Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
They left Brooks Café; their steps brisk to keep warm.
Ivy had enjoyed their conversation. It made her feel like she was part of a team, and together they’d brainstormed several ideas about how to move forward with future brides who shared the same disposition, and stubbornness, as Miss Finch.
They had both agreed they would try to do so with gentleness and tact.
Ivy tucked her chin deeper into her scarf as they walked, the cold wind biting at her exposed skin.
She thought of the way Caleb had copied bits and pieces of their conversation down, his expression one of determined, long-suffering patience.
She was growing more invested in the brides who came into the office and noticed Caleb was too.
Caleb wasn’t like many of the men she knew.
He carried himself like someone used to bearing heavy responsibility.
How much responsibility could a cowboy have?
But she supposed that if one oversaw a rancher’s cattle, make that a lot of cattle, then the responsibility could become enormous, especially if they were threatened.
Yet at lunch, they’d argued about whether a woman’s insistence on servants was fear disguised as pride.
He was probably right. Ivy smiled at the thought, then stopped short, her shoes sliding on a patch of ice.
Caleb caught her before she could land on her backside. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Oh no,” she said, ignoring the slip.
Caleb studied her, one hand steady on her elbow. “What is it?”
She shut her eyes as disappointment flooded in. At herself. “Teddy. We forgot all about her. We should have invited her to lunch.”
Caleb stared at her for a moment before his eyes widened and he drew in a breath. “Oh no is right.” He shook his head. “I feel awful.” He looked in the direction of Brooks Café, then toward the office. “Should we get her something and bring it back?”
Ivy pressed a hand to her chest. “We could, but then what if she already ate with Margaret, Augusta, and Josie?”
“You’re right. Margaret was upstairs making lunch. I’m sure they invited her to join them.” Caleb, his hand still on her elbow, began ushering her down the street. “Don’t worry. We’ll check on her as soon as we get back.”
“I feel terrible,” Ivy said. “We were so wrapped up in Miss Finch and her darn list, we forgot all about Teddy.” She pictured Teddy alone in the office while the sisters enjoyed their lunch upstairs. Did she feel forgotten? Alone? Good grief, the poor woman had been through so much already.
They walked the rest of the way in silence, their strides quickening as they reached the office. Ivy hurried up the steps and peered through the window. She spotted Teddy at the table against the wall, right where they’d left her. “Oh, poor Teddy.”
“It’s all right,” Caleb assured her as he opened the door.
As soon as he did, the warm, familiar scent of paper greeted them. Funny how Ivy took comfort in it after working there such a short time. She didn’t bother removing her coat and headed straight for Teddy. “I’m so sorry.”
Teddy looked up from the paper she was folding. “For what?”
“For leaving you,” Ivy said. She could hear the despair in her own voice and cleared her throat. “We went to lunch and forgot to invite you. We were so caught up in Miss Finch that… well, it was wrong of us, and I’m sorry.”
Teddy’s eyes flicked to Caleb and back again. “It’s all right.”
“No, it’s not,” Ivy said.
Teddy shrugged. “The Merriweathers fed me. I had a sandwich and soup.”
Ivy glanced toward Augusta, who peered at them over the top of a letter in her hands. Her expression didn’t look disapproving. It was more assessing than anything else.
Josie watched too, her face unreadable as ever. There was no sign of Margaret.
Teddy continued fold the paper. “Don’t think anythin’ of it. I hate to say this, but I’m kind of used to that sort of thing happenin’ to me.”
Ivy sucked in a tiny gasp. Teddy sounded like she was simply stating a fact. Ivy’s chest tightened. “Oh, Teddy…”
Teddy gave her a small smile. “It’s fine, Ivy. Ya worry too much about folks. Besides, I didn’t mind. You two were workin’. Me? I’m just takin’ up space.”
Caleb stepped forward. “I’m sorry too, Teddy. We have no excuse, even if we were working. It was an oversight, and a poor one.”
Teddy set the paper down, and Ivy noticed for the first time that it resembled a bird. “Do ya usually have such a guilt complex?”
Ivy and Caleb exchanged identical looks of astonishment. For someone uneducated, Teddy knew a lot.
“Well,” Ivy said. “It shouldn’t happen again.”
“Oh, after this, I’m sure it won’t,” Teddy shot back with a laugh. “You two are actin’ like a couple of younguns caught stealin’ cookies.”
Ivy smiled. So did Caleb. She found she wanted to know Teddy better and was growing more and more fascinated by her.
Across the room, Augusta cleared her throat. “Miss Goodhart.”
Ivy spun around. “Yes?”
Augusta lowered the letter in her hand. “Perhaps this is a good time to remind you that the work here can become… consuming.” Her gaze flicked to Caleb as well. “Try not to let it consume what truly matters.”
Ivy’s cheeks warmed. “Yes, ma’am.”
Augusta’s eyes lingered on Caleb. “Mr. Hartwell?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, then glanced at Ivy. “Wise words.”
She nodded as something passed between them. A silent sort of acknowledgment Ivy couldn’t quite read.
Before she could dwell on it, Josie shut a filing cabinet drawer with a loud click.
“At least you both returned before it was time to walk George.” She rested one elbow on the cabinet and gave them a playful smirk.
The closest thing to a scold Ivy had ever heard from her.
Josie never held back, but she was never unkind either.
Margaret entered from the back, surveyed the room, and cocked her head. “Did I miss something?”
“No,” Ivy said. “Just, well, let’s call it a lapse.”
Margaret eyed Teddy, then Ivy. “Well, whatever it was, I’m sure you’ve taken care of it.”
