Violet (Suitors of Seattle Book 7) (4 page)

"I hope that's a good thing."

He smiled at her, liking her more by the minute.  "It's definitely a good thing.  I won't have to dread the time we'll spend together now."

"You never know...I could make you dread it.  One of my sisters was the best practical joker in all of Seattle."  She wondered how he'd react to Jasmine and her pranks.  If she tried hard, Violet was certain she could duplicate at least one of them.

"Really?  How many sisters do you have?"

She grinned.  "No one from around here would ever ask that.  I have seven sisters.  I'm the seventh sister of eight."

His eyes widened.  "Any brothers?"

"No.  Isn't seven sisters enough?" 

"I'm certain your father thinks so.  That's a lot of responsibility."  He shook his head.  "How many are married?"

"Six.  My younger sister is going to the university.  She's going to be a doctor."

"A doctor?  A female doctor?  You don't mean a midwife?"

Violet grinned.  "No, she's going to be a doctor.  So many of her professors are telling her it's impossible and that she'll never get into medical school.  My money is on Iris."

"Iris?  So she has a flower name too?"  How odd to have two girls named after flowers in the same family.

"We all have flower names.  Rose is the oldest, and she married Shawn, a dentist.  Lily is next, and she married Daniel, a banker.  Amaryllis is a librarian, married to a lawyer.  Daisy and Jasmine live close to one another in Montana, and they're both married to ranchers.  They had to leave to go back home this morning."  She was sad that their visit was so short, but she knew they needed to leave.  "And then Hyacinth is eighteen months older than me.  She's married to Lawrence, and they're both writers.  And then it's just me and Iris."

"I feel bad that there's no Petunia!  Your mother missed some names."

Violet shook her head with a laugh.  "I think she had enough flowers for a full garden, don't you?"

He sat back in his chair, trying to imagine what life would be like with eight daughters.  He couldn't imagine even one.  "That's an awful lot of flowers.  You're probably right.  You don't need more."  He looked up at a knock on the door.  "Let's hope this one is nicer than the last.  Come in!"  The last two words were spoken loudly.

Langsley opened the door wide.  "There's a Miss Blue to see you, sir."

"Send her in." 

The woman that entered the room left them both speechless.  Her hair was pure white, and she couldn't have been a day under seventy.  She practically bounced into the room and sat down beside Violet.  "I'm here to apply for the job of traveling companion."

Violet looked at the other woman and immediately noticed the twinkle in her eyes behind her huge spectacles.  "Why do you want to be a traveling companion, Miss Blue?"

"Oh, honey, you can call me Edna.  I'm old.  I think you can see that if you have eyes in your head, and you do appear to have eyes.  I'm old, and I've been making hats for fifty years.  Do you know what it's like to do the same thing day in and day out for fifty years?  Of course you don't.  You're young."  She reached into the pocket of her dress and took out a silver flask, taking a deep swig of whatever was in it before tucking it back into her pocket.  "Well, now that I'm old, I realize that I haven't done some of the things I put on my list when I was a girl."  She turned to Violet.  "Do you have a list?  All of my friends and I, when we were very young, made lists of what we wanted to do before we died.  I wanted to marry, and I almost did, but poor Harry died before we had a chance to reach that pinnacle of love that's expressed in a physical way."  She shook her head.  "Anyway, on my list was to ride on a train and to see New York City.  I've never been to a city of that size, and I'm going to do it or die trying.  You're offering me a trip to New York, and I'm going to take it if you'll have me."  She looked over at Jonas.  "So will you have me?"

Jonas blinked a few times, not sure he'd caught exactly what she was talking about, and what on earth was in her flask?  "Do you like children?"

"Of course I like children.  What kind of question is that?"  She looked at Violet.  "Are you with child?  Is that why we're going to New York?  If that's what it is, you can count on me not to tell a single soul.  I'll either help you take care of it, or we'll find a nice family who will adopt it.  Either way, my lips will be sworn to secrecy about your bastard child!"

