Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
As the interview continued, Teddy surprised Ivy and Caleb by absorbing everything with unsettling speed. Once the paperwork was filled out, Ivy asked a few more unavoidable questions.
“What about your education?”
“Education?” Teddy scoffed. “Didn’t have much use for readin’ and writin’ growin’ up. But then I figured it might come in handy. So I got someone to teach me.”
“I see,” Ivy said. “So you learned later in life.”
“Didn’t I just say so?” Teddy huffed.
Ivy’s gaze flicked to Caleb and back. “I was only making sure. Please don’t take offense.”
Teddy crossed her arms. “None taken, I reckon.”
“What about your family?” Caleb asked. “Where are they?”
“Ain’t got none.” Teddy sat a little straighter. “Besides, I don’t need no family round me. I figured a husband will do just fine.”
Ivy and Caleb exchanged another look. This might be harder than she’d thought.
“Where did you grow up?” Ivy asked. “Here in Chicago?”
“Here and there,” Teddy said vaguely. “Spent some time in Pennsylvania. Didn’t much like it, so I headed west. Got as far as Illinois, but I want to get all the way west now. Becomin’ a mail-order bride’ll get me there all right, even if I do have to get married once I arrive.”
“Yes,” Caleb said. “That is the point of becoming a mail-order bride.”
Ivy fought the urge to elbow him in the ribs. “Well, we’ve established that you can patch things up and do a little cooking…”
“And hunt and fish,” Caleb added quickly.
“Better than most men,” Teddy said with a huff.
“Yes,” Ivy agreed. “And we do give our brides suggestions and counsel on how to… win over their future groom. After all, it’s mighty hard meeting a stranger, and first impressions are everything.”
“They are.” Teddy frowned, looked at her dress, then at Ivy’s. “This might not go well for me.”
“Oh, but we can help,” Ivy assured her. “You just need a few lessons in decorum…”
“And a bath,” Caleb added, then immediately cringed.
This time Ivy did elbow him in the ribs. “Caleb,” she hissed.
“Oh, he’s right, Miss… Goodhart, was it?” Teddy asked.
“Call me Ivy. And yes,” she said with a nod. “I’m afraid he is.”
“Problem is,” Teddy said, picking at a fingernail, “I ain’t got no place to take a bath. Haven’t had one for quite a while, and I suppose it shows.” She lifted an arm, sniffed, then shrugged. “Guess I’m used to it.”
“Well, we’d like to get you unused to it,” Ivy said. She thought for a moment, drumming her fingers on the desktop. “There’s a bathroom where I live. You could come home with me and bathe.”
Teddy’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Your family wouldn’t mind?”
“It’s just me and my grandmother.”
Caleb looked between them, his gaze settling on Teddy. “Where do you live?”
Something flashed in Teddy’s eyes, and Ivy braced herself, holding her breath.
“Well, truth be told, I ain’t got no place to live.” Teddy hung her head and picked at her fingernail again. “Haven’t for a while. But I found some shelter, so at least I ain’t out in the snow.”
“Oh, Teddy,” Ivy breathed. “That’s awful.”
“What sort of shelter?” Caleb asked, rising from his chair.
“Well… it’s a shack, more or less, behind somebody’s house. They don’t know I’m there, but it’s just at night. Honest.”
Ivy’s jaw dropped. “Oh goodness. That settles it, then. You will come home with me. Grandma won’t mind and neither will King Alfred.”
Teddy’s eyes widened. “You live with royalty?”
“It’s a rabbit,” Caleb said.
Teddy frowned. “A royal rabbit?”
“Just a rabbit,” Ivy said. “I named him.”
“Oh,” Teddy drawled. “A fancy rabbit, so ya gave him a royal name.”
“Something like that,” Ivy said with a laugh.
She pulled a sheet of paper from Augusta’s desk and wrote down her address. “Take this to this building, and this is our apartment number.” She added a quick note to her grandmother explaining the situation. “We don’t have much, but what we have will help.”
