A Vote of Confidence (20 page)

Beautiful. That’s how she would look. Just as she did now. And unlike too many other young women he’d known, her beauty was
more than skin deep.

He realized then that he had been staring at her, and she knew it. Her flushed cheeks told him so.

“I’m looking forward to my lesson.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them. He sounded like a schoolboy
with a crush on his teacher.

He held the door open and motioned her inside.

She walked without hesitation into the front parlor. At the piano, she set sheet music on the music desk, then turned to face
him. “Let’s begin with scales.”

So that’s how it was to be. All business. All right. He hadn’t excelled in business by quitting at the first sign of difficulty. He wasn’t about to quit in his attempts to win her affections
just because she seemed uninterested.

He sat on the bench, placed his fingers on the keys, and began running through the scales, all the while aware of where Gwen
stood — behind him and one step to the right. He also heard the tap of her shoe on the hardwood floor, keeping time like a
metronome.

Morgan McKinley had elegant hands. Large hands with long, narrow fingers. The hands of a gentleman. Yet Gwen suspected they
were also the hands of a man unafraid of physical labor.

She imagined her right hand enfolded in his left, his right hand in the small of her back — gentle but firm, guiding her every
step — as they twirled around a ballroom, an orchestra playing a waltz. Oh, how very much she loved to dance.

But it wasn’t an orchestra bringing the melody to life. It was Morgan. He’d finished his scales and now played from the sheet
music — a basic but recognizable Viennese waltz — she’d left for him a week ago. Thankfully, he wasn’t looking at her. Thankfully
he could have no idea where her imagination had taken her.

“That was very good,” she said when he finished.

He turned on the bench. “I’ve practiced every day. I wanted you to know I’m serious about becoming accomplished on the piano.”

Think of him as you think of any of your other students. He is just one of your students. Nothing more.

Tell that to her rapidly beating heart. What was it about this man that created such confusion inside of her? Whatever it
was, she must put a stop to it.

She walked to the other end of the grand piano and looked at him through the open lid. “I shall have to bring more difficult pieces for you to learn, Mr. McKinley. You have a natural
talent.”

He rose and stepped to one side. “Would you play something, Miss Arlington?”

“Me?” Her pulse quickened again.

“Please.” His voice was warm, almost like a caress. It was also irresistible.

With a nod of acquiescence, she returned to the keyboard and settled onto the bench. The smooth wood was still warm from his
body heat.

Concentrate. Concentrate.

She chose to play a more difficult version of the same Viennese waltz, and it wasn’t long before she was lost in the melody.
The instrument was a wonder, every note so clean and pure. The music swirled around her and filled every corner of the room.
When she reached the end of the song, it was hard not to return to the beginning a second time. She was reluctant to stop.

Morgan cried, “Bravo!” and applauded.

Pleasure swept through Gwen. “Thank you.”

“You’ve given me something to aspire to.”

“I suspect the day will come when you surpass my playing, if you are diligent with your practice.”

“I’ll be diligent.” He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the side of the piano. “I can be very single minded when I
have a goal in mind.”

A frisson of expectation shivered along her spine.

Morgan straightened. “Have you something new for me to work on this week?”

Sanity returned, and she reached for the sheet music she’d brought with her. “Yes, I do. I brought several songs for you to
learn.” She opened the first one and played it for him. Afterward, she rose and offered him the bench. “Now you try it.”

It was like an intricate dance, Morgan thought, the way they moved around each other. One moment Gwen drew near. The next
she moved away. One moment she smiled, her eyes filled with warmth. The next her expression was cool and distant.

She beguiled him.

She confused him.

He was almost relieved when Inez Cheevers entered the front parlor. Perhaps he could get his thoughts in order if he had a
moment or two away from Gwen.

“I’m sorry, sir, but there’s a telegram for you. I thought it might be important or else I would have waited.”

“Yes. Of course.” He nodded at the housekeeper, then said to Gwen, “I won’t be long. Please excuse me.”

Morgan had expected the telegram to be from one of his suppliers for New Hope. Instead, he found a message from William Rudyard:

ARRIVING BETHLEHEM SPRINGS THURSDAY. BRINGING TWO FELLOW SENATORS INTERESTED IN YOUR RESORT. STAYING UNTIL SUNDAY. WILL FIND
WAY TO RESOLVE ISSUES.

BILLY

Morgan chuckled softly. Grass didn’t grow under the feet of William Rudyard. He’d known that. But he hadn’t expected such
a quick response. Nor had he expected William to come to Bethlehem Springs in person. At least, not this soon.

He glanced toward the parlor.

The three senators would be here for his dinner party. Perfect!

He set the telegram on the table in the center of the entry before returning to the front parlor. Gwen stood at the large
windows that overlooked the town. He crossed the room to join her there.

“You can see the roof of my home from here,” she said softly.