Violet bit her lip to control her urge to giggle.  "I'm not having a bastard child, Miss Blue...I mean Edna, but I thank you for being willing to protect my reputation.  I'd love to have you go with me."  Suddenly she could see herself sitting beside this woman on a train bound for New York.  She would be laughing the entire time. 

Jonas stared at the woman for a moment.  "The child is my nephew.  He's three, and he'll be traveling with us.  While we're there, I need to pack up my sister's house and decide what to keep and what to donate.  She died a few months ago."

"Oh, Mr. Smith!  I'm so sorry for your loss.  I'll be happy to help with your sister's child too.  He's not a bastard, is he?"  She peered at Jonas expectantly as she waited for his answer.

"No, he's not a bastard.  Does that matter?"

"Oh no, sir.  I love bastard children just as much as the regular legitimate tots.  More probably.  They need more love, don't you think?"

Jonas didn't feel at all qualified to answer her question about whether bastard children needed more love, and he still wanted to know what was in her flask.  "What's in the flask, Miss Blue?"

She pulled the container out of her pocket again and took another swig after unscrewing the lid.  "Oh this?  This is my cough tonic."  She put it back in her pocket and looked at Jonas expectantly. 

"Cough tonic?  I haven't heard you cough even once."

"See?  My tonic works!  Would you like some?"  She pulled it out of her pocket to offer him a drink.

Jonas held one hand up to refuse the tonic, but couldn't help but notice that Violet was giggling uncontrollably.  Why...Violet was turning violet she was laughing so hard.  "No, thank you."  He looked between the two women, wondering if Edna Blue was really the kind of woman they needed on their trip.  After a moment he shrugged.  "If you'll excuse us for a moment, I'll let you know our decision."

Edna stood and went out into the hallway, not saying a word.  Jonas heard her say, "You must be the poor orphaned nephew!  We're going to be the best of friends.  Would you like a peppermint?"

"Yes, please," Nathan replied.

Jonas turned to Violet wishing that Edna had closed the door behind her.  "Do you think that Edna would be a good companion for you?"

Violet grinned.  "Oh yes.  She will keep me entertained when nothing else possibly could.  Please, may we take her with us?"  Now that she'd met Edna, she wanted no one else to go on their trip with them.  Edna was the only choice as far as she was concerned.

Jonas sighed heavily.  "Do I have a choice?"

"No, I don't believe you do."  She was thrilled to have the option of taking the sweet old woman who was just a bit off her rocker with her.  "I love her, Mr. Smith!"

Jonas shook his head.  "I can see you do.  All right.  And please, call me Jonas.  We're going to be spending a great deal of time together.  There's no need to continue to be so formal."

All at once, Violet was excited about the trip.  Her mother wouldn't have to go, because they'd chosen a traveling companion.  One that would be far more fun and exciting than any other companion she could imagine.  She couldn't wait.  "All right, Jonas.  I think Edna is the perfect solution to our dilemma."

Jonas decided to hold his tongue over the kind of solution he thought Edna was.  "Miss Blue?" he called out loudly.

Edna popped back into the room, her frizzy white hair bobbing wildly.  "Yes?"

"We'd like you to go to New York with us, if you're willing to accept the job."  Jonas knew as soon as he said the words they were a mistake.  He felt a huge sense of foreboding, but it was too late.  He'd made the offer, and he was a man of his word.

Edna immediately burst into tears.  "You're really going to take me with you?"  She dug into her pockets and finally, from between her very large bosom, she removed a handkerchief and blew her nose loudly.  "I'll be the best companion ever.  You'll see!"

Violet looked at the older woman with a smile, patting her arm.  "I'm sure you will be!"

Jonas shook his head, wondering what he'd gotten himself into.  Edna was definitely not the type of woman he'd wanted to take with him to New York.  She was going to be a handful.  There was no doubt about it.

Edna smiled radiantly at Violet, her face lighting up at the girl's words.  "I won't let you do anything you oughtn't do.  I promise!"  She said the words as if she were taking an oath on a witness stand, and Violet barely suppressed another giggle.  Edna jumped to her feet and waved.  "When do we leave?  I need to pack my things!"

"We'll leave one week from today.  I'll send word after I buy the tickets about what time we'll need to go."

Edna nodded.  "That will be wonderful.  I will see you then."  She rushed from the room mumbling about all the things that she needed to do to be ready for the big adventure. 

Jonas watched her go and leaned back in his chair.  "Did that really just happen?  Is that crazy woman going to New York with us?"

Violet smiled back at Jonas, happy that he'd chosen the woman she'd have chosen herself.  She would have chosen Edna as a friend, not just as a traveling companion.  She could see there was a great deal she could learn from the other woman.  Most were things her mother would not be happy with her knowing, but she would learn them anyway. 

Monday couldn't come soon enough.

Chapter Four

Violet was in her room packing everything she'd need for the long trip.  She needed traveling clothes, but she needed formal clothes as well.  She hoped her dresses were nice enough for a gallery in New York.  They were fine for Seattle, but New York was a whole different world as far as she was concerned.  She wished for the first time in her life that she had Rose's fashion sense.

Her entire life she'd dreamed of going to New York to show her work, and for the first time the goal was within her grasp.  She wanted to hug everyone she saw in celebration and had grabbed her mother and kissed her cheek when she'd returned home from Mr. Smith's house after the interviews.  She'd told her mother how old Miss Edna Blue was, and her mother had smiled happily saying she didn't need to interview her then.  Violet was relieved, because she had a very strong feeling her mother would never approve of Edna.

Violet looked up at the knock on her open door.  "Do you need help?"  Mary looked sadder than Violet had ever seen her as she stood in the doorway.

"No, but I'd like it.  What's wrong, Mama?"  As much as her mother made her crazy, Violet hated seeing her look sad. 

Mary sighed.  "I've spent that last thirty years raising you girls.  You're the last to leave.  I won't know what to do with myself with none of my girls left at home with me."

Violet dropped the dress in her hands and hurried over to Mary to hug her tightly.  "Oh, Mama, I'm going to miss you!  You did such a good job raising us that we're all independent now.  We're ready to move on.  Besides, I'll be coming home.  It's just a trip to New York." 

"A trip to New York where you plan to stay for three months.  And it's a full month of travel.  You'll be gone for four months.  You'll come home, yes, but life will never be the same again.  When you come home, you'll have grown in ways that neither of us can quite imagine right now, and I'll miss the young lady you are right now.  Just like I miss the little girl you were."

"Well, we'll spend time together until then.  I don't leave until Monday."  Violet kept her voice bright, but inside she was crying.  She had never been gone from home for more than a day or two at a time. 

"It's Friday!  Only three more days and you'll be on a train and off to adventure."

Violet smiled bravely as she picked up the dress she'd dropped a few minutes before, carefully folding it so it wouldn't wrinkle too much.  "I'll be fine, you know.  You would love Miss Blue.  She's got to be at least seventy, and she has always wanted to see New York.  I can't wait to make the trip with her."  She didn't add that the woman drank like no one she'd ever seen or that she seemed to be slightly batty, because her mother would only worry.  She'd keep those little details to herself.

Mary jumped in to help Violet pack, and it wasn't long before they were laughing about old memories.  Violet looked up at another knock on the door and saw her aunt Harriett standing there.

"I thought I'd come see if you needed any help," Harriett explained as she ventured into the room.  All of Harriett's children were off to school now, but she'd had six of them through the years she'd been in Seattle.

"Why don't you just sit and talk to us while we work, Aunt Harriett?  Mama and I have it under control."

Harriett sank into the chair at the vanity and turned to watch the other two pack.  She knew that Violet was just trying to keep her off her bum leg, as all the girls did.  She didn't complain though.  "I want you to know that I've investigated Mr. Smith."

"Why?" Violet asked, doing her best to keep from blushing. Was it so obvious she was developing feelings for the man?

"Well, you're traveling across the country on a train with him, so I knew it would make your mama feel better if she knew he wasn't a killer.  Also, I thought if feelings developed between the two of you, you'd know you had my approval."  Harriett had made a deal with their parents long ago when Rose had more suitors than she knew what to do with.  She investigated every man her nieces were interested in to make certain they weren't making a mistake by marrying the wrong man.

"Well, if it was to make Mama feel better, that's fine."  Violet didn't meet her mother's eyes as she carefully packed another dress into her trunk.  She'd already packed old patched dresses that would be used just for painting. 

Mary and Harriett exchanged a look that spoke volumes.  "You know that if you decide to marry, you need to come back here and plan a proper wedding.  None of your sisters ever gave me enough time to plan anything.  You will.  Do you promise me?"

Violet shrugged.  "I really don't think you need to worry, Mama.  I'm a career woman, remember?  No man is going to want to marry a woman who spends all her time painting.  They want a woman who will stay home and mind the children."

"Not all men," Harriett told her.  "Your uncle Max doesn't mind that I own and help manage the battered women's shelter.  Alex doesn't mind that Amaryllis works.  Lawrence doesn't care that Hyacinth writes."

Violet sighed.  "Those are really special men, Aunt Harriett.  I'm not going to find a man like that."  But oh, how she wished she could.  She hated the idea of growing old alone.  She wanted children just as much as the next woman, but she wasn't willing to give up her work to have them.  She wanted it all, and she knew it just wasn't possible to have it all with most men. 

"Did you know that Jonas's sister was an artist?  That's why he opened the galleries.  She wanted a place to show her work."  Harriett watched her niece's face closely as she dropped that tidbit of information.

"Really? I had no idea."  Violet was surprised her aunt was giving her the information, but even more surprised that it was true. Did that mean he'd be more open to a wife who worked? And did it really matter? He hadn't exactly told her he was interested in her.

"Really.  She worked as an artist until the day she died."  Harriett looked sad.  "You know that story, right?"

Violet nodded.  "His sister and brother-in-law were killed by someone who wanted her jewels."

"Yes, that's true, but they were killed by someone they knew.  The man who killed them both invited them to go to the play with him, knowing she'd be wearing them.  He's been sentenced to the electric chair."

"The electric chair?  Really?  I'd heard New York would use it.  Has it been used successfully yet?" Mary asked, surprised. 

"New York City has been using it since 1890.  They say it's more humane than hanging.  Although why they'd want to treat a murderer humanely, I'll never know."  Harriett shook her head.  "I did some research about it when I found out that he was going to be electrocuted."

Violet shook her head.  "I can't imagine what he must be going through."

"He?" Harriett asked.

"Nathan.  Jonas's nephew.  He's such a sweet little boy, and he lost both parents.  I just want to hug him and keep him forever."

Mary and Harriett exchanged a knowing look.  "Just make sure you come home and let me plan a real wedding before you marry him.  I'm tired of you girls all getting married within a few weeks of getting engaged."  Mary eyed Violet.  "Why don't we shop for a dress before you leave, and I'll work on planning the wedding while you're gone?"

"Mama!  That's ridiculous!  We're not even courting.  You can't plan a wedding!"  What would Jonas think if he found out her mother was planning a wedding for them when they'd never even kissed?

Mary mumbled under her breath.  "None of your sisters were courting six months before their weddings.  I need time!"

"No.  And please don't start behind my back, either. I won't be part of it."

Mary folded up a petticoat and dropped it into Violet's trunk.  "Fine."  She looked at Harriett.  "I hope your daughters are better about giving you a wedding to plan than mine have been."

Harriett covered her mouth with her hand.  "At least you have the satisfaction of knowing all of your daughters are happily married so far."  She smiled at Violet.  "Just make sure you send a telegram before the wedding and not after.  I don't think Mary could handle not finding out until after you're married."

Violet shook her head and continued working, refusing to be a party to the conversation any longer.  What was wrong with the two of them anyway?

*****

Mary wouldn't let Violet go to the train station on her own on Monday.  Jonas had come with his buggy Monday morning so he could take her trunk to the station for her.  So when it was time, she and Mary walked to the Seattle train station together. 

Mary had tears in her eyes as she turned to Violet.  "I'm going to miss you so much."

Violet smiled against her mother's shoulder.  "I'm going to be fine.  Miss Blue will be there with me, along with Jonas and Nathan and even Nathan's nanny.  We're going to have a fine time."

Jonas stepped up behind Mary and touched her shoulder.  "I'll take good care of her, Mrs. Sullivan."  He could see by the older woman's face that she was worried about sending her daughter out in the world alone.

Mary sniffled.  "I know you will.  My sister-in-law had you investigated."  She took the handkerchief that was offered to her, peering in confusion at the older woman standing with four more in her hands.  "Thank you."

Jonas stiffened.  "Why did she have me investigated?"

Violet wanted to die.  She wanted a giant hole in the ground to open up and suck her right down into it. 
Please don't let Mama tell him she thinks we'll be married.  Please don't let her tell him.

"She's going to New York City with you.  She'll be gone for four months.  Of course you were investigated!  Do you really think we'd allow our Violet to go off with a stranger otherwise?"  Mary's voice was indignant.

"I never thought of it that way, Mrs. Sullivan."  He smiled down at the short, stocky woman.  "Thank you for allowing her to travel with me.  I don't know if I would let my daughter go even if I had investigated the man thoroughly."

Mary nodded regally.  "Now where is this Miss Blue?"

"I'm right here!" Edna said, waving three of the four handkerchiefs that were still in her hand.  "I'm ready to get on a train and go to New York!"

Mary blinked at the older woman for a moment, obviously having expected someone quite different from Edna Blue.  She was wearing a yellow hat with a giant purple flower growing out of the top and a pink stuffed bird perched beside the flower.  Her dress was brown with orange polka dots and looked hideous with the hat, but Edna stood there as proudly as if she were dressed in the latest of fashion.

Mary offered her hand.  "It's nice to meet you, Miss Blue."

"Oh, please call me Edna.  Everyone does!"  Edna stuck her hand into the front of her dress between her overlarge breasts and pulled out a peppermint stick offering it to Mary.  "Would you like a peppermint?"

Mary shook her head slowly.  "No, thank you."  Her eyes met Violet's with something akin to horror. 

Violet merely smiled.  "I'm so happy you'll be my traveling companion, Edna."  She linked her arm through the older woman's. "We'll be sharing a sleeping car."

Mary looked as if she'd just been hit over the head.  "But...you said you had a sweet older woman as your traveling companion.  That she'd take good care of you."

Edna nodded and smiled at Violet.  "So nice of you to describe me that way."  Looking at Mary she smiled.  "I will take very good care of her.  I almost married once myself."

"What happened?"  Mary asked, looking as if she were afraid of the answer.

Violet could see the unspoken questions in her mother's eyes, and she wanted to laugh hysterically.  Mary couldn't really complain about Violet's choice of a traveling companion without hurting the older woman's feelings, but she obviously had reservations.

"Oh, he had a heart condition!  One day we were laying in the grass in the woods, and we were kissing and getting really close if you know what I mean.  Well anyway, he died before we could make it happen."  Tears sprang to her eyes and she shook her head sadly.  "I know I'll never find another love like him."

Violet coughed to keep a giggle from erupting.  "I'm so sorry he died that way, Edna."  Had Edna really just told her mother that her fiancé had died trying to precipitate their marriage vows? 
Oh my!

Mary blinked a few times before she found her voice.  "You aren't going to let my daughter have relations before marriage, are you?"  She sounded absolutely horrified by the idea.

Edna seemed to consider the question carefully.  "I'll not allow her to do anything that would damage her reputation," she answered finally.

Mary nodded as if she had gotten the answer she wanted, but Violet wasn't certain that she actually had.  Did that mean Edna was all for premarital relations as long as there was no danger of being caught?  If so, her mother would have a fit.

Jonas stepped forward.  "The conductor is calling for everyone to board.  We need to go." 

"Oh, where's Nathan?" Violet asked, looking around for the boy.

"His nanny has him over by the train.  He wanted to see if he could put something on the track and see if the train would flatten it." Jonas smiled.  He remembered doing the same exact thing as a boy.