Loving Eliza (28 page)

Another family moved to the platform and assembled to get their picture taken.  Corbin told them how to stand.  She watched the process for awhile.  The line moved slowly.  Not once did Corbin look in her direction.  That was a good sign, wasn’t it?  Maybe he would leave her alone.  Maybe she worried over nothing.
  She stood for a moment and peer
ed into the general store to check
the clock.  She’d been there for a full fifteen minutes.  Sitting back down, she slowly exhaled.  John had to fix one step.  Once he was done, he’d be back and they could go home.  Surely, he was almost done by now.

“I never did congratulate you,” a familiar voice said.

Jerking, she turned to Troy who was now sitting next to her.  She placed her hand over her heart.  “I didn’t see you come over here.”

“Apparently not.”

Great.  It wasn’t bad enough
that
Cor
bin was within viewing range
,
but
she had to contend with Troy as well.  Shifting in the chair, she cleared her throat and said, “I never did apologize for leaving the way I did.  When I was heading out of the house, I ran into John, and...” She hesitated, knowing that whatever she said, it wouldn’t come out right.  Men never handled rejection well.  At least, not in her experience.  “I mean, it was just a dinner we were going to.  We weren’t courting or anything.” And even if they were, she had every right to marry John anyway.  She’d been under no obligation to marry Troy.  Ever.

Troy leaned back in his chair.  “You don’t have to explain anything to me.  You loved him all along.  You should be with him.”

Right.  She didn’t
believe him.  The nagging feeling that there was something bad about him was screaming at her.  “
Thank you,” she finally said, deciding it was best to act as if he meant it.

“I see you two got your picture taken.”

“Yes.” Now she had to look for an excuse to get out of there.  She scanned the crowd of people who mingled around the business district.  There really wasn’t anyone she felt comfortable going up to and starting a conversation
with
.  She glanced through the doorway and saw that Frank was helping a customer.  When would John get back?

“I figured that you two got one of those silver frames,” Troy continued.  “Our mother gave Aaron one for each of her sons, even John.  None of us thought he’d ever get married at the time, but he sure showed us.”

She frowned, not particularly caring for the way he laughed.  “He almost married Daphne.”

“I know.  Everyone knows.  If Daphne had showed up first,
then John would’ve
marr
ied
her
when you came into town
.”

She blinked at the bitter edge in his words.

“B
ut things work out for the best,” he continued, his eyes sharp even as he smiled.
 
“
Good Old Willy has a reason to smile again.  Those two are going to do well together.”

That was it.  Eliza didn’t care if Frank was with a customer or not.  She had to get away from Troy.  She quickly got to her feet.  “I just remember something I have to get from the store.  It was rea
l nice seeing you again, Troy.”

She d
idn’t wait for him to respond.  As soon as she was in the store, she
wiped her hands on her dress, hoping to dry them.  She shouldn’t break out into a sweat just because she talked to someone.  What was it about Troy that bothered her?  Was it always going to be like this?  She hated it.  Hated having Corbin out there, taking pictures, and knowing exactly what she used to be.  Hated having Troy lingering around, thinking that she’d duped him.  She never should have agreed to go to that stupid party with him.  If she hadn’t been so hungry, she wouldn’t have.  It was better than sleeping with Alan so he’d give her money for the restaurant.  Wasn’t it?

She squeezed her eyes shut tight, willing the tears away.  This was supposed to be a good day.  She and John were getting their picture taken.  It was supposed to be perfect.  So why was it quickly turning sour?  And how could she get things back to how they should be?

“Eliza, are you alright?”

She opened her eyes and looked at Frank’s concerned expression.  “Oh.  Hello, Frank.  I...Uh...” She glanced around the store.  What could she use back home?

Corbin entered the store.  “Oh good.  Do you have a screwdriver?” he asked Frank.  “I got a loose screw out there.”

She took a step back, wishing she could fade into the background or slip out.  She glanced out the window and noticed that Troy was still sitting by the door.  Gritting her teeth, she wondered if there was a door in the hallway behind the counter that would lead outside.  Was there an alley behind the
store?

Frank turned to his counter and pulled out a drawer beneath his cash register.  “I have one in here somewhere.”

Corbin smiled at her.  “It sure is nice to see a familiar face.  I do a lot of traveling, so I rarely get a chance to meet up with someone twice.”

“You know Eliza?” Frank asked.

“We had some business a couple of times.”

Eliza was going to throw up.  She just knew he was going to tell Frank what kind of business they had.  Another glance out the window showed her that Troy hadn’t budged from his
spot.  She couldn’t decide who
was worse.  Both Troy and Corbin were dangerous,
just for different reasons.

“Found it,” Frank called out.

“Thank you.” Corbin took the screwdriver and left.

She breathed a sigh of relief.  He hadn’t told Frank!  She didn’t know why, but he was being quiet about the whole thing.  Maybe he understood that she wanted out of that business and needed a second chance to do it.  Whatever the reason, she wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip by.

“I better find John.  We should head back home,” she told Frank.  “Will you tell Addy hi and that I’ll see her next time I come into town?”

“Are you sure that’s all you want?  I do have lots of goodies on the shelves,” he hinted with a wide grin.

“You’re always the salesman, Frank.  We’ll spend our money here next time we’re in town.  I promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

She couldn’t help but smile.

“Frank, can you come out here?  We need help with the
platform!”

