A Love For Keeps (Truly Yours Digital Editions) (15 page)

Natalie rewarded him with a huge smile. “Thank you, Papa!”

How dare Abigail tell Natalie that she didn’t want her talking about Meagan! If Natalie had been misbehaving, that Abigail would admonish her would be one thing, but just because she was in a bad mood or didn’t want to hear what the child had to say, why that was something entirely different!

By the time they arrived at Meagan’s shop, Nate was very angry, but he tried not to let it show as she opened the door of the shop to them. “Good afternoon! I saw you coming around the porch.”

She smiled at Natalie and at him, but her smile didn’t seem as large or bright for him. Maybe it was just his imagination, or maybe his anger at Abigail was coloring his mood. He decided not to carry it into her shop. “Natalie has been looking forward to her fitting for days.”

He didn’t add that he had been looking forward to it, too. He just was not seeing enough of Meagan. He wanted to court her very much—but he was getting mixed messages from her and didn’t know how to broach the subject. Still, he enjoyed watching her with his daughter.

He could hear giggling from behind the screen as Meagan helped her out of her day dress and into the new walking dress she was making for her. “Oh, it’s beautiful, Miss Meg! I can’t wait to wear it!”

“It is going to look lovely on you, Natalie.”

“May I show Papa? I know the sleeves aren’t in yet, but I’d like him to see it.”

He heard Meagan chuckle at her enthusiasm. “Of course you may.”

Natalie ran out from behind the screen and twirled in front of him. “Do you like it, Papa?”

It was a very pretty dress, and she looked adorable in it. He couldn’t remember what kind of fabric Meagan had said it was, but it was of a red- and white-striped material that reminded him of a candy cane. “I do like it, Natalie! It looks wonderful on you.”

“Thank you, kind sir.” She giggled and curtsied, causing both him and Meagan to chuckle.

“Why, Natalie, dear, how nice that dress looks on you.” Mrs. Snow entered the room with a smile. “Are you going to stay for dinner with us tonight?”

Natalie swung around to him. “Papa?”

Nate hesitated in answering, knowing his daughter wanted to stay, but waiting for Meagan to add her voice to the invitation as she normally did. Only she didn’t, and the silence felt uncomfortable. “I think not tonight. But thank you for your invitation. Perhaps next time?”

“Of course. You and Natalie are always welcome at our table, Nate.”

Nate waited a moment to see if Meagan would add anything to that. When she didn’t, he simply said, “Thank you, Mrs. Snow. That means a lot to both Natalie and me.”

“You are quite welcome. It’s the least we can do after all you’ve done for us. Besides, we enjoy your company.”

Somehow, Nate didn’t think Meagan quite agreed with her mother, and he began to wonder if she’d gone to the gala with him because he gave them the loan. He sincerely hoped not.

Frustrated that he didn’t know how to approach Meagan and still upset at Abigail for telling Natalie not to talk about her, Nate went to see Abigail after work the next day.

Her housekeeper showed him into her parlor, and Abigail glided over to greet him. “Why, Nate, what a nice surprise … unless—is something wrong?”

Nate wondered if she could tell how upset he was by his expression. “There is something I would like to talk to you about.”

“Oh?” She motioned to the settee. “Please, take a seat and tell me what is on your mind.”

Her voice sounded hopeful, and he hated to ruin her pleasant mood. He really did appreciate Abigail. She’d been there to help him with Natalie through her own grief. But she wanted him to feel something he didn’t feel for her, and he wished she would just accept it. It would make being part of the same family so much easier. But as he knew all too well, life wasn’t always easy, and it was for his daughter’s sake he was here today. He might as well get straight to it. He took the chair beside the settee and waited for Abigail to sit down before he said anything.

“Natalie says you don’t want her talking about Miss Snow anymore.”

“What?” Her right eyebrow went up as it always did when she felt defensive.

“Did you not tell her that you didn’t want her talking about Miss Snow?” He knew that Natalie didn’t lie. He waited for Abigail’s answer, well aware that he couldn’t rule out that she would.

“Perhaps she misunderstood me, Nate. I did tell her that Miss Meg seemed to be all she wanted to talk about anymore.”

“She likes Miss Snow and considers her a friend. It’s no different than you talking about your friends all the time.”

“It is different, Nate.”

“How so?” Let her explain further if she would.

“It just is. She seems quite taken with the woman, Nate. I don’t want her to get hurt. You might want to guard against Natalie becoming too attached to her—she’s a mere seamstress!”

If he only knew how Meagan felt about him, Nate would gladly tell Abigail that if he had his way, Natalie would be seeing much more of the
seamstress
. But something in his sister-in-law’s demeanor kept him from doing so. He did make one thing clear. “I don’t want you ever to tell Natalie that she can’t talk about someone she cares about. If she can’t feel free to talk to you, then how can you possibly think you are—”

“Oh, Nate dear,” Abigail interrupted him, her tone suddenly sweet as honey. “This has just been a misunderstanding on Natalie’s part. I will tell her I never meant to upset her and assure her that she can always talk to me about anything.”

