by Kay Moser
“I’ve got to try. I owe it to Miss Victoria.”
“You better just send Samuel to look for them. Rain ain’t gonna hurt him.”
“I’ll take him with me, but I’ve got to go too. Where is Samuel? He should have the buggy around front by now.”
Frances pointed down the road. “There he is, coming this way.”
“What’s he doing down the street? Why didn’t he just bring the buggy around front?” Sarah pulled her shawl over her head and hurried down the walk.
“You’s gonna be soaked clean through, Miss Sarah,” Frances protested as she followed her.
“I won’t die from a little rain—” Sarah stopped in her tracks. “Who is that getting out of the buggy?”
“Mr. Logan, I figure.”
Sarah whirled around. “You sent for Lee—I mean, Mr. Logan?”
“I sure did. I ain’t letting you go out in no storm after that Miss Amelia. You’s worth two of her any day.”
“Miss Novak.” Lee hurried toward her. “You are drenched. Frances, take her inside and get her into some dry clothes.”
“Just a minute!” Sarah raised her voice. “What are you doing here, Mr. Logan?”
“I came at your summons, of course.”
“I didn’t send for you. I’m going out to look for Miss Atkins myself. Your worthless brother has taken her up the River Road without a chaperone.”
“I apologize for my brother. He is dead wrong to behave in this way, but I see no reason why you should jeopardize your own reputation—not to mention your health—trying to compensate for his wild behavior.”
“No one cares about my reputation, Mr. Logan.”
“I do! Now I insist you go back into the house and take care of yourself.”
“You insist?”
“I insist. No man worth the label would allow the lady he loves—the lady he esteems highly—to go out in this weather for any reason. I want you safe and dry in the house.”
“But Amelia ...”
Her words vaporized as he reached out and stroked her dripping hair. “Let me do this for you, Sarah. Please. Let me have the joy of helping you.” Sarah’s heart bolted into double time, and she could only nod.
“Frances, take Miss Novak into the house,” Lee ordered as he turned back to the buggy. “Let’s go unhitch the buggy, Sam, and get some lanterns. We’re better off on horseback. No point in having two buggies bogged down in the mud.”
Frances put her arm around Sarah and forced her back up the walk. “Some things is just men’s work, honey, and that ain’t gonna change. You can study them books of yours like a man does and even become a teacher, but you gotta let the men do the things God made them to do. Besides, that Mr. Lee is awful sweet on you.”
Sarah halted short of the verandah. “But I don’t want him to be sweet on me. I’m going to be a teacher!”
“Ain’t nobody saying you ain’t, and ain’t no rule saying a teacher can’t fall in love. Everything gonna come around like it supposed to in God’s time.”
***
For the next two hours, Sarah stared out the library window and fretted while the rain continued and the skies grew dark. Frances brought her a tea tray and consoled her the best she could, but as each moment passed, Sarah’s fears mounted.
“They should be back by now. Something awful has happened. I just know it.”
“It’s a long way out to the Overlook, and there ain’t no telling where they got stuck.”
“What if the buggy broke down or turned over. What if Amelia is hurt?”
“Those ‘what ifs’ ain’t doing nobody any good. That Mr. Lee Logan gonna get it all straightened out. You just wait and see. He’s a fine man, and you can trust him. Now quit your fretting.”
“You’re fretting just as much as I am, Frances. You know you are.”
“I’s praying. There’s a difference.”
“Oh, I didn’t think of that.”
“Ain’t too late, honey.”
Sarah turned, looked into the kindly, dark eyes, and sighed. “I wish I could remember that God will help us all the time, even in the messes we make.”
Frances chuckled. “He sure better, ’cause we makes all the messes we’s in.” She hugged Sarah and handed her a plate. “Eat some of this sandwich I brought you and say your prayers. You’ll feel better.”
Sarah nibbled and listened to the ticking clock and prayed. Shortly after the clock struck seven, she saw a dim outline of a horse entering the driveway and raced through the hall as she called Frances. “They’re here! Bring some blankets.”
