Page 327 of Conveniently Wed
“I’m perfectly fine, as you can see.” Aundy took another step back from Garrett. She needed to put some space between them before she succumbed to the desire to be in his arms again. “You shouldn’t be here this late. It’s not proper.”
Garrett laughed and gave her a pointed look. “Says the woman who dressed as a man and went places no lady should.”
Aundy had the grace to blush although she kept her back straight and held his gaze.
“How about I drink a cup of your tea and you tell me what adventure led you to finding our Chinese friend?”
Aundy led the way to the kitchen where she turned up the lamps, made tea, and took a plate out of the refrigerator. Generously sprinkling cinnamon and sugar on what looked like flat pancakes, she rolled each one into a tidy bundle then handed the plate to Garrett.
“What’s this?” he asked, studying the unfamiliar dish.
“Lefse. It’s Norwegian,” Aundy said, sitting at the table with a cup of tea. “Try it, you’ll enjoy it.”
Garrett took a bite and his eyes lit with pleasure.
“What did you call it?” he asked, devouring his first piece and starting on a second.
“Lefse. It’s made with potatoes and flour, mostly. My grandmother made the best lefse.” A wistful look passed over her face and, for a moment, she drifted in her memories.
Garrett cleaned his plate then took a drink of tea, waiting for Aundy to explain her evening’s actions.
When she quietly sat sipping her tea, he decided she wasn’t going to volunteer any information.
“Why did you dress like a man?”
“Because no one will give me the information I want when I ask them dressed as a woman.” A spark of defiance flashed across her face and settled in her eyes.
“Fair enough. Where did you go?”
“I went to the saloon around the corner from where I tied Bell.”
“You went to the saloon.” Garrett digested that information and found it gave him heartburn. “What did you do at the saloon?”
“I walked up to the bar and asked the bartender how to get to the Underground.” Aundy took a sip of her tea. She nearly choked when Garrett smacked the top of the table with the flat of his hand.
“You what!”
She cleared her throat and sat a little taller in her chair then leveled her gaze to his. “I asked how to get to the Underground.”
“Why in blazes would you want to go there? It’s no place for a lady like you, Aundy. Not at all.” Garrett stared at her as if she’d taken leave of her senses.
“So I discovered,” Aundy said, remembering the things she’d seen and heard, wishing she could block the memories from her mind.
Garrett attempted to calm down so she’d keep talking. He drew in a few deep breaths before he continued. “You asked the bartender and he gave you directions.”
“I suppose you could call what he said directions, although I wasn’t sure at first I’d ever find the end of the corridor and come out anywhere. It cost me two bits to get that piece of information,” Aundy said with obvious disgust. “I had no idea there was a city beneath the city, so to speak. I think I even saw a candy shop down there.”
“Yeah, you did.” Garrett sincerely hoped that was all Aundy saw. “You found your way there, then what?”
“I got close enough to several groups of men to listen to their conversations, but didn’t have any luck in finding what I was looking for, so I went into a saloon and ordered a sarsaparilla. I was standing at the bar when one of the women who worked at the establishment began conversing with me.”
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he imagined the look on Aundy’s face when one of the saloon girls sidled up next to her, thinking she was a man. “You mean one of the working girls propositioned you?”
The amusement on Garrett’s face fanned the flames of her temper. “I didn’t see anything amusing about the situation then or now. It was quite unsettling and disturbing.”
“I’m sure it was.” Garrett buried his grin behind his cup.
“I suggested she move along and she asked me what I was doing in the saloon. When I told her I was looking for information, she pointed out a patron who turned out to be most helpful. I concluded my business and tried to work my way back up to the street, but by then I found myself completely turned around. I kept walking and ended up in a corridor that took me to a set of stairs. I tripped over the injured man on the top step,” Aundy said, absently rubbing her shoulder.
