A Home for Her Heart (8 page)

“That is wonderful news,” Mrs. Heaton said from the head of the table. “We’ll be able to open up another one very soon. The ones we have now are at capacity, as Kathleen knows. I think Colleen has all they can handle now.”

“Oh, they’d take in more, if they needed to, Mrs. Heaton,” Kathleen said. “But I’m glad that there are more in the planning stages and that people are still willing to help.”

John leaned toward Elizabeth. “I think we can feel glad about that. It appears our articles have helped garner attention.”

So, much as he hated covering the social scene, he’d decided to use it for something he did care about. And he did seem genuinely happy that the event had been a success. John seemed to be thinking of more than his career lately. Or maybe he always had and she hadn’t noticed. And why was she noticing so much about him now?

“I’m trying to emphasize that the need for more homes still exists in the article I’ve written about the affair last night.”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea, John.”

“So do I,” Mrs. Heaton and Kathleen both said in unison.

“Thank you, ladies, I—”

“Granma!” Mrs. Heaton’s granddaughter, Jenny, came rushing into the room, followed by her mother, Rebecca. “Did we get here in time for breakfast?”

“You did! Are you hungry?”

“I am! Mama said you’d have breakfast still, but I wasn’t sure about that.”

Mrs. Heaton pulled her granddaughter into her lap and kissed her on the cheek. “Jenny, love, even if we didn’t have anything on the sideboard, I’d make sure you had breakfast.”

“You would?”

“I would. It’s what grandmothers do.”

Elizabeth and John glanced at each other. Her heart went out to him and she wondered if he’d had a grandmother in his life. His mother died when he was so very young.

She couldn’t remember either of her grandmothers. It’d been only her and her father, and of course Aunt Bea after her mother passed away. She swallowed hard, seeing Jenny cuddle up to her grandmother while her mother fixed her a plate. The look of love between the two was almost tangible. She was so glad the child had a grandmother in her life. She smiled across the table at Kathleen. Had it not been for her, the young girl might never have known she had a grandmother. But she did now, and what a blessing it was for them all.

Rebecca took her seat after fixing a plate of her own and her smile took in everyone at the table. “She barely slept a wink last night. It’s not like she’s never seen Central Park. I took her when I could. But she’s so excited to be going with you all. She considers you part of her family now.”

“Well, good. Because that’s how we all feel about her,” Ben said.

Tears sprung to Elizabeth’s eyes. Jenny wasn’t much different than anyone else around this table. Mrs. Heaton had somehow managed to make them all feel like family. Sort of. The exception might be the way she felt about John.

Lately there was something different about how Elizabeth felt about him, how her heart did a funny little twist and jump like it did last night when she saw him come into the room. Or how her pulse seemed to speed up when he smiled at her—like he was doing now. But she didn’t want to analyze it right now and maybe not ever.

Feeling the color flood her cheeks, Elizabeth was glad when Michael and Violet arrived. Jenny looked up from the breakfast she was thoroughly enjoying and greeted them.

“Aunt Violet and Uncle Michael! Mama said you’d be going with us, but you weren’t here and I didn’t think you would come.”

“We wouldn’t miss a day at the park with you, Jenny!” her uncle said, giving her a kiss on the top of her head. The child exuded happiness—as did her mother, grandmother, aunt and uncle, although Rebecca was quieter about it all. There was a lot Elizabeth, and she assumed the others, didn’t know about Rebecca. Why she’d gone missing, what happened to her husband, and why she hadn’t sought out her mother? But Elizabeth wasn’t about to judge. Not when she had a secret of her own. Besides, it was none of her business. She was just glad the Heaton family had her back in their lives.

Chapter Eight

S
oon as breakfast was over, the group hurried to get ready to go to Central Park while Mrs. Heaton went to the kitchen to make sure all the picnic food was ready. Colleen and her boys and Kathleen’s sister and nephews arrived just as everyone was gathering downstairs.

