Town Square, The (19 page)

The ring was gold, featuring a simple lone diamond surrounded by a sea of rubies. They had fire, just like his Harriet did.

“Mrs. Merriam?” he asked shyly, holding the ring. “What do you think?”

She and Emmits exchanged a look—one he’d seen between his parents—and then she walked forward for a closer look at the ring, her white hair all soft and curly around her round face. “From what you and Emmits have told me about her, I think it would suit her perfectly. She doesn’t strike me as a conventional woman.”

He smiled his first easy smile since learning about the Pulitzer. “No, she’s not. And that’s what I love about her.”

As he glanced at Emmits, he remembered what he’d said about imagining what it would be like to grow old with the woman you wanted. In that moment, he knew he’d always love Harriet, want her, and that she would never bore him.

“This one,” he told the jeweler.

After conducting the transaction, they saw the jeweler to his car. Emmits slapped him on the back. “You ready?” he asked.

Arthur took a deep breath and nodded. “I am.”

“Good,” the older man replied. “We’ll follow you.”

He felt his mouth drop open a little at that. “You’re coming?”

Emmits snorted. “Of course, boy. Didn’t you want the whole town there? Plus, I need to make sure you don’t muck it up.”

“I won’t.”

He headed to his car and sat inside, watching Emmits take Mrs. Merriam’s elbow as they walked to their navy sedan. When the older man opened the door for her, Arthur turned the ignition. He’d remember this lesson too. You never stopped treating a woman like a lady. Even if you’d been married for more than fifty years.

He put the car in gear and drove off.

It was time to claim his lady before the whole town.

Chapter 20

W
hen Arthur returned to take Harriet to lunch, he was acting strange, as if he’d drunk too much coffee up at the Merriams’ house. His foot tapped with impatience, and he wouldn’t meet her eyes.

Had he come to the same conclusion she had?

Would he call it quits between them over lunch? Well, she was of the same mind, even though it broke her heart to even think about it.

“I’m ready,” she called out, picking up her black clutch after donning her winter white colored coat.

“Okay,” he said, taking her elbow. “Let’s go.”

That simple touch had her blinking back tears. Oh God, this was going to be hard. Deep down inside, she wished they’d made love. That way she’d have at least the memory of that forbidden passion.

The sun was harsh to her eyes, so she reached inside her purse and pulled on her black sunglasses. Arthur squinted beside her.

“I want to show you something before we have lunch. Okay?”

She nodded, and he led her in the opposite direction of the tavern. Fortunately, it was warmer today, something she’d heard was a regular occurrence in early May—snow one day, spring weather the next.

“Where are we going?”

“The town square,” he replied, his hand gripping her elbow a little tighter than usual.

It seemed like an odd destination, and she wondered if he was looking for a private enough place to end things between them. He wouldn’t do it in the office, she knew that, not now that there were other employees. This way, she could go straight home to cry. Hadn’t her girlfriends said it was easier to break things off in a public place during the day? And Nellie’s would be too cruel after all the time they’d spent there.

Blinking back tears, she noticed a few people giving them sidelong glances before darting ahead and around the corner. It seemed like all of them were heading to the square too. Well, perhaps it was more popular than she’d thought.

When they turned onto the brick path that led to the square, she firmed her shoulders. She could do this. She was a Wellesley graduate after all. Weren’t they part of the modern generation? They didn’t go to pieces over a man.

Her heel caught in a small hole in the brick path, and she leaned down to pry it out when it wouldn’t budge. It finally came loose and as she rose, her gaze swept across Dare’s classic brick town square. She gasped with shock as she took in the scene. Hundreds of people standing there, almost like they were waiting for a speech.

And then she glanced up and saw the sign in bold red letters fluttering in the wind, hung from the courthouse’s second floor.

Harriet, will you marry me?

Her hand flew to her throat, and she heard Arthur clear his throat. Her heart pounded in her chest as she took it all in: him, the crowd, the banner.

Oh no. Not this. She couldn’t bear it.

Then he lowered to one knee before her.

