Threads of Love

by Andrea Boeshaar

  “Darling, don’t be angry with me.” He slipped one arm around her shoulders.

  She shrugged it off. “Poppa, forgive me for speaking so candidly in front of Jake, but you should know—you both should—that I’m embarrassed over what transpired the other day.” She sent a furtive glance Jake’s way. “I’m referring to your conversation with Jake about me, Poppa.”

  “I know full well to what you’re referring, my dear.” The captain trained a hard look on Emily, although she didn’t seem intimidated in the least.

  “Perhaps we should have talked about it first.”

  “I’m your father, Emily.” The captain pulled back his shoulders. “Jake understands.”

  “Yes, I do.” He picked up the undercurrent; the warning still remained: The man who kisses my daughter, marries her.

  “Poppa, I’m an independent woman twenty-three years old.” Emily stepped closer to her father and straightened his already impossibly straight bow tie. “Need I remind you that I have a twin who is the same age?”

  “You needn’t.” The captain tolerated her fussing.

  She brushed a speck off his black jacket. “Eden is allowed far more freedoms than I have ever known.” She whispered something before rising on tiptoe and placing a kiss on the captain’s cheek. Facing Jake once more, she sent him a pleasant smile. “I hope you will visit again.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Her smile looked perfunctory. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll see if Momma needs my help.”

  Jake replied with a small nod, and his gaze trailed Emily out of the room. When he turned back to the captain, he caught his watchful stare.

  “My daughter doesn’t seem heartbroken over a certain young man’s departure.”

  “No, she doesn’t.”

  “I know my daughter, Jake, and I’m afraid your hypothesis is incorrect.” He lowered his voice. “She harbors little to no feelings for Andy.”

  “I’ll take your word for it.” Emily was a puzzle to him.

  Commotion at the doorway drew Jake’s attention. Men’s laughter carried into the library, and moments later Mr. Schulz appeared, accompanied by a very distinguished-looking man with a white, bushy mustache.

  “There you are, Jake! And Captain Sundberg, I’m glad you’re here too.” Mr. Schulz rushed toward them. “I’d like you both to meet someone.” He waited for the other man to catch up before continuing. “Allow me to present Mr. Joseph Quarles, Wisconsin’s United States senator.”

  A US senator? Impressive! Jake shook the man’s hand. “Pleased to meet you, sir.”

  “Likewise.”

  Mr. Schulz introduced the captain and they clasped hands.

  Senator Quarles regarded Jake. “I was a very good acquaintance of your grandfather, although we typically met on opposite sides of the courtroom aisle.”

  “Ahh . . . ” Another attorney. Jake might have figured. Lawyers typically went on to run for public office.

  “Simon, here—” He directed a brief nod at Mr. Schulz. “—has been telling me of your exemplary persuasive skills.”

  Jake knew he meant his handling of Aunt Bettina. “Oh, mine aren’t close to Granddad’s.”

  “I wouldn’t be too certain of that. Oliver lost his fair share of arguments.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Jake humbly accepted the compliment.

  “Good of you to drop by, Mr. Quarles.” The captain clasped his hands behind his back.

  “I’m back in Wisconsin on business, and when I learned the news of Oliver’s death, I knew I had to make the journey here from Madison.”

  “Do you need a place to stay? There’s an extra room at my house.”

  “No, but thank you, Captain Sundberg. I have family in Kenosha with whom I’ll reside.” He turned back to Jake. “But I’d like to speak more with this young man. A United States deputy marshal from Montana?”

  “Correct.”

  His mustache twitched. “Simon tells me you’re a fair man in your dealings. I’d like to hear about them.”

  “Please get comfortable.” The captain indicated to the light-blue chairs on their left. “I’ll ask my wife to fix you a lunch plate.”

  “No need, Captain. Your wife is already seeing to the matter.”

  They sat down. “Now, tell me, son . . . ” Mr. Quarles unfastened the single button on his expensive-looking black jacket before sinking into the armchair. “Tell me of the buffalo hunters, cowboys, and outlaws. Is Fallon, Montana, anything like Dodge City, Kansas?”

