* * *
Abby’s chest constricted with not only love, but with heartbreak. These sweet boys loved her. And she loved them, too. Oh, if only she could have children. Then perhaps she could win Harrison’s heart and not only would these precious boys be hers, but Harrison would be, as well.
But it was all just wishful thinking. She sighed.
No man wanted a woman who couldn’t bear children. David was right. Harrison’s earlier words were proof of that fact. Just moments ago, he’d mentioned how everyone should have children of their own and how much joy and love and happiness they brought.
At one time she actually thought adoption might be the answer, but even that was out. She was not mother material. The boys’ disappearance because of what she’d said had proven that.
Despite all of those things, she made up her mind she would enjoy Josiah and Graham while she could.
“Well, we need to go.” Fletcher’s attention slid between Harrison and his sons, then ended on Abby. “Hope you didn’t mind, but Julie wanted to show you the coins she got.”
“Of course I don’t mind. I’m thrilled that she did. What are you going to spend your coins on, Julie?”
“A new dolly.”
“Have you already picked one out?”
“Yes, ma’am.” She nodded. “Over there at that booth.” She pointed to a stand yards away from them that had three shelves of porcelain, cloth and crocheted dolls, each wearing bright clothes and hats. “Papa’s taking me there now. Aren’t you, Papa?”
“I sure am, precious.” Fletcher looked at Abby. His gaze lingered for a moment, and Abby thought it strange. “Now, if you all will excuse us, we have a doll to purchase.” Fletcher reached for his daughter’s hand and they walked away.
Abby turned her attention onto Josiah and Graham. “What are you boys going to buy with your pennies?”
“Toys!” Graham blurted.
“Candy!” Josiah blurted louder.
“Would you like to get them now?” Harrison asked, standing across from Abby.
“Uh-huh. Then we wanna race.” Josiah bobbed his head.
Abby smiled as the boys led her and Harrison over to the candy and toy booths. Harrison was on one end, she on the other, and the boys were in between them. Like a real family. For today only, just this one last time, she would pretend they were.
After the boys bought a bag of jelly beans, which Harrison insisted they give to him to dole out, they each purchased a wooden sword. Abby cringed, wondering if they would hurt themselves with the toys that looked a bit too real for her peace of mind.
“Time for the sack races, folks.” Mayor Prinker’s voice rose above the crowd. With that loud, boisterous voice of his, he didn’t need the speaking trumpet he held. “If you will make your way to the roped-off area, we can get started.”
“Miss Abby, you wanna watch me and Siah race in one of those sacks?” Graham pointed to the pile of gunny sacks near the area where the races would take place.
“I would love to. Lead the way, boys.”
Harrison fell into step alongside them. Near the starting line, Zoé came up to them and asked if she could take the boys and sign them up.
Harrison agreed, and off they went. He leaned close to Abby’s ear and whispered, “How about you and I run this race together?” Abby ignored the tickling sensation his breath caused in her ear, and she had a feeling his words had a double meaning.
Her mind took a turn back to the past and to another sack race. One in which her sister, Leah, and Jake had run together and the two of them had ended up married.
Nothing like that would happen to her and Harrison. A gal could always dream, though, couldn’t she? Wait, wasn’t it her dreams that had gotten her heart into trouble in the first place? Even now the thing was yanking her back and forth. Only a short time ago she’d decided to stop the dead-end dreams. Was she that fickle minded that she was so willing to pick them up again?
She sighed. Yes, she was, at least where Harrison was concerned. For now, she was going to have some fun. She’d deal with the consequences of her choice later. “I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.” She flashed him her brightest smile, and in return he offered her one, too, only his was escorted by a wink. A wink! One that turned her legs into the texture of warm molasses.
“Miss Abigail. Mr. Kingsley.” Mayor Prinker disrupted Abby and Harrison’s sweet moment. He and Harrison shook hands.