Outside on the porch, she peered through the driving rain and watched Lee dismount and lift Amelia to the ground. When she stumbled, he picked her up and carried her toward Sarah just as Frances raced out with blankets.
“Oh, thank God,” Sarah cried as she tried to drape a blanket over Amelia.
“Just go draw her a warm bath,” Lee ordered. “No blanket is going to stop her shaking.”
“I’ll do it,” Frances said as she whirled around. “Just bring her on upstairs.”
“Is she all right?” Sarah tried to peer into Amelia’s face.
“She’ll recover, and I warrant she won’t try this for at least another week.”
Sarah trailed behind Lee as he carried Amelia upstairs and left her with Frances in the bathroom.
“Where’s Walter?” she asked as she followed him back downstairs. “Is he all right?”
“He’s better off than our buggy, which will have to be pried out of knee-deep mud. I sent him home with the horse.” He stopped in the entry. “No one was out and about when I came through town. I don’t think anyone saw Miss Atkins.”
“I can’t thank you enough. I’m sure Miss Victoria will—”
“I don’t deserve any thanks. This is Walter’s fault, and now that my father is gone, I’m the head of the Logan clan. Somehow, I’ll make this up to Miss Victoria and to Hayden.”
“They won’t blame you.”
“Walter and I will come by to apologize and make any restitution they think necessary. Tell them that, please.”
“Of course.”
“And, Miss Novak, I ask you to forgive me if I said anything earlier that made you uncomfortable. I ... I have the highest regard for you, and if you were open to a suitor, I would certainly make my case, but I know your priorities, and I honor them. Now if you’ll excuse me, I will head home to a warm fire.” He bowed and walked out the front door.
Sarah was paralyzed until he reached the steps; then she raced after him. “Mr. Logan, I ... I ... Thank you for your assistance.”
He bowed as the rain splashed over him.
When she entered the house, she leaned against the closed door, her heart thumping wildly. Maybe Frances is right. Maybe a teacher could marry.
***
“You’re home!” Amelia exclaimed as she descended the stairs for breakfast and found Miss Victoria in the hall. “Where’s Hayden?”
“I’ll speak to you in the drawing room, Amelia.” Miss Victoria’s voice, which was colder than the norther that had startled Riverford the night before and stopped the advance of spring, sent a shiver through Sarah. “Hayden has had the good sense to stop by the store while you and I have a little chat.”
“Don’t you even want to take off your coat?” Amelia advanced to help her sister.
“No, I do not! My only desire at the moment is ferreting out the truth of your affair in Galveston, not to mention trying to limit the damage you have wreaked on the Hodges name in the last twenty-four hours.”
“I’ll order some tea for you, Miss Victoria,” Sarah offered as she advanced from the library. “You must be awfully cold.”
“Not in the least!” Miss Victoria stormed toward the drawing room. “Both of you, in the drawing room, now.”
Sarah’s heart sank. She had failed Miss Victoria in her inability to restrain Amelia’s unseemly behavior.
Amelia trailed behind her sister. “Are you u
pset because I went riding with Walter Logan yesterday? Because if you are—”
“I’ll ask the questions, Amelia.” Miss Victoria whirled around and glared at her. “And the first one is, have you absolutely no sense of gratitude? Hayden has welcomed you into his home, given you the protection of his name after you disgraced yourself in Galveston. Does this mean nothing to you?”
“I have to start over! Why can’t you understand that? And I won’t go back to Galveston. I refuse to let Mother control me.”
“So you set your cap for Walter Logan and went off with him yesterday?”
“Walter’s handsome, and he’s going to make plenty of money, too.”
“Well, that’s all a girl needs, isn’t it?” Miss Victoria’s voice was swathed in sarcasm. “As long as a man is handsome and might make money, a girl should throw caution to the wind and risk her reputation and her family’s honor to catch him.”
Amelia’s eyes hardened. “You can’t stop me, Victoria.” She dropped her chin and pointedly scanned her lower body. “I settled my future yesterday. I’ll have to do something, and soon.”
