Loving Eliza (19 page)

She slipped into the restaurant and saw Addy talking to Cynthia Taggert.  As soon as Addy saw her, she waved to her.  Glad to see a friendly face, Eliza rushed over to the table and sat down.  She glanced at the clock.  She’d have to be careful to keep her time to twenty minutes.

“You
had
me worried,” Addy said, clasping her hand.

Eliza blinked.  “Why?”

“Don’t you know?”

Cynthia stood up.  “I’ll leave you two to talk.  I’ll see you both at church.”

Eliza smiled and nodded as the woman left.  Turning her attention back to Addy, she asked, “What is it?  What don’t I know?”

“That John’s been looking all over for you.”

She shifted uncomfortably in her chair.  “Yes.  Well, I thought it best if I stop working for him.  Miss O’Conner will be out there soon enough, and the last thing they need is for me to interfere.”

“Oh, then you don’t know.”

“Know what?”

Rhonda left a table of laughing men and came over to them.  “Good day.  What can I get you two to eat?”

Addy glanced up.  “I
’d like the
ravioli.”

“I’ll have the same,” Eliza said not really caring what she ate as long as it was edible.  She couldn’t wait until the food arrived.  Just the smell coming from the kitchen made her weak.

Once Rhonda left, Addy said, “John broke off the engagement.”

She gasped.  “What?  But why?”

Addy smiled.  “Isn’t it obvious?”

Her face flushed.  She hoped
it wasn’t because of her.  “Isn’t what obvious?”

“He loves you.  I could tell when I saw you in church together.”

Rhonda set two
cup
s
of coffee in front of them.

“Thank you,” Addy said, picking up her cup and taking a sip.  “Ooh.  It’s still hot.” She quickly put it down.

Eliza felt sick to her stomach.  Why would he go and do something so foolish?  Did he think she was lying about being a prostitute?  It’d hurt to tell him.  She knew he had thought of her as a lady.  He certainly treated her like one.  But she had no choice.  Still, he couldn’t give up the chance to be with Daphne.  If he did, Eliza would never forgive herself.

“He promised Daphne that he’d marry her,” Eliza finally said and took her cup in her hands.

“Maybe, but she didn’t show up and you did.  It seems to me that God had other plans
in mind
.”

She gave a bitter la
ugh.  “God
didn’t
plan
that one.  I assure you of that.” She took a sip of the coffee despite the fact that it was still hot.  She needed something to occupy her mouth, and it felt good to drink something.  Harriet had allowed her one glass of water when she arrived at her house that morning but that had been it.

“God works in mysterious ways,
” Addy said, grinning.

Eliza breathed a sigh of relief as Rhonda placed a plate of ravioli in front of her.  She eagerly grabbed her fork and dug into the meal.  As soon as she realized how unsophisticated she must look, she forced herself to sl
ow down
.

“Where are you staying?” Addy asked as she bit into her food.

Eliza brought the fork to her mouth.  “I’m at Molly’s boarding house.” Then she ate the ravioli.  Cheese never tasted so good!

“John went there.  He must have been there before you arrived.  Eliza, can you afford a boarding house?”

“Yes.  I got a job that pays well.  I’m doing fine.”

“That’s good.  You do know that if there’s anything you need, you can come to me.”

Eliza ate another bite of ravioli and smiled.  “Thank you, Addy, but I’m doing fine.  I came here to be on my own, and now I’m doing it.”

Addy nodded.

“Oh, I do need something.  Do you know anyone who has a wagon that I might borrow?”

“Sure, I do.  Frank has one.  He needs it for the store.  Do you need someone to drive it?”

She hadn’t thought of driving it.  “I should.  I am not familiar with horses.”

“Well, if Frank is unavailable, then you can go to Willy.  You’ve met Willy, haven’t you?”

“Yes.  He’s a nice man.”

“Very nice.  Willy’s the kind of person who’ll do anything for anyone in need.”

“Thank you, Addy.  I’ll remember that.”

After she was finished eating, she went to Frank and asked for use of the wagon.  When she realized that
Frank had to stay at the store, she went to Willy’s house.

As she was about to knock on his door, Troy called out to her.  She
quickly knocked and turned to him.  Willy would open the door soon, and she’d feel better.  She didn’t know what it was about Troy that bothered her, but she felt it best to limit their conversations.

“How are you doing?” Troy asked her.

“Good.
”

“You managing alright?”

“Yes.  I’m doing fine, thanks.” Where was Willy?

“I’m glad to hear that.”

The door opened and she said a silent prayer
of thanks
for the interruption.  “Hello, Mister Jafferty.”

“Hello, Miss Sweet, Mister Evans,” the man replied, straightening his shirt.  “How may I help you?”

“I was just over at Mister Garrison’s store, and he said I could borrow his wagon but I’ve never driven one before so I was wondering if you could help me with that?  I need to empty out Mrs. Lube’s attic, and she wants her things taken to the garbage.”

“I’d be happy to help you,” Willy said.  “Let me get my hat and vest on, and I’ll be right out.”

“Thank you.”

Troy smiled.  “You know, I have a wagon too.  Should you ever need one in the future and if Willy’s not able to help, I’d like to offer my services.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, and it’s nice of you to offer.” She prayed she’d never need to take him up on that.

To her surprise, the marshal walked over to them.  “Thank goodness I finally found you, Miss Sweet.”

