Change of Heart (15 page)

“I beg your pardon?” Laura resisted the urge
to spring to her feet and let her clenched hand meet Gavin
Maitland’s jaw.

“Communities have the discretion to qualify
and disqualify people from taking orphaned children into their
homes. In Heart Junction, we, the city council and the mayor, have
decided that the children we take into the community should be
placed only with married couples. Therefore, since you have no
husband, the committee could never recommend Angelina be placed
with you.”

Laura could feel horror widening her eyes and
carving lines in her face. “But that is ridiculous. In Iowa several
single women and even a few single men took in orphans from the
Children’s Aid Society while I lived there.”

“As I said, each community can make its own
rules of acceptance of these displaced children into their
community. What is all right in Iowa, is not acceptable to the
people of this community. Here we can recommend no one but married
couples for the placement of these children.”

Laura set her seven-year-old daughter down
and bolted to her feet. “This is outrageous! I have worked for five
years to save enough money to rescue a forsaken child. Angelina
needs me. I need her. You can’t take her away from me.”

Mr. Maitland looked past Laura then he stood
and came around the table to her. He took her arm. “Folks,” he said
to the line of people behind her, “if you’ll excuse me for a
minute, I will return shortly to sign your contracts.”

Mr. Maitland ushered Laura inside the train
depot and into an empty office. He closed the door behind them.
“Let me take Angelina. Just for a moment. I’ll give her to Betty,
Mr. Farrah’s secretary. She’ll take good care of the girl while you
and I talk.”

Laura clung to Angelina. “I won’t let her
go.”

“Please, Miss Windsor. I’ll give her right
back to you as soon as we’ve finished speaking.”

Laura refused to cooperate.

Mr. Maitland gently touched Laura’s arm. “You
don’t want the child to hear our discussion, do you? You’re very
upset. She can see that. Is that how you want her to know you on
her first day in Heart Junction?”

Laura softened her grip on her daughter. “Can
I trust you, Mr. Maitland? You aren’t lying to me, are you?”

Golden flecks softened his brown eyes. “I
wouldn’t lie to you, Miss Windsor,” he said gently.

She stared at him a long moment until she
decided his eyes were as trustworthy as any she’d ever seen. Laura
set Angelina on her feet and hunched down next to her. “Darling,
Mr. Maitland and I need to talk. Everything is all right. It’s
grown up things we need to discuss. Will you wait outside with a
nice lady while we talk?”

Angelina threw her arms around Laura’s neck.
“
Madrina.
”

Laura kissed her cheek. She let the tiny hug
linger a moment then gently pulled back. “I won’t be long. I
promise.”

Angelina’s eyes had been frightened the first
time Laura saw her, and they showed signs of fear once more. “I
wait for you,
Madrina.
”

Laura squeezed Angelina’s hands. “Not
Madrina,
Mama. I’m your mother, not your godmother. You’ll
see, Angelina.”

Mr. Maitland reached for Angelina’s hand.
“Come, Angelina. Betty will show you her new typewriter. When she
presses buttons, it writes words.”

Angelina took his hand.

Mr. Maitland opened the door and led her
through to the lobby of the depot. “Can you read yet,
Angelina?”

Laura knew the answer even though she didn’t
hear what Angelina told Mr. Maitland. She’d learned from the
Children’s Home in New York that Angelina could read English as
well as Spanish.

Laura let her gaze drift around the office.
She appreciated the fine look of the large hardwood desk, but she
could have done without the stale stench of cigar ashes emanating
from the ash tray on Mr. Farrah’s desk.

Mr. Maitland’s melodious, deep voice drifted
through the open door.

Angelina’s sweet laughter followed the sounds
of keys striking paper on a modern typewriter.

Laura relaxed a little knowing that Angelina
seemed to be content. She peeked around the frame of the door into
the lobby. Mr. Maitland touched Angelina’s cheek and smiled at the
child. The man who was about to ruin Laura’s life appeared to be
charming the daughter he was ready to destroy. Gavin Maitland was
most assuredly two men in one. Charming, handsome, some women might
say irresistible with his mass of caramel hair and his hazel-brown
eyes. Yet heartless, cruel, uncaring had to be accurate words to
describe him if he intended to stop Laura from making Angelina her
daughter.

