by Jill Barnett
Hal grinned and handed him one of the drinks. "Somehow I doubt it was about me, my friend. More than likely about the scandalously low-cut green gown the delectable Miss Marrianne Fitzgerald wore to Fleming House last evening. Arthur, Rand, and I were taking bets on how long before she busted out of it. And you, lucky fellow, seated to her right all through that nine course dinner. So tell me if you set her free a few hours later," he said far too cheery to hide the truth. "I have a few hundred riding on the fact that you got lucky since it was you who took the lady home."
"She's a friend of Josie's."
"Just because she went to school with your sister doesn't mean you didn't get lucky."
"I'll leave the details to your dreams...and overly-vivid, overly-randy imagination," Ed said to irritate him for being such an ass and took a drink.
"Ah, yes. A true gentlemen never kisses and tells. So what else happened?" Hal laughed wickedly but Ed was no fool.
"Nothing. I took Marrianne home--her father's home--to keep her safe from your roving hands and critical tongue. She's a sweet young woman. You well know that, so cut the crap. There's a reason she won't have anything to do with you."
"That happened a long time ago," Hal muttered into his glass.
"Apparently not long enough for you to forget and move on."
"Marianne Titsgerald means nothing to me," he said with clear contempt.
"If you would stop calling her Titsgerald and apologize, perhaps she might forgive you."
"I can't apologize even if I wanted to. She won't come near me," he paused and frowned into his drink. "Half the men in the room last night were ogling her. I'd swear Macaffey was drooling. Damned idiot. Someone ought to talk to her dressmaker...or lock her in a room."
"Marrianne's twenty-four. She and Josie went to cotillion in the same year. She's hardly a young miss to be dressed as pure as the driven snow."
"The girl's mother is dead. She's too wild. Far too wild. And we both know her father indulges her terribly." He paused. "Do you really think she's not--? I mean, has she--"
"Stop Hal. You're head over heels for her and she won't have anything to do with you."
"I know," Hal said miserably.
"Apologize, then marry the girl, and find out how pure she is for yourself."
"She's turned down ten proposals."
"All of them not as insulting as yours. Enough about Marrianne Fitzgerald. Look, there've been some changes to the ground floor supports for the Forsythe Building. I need you to go over the plans with me tomorrow."
"I'll be there at seven," Hal said, his spirits less lively as he turned and rested his elbows and cocktail glass on the balustrade, then stared down at the shadowed street, the clopping sound of a horse trolley echoing up from below. Ed watched him for a minute. His friend was a sad mess of heartbreak.
He'd met Hal Green that first week at Boston Tech and they had almost instantly became fast friends. Both had eventually left the institution with enhanced architectural engineering degrees and promising apprenticeships, Ed's with Jenny in Chicago and Hal's with Frank Furness in Philadelphia. As fate would have it, they were also both ready to branch out on their own when Harrington Wilson approached Ed with the offer of a lucrative contract to construct three large, multi-story, steel-constructed commercial buildings in New York City. The projects were big and Ed knew Hal was the partner he needed beside him, so they came to New York to work together and the innovative commercial architectural firm of Lowell and Green was born.
The air outside the club grew colder and Ed and Hal left the terrace and were back inside amidst the rest of the club, soon smoking imported cigars, talking and downing as much whiskey as the waiters could bring.
But Ed was still bothered by something, the prickle of warning he couldn't exactly pinpoint. An itch of trouble. So he went to the adjacent card room and sat down to play cards with his friends, tossed a few gold pieces on the table and tried to forget about premonitions. One thing he was certain of, trouble often found you just when life felt foolishly at its best.
Also by Jill Barnett
FOOL ME ONCE SERIES
A Knight in Tarnished Armor
Fall From Grace
* * *
CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY SERIES
Daniel and the Angel
Eleanor’s Hero’s
My Lucky Penny
* * *
MORE HISTORICAL ROMANCE
Bewitching
Dreaming
Imagine
Carried Away
Just A Kiss Away
Wonderful
Wild
Wicked
The The Heart’s Haven’s Haven
* * *
WWII
Sentimental Journey
* * *
CONTEMPORARY
The Days of Summer
Bridge To Happiness