Angie's Hope (Valentine Mail Order Bride 7)

by Lorena Dove

  “Never mind, Henry!” Angie said. “Nancy and I can work if we must, and make ourselves useful here, too. You’ll see. Now that we’re all pulling together, your business can’t help but improve.”

  Henry wished he could be as optimistic as Elmer and Angie. They had no idea how much money he had lost on the gold claims, or how much he was indebted to Mr. Adams. If the coal mines didn’t work out, he would lose the house, his business and everything he owned to him. He had only a week to decide on joining the mining strike or not. It was up to Elmer to help him now.

  Chapter Seven

  The next morning, Angie had only a few minutes alone with Elmer before Henry took him to the station.

  “Please do your best for Henry,” Angie pleaded. “If you love me even a little, try,” she said.

  “Angie, I do have love for you. You’ve been such a good friend, and now you are as dear as a sister to me. I feel I owe a family debt to help Henry as if he were my own brother. You’ve been amazing going along with our engagement. From the connections I’ve made through Mr. Adams, and now with this deal to be made with the railroad bosses in New York, I’ll be established in my business much sooner than I thought.”

  “Then you will be able to freely marry,” Angie said. Not wanting him to think it saddened her, she added, “I don’t know when we’ll see each other again, but I’m sure you and Maribelle will be very happy.”

  “I hope you don’t mind, but as soon as I get to New York, I’ll post a letter to you breaking our engagement. I can’t have your mother making arrangements and planning for us to marry as soon as you return. Don’t worry, it will be seen as 100 percent my fault. I’ll be the cad, and you’ll be the virtuous maiden free to entertain new suitors.”

  “If only it were that simple, Elmer,” Angie said. She sighed and held his hands tightly. Now that the scheme would be coming to an end, she feared she would take the brunt of the consequences in the short term, and possibly forever. No man in New York would want to be seen as courting an unwanted woman whose engagement had been broken. They would question what was wrong with her. She had seen it her whole life. It had happened to her mother.

  “I’ll defend you to everyone,” Elmer said, “and sing your praises to the heavens. Everything will be fine, Angie. Good-bye, and thank you for believing in love.” He kissed her cheek. They shared one last long glance, and he was gone.

  Angie watched him drive off and slumped against the door. The pressure of carrying on the ruse of her engagement had worn her out more than she realized. Now able to act freely, she suddenly felt exhausted beyond belief. She climbed the stairs slowly and entered the room she shared with Nancy.

  “Has he gone, then?” Nancy asked. “Oh sister, I’m so sorry you have to be parted from Elmer.”

  “It’s all right, Nancy,” Angie replied. She slowly began taking off her day dress and hung it on a hook in the small closet. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll just rest a bit more. I’m not ready to face the day.”

  “Of course I don’t mind,” Nancy said. “I’d be distraught without my fiancé nearby, too. You just rest, and in a little while, I’ll check on you and see if you feel up to having some tea.”

  “You’re a dear,” Angie said. She was grateful that Nancy so innocently thought Angie was sad to say good-bye to Elmer. In reality, she had never felt more relieved of a burden. She laid her head on the pillow and fell into a peaceful sleep.

  Now that everyone was out of the house or sleeping, Nancy busied herself putting everything in order. It bothered her that Henry had a housekeeper that came only once a week. That was barely enough time to empty the fireplaces, beat the rugs, wash the floors and put away the supplied Henry bought. The house needed a good dusting, and Henry’s desk was a mess. Nancy set about her work, thinking how happily surprised Henry would be to return to a clean house.

  She was dusting in the hall when the post arrived. She heard the click of the brass plate and saw the letters drift down to the rug below. Walking over, she saw there were only two today: One for Henry, from the bank. She placed it on the pile of unopened bank notices she had just stacked. The other was addressed in an odd handwriting. She walked to the window for better light.