Abby wanted him to go away, to ignore him, but she wouldn’t be rude no matter how much she disliked the man. She plastered on a smile. “Mayor Prinker.” She refused to lie by saying how nice it was to see him again, so instead she went with the only other comment that entered her mind. “How are you enjoying this fine, sunshiny day?”
“Quite well. And you?”
“Very well. Thank you.”
“Good, good. How is the Royal Grand Theater coming along?”
Did he really want to know or was he just making conversation? “Extremely well, sir. You must come and see it someday soon.” Now why had she gone and invited him to do that? She wanted to snatch the words back and then slap herself silly for even voicing such an invitation.
“I already planned on it.” He rubbed his meaty fingers over his bulbous red nose and chin. “In fact, the committee and I planned on paying you a visit Tuesday next. We will be there promptly at nine o’clock.”
Abby’s teeth ached from bearing down so hard on them. What nerve the man had. He hadn’t even asked if they could come barging in on her; instead, he told her they were. Sure, she had invited him, but they had planned on coming before she even offered the invitation.
Harrison’s hand nudged lightly against her skirt, and she gazed up at him. That same look of understanding passed between them. It meant hold your tongue and let me handle it. “We would love for you to come.”
That’s how he handled it? Speak for yourself, Abby thought.
“And now if you will excuse us, Mayor Prinker, Miss Abby and I are going to enter the sack race.”
The mayor’s bushy eyebrows pulled together. “You and Miss Abby are going to race? Together? As in the same sack?”
Was the man deaf?
“Highly improper, Mr. Kingsley. You need to reconsider that. How would it look to the people of this town?”
Oh. Oh. Just let me at him, she pleaded silently with Harrison. She didn’t care what the people of this town thought. Who were they to tell her who she could and couldn’t run in a sack race with? Harrison’s approval or not, she refused to remain quiet. “Excuse me, Mayor Prinker, but I see nothing wrong with it. Back home it is done all the time and no one thinks anything of it.”
“That may be deemed acceptable back where you are from, but it isn’t here. I must say, if you think that is acceptable, then I have to wonder if your theater will be as acceptable as you have tried to assure me it will be.”
The veins in Abby’s neck expanded. Her anger rose to the surface and she was about to spew out a piece of her mind in the mayor’s direction, when again, Harrison’s hand nudged her skirt. He just better be glad she respected him enough to refrain from letting the mayor have it because right now she didn’t care what the pompous windbag thought of her. But she didn’t want him to think ill of Harrison, so she mentally pulled all the willpower she could muster to collect herself together.
“Mr. Prinker, if you feel this is not acceptable, then we will respect that and forgo running the sack race.”
What! Abby yanked her gaze toward Harrison. Whose side was he on, anyway?
Harrison again sent her that silent, knowing look to let him handle things. She was growing to resent that look. It meant she would once again refrain from lashing out, and she really wanted to let the pudgy little crook have it.
“Miss Abby and I are certain that once you see the Royal Grand Theater your mind will be at ease. We know how important it is to you and the committee to maintain this fine town’s reputation and image, and we respect th
at.”
We do? What was Harrison doing? By now she was starting to doubt his ability to settle this matter at all. His handling of it was scratching down her last nerve.
“When you arrive next Tuesday, if there is anything you see that you do not agree with, we will be more than happy to deal with it.”
What! What was Harrison saying? Had he gone daft or something? She wasn’t going to change anything for those stuffy, old grouches.
Mr. Prinker’s brows settled back into place. He grabbed the lapels of his dark gray suit jacket and puffed out his already inflated chest. “Very well, Mr. Kingsley.” He smiled.
The man had actually smiled. Abby couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe this whole nightmarish scene, actually.
“We will see you on Tuesday next, then.” Mr. Prinker shook Harrison’s hand and tipped his hat at her.
She wanted to yank his chapeau from his meaty hand and whack him with it. Harrison might be calm about this whole thing, but she wasn’t. Her insides were stewing. And not just at the mayor but at Harrison, too.