The omnibus Mrs. Heaton had called for arrived right on time and they all piled in after making sure their lunch was onboard. The day was warm, but not too hot and it would be comfortable once they reached the park. The women had all chosen light skirts and shirtwaists; the men were in light-colored shirts, too.

John took a seat beside Elizabeth and began to roll his blue-and-white shirtsleeves up as he watched Kathleen’s nephews, Collin and Brody, talking to Jenny. They were laughing and nodding and Jenny was giggling, her hand over her mouth. He couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about.

“I’m so happy Kathleen and her sister and the boys made it out of the tenements,” Elizabeth said. “Look how happy they are now.”

“It’s a big change in them since the first time we saw them, isn’t it?” John finished rolling up his sleeves and turned to Elizabeth. “They don’t have that heartbreakingly sad look anymore.”

Elizabeth grinned. “No, they don’t. Look how animated they are talking to Jenny. I think they like trying to impress her with their tales.”

“It appears that way.” John chuckled, seeing Collin spread his hands wide as he described something to the little girl. The young boy had her rapt attention. “Maybe I should take lessons from him.”

“You, John? Is there someone you want to impress?”

She looked at him, her hazel eyes a shade greener than usual and the expression in them had his breath catching in his throat. Did she care? He gave a little shrug. “There might be. But I’m never sure what to say to women and my instincts where they are concerned are—”

“We’re here!” Jenny exclaimed as the omnibus came to a stop at their favorite picnicking area. Everyone began gathering baskets and blankets and hurrying off the omnibus, leaving John to let out a huge sigh of relief that the conversation between he and Elizabeth had been put to a stop.

What was he thinking, confiding in her like that? He’d never told anyone what he’d just been about to tell her. Nor had he ever admitted—even to himself—that there was a woman he might want to impress. And while it surprised him that there was after the debacle with Melody, what really confused him was that the woman he’d most like to impress was the very one he had been speaking to. The one he knew deep down was way out of his league and only thought of him as a fellow boarder at Heaton House. Who didn’t seem to want to work with him, just as he’d felt about her...until recently.

He felt a bit consternated by the revelation and fell quiet as they all began to spread out blankets and set the baskets of food under the shade of the trees to keep cool until they had lunch.

First up, the children wanted to fly the kites Luke had brought for them and John hurried to join him, Michael and Ben, in trying to get the bright-colored kites to sail up into the blue sky. He was glad of a reprieve from his thoughts.

The women cheered them all on until it was time to set out the picnic lunch. Then they called the men and children over to eat. As usual, Mrs. Heaton had provided quite a spread, with fried chicken, fresh bread and baked beans. There were two kinds of pies and John’s favorite, a huge chocolate cake.

Once they fixed their plates, everyone spread out on the blankets and John found himself sitting by Elizabeth once again. There was something about the woman that he’d always been drawn to. She was one of the kindest and most caring of the women at Heaton House. Oh, they sparred from time to time—usually brought on by him putting his foot in his mouth—and mostly about their work. But she’d always been nice to him as she was with everyone else.

Still, he felt there was more to Elizabeth Anderson than any of them knew. He didn’t know what it was about her that made him feel that way, but she had an air about her that made him think of the people he covered for the paper...high society. And yet, she worked for a living like the rest of the boarders. She never acted in any way superior to anyone and went out of her way to help anyone who needed a hand. Still, there was—

“The children had such a good time flying those kites.” She looked over at him, her eyes now a muted green and brown under the shade of the tree. She looked very pretty in her pink-and-white-striped skirt and pink blouse.

“So did we men.” He chuckled and looked at her from under the rim of his bowler. “I think one of the best parts of having children around is that we get to feel and act like kids again.”

She gave a soft laugh and nodded. “You all looked as if you were having as much fun as they were. I love Central Park. Everyone in the city is able to enjoy it, including the poor. And remember? It’s where we first met up with Kathleen and her family—although it wasn’t under the best of circumstances with her awful brother-in-law threatening her and her sister. Luke had come to their aide and Mrs. Heaton had given Kathleen one of her cards in case she ever needed a place to stay.”