Her eyes widened.  Did Harriet send the marshal to look for her?
  “Is there a problem, Marshal?”

“No, but at least Miss O’Conner can rest assured you’re safe.  That John came by last night and insisted that I do a search for you.  Never mind that you are an adult woman who is fully capa
ble of leaving him if you wish
.  Quite frankly, I don’t know why you agreed to work for him in the first place.  But that’s just me.  Anyway, now I can tell Miss O’Conner I found you.”

“Miss Sweet is staying at Molly’s,” Troy said on her behalf.

“That’s a good choice.  Molly is a nice woman.  She’ll do you right.  That’ll make
Miss O’Conner feel better, which means that my wife will feel better.”

Eliza wondered if she should have left John a note.  Then he wouldn’t have worried other people.  Oh well.  There was nothing to be done about it now.  Hopefully, things would settle down and he’d rethink breaking off the engagement to Daphne.  She could only hope he’d do that, even if a part of her
dreaded it.

As the marshal headed off, Willy asked, “Why did you leave John’s place?”

Was it really any of his business?  Or anyone’s
business?  But Willy had been kind to
John—one of the few people in town
who actually were nice to him—
so he deserved respect.  “I left because M
iss O’Conner i
s in town now, and I know that a woman doesn’t want to share her space with another woman, even if that other woman is the help.”

“I’m sorry you had to leave.  John’s a good man, and I’m sure he’s better than Mrs. Lube.  That woman’s a hard one to deal with.”

“Is she?” Here it came.  What he’d say next would only confirm her fears.

“She’s got to be.  No one
works for her for long.  I think the longest anyone’s worked for her was half a year.”

Troy shrugged and crossed his arms.  “Well, that don’t matter.  I’m sure Eliza can find a man who’d be more than happy to marry her.  Then she won’t have to deal with Mrs. Lube or any other job.”

This wasn’t going well.  She didn’t have any desire to marry Troy.

Willy closed the door.  “Anyway, I best get you over to Mrs. Lube’s before she starts s
c
reamin’.”

“Oh, you’re jesting.  She wouldn’t really scream,” Eliza said, grinning.

He raised an eyebrow.  “I’ve seen it before.  She had that Marcia cryin’ that one time.  I’ll never forget how afraid of Mrs. Lube she was after that.”

“Then Marcia married Stephen and she’s fine now,” Troy interjected.

“True.  Stephen’s a good man.  Treats her real well too.”

Eliza sighed.  “I better get back then.  Will you take the wagon over there?  I’ll start clearing out her attic.”

“I’ll help too,” Troy offered.  “I got the rest of the day off and nothing to do.”

Troy...
with her all afternoon?  Eliza quickly looked at Willy.  “Will you help?”

“Sure, I will.  Any friend of John’s is a friend of mine, and I believe in helpin’ my friends whenever I can.”

Troy seemed disappointed, but she didn’t care.  She like
d
Willy and was relieved he’d be there too.  “I’m fortunate to have the help of two strong men.”

They both beamed at her, so she left it at that.  She just hoped that none of them got the wrong idea about this.

T
hat Sunday, Eliza almost didn’t go to church.  What if John was there?  What if he came with Daphne?  What if he didn’t?  What if he came to see her?
  What if he didn’t come at all?  Life had continued on without him, but she felt a li
ngering emptiness.  Is this what it felt like to be in love?  She’d never experienced lo
ve with a man before, so she wasn’t prepared for how much it hurt to leave John.

She stood outside the church and took a deep breath.  For a moment, she imagined what might have been if she had married John here.  He’d always make it a point to stop and point to the church anytime they came to town.  His persistence annoyed her
to
no end, but now she wanted nothing more than to have him ask again.
  But it wouldn’t be fair to him.  Not really.  He deserved better than her.

She peeked into the church and saw that he was there, sitting in the pew they usually sat in together.  Frank and Addy were talking to him.  She shook her head.  No.  She couldn’t do it.  She couldn’t face him.  Not today.  Maybe she could next week.  She turned and fled down the street, not caring if anyone saw her or not.

She glanced over her shoulder and bumped into someone. 
She nearly shrieked.  Then she looked forward and saw Daphne who was with Charity, Bethany, and Ralph. 
“Oh, Miss O’Conne
r.  I’m sorry.
” Really, that applied to bumping into her and being responsible for John breaking the engagement.

Daphne smiled and shook her head.  “I know it was an accident.  There’s no need to apologize.  Would you like to join us for church this morning?”

Daphne had to be kidding!  What woman wanted to sit with the woman who took her intended away from her?

“You’re more than welcome to join us,” Charity offered.

Eliza wouldn’t step into that church right now if her life depended on it.  “Thank you for the offer, but I don’t feel well.”

“What’s wrong?” Daphne asked, looking concerned.  “Is there anything we can do to help?”

Daphne’s kindness was making Eliza feel worse by the minute.  She couldn’t bear to be around someone this good.
  “John’s there,” she blurted out before she had the chance to think over the wisdom of her words.  “Maybe you should sit with him.  I mean, I heard that you’re no longer engaged, but he doesn’t know you.  You shouldn’t just give up on him.”

“I don’t understand.  I thought you two were planning to get married.”

Eliza nearly gasped.  “What?  No!  I never said I’d marry him.”