When Mayor Prinker was out of hearing distance, Abby faced Harrison and shot him her worst and fiercest glare. “What were you thinking?” she ground out, trying hard to keep her voice down, but not her anger and frustration. “How dare you! I’m not changing anything for that man.”
Harrison glanced over her head to where the boys were standing in line with Zoé. He grabbed her hand and led her several yards away from the crowd. “Calm down, Abby. I’ve dealt with his kind before. You have to flatter them or they can make your life miserable. Don’t you see the man can shut you down? Then all the money and hard work you have put into the place will be for nothing. I don’t want that to happen. I want to see your business succeed, and I’m going to do everything in my power to see that it does, even if it means doing something as humbling as sweet-talking the mayor.”
Talk about humbling. The man was doing this for her. And as usual, he was being rational while she was operating out of her emotions. Right then, her anger went from blazing logs to a pile of smoldering ashes. She drew in a long breath and was about to partake of a huge slice of humble pie. “You’re right. Thank you, Harrison. And thank you for caring about my business. However—” she held up a finger “—I’m still not changing anything for that man.”
“You won’t have to. We’ll just let him think we’re willing to. That’s all the man wants. He wants to be in control. And if he thinks he is, he’ll act as if it was his idea to approve things.”
“But what if he doesn’t?”
“He’ll love it. Trust me.”
* * *
The following Tuesday, July eleventh, Harrison waited in Abby’s parlor with her. Over the past week, they had worked night and day preparing the place for the town committee’s arrival.
Despite how tired they were, Abby managed to look refreshed. Instead of the casual attire the little beauty normally wore around the mansion, today she had on an off-white bustle gown sprinkled with forest-green, long-stemmed roses with a ring of forest-green garden flowers six inches from the bottom of her skirt. Dainty red roses and lace lined the modest neckline, the short puffy sleeves and the gathered material at her side. Even her hat matched.
Harrison understood why she had dressed so elegantly. Mayor Prinker and the committee members would be arriving any minute. Harrison couldn’t wait to see their faces when they saw just how elegant the theater, dining area and really the whole house actually was. The extra men Fletcher had hired were making great progress. In fact, things were progressing more quickly than Harrison had imagined. To be honest, there were still some kinks that needed to be worked out, but if things kept going the way they were, the grand opening would be much sooner than scheduled.
“The fireworks display was beautiful, don’t you think? There’s nothing more lovely than seeing those glittering waterfalls and sparkling colored lights exploding against the pitch darkness.”
Oh, but there was something more beautiful. And she was sitting next to him.
Abby turned toward him until her knees were almost touching his. “They probably weren’t that great to you considering you come from the big city. The fireworks are probably much grander there, I imagine.”
“They are. But I enjoyed the Hot Mineral Springs display much better. And it had nothing to do with the fireworks.”
“Oh?” Her dainty brows met in the middle of her pretty face. “What do you mean?”
“Mademoiselle, I am sorry to interrupt you.” Colette breezed into the room. “Mayor Prinker and the town committee members are here to see you. I saw them into the formal parlor as you instructed me to.”
“Wonderful. Thank you, Colette.” She stood and quickly ran her hands down the front of her dress, tucked a blond curl that had escaped from her chignon back into place and straightened her hat.
“You look fine, Abby. No, make that beautiful.”
Abby’s gaze shot to his. “Beau-beautiful? Th-thank you,” she stuttered while blinking those smiling eyes of hers. Quick as a flash, she squared her shoulders and scurried toward the door.
Harrison caught up with her, wishing they wouldn’t have been disrupted. He wanted to tell her how much he’d been enjoying his time with her and how special it had been. He really wanted to tell her how he felt about her, but until he knew how she felt about him, he wouldn’t. Besides, now wasn’t the right time for that discussion. There would be time later to tell her. Right now, they needed to make a good impression on the mayor.
