September Sky (American Journey Book 1) (32 page)

"Can you hold this, Charles?" Charlotte asked as she held out an empty wine glass.

"Of course," Chuck said. He took the glass. "Are you all right?"

Charlotte nodded.

"I'm fine. I just want to say goodbye to Mr. Chapman before he leaves the reception. He's going on vacation tomorrow and won't be back until October."

"Take your time."

"It was nice seeing you, Silas," Charlotte said. "Thank you again for the dinner invitation. I'm looking forward to making another trip to Houston. Please excuse me."

Silas nodded as Charlotte stepped forward and disappeared into the crowd.

"She's quite a woman," Silas said.

"Yes, she is," Chuck said.

Silas finished his glass of wine and placed it on a small table next to the wall. When a waiter came by with more wine, he grabbed another glass off of his tray and turned to face Chuck.

"I confess I didn't come over here solely to pay my respects."

"I didn't think so," Chuck said. "What do you want to talk about?"

Silas sipped his wine.

"Wyatt seems to think a spate of bad weather is on its way and for that reason wants to make some changes in how we do business. He wants to send each of our vessels to Mobile for maintenance at the end of August and cancel all of our scheduled runs in early September."

"That's interesting," Chuck said. "Why are you telling this to me?"

"I'm telling you because you are the man who put this ridiculous idea in his head."

"I take it you don't approve of the idea."

"I don't," Silas said. "We have operated in the Gulf of Mexico for many years and have never encountered insurmountable difficulties during hurricane season. I have no reason to believe that this year will be any different."

"Then why don't you put a stop to the 'ridiculous idea'?" Chuck asked. "You have just as much say in running the company as your brother."

"That 'say' means nothing in a situation like this. Wyatt and I each have the authority to redirect our ships for up to three weeks without the other's consent. Our father included that specific provision in his will. He was a conservative man who wanted to give each of us the ability to err unilaterally on the side of safety."

"I see your problem. I wish you the best in resolving it."

"I can't resolve it without your help," Silas said testily.

"What is it that you want me to do?"

"I want you to talk some sense into Wyatt and get him to at least moderate his position."

Chuck sipped some wine.

"Why should I do that? I think that sending your ships away from Galveston for a few weeks will save your company. In my mind, I'm doing you a favor."

"It's a favor I don't want and can't afford," Silas said. "Will you please at least talk to him?"

Chuck nodded.

"I'll talk to him, but I can't promise he'll listen."

"Just
talk
to him."

"OK."

Chuck took a breath as Silas took his leave and headed for the door. He didn't know what to make of the curious exchange, but did know one thing. Either Silas Fitzpatrick knew nothing about the coming storm or he was the dumbest businessman on Earth.

CHAPTER 53: EMILY

Emily gazed at the sad young man and sighed. She had done more gazing and sighing in the past six days than in the past six weeks but still didn't know what the fuss was about. She knew only that she had said or done something to upset Justin and wished she could find out what.

"So you're still not going to tell me?"

"There's no point, Emily."

"Of course there's a point," Emily said. She looked around the library's meeting room and decided to lower her voice. "I care about you and want to know what's bothering you."

"Can we argue somewhere else?" Justin asked. "I really don't want to spoil Charlotte and Rose's reception by getting into a fight."

"We're not arguing – and we're certainly not fighting," Emily said. She lowered her voice again. "We're trying to find out why you've been so difficult lately. That's different."

"In other words, we're fighting."

Emily frowned.

"Come with me."

Emily grabbed Justin's hand and led him out of the meeting room, out of the library, and down the Strand. She didn't stop until she found the café table that had lent itself to more than a few constructive and contentious conversations.

Emily scanned the surroundings and saw that they had the outdoor dining area to themselves, which did not come as a surprise. The café did not open on Saturdays.

"Sit."

"Don't tell me what to do," Justin said.

"OK. I won't. I'll ask you. Please sit."

Justin did as requested.

