Unbroken Promises of the Heart: (Promises of the Heart Book 2)

by Valerie Loveless

  “You been doing all right without me?”

  “Oh, yes, Pa. I know you asked Mr. Clements to check in on me, but I ain’t never really needed it.” Nan swiped a nearby bookcase with a finger. It came clean and she smiled.

  “I’m mighty impressed. You’ve come a long way since last year.”

  “I surely have. Pa, there’s something I think you might’a want to know, though.”

  Pauly raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to tell him.

  “John’s back. And he’s brought another lady with him. She’s real strange.”

  “What?” Pauly barked. “Where is he?”

  “Well, I haven’t seen you in ages, Pa. Ain’t you want some breakfast or something?”

  “No, I’ve got to see John right quick!” Pauly grabbed his boots and hopped on one foot as he tried to put them on. Then he grabbed his jacket and rushed out the door.

  “Wait, you ain’t tell me where he is!”

  “He’s over at the docks, livin’ on his boat.” Nan huffed; disappointment wrinkled her little face.

  “Don’t worry, it’ll be all right!”

  Pauly arrived at the docks post haste. He immediately recognized the fishing boat that John had bought before he went off after Lavender and Morose.

  “John! John, it’s me, Pauly.”

  A sleepy John came out of his cabin. “Pauly, how are you, man?”

  “A little sore and tired, but ain’t nothing a few weeks at home won’t fix. What happened, John? Did you get my message?”

  “Oh, yes. I got your message in a bottle. Quite clever. I followed your advice as well and found a mermaid.”

  “Well I’ll be!”

  “Serene, where are you?”

  Pauly climbed aboard John’s boat and noticed the pearl around his neck.

  “What’s that jewel you got on there, John?”

  “This is Serene’s. She gave it to me.”

  “It’s a mighty large jewel.”

  “It’s a pearl, actually.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. I got several in my shop. Just ne’er seen one on a man. Seen one on Lavender.”

  John did not respond again before Serene climbed over the side of the boat out of the water. At first Pauly thought he was seeing things because it almost seemed as though she turned from a greenish and wet creature to a beautiful and dry young lady in a red dress.

  “That’s quite the trick there for a young lady. You hangin’ on to the side there?”

  “No,” Serene said. “I was sleeping in the water.”

  “Sleeping in the water. Oh no, John! You didn’t bring that thing back here! You gone and found a magical mermaid and you brought her back to town?”

  “Of course, I brought her back here. She wanted to see everything I’ve seen. I felt like this place was what I wanted to show her first. It’s so beautiful and calm here.

  “What about Lavender?”

  “What about Lavender?” John repeated.

  “What did you do to them, you sea temptress? Huh? You go on and mess up Morose’s head, and then he messes up Lavender. That’s not enough; you got to mess up this fine gentleman too. What did you do?”

  Serene looked at Pauly blankly. “I saved him and sailed on his boat.”

  “Yeah, that’s not all you done,” Pauly barked. “I don’t know what to do now. You look more confused than a drunk rat, John.”

  “I’m not confused, Pauly. I’ve never felt better.”

  “No, you never looked better neither. Just like Morose. But what are you going to do about Lavender, John?”

  “I’m not going to do anything. She said if I followed her they would kill me. I don’t want to die.”

  “You don’t want to die? What’s gotten into you? You went into a volcano for that girl! You swam darned near across the ocean with her on your back!”

  “Do you still want to wedding day her?” Serene looked at John with confusion. Pauly’s words had touched her just as Morose had when Morose told her what he had done for her.

  “No, I—I really like just being here with you,” John said.

  “I’m going to send a message to Morose,” Pauly said. “He’s going to come here. You need to be ready, John.”

  “No. I don’t want to,” John said and then sat down on the deck with his legs crossed.

  Pauly threw his hands in the air in frustration. “What you mean?”

