

  “And, as for finances, he told me it was in the black when he closed up shop. Doesn’t owe a dime to anyone.”

  “That’s even better. It’s tough enough these days making a local paper pay for itself without having debt on top of everything else.”

  “If you want to have a look, Brad, I’ve got the key.”

  “I’d like to, but it’s awfully late on a Friday for me to impose on you this way.”

  “No imposition. Anyway, if you think you’re interested, I want to help all I can.”

  “If you don’t mind, I would like to see it.”

  “Fine. We can go downtown in my car.”

  Not only did the paper look good, the town looked good.

  When Young invited him to dinner, he declined. “I’ve got a date tonight. A very important one. But I’d like to come back tomorrow morning if that’s okay. This could be exactly what I’m looking for.”

  “It’s okay for sure if you’re interested.”

  “You can definitely say I’m interested, Sam.”

  * * *

  Hattie was about to head home when the phone rang. It was Beth. “Hi, Hattie. I talked to Susan and Teresa. They’re so excited to see you they can hardly stand it.”

  “Wonderful. I’m dying to see you all again.” The words were true but her thoughts were still on the man who’d said he loved her.

  “Can we get together on Wednesday?”

  “I think so,” Hattie said. “I’ll put it on my calendar. Where will we meet?”

  “How about Neil’s?”

  “That sounds good. Want to meet for lunch, Beth?”

  “Yeah. But I’ll have to be careful what I eat. I’ve been gaining weight like there’s no tomorrow.”

  Hattie smiled. “I know what you mean. But I love Neil’s chili. Remember how I used to burn you guys out?”

  “Boy, do I? I’ll tell the others. See you Wednesday.”

  “Right. Thanks for doing this, Beth. I’d forgotten what wonderful friends I used to have around this town. It’ll be great to be together again. See you then.”

  She hung up and stood there thinking for several minutes. The old foursome would ride again. This could get interesting.

  Chapter Eleven

  Brad had to rush, but he made it to Hattie’s house right at six. He launched into a breathless explanation without benefit of preliminaries. “Hattie, I think I’ve got the solution to both our problems.”

  “Both our problems? I didn’t know you had a problem.”

  “Not like yours, I don’t, but I’m burned out and I need a change.”

  “I see. Is that what your disappearing act was about?”

  “Yep. You hungry?”

  “Hungry? Of course, but do we have time to eat before the movie? By the way, where are we going?”

  “I thought it would be fun to go to one of those old time movie houses. That is, unless you’d prefer something current. We’ve got plenty of time if we hurry. ”

  “Old time sounds good. I just love those old movies where the girl always gets the guy at the end. They’re so romantic.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that. One of my all time favorites is playing this week. Lover Come Back, with—”

  “Doris Day and Rock Hudson. I know. It’s one of my favorites, too.”

  After a quick stop for burgers, they headed to Mehlville and the cinema complex. As luck would have it, there was no line. They took seats toward the front.

  “This is fun. Just like the old days.”

  He shifted the big tub of double-buttered popcorn so they could share. “Um-hum. I haven’t been to a movie in years.”

  “Neither have I. I’d convinced myself that I didn’t need this.” Grabbing a handful of kernels, Hattie added, “Maybe I was wrong.”

  “Well, we don’t actually need this kind of diversion. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it.”

  “Nope.”

  After the theater darkened, they were treated to a series of commercials for treats, coming attractions, and a senseless cartoon that had everyone in stitches. Then the movie began with automobiles driving up Madison Avenue as the theater patrons quieted.

  Her pulse quickened when Brad took her hand. It was a tiny but sensitive act of possession, reminding her of days gone by. As a teenager, she’d thrilled to his touch.

  She still did.

  Hattie gave his hand a little squeeze and settled into the humor of the movie as the plot unfolded. Hudson’s character, Jerry Webster, was a lovable rogue. She could see why Doris Day as Carol Templeton would fall for him. His conduct was outrageous, but those eyes were so adorable.

  Once the popcorn tub was empty, Brad put an arm behind her and pulled her closer, his other hand taking hers. At one of the more endearing moments in the drama, he kissed her cheek tenderly. Hattie turned her head to meet his lips.

  The kiss lasted so long they nearly missed seeing Carol abandon Jerry on the beach, minus his clothes. Not that the screenplay was on their minds at the moment. Love was in the air and definitely not restricted to the silver screen.

  By the time the movie was over their relationship had blossomed again. Not that they talked about it. She just knew. Few words spoken, but oh-so-much communicated. With one last kiss, they moved up the aisle and outside, where it was snowing lightly.

  Hattie stamped her feet on
the sidewalk. “Wow! Isn’t this beautiful? I love a new snow. It’s so clean and bright.”

  “Yeah. Especially if you don’t have to drive in it.”

  “Don’t you like driving in snow? I thought that was one reason you had a Jeep.”

  “It is. I’m kidding, really. Would you like to get coffee before we head back to Dullsburg?”

  “Dullsburg? I’d never thought of it that way but you’re right. It is dull, and coffee sounds good.”

  For long moments, they sat in the diner sipping coffee and watching the big gorgeous flakes drift to earth. “So, Brad, what’s the big secret you’ve been hinting at?”

  “One more day and I can tell you. I’ve got to finalize it tomorrow and then I’ll share everything with you. I think you’re going to like it.”

  “If you won’t tell me, please don’t tease me.”

  “Okay, I won’t. So, didn’t you think it was great that Jerry came back to marry Carol in the end.”

  “Great? I don’t think that was especially great. After he’d left her expecting a baby, it was the least he could do.”

  “I guess. But he didn’t have to do that.”

  “If he was a man, he did.” She challenged him. “Don’t tell me you consider that handsome rogue a role model.”

  “Okay, I won’t. But prissy-missy Carol wasn’t exactly the cat’s meow, either.”

  “I don’t know. I thought she was a perfect lady.”

  He guffawed. “There’s an oxymoron. Perfect and lady in the same breath? You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “So you like your women with flaws, huh?”

  “Not necessarily flaws. But calling her perfect is kind of stretching it, don’t you think?”

  The ethereal fantasy she’d wrapped herself into came apart at the seams, crashing into the foggy hillside of her dreams. “Let’s not talk about the movie if we have to argue.”

  “I wasn’t talking about the movie.”

  “Oh.”

  The ride home was quiet, if slow, as Brad maneuvered the vehicle deftly down the slippery roads. When they got to her house, she kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for a nice evening. I really had a good time.”