Amanda swallowed. “Yes. If the whole town already knows, you’d best tell me.”
He leaned back and sneered. “Besides the fact that you and he were behaving outrageously by the pond?”
“Randolph,” she hissed. “If you know something about Jack, tell me, so I can set you straight.”
“Oh, Jack, is it?” He scowled. “I’ve done a bit of research on Mr. Lawton. Seems he’s a common workman who lives across town.”
Amanda straightened in her chair, her heart thumping. “Across town?” She gulped. “Does he have a family?”
“Seems he had a wife, but she died six months ago of scarlet fever.”
“No children?” Amanda asked, hoping to hear in the negative.
“None that I know of.”
She settled back in the chair, not allowing Randolph to see the relief she felt at hearing this news.
“But he lives in a hovel with two unruly brothers and their wives. I believe his parents have passed on as well.”
Knowing where Jack really came from and that he had no wife or girl waiting for him in this time, added to Amanda’s sense of well-being. Nothing Randolph told her now would make a bit of difference.
Randolph’s steely gaze pierced her. She shrugged. “So, he’s poor and a common workman. This is what you’re spreading around town?”
“He and his brothers imbibe quite a bit. I doubt your father would want his sort anywhere near you. And he’s definitely not marriage material for a lady like you.”
“Who says I want to marry him?”
Randolph sputtered. “He lived in your home for a week!”
“He was gravely injured. It was my family’s duty to nurse him back to health.”
“But the way you cavorted with him at the pond is all over town. No other man would consider you marriage material.”
Amanda’s skin prickled. “Well then, I won’t be looking for gentlemen callers, will I?” She pinned him with her glare.
He leaned toward her. “I won’t allow this man to leave you as spoiled goods, Amanda. I still want you as my wife. Marrying me will make you respectable.”
Amanda’s pulse raced. “I don’t want to marry anyone.” She stood and strode out the door.
****
Jack paced the cramped parlor waiting for Amanda to return from work. Her father and brother were at the bank, while Erin and Mrs. O’Leary worked in the kitchen.
Jack didn’t know how much longer he could stand living like this. He needed to return to his time but didn’t want to leave Amanda. He had no life here, and Erin had told him how hard it had been for her to forgo her life in the future to settle with her husband and family. Jack would never fit into this time as she had. He had to go back.
The outer door creaked open. Jack rushed to the open parlor doorway to peer into the foyer.
Amanda’s hat bobbed as she removed the pins. When she caught sight of Jack, her lips curved into a smile.
He stepped forward and grasped her arm. “Come in the parlor. I have to talk to you right now.”
Her smile faltered, but she followed him into the room. He closed the doors and leaned against them.
She stepped around the settee but didn’t sit. “What is it, Jack?”
He clasped his hands together, his palms moist. “I need to go home. Now.”
Amanda stepped to his side. “Has my stepmother found a way?”
He shook his head. “She can’t be sure, but she thinks the room you found me in is the key.” He glanced away. “And Erin’s brooch with your father’s hair.”
“Her brooch?” Amanda paced toward the window, lifted the lace curtain and peered outside. “The brooch brought her to my father, but how does she think it will send you back?”
Jack shook his head. “I don’t know. But since I no longer have the photo of you Erin believes brought me here, she decided the brooch is worth a try.”
“Photo…” Amanda mused. “I may have one I can give you, but it may not be the right one.”
Jack’s pulse quickened. He cupped Amanda’s cheek and planted a kiss on her lips.
She pulled back and gazed at him.
“You have a photograph of yourself? A recent one?”
“Yes, a tintype. I’ll get it for you.” She stepped to a desk in a corner of the tiny room, opened the top drawer. After rifling through it, she produced a book. “It’s in here.”
Jack peered over her shoulder. She opened a book full of old black-and-white photographs. At least they looked old to him. Each photo was five by eight inside a gilded oval with a decorative border.
She stopped at a page with a photo of her.
