“Amanda?” Garrett was looking at her in such a way that he must have asked a question that she’d failed to answer.
“I’m sorry. I was thinking.” More like daydreaming.
“Are the costumes and animals ready for next Saturday?”
“Oh. Yes.” Except for one item. When little Beth learned she must give up her doll for nearly a week, she’d refused. “Does Sadie have another doll besides Baby that we could use for the baby Jesus?”
Sadie solemnly shook her head, while her father answered in the negative. Yet he looked oddly uncomfortable. Younger men were sometimes embarrassed by any talk of babies or dolls, but Garrett had experienced both, with his children and with his daughter’s dolls. Why would he react that way?
Sadie provided the answer. “Mama had a baby doll.”
“No,” Garrett snapped, “that one isn’t a toy.” He turned to Amanda. “It’s porcelain.”
That might have explained the reaction if he hadn’t been so vehement.
“We will wrap it carefully so it doesn’t break,” Amanda offered.
“No.”
“We will only use it Christmas morning,” she pleaded.
He proved just as immovable as he had on escorting her to Allegan. Amanda was left empty-handed. She finished cleaning up and departed, the awkward silence again looming between them. If everything she requested was met with denial and this sullen silence, what sort of relationship could they ever hope to have? After the devastation of Hugh, Amanda hoped for a completely open and honest relationship in marriage. It didn’t matter if Garrett did not love her as long as he was frank about it. He was completely honest about some matters and just as closed about others. Amanda could not tiptoe around those sensitive subjects for a lifetime, except perhaps for the sake of the children.
She pondered that as she returned to the boardinghouse. With Pearl still visiting Roland, Amanda had a little time to finish the buttons. Each one needed to be covered in the same fabric as the gown and then sewn in place. Small loops had to be attached to the opposite side of the back panels, directly opposite the buttons. It was detailed work that required a clear mind.
Mrs. Calloway brought her a pot of tea, but even two cupfuls didn’t bring focus. After she made two mistakes, she gave up.
Mrs. Calloway bustled into the room. “She’s almost here.”
Amanda heard the front door open. Oh, dear, Pearl would head straight to the writing room. Amanda jumped to her feet and grabbed at the dress to shove it into the laundry bag that Mrs. Calloway was holding.
Hurry. Hurry.
She shoved and pushed. The gown could be pressed later.
Then something crashed to the floor. Her teacup!
Amanda looked down to see tea staining the beautiful silk fabric. No! Not Pearl’s wedding dress!
She tried to blot it with her apron.
“Stop!” Mrs. Calloway wrested the gown from her and stuffed the rest of it into the bag.
“There you are,” Pearl said, looking from Amanda to Mrs. Calloway and back again. “What happened? You look like the world is coming to an end.”
Rather than answer, Amanda ducked under the sewing machine to pick up the teacup, which had suffered the loss of its handle.
Mrs. Calloway muttered something about laundry and bustled away.
“On a Sunday?” Pearl asked.
Amanda’s hands shook as she gathered the pieces of the broken cup. Everything was going wrong. Her brother. Pearl’s dress. Garrett’s iciness toward her. The cup. A sob slipped out.
Pearl knelt beside her, took the pieces of china from her hands and set them on the nearby desk. “It’s only a teacup.”
The tears only increased. It was so much more. All her hopes were falling apart.
* * *
Garrett hated the wall that had risen between Amanda and him. Her request was outlandish—to travel upriver to Allegan this moment. The children and Pearl depended on her for the nativity play. Amanda was supposed to be Pearl’s bridesmaid in just a week. Though it might take only a day, providing they could find a steam tug willing to make the run upriver and down, bad weather could strand them in Allegan. All because of a slim to impossible chance this man was her brother.
That’s what Garrett told himself the rest of the day Sunday and all through work on Monday. But he’d have to face her and that disappointment the moment he returned home.
Instead he went to the store and explained to Roland what had happened.
“There’s no chance that this lumberjack will be her brother,” he summed up.
Roland shrugged. “There’s a chance, though admittedly tiny.”
“Too small to bother.”
“What if it was your only living relation who went missing? To what lengths would you go to find him?”
Garrett hated that his brother had a good point. “But now? With Christmas coming? Who would go upriver?”
“Underwood sent word the mail boat’s on its way in. The tug’ll be by to pick up the mail and any cargo bound for stops upriver.”
Once again Roland had a point, and it wasn’t making Garrett feel any better about turning down Amanda’s request. “I can’t believe she’d risk missing her best friend’s wedding.”
“She shouldn’t miss it. Here comes the Donnie Belle now.”
The steam tug putted up and downriver, bringing supplies to the communities that had sprung up on the shores.
“Here to meet the mail boat,” Roland added, “which is coming alongside the lower wharf as we speak.”
That only roughened up Garrett’s already irritated nerves. “I don’t want Amanda on the Donnie Belle.” There. He’d said it.
Roland grinned. “Afraid of losing her? You know how to remedy that.”
