by Bess McBride
Matthew snorted. Foolish notions. He was not often given to flights of the imagination, priding himself on being a practical man, but the mystery of Miss Reed tested the boundaries of pragmatism. In short, she was an enigma, and he was determined to solve the puzzle.
Following two hours of pacing and ruminating, Matthew presented himself at Miss Reed’s door. The food had already been delivered, and he bent to pick up the tray, thinking himself fortunate to have found another skill as a waiter should his businesses fail and his family fortune vanish in some unprecedented disaster.
He balanced the tray in one hand and knocked on her door with the other.
“Matthew?” she asked in a low voice.
“Yes, bearing food.”
She opened the door and stood back to let him in. Her cheeks glowed, and he suspected that she blushed. Of course, it was quite irregular for him to dine in her room, but it was her wish, and he did not blame her for needing privacy after her ordeal of the past few weeks. The encounter only hours ago with Mrs. Feeney served only to add more turmoil to an already difficult situation. He wished them well away from Kalispell.
He set the tray down on the desk as before. Several lamps had been lit to ward off the darkness that had now descended.
“Were you able to rest?” he asked.
“Yes, I slept a little,” she said, raising a hand to smooth her hair, which did appear to have a tousled look about it. Under the lamplight, her hair glowed with a reddish-brown tint.
He pulled the chair out from the desk for her, and she sat. He took the other available chair.
“I have asked Gerry to book train fare to Seattle tomorrow. If I remember correctly, the train will leave at eleven in the morning.”
Miss Reed looked up quickly.
“I’ll have to see Walter again, won’t I?” she said. “He was so disappointed in me. I let him down.”
“I think it is largely unavoidable,” Matthew said. “I can certainly present our tickets, and perhaps he will be too preoccupied with other passengers to take notice of you, but you do run the risk of being seen.”
She sighed heavily and toyed with her food. He berated himself for raising a subject that undermined her appetite. She looked frail.
“It’s just as well. I need to apologize to him,” she said.
Matthew knew a moment’s pride in her. He too would have sought to make amends to someone he had wronged, however much in need he might have been.
“I should probably apologize to Mrs. Feeney before I go,” she added. “Maybe I can stop by her house in the morning and see her.”
Matthew stiffened. No, perhaps he would not have made amends to just anyone.
“While I commend your desire to make amends to the station agent, I do not think it is wise to visit Mrs. Feeney, Miss Reed. I think that will do you more harm than good.”
“She does seem to hold a grudge, doesn’t she?” Miss Reed stated. “I would take it back if I could, not stolen the clothing, but I thought my...uh...long johns would shock a few people. I don’t know what I was thinking at the time, but I thought the luggage was abandoned. I don’t know why I thought that.”
“It is done,” Matthew said, “and cannot be undone. Mrs. Feeney has been handsomely compensated. Please do not distress yourself further on her account.”
Miss Reed nodded but continued to toy with her food.
“Please eat, Miss Reed. You must regain your strength. The change in your appearance over the past two weeks is dramatic.”
She glanced up quickly, raising a hand to pat her hair.
“What do you mean?”
Matthew’s face flamed. One did not normally comment on a woman’s appearance other than to compliment her.
“You have lost too much weight,” he said quietly. “You look as if a strong breeze might topple you over.”
“Oh!” she said with a faint smile. “That! Yes, I noticed.” She shrugged. “Weight loss is a good thing, isn’t it? Something we all strive for?”
Matthew frowned. “Not that I am aware of,” he said. “To lose weight normally suggests that one is ill or under great duress.”
“Well, most of us are trying to lose weight all the time. I’ve been trying to lose weight, so this is actually a good thing.” She patted her midriff.
Matthew looked at her dubiously. “I cannot feel that is healthy,” he said.
“Well, it wouldn’t be if you lost weight,” she said. “You’re already in great shape just the way you are.”
As if she suddenly heard her words, her cheeks colored.
Matthew was certain his own face matched the color of her now rosy cheeks.
