Her Heart's Desire (15 page)

“
Did I say it
again?”

Amused, she chuckled. “You are a lost
cause.”

Ethel Mae giggled again as the two
friends went into the house.

Chapter Eleven

Rick was heading for his home when he
spotted Vivian sitting on a bench not far from the mercantile. Her
arms were crossed and she had a scowl on her face. After he made
sure the street was clear of traffic, he crossed it so he could
talk to her.

“
Vivian, is something
wrong?” he asked once he reached her.

She looked over at him and shrugged in
a manner that indicated she’d lost her closest friend. “No one
cares about me.”

Surprised she said that, he sat next
to her. “That’s not true.”

“
Oh, it is. I just found
out when I really need someone, no one will come through for
me.”

“
What’s wrong? Maybe I can
help.”

She let out a long sigh. “It’s too
late. That horrible Hugh already saw my private writings. I can’t
think of anything more humiliating, can you?”

He considered that for a girl, having
such a thing happen would be tantamount to utter and complete
disaster. “No, I can’t think of anything worse than that.” At least
not anything comparable that might happen to a grown
man.

“
When I think of all the
things I did for them, I get so angry.”

“
Things you did for
who?”

“
My sister and that friend
of hers.”

“
Sally?”

She nodded. “That’s the traitor. You
go out of your way to do their bidding, and when you need them,
they don’t care.”

“
They care about
you.”

“
They didn’t come to my aid
when Hugh was running off with one of the papers in my private
journal. They just stood there in awe of all the things that
horrible Samuel was telling them.”

“
What’s so horrible about
Samuel?”

Vivian grunted. “Nothing. He’s
perfect. My sister can’t stop talking about him, and she can’t look
away from him for a few seconds to see when I’m in great distress.
Me! Her own sister!”

“
If your life was truly in
danger, she’d come to your aid.”

“
One can only
hope.”

“
Sure, she would.” He
glanced at the mercantile and nudged her in the arm. “Would some
candy make you feel better? I could give you some
change.”

“
I’m not a little kid,” she
replied.

He dug out some coins from his pocket.
“Oh come on. You’re never too old to enjoy candy.”

She glanced at his hand full of coins
and bit her lower lip. “But the kind of ache I feel can’t be
soothed away by sweets. You got to understand that this is deep. It
hurts me through and through. My sister and her friend just let me
know they don’t care about me. I went through all the trouble of
making up Samuel and Larry because Sally wanted you to take an
interest in her—”

“
You made up
Samuel?”

Her eyes grew wide.

He focused in on her, willing her to
maintain eye contact with him. “Vivian.”

She cleared her throat and shifted
uneasily on the bench. “Oh, well…” She let out a half-hearted
chuckled. “Did I say made up? I meant—”

“
How much?” He took out a
coin from his hand.

“
Wh-what?”

“
How much do you want for
telling me the truth?”

She glanced uneasily at the change in
his hand and shook her head. “I can’t. Even if I’m angry as can be
at those two, I can’t.”

“
They didn’t help you take
that paper from Hugh,” he reminded her, purposely riling her up so
she’d talk.

Her lips formed a thin line and she
nodded. “You’re right, but I still wouldn’t feel right about
it.”

“
What if I promise you that
I won’t tell them you told me the truth?”

Her gaze went from the change in his
hand to his eyes. “You really promise?”

Winking, he said, “You have my
word.”

“
I could use a new journal.
Hugh destroyed my old one with his grubby hands.”

He handed her a coin. “Is this enough
for a new journal?”

She nodded. “My sister never wanted
you to court her, but she didn’t know how to tell you so she
invited Sally over to see if Sally would be interested in
you.”

He had a feeling that Ethel Mae wasn’t
that interested in him, so this didn’t come as a surprise. “I see.
So how did Larry and Samuel come about?”

“
Well, Sally took an
interest in you right away.”

His face warmed with pleasure. Now
this was better. “She did?”

“
Yes, but it was obvious
you wanted my sister.”

He sighed. So everyone could tell he
was interested in Ethel Mae? That wasn’t so great, but he supposed
in his eagerness to talk to her, he didn’t even try to hide his
feelings. “What next?”

“
I could use a new pen,”
Vivian said, pointing to his hand full of change. “Hugh got a hold
of that, too.”

“
It’s a shame you can’t be
a lawyer,” he told the girl as he gave her another coin. “You have
a knack for giving a convincing argument.” To play it safe, he
handed her two more coins. “I believe this will cover any other
expenses due to Hugh’s carelessness.”

“
It sure does,” she
cheered, delighted as she counted the change in her
hand.

“
Are you going to tell me
everything else?”

“
Oh! Yes. Well, Sally came
up with the idea to make you think the only way to get my sister
was to pretend you liked Sally. So they told me to tell you that my
sister only likes men who are interested in someone else. I made up
Samuel and Larry to give you examples of men my sister
wanted.”

“
But Samuel turned out to
be a real person.”

“
I know. Wasn’t that
something?” She smiled in amusement. “I must have heard his name
somewhere and not realized it. But as it turns out, my sister can’t
stop talking about him.”

“
And what about
Sally?”

“
She adores you. She talks
about you all the time.”

His smile widened.

“
I’m getting sick of
hearing it,” Vivian added.

“
You’re getting sick of
hearing about me?” he asked with a frown.

“
Only because she can’t
stop talking about how wonderful you are and how she hopes you’ll
marry her.”

His eyebrows rose in interest. “She
wants to marry me?”