  “I just don’t want to. I just want to show Serene the mountains and the beach. I’d really like to show her your store. It’s lovely.”

  “Lovely? Now yer insulting me. You leave him alone, you witchy water woman! Come on, John, let’s get you to the store.”

  “Yes, let’s show Serene the store.” John stood up on his own volition and tried to take Serene’s hand.

  “No, no. She’s not feeling well, are you, Serene?”

  “I’m not feeling well?” Serene asked.

  “There, you see? She’s not feeling well. Let’s get her some medicine.”

  “Oh, Serene, you should have told me,” John said. “I’ll go into town and get you something. Is it your head? Your constitution, perhaps? Perhaps you have a tonic for her bowels, Pauly. She eats an enormous amount of fish.”

  “My bowels?” Serene asked, still confused.

  “Yes, there, see, she says her bowels is ill. Come on.” Pauly took John’s arm and rushed him off the boat. Then, turning back to Serene, he said, “Don’t go anywhere. It’s best if you stay right here on this here boat.”

  “Stay here,” Serene said.

  “Yes, Serene,” John said. “It is I who will rescue you now! Rescue your constitution!”

  As Pauly got John farther away from the boat, he checked and made sure Serene stayed aboard. He could see her red dress all they way up the road and almost into town.

  “You’ve got to be drunk or on some sort of snake oil, boy. I ain’t never seen you so lily-livered.”

  John walked without a stagger, but his mind was clouded and seemed to keep drifting only back to Serene.

  “She’s fine? Yes, she’s fine. She’s—Pauly, we must hurry. Her stomach is troubling her. It’s all that raw fish, I bet.”

  “Raw fish! I ain’t never!” Pauly complained. “Come on now, in you go,” Pauly said as he pushed John into the store and led him to the back room.

  “Pa! What’s wrong with him?” Nan screeched, leaving a customer on his own.

  “Shh! Don’t make a scene. Wait until that customer leaves and then close the store back up.”

  “Yes, Pa.” Nan didn’t exactly obey as she told the customer they were closing early.

  Nan came back into the back room with a tray full of pills, tinctures, and bottles of powders.

  “What do you think he needs, Pa? Is it consumption? Influenza?”

  “It ain’t none of that and none of that is gun’ work. It’s mermaid magic.”

  “What’s the matter, Pauly? Don’t you have anything I can give to Serene to ease her pain? I can’t let her sit back there at the boat and suffer.”

  “What if I sent Nan to check on her and take her some pills while you and I talk?”

  “Quickly, Nan. I don’t want her suffering for one minute.”

  Nan looked at her father dubiously. He winked at her.

  “Sure, John, I’ll run the whole way!”

  Nan walked to the front of the store and went out the door, but she didn’t go anywhere. She went around the back of the store and listened through the window as she suspected her father wanted her to.

  “Now, John, it’s important that you tell me how you got here and everything that happened to you.”

  “All right Pauly, I’ll tell you as soon as I know Serene is all right.”

  “That’s not the deal. You tell me while Nan is tendin
g to Serene. Nan’s a much better nurse than you anyhow.”

  “That’s true, Pauly. She has soft hands.”

  “Never mind—tell me what happened.”

  John started from where he found Pauly’s note in the bottle.

  Mary woke early on the Fourth of July. It was dreary and windy. Historically this day was sunny and hot, but this year the weather seemed to match Mary’s mood. Ever since Michael told her he didn’t want her to start a hat shop in town she had felt down.

  Mary rolled over and looked at Michael, who was still sleeping. He looked most handsome when he was sleeping, but she was angry with him so it didn’t endear him to her. He refused to even talk further about the shop, which infuriated Mary to be told what to do. She never expected Michael to say no to something that was so important to her, and worse, not give her a clear answer as to why he had said no.

  She rolled out of bed carefully. Since Michael couldn’t hear, she could easily not wake him by not jostling him too much. She dressed and went downstairs, where she put on the kettle for tea and oats. She was not much in the mood for cooking.