He gazed at the picture. “This is it.” He pointed to the photo. “The framed photo was hanging in the house, and I had the picture with me when I got hit with the beam.”
“This was hanging in Randolph’s house?” Amanda’s mouth turned down.
Jack fingered the edges of the photo. “Yes. Why would it be hanging in the house?”
She lifted a hand to her mouth. Her fingers trembled. “It must mean I married Randolph. I was his wife.” Her wide gaze lifted to catch Jack’s.
“Not necessarily.” He shook his head. “Maybe he just has a thing for you and found a copy of this photo.”
“A thing?” Amanda asked. “What kind of thing?”
Jack chuckled. “I mean, he likes you. You said he wants to marry you.”
“I would never…” Amanda plopped onto the settee clasping both hands in her lap. “…but what if I had no other choice.”
Jack gazed at her. “Everyone has a choice who they want to marry.”
“Maybe in your time, Jack, but not in mine.” She rose and clasped his hand. “You can’t go unless you take me with you.”
“Amanda.” Jack sighed. “I’d love to take you, but what if we can’t be together?”
Her gaze dropped. “Then I’m doomed, I fear.”
“Don’t say that.”
She reached up to cup his chin, then stood on her toes to offer her lips. The kiss sent shivers down Jack’s spine. He couldn’t leave her to an uncertain fate. He deepened the kiss, and she responded with a soft moan, tightening her arms around his back.
“I won’t leave you, Amanda,” he said. “I swear.”
Chapter Fifteen
Amanda’s feet barely touched ground as she hurried from the mercantile to her home. Jack had promised to take her to the future. A time where women were equal to men and she could marry anyone she liked. Or not marry at all if she chose.
She’d left the house with a light shawl on the sunny and mild April morning, but ended up carrying the wrap over one arm. She couldn’t wait to see Jack, who’d promised to stop by today.
After entering the house, she hung her shawl on a peg, pulled the hatpin, and set her felt hat on the shelf. The open window at the far side of the foyer allowed a fresh breeze to circulate through the house.
She stepped toward the kitchen doorway but stopped at the sound of male voices in the parlor behind the closed doors.
Had Jack stopped by early, or could it be her father and brother? She pressed her ear to the door to try to make out what they said.
“I know Mr. Lawton no longer is staying in your home, but as long as he’s in town, he’s a threat to Amanda’s reputation.”
She gasped. That sounded like Randolph.
“I understand your concern, sir,” her father said, “but she is my daughter, and I trust her to do the right thing.”
She pressed a hand to her mouth. At least her father was on her side.
“But sir, it’s not just Amanda you have to consider. What do you know of this Mr. Lawton?”
“He seemed like a decent fellow when he stayed with us.”
Footsteps told Amanda one of the men had stepped toward the door. She shrank back, afraid they’d discover her eavesdropping.
“I’ve done research on Jack Lawton.” Randolph’s voice was close to the door.
Amand
a pressed herself against the wall.
“He’s from a low-class family on the other side of town. He’s a common workman and a hard drinker.”
Her father cleared his throat. “I don’t think we need to be concerned. He’s moving on, so he’s told us. He just needed time to recover.”
“I fear he may seek out Amanda and try to compromise her even further than he already has.” Footsteps moved away from the door as if Randolph stepped toward her father. “If I marry her now, she’d be spared trying to find a man who wouldn’t be bothered by a tarnished reputation.”
“Mr. Norwood…” her father began.
“Call me Randolph, sir. I hope to be part of your family very soon. I’m building a house a few blocks from here for my future wife and family. Your daughter would be close by, along with any grandchildren that come along.”
Amanda held in her outburst, longing to push the door open and put a stop to Randolph’s male posturing. How dare he?
“I’m sorry, Randolph,” her father said. “Amanda is her own woman. I’d dare not influence her in the choice of husband. If she chooses to marry, it will be her decision.”