“I remember.”

But then her expression sobered as she glanced at the family group next to them. “Those children over there have the same haunted look in their eyes as some of those in the pictures I took in the tenements. They remind me of what Kathleen’s nephews looked like when we first saw them.”

He looked at the group and saw the children she was speaking about. She was right. John cleared his throat, seeing that heartrending look on their faces. One had to wonder what their home life was like. “I do hate that children have to live in such conditions as we’ve seen lately. That so many live in some of the buildings we’ve been into. It’s more than a shame. It’s a travesty.”

“I know. I feel the same way,” Elizabeth said. “I do hope the Ladies’ Aide Society can keep opening child-care homes. Just think of how many families they will help!”

His gaze traveled over Elizabeth’s face as she spoke with such feeling, finally settling on her full lips as she stopped speaking and smiled at him. His heart began to hammer against his chest as he wondered what it would be like to kiss her.

Elizabeth suddenly jumped to her feet. Her face seemed flushed as she asked, “Would you like a piece of cake? I’m going to get one for me.”

“I... Yes, please.”

He watched her hurry over to where the food was laid out and released a deep breath. Had she read his mind just then? She’d seemed to catch her breath as he’d looked at her. What would she have done had he leaned over at that moment and pressed his lips to hers? Would she have responded?

What was he thinking? It was broad daylight and they were in a public place! Besides, he wasn’t her kind and he knew it deep down. Whatever it was he felt, he’d best keep reminding himself of that fact.

* * *

Elizabeth took several deep breaths, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. What was wrong with her? It was just that the way he’d just looked at her had her thinking all manner of things and for a moment she’d thought he might kiss her.

Wishful thinking on her part? No! Surely not. She and John had been around each other for several years now and she’d never thought much about his personal life—well, not that much—and never in connection to herself.

For the most part, she’d excused his absences from dinner or outings she and the others went on because of work. And no one had ever mentioned anything about him seeing a woman or having any interest in any of the women at Heaton House. So what was the identity of the woman he might be interested in? And why did it upset her to think that there was one? For it had given her pause when he’d said there might be one earlier. And if he was interested in someone, why had he looked at her the way he had just now?

As if... She shook her head. She’d never thought about kissing John, at least not until now. And she had no business thinking about it at all. She couldn’t become attracted to John Talbot, or any other man, for that matter. She could never trust that they wouldn’t care more about her inheritance than her, just as Richard had.

But John didn’t know about any of that. Didn’t know she’d been engaged. Didn’t know who she really was. Did he? No. He couldn’t. But what would he think when he found out? Elizabeth took a deep breath and released it. She wasn’t going to think about that now, either.

They were friends and that’s all they’d ever be. That was all they ever
could
be. She never wanted to care that much about anyone again only to find out it wasn’t her they were interested in, but the money. Suddenly she felt a little queasy.

She cut one large slice of cake instead of two and headed back over to where John was sitting. “Here you are.” She handed him his cake, but didn’t sit down. “I need to go speak to Kathleen.”

He looked a little puzzled, but said only, “Oh? Well, thank you for getting the cake.”

“You’re welcome.” She turned and walked off, suddenly feeling as if she were deserting him. Whatever was wrong with her? Just because she’d had a glimpse of a different John than the one she’d always thought of, the one who was only concerned about his future and what was good for him, didn’t mean she had to go all mushy where he was concerned. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t.

Elizabeth managed to stay away from John for the rest of the afternoon, flitting from one group to another. Along with the other women, she watched the men play ball from under the shade trees while the children napped.

Then Mrs. Heaton and Violet, who was feeling sleepy herself, offered to watch the children while the rest of the women went for a stroll or canoeing.

“I’ll stay, too, Mother,” Rebecca said. “It feels nice here in the shade.”