  As her kettle heated, she worked a little on a few hats and rolled and organized some stray ribbon.

  The kettle began to whistle loudly, but Mary ignored it for a few minutes as her hands were busy with ribbon. When she finished wrapping and tucking the ribbon on the spool, she got up but bumped a rickety table stacked high with hat boxes. They fell all over the place.

  “For the love of—!” Mary swore as Michael looked on. She hadn’t heard him coming down the stairs because of the singing of the kettle.

  He came over to assist her. She glanced at him but mostly gave him a cold shoulder.

  Michael stood when Mary stood and grabbed her gently by the arms. “I’m sorry. I know you are running out of space. I’m not saying never, just not right now.”

  “What?” Mary said. “The kettle’s whistling. I can’t really hear you.”

  Mary left Michael to go take the kettle off the stove. She poured the water into her teapot and added the tea, then fetched the cream and sugar. Michael had joined her in the kitchen. Mary sat down and folded her hands on the table.

  “I’m not saying never, Mary.”

  “You haven’t given me a reason as to why not now. If we don’t do it now, we will likely lose the building. Jessi and Megan won’t have anywhere to go. What will they do? It’s the perfect opportunity now. You know I don’t need your permission. I can just use my own money and do it. Marriage isn’t supposed to be like this. Your husband isn’t supposed to just tell you no with no explanation.”

  “I’m worried about money right now. I—I might need some money for an investment opportunity.”

  “Oh my heavens to Betsy, you are drinking and gambling, aren’t you?”

  “No, of course not!”

  “Then why can’t you tell me what this mystery investment is?”

  “It’s—I’m not sure yet.”

  “Michael. You are breaking my heart! I never knew you were a lying man. I just always thought you were quiet because you are deaf, but you have gotten yourself into something nefarious at the docks, haven’t you?”

  “Mary, enough. You are insulting me as a man and as a husband.”

  “You insult me as a wife! You want to take all my money and spend it on some secret.”

  “It’s not like that, Mary. Besides, it’s our money.”

  “No, it’s not if I don’t have any say in it!”

  “You don’t give me say in every penny you spend!”

  “No, and I don’t hide it from you either!” Mary rose from the table and opened a small brown box. “You want to see all my hidden shame? Here! Here’s a purchase order for blue satin ribbon, nine yards.” Mary threw the paper on the table. “Here’s a log of all the glue, felt, and silk I’ve bought for the last month.” She threw another paper down on the table. “Here’s a list of the meat and supplies I picked up at Willis’s this week. Here are my secrets!”

  “Mary, I’m not keeping anything from you. I’m just not sure what I’m going to invest in yet.”

  Mary sat back down and picked up her papers. She placed them back inside of the box and then got up and put it away before she put on a hat at the front door and left Michael sitting at the table alone with his head in his hands.

  Mary hoped that if she took a good long walk, Michael would be gone for work when she returned.

  Mary walked along the beach, fists clenched, shoulders tensed. How could her marriage be this bad already? How had her perfectly reasonable, sweet, humble, and loving husband turned into this creature who held money over her head?

  A newspaper was tangled in the reeds and grass nearby. Mary hated a mess, so she went over to pick it up. It was the third page of the Gazette, which had Enduring Promises of the Heart on it. Mary checked the date. It was today’s paper. She had nowhere to go and was just aimlessly walking along the beach, so she thought she would sit and read, hoping that upon her return home she would be alone.

  Pauly and Nan took John upstairs and put him in a bed.

  “Pauly, really, why are you fussing over me? I’m not ill; Serene is.”

  “No, John. Serene is doing really well. She went for a nice long boat ride,” Nan said.

  “Boat ride!” John yelped. “She doesn’t know how to sail! She could run aground and hurt herself!”

  “Swim!” Pauly yelled over John’s excitement. “She meant she took a swim. She’s a mermaid, John. She should be perfectly safe.”

