“Mr. Henderson, where did you say the hand lotion is?” The nasally voice of his new employee, John Monroe, grated on his nerves. The man would never work out. He hadn’t caught on like Heidi had. But then, no one could replace Heidi.
His customers no longer asked about her. After the first few times he growled at them, they kept their questions to themselves, and never spoke of her again.
If only he could so easily erase her from his mind. Everywhere he looked, he saw her. Behind the counter, wrapping a package as she chatted with a young mother. Bent over, alongside the cash register, tongue clamped between her teeth, as she figured the bank deposit. Joking with a blushing young boy as she mixed his soda, or her lush mouth curved in a smile as she held the penny candy jar for a young child, as he selected his treat.
But most of all, he remembered how she felt in his arms as she stared at him with sparkling blue eyes. How her curls always escaped her bun, falling around her neck, bouncing as she flitted from one part of the store to another.
He slammed his hand down, startling the two customers and his employee. “Sorry,” he muttered.
This had to stop. His mental health depended on him accepting Heidi’s decision, and going on with his life, as he’d always planned after Alice’s betrayal. He needed to spend more time with his nephew, Rachel’s son Zander. The poor boy had no father, Billy having died of influenza when his son was but a baby.
His duty rested with his family.
He checked his watch once more. An entire ten minutes had past. “Let’s close for lunch.” Michael strode past John and headed to the door. After locking up, and flipping the sign over, he grabbed his jacket from the hook in the back and headed for the coffee shop.
The noise from the busy café greeted him as he entered the restaurant. Honey waved at him from across the room where she placed dishes, overflowing with the daily special of fish cakes, in front of two men.
Honey had tried unsuccessfully to pull more information out of him about Heidi, but after a few rebuffs, she dropped it much like his customers had.
She headed in his direction, where he sat at the counter. “Special today, Michael?”
He nodded and took a sip from the glass of water she’d placed in front of him. “It smells good, and looks like it’s going fast.”
“Don’t you worry. I always save enough for my favorite customers.” She slipped a pencil into the bun coiled at her nape, and winked before turning to push open the kitchen door. For an instant before the heavy wooden door swung closed, he had a glimpse of a flushed Mrs. Bonner dishing up fish cakes and mashed potatoes, then sliding the plates across the counter for waitresses to pick up.
He checked his watch again. Fifteen minutes since the last time he’d checked. At least he thought so. Several times today he glanced at the timepiece, and never registered what he’d seen. He rubbed his forehead with thumb and index finger. A sense of anxiety, the need to do something about Heidi, washed over him. He pushed the thought away. Despite what his brain nudged him to do, his heart couldn’t survive another hit. Better to finish the day out, and pretend the world wasn’t ending tomorrow.
He ate slowly, reading the newspaper he’d brought with him, proud of the fact he only checked the time twice. The food satisfied his stomach, the flavor as wonderful as ever, but nothing filled the gaping hole in his heart. After taking the last sip of his cooling coffee, he grabbed his check, then attempted to smile at the clerk as he paid his bill.
Michael headed to the store. He loosened the buttons of his jacket, shrugged out of it, then hooked it on his finger to hang over his shoulder. The early spring day had turned warm, with a promise of many more pleasant days to come. Shopkeepers in rolled-up shirtsleeves swept the space in front of their stores, calling a hello to each other.
His long legs ate up the space between the coffee shop and the end of the block. He turned the corner, then hesitated before he hurried toward the store. A woman stood in front of the door, her back to him, tapping her foot. As he got closer, he sensed familiarity. Something about the tilt of her head, as she glanced in both directions, rang a bell.
The small kernel of anxiety he’d experienced in the coffee shop, spread from his stomach upward, until his heart pounded. His brain refused to acknowledge what his eyes saw. Practically at a run, he skidded to a stop, and joined her in front of his store.
“Mrs. Lester, what are you doing here? Is Heidi all right?”
Mrs. Lester smirked. “I’m afraid not, Michael. Heidi is about to commit the worst mistake of her life, and you’re the only one who can save her from this disaster.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Bright silk gowns lay on chairs, the bed, the small desk, and on top of a large portmanteau. Gloria stood in the middle of the disarray, dressed in a petticoat and red corset, her breasts testing the limits of the garment’s top. With jewel-adorned fingers resting on her hips, she took a deep breath, and counted the gowns still not packed.
“We’ll only be in Dallas for two weeks.” Clarence smiled at her from where he lounged in the doorway. His sex grew hard watching her graceful body move as she picked up gown after gown, frowning as she tossed another one into the pile.
“I know, darling, but I want to be sure I have enough gowns so I don’t have to wear anything twice.”
“Goodness. We can’t have that, can we?” He pulled a packet from his pants pocket as he strolled toward her. “A messenger just delivered our train tickets.”
She nodded, distracted, as she continued to survey the room, her eyes narrowed, tapping her fingernail against her full lips.
Clarence walked up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Don’t bring any of them. I’ll buy you all new gowns.” He nuzzled her neck, his hands sliding up to unfasten the top of the corset.
She moaned-a little too quickly perhaps-and leaned into him, rubbing her bottom across his groin. “All new gowns?”
He tweaked her nipples. “All new. And lots of jewelry, and anything else you want.”
She turned in his arms, sliding her hands up his chest to link her fingers behind his neck. “How we will buy new gowns and jewels with your wife tagging along?”