A Love For Keeps (Truly Yours Digital Editions) (6 page)

“How about around four thirty, is that too late?”

“That would be fine.”

“Wonderful. I’ll have the housekeeper bring Natalie to the bank, and we’ll come over from there. I’m not going to tell her until tomorrow, though. It will be a great surprise for her.”

“I look forward to it,” Meagan said.

Nate nodded. “Yes, well, everything seems to be going according to plan. I’m very happy for you. And I hope that your mother will be able to quit her position at the Crescent before too long, as I know that is your wish.”

“I pray that she will be able to,” Meagan said as she saw him out. “And thank you for your consideration of her.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Meagan watched him leave and was glad she hadn’t gone back inside when he turned and gave her a wave from the street. She’d come to like Nate Brooks quite a bit in the last few weeks.

The next afternoon, Meagan watched from the window and saw Nate with his daughter as they came up the walk. They went around to the shop door and used the knocker instead of just entering.

“Good day.” Meagan opened the door for them.

“Natalie, do you remember Miss Snow from church?”

“Yes, Papa, I do. She’s pretty.”

Meagan could feel the color flood her face.

“Yes, she is,” Nate said.

“Why, thank you.” She was glad Natalie was there so that she didn’t have to look at Nate. “You are very pretty yourself.”

Natalie giggled. “Thank you. Papa says you make beautiful clothing and that you are going to make something for me.”

“I am, if you think you might like some of my ideas.”

“Oh, I’m sure that I will,” the little girl said.

“Well, let’s go sit down, and I’ll show you some of the new styles and find out what you like and don’t like.”

The child followed her and took a seat on the settee, where her father joined her. Meagan had only seen Natalie briefly that day in church. Since then, she and her family had sat in the back where they usually did. And normally, they left right after church, before Nate and his daughter came up the aisle. Natalie looked a lot like her father with her dark hair and brown eyes, and she seemed very sweet.

Meagan pulled out several ladies’ magazines. She looked at Natalie and asked, “What is it you need right now?”

“I would like a new walking dress, and I heard Aunt Abby tell Grandmother just the other day that I could use a new Sunday dress.”

Meagan looked at Nate for guidance.

“I think she could use more than that, but it will be a start.”

“That is where we will begin, then,” Meagan said. Turning to a page, she showed them some of the newest styles for young girls. One was a walking dress made of a dark blue cashmere and had a finely pleated vest, with three wide rows of pleats at the hem. White lace trimmed the pleated collar and the cuffs.

“Oh, how pretty. Could it be in another color?”

“Of course. We can make it any color you like,” Meagan assured her as she turned to another page and showed her a dress of cream foulard with a heavy green band at the hem.

“I like that, too, Miss Snow! I even like the colors,” Natalie said.

“I do, too. Let us see what else we can find that you like.”

With Nate looking on, Meagan showed his daughter more styles and brought out the newest dresses she’d made for her sisters. By the time they were through, they’d decided on a walking dress and a dress to wear to church. She took Natalie’s measurements and gave her some swatches of the fabric in the colors she liked to take home with her. She would let Meagan know which ones she wanted when they came to the grand opening.

When it was time to leave, Nate turned to Meagan. “Natalie quite enjoyed herself today—and I enjoyed watching the two of you decide on the items to add to her wardrobe. If that is the way you are going to treat all of your customers, I have no doubt that you are going to do quite well. No doubt at all.”

By the end of the next week, Nate could no longer deny that he was very attracted to Meagan Snow. His daughter had taken to her immediately, and he understood why. Meagan was a warm and lovely woman, who treated Natalie as if she was just as special as the wealthiest client she might have. He also liked her family almost as much as he liked her.

He’d waited late in the day of her open house to take Natalie in, not wanting to detract from what Meagan needed to do in trying to obtain clients. Quite a few women were still there. While he hadn’t felt out of place in the shop when he’d taken his daughter to meet Meagan, today he did. Meagan greeted them, but with so many women to serve, it was impossible for Natalie to receive the same kind of attention she’d had the first time he brought her in.

Mrs. Snow was helping her daughter, and she must have sensed Nate’s discomfort. She came over and offered her hand. “Good afternoon, Mr. Brooks, how nice to see you and your daughter again.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Snow.” He looked around the room and lowered his voice. “It appears that the open house is a success. I think I should bring Natalie in another day to discuss her fabric choices.”

“Oh no, Meagan would feel terrible if you do that. She doesn’t want to disappoint Natalie. The shop is due to close shortly. Why don’t you and your daughter come out to the kitchen with me? I just took some cookies out of the oven, but it is so close to closing I don’t believe we are going to need them.”

“Oh, please, Papa,” Natalie said with the look that rarely failed to get a yes out of him. “I want to show Miss Snow the colors I decided on.”

Nate nodded, and before long, he and Natalie were sitting at the kitchen table, eating warm cookies and watching Mrs. Snow start dinner. She reminded him of his mother. Becca and Sarah took Natalie under their wing, and Nate listened to them talk about school and church and any number of other things until Meagan rushed into the kitchen.