  “Miss Angela Simmons!” Nancy said out loud. “With a return address of Kansas City? Who could be writing to Angie from here?” She slipped the letter in her pocket and started to run upstairs. Stopping herself, she instead went to the kitchen to make tea for Angie. She would bring her the letter with her breakfast.

  Angie was awake and dressed when Nancy came in with her breakfast tray. “I was just coming down to you,” she said. “Come; let’s eat in the kitchen while the sun is still in the back of the house.”

  The girls went downstairs together, and Angie made a special effort to praise Nancy for her thoughtfulness and industriousness to clean the house for Henry. They ate together in the kitchen and planned to go back to the park Henry had taken them to. It was full of young people out walking, and there was a pretty café one a street nearby where they could stop later for lunch.

  They stood to clean up the dishes, and the letter fell out of Nancy’s pocket to the floor.

  “Oh, I almost forgot! This came for you today,” Nancy said, setting the letter down on the table.

  Angie froze with excitement. Her cheeks flushed and her heart began to beat faster. A letter! It must be from him. Cal Jones.

  “Who is it from, Angie?” Nancy said over her shoulder as she worked at the sink.

  Angie had picked it up and was inspecting the handwriting, looking for any clues to the man’s character or personality who had sent it. “It’s from—from an old friend of mine, I think,” Angie said. She hadn’t planned on anyone knowing she had received this letter and had no cover story at all to offer.

  Suddenly, she could stand the lies no more. “Nancy, it’s from a man I wrote to before I left New York. I got his name from The Matrimonial Times.”

  Nancy whirled around to face her sister. “What? And you, engaged? Angie, how could you?”

  “I’m not engaged, Nancy. It was all a lie. Neither Elmer nor I are in love with each other. Very good friends, yes, but not in love.”

  “How could you know that?” Nancy asked. “Many people only feel the slightest warmth towards each other before marriage, but slowly you learn to love each other!” Nancy repeated the words she often heard her mother say, though she had no idea herself if it worked out that way.

  Angie’s shoulders slumped. Maybe she shouldn’t have blurted out her secret so bluntly, but after her few hours of peace since Elmer left, she couldn’t bear to continue keeping the lie to herself. Not when she and Nancy were so far from home. Nancy couldn’t tell any of their friends or family if she wanted to, at least, not until Elmer would have already broken up with her.

  “I’ll tell you everything, but you must promise to keep it between us for now—if not for always. I’m not proud of lying to mother, father and you all, but I did it for the best of reasons. For love.”

  “But I thought you said you and Elmer didn’t love each other?”

  “We don’t, at least not the forever love that I want to feel for the man I marry. Nancy, I promise I’ll tell you everything, if you’ll just—“Angie looked down at the letter in her hands.

  “If I just leave you alone to read your letter?” Nancy was smiling. Angie let out her breath.

  “I really just want to see what he has to say.”

  “I’ll be in the parlor then, reading my magazines,” Nancy said. “But if you’re not in there in 10 minutes to tell me everything, I can’t promise I’ll keep your secret.”

  Angie looked up in surprise, only to see by the look on Nancy’s face that she was teasing. Nancy glanced very hard at the letter Angie held in her hands, and left her alone in the kitchen.

  ~*~*~*~

  Dear Miss Simmons:

  Angela, may I call you Angie? I hope so, since that is how you signed your letter. I was glad to recei
ve it and in truth surprised that a woman of your spirit is not otherwise engaged already. But I am glad to know you will be in Kansas City. I am currently employed in a town to the southwest, but will be working in the city proper in the near future.

  If this letter finds you well when you arrive, and if you agree, I’d like to meet in a public place so we can begin a conversation. From what you wrote, I would like to know more about you.

  I can’t promise you wealth or riches, but I do offer adventure, laughter and I hope, for the right woman, love. I’ve not been inclined to court or marry so far in my life, but my friends seem to think it’s a good thing to do. I hope saying that does not brand me unromantic, but I believe in honesty as much as you do.

  Thank you also for the tintype. I have none to offer you, but I cherish what you have sent me.