“Would you please welcome them, Harrison? My mother taught me to welcome people into my home, but I would feel so phony welcoming those people who have made my life miserable.”
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it. I’ll take care of it. You just relax and smile. Can you do that?”
“Like this?” She smiled cheekily at him.
“No, Abby. A genuine smile.”
“I know. I know. I was just being silly.”
They stepped into the expansive parlor. The men stood.
“Good morning, gentlemen. So glad you could come. Would you care for something to drink before we show you around?”
“No, thank you, Mr. Kingsley. We have a meeting to attend in twenty minutes, so we would just like you to take us on a tour. That is, if you wouldn’t mind.”
Harrison was surprised the mayor had added the last part. His sweet-talking had softened the man.
“Good morning, Miss Bowen. I hope you are well.” Mayor Prinker’s smile appeared to be genuine, which is more than he could say for Abby’s.
Harrison nudged her, hoping she would get the message to be nice.
“Good morning, Mayor. I am very well, thank you.” She gave a nod to each of the committee members. “Gentlemen, good morning.”
Harrison was proud of her. She was doing very well considering how much she loathed these men.
“Shall we go, gentlemen?” She turned her attention to Harrison. “Would you please lead the way, Mr. Kingsley?”
Harrison led them out into the massive hall.
“This doesn’t even look like the same place,” one of the committee members said.
“Sure doesn’t,” another added.
Harrison wondered if Abby heard them. He cut a sideways glance at her and met her fleeting look with a quick wink. They continued on with the tour.
“Those dark blue-and-gold carpet runners up the stairs look very nice, Miss Bowen.” Mayor Prinker shocked Harrison with his compliment, and obviously Abby, too, because her eyebrows spiked before turning into a skeptical frown.
“Thank you, Mayor.” She hadn’t said it like she meant it.
Harrison nudged her again, and she nudged him back, narrowing her eyes at him in the process.
He and Abby led them up the stairs where the shield-back-style Chippendale chairs with gold, padded seats and matching Chippendale tables were situated. Kerosene lamps with white globes with dainty blue flowers on them and gold fili
greed stands centered each white tablecloth with a blue, lace tablecloth over it.
Harrison studied the men’s faces. Each appeared very pleased, nodding and smiling.
“Very nice.” Mayor Prinker’s jowls wiggled as he nodded. “So far what we’ve seen, you’ve done a spectacular job, Miss Bowen, of making this an elegant establishment.”
“Thank you.”
Harrison knew how hard it was for her to say that a second time. “Shall we go to the theater now, gentlemen?” Harrison motioned them toward the stairs.
He and Abby followed the small group of eight men.
Walking along her left side, Abby placed her fingers along the right side of her mouth and for his ears only said, “I can’t believe the mayor actually paid me a compliment. Not just one, but two. I didn’t know the man had it in him.”
Harrison chuckled.
The mayor stopped and gazed up at them. “What’s so funny, Mr. Kingsley.”
“Nothing you would find interesting.”
The mayor seemed satisfied with his answer. Everyone made their way to the theater. When they stepped inside, gasps emitted from the committee members and the mayor.
Rows upon rows of royal-blue chairs filled the audience section. Carpet runners patterned with several shades of blues and grays lined the two aisles. Filigreed gold lamps, like the ones in the dining room, lined the stark-white walls. Various pictures hung on the walls, and heavy light blue drapes with navy swags graced all twelve of the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The completed, polished wood stage sparkled. A dark blue curtain hung off to the side, ready to be pulled shut during curtain calls or change of scenes, and the front of the stage had a light blue swag curtain draped across the front. Abby had done an amazing job. Even in Boston there wasn’t anything this grand.
When they said nothing for several moments, Abby gazed up at him. Her mouth cringed, and she raised a shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Abby. They love it. Just look at their faces.”
Debra Ullrick Page 19