“But sir—”
Amanda bit back a grin. Her father really was a modern thinking man.
“If my daughter doesn’t choose to marry you, there’s not much I can do.”
“Then I fear we have nothing more to discuss,” Randolph said.
Heavy footsteps approached the door. Amanda scrambled toward the kitchen door and slipped inside. She peered through the crack in the door as Randolph stormed from the parlor and out of the house.
****
Jack dressed and left the hotel. He needed to see Erin about the plans to send him back home. He also had to see Amanda. The longing he held for her since their intimate encounter in his room, left no doubt in his mind that he couldn’t go home without her. She was now his life and would leave a huge void if he left her in the past.
As he passed the mercantile, remembering to tip his hat to all the ladies strolling by, he caught sight of Randolph riding in a one-horse carriage. The man’s nose tilted up at an arrogant angle. Jack hated to think of Amanda married to the bastard. He’d do whatever he could to prevent it.
Doubling his pace, Jack hurried to the Montgomery house. He strode to the porch but hesitated at the front door. Although he’d lived here for a week, he couldn’t just barge in. He rapped and waited for someone to answer.
The door flew open. “Oh, Jack!” Amanda gasped. “I am so glad to see you.”
Before he could utter a response, she grabbed his arm and yanked him inside.
Her scent drifted to him as he reached out to cup her cheek.
“Jack,” she breathed.
Footsteps from the staircase alerted Jack that they weren’t alone. “I came to see your stepmother.” He averted his face from Amanda’s luscious lips, so close to his.
“Mrs. O’Leary.” Amanda turned as the cook ambled toward them. “Is my mother home?”
“In the kitchen she is, I do believe.” The older woman beamed. “Why hello, Jack. Good to see you again.”
“Hello, ma’am. I’m here to see Mrs. Montgomery.”
“I’m heading that way. I’ll fetch her.” The cook angled her frame through the kitchen doorway.
Amanda turned to Jack. “Is she planning to try to send you home?” Her lips turned downward.
“I’m not sure. I have to talk to her.” His lips were inches from hers. “And to you afterward. Don’t go anywhere.”
Erin stepped from the kitchen, her gaze fixed on the pair. “Come into the parlor, Jack. We have a lot to discuss.”
Amanda folded her arms across her chest as her gaze narrowed.
Jack nodded to Erin. “Be right in.”
Erin strode to the parlor doors and opened them wide. She hesitated, looked back for a final glance, then stepped inside.
Jack turned to Amanda. He grasped her shoulders and pulled her to him for a quick kiss. “Wait for me. I have to talk to you before I go.”
She nodded, but frowned.
After a final glance at Amanda, Jack stepped through the doors and closed them behind him.
Chapter Sixteen
Amanda crept to her parents’ room while her stepmother and Jack remained occupied in the parlor. She had to get hold of the brooch and hoped Erin didn’t already have it with her. She searched her stepmother’s jewelry box but didn’t see anything resembling a hair brooch. Discouraged, she turned to leave but on a hunch felt around the bottom of the felt lined box and discovered a false bottom.
Her breath caught as she lifted the edge and exposed the jewelry inside. A brooch! She recognized the dark chocolate-brown hair. Her father’s hair had dulled over time with streaks of gray running through it, but this was undoubtedly his hair.
She held the brooch up to the window to inspect it closely. The decorative oval frame held glass covering intricately woven strands of hair. If this brooch had sent Erin back to this time, could it send Jack to the future?
She crept from the room, carefully closing the door so not to alert anyone downstairs, and hurried to her own room. Her photo now sat on her dresser, so she’d have it to give to Jack when he…they, returned to Randolph’s house.
Packing both objects into a large drawstring bag, she returned to the foyer so Jack couldn’t leave without her seeing him.
She sat by the staircase waiting for him to come to her.
****
Jack shook his head. “I’m sorry, Erin, but how can you expect me to leave without at least trying to take Amanda along?”