Elizabeth, Kathleen, Colleen, Millicent and Julia all decided they didn’t have the energy to go rowing and decided to stroll in the gardens for a bit, making sure not to go too far.

“It is a beautiful day,” Millicent said as they walked along a path filled with rosebushes. “Let me take a photo of you all.”

“We need you in here, too,” Elizabeth said. “Let’s get someone to take one of all of us.”

They quickly found a young man willing to let Millicent instruct him on how to use her camera and he took several shots of the women. With little effort, they persuaded him to come back to the picnic area and take photos of the whole group so that Millicent could be included.

When they got back it was to find that the men had given up their game to help the children try out their kites again. But everyone quickly gathered under the tree while the young man took several photos of the whole group. Mrs. Heaton updated group photos for Heaton House when new people came in and Millicent and Matt were the newest boarders.

Elizabeth found herself next to Millicent and in front of John as they all scrambled together for the photo shoot.

“Move in a little closer,” the young man said, trying to get them all in the shot.

Everyone pressed together and Elizabeth found herself so close to John she couldn’t tell if it was her heart or his she felt pounding. Could it be both? She tried to concentrate on smiling for the photo and hoped it didn’t show how flustered she felt.

But once the young man got the shots they wanted and was rewarded with the last slice of cake, Millicent took over and snapped photos of Mrs. Heaton and her family.

Seeing them all together—Mrs. Heaton, Michael, Violet, Rebecca and Jenny—and noting the joy on their faces that they were finally together again brought a tear to Elizabeth’s eyes and she quickly hurried over to help the other women repack the picnic items and fold up the quilts they’d used. Millicent continued to snap first one and then another photo of everyone while they were gathering things up. And right before they left, she took photos of Kathleen’s family—her soon-to-be husband, sister and nephews. To see their happiness, too, brought a sudden longing along with fresh tears to Elizabeth’s eyes and she raised a hand to brush them away.

“You all right?” John asked from behind her.

Surprised, Elizabeth turned too quickly and lost her balance. John reached out to steady her.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I just saw you wipe your eyes and—”

“I’m fine.” Or would be if she could get her racing pulse to slow down. “I was just moved, seeing the Heaton family reunited, and Kathleen and her family so joyful after all they’ve been through.”

John nodded, but still held her upper arms. “It had the same effect on me.”

She nodded and pulled away from his gentle hold. She wasn’t used to this John. The one that seemed to really care. She looked up at him and could see flecks of gold in his blue-green eyes, but it was the expression in them that had her feeling all fluttery on the inside. This had to stop. She took a step back. “I’m fine,” she repeated.

The blue in his eyes deepened and for a moment his expression had her wanting to step back into his arms.

“The omnibus is here to pick us up,” Mrs. Heaton called. John turned and took hold of a couple of baskets and headed out toward the omnibus. Elizabeth fell into step beside Millicent and Julia, but her heart felt heavy when she got on the bus and saw that John was sitting on the other side between Ben and Luke. Was he upset with her?

Mrs. Heaton asked Colleen and her boys, along with her own children, back to Heaton House for supper, but they declined.

“Jenny is worn out, Mama,” Rebecca said, looking down at the child leaning against her. “We’ll pass this time.”

“So are Collin and Brody,” Colleen added. “I don’t think they’ll have any trouble sleeping tonight. Thank you so much for asking us to share your day.”

“It was our pleasure,” Mrs. Heaton said. They stopped to let Colleen and her boys off at their home, then the rest of the Heatons at Michael and Violet’s, and then they headed back to Heaton House. It’d been a long, tiring day by the time they arrived and the aroma wafting in from the kitchen reminded them all it’d been a while since they’d eaten.

They all hurried to freshen up, but Kathleen stopped her in the hall when they came out of their rooms to head back downstairs. “You were awfully quiet on the way home. I saw you and John together before we boarded the bus, but then you didn’t sit together on the way home. Are you upset with him?”