  “No, sir.” Jake had a good chuckle, thinking of the five buildings that made up Fallon’s main street. “Not even close.”

  After Zeb drove them home later that night, Emily helped Iris carry a basketful of clothing upstairs to their room at the boardinghouse. She’d left various articles in Emily’s room at the farm and only this evening packed them up and brought them home.

  “What is all of this?” Emily unburdened her arms onto her bed and recognized a number of her own belongings among them.

  “Iris?”

  “It’s part of my plan.”

  “I think you’d better tell about this plan of yours.”

  Iris never looked up from folding the clothing and separating them into two piles. “A pity Jake couldn’t take us home tonight.”

  “He’s dining with Senator Quarles, the Schulzes, and my parents.” Emily folded her arms and leaned against Iris’s bedpost. “We could have dined with them tonight too, but you insisted on coming home early.”

  “It’s been a long day.” Iris yawned. “We’ve got an even busier day tomorrow.”

  “Looking for summer work?” Ah, that’s the secret plan!

  “No.”

  “Iris . . . ” Mild irritation welled up inside of Emily. “If the plan involves me, I think you’d best divulge it now or I won’t cooperate.”

  “You’re right. Now’s the time.” Sitting on the side of the bed, Iris smoothed her skirt over her knees. “I told you that Jake is my destiny, and I’ve decided to act upon my steadfast belief.”

  “He doesn’t want to get married.”

  “He’ll change his mind.”

  “Iris, how can I get through to you?” Oh, how her friend tried Emily’s patience!

  Crossing the room, Iris opened the top drawer of the oak desk they shared. “This morning after I dropped off my article at the newspaper office, I went to the train station and purchased two tickets.”

  “What? Two tickets? To where?”

  “Montana, Idaho, and Washington State.” She smiled. “I want to see the Pacific Ocean.”

  “No!” Emily shook her head with vigor. “No, no, no!” She stared hard at her friend. “Have you lost your very mind?”

  Iris’s chin quivered ever so slightly. “You won’t make me ride the Northwestern Pacific Railroad all by myself, will you?”

  “Northwestern Pacific? That train doesn’t service Manitowoc.”

  “No, it doesn’t. You see, we board the train to Milwaukee, and then transfer there to St. Paul. We’ll transfer again once we reach Minnesota, and we’ll be on our way to the Pacific. The clerk at the station told me all about it and even gave me a map.”

  Iris may have done her homework, but the idea was still insanity. “Be reasonable, Iris. My father will not allow me to get on a train and follow Jake across the country.”

  “Don’t look at it as following Jake. We’re following our hearts. Wouldn’t you like to catch up with Andy?”

  “Not particularly.” Emily decided she needed to tell Iris the truth, at least in part. She sat down on the edge of her bed and ran her hand over the quilt Besta made for her. “I don’t love Andy. I never did. He was a convenient choice for a husband, or so I thought. But I feel nothing for him, Iris. Nothing.” She met her friend’s bright gaze. “I don’t care that he left this afternoon. I wish him the best.”

  Iris merely shrugged. “I still want to see the rugged west and the Pacific Ocean.”

  “Ohh . . . ” Emily colla
psed across her bed. Iris had gone crazy. That’s what happened. Crazy!

  “Think of the grand stories we can tell our students in the fall. We’ll have an adventure. I want to experience America. See the prairies and the mountains. Emily, you and I have attended school here and now we live and work here. The way things are going, we’ll die old maids right here in Manitowoc.”

  Emily would concede to at least that much.

  “Besides, your poppa would allow Eden to ride the train alone and, actually, he already has.”

  True. Eden had taken the train to and from New York City several times in the past years while Emily experienced only guarded freedoms.

  “Are we really independent women of the twentieth century or not?”

  Emily sat back up. “Yes, but despite my best argument, Poppa still won’t let me go.”

  “That’s why you’ll write him a letter, which we will drop off in his box before boarding the train in the morning.”

  Emily laughed, imagining her father’s outrage. “My father will hop on the next train and collect the both of us and put us over his knee.”