  If this letter is agreeable, let us meet one day in the café by the park on Godwin’s St. You will know me as the man holding a tintype of a beautiful woman in his hand.

  Yours sincerely,

  Cal Jones

  Angie read the letter over three times, taking in the words and the amazing coincidence that he would ask to meet her in the park she and Nancy were going to.

  “Nancy, I’m ready to tell you now!” Angie said, pushing through the swinging door of the kitchen. “Nancy! You’ll never believe this!”

  “Believe what?” Henry said. He stood in the hall, having just returned from the station. He saw Nancy waiting in the parlor and a look of irritation crossed his face. “Why don’t you girls take a walk to the park? I’ve got work to do and all this chatter is just a distraction to me.”

  Angie laughed out loud. “Come on, Nancy. You heard our brother. Get your shawl quickly!”

  Nancy hurried to follow Angie, who was already half-way out the door.

  Nancy could hardly keep up as Angie walked quickly down the sidewalk. “So tell me, you said you would tell me everything,” she gasped.

  “Well, Elmer and I were only pretending to be engaged. His mother had her heart set on it as much as ours. As long as he was living in their home, he hadn’t the power to cross her. But he was really in love with someone else, someone he met at school.”

  “Oh, how romantic!” Nancy said. “And you didn’t mind?”

  “No, I didn’t mind. I am fond of Elmer, but I realized within an hour that I didn’t love him. I suppose I could have learned to love him, but since he was already in love with someone else, it didn’t seem like something I should aspire to.

  “He asked me a favor, to pretend to be engaged long enough for him to improve his business. Once he was standing on his own two feet, he knew he could marry whomever he wished. He would take some consequences from his family, but he could withstand those until they saw how happy he was and relented.”

  “But Angie, you told mother and father a lie! And me—and Henry!” Nancy was shocked.

  “I know, and I’m sorry. It was dreadful, and the stress of it has convinced me never to carry such a burden again. The truth is so much easier to defend.”

  They had reached the edge of the park and were both out of breath. They sat on a bench. Angie had never felt so excited, but at the same time, did not want to be red-faced and puffing the first time she met Cal Jones.

  If he was there.

  Chapter 8

  Try as they might to locate him, Cal Jones, or any man holding a tintype in his hand, was not at the café nor anywhere near the park.

  Angie and Nancy grew tired of waiting. Angie felt a bit foolish, and worse for bringing Nancy along to see her hopes dashed. But Nancy was certain, after reading Cal’s letter, that one day he would be there.

  “It’s easy enough to take a walk,” Nancy said as they returned home arm in arm. “We can walk to the park every day. The exercise will do us good.”

  “Yes, for the exercise!” Angie laughed.

  Their mood quickly changed when they reached the house. Henry was nervous, impatient, and upset. He complained over every thought of spending money, and he walked the house at night, not sleeping.

  Worse still, Mr. Adams came nearly every day and met with Henry in the parlor. Even through the closed doors, the girls could tell the railroad negotiations were not going well. Mr. Adams was pressuring Henry about something that he did not want to do. Every day, Mr. Adams left in a bigger huff than the day before.

  On the third day, Nancy was feeling ill. She was sensitive to the pressure Henry was under, and the stress of trying not to irritate him had worn her out. Angie brought tea to her in their room and they talked quietly.

  “Do you mind very much if I don’t go on our walk today?” Nancy asked. I think with a little more rest I’ll feel like myself. With the yelling every day in the parlor and Henry walking the floors of the house all night, I feel a nervous wreck.”

  “It’s best if you stay home,” Angie said. “Don’t worry. Soon we will have news from Elmer, and I hope Henry’s problems will ease.”

  Angie kissed Nancy on the forehead and quietly left the room. She felt guilty leaving her sister behind, but Nancy wanted her to go to the park to find her Cal Jones, if he was there. They both had become caught up in the hope of him.

  By now the walk to the park was familiar. She enjoyed smiling at the merchants she passed who were out sweeping their doorsteps or changing their signs. The park itself was beautiful even in February, and the sun warmed her though the temperatures were not yet spring-like.