When he looked up at her, the sun caught his face, and all she could see were the twin flames of his blue eyes, so familiar, so dear, staring straight into her soul, ripping her heart to shreds.

Her breath caught, and she was certain she’d fall into a dead faint right there on the brick path.

“Harriet,” Arthur said, his voice strong and true. “I love you. I want to marry you. I want to have children with you and grow old with you. I want to make a legacy with you here in Dare. I offer you my life, my family, and my hometown.” His hand swept out in an arc as he gestured to the crowd.

She bit her lip to hold back the tears. Heavens if he hadn’t gone and shocked her speechless.

“But most of all, I offer you my name. So we can start anew.”

His name. So she wouldn’t have to forsake her own. Just take a new one. His.

Her face trembled. He was still trying to protect her, still trying to shield her from what she’d done.

His hand reached into his coat pocket and drew out a black box. It popped open with the flick of his finger. The sole diamond shot rainbows, and the rubies surrounding it looked like a ring of fire.

Her hand flew to her tight throat. The beauty of it stole her breath. How had he known she’d want something unconventional?

“When I saw this ring, I knew it was yours.” Then he held it out. “Harriet, will you marry me?”

Not a single sound carried across the square, everyone waiting in silence for her answer.

The little voice inside started crying, knowing what she should do but so desperately didn’t want to. Still, being strong was the only way to make this right. She couldn’t take the coward’s way out, which is what taking his name would be.

She turned her back on the crowd. “Oh, Arthur, I can’t,” she whispered, stepping back. “I can’t start our life on a lie.”

Oh why couldn’t he have done this in private? The crowd only made it harder. Everyone in town was going to see her turn him down, and he was a proud man.

He grabbed her hand urgently. “Harriet,” he whispered. “I’ve told my family because I don’t want that either, but it doesn’t have to go any further. They’re the people who matter the most to me.”

Hadn’t she said a poisoned well?

“And our
children?
What are we supposed to tell them?” Her voice broke, and she was conscious of the crowd watching from behind her.

Arthur finally rose, and she had to look up to see his dear face.

“We’ll tell them that you were a very tenacious woman, and that once I met you, there was no one else for me. That’s the God’s honest truth.”

The weeping in her heart ceased, and with it, a new emotion arose. Courage. It spread through her chest like a forest fire. In that moment, she knew what she needed to do. It was the only way they could be together.

“I can’t do it,” she whispered hoarsely. “I
can’t
keep lying to everyone.” And then she moved away from him and toward the crowd.

“Harriet!” he called urgently, his steps echoing on the brick behind her.

The faces she saw in the crowd looked uniformly puzzled. Some people were whispering, others casting sad glances at Arthur.

“Marry him, Harriet!” someone called out.

A few others shouted “Say yes, Harriet!”

When she stood before them, she took a deep breath. Scanned their faces. So many people she knew by name now—Bertha from the Tavern was frowning at her, and Herman was smoking a cigarette, his eyes narrowed.

“I need to tell you something,” she called out as the wind gusted. “I…”

She stopped. Oh God, if she said this, she’d be lucky they didn’t throw stones at her. Suddenly her courage evaporated.

Her sister moved toward her from the edge of the crowd. She hadn’t realized Maybelline was there. She approached Harriet with a soft smile on her face, and grabbed her hand, strength flowing through their connection.

“Go ahead, Harriet.”

When their eyes met, Harriet had to scrub tears from her cheeks. Her sister nodded. Maybelline knew what she was going to do and was supporting her, even though it would affect both of them.

“Time to face the music, right?” she whispered to her sister. Feeling bold again, she took her sunglasses off, wanting the crowd to see her eyes.

Arthur reached for them, stuffing them in his coat pocket, and then grabbed hold of her other hand. She jerked her gaze to his, and in them, she saw understanding and a love that shone brighter than the diamond and ruby ring.

“Go ahead, sweetheart,” he urged, and his mouth tipped up at the corner.

George walked forward then, Arthur’s parents following, until his whole family stood beside her too. Then Emmits and his wife stepped forward and joined their group.