  “No, he won’t, Emily. He knows you’re upset with him for prematurely and needlessly, I might add, discouraging Andy from courting you.”

  He’d warned Jake too. But Emily wouldn’t tell Iris about it. How could she without revealing her treasonous heart?

  “Your poppa and my granny have no legal right to stop us, Emily.”

  “Yes, I know, but . . . ”

  “But you’re right. They’ll worry.”

  “Yes, they will.”

  “Therefore—”

  Emily should have known Iris would think up something more.

  “We’ll leave them letters stating that we’re riding the same train as Jake so they don’t worry. After all, Jake won’t let anything happen to us, now will he?”

  “Once he learns we’re following him—that you’re following him—Jake will be furious.”

  “Pshaw!”

  “Iris Hopper!” Emily stood and placed her hands on her hips. “Stop that talk—stop all this nonsensical talk.”

  “Oh, all right. I will watch my tongue, but that’s all I’ll promise. As for my brilliant plan, Jake will enjoy our company on the train, just as he has enjoyed this last weekend. We’re friends, after all.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me sooner and I could have talked to Poppa about it. We could have discussed this. And we could have informed your grandmother.”

  “Think about that Emily. For one, your father would have locked you in your bedroom on the farm forever. Secondly, Granny would guilt me to death about how she cannot cope if I don’t take her shopping or scrub the floors or get married soon.” Iris’s shoulders slumped. “Granny is healthy and quite capable. She has her friends and the other girls for companionship, and you and I will only be gone a short time.” She paused, a determined glint in her eyes. “Your family, Em, and my granny would all have tried to stop us. That’s why I kept my idea from them—from even you until now.”

  “I have to think about this.” Emily paced the narrow aisle between their two beds. Why was this beginning to make some sense? Why did she feel a delicious spark of daring and, yes, defiance? Besides, they’d only be gone, what, a couple of weeks, wouldn’t they? As for Jake, saying good-bye to him had been excruciating this evening, especially with Iris, her family, the senator, and Mr. and Mrs. Schulz clustered nearby. She’d never had a chance to say everything she’d wanted, and she’d never heard from Jake the words she longed to hear—that he’d be back someday.

  However, if he waited another decade, Emily would definitely be an old maid. Although everyone thought that of Aunt Mary, and look at her now, with a husband and stepchildren, but a family all the same. And in eleven more years, perhaps Iris would no longer think that Jake was her destiny.

  “Start packing while you think, Em. We have to check our bags tonight, and the attendant is only in the office until ten o’clock.”

  Emily paused in mid-stride. “Why tonight?”

  Iris pushed up her spectacles. “So no one sees us carrying our valises to the train station in the morning.”

  CHAPTER 14

  WEARING DARK HATS and shawls, Emily and Iris found a driver and buggy for hire just two blocks east. With the bearded driver’s assistance, they managed to check their valises at the train depot before the office closed at ten o’clock. Thankfully the driver asked no questions and deposited them a half-block from the boardinghouse. They slipped back into their room undetected.

  The next morning, however, proved another story. At the bank Mr. Zane eyed Emily suspiciously as she withdrew most of her savings. The sum equaled almost six months’ pay.

  “Making a large purchase, Emmy?” The banker, wearing his usual white shirt, black vest, and matching sleeve garters, worked the corners of his mustache between his thumb and forefinger. He peered at Emily over round spectacles.

  “Yes, and it’ll be quite the surprise for my family.” Emily hoped the news didn’t reach her father before she boarded the train.

  At the station they climbed aboard the passenger car, praying Jake would board another. If he saw them, Emily felt certain he’d order them off, and he’d have the help of Poppa and Zeb. No, it was best he didn’t see them until they transferred in Minnesota.

  Emily selected a place by the window in a group of four cushioned seats that faced each other. Iris sat across from her. They placed their smaller bags, containing books to read and needlework, on the empty seats, praying the car didn’t fill up.