“
And have your children.
She’s even come up with their names. I feel sorry for you, Rick.
She’s got your whole life planned out for you.”

With a wicked grin, he said, “Maybe
she has some things planned, but she can’t plan
everything.”

Looking intrigued, she asked, “What
are you going to do?”

He wasn’t sure quite yet, but he also
didn’t want to tell Vivian in case she let it slip that he would,
indeed, give Sally the future she hoped for—a future he also
wanted. But it wouldn’t do to just come out and tell her this. If
Sally went through the trouble of getting him to pretend to like
her under the pretense of getting him to sincerely care for her,
then it only seemed fitting to make a plan of his own. Why let her
hold all the cards? He could play the game just as well.

Turning his attention to Vivian, he
grinned. “Let’s just say that I’m going to give Sally what she
wants but in a roundabout way.”

She scrunched her eyebrows.
“Huh?”

“
You’ll find out. In the
meantime,” he began as he gave her another coin, “don’t tell them I
know, alright?”

She shrugged and put the coins in her
pocket. “You have my word. Just promise me one thing?”

His eyebrows rose as she stood up.
“What?”

“
Promise me that you’ll
give it to them good!”

Unable to resist the chuckle that rose
up in his throat, he nodded. “I promise.”

“
Good.” She started to head
off but then snapped her fingers and returned to him. “Sally will
be staying at my house for a few days.”

That was good to know. It would make
his job much easier since he didn’t have to find a horse and buggy.
Well, at least he wouldn’t need to find them to go to her family’s
farm. He might, however, still need one, but that wasn’t going to
be today. “Thank you, Vivian.”

Looking much happier than she had
moments earlier, she ran for the mercantile, probably eager to use
the money she’d just earned for telling him everything.

He stood up and checked his pocket
watch. Perhaps in a couple of hours, he ought to pay Ethel Mae a
visit. If Sally was going to be there, it might be a good idea to
test things out, to make sure she wanted to be with him, as Vivian
said. He slipped the pocket watch back in his pocket and,
whistling, headed to his boarding house to get ready to see
Sally.

***

The time between his supper and when
he could see Sally seemed to take forever. As he adjusted his suit
jacket and tie, he thought over the things he would say and do when
he was at Ethel Mae’s. It was odd how confident he felt compared to
how uncertain he’d been in the past.

He took a deep breath and studied his
reflection. He wasn’t as polished as Samuel, but Sally saw
something in him she liked, and that was good enough for him.
Retrieving his hat, he left his room and went down the steps, his
excitement propelling him to call out a greeting to the owner as he
passed by her on the way out of the house.

Whistling, he made his way down the
street and, on impulse, bought two baskets of flowers from a man
selling them near the mercantile. He didn’t feel right showing up
with flowers just for Sally. Besides, it wouldn’t be good to give
himself away. Sally needed to believe she was still helping him get
Ethel Mae, and he saw no reason to make her think otherwise. At
least not yet.

When he reached Ethel Mae’s house, he
saw Ethel Mae and Sally sitting together on the porch, talking and
laughing. His steps slowed and he couldn’t help but think what
clever schemers those two were, but it also pleased him to know
that Sally had been attracted to him on the day they met. Clearing
his throat, he quickened his pace and headed up the porch steps in
time to see the two look in his direction.

“
I heard Sally was in town
and thought it appropriate to stop by with two baskets of flowers
instead of one,” he said, noting how lovely Sally was with her
golden hair resting softly on her shoulders.

Ethel Mae offered him a tentative
smile. “You came by to see me?”

He saw the uncertainty in Sally’s eyes
and wondered what she might think if he said yes. Would she be
jealous if she thought he was still harboring feelings for her
friend? But Sally’s plan was for him to “feign” interest in her
instead of Ethel Mae, so he turned a wide smile in Sally’s
direction. “Actually, I thought I’d see if Sally might like to go
for a walk.”

Sally’s eyes lit up, and he knew for
sure that Vivian had told him the truth. Sally was, indeed,
interested in him. Feeling a bit smug at this knowledge, he
presented the flowers to Sally then Ethel Mae.

“
Would you mind if I stole
your friend for a while so I can take her on a walk?” he asked
Ethel Mae.

Ethel Mae glanced at Sally. “No, I
don’t mind.”

“
Sally?” he asked
her.

“
Sure.” Sally stood up and
glanced at the basket of flowers in her hands. “Will you take care
of these?” she asked her friend.

“
I’ll be happy
to.”

As Ethel Mae took the basket from her,
Sally joined him and they headed down the porch steps.

“
I hope you’re not upset
with me for taking you away from your friend,” he said.

“
No, I’m not upset. I am
curious, though, why you wanted to walk with me instead of
her.”

Taking note of her hopeful expression,
he resisted the urge to give in and tell her the truth. Sally and
Ethel Mae went through a lot of trouble to get him to fall in love
with Sally and now that he had, the least he could do was oblige
them by making them believe he still needed help.

“
Actually, I was thinking
of seeing her tomorrow, but I thought it was only right to make her
jealous first. When I realized you were in town, I knew this would
be the perfect opportunity before I ask if I can court her.” He
noted the slight wince on her face. “Do you think she’ll say
no?”

“
Oh, um, I don’t
know.”

Of course, she knew. He turned his
attention to the sidewalk as they went in the direction of the
park. “I figure that this plan of yours can only continue for so
long. Sooner or later I need to see if Ethel Mae will let me court
her, and it might as well be tomorrow.”

“
Then we won’t see each
other anymore. I mean, if she says no.”