  “Oh, true. She swims a great deal. She can swim forever as far as I can tell.”

  Nan gave her father a very disapproving look. He returned it.

  “John, just stay up here while I get Ol’ Doc,” Pauly said and then ran out the door.

  John looked out the window. There was nothing much to see except the side of the next building over. He moved his head to get a better view, but it was fruitless.

  Nan watched John. “John, I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry about what happened with the bandits last year.”

  “I don’t care,” John said flatly.

  “Oh, you don’t?” Nan frowned. “You don’t care that Lavender is gone?”

  “Lavender? Oh she’s happy now, I suppose. I don’t really think about her much. I’ve got to take Serene up into the mountains. She needs to see everything that I love.”

  “Oh. So have you shown her Lavender?”

  “Lavender?” John was quiet for a moment and looked down at his hands. “I love Lavender,” he said, but it almost sounded like a question.

  “For some reason.” Nan scoffed but quickly backtracked. “I mean, of course you do. She is your true love. Wouldn’t you want Serene to meet her?”

  “I do really want Serene to see everything that I love. I think I’ll just take her to see London. It’s beautiful in the spring.”

  “So you want her to see only places you love, not people?” Nan said, trying to make sense of his nonsense.

  “Yes, every place I’ve been that’s touched my heart, I would love to show her.”

  “John, do you love Serene, then?”

  “Oh, yes. I feel completely entranced by her.”

  “Hm, it seems that’s true.” Nan looked into John’s green eyes. Oh, how she loved his green eyes. She gently pushed John’s hair from his face and smiled while she gave him a smoldering look. John looked at her strangely, as if he were studying a bug. “Well, why don’t you try to rest? Ol’ Doc and Pa will be back soon, and Doc is going to make sure that you are in good shape!”

  “Okay, thanks, Nan Fey.” John used her full name, sending a shiver up her spine. Nan admitted to herself that she had a weakness for confused British men who were overly formal.

  Mary laughed as she folded the paper and tucked it under her arm.

  �
�Oh, Liz. ‘A weakness for confused British men that were overly formal’! Where does she come up with this?”

  Feeling a little brightened from her walk and a good story, Mary headed home. When she got there Michael had already left as she had hoped.

  It was the Fourth of July, and she had something special planned for her and her sisters. She had already started.

  She pulled out a box of hats that she had formed over the weeks. They were wide brimmed hats made of velvet, and the tops were gathered and pleated. Each hat was Americana blue.

  Mary pulled out the hats three at a time and placed them on her stands. She began to create lush piles of bows with satin ribbon in red and white stripes and adorned with sprays of white feathers. She took every few feathers and trimmed them down the sides of the quill, leaving only the end. Then she trimmed the end in the shape of a star. When she placed them on the top of the hat, they bobbed gently like little falling stars every time she moved the piece. She placed red netting off the edge to be used to cover the face, if wanted. They were a fantastic display of patriotism. She made one for herself, Liz, Harriet, Lilac, Sarah, her mother, and mother-in-law.

  Mary was certain they’d cause a stir at the fair and holiday festivities, and she was hoping that it would encourage her husband to reconsider her position on the dress and hat shop.

  After many hours of working Mary was ready to deliver her first hat. The most logical choice was Liz, who lived right next door.

  Mary knocked on Liz’s door. She had put one of the hats on herself and boxed one up for Liz. “Knock, knock, it’s Mary!”

  “Just a minute!” Mary heard through the door. She also heard the sound of a typewriter. It made Mary’s heart glad that Liz was using it. But then she heard some swearing and paper ripping and crumpling that made Mary feel concerned. Finally, Liz came and unlocked the door.

  “Good afternoon.” Mary smiled. “What do you think?”

  Liz looked threadbare. “Your hat? It’s as good as any hat you’ve ever made.” Then she returned to her desk and left the door open for Mary.