Erin’s lips thinned to a straight line. “You promised me you wouldn’t. It’s likely not possible anyway.”
Jack ran a hand through his hair. “I kind of promised her I’d at least try.” He locked gazes with Erin.
She propped her hands on her hips. “You shouldn’t have, Jack. I can’t allow you to take her with you.”
“Are you going to the house?”
“I—I suppose I should. I won’t go into the house though. Don’t want to take the chance of being drawn to the future with you.”
He nodded. If she didn’t go in, maybe he could find a way to sneak Amanda in without her stepmother’s knowledge.
“Jack, please believe me, I’m only thinking of my daughter. If she went with you, she’d be lost to us forever.”
Jack sighed. “I guess I understand. But what if you had to leave your husband behind? Could you do it?”
“We’re not even talking about the same thing here. You’ve only known Amanda for what…a couple of weeks?”
“But you said after you’d returned to the future, you willed yourself back here.”
“I did. But I’d known Will a lot longer than a few weeks. We’d been through so much.”
“I feel as though I’ve known your daughter a lifetime and then some,” he protested.
Erin shook her head. “After a few weeks in this time, I would’ve given my eyeteeth to go back. Will wasn’t even a consideration at that point. I didn’t know him well enough.”
Jack shrugged. “I guess you know best.”
“I do,” she stated. “Now, let me find the brooch so we can send you on your way.”
****
Amanda glanced up as the parlor door opened. She caught Jack’s guarded gaze and her stepmother’s resigned one. “I’ll be right back, Jack.”
Erin ascended the stairs.
After she was out of earshot, Amanda pulled Jack toward the parlor doorway. “Where’s she going?”
“To get the brooch.”
Amanda’s face heated. “Oh, no. We’ve got to get out of here right now!”
“Why?” Jack’s brows drew together.
“She won’t find the brooch, because I’ve got it.”
“You do? Where?”
She lifted the bag. “Right here, along with the photograph. We’ve got to hurry before she comes back.” She grasped his sleeve and led him to the door.
“Where are we going? We can’t go to the house in broad daylight.”
“I know a place we can hide out until dark. Trust me, Jack.”
She led him around the back of the house. Erin would think they’d gone to the kitchen, and by the time she realized they’d left the house, they’d be out of sight. Amanda hoped Jack would follow her lead. In the short time she’d known him, she’d fallen hopelessly in love and couldn’t allow him to disappear from her life. She longed for the chance to explore the world of the future with him.
Jack followed Amanda’s lead to Randolph’s house. They hung back and observed workmen stepping in and out. “Where can we go?” Jack whispered.
“Come with me.” Amanda grasped his hand and led him to the back of the house. A grove of trees stood several yards behind the structure.
Amanda pointed. “We’ll hide in there and watch. They’ll likely leave at dusk.”
Jack nodded and crept into the grove after her. He glanced at the house, hoping the workers didn’t spot them. Once in the chilled shade of the trees, he looked back again. The house was still visible between fragrant flowering branches and shrubs amid a few evergreens. They wouldn’t be seen as long as they stayed hidden.
She settled on a pile of dried leaves spreading her skirts under her like a blanket. “Come sit with me,” she said.
He sat cross-legged beside her. “So, what do we do? Just hang out here until dusk?”
“Hang out?”
He shrugged. “Another of my modern expressions. I meant, do we just sit here?”
She giggled. “I can think of things we can do to occupy our time.” She drew him close and nuzzled his cheek, then brushed her lips over his.
Her scent and taste sent his heart racing. If these were to be the last moments he spent with her, he’d make the best of it.
Gathering her softness to him, he kissed her thoroughly. He didn’t want to go any further for fear of being discovered, but his body reacted otherwise. He cupped her breast, but her corset got in the way.
“This thing is worse than a bra,” he muttered.
“A what?” She gazed at him, her eyebrows lifting.
Thoroughly Modern Amanda Page 11