Nate stood. He felt he’d accomplished the main thing he came here for. He was pretty certain that Abigail wouldn’t be telling Natalie that she couldn’t talk about Meagan or anyone else she might wish to talk about again.

If Meagan’s mother had wondered why she hadn’t insisted that Nate and Natalie stay for supper, she hadn’t said anything, and for that Meagan was very grateful. She didn’t know why she hadn’t tried to get them to stay …. Well, maybe she did. She just wasn’t sure how Nate felt about her. There was a time when she’d thought he might care about her as much as she did him, but Abigail’s insinuations had her doubting his motivation in asking her to the gala. Had it only been to help her business out that he’d asked her to accompany him?

Meagan hoped not. She prayed not. But there was no denying that it well could have been for that reason. He hadn’t asked her to accompany him anywhere else, so how could she be sure? And if he was not interested in her in the way she was him, it was better for her to steel her heart against the love she could no longer deny she felt for him.

Meagan kept telling herself that as she cut out the muslin pattern for Abigail’s new gown. Oh, how she wished she could tell the woman to take her business elsewhere. But for the sake of her business and her family’s future, she could not. It was time to face reality and quit dreaming.

She was face-to-face with reality when Abigail came in for her fitting that very afternoon. She’d brought a friend with her, Miss Rebecca Dodson.

“Oh, what a nice little shop you have here,” Miss Dodson said. “I’ve been hearing all kinds of good things about your work. I’m still using Mrs. Sparrow for now, but Abigail insisted I come with her and keep her company.”

Meagan was immensely relieved that the woman had a dressmaker of her own. She liked Mrs. Connors a lot, but her daughter was another matter entirely, and Meagan wasn’t interested in acquiring any of Abigail’s friends as customers.

“Please, make yourself comfortable, then. There are some of the latest fashion magazines to look at, or if you and Miss Connors prefer to talk, she’ll be able to hear you through the screen.”

Evidently, that is what they did prefer because she’d barely started pinning the muslin on Abigail before she began to talk about Nate.

“Nate came by to see me yesterday afternoon, right out of the blue, Rebecca,” Abigail said.

“Oh? What did he want?”

“He is concerned about Natalie. He wants her to be able to come to both of us with anything. He said he wants her to be able to talk about the things that mean a lot to her.”

“Hmm. That sounds as if he’s … thinking about the future, doesn’t it?” Miss Dodson asked.

“I certainly hope so!” Abigail giggled, and Meagan had to struggle to keep from purposely sticking her with the pin she was holding.

“I’ve been telling him how much Natalie needs a mother. Perhaps he’s finally taking me seriously,” Abigail continued.

Her friend laughed. “And I know just who you have in mind.”

“Well, who better to raise Natalie than the sister of her mother?”

“You have a point. Besides, Natalie has always been close to you, and you’ve loved Nate for a very long time.”

Meagan took the pins out of her mouth and swallowed hard. She was glad she was behind Abigail so that the woman couldn’t see the tears that formed. Abigail was trying to get a message across to her; there was no doubt about it. Well, it appeared she did have a prior claim to Nate, and no amount of wishing or dreaming was going to change that. It was time Meagan accepted the fact that she would never have a future with Nate Brooks. She blinked back the tears, stuck the pins back in her mouth, and finished pinning the pattern on Abigail. By the time she was done, Meagan had her tears under control and was resolved to get through the afternoon. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to do it on her own, she prayed silently for help to do just that.

“I think that’s it. The gown is going to fit you nicely, Miss Connors. Now all I have to do is mark the pins and take them out. You can come back for a fitting a week from today, if that is convenient for you.”

“That will be fine,” Abigail said. “I think Nate will really like it.”

The woman loved to shoot darts, and her aim was perfect, Meagan thought. Oh, how she wished she never had to pin another thing on her! But she couldn’t get out of it. There was still the loan to pay off and the fact that Abigail could cause problems with that loan—not to mention her customers. Over half of them were Nate and Abigail’s friends or business acquaintances. No. Much as she would like to tell the woman to find someone else to sew for her, she just couldn’t do it. All she could do was pray for the strength to keep her thoughts to herself … and to put Nate Brooks out of her mind.

Nate was on the way to Meagan’s shop with Natalie for a fitting when he realized that he wasn’t going to have an excuse to go to her shop much longer. At least, not nearly as often. There wasn’t much more he could have Meagan make Natalie. She had nearly a whole new wardrobe.

He’d hoped it would become obvious to Meagan that part of the reason he’d ordered so much from her was so that he could see her on a semiregular basis … especially after he’d taken her to the Crescent. He thought she would be aware that he wanted to court her. If she’d come to that conclusion, she certainly showed no sign of it. Feeling that his time was running out, he was determined to find a way to tell her how he felt and that he wanted to see more of her.

He hoped to have that chance today. His daughter had come to feel so comfortable and welcome at Meagan’s shop and home that she ran ahead of him and burst into the shop. He could hear their conversation as he approached the door.