The Ride of Her Life (39 page)

He kicked a bucket and it clattered against the wall. The anger seething inside wasn’t all directed at the boy.

Lilly. Her implications. Her doubts about him. Her lack of faith in him. Each thing seemed like another shot to his bruised heart.

Or was it his bruised pride?

He rubbed his throbbing temple. He didn’t need this. His life had been fine before Lilly Hart, and it would be fine without her too.

“Jury, what say you?”

Mark sat down at the back of the gallery, watching the conclusion of one of Claude Hart’s trials. His client, Ralph Veenstra, had been accused of assault with a deadly weapon, and after watching Mr. Hart deliver the closing argument, he’d not been surprised the jury returned twenty minutes later with a verdict.

The jury foreman stood. “We find the defendant not guilty.”

Ralph pumped Mr. Hart’s hand, thanking him over and over. Mark waited patiently for his employer to finish and met him in the hallway outside the courtroom.

“Congratulations, sir.” Mark fell in step beside Mr. Hart, the heels of their shoes pounding out a beat on the courthouse’s polished hardwood floor.

“Thank you.” He glanced at Mark. “Do you have news?”

“Yes, sir, but perhaps we can discuss it someplace . . . less public.”

“Good idea.”

Mark followed Mr. Hart out of the courthouse and down the block to his law office. The older lawyer pressed his hand against the frosted glass panel on his office door and turned to Mark. “I hope you have good news.”

“Excellent, in fact.”

The two men entered, and Mark ran his hand along one of the walnut bookcases. “Our efforts have been successful. Nick and Lilly are no longer courting.”

“Are you certain?” Mr. Hart sat down at his massive rolltop desk.

“Yes. I witnessed their parting exchange myself.” Mark walked to the decanter set and poured himself a whiskey. “You no longer have any concerns.”

“As long as Lilly still has my grandson, then I have concerns.” Mr. Hart stroked his snowy beard.

“But you said you believed Lilly’s financial situation would eventually make her turn to you for assistance and acquiesce to your will for Levi. Did your son really not leave a will to provide for her?”

Mr. Hart’s eyes darkened. “That’s something I won’t discuss with you.”

Mark’s stomach instantly knotted. Clearly he’d hit a raw nerve. Something was wrong here. Lilly might be a former maid, but she deserved what her husband wanted her to have, and so did Levi. Did Claude Hart need control so badly he’d make them all suffer until he got his way?

Still, Mark couldn’t risk offending the powerful man. His whole career was on the line. “Sir, I apologize. I didn’t mean to infer you were being dishonest. I merely found it odd a lawyer—”

Mr. Hart shot Mark a warning look. After several seconds, the older man pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well, your news is good, but it’s too late to stop my other plans.”

“Other plans?”

Mr. Hart gave a halfhearted laugh. “You didn’t believe I entrusted something as important as this solely to you.” He stood and went to his safe. With a twist of his hand, he opened it and removed an envelope. “I want you to go to the lake and find a man named Mr. Black.”

“Where will I find him?”

“Near the roller coaster.”

“And do what?”

“Give him this. It’s payment for a job I expect him to finish.”

Mark stared at the envelope in Mr. Hart’s extended hand. Everything in him said not to take it, but what choice did he have? Finally, he accepted it.

“You’re a smart young man. You already understand some things cannot be left to chance.” He laid a hand on Mark’s shoulder. “Keep this up and you’ll be a trial lawyer here in no time.”

Mark swallowed the lump in his throat. What had he gotten himself into?

Lilly punched the dough.

A coward? He’d called her a coward?

She turned the dough ball out onto the floured countertop and pressed it flat with the heels of her hands. Punishing the dough, she folded it and pushed down hard again and again.

Why would he say that? She was no coward. She’d stood up to her in-laws. She’d gotten her son out of that house. She’d started a new life for herself.

The dough seemed sticky, so she sprinkled in a little more flour and began to knead some more. Her mother had once said kneading dough had saved many a marriage. Lilly pressed hard into the spongy mixture. There wasn’t any marriage to save, but it sure felt good to take her anger out on something.

“Lilly?” Marguerite slipped into the kitchen of the diner carrying a rubberized bag. “Are you ready to go?”

“Go where?”

“Swimming. Remember?” She pulled the stool to the counter and sat down. “Lilly, what’s wrong? It looks like you’ve been crying. Is Nick okay?”

“Nick’s fine. Unless I decide to break the sixth commandment, in which case I can assure you he’d no longer be fine.”

“I see.” Marguerite poured herself a glass of water and handed Lilly a dish towel. “You’re going to make your dough salty with those tears. Talk to me.”

Lilly blotted her face and went back to kneading. “Maybe later.”

“We’ll talk while we’re swimming.”

“Marguerite, I’m not really in the mood.” After dividing the dough, Lilly plopped it into two glass pans and set it on the back of the stove to rise.

“You, my friend, need a break. And you know you’re going to have to tell Emily and me what’s wrong sooner or later, so you might as well tell us both at the same time. Think about this outing as saving you time.”

Lilly sighed and shook her head. Only Marguerite would think of that. Knowing her friend, she might as well give in and go. Marguerite always seemed to get what she wanted eventually.

