Thankfully her face was cooling. When she found Momma, there should be no high color left in her cheeks.
When Evelyn reached the strangely quiet nursery, Momma was knitting beside the crib. “Momma?”
She pressed a finger firmly against her lips, set down her knitting needles, and slowly pushed herself out of her chair.
Evelyn cringed at the rocker’s loud squeak, but Hope didn’t stir.
Momma tiptoed across the room and swung the door slightly closed behind them. “What do you need?” she whispered.
“I’d hoped you could watch the children for me, but I see Hope’s still asleep.” Which didn’t bode well for tonight.
“What do you need to do now?” Her mother must have been trying to keep her voice sounding normal, but the teensiest bit of long-suffering colored her question.
“Mr. Kingsman and Mr. Hargrove convinced two more businessmen to sponsor my women’s home. I wanted to inform Nicholas, but I can wait until he comes Saturday.”
“Mr. Kingsman’s here?” Her expression brightened considerably.
The heat in Evelyn’s dratted cheeks returned. “Yes, he came to tell me.”
Momma’s eyes lit even more. “Well then, you two go tell Nicholas. I’ll have Suzie sit in here, and she can tell your father when Hope wakes. He’s helping Robert finish his mathematics.”
“I’m not sure anyone needs to be alerted when Hope’s awake.”
“She does have the lung capacity of a lion.” Her mother chuckled. “But Walter won’t come get her unless he knows he has to. He’s never been one for fussy babies, and I doubt Suzie will be able to settle her. But we’ll manage—you go ahead.”
“Thank you, I’ll be quick.”
“Oh, take your time, honey.”
Evelyn forced herself not to roll her eyes as she left the room behind her mother.
Up ahead, Caroline disappeared into the green room. She’d want to know of the good news too. Leaving Momma at the stairwell, Evelyn headed to the room where the boys slept.
She popped her head into the room full of bunk beds and sweaty socks.
Her friend was picking up discarded clothing, mumbling something about pigs and sties.
“Guess what David just came to tell me?”
Caroline straightened, her eyebrows arched, a boy’s union suit dangling over her arm.
“He got Mr. Beauchamp to agree to support the women’s home. Isn’t that wonderful? I told you Henri has redeeming qualities.”
Caroline only looked at her.
Did Caroline remember she needed two local businessmen’s support? “And Mr. Hargrove got Mr. Runyan to agree to be a sponsor as well. I’m off to tell Nicholas that he can start planning now.”
“That’s good.” But Caroline’s voice was rather emotionless.
She’d expected Caroline to be at least a little excited. “It is good, Caroline.”
“Of course it is.” Her lips curved up a touch, but her smile wasn’t convincing. “I’ll be grateful for a safe place to nurse my worst cases.”
Caroline had been quiet the past few days. Maybe the news just needed time to sink in. She’d learned to give her friend space since Caroline seemed to hate discussing her emotions, but if Caroline wasn’t out of her melancholy by Saturday, she’d try to coax her into telling her what was wrong.
Evelyn left Caroline to her cleaning and hurried down the stairs. Though her quick descent had warmed her up, the autumn nights were quick to cool, so she grabbed a shawl.
Through the Tiffany glass, she could make out David’s dinky buggy, so she opened the front door.
David was just to the side. The sugar-melting grin he’d given her the day they’d met spread across his face. He extended his hand. “Ready?”
She put her hand in his, letting him help her up onto her side of the buggy. There was no real harm in enjoying holding someone’s hand, was there?
She let go and tucked her hands in her lap while he walked around to climb up on his side. She could enjoy a hug, a touch, a helping hand, when appropriate, but she’d have to be content with that.
After David drove them through the fenceless gate at the bottom of the driveway, he turned left.
She pointed to the right. “Nicholas is likely with Lydia at the library now.”
“Actually, I saw him turn into the orchard on the way here.”
“The orchard?” He was on mansion property?
David thought he needed to drive her less than a mile down the hill?
It’s all right, Evelyn. He’s just being nice. Nice men are a good thing.
“I’m pretty sure, so we’ll check there first.”
They rattled down the road, the shouts of the children spilling down the hill as they passed. Evelyn looked up but could only see the top half of the mansion.
David cleared his throat. “Henri and I have been talking the past few days while he was debating over supporting your shelter.” David held the reins loosely, as if they were on a leisurely drive. “He’s a savvy businessman, has a lot of Teaville contacts, and gave me a few ideas on how to gain traction with the glass factory here. If they’re as promising as they sound, I was thinking”—he cleared his throat and shot a side glance at her—“that if his ideas panned out, we might not sell the factory.”
She stared straight ahead, her heart frozen in her throat. “So you’d work from Kansas City and hire someone to manage the factory here?”
“I could do it that way, or . . . perhaps I’d stay. There are a couple businesses Henri said were in dire straits here and could be picked up for a steal, and they’d complement what I already have going.”
She nodded as if such news didn’t make butterflies trip over themselves in her stomach.
“What do you think?”