“Why, thank you, Miss Reed!” Emboldened, he added, “I also thought you quite attractive when we first met and see no need for you to alter your physical appearance any further than the past two weeks of deprivation have already done,” he said.
They smiled at each other, Matthew feeling as shy as a schoolboy. Miss Reed picked up her fork and began to eat.
Chapter Fourteen
“There he is,” Sara said the following morning as she spotted Walter on the platform of the train station.
“I will await you just over there, Miss Reed,” Matthew said, pointing to one end of the platform. “I intend to keep a close eye on you, so if you need me for any reason, signal.”
“I’ll be fine, Matthew. Thank you.”
Matthew moved away, and Sara approached Walter, who had not yet seen her.
“Hello, Walter. Can I talk to you for a second?” Sara asked.
The tall man, in the act of checking his pocket watch, turned and looked down at her with surprise.
“Miss Reed!” he exclaimed. “You’re out of jail!”
Sara cringed as she looked around at the passengers standing nearby. Fortunately, none seemed to hear him.
“Ummm...yeah,” she said. “I wanted to apologize, Walter. I know you gave me a chance when I first got here, and I betrayed you. I’m so sorry,” she said.
The train hissed as it slowed, and Walter cast a quick glance toward it before turning his attention back to her. He shrugged.
“I don’t know what happened to make you do something like that, Miss Reed, but I hope everything has been resolved. Did they drop the charges? I really hated to see you go to jail over some silly clothes, but there was nothing I could do. I can’t tell you how bad I’ve felt for you.”
Sara nodded. “Mr.—my brother came to my rescue, thank goodness, and persuaded Mrs. Feeney to drop the charges. I can’t tell you why I did what I did. I can only say that I’m truly sorry, and I appreciate the chance you gave me.”
“Well, you were shaping up to be a great clerk,” he said. “It’s just a shame you had to...” He didn’t finish his sentence, for which Sara was grateful. “Where are you off to?” He looked over at Matthew, who tipped his hat in Walter’s direction.
“Seattle,” she said.
Walter nodded. “Good luck, Miss Reed.”
“Thank you, Walter.”
He hurried away to greet the conductor, and Sara turned toward Matthew.
Tall, slender and elegant in his derby and a long dark-gray overcoat, he smiled encouragingly as she walked toward him. Sara drew in a deep breath to steady herself on weak knees—weak not because of her encounter with Walter, but because of the handsome man who watched her approach.
He held out his arm as she neared, and she tucked her hand underneath it as if she’d been doing so all her life.
“Did it go well?”
“Reasonably well,” she said. “He knows I’m sorry and that I feel awful about what I did. That’s all I could say. He accepted the apology.”
“Good,” Matthew said. “Now, perhaps you may leave all this unpleasantness behind.”
Sara didn’t respond. Apologizing to Walter was the least of her troubles. She was still stuck in the early twentieth century, far from anything she knew.
“Come along, Ronald. The train is already here!”
&nbs
p; Sara swung around to the sound of Mrs. Feeney’s voice. The short woman emerged from the station with her husband in tow.
“Oh, no!” Sara whispered hoarsely. “What now?”
Matthew let out a short curse. “What now, indeed. I do not believe Mrs. Feeney pursues you inasmuch as I think she is boarding the train for the trip to Seattle I awarded her.”
Mrs. Feeney, carrying a small satchel, marched onto the platform, while her husband struggled through the door with several larger bags in hand. A porter followed them with two large suitcases in a cart.
Having not yet seen Sara, Mrs. Feeney moved to the edge of the platform where the conductor and Walter engaged in conversation. Even from where she stood, Sara could see Walter eye Mrs. Feeney in surprise. He looked over the woman’s head to where she and Matthew stood.
Matthew grabbed Sara’s hand.
“Come!” he said. They leapt aboard the front end of the car, and Matthew hurried down the corridor with Sara firmly in hand.
