Her Heart's Desire (4 page)

She sat next to him, and her shawl
slipped over her shoulder. Adjusting it, she rested against the
back of the swing and smiled. “How are you doing?”

“
Fine. I’m fine.” He
cleared his throat. “How are you?”

“
Oh, I’m doing well,
thanks.”

He nodded and smiled, not sure of what
to say now that she was here. It was hard to concentrate on
anything but how pretty she was. Her dark hair was pulled back into
a twist at the nape of her neck, and he couldn’t help but wonder
what it would be like to kiss the spot beneath her ear. He’d
overheard one of the men say that women loved that kind of thing,
and quite frankly, he thought he’d enjoy it as well. Of course,
he’d love to kiss Ethel Mae anywhere. If he married her, he could
take off her clothes and… His face flushed. Perhaps he should keep
his thoughts away from kissing and such.

Taking a deep breath, he said, “It’s a
pleasant evening. With the sunset and cool temperature. You know,
not too hot or cold. Just right.” Rick hid the desire to wince. He
didn’t exactly sound smooth or charming. Probably not like Larry or
Samuel, especially Samuel if she preferred him to Larry. Once
again, he wondered who these two men were.

“
Yes, it is a pleasant
evening,” Ethel Mae replied. “It’s the kind of evening a person
should sit on the porch and watch the sun go down.”

He nodded and tapped his fingers on
the arm of the swing. This wasn’t going as well as he hoped. He
needed to come up with something to discuss. And he’d better do it
quick, considering the way she covered her mouth and yawned. “Did
you have a good day?” he asked.

“
Oh yes! It was
wonderful.”

Encouraged by her enthusiasm, he
relaxed. “What happened?”

“
Oh, I—” She stopped, her
eyes wide, and let out an uneasy chuckle. “Nothing. It was just a
good day.”

He frowned. What wasn’t she telling
him?

“
Did your day go well?” she
quickly asked, as if she wished to change topics right
away.

Blinking, he wondered if he should
press her on what happened but decided it wouldn’t be good to show
his uncertainty. As he traced the edge of the arm of the swing with
his fingers, he said, “I had a good day. There was this hearing
that I presided over, and while I was listening to the defendant’s
side, there was a law that I knew applied to the case. I couldn’t
remember what it was, which doesn’t often happen. So when we went
into recess, I went to one of the law books and—” When he noticed
that she seemed unusually interested in her fingernails, he softly
laughed. “I’m sorry. This must be boring you.”

Her head snapped in his direction.
“What? Oh, no. You’re not boring me. I find your job very
interesting.” She yawned and pressed a hand to her chest. “Sorry. I
was up late last night and didn’t get a chance to rest today. What
were you saying?”

Rick’s smile faltered. “Nothing.
Actually, it is boring unless you happen to be a judge or a lawyer
or…” He shrugged, not sure who else would enjoy the story of how he
figured out the plaintiff was lying. After a moment of awkward
silence, he continued, “I was wondering if you might be available
on Saturday.”

“
Saturday? This
Saturday?”

“
Yes, this
Saturday.”

“
Oh. Well, uh, I have
something to do that day.” She offered an apologetic
smile.

He wondered if she was going to see
Larry or Samuel but couldn’t ask. Instead, he ventured, “Can I see
you Sunday afternoon?”

“
I don’t know. Sally will
be here that day. If you don’t mind that she’s here, you can come
over.”

His initial thought was disappointment
that he wouldn’t get to spend time with just her, perhaps going for
a walk in the park or enjoying a picnic. Neither sounded as
interesting with her friend there. However, maybe this was just the
thing he needed. Her friend might know Larry and Samuel, and maybe
he should ask her how trying to make Ethel Mae jealous would
work.

Vivian ran out the front door and
yelled loud enough for the entire block to hear, “Ethel Mae, Ma
needs your help!” Then, just as fast as she appeared, she
disappeared back into the house.

