Chapter Seven
Natalie still had trouble accepting the maid’s help in getting
dressed the next morning, even though she knew the maid was only
doing what was expected of her. So many elements of this new life
were going to take time to get used to, and apparently, being
waited on was one of them.
“Your mother’s a very nice person,” Natalie
told Mark after the maid left the bedroom. “I enjoyed visiting with
her.”
“I believe you mentioned that when I came
home from work yesterday,” he teased as he brought her into his
arms.
“I know, but I can’t believe how fortunate I
am.” She kissed him. “I have you for a husband, and your family has
been very good to me. When I came to Omaha, I didn’t know what to
expect. I tried not to give into my fears, but a part of me
experienced some apprehension over what was going to happen.”
“That’s to be expected when you don’t know
the person you’re going to marry. Fortunately, you ended up with
me.” He gave her waist a playful squeeze then kissed her. “If you
like my mother, wait until Annabelle comes over for dinner this
Thursday. I think you’ll like her just as much. The two are a lot
alike.” Then as if he recalled something, he added, “Well, they
aren’t exactly alike. My sister is more outspoken with her
opinions. If she doesn’t like something, she’ll let you know. You
have nothing to worry about, though. She’ll like you.”
“I hope so. I’d like to get along with
everyone in your family.” She bit her tongue. Velma was now a part
of this family, too, and she didn’t know if Velma would ever talk
to her again.
“Everything will be fine.”
She didn’t know if Mark was referring to
things with Velma or if he was talking about the rest of his
family, but she decided not to ask. The morning was pleasant, and
she didn’t want to ruin it.
“I have a meeting with Mr. Gordon at ten this
morning,” Mark said, “but I’ll be free in time for lunch at noon.
Would you like to have lunch with me? You can stop by and see where
I work before we go to a restaurant.”
She hadn’t expected the invitation, so she
didn’t hide her enthusiasm. “I’d love to see where you work.”
“You’d like to have lunch with me, too,
right?” He shot her a charming smile.
She chuckled. “Of course, I would. I love
being with you. It’s why I married you.”
“Good. I just wanted to make sure my office
wasn’t the only thing you were interested in.”
“You’re silly. I want to be with you no
matter where we are.”
“I hope it’ll always be that way.” He gave
her another kiss then released her.
They ate breakfast, and the maid offered
Natalie food and came by every so often to fill her drink. This was
also going to take some getting used to.
When it came time for her to meet Mark for
lunch, the coachman offered to drive her to where he worked. She
didn’t know if wives of wealthy businessmen were supposed to take
carriages instead of walking, but she took the carriage to be on
the safe side. Mark had told her how to get there. She could have
figured it out on her own, but she needed to fit in with this new
world.
She was ready to open the carriage door as
soon as the carriage came to a stop, but then she saw a coachman
across the street open the door of another woman’s carriage. So she
waited for her coachman to open her door. Since he held his hand
out to help her down, she accepted it. She turned to him as soon as
she stepped onto the sidewalk, not sure if she should expect him to
wait for her and Mark or not, but he saved her from having to ask
the question by telling her he’d be waiting to take her and Mark to
the restaurant.
The building in front of her was several
stories high. She hadn’t thought to ask Mark where his office was.
She had assumed it would be right through the front door, but now
she could see that wasn’t going to be the case. She took an uneasy
breath. The largest town she’d been to up to this point in her life
had contained a single general store, a livery stable, a bank, and
other small buildings. It was nothing like this.
She scanned the businesses lining the street.
All of the buildings were several stories tall. And it seemed that
one carriage after another was going up and down the street. There
was the occasional horse rider or wagon, but for the most part,
there were carriages. Also, she saw more people gathered together
in one place than she’d ever seen before, except for weddings and
funerals. This had to be the center of Omaha.
A few people passed her by, offering a
greeting, which she was too stunned to return. She felt as if she
had stepped into a world so different from the one she’d grown up
in that she didn’t know how to act.
“Did you forget something, Mrs. Larson?”
Blinking, she turned to the coachman who was
still by the carriage. She cleared her throat. “No, I’m fine.”
It would be too embarrassing to say that she
was overwhelmed by all of the activity around her. Even at the
train station, she hadn’t been surrounded by so many people. She
had to resist the urge to get back into the carriage and tell the
coachman she’d wait for Mark to come to her.
She squared her shoulders back. If Velma had
grown up surrounded by a bunch of people and could go about her
business without any problems, then she could do it, too. Ignoring
the fact that someone might detect she didn’t belong here, she
walked into the building. On the wall nearby, she saw a list of
different businesses within the building. Next to the business name
was a number and a letter.
“May I help you, ma’am?” a young man asked
from his desk which was by the front door.
Before she could walk over to his desk, Mark
called out to her. She turned in time to see him stepping out of a
small space that about only four or five people could stand in at
any one time.
She waited until he reached her before
asking, “What is that?” She gestured to the place he’d just walked
out of. At the moment, the man who was still in the small
compartment was closing the doors.
“It’s an elevator,” Mark replied. “Most
businesses along this street have them, though you won’t find them
anywhere else in Omaha. My father was excited when they became
viable to put into tall buildings. We still have stairs, of course.
Some people don’t trust elevators yet, but I think it’s only a
matter of time before they do. The more people get used to
something, the easier it is for them to accept it.” He took her
elbow. “Do you want to try it? My office is on the third
floor.”
