A Shelter of Hope

by Tracie Peterson

  Rachel came forward with a large hatbox. “We all pitched in and thought you should have this.”

  Simone looked to Jeffery, who just shrugged his shoulders and moved away to allow her to take hold of the package.

  “We know you might not need it today, but I have a feeling it won’t be so very long until you will need it,” Rachel added.

  Simone took the box and allowed herself to be led to the table where a beautiful two-tiered birthday cake awaited her.

  “Happy Birthday, Simone,” said Henri with great gusto. His English had improved much over the months he’d been under Fred Harvey’s employment.

  “Oh, Henri, what a creation,” Simone replied in French. She loved the sound of her mother’s tongue. The way the words seemed to come forth almost in song. “I feel so honored that you would go to so much trouble.” She touched her free hand to a pale pink icing rose.

  “Only the best for my dear friend,” he replied.

  “Now sit down and open your gift,” Rachel commanded.

  Simone took her gaze from the white-haired Henri and looked back to the expectant expressions of her fellow workers. “I’ve never had a birthday party.”

  “This shall be the first of many,” Jeffery declared, pulling an envelope from his pocket. “Here, I believe I owe you this.”

  Simone looked up. “Owe me what?”

  “Just look inside,” he said, laughing. “You’ll understand.”

  Simone opened the envelope and counted out seventeen dollars and fifty cents. She smiled, nodding. “I had nearly forgotten.”

  “It’s the results of our bet,” Jeffery told Rachel and the other girls. “I told her I bet she couldn’t stay single for the duration of her contract with Mr. Harvey.” He put his hands to his chest in a melodramatic manner. “But, alas, she has proven me wrong and taken my last dime.” The girls giggled, and even Henri snorted a laugh.

  “The day that seventeen dollars and fifty cents takes Mr. O’Donnell to his last dime will be the day pigs fly,” Rachel said.

  “Well, my good woman, that is where you are wrong. I have this day given up my position with the Harvey office in Chicago and it is my intention to take over the running of the purchasing and shipping offices for the Santa Fe Railroad in New Mexico. Leastwise, in the town of Morita, where Mr. Harvey’s newest and finest resort hotel will feature our own Miss Taylor as house manager.”

  “Rachel! Why didn’t you tell us?” the girls all clamored in unison.

  Rachel looked at Jeffery and Simone in stunned surprise. “I suppose because I didn’t know about it. Is this true?”

  “It is. You’ve been approved to become a house manager. Not an easy feat for any man, let alone any woman. But I told Mr. Harvey you were more than capable of dealing with the responsibility, and we both agreed it would be impossible to find a more trustworthy person for the position.”

  “I … don’t know what to say,” Rachel replied. “Me, a house manager? And for a resort the size of Morita!”

  “You’ll be perfect for it,” Simone said, putting aside Jeffery’s envelope of money and the hatbox. She came to take hold of Rachel’s hands. “I only hope you will hire me on as one of your staff members.”

  “Of course! Oh, my dear, I wouldn’t even want to consider going if you weren’t going to be nearby.”

  “It’s my hope she’ll be nearby for both of us,” Jeffery replied.

  Simone threw him what she hoped was a loving look of affirmation. She loved him more every day, although she had no idea how it was possible. “I’ll be there for you both. You can count on me for that.”

  “Open your present,” Bethel exclaimed. “Open it now, or I shall start crying at the thought of you both going away.”

  Simone nodded and, after giving Rachel’s hands a squeeze, went back to the table where she’d left her hatbox. Opening the lid, she gasped at the sight of the wedding veil inside. Lifting it tenderly from the box, Simone could only stare in appreciation of the white Brussels lace and netting.

  “It’s exquisite,” she finally managed to say. The lump in her throat refused to be swallowed down, and looking up, she met Jeffery’s eyes and the unspoken question that came from their depths. He had been so very patient with her and now seemed the perfect moment to honor his loving care. Smiling, she looked back to Rachel and the girls. “I’m sure I’ll be needing this very soon.”

  The girls cheered and Rachel moved forward to hug Simone in a motherly fashion. “Oh, Simone, I’m so happy for you.”

  Simone looked over Rachel’s shoulder to where Jeffery stood with a smug expression of contentment upon his face. He raised a questioning brow but never said a word.

  The party passed all too quickly and soon the dining room was once again converted back into the Harvey dining hall. Simone took her things back to her room, including a big piece of birthday cake that Henri had insisted she keep for later. She had the rest of the day off, and Jeffery had promised to take her to a fine restaurant before escorting her to her very first opera at the Grand Opera House.

  She dressed carefully for the evening in her very first store-bought gown of burgundy crepe de chine. This was Jeffery’s birthday gift to her, and he’d brought it all the way from Chicago. She had thought to refuse such a personal gift, but Rachel quickly assured her that under the circumstances, Jeffery would no doubt soon be buying all of her clothes.