“We did,” Ivy said, running her tongue over her lower lip. She hated feeling guilty. Especially when she had let someone down.
The rest of the afternoon passed in a haze of work. More letters from gentlemen seeking brides had arrived in the mail, and Augusta went through them with Caleb before handing them off to Ivy to be entered into the ledger and then filed.
Ivy checked on Teddy several times as she sat at the back table, practicing her writing.
When the day finally ended, Teddy put her sheets of paper away and headed for the coat rack. Once bundled up, Ivy, Teddy, and Caleb left the office together. Caleb said his goodbyes and headed home. Ivy and Teddy did the same.
They hadn’t gone a block when Ivy turned to her. “Again, I’m sorry, Teddy.”
“That again?” Teddy said with a huff before laughing. “Ya need to let go of that.”
“I can’t help it. I know better.”
“Then don’t do it again. That’s all.” Teddy gave her a playful shove and kept walking.
After another block, she gave Ivy a lopsided smile. “He likes ya, ya know.”
Ivy’s heart skipped. She nearly tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. “Wh… what?”
Teddy grinned mischievously. “Mr. Hartwell. He looks at ya when he figures ya won’t catch him.”
“Goodness gracious, Teddy. He looks at everyone. There were plenty of people in the office to look at today.”
“No,” Teddy drawled. “Not like he looks at everyone else. He, ya know, has that spark in his eye.”
“Spark?”
“Yeah. Like you’re special.”
Ivy’s heart skipped again, a strange tingle running up her spine. “Teddy…”
“What?” Teddy cut in, her voice dripping innocence. “It’s just he watches you when he thinks no one’s lookin’. Gets kind of sly about it, if ya ask me.”
Ivy’s eyes widened. “That’s ridiculous.”
Teddy laughed. “I noticed ya ain’t denyin’ it.”
“That’s because there’s nothing to deny.”
“Ya said it was ridiculous. That ain’t the same thing.”
“Ugh,” Ivy huffed. “He’s my coworker.”
“And a man,” Teddy said, as if that explained everything.
Ivy glanced around, thankful no one was close enough to overhear them. Even so, she lowered her voice. “Teddy, I’m only going to say this once. There is no attraction between us. Is that clear?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
Ivy’s cheeks grew hotter. “That is not reassuring.”
“I can assure you he likes ya. Anyone can see it.”
Ivy gasped. “I certainly hope not.” She thought of the sisters’ rules and cringed.
Teddy’s grin turned devilish. “You’re blushin’.”
“I am not.”
“Oh yes, ya are.”
Ivy pressed her lips together, trying to think of something, anything, to say. “The Merriweather sisters have rules employees must abide by.”
Teddy made a face. “Such as?”
Ivy drew in a deep breath. “Rules I try to follow.” She hoped Teddy would drop the subject.
“That didn’t answer my question,” Teddy groused.
“I don’t have to answer it,” Ivy shot back.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t shake Teddy’s words. He looks at you. At times, she could sense his attention like warmth spreading across the back of her neck. Her heart would do a ridiculous little stutter afterward, and when he said her name…
“All right,” Teddy said at last. “I’ll shut up. I can see you’re in no mood to listen.”
Ivy stopped herself before she said something she’d regret. The subject made her angry, but also curious. Besides, why would Caleb be attracted to her? She was nothing special.
When they reached her building, Ivy fumbled with the key before unlocking the door and ushering Teddy up the stairs.
As they climbed, she thought of all the ways she might avoid Caleb at work and keep her distance.
It was the wise thing to do, and it would help her keep her job.
If the sisters suspected she harbored even the slightest attraction toward Caleb, she could only imagine the consequences.
Teddy had to be wrong. Otherwise, surely the sisters would have dismissed one, if not both of them by now.
At her door, Teddy stopped her before she could insert the key. “Ivy, I just had a thought.”
“What? Is something wrong?”
“No, but I do have an idea. I should get a new dress. The two I have are dreadful, and I think I have enough money. Besides, don’t ya think I should meet my groom in somethin’ that doesn’t look like a tater sack?”
Ivy looked her over. “I suppose you’re right.”
“And I want a man’s opinion,” Teddy added.
Ivy’s stomach tightened. “Why?”
“Because a man has eyes. I’m meetin’ a man and marryin’ him. First impressions are everythin’, or so I’m told.”
Well. She did have a point.
“That said,” Teddy went on. “We should take Caleb. Oh… I mean Mr. Hartwell.”
Ivy narrowed her eyes.
“What?” Teddy said, her voice once again dripping innocence. “He’s respectful, kind, and dresses well.”
Ivy pressed her fingers to her forehead and rubbed. “I don’t see why he needs to come along.”
“How else am I to know if I’ll make a good impression? You’re not a man. When I meet my future groom, I want his heart to rattle in his chest at the sight of me.”
Ivy’s eyes widened. “Teddy!”
“Well, what’s wrong with that? If you were gettin’ married, wouldn’t ya want your groom to look at you like you were the most beautiful thing in the world?”
Ivy sighed. Teddy had another point. What woman wouldn’t want that? “Very well,” she said at last. “We’ll speak to Mr. Hartwell in the morning.”
She unlocked the door and ushered Teddy inside.
The woman was smiling like a cat who’d just discovered a bowl of unattended cream.
If Ivy didn’t know better, she’d say Teddy was up to something.
But she couldn’t imagine what. At the moment, all Ivy wanted was supper, a little quiet, and her bed.
She’d made mistakes today she didn’t intend to repeat.
And she was determined not to make future ones she might regret. Ones that could cost her her position at the Sisters’ Mail-Order Bride Company.