“I don’t know. How does it work?” Even as she
asked the question, she felt stupid.
“There’s a rope that pulls the elevator up
and down. It’s really a simple design.”
It didn’t seem so simple to her. “I think I’d
rather walk up the steps.”
“In that case, I’ll walk with you.”
His smile eased her nerves considerably. “You
don’t mind, do you?”
“Why would I? All we’re doing is walking up
some steps. It’s not like you’re asking me to let another man court
you.”
She giggled. “I’d never do that.”
“As long as you keep your word, I’ll walk up
all of the steps that you want me to.”
“Mark, you’re silly.” But that was nice
because he’d made her laugh, and in doing so, she felt the rest of
her unease vanish.
They went up the stairs. She couldn’t help
but wonder if the stairs or elevator was a quicker way to get to
his office, but she didn’t dare ask. He might take that to mean she
was interested in checking out the elevator, and there was no way
she trusted something she’d only just heard about.
Mark opened the door of his office and led
her in. There was a secretary at the desk, and he offered her a
greeting, which she returned.
Then Mark led her to another room with a
closed door. He opened that one and waved her in. She hadn’t
expected his office to be so big. She could probably have fit two
entire bedrooms from back home in here. The large windows
overlooked the city, and they offered plenty of sunlight. He had
drawings scattered throughout the room. Some were on the wall, a
few were on a table, and only one—the one he was currently working
on from the looks of it—was on his desk. There were several
hardbound books on a shelf, and the topics all involved
construction.
“Now you can see why my father and I prefer
to entertain clients at our homes,” Mark said. “It’s hard to fit
anything in here.”
Her eyes widened. It was hard to fit anything
in here? The area wasn’t cramped. Yes, he had a lot of things, but
they were organized and she could move around without
difficulty.
“It’s more comfortable to talk at a dining
room table or in a parlor,” he continued. “Of course, sometimes
there are recreational activities. One client loves the horse
races, so I’ll spend an afternoon doing that with him. We discuss
business between races. And there’s another client who likes to
take his grandchildren to the park. So we talk while the children
are playing. Every client is different.”
“What do the women do?” She didn’t know why
she hadn’t thought to ask before, but it suddenly occurred to her
that Velma had mentioned women playing a role in their husbands’
businesses.
“Women go shopping or go to luncheons,” Mark
replied. “At least, that’s what my mother and Annabelle tell me.”
He shrugged. “Since I’m not a woman, I haven’t been privy to their
get-togethers.”
She smiled at his joke. “How will I know what
to do when the time comes for me to join the women?”
He slipped his arm around her and drew her
close. He gave her a kiss then said, “You’re wonderful just the way
you are. The most important thing you can do is be yourself.”
Oh, well, that seemed easy enough. She could
do that.
“There are a few rules of etiquette during
meals, but I’ll guide you on that when the time comes.” He gave her
waist a playful squeeze. “The only dinner engagement we have this
week is this Thursday.”
“The one with Annabelle?” she asked, briefly
recalling him mentioning it yesterday when he came home.
She’d been so excited to see him that she
hadn’t given him much time to talk. Not that he had minded. He’d
seemed very happy to spend the rest of the evening in bed and ask
the butler to bring them something to eat. In fact, he’d told her
if she wanted to spend the whole evening in bed with him tonight,
she was certainly free to do so. The memory made her blush. She
glanced out the doorway to see if the secretary was listening to
them, but he wasn’t even looking her way.
“Annabelle will like you,” Mark said,
bringing her attention back to the conversation. “I had planned for
it to be just us and Annabelle, but Mr. Gordon’s nephew is new in
town, and he asked me if I would make the nephew feel welcome by
inviting him to dinner. So we’ll have two guests instead of one.”
He gestured to the office. “What do you think?”
“It’s larger than I expected.”
“What did you expect?”
“To be honest, I thought you and your father
worked in the same office. I thought the whole building was going
to be the size of a bank.”
“No. We have our own offices in this
building. Also, there are several different businesses here.
There’s an accountant, a lawyer, an advertiser, an investor, and a
few others. Everyone shares the building and pays rent for our own
offices. My father is in the office next door. He has his own
secretary and assortment of papers littering his office, too. We’re
probably the only people who could figure these messes out.”
She chuckled as he motioned to the drawings.
“It’s really not a mess.”
“It is to anyone who’s looking for a specific
sketch.” He led her to one of the windows. “What are you in the
mood to eat?”
“Food.”
He laughed and kissed her. “That’s a good
answer.”
Pleased she could make him laugh, she said,
“To be honest, there are so many places around here that I don’t
know which to pick.”
“Well, what kinds of food are you interested
in eating right now?”
“Since you don’t care for fried chicken, what
about steak?”
“There is a restaurant that will serve both.
Are you interested in fried chicken?”
“I am. The chicken doesn’t have to be fried.
I don’t mind if it’s baked.”
“We can get you fried chicken. As long as I
don’t have to eat it, you can have as much as you want.”
“Do you really hate it?”
“I don’t hate it. I just ate so much of it in
the past that I’ll be happy if I never have another piece of fried
chicken on my plate ever again.” He took her hand. “I think you’ll
like this restaurant that serves both fried chicken and steak. The
chef does an excellent job. The place also has a beautiful design,
and I’m not just saying that because my father and I had a hand in
its construction.”
She chuckled again and left with him, eager
to see the kind of work he and his father did.