Feeling the tension in not only his bride’s arm, but the very air itself, Dwight cleared his throat and looked sideways at Pauline, and then at his wife. “So…I imagine you two were, um…surprised to get Mother’s letter.”
Pauline shot him a look that he was quite familiar with—roughly translated, it meant she wanted to throttle him. “That’s putting it mildly.”
“I didn’t know what to think,” Mary added, and he caught her quick peek up at his face before she turned forward again.
“Mary, I feel I should state unequivocally that when I offered my name in our proxy marriage,” she turned her head again and he met her questing look with complete sincerity, “I had no thought of coming here and upsetting the apple cart, so to speak. Although in retrospect, that might have been a bit irrational, since my sister and brother-in-law live here…”
He glanced between the girls and waited a few beats for a wagon to roll by before continuing. “However, an unusual problem quickly developed back home,” he began to explain, peering around to make sure they were free of possible eavesdroppers. “A young girl, a young, wealthy girl, decided I was her Prince Charming and she did everything she could to get me to be her knight in shining armor—including telling her banker father a pack of lies that would choke a horse. He wanted to have me arrested!” he shook his head wryly. “She wouldn’t take no for an answer. Personally, I think she’s got a few bats loose in her belfry,” he added with a sardonic grin. “Finally, Richard told me in no uncertain terms that it would be better for all concerned if I were to, well, get out of town for a while.”
“Richard?” Mary asked.
“That’s his employer, the man who owns the Hansom cab he drives,” Pauline supplied.
Dwight couldn’t help but snort, “The proper phrase might be used to drive.”
“Surely he couldn’t blame you,” Mary offered, and he sent her a grimace.
“I’m afraid the situation got ridiculous in the extreme. It was affecting business and the company was losing money,” he admitted with chagrin. “Bottom line in business is, the company always comes first. If not, the business folds and no one wins. So—I had to make plans in a hurry and Mrs. Fetterman’s impromptu trip seemed made to order.”
“Well, regardless of the reason,” Pauline began, only to hesitate and nod a greeting as an acquaintance passed by on the boardwalk, regarding the threesome with keen interest, “you’re here now and we have quite a bit of planning to do.”
He most certainly agreed. “That we do.”
At the livery, they climbed into a small buggy belonging to the doctor, and then directed Dwight to head down Main as he naturally took up the reins.
They said little during the short ride. Dwight found himself extremely aware of Mary’s presence, sandwiched as she was between him and his sister; nestled under his arm and pressed against his side on the narrow, padded bench. He found he couldn’t lower his hold on the reins without his elbow and upper arm ending up warmly cradled against her bosom.
He told himself the day was already growing warm, and that was why he felt the heat of her so alluring. He found himself having thoughts about the girl that he shouldn’t have been having…that is…well, she was his wife…but no, she was his wife in name only! Remember that, man!
They had only been traveling for a few minutes and had already passed the clustered buildings of downtown to where the houses were more spread out when Mary motioned for him to pull over. “Here we are,” she murmured, trying her best to keep from pressing against Dwight’s side, but finding it increasingly impossible not to in the cramped space of the surrey.
Dwight did as she directed, then disembarked and held a hand out to her as he glanced up the long walkway to the house. A block-lettered shingle hanging by chains between two short posts halfway up the path read “Cornelius Reeves, M.D.”
His brow furrowed. “Doc’s office…you brought me here for our talk?”
“This is where Mary is staying, and right now, no one is home to overhear our conversation,” Pauline explained.
“Oh…” Dwight turned his intense, brown eyes back to meet hers. “I thought you were staying at the boarding house with Pauline and Tobias…”
Having allowed him to clasp her hand, she carefully climbed out of the buggy before directing her attention to Doc Reeves’ large, beautiful home.
“No, actually I was still living in the hotel across the street from the boarding house…until Doc Reeves examined me and found that I’m…” she paused, feeling her face flame. Clearing her throat, she added, “The next day, he asked me to move into one of the bedrooms here. It’s his home as well as his office. He’s lived alone here for years, except for his housekeeper, Wanda Mae, but she lives there,” she pointed to a much smaller, clapboard house next door. “She cooks for him, too,” she added as an awkward afterthought.
Turning her head to study his profile, she watched his attention roam the exterior approvingly. With an odd sense of pride, she turned to observe the structure once again, enjoying the seven-gabled brick facade, with its six-columned, full front porch and floor-to-ceiling front windows. She still couldn’t quite believe she was actually living there, as she’d never lived in anything so grand in all her life. It was just about the prettiest home in town, second only to the Larsen’s boarding house, of course.
“It’s nice. Big for just one person,” he commented. Then, he hastened around
