Page 107 of My Heart Will Find You

With her shoulders back, she left the room.

20

Max was frowning. He was driving the buggy, Alice beside him, Nellie in the back, and his mind was in turmoil.What the hell was wrong with Etta?

He and the men got back late on Sunday, and she was asleep. He couldn’t help making noise, but she didn’t wake up. Since he didn’t feel like explaining his actions of the day, he was glad she stayed asleep.

When he got up the next morning, he was concerned that she was still hard asleep, but Alice said Etta was exhausted. Almost as though she was guilty of something, Alice had hurried out of the room.

Max spent the day outside, catching up on work. When he got back that night, Etta was...well, different.

“Max!” Alice said. “Stop here.”

He came back to the present. “Oh, right.” He was to let them off at the dressmaker. Alice was buying new clothes for Nellie.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

“Get supplies.”

“No,” she said in exaggerated patience. “Pat did that and anyway, there’s no room in the buggy. Please tell me you aren’t going to spend two hours drinking beer.”

He gave her a look that in the past would have made her back down. But now that she had what Etta called a significant other and the care of Nellie, Alice was not so respectful of her brother. Max looked away. “I have to see Bert about some contracts.”

“Good! Maybe he’ll cheer you up.”

“I don’t need—” He didn’t finish, just got out and helped them down.

Alice kissed his cheek. “Please try to be happier.”

As he watched her and Nellie hurry away, he marveled at how she walked now. She hardly even limped.Changes, he thought. All due to Etta. She had turned their lives upside down.

“I just wish she didn’t hate me,” he muttered.

He left the buggy where it was and walked to the Red Dog. For a moment he thought about going in and drinking. After a couple of hours, he’d feel better.

But he didn’t do it. He went up the stairs to Bert’s law office, and to his good luck, Mrs. Ellis wasn’t there. Max didn’t knock, just opened Bert’s door, sat down, and stared at the lawyer across the desk.

Bert leaned back in his chair, seeming to be glad to stop reading papers. “Are you all right?”

“Physically, yes, but my wife hates me.”

“That’s bad. Did she tell you why? I mean besides about Sunday.”

“She hasn’t said a word about that.”

Bert’s mouth dropped open. “Cornelia has not stopped bawling me out. In two days, she’s said more words than I read in all of law school. To make her shut up, I proposed and gave her a ring.”

“Congratulations.” Max didn’t sound happy. “I wish Etta would yell at me.”

“Does she sulk in silence?”

“No. She’s cheerful and happy and never wants us to get out of bed.”

“That’s scary,” Bert said.

“Yeah, it is.”

“But you did tell her about Sunday, didn’t you?”

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