With another smile, Ethel Mae stood
up. “I’m sorry our time has been cut short.”

“
Yes,” he replied, glancing
at the sun which still had yet to go past the horizon. So much for
looking at the stars with her. “It seems like I just got
here.”

She laughed. “Time flies when you’re
having fun, doesn’t it? Well, I must go in and help my mother. If
you wish, you may come by around two on Sunday.”

“
I’ll be here.”

She said good-night and slipped into
the house.

Shoulders slumped, he turned away from
the front door and headed down the porch steps.

Chapter Three

On Sunday, Sally turned from the
mirror that was over the dresser in Ethel Mae’s bedroom to look at
her friend. “Larry and Samuel are your other two
suitors?”

“
Well,” Ethel Mae began,
“Samuel isn’t really a suitor. He’s supposed to be the one I’m most
interested in because he’s been visiting Miss Keating.”

Sally’s eyes lit up with
understanding. “I see what you’re doing. This way Rick will assume
you prefer men who are interested in other women.”

“
Exactly.”

“
How did you come up with
the names Larry and Samuel?” she asked, turning back to the mirror
to make sure her hair was in place. The blonde waves fell gently
against her face and down past her shoulders. She pinched her
cheeks so they’d be a nice shade of pink.

“
I based them off
characters I read in a book,” her friend replied as she adjusted
the broach around Sally’s neck so it was straight. “There. That’s
better.”

Taking a deep breath, Sally asked,
“How do I look?”

“
Beautiful. And how do I
look?” She spun around in her old blue dress and shook her head so
that more strands of her hair fell out of her bun.

“
Like you’ve been spending
all morning scrubbing floors.”

“
Good!” She examined her
reflection in the mirror. “Do you think I can do anything else to
look horrid?”

With a sigh, Sally offered her a
sympathetic smile. “I’m afraid you’re still lovely. I doubt Rick
will turn his eyes in my direction.”

“
You’re lovely, too,
Sally.”

“
By the way he couldn’t
take his eyes off of you last time, I don’t think he
noticed.”

Her friend bit her lower lip and
tapped her finger to her chin. “I must think of a way to get him
looking in your direction. Your mother’s idea of bringing him out
to supper at your place is a good one. I won’t be there, and he’ll
have no choice but to look at you.”

Sally grimaced. “Only if my brothers
don’t ruin things for me. They teased me something awful when I
took an interest in Michael a year ago.”

“
To be fair, Michael had a
tendency to wheeze when he laughed.”

Unable to stop her lips from turning
up, Sally added, “And he twitched a bit when he was around dogs. I
never understood that one. He wasn’t allergic to them.”

“
Oh, you’re better off
without him anyway. Clara can have him, wheezing and twitching and
nail biting and all the things he did.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It was
actually cute at times. But you’re right. I’m better off with
Rick.”

“
That’s right, you are. And
when you marry him, I’ll be the first in line to congratulate
you.”

Vivian opened the door and burst into
the bedroom. “Rick’s here! Do you want me to tell him that Larry or
Samuel came by earlier?”

“
No, I think he got the
message when he was here on Thursday,” Ethel Mae told her
sister.

Vivian sighed in
disappointment.

Noting the girl’s enthusiasm for her
part in their scheme, Sally snapped her fingers. “I know! You can
tell Rick that Larry was asking me about your sister.”

Eyes lighting up, the girl ran out of
the room.

Ethel Mae shook her head but smiled.
“You’re positively awful.”

Sally shrugged. “Why not make him
think Larry is hoping to make you jealous, too? You made Samuel and
Larry up, so I might as well use them to my advantage.”

“
I wish I could be with you
and Rick when you give him advice about winning me over, but I know
this must be done behind my back because I’m not supposed to be
aware of what’s going on.”

“
Come on. I want to see
him!” She hurried to the door and glanced back at her friend who
shook her head once again so her hair was worse than before. “Are
you ready?”

“
No. But is that a
surprise?”

