When Love Calls (9 page)

Why had Lincoln shown up in her little country congregation yesterday?

Hannah jotted the question on her tablet as Mrs. Reuff droned on and on and on. Was he possibly interested in her? No, they were from two different worlds. She simply wasn’t in his social class.

“Miss Gregory?”

She jerked her head up, her chest coiled tight. “Could you repeat the question, ma’am?”

Mrs. Reuff’s lips formed a perfect upside-down
U
. “If I must. How many seconds should each call be limited to?”

Hannah let out the breath she’d been holding. She knew this. “Six seconds from answer to connection.”

“And what is the biggest obstacle in reaching that goal?”

“Inattentiveness on the part of the operator.”

Mrs. Reuff tapped Hannah’s tablet. “You might do well to remember that.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Now, ladies, I have your scores from the exam Professor Tubman gave on Friday over the science of telephony. I’ll pass the exams out now, but please keep your score to yourself. If your score is below 70 percent, there is no need for you to return tomorrow.”

Although before the exam they’d been told half of the students would probably not make it beyond this point, Hannah heard a few gasps. The shifting of chairs and the mounting tension in the air told her she wasn’t the only one who was worried. That test, which included the mechanics of the switchboard, had been as hard as any of her college Latin exams, but she was certain she’d passed it. She glanced at Rosie, her complexion pale, her hands clasped in front of her as if she were praying. They’d studied together, and the information hadn’t come easy to her friend. If the test was hard for Hannah, she knew it had been doubly so for Rosie.

Mrs. Reuff riffled through her stack of papers as she walked down the row, passing a graded exam to each young woman. Rosie accepted hers, and a slight smile appeared on her face. She cocked the paper so Hannah could see her score of seventy-one. But when Mrs. Reuff reached Hannah, she didn’t hand her a copy of the test. Instead, she skipped her and moved on to the next student.

Hannah’s stomach twisted like the wires in the back of the switchboard. Had she really failed the exam? Was Mrs. Reuff going to give her the bad news privately? Or had her problems earlier put her in danger of losing her position in the training school?

With only one paper still in hand, Mrs. Reuff again addressed the class. “Tomorrow we will begin drills on the practice switchboards, so please review the procedure manual. It will be a trying day, so be sure to get your rest. But before you all go, I’d like to announce who received the highest score on Professor Tubman’s
exam.” She looked at Hannah. “Congratulations, Miss Gregory. You scored a ninety-six.”

“A ninety-six? She cheated,” a voice whispered behind Hannah.

One stern look from Mrs. Reuff silenced the rude speaker.

Hannah whirled in her seat to see who had uttered the lie and discovered snooty Ginger Smith. Martha Cavanaugh pinned Hannah with a livid glare.

So much for making friends.

After the class was dismissed, a few girls congratulated Hannah, but she could tell being publicly recognized had not done her any service. When she spotted tears coursing down one of the girl’s cheeks, guilt jabbed her. Some of these young women would not be returning. She swallowed her joy and put on a somber face.

Rosie squeezed her arm. “I’m so proud of you!”

“Thank you.” Hannah picked up her books and nestled them against her hip. “I’m glad we both made it. That wasn’t an easy test.”

“I really didn’t think I’d pass.” Rosie skirted the desks and walked down the hallway beside Hannah.

“Take comfort in knowing they said that was the hardest one. The rest should be easy.”

“Easy for you.” Rosie laughed. “But at least we’re in this together.”

Hannah tried to hide her joy, but it came out in the bounce of her steps as they left the building. She could never tell her sisters this, but she missed her college studies terribly. Nothing felt better than to know she’d done well on an exam.

“Hannah.” Martha Cavanaugh stepped in front of her, no warmth coming from her voice. “Don’t make the rest of us look bad again. Some of us need this job.”

“Yes, and I’m one of them.” Hannah offered a sweet smile. “If you need any help with your studies, Martha, let me know. You can always study with Rosie and me.” She nudged Rosie, and they left a gaping Martha in their wake.

“Why’d you offer to do that?” Rosie asked.

“My mother always said to render a blessing rather than a curse.”

“Well, I can almost guarantee you someone is still doing some cursing.”

“Rosie! I’m shocked.”

“What? I’ve known her all my life. Martha learned how to rule the sandbox by the end of first grade.”

Hannah shrugged. “I don’t think she’ll give me any trouble.”

“You may have been as sweet as pie back there, but mark my words, Martha Cavanaugh has your name at the top of her ‘least favorites’ list.”

“Maybe she’ll forget about it.”

Rosie shook her head. “She never forgets.”

Great. And with my luck, she’ll remember at the most inopportune moment.

 11 

Charlotte couldn’t believe her ears. Dreamy-eyed George Donnelly had actually asked if he could walk her, the new girl, home from school.

After forcing her smile not to betray her fluttering heart, Charlotte nodded. “I guess that would be all right.”

He took her books and stacked them on his own. “You live on Chestnut Street, right?”

She nodded.
Oh my stars, he knows where I live.
“I . . . I have to wait for my little sister.”

“Really? Are you sure?” He frowned. “I need to get to baseball practice, but I guess we can wait if we have to.”

George didn’t seem at all pleased to wait, despite what he said. What if he decided to go on without her? An invitation from someone like George didn’t come every day. Besides, she wasn’t Tessa’s nursemaid. Her sister was old enough to take care of herself.