Laura pulled her gaze from the lobby and
leaned against the door jamb. She closed her eyes.
He just can’t
take my daughter from my arms. We need each other.

Mr. Maitland came through the door, nearly
brushing his broad chest against Laura’s shoulder. He shut the door
and stood inches from Laura, looking down at her.

She stared up at him, studying his eyes,
wondering what she had to say or do to convince this sober,
unrelenting stickler for the law to bend the rules this one time so
she might keep Angelina with her in Heart Junction.

“Shall we sit down?” he asked in a coarse,
husky voice.

Laura blinked and gazed up at him a moment
longer. Would charm work? Scolding? Intimidation?

Seduction?

Her cheeks burned. She looked away. “Yes,
let’s sit.” Just the thought of how far she may or may not go to
keep Angelina warmed her whole body.

Mr. Maitland grasped Laura’s elbow and led
her to one of the chairs opposite the large wooden desk. He sat in
the chair next to her.

“I’m sorry, Miss Windsor, about our rules,
but my hands are tied.”

She shook her head. “No. There is something
we can do. We just haven’t thought of it yet.”

“I’m afraid there is nothing we can do. Our
city council very clearly states that Orphan Train children can be
placed only with married couples.”

Laura bolted to her feet. “This is 1912, Mr.
Maitland. We’re more than a decade into the Twentieth Century.
Things are changing. While we waited to speak to you this morning,
a horseless carriage trudged through the street where only horses,
men and stubborn mules have tread. Back in Iowa people are putting
up telephone lines like telegraph lines. Even Aberdeen your
neighbor has had a switch board for more than a decade, as I
understand it. I dare say the telephone will soon arrive in Heart
Junction as well. One person can talk on a phone in Iowa or South
Dakota while another listens in an eastern city. If the way we talk
to each other can change with the telegraph and the telephone when
barely fifty years ago our fastest communication came from the Pony
Express, then surely you and I, one man and one woman in a quiet
office in the middle of a vast prairie can effectively solve a
problem full of old fashioned ideas.”

Mr. Maitland stood and looked down at Laura.
“Are you a barrister, Miss Windsor?”

“Certainly not.”

“You’re an impassioned person, eloquent,
effective.”

“I’m a mother. I’m fighting for my
daughter.”

“And I represent Heart Junction and its laws.
I’m afraid I have no choice but to enforce them. I can’t place
Angelina with you.”

Laura pushed her hand into a pocket of her
sapphire wool coat. She pulled out a pocketbook and opened it.
“What will it take, Mr. Maitland?”

Mr. Maitland grabbed the pocketbook from her
hand and shut it soundly. He pushed the small clutch back into
Laura’s pocket. “I’m going to forget you’re attempt to bribe me
because I know you are in a desperate way.”

Laura reached for the lapels of Mr.
Maitland’s coat. She gripped them hard and stared up at him. “I’ll
do anything, Mr. Maitland. I can’t send Angelina back to the
orphanage. I lived in one of those orphanages for three years
myself. The day I left New York was the happiest day of my life. My
head was filled with dreams. I was sure I’d come west and find
love, with a family or with a man, someone to take care of me. I’d
lost everyone I loved when I was only thirteen years old. At
sixteen I felt like my life was beginning again. I did find a new
home in Iowa, but the people I was placed with didn’t want a
daughter. They wanted a servant. I obliged them until I turned
eighteen, then I left to take care of myself as I’d done in the
orphanage in New York.

“I worked as a servant girl and a seamstress,
and I became very good with a needle and thread. I can do wondrous
things. My life prospered, but I could never forget my life at the
orphanage in the city or the friends I left behind or all the lost
love. I vowed to make things better for at least one of the little
ones who’d lost love the way I had. I promised I’d find a little
girl to love the way I myself wanted to be loved. It is my destiny
to be Angelina’s mother.” She let go of his lapels and stepped
back. “You can’t fight a force as strong as destiny.”

Mr. Maitland stared down at her. If she knew
him better, perhaps she could interpret the odd look that filled
his eyes. “You speak as though you believe God himself has
commanded you to take in this little girl.”

