An Improper Situation (Sanborn-Malloy Historical Romance Series, Book One) (27 page)

Moving another step away from him, she turned to face the sobering view of her aunt, wearing a gardening apron over her silk day dress, clutching a basket of roses in her right hand and clippers in her left.

Alicia looked anything but idyllic, however. She looked downright sour.

“
Mr. Malloy,” Alicia Randall greeted, without even nodding her head. “Gerald said you were here. And what a display you are making with my niece in front of the children. Thomas, Lily, upstairs. It’s time for your music lessons and Miss Hunnewell is waiting.”

Charlotte watched the children go with mournful faces, Lily dragging Thomas along by the hand. It turned out they loved Miss Hunnewell, but they seemed to adore being with Reed even more.

“My apologies,” Reed said immediately after they’d gone. His voice was smooth as cream sherry. “Miss Sanborn and I didn’t get a chance to exchange a greeting at the ball last night, and after all we went through in Colorado, I consider her a solid acquaintance.”

Charlotte’s eyes opened widely.
What on earth was he saying?
Her aunt was liable to toss her out on the street at any moment over such a remark. In fact, her aunt was staring from Charlotte to Reed, and back again.

“
All you went through?” Alicia repeated, her voice rising.

“
You did tell her about the mine shaft, and the wolf, didn’t you?” Reed asked.

Charlotte gasped.
“I . . . that is, I . . .”

“
No, she did not,” Alicia cut in. “She most definitely did not mention a wolf.”

“
I didn’t think it was important,” Charlotte began. “I mean, you’re not liable to meet any here in the city.”

In truth, Charlotte hadn’t wanted to give Alicia any reason to think that Spring City was an unsuitable place to raise the children, should she end up returning there. She had cautioned the children on how upsetting it would be to their grandmother if she found out about the terrifying incidents, and they’d been good as gold not to mention that horrible day.

Now, Reed was making her home sound as though it was little more than a deathtrap. He seemed utterly undaunted by Alicia’s disapproving gaze.

“
Miss Sanborn was a hero, Mrs. Randall, with some truly outstanding qualities. Evidently, she takes after you.”

Charlotte could only stare at him. He was laying it on a bit thickly, she thought. But Alicia smiled.

“Why, thank you, Mr. Malloy.” The older woman’s tone had softened measurably, and Charlotte could tell he had succeeded in distracting her aunt from the compromising position in which she had discovered them.

Setting her roses and clipping shears down on the table beside her, Alicia asked,
“What can we do for you today?”

“
I came to offer my assistance in selling Miss Sanborn’s homestead.”

That was the last thing Charlotte had expected him to say. She hadn’t even given a thought to that transaction or if it even should occur. And she couldn’t help the wave of disappointment she felt, having assumed he had come over simply to see her.

“That is most appreciated,” Alicia responded. “Is it not, Charlotte?”

She barely nodded.
“Of course, I will enlist the services of Malloy and Associates when the time comes,” she said. “But for now—”

“
For now,” Alicia interrupted, “you two will have to get along without me. I’m afraid I must get ready for my meeting. I’m responsible for the decorations,” she added, pointing to the roses. Reed bowed and Alicia glided out with a backward wave of her hand.

“
Women suffragists and free love with Victoria Woodhull?” Reed asked, his face deadpan.

Charlotte stifled a laugh, envisioning her aunt rallying for the right to vote, not to mention the right to dally with a man outside of wedlock.

“Hardly,” she made a face. “Christian Science with Mary Baker Eddy.” But the mention of suffragists reminded her of Helen’s mention of her sister. Before she could ask Reed about his mysterious trip out west, a voice in her ear caused her to jump.

“
Tea in the garden, Miss Charlotte.” Gerald had entered the room on silent butler feet.

“
Thank you, Gerald,” Charlotte replied, trying to appear as if she were used to being waited on. She turned to him, but the extremely efficient Gerald was already disappearing through the doorway and she was speaking to empty space.

The amused look on Reed’s face proved she was failing at pretending to be a practiced lady of leisure.

“Can you stay?” she asked him, her heart pounding.

For an answer, he gestured her to lead the way to the garden.

Outside on the brick patio, amidst the small lawn and the flower beds, Lacey had set the table for tea and was already pouring. Wordlessly, Charlotte sat down, unsure where to start. They waited for Lacey to go inside. They were finally alone.

“
It’s hard to believe you’re really here in Boston,” Reed said as soon as she was gone.

“
I could say the same thing of you. It never occurred to me that you might be away when I arrived.” She waited, hoping he would enlighten her.

“
What did John tell you of my trip?” he asked, not looking her directly in the eye but fiddling with his tea cup.

“
Nothing, only . . . nothing,” she finished, realizing John had told her only that Reed would have to be the one to explain. However, he didn’t enlighten her.

“
It’s not important now,” he added, putting further distance between them. If he had returned to Spring City to invite her to come eastward once more, then why didn’t he simply tell her?

She bent her head to hide her confusion and breathed in the rich aroma of the roses that her aunt cultivated. They reminded her of the roses Reed had planted for her.

“Did you really come here to help me sell my home?”

He gave her a wry smile and shook his head, dislodging a lock of hair that she very much wanted to touch. But touching him was what got her in trouble in the first place.

“You’ve read the telegram I sent?” she asked. “You know what my aunt is threatening and why?”