“Which one is it?” As if he hadn’t discovered that on his own. Was his question the same as a lie?

She pointed. “There. The one with the tall weeping willow in the backyard.”

“Ah, yes. I see it.”

She looked at him, concern in her eyes. “I pray the telegram wasn’t bad news.”

“No.” He shook his head. “Not bad news. In fact, it was good news. I’m to have some visitors from the state capital. Three
senators who are coming to see New Hope.”

“Word of your health resort is spreading already. That’s good.”

This seemed the perfect opportunity, and Morgan took it. “I’m going to have a dinner party on Friday night. I’d like it if
you came.” To ensure her agreement, he added, “If you become the mayor of Bethlehem Springs, it wouldn’t hurt for you to know
some of the men in state government.”

Gwen Arlington would never make a good poker player, Morgan thought, for he would swear her eyes revealed each and every thought
as she weighed his invitation. He knew the precise moment she decided to accept.

But to be on the safe side, he said, “I would be very honored to have you here.”

“Thank you. I accept your kind invitation.”

Relief flooded through him and he smiled, not trying to disguise how pleased he was.

Gwen smiled too. “You are a rather strange political opponent, Mr. McKinley. Asking me to give you piano lessons. Giving me
a private tour of your resort. Inviting me to your dinner parties. Aren’t you concerned how I might use the things I learn
about you to my own advantage?”

“Miss Arlington, if you should learn something that makes me unworthy or unsuitable to serve as mayor, then it would be your
right and your duty to inform the voters of it. I expect nothing else.”

Her smile faded as he spoke, replaced by a frown that pinched the skin above the bridge of her nose. “I don’t understand you.”

Morgan wanted to kiss away the frown, but he wisely took a step backward, out of temptation’s reach. “Shall we continue my
lesson before our time is up?”

“Yes.” Her cheeks grew flushed. “Of course.”

He would kiss her. One day he would kiss her. He hoped that day came soon — before the waiting drove him crazy.

When the dust-covered Cadillac rolled into the turn-around in front of the McKinley house on Thursday afternoon, Morgan stepped
onto the veranda and waited for the vehicle’s passengers to disembark. The household had been in a general uproar for the
past two days as guest bedrooms were cleaned and aired and everything made ready for William and his fellow senators. Now
they were here.

Senator William Rudyard — Billy to his friends — was a large man, both in height and weight. His complexion was naturally
ruddy, but his love for the outdoors made it even more so. Though not yet sixty, his hair was pure white.

“By George! We’re here at last, Morgan.” William strode toward the front steps. “I hope we haven’t come at an inopportune
time. I gathered from your message that you want these troublesome matters resolved as quickly as possible.” He climbed the
steps to where Morgan stood.

“You’re welcome in my home anytime, sir. You must know that.” Morgan shook the senator’s hand.

William turned toward the other two men who now stood at the top of the steps. “Gentlemen, this young man is Morgan McKinley.
Morgan, meet Senator Jeremiah Hayes and Senator Clive Austin.”

“How do you do?” Morgan shook the men’s hands. “Welcome.” He motioned toward the front door. “Do come in. I’m sure you’d like
something to drink to wash away the dust of your journey. I’ll have your luggage brought into the house and put into your
rooms.”

William put an arm around Morgan’s shoulders. “I must say. I was surprised when I learned you’d moved to Idaho. More than
once I tried to convince Danielle to marry me and settle here.”

“I know.”

Softer this time: “I miss your mother.”

Morgan nodded.

“She was the finest woman I’ve ever known or ever expect to know.”

“Then you’ll understand why New Hope is important to me. It was her dream to see something like this built. I mean to see
it happen, despite the problems I’ve encountered.”

William dropped his arm and turned toward the other two men. “Are you up to a tour of the building site today?”

Jeremiah Hayes answered, “Certainly. It’s why we’re here.”

“How far is your resort from Bethlehem Springs?” William asked.

“Not far,” Morgan answered. “About half an hour in an automobile.”

“Then I say we wet our whistles and be on our way.”

Harrison stared out the window of his law office, his gaze resting on the McKinley home on the hillside above him. “You’re
sure?” he asked his clerk.

“I’m sure. I was talking to Nathan Patterson when Senator Rudyard came in to ask directions to the McKinley home. Heard him introduce himself with my own ears. Heard him clear as day.”

William Rudyard was a name Harrison knew well. He was a powerful man and not just in Idaho. He had the ear of men in positions
of power in the business and financial worlds as well as in government, both state and national. How did McKinley know him?
Why was the senator in Bethlehem Springs?

“Did he say anything else?”

“No, sir. Just wanted directions, and when he got them, he went on his way. There were two other men in the automobile with
him. Can’t say who they were.”

Harrison continued to stare up at the house. After a minute or two more, his clerk left, closing the door softly behind him.