“I make no such claim. I say only that I am
destined to be Angelina’s mother. It is written upon my heart.”

He cleared his throat. “Have you lived in
Heart Junction long? I don’t remember seeing you before.”

“Only a week. I bought the Sudemeyer building
for Angelina’s and my home and my garment business.”

“Do you expect your business to gain momentum
quickly? It often takes new businesses time to make a profit.”

“I opened my doors three days ago. I have
already received enough work to keep me busy for a month.”

His brows rose slightly, and his lips edged
upwards. “Impressive. You must have impeccable references.”

“My work speaks for itself, Mr. Maitland.
Women like fine quality in their clothing.”

“And you intend to make Heart Junction your
home?”

“I do. This is a growing town, Mr. Maitland,
the fastest growing in the area, besides Aberdeen. I did my
research before I moved to Heart Junction. I’m quite thorough,
except...”

“You didn’t check our local laws about orphan
placement.”

Laura shrugged and plopped back into her
chair. “It never occurred to me that things wouldn’t be the same
here concerning placements as they had been in Iowa.”

Mr. Maitland sat next to her. “Laws are
different, and we have to live with them.” He paused thoughtfully.
“You’re gainfully employed, then, my next question is rather
personal.” He paused and swallowed hard. “Do you have any prospects
for a groom in your near future?”

Laura blinked at him and gave him a blank
stare.

“What I mean,” he said, clearing his throat,
“...you are an attractive woman, Miss Windsor. Surely, there must
be someone... I think I could convince the mayor and councilmen to
bend the rules if you had plans to take a husband.”

Laura lifted her chin and narrowed her gaze.
“Are you making me an offer, Mr. Maitland?”

He tugged at his starched, white collar.
“That isn’t what I meant.”

Laura enjoyed his discomfort a long moment
before she replied. “I am not engaged to be married, and I have no
plans to become betrothed to anyone. I’ve concentrated all of my
energy on building a nest egg and a future I can offer to my little
girl. More importantly, I have focused on sharing love with a
daughter who needs to be loved.”

“And on finding love yourself as a
mother?”

“Yes.”

“Perhaps you should look for love with a man
before you seek it in a child.”

Laura had no response. She’d been so focused
on her business, her bank account and becoming a mother, she’d
really never thought of finding love with a man. The men who had
crossed her path had never been men capable of love. They’d only
wanted to take advantage of the poor orphan girl, the second class
girl from the city who surely would take clandestine walks and dole
out kisses freely to whatever man might show an interest in
her.

“What did you say?”

“Don’t you believe a woman should be married
before she becomes a mother?”

“I believe that it is usually a good idea to
be first a wife, then a mother, but life doesn’t always follow a
rigid plan. Certainly there is more than one way for a woman to
live her life.”

Mr. Maitland stood. He took Laura’s hand and
tugged her to her feet. “Miss Windsor, I am convinced that you are
sincere in your desire to take this sweet child into your home and
give her a fulfilling life, but my hands are tied.”

Laura shook her head. “You can’t take her
away from me. We’ve only just found each other.” She splayed her
hands just below her collar bone. “Angelina belongs with me.”

“No, she doesn’t.” Mr. Maitland stretched to
his full height. “But that doesn’t mean you are totally without
hope.”

“What?” Had she heard him right? Was he
offering a solution to the problem?

“Since the Orphan Train has already left
town, it will be at least two weeks before we can return Angelina
to New York. During that time, if it is agreeable to you, Angelina
may stay at your home.”

Laura grabbed Mr. Maitland’s lapels again and
began to draw him to her for a kiss on the cheek. If she had two
weeks, perhaps she could get this narrow-minded town to change its
mind.

When she realized what she was about to do
with Mr. Maitland, she let go of him and stepped back. “I’m sorry.
You surprised me with your change of heart.”

“That’s all right, Miss Windsor. I have more
to say.”

Laura took a deep breath and prepared to hear
bad news. “Go ahead.”

Mr. Maitland stretched tall again. “For the
two weeks’ time Angelina is at your house, I will try to find her a
home with a married couple in the area.”