Page 43 of My Heart Will Find You

“You told her to go for the guy who turns her on.”

“What an odd turn of phrase, but yes, I did.” She and Etta looked at each other and laughed.

“It’s what my sister did. She went for a man who could use his hands in lots of ways.”

The two of them howled with laughter.

And Max thinks Alice is pure innocence. Ha!

By six thirty, everything was ready. Food was cooked and the table set. “I have to dress,” Alice said. “Silk and my mother’s pearls.” She disappeared into her side of the house.

Etta looked down at herself. She had on the dress she’d been married in. She’d worn it while riding through dirty streets, while cooking at a chuck wagon, and now when preparing a “cupid’s dinner” as she’d come to think of it. The one to unite Alice with the love of her life.

Max returned from wherever he’d been, and he was sparkling clean. He had on a white shirt and dark trousers. There wasn’t a spot of dirt on him.

“You took a bath!” Her tone was an accusation. She held out her arms to indicate her sweaty self.

“Just in the river,” he said defensively. “You have other clothes?”

She had no idea what she’d brought with her. She didn’t even know where her trunk was. She followed him to a side porch and there it was, set among the mops and brooms. It looked like he’d tossed it out of the wagon.

“I should have brought it in,” he mumbled.

She found the key deep in a pocket of her skirt and opened it. It contained two more dresses in dark, boring colors, and a long nightgown that was as sexy as a rock.

She looked up at Max, her face showing her disappointment. She pulled out a dress of mud brown and held it up. “It exactly matches the color of the streets of Garrett.”

He gave a little laugh, then motioned for her to follow him. In the kitchen, he opened a cabinet door. Hanging inside was a big key. He took it out, then nodded for her to follow him upstairs.

He went to the locked door and opened it.

Inside was like a time capsule. It was as though someone got out of bed, left the room, and locked the door. The bed hadn’t been made, a hairbrush was on a chair, a single shoe was on the floor. What was unusual was that everything was covered in dust, with spiderwebs collecting more.

She looked at him.

“My mother’s room. We just closed it.” He shrugged as though he had no reason why. He went to the big mahogany wardrobe and opened the door. “You may have anything you want.”

“That’s very kind of you.”

“You can stay in here tonight if you’d like. Or downstairs near Alice. A room was set up for you there.” He hesitated. “I could bring up some hot water.”

“I would love that,” she said, and he left. For a moment she looked at the closed door. “‘Downstairs near Alice,’” she quoted him. It looked like he’d never planned on his marriage being a real one, with a shared bed.

She didn’t have time to think about that. The lawyer would be here soon. Alice’s future husband!

Inside the wardrobe were a dozen dresses hanging from pegs. “Tomorrow I invent coat hangers.” The clothes looked like they would fit her. “Of course,” she said. “It’s my dream so I made them for me.” There was a dress of lilac silk that she quite liked, and she pulled it out.

So now the question was how to get undressed and redressed. The clothes weren’t exactly slip on and off. And there was the corset.Shame on me for complaining about underwire bras.

She was struggling with her arms at the back when there was a knock on the door, and she opened it. Max was holding a wooden bucket full of steaming hot water.One bucket, she thought.And I want a tub full.

She motioned for him to come in. He set the bucket down and looked around. “I think Alice and I wanted to forget this room.” For a moment he watched Etta struggle with the dress. “I’ll leave you to it.”

“I need a knife to cut myself out of this thing. You couldn’t help me, could you?”

“I guess.”

She turned her back to him. When he did nothing, she twisted around to look at him. He was frowning, puzzled. It felt good that he didn’t know how to undress a woman. “Freddy still here?”

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