“Lord have mercy! What are you saying, Amelia?” Miss Victoria sank into a chair and stared at her sister.
“That you better hope Walter does marry me.”
“Unbelievable! Well, Mother will be here tomorrow. She is going to handle you because I’m not. I’m through!”
Amelia laughed and jutted her chin into the air. “No one’s ever going to handle me again. I’m going to marry Walter Logan and become a respectable matron and live in Dallas. Walter and I have it all planned.”
“You will never learn!”
Amelia flounced toward the door but turned back long enough to fling a final comment at Miss Victoria. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that, Sister. I learned plenty yesterday afternoon.”
Sarah gasped.
“If I had the energy left, I would gasp too, Sarah,” Miss Victoria muttered.
CHAPTER 24
Monday brought Mrs. Atkins with her acid tongue. By midafternoon, she had barely settled in before she announced that Amelia’s problems were caused by Victoria’s bad example. “How is the poor girl to understand propriety when her sister bolted as you did?” she demanded of Victoria.
“Allow me to remind you, Mother, that Amelia was not even born when I left.”
“Nevertheless, the example was there.”
“Only if you kept talking about it.”
Hayden weighed in. “Victoria is no more responsible for Amelia’s behavior than we are responsible for her escapade here in Riverford.”
“If Victoria had not insisted on running off to Galveston after that Italian musician—”
“Victoria did not ‘run after’ Antonio,” Hayden snapped. “She went to Galveston to hear his concert, and allow me to remind you that she was herself well chaperoned. She was in the company of the Boyds and General Gibbes.”
“But if she had been here as she should have been—”
“If you had been here, you mean. You are responsible for your daughter, Mother Atkins.”
“She won’t listen to a word I say!”
“That’s hardly our problem, Mother!” Victoria exploded. “You are her mother, and you need to make her comfortable enough in her own home that she won’t run after every male who looks her way.”
“Are you saying that she is running away from me?”
“I am!”
“Like you did?”
“Not like I did. I did not run into the arms of the first man I met. I went abroad to study.”
“And look what it got you!”
“Yes, look.” Victoria motioned to Hayden. “It was a long wait, but he was worth it.”
“We will never agree on the cause of the current problem,” Hayden intervened. “We’re better off considering solutions.”
“I have a solution,” Amelia spoke for the first time. “Just in case anybody cares what I want to do with my own life.”
“You can’t marry Walter Logan,” Victoria insisted. “You hardly know him.”
“I don’t know about that,” Mrs. Atkins countered. “Many girls don’t marry for love, and history shows that their marriages work out quite well.”
“What?” Victoria demanded. “You want her to marry Walter?”
“I want her to marry someone. Admittedly, Walter Logan is not my first choice; he hardly has the pedigree to stimulate pride in a mother’s heart, but she refuses to look at any of the eligible men in Galveston. And frankly, I want her married before she embarrasses me any further.”
Victoria sank onto the settee. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this.”
“You mean I can marry Walter?” Amelia’s eyes were dancing. “Really?”
Hayden held up his hands. “May I remind you, Mother Atkins, that Walter has not proposed?”
“Oh, but he will,” Amelia assured them. “I promise you he will if I can just spend one more afternoon alone with him.”
“Absolutely not,” Hayden exploded. “If you meet Walter again, it will be under the most proper circumstances.” He turned to Mrs. Atkins. “I mean what I’m saying, Mother Atkins. Riverford may be an inconsequential town to you, but it’s been my family’s home for generations, and the Hodges name is not going to be shamed by anyone.”
“The question is, how much time does Amelia have?” Victoria observed quietly.
Amelia squirmed. “If I marry Walter in early June, things will work out just fine.”
“What are you saying?” Hayden demanded, then turned to Victoria. “What is she saying?”
“That after her behavior yesterday she needs to get married.”
“Great!” Hayden stormed over to the fireplace and jabbed at the coals.
Victoria rose and went to Mrs. Atkins. “Mother, I haven’t heard you say a word. Not even a word of surprise. Why is that?”