“So will this,” Caleb said, standing. He pulled out his billfold, removed some money, and handed it to Ivy. “Buy some food and whatever else she might need.”
Ivy gaped at him. “Caleb. Ten dollars?” Even Teddy gasped.
“It’s fine,” he said, meeting Ivy’s eyes. “Get what you need. And if you need more, you let me know.”
They stared at each other a moment too long. Teddy cleared her throat.
Ivy scooted her chair back, though she’d been a good distance from Caleb already. The scrape echoed loudly in the office.
Teddy watched with undisguised interest. “Y’all always this careful?” she asked mildly.
“About what?” Ivy asked.
“Not gettin’ too close to each other. If you ask me, I’d say you’ve been tryin’ ever since I got here.”
Ivy cleared her throat. “We try to be… professional. After all, we work together.”
“Yeah, but folks that work together still gotta stand next to each other to talk and such. You two act like the other’s got some disease ya don’t wanna catch.”
Ivy blushed clear to her toes and avoided looking at Caleb. “Like I said, we do our best to remain professional.”
“Is it professional to invite a client home so she can take a bath?” Teddy asked with raised eyebrows.
“These are unusual circumstances,” Ivy said, lifting her chin. “Do you wish to decline the offer?”
“Well, no. Not after he gave you money, which is very nice of him, by the way.” Teddy looked at Caleb. “Thank you.”
“You’re both very welcome,” he said.
Ivy didn’t miss the fact that he looked at her, not Teddy, when he said it.
“Mmm.” Teddy nodded as if that answered something for her. “Must be tiring, avoidin’ each other.”
It was, but Ivy wasn’t about to voice that.
Caleb smiled at them both as the door opened and young George returned with the dog. George let out a woof and headed straight for Teddy.
“Well, look at you, fella,” Teddy said. “Ain’t you pretty?” She petted George, and he promptly licked her face, drawing a giggle from her.
“He likes you,” Caleb said, rising from his chair. “I think I’ll make some tea. Would you like to stay and have a cup with us, Teddy?” He crossed the room to young George and pressed a coin into his hand. “We have a message for you to deliver, young man. Can you wait a moment?”
“Sure, Mr. Hartwell.” George lingered by the door as Caleb retrieved the note they’d written earlier to Elizabeth Jepsen and handed it over. Once the boy left, Caleb headed to the back to make tea.
“So,” Teddy said casually. “How long’s this gonna take?”
Ivy glanced between the door Caleb had disappeared through and their newest client. “Are you talking about the tea?”
“No. Me.”
“That depends.” On a great many things, but Ivy wasn’t sure she ought to list them. Just getting Teddy cleaned up was going to be half the battle.
“Are you sure your grandma won’t mind me stayin’ with you?” Teddy asked. “Seems kind of sudden, don’t it?”
“She won’t mind.” Ivy lifted the money Caleb had given her. Did she dare pay the back rent with it, then spend the rest on food? No, she’d have to ask the sisters for an advance. And she needed to do it today.
“Well, so long as you’re sure,” Teddy said. “I’ll get my things after this, then maybe go pay a visit to your grandma.”
Ivy glanced at Caleb as he reentered the office before she could stop herself. Teddy followed her gaze and smiled but thankfully kept her thoughts to herself.
Caleb joined them. “The kettle’s on. Let’s give it a few minutes.” He retook his seat. “I wonder when the sisters will return.”
“You mean there really are sisters?” Teddy asked.
“Augusta, Margaret, and Josie,” Ivy said. “They’re nice, but a little absent-minded.”
Caleb snorted.
“All right,” Ivy amended. “More than a little. But they’re very sweet. Isn’t that right, George?”
George woofed, and Teddy patted his head, then pulled him into a hug. The dog stayed by her side, panting happily. Before long, the tea was ready. Caleb served them, and once Teddy finished her cup, she thanked them and left the office.