“Here!” he said. He pulled open a compartment door and guided her inside, turning to lock the door and pull the curtains on the door. He crossed the room to close the curtains on the platform side of the train.
“It is possible we can reach Seattle without an unpleasant encounter, but I think it highly unlikely that we can avoid Mrs. Feeney altogether,” he said as he removed his hat and stowed it on an overhead rack. “However, the longer we can delay the inevitable, the more pleasant our journey will be.”
He shook his head. “I cannot tell you how sorry I am that I did not find a way to silence the infernal woman, or at least send her to Chicago.”
“You couldn’t know she’d take the first train to Seattle,” Sara said as she removed her hat. Matthew stowed her hat and the dark dark-blue coat he had bought for her on the rack alongside his hat. Her yoga pants, T-shirt and fleece jacket unsalvageable, she had thrown them away.
“No,” Matthew agreed.
Sara sat down on a bench next to the window opposite the platform. She moved the curtains aside and looked out over several wooden buildings that appeared to be warehouses. Several other tracks lay between the train and the buildings. The view was largely industrial and not particularly attractive.
She returned her attention to the compartment. Matthew had taken a seat across from her and perused the same sight as she had.
“How long is the trip to Seattle?” she asked.
“About twenty hours if all goes well. We should arrive tomorrow at about eight o’clock in the morning.”
Sara quirked an eyebrow.
“Are we both sleeping in this compartment?”
Matthew’s lips twitched. “I did try to book two compartments, but the train is full, and I could only book one. I think I will not take a berth in the tourist coach again in case some further mishap should befall you. I realize this is most peculiar and that you might feel uncomfortable with my presence in the night, but I assure you, I mean you no harm. I will stretch out on this bench while you sleep. I hope that agrees with you.”
Sara returned his smile.
“That’s fine with me,” she said, “as long as you’re comfortable with it.”
“I am more comfortable sitting on this bench all night rather than worry about where you might disappear to again.”
“I won’t take off again, I promise,” Sara said.
“I am glad to hear it.”
A sharp voice in the hallway caught their attention, and they looked at each other. Mrs. Feeney’s voice carried.
“Come along, Ronald,” she said. “I think now that I should have left you at home and invited Gladys to come with me.”
Sara clapped a hand to her mouth to stifle a laugh, but Matthew chuckled outright, a rich, deep-throated sound that warmed Sara’s heart.
“I pity that poor man,” Matthew said. “She is a most unpleasant woman. I do not wish to bring up an uncomfortable subject, but could you not have rummaged through someone else’s luggage? Anyone else?”
Before she could help herself, Sara snorted in the middle of her laugh. She dropped her hand.
“How I wish!” she said. “I’m almost glad to know that I’m not the only one she yells at. Almost. But I feel sorry for him, too.” She continued. “You know, I’m not stepping foot out there until we get to Seattle. So, if there’s food to eat or coffee to drink, the porter will have to bring it to me.”
“Yes, I think that would be wise,” Matthew said. “I did so hope to leave all that behind. I am not used to skulking about in this manner.”
“Are we skulking?” Sara asked with a grin.
“Most definitely,” he said. “You with good reason, and me because I am cowed by a small woman with a sharp tongue.” He looked as if he was only half kidding.
“Oh, I think you’re avoiding her for me, Matthew. I doubt that you’re one bit afraid of her.”
“You would be surprised, Miss Reed. A few words of gossip can destroy a person’s reputation, and I worry that she will continue in her quest to ruin yours.”
“So, you’re worried about me, not yourself.”
He shrugged.
“I am a man. I can withstand that sort of thing. Such is not the case for a lady. To be ostracized is a lonely thing.”
“You forget I’ve lived that way much of my life. A lot of ‘good people’ looked down on my mother and me. I don’t care about reputations.”
He pressed his lips together. “Yes, of course. I spoke without thinking. We will not worry about it for the moment.”
“Do you think we’ll actually run into Mrs. Feeney after we get to Seattle? It’s a big city, right?”