Emily grabbed the other chair at the table and made herself comfortable. When she was sure that Justin wasn't going to run away, she resumed the conversation that wasn't a fight.

"Will you please tell me what's bothering you? Does this have something to do with my unwillingness to leave Galveston to 'pursue' whatever it is I might pursue?"

"It might," Justin said.

"Then just say so."

"OK. It does."

Emily stared at her friend with the wavy blond hair and shook her head. She thought she had seen the last of difficult boyfriends and fiancés, but she was wrong. Justin Townsend was as challenging as they got. Were it not for the fact that she loved him, she would have put him on the fastest train to Los Angeles or the slowest boat to China.

"Justin?"

"Yeah?"

"I didn't mislead you the other day. I really can't imagine living apart from my family, except to attend college. I can't imagine moving so far from Anna that I couldn't see her every day."

Emily reached across the table and grabbed his hand.

"Under the right circumstances, however, I would do just that."

"You would follow me to California?" Justin asked.

Emily nodded.

"I would prefer not to, but I would if I had to."

Justin took a deep breath and mustered a weak smile.

"That means a lot to me."

Emily tilted her head and leaned forward.

"Do you mind if I ask why?"

"No," Justin said. "I don't mind. I just don't know if I can answer the question."

"Why is that?"

"It's complicated, Emily. The only thing I'm sure about is that I love you and don't want to lose you. Beyond that, I can't give you any answers – at least not right now."

Emily laughed.

"Well, at least you love me."

Justin smiled warmly.

"I've loved you since you said most men were bad."

"I said no such thing. I said that
all
men were bad," Emily said. "If you're going to quote me, Mr. Townsend, at least quote me correctly."

Justin chuckled.

"OK."

"Do you feel better now?" Emily asked.

"Yes. I do."

"Do you want to go back to the reception?"

Justin shook his head.

"No. I want to give you something instead."

Emily's heart raced when Justin withdrew his hand, reached into a jacket pocket, and pulled out a velvet box. Her heart slowed when she realized that the box was wider and larger than the ones that typically contained a ring.

"What is it?" Emily asked.

Justin placed the box in front of her.

"Open the box. You'll see."

Emily slowly opened the box and saw that it contained a sterling silver heart-shaped locket on a silver chain. She pulled the item from the box and quickly put it around her neck.

"Anna picked it out," Justin said.

"Anna?"

Justin nodded.

"When you went to the salon last week and asked me to get Anna some ice cream, I did more than get her some ice cream. I took her shopping. She knows you better than your parents."

Emily smiled sweetly.

"She does," Emily said. She looked at Justin. "This is beautiful. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I had planned to give it to you in the rowboat on Sunday, but I couldn't bring myself to do it after our little disagreement."

"I understand."

"Open the locket," Justin said.

Emily did just that. She saw her initials engraved on the left side and Justin's on the right.

"I wanted to put photos in it, but I didn't have any," Justin said.

"Maybe we can do something about that," Emily said.

"Yeah. Maybe we can."

Emily gazed at Justin again and resisted the temptation to jump across the table and smother him with hugs and kisses. She didn't know if it were possible to love a man more than she loved him at that moment.

"With or without pictures, it's perfect. I will wear it always."

"Do you want to go back to the reception now?" Justin asked.

"No. I'm happy right here."

"If you do, we can. I've said what I wanted to say and given you what I wanted to give you."

"That's good," Emily said, "because I haven't."

Emily rose from her chair, scanned the area again for nosy neighbors, and walked slowly around the table. When Justin, still seated, lifted his head, she placed her hands on his cheeks and gave him a long, tender kiss.

"I love you," Emily said. "I think I always have."

She kissed him again and returned to her chair. When she settled in, she put the velvet box in her purse, and resumed looking at the young man she did not want to live without.

"Are you going to be all right?" Emily asked.

"I'll be all right," Justin said. He sighed. "I have a question for you though."

"What's that?"