After making sure Eugenia and Nora had things covered, Lilly and Marguerite, along with their children, went to Emily’s cottage. Lilly quickly gathered their bathing costumes and hurried back outside to join her friends.

“I’ll be back in an hour or so.” Emily kissed baby Katie then Carter goodbye.

“Have a good time. Katie and I will be fine. We have packing to do.”

Lilly’s heart lurched. “Packing?”

“I was going to tell you later, but Carter and I have decided to return to traveling with the team. My aunt Ethel is improving, and Carter says we’ll be fine as long as we’re together.”

“Both of you? And the baby?” Lilly asked as they started toward the lake.

“Well, we weren’t planning on leaving her behind.” Emily’s lips curled. “But, Lilly, I want you to know I already spoke to my grandmother, and she told me to make it clear you’re free to stay here even after Carter and I leave.”

“I’m not so sure I could do that.” She eyed Tate, Faith, and Levi up ahead. What would she and Levi do now?

Emily waved her hand in the air. “Of course you can. Grandma insists.”

“I’ll have to think about it.” They reached Lake Manawa’s shore, and after Marguerite admonished Tate to help Levi change in the men’s bathhouse, they hurried into the ladies’ bathhouse to put on their bathing costumes.

It didn’t take Lilly long to slip out of her skirt and shirtwaist and into her dark blue bathing costume. Since she was already wearing her black wool stockings, she didn’t need to put those on. The square neck, tucked bodice, and flared skirt of her bathing costume showed more current trends than a lot of those donned by other women. Last season it had been one of her frivolous purchases from the meager allowance the Harts provided. She traced the yellow piping with her finger. Nick would have liked it.

Standing in front of the mirror, she tied a large, sunny-yellow kerchief around her hair, securing the bow in the front. Marguerite emerged from the stall along with Faith. She smiled at Lilly. “I know I told you this before, but that is the cutest bathing costume I’ve ever seen.”

“Thank you.”

“What did Nick—” Marguerite stopped. “Sorry.”

Lilly’s heart pinched, and tears pricked her eyes. Nick hadn’t seen her in the bathing costume. Until the last few days, the water hadn’t been warm enough to consider a swim.

“What’s wrong?” Emily came out of her stall, adjusting her flowered swimming cap. “Did I miss something?”

“Nick and Lilly are on the outs.”

“Nick and I”—Lilly placed her hand on the door’s latch—“are over.”

37

Drenched and tired from frolicking, Marguerite sat on the warm beach. She dug her fingers into the deep, wet layers of sand. Worry wrapped its tendrils around her heart. Lilly refused to speak about what had happened with Nick, so how could she help if she didn’t know what was wrong?

Emily sat down beside her. “Did you come up with a plan yet?”

Out in the lake, Lilly held a prone Faith on her arm, trying to teach her to float. Marguerite smiled, remembering when Lilly had taught her to swim. “You know our Lilly. You can’t make her do anything.”

“Or say anything.” Emily sighed. “I guess we’ll have to trust her to talk when she’s ready.”

Lilly left the water and walked up the beach. Her steps stilled for a moment when she glanced in the direction of the Midway, and then she hurried to join them. She sank into the sand beside them.

Emily placed a hand on her friend’s damp arm. “Tell us what happened.”

“He let Levi ride the roller coaster.” Lilly thrust her fists into the sand.

“Is that all?” Marguerite asked. “Men do a lot of things with their children a mother might not think is safe. Trip even took Tate out in the sailboat during a storm. He said he needed to learn what to do if one came up.”

“Tate’s a lot older than Levi, and Tate is Trip’s child. Levi is mine.”

“I see.” Marguerite crossed her arms.

“It sounds like there’s more to the story.” Emily’s voice was gentle and filled with concern.

Lilly pressed her lips together.

Marguerite huffed. “Oh, good grief. Just tell us. We aren’t going to leave you alone until you do.”

The advertisement in the newspaper was a godsend.

Lilly clutched the paper in her hand and glanced at Marguerite walking beside her. Levi trailed behind them, looking for cicada skins. He’d already found a couple and delighted in showing them to his aunt Marguerite.

The ad said the four-room house for sale was only a half mile from the lake. It would take every penny Lilly had saved, but she believed she could afford it. They might have to do with sleeping on the floor for a month until she could buy beds, but they’d manage.

She’d been glad Marguerite readily agreed to go with her to see it. The last couple of days had taken their toll on Lilly, and she hadn’t wanted to do any convincing. Every movement right now made her feel like she was walking through a wet field of cockleburs. Her sandpapery eyes drooped, still thick from last night’s crying, and her heart was as heavy as Eugenia’s oatmeal.

Her friends had been supportive of her decision to stop seeing Nick, but she sensed Marguerite had an earful of opinion ready to deliver this morning.

“Lilly, are you sure this is what you want?” Marguerite snagged a bushy green foxtail from the weeds along the road and stripped it with her fingers.

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen the house yet.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Marguerite glanced at her. “Are you certain you and Nick can’t try again? Buying a house closes that door quite soundly.”