One look out the door notified her that it had fallen over.

“I better assist.”

“Frank, do you have a door that leads to the alley?
” she quietly
asked.

He stepped closer to her and whispered, “Trying to avoid Troy?”

“How did you know?”

“Addy.”

“Yes.  As a matter of fact, I am trying to avoid him.”

He nodded.  “Back down that small hallway is the backroom.  The door is there.”

“Thank you, Frank.”

“Anytime.”

S
he slipped out the door he mentioned and breathed in the fresh air.  She w
as alone in the alley, and she
never felt so good to get away from people in her entire life.  She turned in the direction that would lead to Charity’s house and made her way down the dirty alley, careful to lift the hem of her dress.

She reached the end of the row of businesses and stepp
ed onto the dusty road, squinting
in the
sunlight.  John would be three blocks away.  She strolled along, thinking of how odd it was that things were so quiet in this section of town but she figured all the activity was in the center part of it.  When she approached Harriet L
ube’s house, her stomach tensed and she paused.  Did she dare even walk in front of the woman’s residence?  Harriet rarely looked out her windows.  Maybe she could quickly pass by unnoticed.  That was the curse of living in a small town.  Everyone knew everyone else, and when something bad happened, it made future dealings a very unpleasant experience.

“I thought you might be down this way.”

She
gasped and whirled around.

Corbin sauntered up to her, looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world.  “It sure is good to see you again, honey.”

“I’m not your honey.”

“Not all the time.  Just when I pay you to be.”

She took a deep breath to settle her nerves.  “Please Mister...” She suddenly realized she didn’t even know his last name.  But what did that matter?  “I don’t want any trouble.”

“I don’t want any trouble either.  Why do you think I kept my mouth shut back there?  However, I have been looking for a moment to speak to you...alone.”

“I’m married.  I don’t do that anymore.”

He chuckled.  “Married?  You?  A prostitute?”

“I’m not one anymore.  I came here to leave that life behind.”

He stopped laughing and sighed.  “That’s a shame.  I saw you and hoped that we could...” He shrugged.  “Well, you know.  In a town this size, it’s not likely there’s a brothel either.”

“No, there’s not.”

“Very well.  I’ll just
have to wait until I get to a town
that does.  Sorry to disturb you, Eliza.”

Was that really it?  Was he going to leave it at that?  She tried to think back to what she’d learned about Corbin, but there had been so many men who’d come her way, it was hard to remember who was who.  All she could remember was his face.  She sighed.  She hoped he was one of the nicer ones.

She turned around and nearly ran into Harriet who had a satisfied smirk on her face.  “Interesting,” Harriet said as she scanned her from head to toe.  “A prostitute, hmm?”

“Mrs. Lube, I’d appreciate
it
if you didn’t say anything.”

“I bet.”

Eliza struggled on how to handle the woman.  In her time of working for her, Mrs. Lube hadn’t proven to be a rational woman.  “I worked hard to get out of that life.”

“You certainly did.  You took your feminine wiles and married that poor retard
who didn’t know any better.”

Something in Eliza snapped.  “Now you listen here, you tired out old hag.  It’s one thing for you to point the finger at what I used to do, but when you talk about my husband that way, it’s the final straw.  I have put up with you long enough.  You promised me money for my work, and yet you’ve cheated me out of a good $4.”

“Because you didn’t earn it.”

“I did so earn it!  I went without food and you sat there and ate right in front of me, knowing how hungry I was and refusing to have e
nough compassion to let me
even
have
a scrap of food from your table.  You even fed the stray dog that makes his rounds to your place once a day, but you couldn’t spare anything for me.”

“And it looks to me like someone who’d give her body in order to make a living is beneath a dog.
  The only man who’d have you is one who can’t tell the difference.”

Eliza slapped her.

The woman pressed her hand to her cheek, looking horrified.

“I warned you not to speak about John that way.”

Harriet threw down her cane and screamed.

Startled, Eliza stepped back, not sure of how to react.  The stupid woman was a loon through and through.

“She’s beating me!  Make her stop!”

“Why you—” Eliza pulled on the woman’s hair.  “I’ve had enough of you, you witch!  Now, shut up.”

“She’s hurting me!”

She let go of the woman and retrieved the cane.  “You want this?  Then stop your hollering.”

“What is the meaning of this?” a man called out.

Great.  A group of people came running to see what the ruckus was about.  “I ought to club you over the head with this,” Eliza hissed.

Harriet glared at her
.  “I wouldn’t expect less from a whore.”

Eliza’s hand tightened around the club, but this time her actions were out of anxiety instead of anger.  “Please don’t tell them.  Look, I’m sorry.  I won’t do anything to upset you ever again.”

“Then I guess you’ll have to keep coming to my house and working for me.  My silence will be payment enough, don’t you agree?”

Eliza winced.  Could she afford to make such a deal?  Sooner or later, she’d do something or say something to upset the woman, and the woman would end up revealing her secret anyway.  Eliza knew people like Harriet all too well. 
“Be a good girl,”
her uncle once whispered in her ear.
  “As long as
you don’t tell anyone
our little secret,
I won’t let your aunt get rid of you
.”
But when she got pregnant,
he
quickly forgot that promise
.
  No.  She couldn’t afford to make such a pact. 
There was no honor among liars
, and sooner or later, Harriet would grow tired of her
and tell the town anyway.
  She was tired of living in fear.