  Glancing at her reflection in the mirror, Simone paused a moment to look for any flaw. She appeared quite grown-up and fashionable, something she’d never thought to see herself as. The material was icy and smooth against her skin, and Simone reveled in an opulence she’d never before known.

  Seeing by the clock that Jeffery would soon begin to worry about her, Simone quickly pulled on gloves and found the small beaded purse that Rachel had lent her. With one final glance in the mirror, Simone lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. Tonight she would accept Jeffery’s proposal of marriage. There was now no doubt about it, and for the first time since he’d mentioned the idea, Simone felt at peace. She longed to become his wife and felt that with Zack Matthews’ brief missive explaining her father’s incarceration in a Wyoming prison, the past was now firmly behind her.

  She left the room and found Jeffery waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. The sharp intake of his breath gave her little doubt that he approved of her appearance. His expression of complete adoration and unspoken love made Simone feel flushed and warm.

  “You, my dear Simone, are a vision to behold,” Jeffery said, taking her hand in his.

  “I hardly feel at all like myself,” she confided.

  “Well, you are just as you should be. Stunningly beautiful.” He ushered her through the dining room, where the other Harvey Girls gave her their hearty approval.

  “You look divine!” Bethel proclaimed.

  “I’ve never seen a gown like that,” another declared. “I suppose Chicago has all manner of mysteries I might not ever know.”

  The girls laughed and teased each other, wondering aloud if Jeffery had any brothers or friends he might send their way. Rachel finally appeared, issued her own approval, then hustled the girls back to their stations so that Simone and Jeffery might be free to go.

  “I thought we might never be alone,” Jeffery whispered in Simone’s ear just before handing her up into his awaiting carriage.

  Simone shivered as she took her seat on the rich leather upholstery. Jeffery signaled the driver, then joined her inside the covered carriage, taking great pleasure in positioning himself at her side.

  “And now it is just as it should be. You are here with me, and there is no one else in the entire world but us.”

  Simone swallowed the lump in her throat. She felt a trembling begin in her toes that worked its way up her body. Somehow things had changed between them. With her very public announcement that she would soon be married, Jeffery seemed more handsome, his shoulders more broad, his eyes more penetrating.

  He put
his arm around her and pulled her close. “I have something else to give to you. I had prayed that you might accept it tonight, and now, well …” He fell silent, but with his free hand he produced a shimmering ring of sapphires and gold.

  “Oh my,” Simone barely whispered. She looked at him, hoping his expression would reassure her.

  Jeffery smiled as if reading her mind. “I love you, Simone. Please do me the honor of being my wife. Please tell me that the waiting is over.”

  Simone glanced down at the ring, then removed her glove and extended her hand. “The waiting is over,” she assured him.

  Slipping the ring on her finger, Jeffery clasped her fingers in his hand and pulled her closer. “Let’s just skip the opera and dinner and find a preacher.”

  Simone giggled. “I don’t think the Harvey Girls would understand. They are very much looking forward to making our wedding quite the affair of the year.”

  Jeffery rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You lied. You said the waiting was over.”

  Simone leaned forward, her lips only a breath away from his. “I’m sure they could plan something rather quickly. After all, Fred Harvey prides himself on the fact that his girls are quick and efficient.”

  “So true,” Jeffery whispered, pressing a light kiss upon her lips.

  Simone sighed and put her arms around his neck. “According to Rachel,” she told him, “this is very scandalous behavior for an unchaperoned young woman.”

  “If Mr. Harvey saw you, you would be fired for such a public display.”

  Simone grinned. “Good old Mr. Harvey. I suppose we have him to thank for our coming together.”

  “Him and God,” Jeffery replied.

  Laughter filled the carriage, and Simone nestled herself against her intended. Her life felt transformed from the despair of her childhood. She thought back to her cabin home in the Wyoming mountains. Only a year before, she had thought nothing good could ever come to her. Only a year before, she had given up on life, keeping her heart carefully protected from any harm. But God had worked a miracle. He had given her a shelter of hope. He had taken the despair from her heart and left love and joy in its place.

  NOTE TO THE READER

  Fred Harvey’s line of restaurants was famous throughout the nation from the late 1870s and well into the twentieth century. The locations varied along the Santa Fe Rail line, and a few examples of the restaurants, hotels, and resorts are still in existence to this day.

  I have taken liberty with the description of the Topeka Harvey House in order to better fit my story. The description used in this book with the dining room on the ground floor and the girls’ dormitories on the second floor was a typical arrangement in many of the Harvey Houses, but in 1890s Topeka, the restaurant was in fact on the second floor of the depot. Very little has been recorded of this, the first of the Harvey Houses, but it was the start of a very successful career for Fred Harvey.

  I would also like to add that the managing personnel for the Harvey Houses have been completely fictionalized for all locations, with the exception to references about Fred Harvey. Also, the location of Morita, mentioned toward the end of the book, is a fictional town and resort.

  As in any work of fiction, names and places, people and events have been created to serve the purpose of the story. However, I have worked hard to keep the details as close as possible to the actual historical accounts of the times.

  Tracie Peterson