How could she not wish for David to stay unless she was truly coldhearted? Many men probably thought she was callous since distancing herself had been the easiest way to keep her heart from ever being in danger. But she’d let down her guard with David because he wasn’t supposed to stay. Her insides quivered at her mistake. She’d have to get better control of her attraction to him if he moved here permanently. “I surely don’t know enough to advise you on that—I’m not a businesswoman.”
She didn’t dare turn to look at him, but after he was silent for a spell, she took a peek.
He seemed lost in thought, his jaw and lips scrunching around as if he were talking to himself in his head.
Past the windbreak, Nicholas’s apple and pear trees grew in tidy, rippling rows down to the insignificant unnamed creek that wandered onto his property, creating a marshy overgrown area and a natural border to the hayfield he let grow to the south.
Several workers stood on ladders throughout the pear-laden trees, filling baskets. Two men below were taking full baskets to a wagon and returning empty ones to the pickers. Nicholas looked out of place in his three-piece suit as he talked to a man nearly half a foot shorter in work pants and rolled-up shirtsleeves.
Nicholas must have heard their buggy, because he turned to look and waved them over.
By the time they stopped beside him, he’d finished talking to his overseer and walked to her side of the buggy. “To what do I owe this visit?”
“Good news.” At least she hoped he’d think so. She let Nicholas swing her down. “There are three businessmen who will officially support our women’s home now.”
Nicholas’s eyebrows shot up. He looked over her head toward David, who’d remained in the buggy, leaning casually against the seat back. How could a man’s nonchalant confidence make him look thirty times more handsome than he already was?
“I’m one of the men planning to help, of course. And so are Mr. Runyan and Mr. Beauchamp.”
“Mr. Beauchamp?” Nicholas shot David a disbelieving look.
David nodded emphatically. “The lengths I went through to get his support were rather . . . intense. You can speak to him if you wish, but I promise, he’s committed.”
/> “He knows he’ll have to work with me?”
At David’s nod, Nicholas looked down at her. “I hope you realize this won’t happen overnight.”
“I expect you’ll want to do things your way, but I also know you will indeed do it.”
He gave her a grin that only made her like her friend’s husband more. Lydia had softened him so much it was a wonder people still thought of him as the town’s Scrooge.
Nicholas looked toward town. “The first thing we’ll need to do is talk to Queenie and Caroline. They’re the ones with the most access to the women and have gained their trust. However, we’re going to have to be careful to keep them separated from our work. The brothel owners have allowed them to tend to the women precisely because they’ve posed no threat. What you and I want to do will not be popular.”
How had she and Caroline not realized Queenie’s ability to tend the women could be in jeopardy if she got involved with taking them out of the district?
But he was right, the women who weren’t interested in escape would still need care. She couldn’t live with herself if her women’s home barred those who suffered from the trifling help they had now. If God hadn’t seen fit to guard her in her own rebellion, she could’ve ended up just like them. Not because she would have voluntarily chosen to be a prostitute, but after listening to their stories, she’d realized, if a few things had been different, she might have involuntarily joined them in their misery.
Nicholas laid a hand on her shoulder and waited for her to look at him. “We’ll move slowly. We’ll not do anything before we’ve anticipated all the problems. It could take years though.”
“I was hoping it would be faster, but I understand.” And since she had plenty of years to give, she’d give them gladly.
24
Checking his timepiece, David sped up. Hopefully Evelyn and Caroline hadn’t yet left the mansion to feed their Saturday group of kids.
He huffed up the last of the rise. He’d not brought the factory’s rickety buggy since he’d hoped to join Caroline and Evelyn on their way into town. Now, if only he could pull that off without appearing as if he’d left the buggy behind on purpose.
Thankfully, the wagon the two women used was still parked beside the mansion. He slowed down and walked up as if he were simply dropping by.
He couldn’t help smiling at himself. He really was pathetic. Good thing Father wasn’t anywhere around. If someone could pop the happy bubble in his chest, it’d be his father.
Caroline came down the stairs from the exit he assumed servants used to attend guests on the porch, carrying a huge pot in her hands. Even if he started jogging, she’d get to the wagon before he could, but he did speed up in case he could help Evelyn with whatever she might bring out next.
Evelyn did follow Caroline out, except whatever she carried was cuddled against her chest.
He cocked his head as he continued up the path. The package wiggled and squawked. The tiniest fist he’d ever seen popped out of the bindings when Evelyn turned to toss a blanket into the wagon.
How had he missed seeing a baby at the mansion? Especially considering the high-pitched noises it was making now. If the size of that lump was all of him or her, it was the tiniest human being he’d ever seen.
Evelyn captured the babe’s angry little fist and kissed it.
He slowed, his throat growing tight for some reason.
Caroline shoved the pot onto the wagon bed and turned. She saw him and waved.
When had he stopped walking? He jogged forward.
Evelyn gave him a quick glance but continued talking to the baby in her arms whose cries became more insistent. She started jiggling the bundle as if she were trying to curdle cream.
How did this woman not want to get married and have children? His aunt had been a cantankerous woman, the kind children drew lots over to determine who would throw rocks through her windows. Aunt Martha had reserved a semi-soft spot for him, but she’d clearly had no love for children.