“I’m not getting on a boat.”
A laugh burst out of Roland. “I never thought I’d see the day when Garrett Decker was afraid to set foot on a boat.”
“I’m not afraid.”
“Then why are you here trying to explain yourself?” Roland rounded the counter. “Mail boat’s landed. I need to go out back and get the mail. Watch the counter for me.”
Garrett didn’t mind watching the store on occasion, but he wasn’t in the best mood to greet customers. Fortunately, there was only Louise Smythe, picking up a few things for the Elders. The tiny woman appeared from behind a display of heavy coats with a list in her hands.
“Some Epsom salts, camphor and sprain liniment. Put it on the Elders’ account.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Garrett found the salts and liniment easily enough, but he couldn’t locate the camphor.
“I couldn’t help but overhear,” the woman said while he was turned away from her. “I assume you were speaking of Amanda.”
Garrett froze.
“She’s a lovely woman,” Louise said, almost dreamily.
“Yes.” He wouldn’t allow himself more.
“Kind and gentle and so good with children.”
Was Louise involved with this matchmaking effort also? That seemed odd, considering she’d been one of the women who’d arrived in Singapore in answer to the advertisement for a wife.
At last he put his hands on the camphor. “Here we go.” He swung around, but deliberately avoided her gaze. “Let me get out your account.” He pulled the account book from under the counter and leafed through the pages until he found the one for the Elders. They always paid on time and in cash, unlike almost everyone else.
He quickly totaled the items. “That will be thirty-five cents.” He jotted it down and then turned the ledger so she could sign for the items.
She began to put the jars in her basket, but he halted her. “Now, let me get this for you. You do know that you could have given us the order, and we would have deliv
ered the items later today.”
“I do, but I needed to get out. You know how it is sometimes.”
Garrett didn’t. Eva had liked to roam, saying she couldn’t stand being inside the house all day every day with only the children for company. He didn’t understand. He’d give anything to have entire days with them.
With a clatter and slam of a door, Roland entered the store carrying a canvas bag. “Here I am.”
Louise couldn’t hold back her eagerness. “Is that the mail?”
“Indeed it is, and if I’m not mistaken there is something for you to take back to the Elders.” Roland hefted the bag onto a clean spot on the counter and opened it.
Garrett wondered how his brother knew that already, but then he spotted Captain Elder’s name on the top envelope.
Roland spilled the mail onto the counter. One letter, badly trampled and torn, slid off the counter and onto the floor. Garrett bent down and retrieved it. The back flap had come unsealed. He flipped it over, and his gaze naturally drifted to the address. That’s when his heart stopped.
That battered envelope was addressed to Amanda Porter. The sender appeared to go by the name Chatsworth, wrote in an elegant hand and hailed from New York City. If Amanda was an orphan, who would write to her from New York? Someone from the orphanage?
He flipped the envelope over again, only to find that it had come completely unglued, exposing the contents. The single sheet of stationery revealed the same elegant hand and a letter dated more than a week ago. But that was not what made his heart stop.
The opening line exploded with anger.
How dare you ask anything of me after the way you seduced my daughter’s fiancé.
He folded the flaps over the words to hide them. He would glue it shut again, but nothing could erase what he’d read and the doubts that wormed their way into his mind.
* * *
All Mrs. Calloway’s efforts that day couldn’t get the stain completely out of the wedding dress.
“I’ve ruined it,” Amanda cried, trying desperately to hold back the tears.
All that work. All the love that had gone into each stitch. One careless moment ruined it all.
“What am I going to do?” she whispered. “There’s not enough time to make a new dress, even if I could get the fabric, which I can’t.”
“Now, dear, don’t you go fretting over this.” Mrs. Calloway shook her head. “The way I see it, we got two choices. We can dye the dress to cover it up, or you can make a flounce to hide it. Do you got enough fabric for that?”
“I—I think so, but Pearl will hate that. She doesn’t like frills of any kind.”
“Then we’ll have to dye it.” Mrs. Calloway blew out her breath. “I got some blue dye in the laundry room.”
“Blue?” Amanda wailed. “For a wedding?”
“Honey, a bride gets married in the best dress she has on hand, no matter the color. It’s only those society types that can afford to fuss about wearing white. Besides, you know as well as I do that Pearl’s going to dye it as soon as she can.”
Amanda let the fabric slip through her fingers. A blue wedding dress. “What will Fiona and Louise think? They’re part of this, too.”
“You leave those girls to me. We’ll get this whole thing settled good as you please.”
Amanda wasn’t so sure about that, but what choice did she have? One way or another she had to cover up the mistake. With a flounce, Pearl would always know it was there, whereas the blue dye might cover the error completely.
“How do we make certain the stain still doesn’t show?”
“We give the whole thing a good dousing in tea first. Then the blue dye.”
Oh, dear. This dress could end up looking worse than horrible. If the first attempt didn’t work, they’d have to go darker and darker until it ended up good for only mourning.