“I am so sorry, Natalie. I wasn’t expecting so many people.”

“It appeared to be a great success.” Nate smiled at Meagan. Her face was flushed, and she was smiling. One only had to look at her to realize that it had been a very good day for her and that she was very happy.

She nodded. “I have appointments set up for the rest of the week with ladies who want to order some of their spring wardrobe from me! But I would love to see what fabrics you’ve chosen for your dresses, Natalie.”

“Why don’t you and Natalie go do that now? Supper will be ready in about a half hour, and Mr. Brooks and Natalie can join us.”

“Oh, we can’t intrude like that, Mrs. Snow,” Nate said, although the smell of the stew she was stirring had his mouth watering.

“You won’t be intruding. We would like your company. Unless you are due to be somewhere else?”

Nate shook his head. “No, we aren’t.” He’d told his housekeeper not to worry about dinner, that he would take Natalie to her favorite restaurant for dinner. Sharing a meal with the Snow women seemed a much better choice.

“Please, Papa,” Natalie said. Apparently his daughter agreed with him.

“Thank you, Mrs. Snow. We gladly accept your invitation.”

He couldn’t remember the last time he had such an enjoyable evening. He watched as Meagan and Natalie discussed the colors and styles. By the time they’d settled on everything, Mrs. Snow was calling them to supper in the dining room. The table had been set with china and lit with both candles and gaslight. The atmosphere was warm and inviting.

Once seated, Mrs. Snow asked Nate to say the prayer.

He gladly obliged. “Dear Father, we thank You for this day and for the many blessings You’ve bestowed upon us. We thank You for the food we are about to eat. Most of all we thank You for Your Son and our Savior. In His name we pray. Amen.”

He totally enjoyed the informality of the simple meal. The beef stew was well seasoned and served with a fresh salad. For dessert, they were treated to bread pudding. Nate was amazed that Mrs. Snow, even with the help of her daughters, could prepare such a meal and set so nice a table without the aid of hired help. Perhaps he’d been around the Connors family too long.

During the rest of March, Nate and Natalie visited Meagan’s shop often, usually on a Saturday, but sometimes during the week. They had the first fitting of the first dress, then more fittings. By the time they arrived at the shop, Mrs. Snow, whom he’d found didn’t work on the weekends, was usually taking a pan of cookies, a cake, or a pie out of the oven. She never failed to ask them if they wanted some of whatever she’d baked.

On the weekday fittings, they almost always were asked to stay for dinner, and Nate thought he would have agreed to stay even if it wasn’t for his daughter’s pleading expression. He enjoyed being there as much as Natalie did. It was more than a little refreshing to see how the Snow family had coped with the loss of a husband, father, and breadwinner. They might have had household staff at some point, judging from the home and the furnishings. They talked about Mr. Snow often, and Nate could tell they loved him and missed him greatly, but they honored his memory by getting on with their lives the best they could. He never heard them complain. Maybe he related so well to them because they’d suffered a loss just as he did when he lost his wife, Rose, in the fire.

Whatever the reason, he liked being around the Snow family. He didn’t feel that he had to be constantly on guard as he did most times with Rose’s family. He supposed that was because he’d always felt guilty that he hadn’t been able to save her. By the time he’d reached their home, it was engulfed in flames, and Abigail was outside holding Natalie. He’d tried to go in, but some of his neighbors had stopped him. In shock, all he could do was join Abigail, taking his daughter in his arms as they watched the flames.

Something died in him that day, but he’d struggled through, questioning God, reading and praying—and doing his best to raise the daughter he adored. He knew now that the Lord had never left his side, and while he still wondered why his Rose had to die, he knew she was in a better place. He strived to raise Natalie the way he thought Rose would want him to … trusting in the Lord to help him.

Since he’d met Meagan Snow and her family, he’d felt more alive than he had since the day of the fire. And it felt really good to be looking forward rather than backward.

“Papa, do you like the Snow family as much as I do?” Natalie asked when they were on their way to the shop for a fitting of her new Sunday dress.

He looked down and smiled at his daughter. She was always in a good mood when they were on their way to the Snows’ home. “Well, I’m not sure how much that is, but I do like them very much.”

“They are so nice, and they like to talk to me, and I like talking to them. I just enjoy being there. It’s very … homey, isn’t it?”

That is it, exactly, Nate thought. “Yes, it is.”

“I like being there almost as much as at home … and much better than any other place.”

As she skipped and chattered alongside him, Nate realized that Natalie was always very happy and talkative when they left the Snow home, but she didn’t have much to say when she left her aunt Abigail’s. He began to wonder why that was. Natalie had always been close to Abigail, but not quite as open or happy around her aunt as she was around Meagan. Maybe it was a difference in personalities. Or perhaps it could be the different way each woman treated her. Abigail sometimes treated Natalie as if she were younger than she really was, and Meagan treated her … like a person in her own right. Nate shook his head. Mulling it over wasn’t telling him anything. Perhaps his daughter just liked Meagan better than she did Abigail.
That
he could certainly understand.