“That was interesting,” Ivy said. “I think we handled that well, don’t you?”
“I do,” Caleb said. “And you were brave, inviting her to your home. She’s a stranger, after all. If she gives you any trouble, let me know.”
She stared at him a moment too long. “We’ll be fine, Mr. Hartwell.”
He smiled warmly. “Call me Caleb. I can’t imagine the two of us not using our Christian names if we’re going to be working together.”
“Oh. Yes of course.” Ivy licked her lips and looked away, blushing.
Calling him by his first name felt far too intimate.
She thought of how she could feel his warmth when they stood together by the filing cabinet.
He smelled faintly of soap and leather, though he dressed like a man who rarely sat in a saddle. If she shifted even an inch…
Ivy realized she was staring and turned away. “I should, um… find something to file.”
Caleb nodded. “Of course.”
Something flickered across his face before he masked it, but the pink tinge at the tips of his ears told her a few things. Could he be attracted to her as well?
Nonsense, she scolded herself. Why would he be? Before she could dwell on it, Augusta, Margaret, and Josie returned.
“Well, that was interesting,” Margaret said, removing her hat.
“Indeed,” Augusta agreed, shrugging out of her coat. She smiled at Ivy and Caleb. “Anything happen while we were out?”
Ivy and Caleb exchanged a look and smiled. “We got a new bride,” Ivy announced, pride creeping into her voice.
“Really?” Margaret gushed. “That’s wonderful! What’s she like?”
Ivy’s eyebrows shot up before she sent Caleb a warning glare. “She’s… different. And might be a little hard to match.”
“But she’s in no hurry,” Caleb added. “So we have time to find the right groom. Though I’m already leaning toward the rancher in Apple Blossom.”
“The groom in Montana?” Ivy said, mentally reviewing the file. He wasn’t much older than Teddy… but didn’t he have young children? “Oh, I’m not so sure…”
Caleb smiled. “I don’t know. Teddy might be a good fit.” He crossed to the filing cabinet and returned with the file. “Mr. Elias Joseph Rowan. Widower. Two small children, Henry and Nellie. Seven and three.”
Ivy frowned. “Oh, Caleb, I don’t know…”
“What’s wrong with children?” Margaret asked.
Josie sat at her desk with a smirk. “What’s wrong with our new client?”
Ivy and Caleb exchanged another look.
“Well,” Ivy began. “She’s a little rough around the edges.”
“She’s a disaster,” Caleb said.
“Caleb.” Ivy rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so blunt.”
“Like I said before, it saves time.” He shrugged innocently. “Sorry.”
Ivy pinched the bridge of her nose, then smiled. “She does need a bit of work.” She bit her lower lip and faced the sisters. “She’s living in a shack behind someone’s house. I invited her to stay with my grandmother and me until we can get her matched.”
All three sisters stared at her.
“You did what?” Augusta exclaimed. “Oh, Ivy, I thought you would know better.”
“In her defense,” Caleb said, setting the file down. “I think she did the right thing. It’s obvious this woman needs help, a great deal of it. And if we prepare her properly, I believe Mr. Rowan will be very happy.”
Augusta looked at her sisters. “Well?”
“I think King Alfred has a good chance of getting skewered in the night and roasted,” Josie said. “Are you sure you want to do this, Ivy?”
“Yes.” Ivy lifted her chin. “My mind’s made up. I want to help her. That is what we do here, isn’t it?”
“Of course,” Augusta said gently. “But remember, dear, we are not a charitable institution. We are a mail-order bride company.”
“Yes, ma’am. I know. I just wanted…”
“To help,” Margaret finished. “We understand, dear. Truly. But be careful. You could get hurt.”
“That’s what I told her,” Caleb admitted. “Not in so many words.” He shot Ivy a look, then smiled.
She sighed in relief. The thought of him being disappointed in her made her chest ache.
“Then it’s settled,” Ivy said. “The sooner we prepare Miss Winslow, the better. I’ll see that preparations begin tonight.”