Amanda gulped. “I suppose we have no choice. We’ll make a strong pot of tea.”
Mrs. Calloway shoved the dress back into her arms. “First you gotta finish it. We can’t be having buttons and loops that don’t match the rest of it. And that fabric’ll fray if you don’t finish off the open seams.” She glanced at the clock. “But you’d better hurry off to Mr. Garrett’s house or those children’ll be getting anxious.”
“Oh, dear.” Amanda handed the dress back to Mrs. Calloway. “Can you put it away for me? I wish there was someplace you could hide it so I could work on it late at night. I have a feeling I won’t be sleeping much this week.”
Amanda did not mention the other trial that weighed on her mind. The days were ticking away for her to reach Jacob, and she was no closer to getting to Allegan than before.
“I could put it behind the sofa in the parlor,” Mrs. Calloway suggested. “No one would think to look there, and you’re the only other person here who cleans the room.”
“Won’t it get dirty?”
“Not in this.” Mrs. Calloway patted the laundry bag with the dress safely inside. “You’ll have to get down on your hands and knees to pull it out, though.”
“That’s no problem.” Amanda had spent much time on her knees. Perhaps more of it ought to be in prayer these days. Could God straighten out this mess?
“Good. We’ll do that, then. I’ll tuck it there when the house is empty. For now I’d better put this in my room. I heard the front door. Could you check to see if it’s a new guest and tell them I’ll be right there?”
“Of course.” Amanda took a few deep breaths to calm her scrambled nerves.
She then headed for the front hall, but got only a few steps outside the kitchen when Fiona rushed toward her.
“The mail boat is in,” the redhead exclaimed.
It took a second for Amanda to pull her thoughts from the wedding dress to the importance of this statement.
“Then the boat from upriver will soon follow.”
Fiona beamed. “It’s already here. I hurried back from the hotel as soon as I got word. I know how important this is to you.”
Amanda’s heart raced. This was her chance to travel upriver to find Jacob, but she had no traveling companion and was expected at Garrett’s house. The crushing desire to find her brother warred with the need to take care of the children. What should she do? There was just enough time to tell Garrett so he could arrange for the children to get supper elsewhere, perhaps with Roland or even here at the boardinghouse. Mrs. Calloway would never turn them down. Yes, that would work, if Amanda could find a traveling companion.
“Can you go with me?” she asked breathlessly.
Fiona stared. “Certainly not. I have both a concert to prepare for and my songs for the Christmas service.”
“It will only be a day. You would have the rest of the week to practice.”
Fiona hesitated just long enough that Amanda thought she might agree.
Instead, the redhead fixed her with a curious look. “Does Garrett know that you’re abandoning him?”
After cringing at the bald terminology, Amanda immediately thought of the advantage Fiona would gain. She might use this against Amanda to win over Garrett. The image of Fiona bent close to him, consulting on the backdrop, flashed into her mind and would not leave. Stranding the children and Garrett at the last second would not endear her to him. Pearl insisted the likelihood that this Jake was Amanda’s brother was very slight indeed. Garrett had suggested writing.
“Never mind. Do you know how long the boat will be here?”
Fiona shrugged. “Long enough to load any packages that came in on the mail boat.”
That gave her just enough time to jot a quick note. “Excuse me, please.” Amanda hurried away from the redhead.
“Safe passage,” Fiona called out.
Amanda didn’t have time to correct her. She clattered up the staircase an
d burst into the room that she shared with Pearl. She had a few sheets of stationery left and one envelope. Ordinarily she would have preferred to spend time crafting the perfect letter. There wasn’t time. She could manage only the briefest of inquiries, asking if he had a sister named Amanda. If so, he might inquire for her at the boardinghouse in Singapore. Addressing the envelope was a bit more difficult, since she only had a first name, but she must trust that it would do.
After sealing the envelope, she rushed back downstairs and grabbed her coat. From the front window, she could see a dark column of smoke rising near the river, but could not tell if it belonged to the upriver boat or the mail boat. She had no time to waste. Eschewing a hat and mittens, she ran from the boardinghouse, her coat unbuttoned, and raced along the boardwalk to the docks.
Chapter Seventeen
Amanda reached the Donnie Belle before it left to steam upriver. Though her note was not in the bag of outgoing mail transported aboard, the mate accepted it and promised it would reach its destination in Allegan.
“Everyone knows Aunt Ella’s Rooming House,” he’d said. “I’ll bring it there myself.”
With that assurance, Amanda hurried off to Garrett’s house, where Pearl was waiting anxiously for her arrival.
“Where were you?” her friend asked, even as she pulled on her cloak. “When we arrived and discovered you weren’t here, I decided to wait with the children.”
“I’m sorry. I had something to do at the last moment or I would have gotten here sooner. I hope I didn’t disrupt your plans.”
“This has nothing to do with my plans. You made a commitment.”
The mild rebuke stung. Pearl was right. Amanda had gotten so caught up in troubles that she’d forgotten her duties and the pleasure those duties brought her.
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