  “Isn’t this grand?” Iris gazed around the car then ran her hand over the plush burgundy fabric covering the seat next to her. “Cushioned seats, mahogany trim, and electric lighting.” Her face lit with happiness. “I must be sure to write this down in my journal.”

  “I don’t think we’ll be forgetting this trip soon.” Glancing at her friend, Emily smiled and wondered why her father disliked the railroad, even though Grandpa Ramsey had a vested interest in it.

  She wiggled into the seat’s soft padding. She and Iris would be most comfortable on their journey to Milwaukee.

  The conductor made his way down the narrow aisle, checking to be sure passengers had tickets and that they’d boarded the proper train. Emily didn’t see any sign of Jake and relaxed.

  But what if he’d decided to stay on another day? Or longer?

  “There’s Jake!” Iris pointed a gloved finger at the window.

  Emily saw him jog toward the passenger car one up from theirs. “Good. At least we know he’s on his way out west too.”

  “And there’s your father.”

  Emily’s gaze slid to the crowded platform where she spotted Poppa and Zeb, waving good-bye. They must have taken Jake to the station after signing papers this morning. Poppa now owned Mr. Ollie’s house and the acreage surrounding it.

  “How nice that your family is so fond of Jake.”

  “Yes, I suppose so.” She didn’t want to give any indication of her interest, lest Iris suspect her deep feelings for Jake.

  As she watched Poppa and Zeb make their way off the platform and toward the street, she missed them already. In her letter she begged Poppa not to try and stop her somehow or send Zeb after her. She needed to make this trip alone, to prove to him and the rest of her family that she’d become an independent and respectable young woman. Momma would understand—in time. Poppa would be furious and stay furious.

  “We won’t be gone long.” She’d spoken more to herself than to Iris.

  “Back in a couple of weeks.” Iris readjusted her hat. “Today’s trip will take us to Milwaukee then on to St. Paul, and another two days to Fallon.”

  “Fallon?” Emily looked at Iris. “I thought you wanted to see the Pacific Ocean.”

  “Only if Jake doesn’t invite us to visit his ranch.”

  “The ranch belongs to his sister and brother-in-law, not Jake.”

  “Mere technicalities, Em . . . Oohh!” The trai
n lurched forward. Iris laughed. “Won’t this be a thrilling adventure, one we’ll tell our students this fall?” Her eyes grew round. “Why, we’ll tell our own children about it someday!”

  Emily grinned at her friend’s enthusiasm, glad she didn’t allow Iris to travel alone. What’s more, this trip would prove to Poppa that she could think on her own two feet. Risking his outrage was worth it.

  Jake hadn’t been able to do it. He’d held the pen to the paper, but he couldn’t sign it.

  From his seat by the window, his back to the wall, he watched the passing scenery as the train chugged its way across the Wisconsin River. Pretty countryside. And why did Emily’s face keep popping into his mind at the word pretty?

  She’d been the reason he couldn’t sell Granddad’s house this morning. He kept seeing her, sitting at that shiny, black grand piano, playing so well, singing so beautifully. And that view from the library window, that giant oak tree, under which he’d first kissed Emily Sundberg.

  Father God, could it possibly be Your will for Emily and me to—

  “Everything all right, sir?”

  Jake snapped from his silent prayer and looked up at the conductor. “Excuse me?”

  “Can I be of service?”

  “Ah, no, thanks.” He pushed himself up higher into his seat.

  “Very well. Please feel free to enjoy the dining car, club car, and observation deck at the back of the train.”

  “Maybe I will. Thanks.”

  The dark-suited man with his boxy railroad cap moved up the aisle and gave the same invitation to the folks sitting in front of Jake.

  His stomach rumbled, and he pulled out Granddad’s pocket watch. Almost noon. Eating a meal in the dining car sounded good. He hadn’t packed a picnic basket like many folks did when they rode the train.

  Jake stood and made his way through the causeway and down the aisle of the second passenger car. He briefly scanned the riders, always alert for signs of trouble. His gaze touched on two ladies, each wearing one those ostentatious hats that they were wont to wear these days, all feathers, flowers, and ribbons piled on wide brims that shadowed their faces.