Charlotte wondered if he knew instinctively, as she had, that Helen was the source of the rumors.

He only nodded. “I warned you that this could happen. It looks, however, as if you’re winning your aunt over.”

Charlotte only shrugged.
“She is a decent woman who loves her grandchildren.” She looked into his handsome face that she’d missed so desperately and hoped he would put things right. “Reed, you do know that Helen has spoken to my aunt?”

“
I am aware that they know each other.”

“
She told Alicia that I had acted questionably.”

He nodded.
“I believe she said more than that. She told her that we’d stayed in your house alone.”

Charlotte bit her lip a moment.
“No, actually, I did that.”

His mouth fell open and he shook his head, apparently flummoxed. Before he could speak, she sought to explain herself.

“It was only a matter of time before Helen said it, so I said it for her.”

Reed sighed, and Charlotte thought he might be disappointed in her.

“Helen didn’t know anything for certain,” he said. “She didn’t know what occurred before she arrived or even if I slept in a room at Fuller’s the night of the dance. You may have given her a dangerous weapon, Charlotte.”

“
I didn’t exactly give it to her,” she said. But the lady in question was undoubtedly going to use it. “Reed, Helen has as good as told me that if I don’t leave Boston, she’ll try to destroy my reputation any way she can.”

He looked unconcerned.
“She has tried with your aunt. I fail to see what else she can do.”

Charlotte sighed. So, he was going to sweep Helen’s participation under the rug. For old time’s sake or for the present’s sake? His next words were on a completely different tack entirely.

“I wish I had been here when you arrived, but it seems that you have amused yourself and been kept entertained.”

She shook off her thoughts of Helen for the moment and, instead, remembered her shopping trip and taking the children on their daily expeditions. She nodded, not realizing that her eyes were sparkling with the pleasure of her exciting new life.
“Indeed, I have been having a wonderful time.”

“
Farnsworth knows his way around the city,” Reed commented, looking somewhat stern. “I’m sure he’s been an adequate guide.”

She thought of Jason and how many times over the past few days that she’d wished her companion had been Reed.
“He has been very kind.”

It sounded to her as if Reed snorted. It was such an odd sound and so unlike anything she’d heard from him that she stared up into his blue eyes.
“Is something wrong?”

“
No.” The word was clipped.

“
Jason knows Thaddeus,” she added.

“
Your brother? Is he here?”

“
No. No one knows where he is.”

“
I see.”

She lapsed into miserable silence. Where was the fluid conversation that she’d so delighted in over a brandy in her study? Why was she unexpectedly feeling so awkward and why was Reed looking as though his collar was a few sizes too tight? She tried another topic altogether.

“I met Charles Greene at the party last night.”

“
The
Post
’s editor—yes, I know. I saw you talking to him.”

So he had been watching her, even when she thought he was deeply engrossed in conversation with Helen.

“I’m hoping to get an assignment. It would give me great confidence to know I can support myself here. Then if I decide to stay, I will begin inquiries regarding housing in the city, out from under my aunt’s roof. Jason says he knows of some fairly reasonably priced residences a few streets over, on the other side of the Common.”

She wasn’t mistaken this time as a stark look of scorn crossed Reed’s handsome face. It occurred to her that he didn’t care for Jason Farnsworth, III. Not one bit. Almost as little as she cared for Helen.

She resolved to be utterly frank. “I was surprised to see you with Helen last night after . . . after all you said to me in Spring.”

“
Last night held a few surprises for both of us then,” he answered cryptically, standing up again. She could see by the closed look on his face that she should let the matter drop, but she couldn’t.

“
Reed, I must ask you—”

“
Ask me what, Charlotte?”

She swallowed.
“Did you stop in St. Louis after you left Spring City?”

He paused a moment, obviously surprised by the question. Then he nodded.

“I did.”

That was it? That was all he was going to say?
She started to feel her temper rising.

“
Is there anything about that visit you think I ought to know?”

“
No.” His penetrating blue eyes never left her own glittering gaze.

“
I see.”

She stood up slowly. This was going nowhere. 

“What I mean, Charlotte, is that when we parted in Spring City, I told you that I planned to speak with Helen further. There is nothing new to tell you. As far as I’m concerned, my prior arrangement with Helen is over. She knows that, and people will come to realize it.”

“
Not if you carry on as you did last night,” she bit out, immediately regretting how jealous she sounded. In any case, Reed didn’t look the least bit guilty. She crossed her arms.

“
You were otherwise occupied and I was hungry. That was the end of it.”

Hungry,
for what exactly? And how convenient, Charlotte thought. When Reed needed a dining companion, he had no problem being with Mrs. Belgrave. And when he wanted to end something, it simply was over. Damn the consequences or the untidy leftovers, for that matter, such as Helen throwing threats around the way a duck shook off water.

“
Is there anything else about last night that you wish to discuss?” he asked her when she did nothing but stare quietly.

“
No, nothing,” Charlotte finished.

He cocked his head to one side, and she thought, perhaps, he had something more to add, but all he said was,
“I’d best be getting to work.”

She didn’t know how to react to this distant stranger, who was not at all the playful, loving man who’d taken such a firm hold of her affections. Perhaps this was how he had to be in the city.

It saddened her, making her truly homesick for the first time. Leaving the tea untouched, she passed by him to lead the way inside.

“
Charlotte.”

Halting, she turned expectantly.