But Evelyn purposely surrounded herself with young people, and they adored her. And despite the screeching going on in her arms, she held the babe against herself as if she could protect it from whatever was causing it to make such awful noise.
She would undoubtedly make a great mother. But she was pretty great as she was, mothering those who’d been abandoned or orphaned. Maybe that’s why she had no desire to marry, for who could replace her in the lives of all these little ones?
Perhaps it was best to leave her to it. . . .
But hang it all, seeing her with an infant only made him want to see her with one of her own someday—preferably his.
He stilled, wide-eyed at his own racing thoughts.
“Are you all right?” Caroline stepped closer to him, head cocked to the side. “You look a little flushed.”
“Uh, yeah.” He took a handkerchief from his pocket and swiped at his hairline. “Maybe I shouldn’t have walked up the hill so quickly.” Or at least his thoughts should have slowed down.
Oh, who was he kidding? He was too far gone. He might as well throw in all his chips and stop counting the risk of courting Evelyn. He’d still pray God would help him know what to do, but he had to do something more than just wait for her to show interest in him. Could it be she didn’t understand he was attracted to her?
Though this woman possessed nothing Father would deem necessary for joining their family, she did possess the things he insisted David didn’t have—drive and focus. Wouldn’t the best person to complete him be someone with the characteristics Father admired, even if she lacked a bulging pocketbook?
He’d reveled at the feel of her in his arms last week when she’d broken through the wall that held her so aloof and given him a hug.
Henri had confirmed Evelyn had always been a standoffish woman—but then, Caroline was just as distant. Did Evelyn have a story like Caroline’s that made it difficult for her to be warm? Both of them were so driven to help the unfortunate, he couldn’t imagine what they’d be like if they felt free to love without reservations.
If he could somehow get her interested in him before he declared his feelings, surely her disinterest in marriage would crumble.
Though it might go achingly slow, he was going to try courting.
Not that he would dare tell Evelyn that was his intention.
“Shhh, shhh, shhhh.” Evelyn kept up a refrain of shushing as he came over to take a look at the baby.
“Who’s this?” Of course his voice came out frazzled since his heart was beating way faster than it should.
“Her name’s Hope.” She bounced the bundle around, but the baby’s lower lip only curled down farther, and her face started turning red with her pitiful mewling.
“Maybe you should stop bouncing her. I don’t think she likes it.”
Evelyn guffawed. “It would be so much worse if I didn’t. I tried that last night.”
“And it was terrible.” Robert jogged past them, shoved a basket onto the wagon bed, and promptly put his hands over his ears when the babe screeched louder than a cat getting its tail pulled. He looked up at David with pitiful eyes. “If I fall asleep at work next week, you’ll know why. I didn’t sleep at all last night.”
“You did too. I took her to the basement around three this morning.”
Caroline walked by, her face registering how unpleasant that must have been for her and the other servants.
Evelyn flipped the child over and held her against her arm like she was readying to iron her flat. “And I think she fell asleep a little after four, but I don’t remember when that happened exactly.”
Caroline put her hands on her hips. “She woke up near five fifteen, so even if she fell asleep at four sharp it wasn’t long enough.”
Evelyn nodded in agreement and started twisting at the waist as if she were going to slice tall grass with a baby instead of a scythe.
As much as he’d been hoping to spend some time with Evelyn, clearly someone needed her more. “Why
don’t I go with Miss O’Conner and let you stay here with the baby? If you take her with you, I don’t think a single child will hear a word of your Bible story. Tell me which one you planned to tell, and I’m sure I can improvise.”
“You don’t have to do that. Lydia’s here and planned to keep the baby.”
“Then what can I do to help?”
“I think we’re fine.”
“Now, Evelyn.” He had to raise his voice to be heard. “I told you I wanted to help. I have time.”
“But you might scare away the children’s mothers if they come, like you did with Amy. And though it might be tempting to see you care for this squalling bundle, I’m not sure I could be that mean to you.” She smirked, but her eyelids were so droopy with fatigue the smile was lackluster.
He needed to figure out some way to help her since she seemed to forget that friends were exactly whom one should ask for help. “Well, what if—?”
“Hey, Mr. Kingsman!” Max jogged up to them. “If I get my school done early and got permission to leave, could I have more hours at the factory?”
“I only hire good students.”
“But I am. I already finished my history book.”
David blinked at the young man. “But you just started school.”
He shrugged. “It was interesting.”
“He reads way past bedtime.” Robert, who’d walked up with Evelyn’s parents, shook his head at his older brother. “I told him he’d get in trouble, but he doesn’t.”
Evelyn tilted her head sheepishly. “It’s difficult getting onto someone for wanting to learn so badly—and it’s not like it’s been easy to sleep here lately.” She disentangled herself from the baby, who’d latched onto the pleats on Evelyn’s shirtwaist, and pretended to hand the baby to her father for a second before winking at his stricken expression and then handing the writhing child to her mother.
David looked into Max’s expectant eyes. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll talk to the teacher and see what can be arranged.”
“Thank you, sir.” Max smiled, then turned to help Caroline with another pot.
A Love So True Page 19