“
I suppose not. If a man
came to visit me and I wasn’t interested, I’d dread it,
too.”

“
I hope our plan works.”
She stepped up to Sally and motioned down the hallway. “I want him
to see you first.”

Sally nodded and strolled down the
hall, hoping her excitement at seeing Rick again wasn’t too
apparent. It was one thing for her friend and Vivian to know how
much she wanted him, but he must not know. She wanted him to think
marrying her was his idea, and if she played her cards right, he
would. As soon as she reached the parlor where Vivian sat across
from him, she paused and peaked around the doorway. Ethel Mae
slowed behind her, and Sally motioned for her to listen to
them.

“
Oh yes, Larry really
wanted to speak with Sally,” Vivian said. “Too bad you didn’t talk
to her first, but Sally hasn’t made up her mind yet on whether
she’ll help Larry or not. You’d better make your move soon. My
sister will believe one man is interested in Sally, but I don’t
think she’ll believe two are.”

Sally’s jaw dropped and she looked at
Ethel Mae who held her hand over her mouth so no one could hear her
laugh. Sally knew that Vivian was trying to get Rick to take Sally
up on her offer to make Ethel Mae jealous, but the way she worded
that sentence made it sound like Sally didn’t do well with
men.

“
I better go before they
catch us talking,” Vivian told him in a whisper that was loud
enough for Sally and Ethel Mae to hear. “I’m rooting for you,
Rick.”

As soon as Sally saw Vivian stand up,
she took a deep breath and entered the parlor with a smile on her
face. “Hello, Rick.”

“
Hello, Sally,” he said,
standing up, his gaze going straight from Sally to her friend.
“Hello, Ethel Mae.”

Sally resisted the urge to look at
Ethel Mae with a “see what I mean about him being unable to draw
his attention from you” message.

“
Hello, Rick,” Ethel Mae
said with a half-hearted smile. “Vivian, why don’t you help me get
some refreshments?”

“
Sure,” Vivian replied with
too much enthusiasm for a ten-year-old who was just asked to do a
chore. “I love helping out my wonderful sister who everyone comes
to see!”

Since Rick wasn’t looking in Sally’s
direction, Sally mouthed the words, “That’s enough,” to
Vivian.

Vivian shrugged and skipped out of the
parlor.

“
Why don’t you two sit down
and talk?” Ethel Mae told Rick and Sally. “I’ll be back with
lemonade and cookies.”

Sally nodded and sat on the couch,
fully expecting that Rick would sit across from her as he’d done
before when she last saw him, but this time he sat beside her. She
tried to hide her pleasure that he chose to sit so close to her.
Taking a deep breath to settle her excitement, she asked, “How are
you doing, Rick?”

“
Fine.” Before she could
say anything else, he whispered, “Do you know someone named Larry
or Samuel?”

“
I’ve met Larry, but I’ve
only heard of Samuel.” She made a mental note to tell her friend
all of this after he left. It wouldn’t be good if their stories
didn’t match up.

“
What is Larry
like?”

“
Didn’t Vivian tell you?”
she asked, just in case Vivian slipped something in she needed to
know.

“
No. She just told me Larry
is interested in Ethel Mae.”

“
Well, it’s true. He is.”
She waited for a moment before adding, “However, I think she’d do
better to choose you.”

“
You do?”

“
Well, yes. You seem more
amiable. I mean, Larry is fine, but I don’t feel as comfortable
with him. You are like a friend.” She hated to think of him as a
friend, but she thought it would ease him into things better if she
referred to him as such. “And if you marry Ethel Mae, then it’d be
best if she married someone who could be a friend to me, don’t you
agree?”

“
Oh, of course. My mother
didn’t care much for one of my father’s friends, and it made life a
bit difficult.” She thought to press him further, but he continued,
“So, yes. It’s important that we get along as well. That’s why I
hesitated to take you up on your offer to make your friend jealous.
The last thing I’d ever want to do is create problems.”