She tilted her head to the side. “I guess Tessa will be fine. She can find her own way home.”

A broad smile creased his face. “Good. Let’s go then.”

The six-block walk might as well have been on air, and it was over much too soon. She’d learned George was an only child and had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. He laughed with ease and had no trouble expressing his opinions. And his grass-green eyes? They were as lethal as any weapons, and he knew how to use them.

When she reached the top of the porch steps, she turned to
George and held out her hands for her books. “Thank you for walking me home. I enjoyed it.”

George held the books tight against his hip. “Why don’t you come watch my practice?”

“Now? I can’t. I need to make dinner.”

“You should make one of your sisters do it.”

She laughed. “Tessa isn’t much of a cook yet, and I can’t make Hannah do anything. She’d tell me I should do what I’m asked.”

“She’s not your mother.”

“No.” Charlotte let out a long breath. “But she feels responsible for us, and she’s working hard to give us a home. I want to do what I can to help.”

He shrugged and passed the stack of books her way. “The way I see it, she expects you to take your mother’s place in the kitchen—like hired help. I guess I was hoping for more. I’ll see you around.”

“At school tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

“Bye.” She waved her fingers at him as he turned. With his shoulders slumped, he looked so dejected her heart squeezed. Maybe he was right. Her sister expected too much from her. Hannah hadn’t thought twice about leaving them the other day to go see Lincoln Cole. Why should things be different for Charlotte? Shouldn’t she have the opportunity to spend time with a boy?

“George, wait. Let me put these inside, and I’ll go with you after all.”

Smoke billowed from the kitchen. Hannah threw down her books and raced into the room to find Tessa removing a charred pan from the oven. Tessa dropped the pan in the sink and shoved the oven door shut with the toe of her shoe. She pumped water onto the charred contents, and smoke rose with a hiss.

“What happened? Where’s Charlotte?”

Tessa wiped her hands on a flour-dusted apron. “Heaven knows. She left me a note that said to make supper.”

“You?”

Tessa jutted out her chin. “I can cook.”

The remains of the biscuits slid out of the pan in a congealed black blob, but Hannah chose not to point out the serious doubts she had about her youngest sister’s cooking abilities at the moment. “I mean, why isn’t Charlotte cooking dinner? Is she ill?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her.”

“Didn’t you see Charlotte after school?”

“No, she didn’t wait for me. Here’s the note she left.” Tessa snagged a piece of paper off the table and thrust it at Hannah. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some stew to stir before it goes the unfortunate way of the biscuits.”

Hannah read the missive. It was so unlike Charlotte not to fulfill her obligations. Where Hannah struggled with rules, Charlotte was a rule keeper. She wouldn’t take off without a good reason. Something had to be wrong.

“Tess, listen. I’m going to go look for Charlotte. If she comes back—” The front door banged open, and Hannah’s heart skipped.
Thank you, Lord, for bringing her home.
“Charlotte?”

Her middle sister breezed into the house with a wide smile on her face. She walked straight to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of milk.

Hannah frowned. Charlotte hadn’t even commented on the acrid smoke still lingering in the air. “Where have you been, and why did you have Tessa make supper?”

“I went somewhere with a friend.” Charlotte plucked a cookie from the jar on the counter. “Besides, it shouldn’t be my job to cook every day. It’s only fair we share the responsibility for meals.”

“That may be so, but you don’t go changing the plans willy-nilly, and you can’t leave Tessa making meals unsupervised. She’s not ready for that.”

“And where were you after school?” Tessa pointed at her sister with a stew-dripping spoon.

“Tessa! Watch what you’re doing.” Charlotte pointed to the spot on the floor.

Hannah wiped the spot with a cloth. “You had me worried. I was about to go looking for you.”

“Oh, good grief, Hannah. I went out with a friend for one afternoon. It isn’t like I burned the house down.” She sniffed the air. “But it smells like Tessa sure tried.”

“Charlotte, what’s gotten into you? Who is this friend?”

Another smile blossomed on Charlotte’s face, and her cheeks pinked. “Only the most handsome boy in my class. His name is George Donnelly. He asked me to go watch his baseball practice. I’m sorry, Hannah. I know I should have told him no, but he made so much sense at the time, and he looked so sad when I said I couldn’t join him.”

“So you left the note and went anyway—even though you knew we’d be upset with you?”

Charlotte gave a weak smile. “If you saw his dreamy eyes, you’d understand.”

Hannah crossed her arms over her chest. “Don’t do this again, Charlotte. It’s not fair to make us worry. Now help Tessa finish supper. I have a test to study for.”

Charlotte lifted her apron from a hook on the back of the door and draped it over her shirtwaist. “Your work is always the most important, isn’t it?”

“Did George say that too?” Hannah shook her head in disbelief. This wasn’t the Charlotte who’d left this morning. Hannah was beginning to think she didn’t like this George boy one bit. “Yes, my work is important. If I don’t pass, we don’t eat, and we’re all in this together, remember?”

Hannah received no immediate response, but she heard her sister mumble as she left the room. What would her mother and father have done about this George? While her mother probably would have given Charlotte time to discern this young man’s character for herself, her father most likely would have run him off with a shotgun. Hannah chuckled. For the first time in her life, she was beginning to like the way her father thought.