"I overheard your mom talk about a family vacation to Louisiana and thought I heard her say that you would all be gone for two weeks. Is that true?"

"It's partly true," Emily said.

"What do you mean by 'partly true'?"

"What I mean, Justin, is that my father, mother, and sister are leaving Wednesday morning to see my grandparents in New Orleans. They will be gone until the fifteenth."

"You're not going?" Justin asked.

"I'm not going."

Emily met his gaze.

"I'm staying right here."

CHAPTER 54: CHUCK

Saturday, August 4, 1900

"Are you going to play, Chuck, or stare at your cards all night?"

Chuck looked at the woman to his left and laughed to himself. Rose O'Malley hadn't changed a bit since becoming the future Mrs. Wyatt Fitzpatrick. If anything, she had become more like the feisty librarian he had first met in April.

"Are you in a hurry, Miss O'Malley?"

"I most certainly am," Rose said. She held her head high. "I finally have a decent hand and want to rub it in all of your noses."

Wyatt and Charlotte laughed.

"I see you've mastered the art of the bluff," Chuck said.

Rose raised a brow.

"I've mastered a lot of things, Mr. Townsend."

Chuck smiled, sighed, and shook his head. He looked at Charlotte and saw her blush.

"Do you still want to claim her?"

"She
is
our housemate, Charles."

"She's a lot more than that," Chuck said.

Rose winked at the reporter.

"I'm going to miss you," she said.

Chuck laughed.

"I'm sure you are."

Chuck collected himself and returned to his hand. He didn't think he could stop Rose from rubbing it in with a king, a queen, a nine, a six, and a four, but he didn't really care. At this point, he cared only about surviving a war of wits with at least a shred of his dignity. He discarded the single-digit cards and motioned with his fingers for replacements.

The dealer paused for a minute, grinned devilishly, and finally pushed three new cards across the table. Wyatt appeared to enjoy watching Chuck interact with Rose almost as much as he enjoyed sipping his whiskey and smoking his Cuban cigar.

"Did I improve your hand, Charles?" Wyatt asked.

Chuck lifted the cards and saw a jack, an eight, and the ace of spades. He groaned and placed the new cards in his hand.

"You didn't even improve my temperament," Chuck said.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Wyatt said with a trace of sarcasm.

Chuck let the comment go unanswered. After bantering with Rose, the last thing he wanted to do was to start a lively exchange with her silver-tongued fiancé too.

He instead settled into his chair and reexamined one of the worst hands he'd had all night. In the process, he noticed something interesting about his cards. Each seemed to represent a person or circumstance in his life.

When he looked at the king of diamonds, a king with an axe, Chuck saw Wyatt Fitzpatrick. He saw a wealthy leader who never went into battle unprepared but who always used his power and influence responsibly and judiciously.

Chuck also saw a man who would not change a course without a compelling reason to do so. For that reason, he didn't put much effort into convincing Wyatt to modify his plan to protect the Gulf Star fleet. Having made the case to mothball the ships in the first place, he didn't want to insult Wyatt's intelligence by insisting that prudence was suddenly a bad idea.

The next card in his hand needed no explanation. When Chuck looked at the queen of hearts, he saw his new wife, a generous, loving woman who almost always put others before herself and brought grace and beauty to an often harsh and ugly world.

Chuck saw a caring mate, a future mother, and a mentor to others. He knew it would be only a matter of time before Charlotte Emerson Townsend made her mark on the twenty-first century.

The third card reminded Chuck of someone just as dear. When he gazed at the jack of hearts, he saw his sensitive and vulnerable but strong-willed son, a young man navigating the difficult transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Chuck had thought about Justin many times during the course of the evening. He worried about how his son would cope if Emily Beck, as was likely, did not accompany the Townsends back to Los Angeles and 2016. He wondered if Justin had even hinted at the idea of taking her along or might do so tonight after they finished watching a show at the opera house.

If the first three cards made Chuck smile, the last two did not. When he looked at the eight of clubs and the ace of spades, he saw trouble.