  Angie walked slowly to not attract attention. She did not want Henry getting word from someone that his sister seemed to have some purpose in mind on her daily walks. For all Henry knew, she was still engaged to Elmer, and she had to act accordingly.

  She went to the café as she had the two days before. A few customers were there and Angie took a small table near the window. She wanted to look outside, and she wanted to be visible and act as if she were meeting a friend.

  As she looked out the window, her back was turned to a man at the counter. He had been sitting there but hidden by a waiter placing an order when she came in. Cal Jones looked up from the tintype in his hand, and scrutinized what he could see of the side view of the woman at the window table.

  The door opened and Angie turned her head toward it. Cal could see that it was her. Suddenly, he didn’t know what to say or do. The woman on the tintype, worn now from his carrying it, was sitting not a few feet from him. She was alone, but he had no idea how long she would stay. He had to make a move.

  Coming up from behind, Cal gently cleared his throat.

  “Angela.”

  He stood looking down at her upturned face. He knew it was she.

  “Mr. Jones?” Angie couldn’t believe he had come. She looked at his hand and saw the tintype she had sent him. He turned it toward her and she blushed when she recognized it.

  “May I sit down?” Cal said. Angie nodded.

  Sitting across the table, she looked directly at him. She was too far away from home, and too deep into her plan to be coy. It wasn’t in her nature, and it certainly didn’t apply to a situation where she was meeting a strange man, unaccompanied.

  His brown wavy hair was combed back from his forehead on the right side, and jutted out a bit wildly from the left side’s cowlick. He had a straight, strong nose, a day’s stubble on his face, and green eyes that pierced hers as they gazed into them.

  His clothes were worn but clean, and he smelled like wood shavings and rum. It was a soft scent that drifted over her and she breathed in the air that surrounded them.

  “Hello, I’m Angie Simmons,” she said.

  “Cal Jones. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Angie.”

  He had memorized her face from the tintype, but it was even more pleasurable to look at in person. Though younger than he, he could tell by her eyes that she was wise beyond her years, and it made him a bit nervous. Intelligent, not smart in the affected way some women had of lording casual knowledge over those around them. Her hair was down, clipped back at her temples, a
nd he loved it even more than the soft bun she wore in the tintype.

  He placed his hands face up on the table and to his surprise, she put hers in them. Her skin was soft and warm, and her hands, though not rough, had seen some work.

  “I’m happy to meet you, too,” Angie said.

  Cal ordered coffee for them both. Angie was used to drinking tea, but coffee seemed right for the bracing occasion she was experiencing. She had never felt such an instant connection with anyone, let alone a man she had never seen before. From his letter, she felt she was privy to information it might have taken several meetings to discover in a more formal setting. Yet here they were. Alone.

  Angie was embarrassed to think what she might have said in her letter. She had written and posted it in such haste, and it seemed like so long ago, that she couldn’t remember exactly what she’d said. Yet Cal’s letter to her, she knew by heart. She felt at a disadvantage somehow. What should she tell him?

  “What brings you to Kansas City?” he asked.

  She was relieved he didn’t ask what made her answer an ad in The Matrimonial Times. It seemed more normal just talking about her brother, her sister, her parents, and her trip. She left out Elmer, for now.

  Cal listened and asked questions, enjoying the sound of her voice and watching her expressions as she talked. He felt like he was talking to an old friend, or his sister when she had been alive. And yet… the feeling coursing through him was nothing like being with a friend, or with a stranger either. His guard was down, he was listening, and he liked it.

  “And so I decided to write to you,” Angie said. This was it. Time to tell him about her false engagement. She had slipped off Elmer’s ring each day when she left the house, and put it back on when she returned. “You see, I got engaged…”

  Cal stiffened a bit at the word. He didn’t realize it, but his mind had already flashed forward to thoughts of spending more time with Angie. And now she was telling him it was too late. She was engaged.