Her heart swelled and broke free of the cage constructed of her lies.

“I don’t know where to start,” she began, forcing herself to raise her voice to be heard, “but it means the world to me that you came out here today to support Arthur. There isn’t a finer man in the world, and I love him.” Her voice broke, and his hand clenched hers. “But I can’t say yes to him without telling you who I am or why I first came to Dare.”

Harsh whispers punctuated the square.

“My name is Harriet Wentworth, and my sister and I are originally from Boston. My father—” A sob erupted before she pressed her lips together. “My father is Dr. Ashley Wentworth, and if you’ve read the newspaper, you’ll know that he was the scientist responsible for the deaths of seven infants across the United States.”

A few gasps broke out across the crowd, and she saw several of the townspeople’s faces contort with shock. She dug her toes into her shoes to stay strong.

“I’m not making any excuses for what my father did, but I will tell you that he’s a good man who made a terrible mistake. What’s worse is that he tried to cover it up, and that’s been hard for me and my sister to believe—and forgive.”

She glanced over at Maybelline. Tears were running down her sister’s face, but she tightened her grip on Harriet’s hand, like she was urging her forward.

“At first, I didn’t believe my father was capable of such a crime. The whole idea was abhorrent to me. He’s my father, you see, and I just…didn’t imagine it could be true. It
had
to be a mistake, and I nurtured that belief as my world fell apart. I came to Dare Valley determined to prove that Arthur Hale, the man who had written the story, had gotten it all wrong. I lied about my last name when I arrived. I…”

The faces in the crowd were frowning now, and one by one, the spectators crossed their arms across their chests, like they were shutting her out.

She took a deep breath, gathering her courage again. “I accepted the position of his secretary in a desperate attempt to find new evidence that might clear my father. And when that failed—”

“Harriet!” Arthur called to her right, his tone harsh. “Don’t.”

She bit her lip. “And when that failed, I decided to ruin his reputation.”

A few women gasped and put their hands over their mouths.

“But I couldn’t do that because he’s just too honorable for words.”

Finally she turned her head to look at him, tears trickling down her cheeks. “You are, you know. You always have been.”

His Adam’s apple moved thickly in his throat.

“Well, Arthur figured something was wrong after that. He discovered why I was here, and then he showed me the evidence he’d compiled against my father.”

Her sister gripped her hand hard, like she too was feeling the pain of their father’s betrayal.

Harriet raised her chin. “It was all there. Arthur had been more than thorough, and I felt ashamed for what my father had done, for those little babies who drank the bad formula, for the parents who lost them, and for what I had done to Arthur.

“And because he’s so darn noble, Arthur tried to help me. He asked me to stay on as his secretary and take more time to figure out what Maybelline and I wanted to do. The more time I spent with him, the more I saw him for the man he was, and I fell in love with him.”

She glanced over and met his mother’s gaze. The woman smiled softly as her, and the compassion in her expression encouraged Harriet to take the next step.

“I’m sorry for lying to all of you. I’m sorry that I came here under false pretenses. My sister had nothing to do with my actions. She only came because my alma mater and her college wouldn’t let her come back to school. You see, the two of us are exiles now. From our home. From our family. And for a while, from ourselves. I don’t want to start a life with Arthur based on a lie. He deserves better than that, and after all this heartache, I’m starting to believe that I do too.”

Bertha from the Tavern nodded to her, and she took that for encouragement.

“I don’t know if you’ll ever be able to come to terms with what I’ve done, but I had to come clean and tell you. Dare is a close–knit town, a special community, and I’ve been grateful for the acceptance you’ve shown my sister and me while we’ve been here. And if that can’t continue now that you know the whole story, we’ll be sad, but we’ll understand.” She made the corners of her mouth tip up. “Thank you for coming today.”

Then she lowered her head, her emotions zigzagging in her chest—hurt, relief, and fear.

Someone patted her on the back, and she turned around to see Emmits Merriam smiling at her. “You done good, girl.”

“Well said, my dear,” his wife voiced, her quiet presence a comfort.