Wishes Read online

  “And he took the pins from her hair! There they were, embracing for all the town to see, and he unfastened her hair, and we heard that he almost kissed her. In front of everyone!”

  They sat there, looking at Terel, waiting for a response from her.

  “I do not believe you,” Terel said.

  “You can ask anyone,” Louisa said. “And their being on the wall wasn’t the only thing that happened. According to Johnny Bowen and Bob Jenkins, Mr. Montgomery nearly attacked them on the street. All they did was ask Nellie about you.”

  “Ask about me?” Terel whispered. Johnny and Bob were two of her favorite suitors. They were adoring puppies, requiring nothing from Terel but always ready to do her bidding.

  “Johnny said that Mr. Montgomery said that Nellie was not your social secretary.” Mae turned to Louisa. “That’s right, isn’t it? That’s what he said, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Louisa answered. “Mr. Montgomery said Nellie wasn’t going to answer questions about you, and Johnny said that Mr. Montgomery seemed quite taken with Nellie.”

  “In the tea shop,” Mae said, “he looked at her as if he were—well—in love with her.”

  “With Nellie?” Mary Alice said. “With Nellie Grayson?”

  Terel had heard more than she wanted to hear. She stood. “Mr. Montgomery is a very kind man, and he has a great deal of sympathy for women like Nellie. My poor sister has very little social life, and he felt pity for her, so he took her out for a day.”

  “I wish Mr. Montgomery would take pity on me,” Mae said, but she quieted when Terel gave her a quelling look.

  Terel jerked at her plum-dyed kid gloves. “I apologize if Mr. Montgomery’s actions were misconstrued, and I would appreciate it if you would stop spreading gossip that has no basis in truth.”

  She pushed through the young women, purposely stepping on the lace of Mae’s dress as she passed.

  “What about your heart palpitations?” Mary Alice called after her.

  “Her heart is fine, it’s her temper that needs doctoring,” Charlene said, and all four women dissolved into giggles.

  Terel was very angry as she started walking home. How dare Nellie do this to her! As if she didn’t have enough problems, what with so many other unmarried women in Chandler, to have her own sister betray her like this was more than she could bear!

  She stormed all the way down Coal Avenue, and every block someone stopped her to ask about Nellie.

  “Who was the heavenly man with her?”

  “It looks like Nellie may beat you to the altar,” Mr. Mankin said, laughing.

  “I hear they’re going to the Harvest Ball together,” Mrs. Applegate said. “Do you think you’ll be invited after what happened last year?”

  “I never realized how pretty Nellie was until today,” Leora Vaughn said. “I think I’ll invite her to my garden party.”

  “Terel,” Sarah Oakley said, “you must bring Nellie with you to next week’s church social.” She laughed. “This town isn’t going to let you hide Nellie away any longer.”

  By the time Terel reached the sanctity of her house, her blood was boiling. She was ready to tear Nellie to pieces. How dare she act like this? How dare she call attention to herself like this?

  Terel went first to the kitchen, then to the garden, but Nellie wasn’t in either. Nor was she anywhere else in the house. It took Terel a few minutes to realize that Nellie was still out with Mr. Montgomery.

  She sat down hard on a footstool in the parlor. Nellie was always home. Since Terel was a little girl, Nellie had been at home waiting for her. She remembered coming home from school, and Nellie would be in the kitchen ironing. Nellie had only been fourteen then, so she’d had to stand on a box to be high enough for the ironing board, but when Terel returned she’d get down and get milk and cookies for her.

  Now Terel put her little handbag on the table and noted with disgust that the surface was dusty. Slowly, she got up and went back to the kitchen. Usually the place was neat and clean, but now the big table was covered with flour and there was a lump of dried, cracked dough to one side. The door had been left open, and flies buzzed over everything. The fire in the stove had gone out.

  In the other rooms downstairs everything was dusty. If Nellie didn’t constantly stay on that lazy Anna, the girl did nothing. Now, with Nellie having been gone most of the day, Anna was probably sleeping somewhere.

  Upstairs, the rooms were as bad. The bathroom hadn’t been cleaned, and her father’s whisker-filled lather had dried on the basin. In Terel’s room clothes were everywhere. This morning she’d had a difficult time deciding what to wear today, and all the clothes she’d decided against were still strewn about the room. On the bed was the pink taffeta that Terel had expressly asked Nellie to repair, but the skirt was still torn at the waist.

  She went to her father’s room, and it didn’t look much better than her own. His clothes from the day before were on the floor, and six pairs of shoes had been set out for Nellie to polish, but all six were still dusty.

  Terel moved down the hall. Nellie’s room was, as always, neat and tidy, but it was the only bit of order in the chaotic house.

  Thoughtfully, Terel went back downstairs to the parlor. From what the townspeople had been saying, whatever was going on between Nellie and Mr. Montgomery was serious. Serious as in permanent. Serious as in taking Nellie away.

  Terel looked at the dusty parlor and thought about the rooms upstairs. If Nellie got married and left the house, who would have to see to the cooking and cleaning? She knew her father wouldn’t bother himself. Although Nellie tended to look at their father through rose-colored glasses, Terel saw him for what he was. He was as tightfisted a man as had ever lived. