The wooden chair hit the wall with a bang as Heidi jumped up and paced. “I don’t believe it.” She turned, her hands on her hips. “He cannot force me to marry Clarence Manfred. Does he not remember I’m the one who has to stand before the preacher and say ‘I do’?”
“I know,” her mother wailed, and covered her already swollen eyes with her handkerchief.
“Everything all right?” Michael pushed the curtain aside and entered the room.
“No, Mr. Henderson,” her mother said between sniffs. “I’ve left my very unreasonable husband, and I need a place to stay, and a job.”
“Mother, can’t you rent another room in the hotel?”
The woman stiffened her spine. “Absolutely not. I will not ask that man to pay for a room. I will find a job and pay for my own lodgings.”
Michael leaned against the sink, his arms crossed, and addressed Heidi. “I just locked up.Why don’t you and your mother join me for dinner, and we can discuss everything?”
Heidi’s relief was short lived. “I thought you were having dinner with Gloria?” She raised her chin and glared at him.
Michael frowned, and shook his head. “I forgot all about her.” He hesitated. “No matter, she can join us.”
Heidi raised her chin. “I would prefer not to discuss my family’s problems with her listening.”
“All right. We’ll all have dinner together, and then once Gloria is on her way, we’ll talk.”
His wide grin at the solution eased some of Heidi’s fears, and the tension between them seemed to trickle away.
****
Michael breathed a sigh of relief as he escorted the women to the front of the store. He had no idea why Gloria invited him to dinner, but he sure as hell didn’t want to go. Most of all he hated how upset Heidi was. Not that any relationship existed between him and his employee, he reminded himself quickly.
Then why did you feel like you were doing something wrong by accepting Gloria’s invitation? Like you were cheating on Heidi?
He didn’t want to dwell on that, so he kept his mind busy with seeing Heidi and her mother out the door and into his buggy. Once they were all settled, he turned to the women. “I’m to meet Gloria at the new restaurant on Maple.”
“That sounds nice, doesn’t it, Mother?”
Mrs. Lester nodded, and then rested her head on Heidi’s shoulder. Mother and daughter had reversed roles. Heidi patted her mother’s hand as they made their way through the traffic, to the restaurant.
Michael’s body tensed with Heidi sitting close to him, her scent wafting in the air. With three of them in the front seat of the buggy, her leg rested against his. Busy with her mother, she didn’t seem to realize the effect she had on him. His nostrils flared with her sweet scent. The blonde curls once again escaped her bun, making his hands itch to smooth them back, then crush her to him, his mouth absorbing the drugging nectar from her lush lips.
In all the time since his failed engagement, no woman had crowded his thoughts as Heidi had. No matter where he found himself, or how he occupied his mind, his attention invariably turned to Heidi. When he closed his eyes at night, her face came into view.
At first light, his heart thumped at the thought of her being in the store all day. How she would smile at the customers, her soft voice rippling over him, soothing. Then she’d bend over to retrieve something from under the counter and his blood would boil with the delicious ways he could run his hands over her bottom, guiding her to his groin.
He pulled his thoughts back to the chore ahead, as the restaurant came into view. The brick building had been a mercantile before Mr. Jennings had moved to a larger space across town. The new restaurant, Maxine’s, had introduced a higher quality of dining. Townspeople had been flocking there since the grand opening a couple of months before.
After surrendering his buggy to the attendant, they entered through the restaurant’s glass and wooden oak door. Gloria stood inside the entrance, speaking with a man who tried his best to place his arm around her shoulders. She turned when the door opened, and her eyes grew wide at the sight of him with Heidi and her mother.
She gave him a tight smile. “Well, I see you’ve brought chaperones.”
Mrs. Lester rallied herself. “Oh, I’m sorry, Michael. We don’t want to intrude on your courtship. Heidi and I will sit at another table.”
“No.” Michael bit out, then took a deep breath. “We’re not courting.” He turned to Gloria. “You don’t mind if they join us do you? This is Heidi’s mother, Mrs. Lester.”
“Charmed.” Gloria shot back.
“Heidi may not know as much about the town as I do, but as a newcomer, she may even be able to help you more.” Before Gloria could open her mouth again, he grabbed her arm and escorted her to the Maître de, who seated them at a table near the back of the room.
Michael held out Gloria’s chair, while the Maître de assisted Mrs. Lester, then Heidi. Gloria glared at Heidi. Mrs. Lester still dabbed at her eyes, and Heidi kept fidgeting with her napkin, avoiding his eyes. Everyone eating together had not been a good idea. He should have arrived alone, told Gloria something had come up, and then taken the Lester women somewhere else. He ran his finger around the inside of his collar, and picked up the menu.
“Michael what looks good to you?” Gloria purred as she shifted her chair closer to him. He slid his body the other way. “Um, everything looks good. Heidi? What looks good to you?”