“I’m a pragmatist, Victoria. I always have been.”
“You’re pleased that she’s not several months gone, aren’t you? When you brought her here, you were worried she was carrying Carl Dietrich’s child, weren’t you?”
Mrs. Atkins’ eyes hardened as she stared up at Victoria. “What does that matter now? She isn’t. Are you, Amelia?”
Amelia shook her head.
Hayden turned back from the fireplace. “I have just one question for Amelia and for Mother Atkins. Does honor or integrity or Christian principle ever play a role in your behavioral choices?”
“Reputation is what counts, Hayden,” Mrs. Atkins answered. “That’s the way this world is. You’re a businessman; you should know that.”
Victoria felt weary and overwhelmingly sad, but she rose and linked her hand with Hayden’s. “I’m sorry for you both,” she said to her mother and sister.
“But Walter will be allowed to court me?” Amelia showed no signs of understanding Victoria’s point. “He really does love me.”
“Not from this house,” Hayden insisted. “Not until I confer with Lee Logan. He’s an honorable young man who deserves to understand the situation and decide what counsel he will give his brother.”
“Surely you wouldn’t think of denying Amelia’s happiness?” Mrs. Atkins demanded.
“My priority is being honest in all my dealings. I’m a Christian; that’s what Christians do!”
Hayden strode from the room, and Victoria’s heart swelled with love and pride. How blessed I am!
“Well, really!” Mrs. Atkins exclaimed.
Victoria met her mother’s indignant eyes. “Yes, really.”
As she left the room, Victoria heard Amelia assure her mother, “Don’t worry, Mother. Walter adores me. He’ll propose.”
***
“Do you realize what day it is?” Hayden asked Victoria and Sarah as they waited in the entrance hall for Mrs. Atkins and Amelia to descend the staircase and take leave of them.
Victoria shook her aching head. “The last two weeks have been so chaotic, I haven’t a clue.”
“April first,” Sarah answered.
Victoria groaned. “Say it’s not true. April Fool’s Day?”
Hayden smiled wryly. “Yes, my lady, it’s April Fool’s Day, and the only question is, who is the biggest fool?”
“Walter, without a doubt!” Victoria retorted.
“He was warned. I know for a fact that his older brother tried to reason with him and, at the very least, to slow him down, but Walter seems to have transferred his rebellion against his father to Lee. No one could have stopped him from proposing.”
“And Amelia was ready to jump at any proposal.”
“I think it’s sad,” Sarah murmured. “They’re only running toward each other because they’re running away from someone else.”
“Well, the good news is that the remainder of this drama will not be played out in Riverford,” Hayden said. “Thank heaven, your mother insists on holding the wedding in Galveston.”
“It’s the best way to resurrect her reputation. Having a society wedding for her daughter puts to rest any scandal Amelia caused.”
“Here comes Amelia,” Hayden warned. “Ready or not.”
“I’m ready! In my wildest dreams, I never thought dull old Riverford could be so appealing. Hurry up, Mother!” Amelia called back over her shoulder. “We were supposed to meet Walter at the station ten minutes ago.” She raced down the stairs. “Oh, I can’t wait to introduce him to all my Galveston friends. He’s so handsome! I’ll be the envy of all the girls. Don’t you think he’s just the handsomest man ever, Sarah?”
“Well ...”
“And wait till they all see this ring!” Amelia waved her left hand in the air. “Oh, Sarah, do go help Mother. We’re going to be late.”
“If there were a proper lady’s maid in this house, I wouldn’t need help,” Mrs. Atkins grumbled as she started her descent. “But I suppose that would be expecting too much.”
Sarah hurried up the stairs. “Let me help you—”
“No, no.” Mrs. Atkins batted her away. “I wouldn’t dream of inconveniencing you, Sarah. Undoubtedly you should be studying. After all, the world can ill afford to lose one of its great scholars.”
Victoria’s temper flared, but she forced it into submission. “I hope your trip is comfortable, Mother.”