“My family is quite prominent,” Matthew said. “Mrs. Feeney would know where to find me if she chose.”
Sara nodded, chewing on her lower lip.
“If that’s true, then at some point, she’ll find out for certain that I’m not your sister. I think you confused her yesterday, but once we reach Seattle, things will change. I hardly think your parents are going to adopt me.” Sara laughed without mirth.
“Yes, I am not certain how to approach that,” he said, “but I must.” He smiled as if he thought of something. “My father, however, would adopt you without question. He has always wanted a daughter. He thought it would be Emily.”
Sara tried not to wince. She really didn’t like Emily—and she didn’t even know the girl.
Matthew’s face sobered on his last words, and Sara disliked Emily even more. Why on earth didn’t the girl want to marry him? He was handsome, charming, kind, thoughtful, intelligent, generous and wealthy, from the sound of it. What wasn’t to like?
“Her loss,” Sara muttered.
Matthew looked up quickly. The corner of his mouth twitched.
“You tease me, I think, Miss Reed.”
“Oh, no, not at all. I truly believe that.”
His cheeks bronzed, and he looked away.
“I am flattered that you think so, Miss Reed. Thank you.”
Sara would have loved to drop the subject, to avoid reminding him of Emily, but some perverse imp made her continue.
“Maybe now that she’s had some time to think about your proposal, she’ll reconsider.”
Matthew threw her a sideways look.
“I sincerely doubt it. As I mentioned before, Emily rarely changes her mind once she makes a decision.”
“I don’t really understand why she would turn you down,” Sara said, voicing her earlier thoughts.
Matthew crossed and recrossed his legs restlessly.
“Because she does not love me?”
Sara shook her head. “That seems hard to believe. Is there someone else?”
Matthew drew in a sharp breath and leaned forward to peer through the curtains.
“Not that I am aware of,” he said without looking at her.
A whistle and hiss of steam heralded the train’s departure, and Sara pulled the curtains wide to watch the train move away from the station.
&nbs
p; “I’m sorry,” Sara said. “I didn’t mean to suggest something you hadn’t thought of.”
He leaned back against his bench and faced her.
“I have thought of every possibility for Emily’s rejection of my proposal, Miss Reed, including that she had met someone and did not tell me. I find it hard to believe that to be the case, however, as she normally tells me everything. And her parents would have known and told my parents. No, I believe it is simply that she does not see me as a husband but merely a childhood friend.”
Sara watched myriad emotions cross his face, from sadness to confusion to regret. Her heart ached for him. She dropped the subject and stared out the window at the passing scenery of evergreen trees interspersed with the gold and red fall foliage of deciduous trees.
“When do we reach Spokane?” she asked.
Matthew, who had been staring out of the window as well, looked at her sharply.
“If I remember correctly, at about 6:30 this evening. Why do you ask? I thought we had agreed you would continue on to Seattle?”
“Oh, I am. I really wouldn’t know anyone in Spokane—I mean, I don’t know anyone in Spokane.”
“So, you are not thinking of disappearing from the train when we reach Spokane?” he asked dubiously.
“No, I was just wondering what time we got there.” In fact, Sara wondered what Spokane looked like in nineteen hundred. Six o’clock was late though, given that the fall days were short. It would be dark when they arrived.
She had been truthful in saying she hadn’t planned on disappearing when they reached Spokane, but now that Matthew had raised the issue, she gave it some serious thought. She smiled brightly in his direction and looked out the window as she ruminated.
There could be nothing for her in Spokane. No school, no apartment, not even her mother. She’d gone too far back in time for that. She would end up begging on the streets like so many people seemed to do now, and probably with much less success and a lot more danger.
Her best bet right now was to stick with Matthew...like a leech. At least that’s what she felt like, but her one effort at independence had gone horribly wrong, and she couldn’t face another mistake like that. She couldn’t imagine what Matthew’s parents would say when he arrived with some strange woman in tow, but she trusted that he knew them and knew what to expect.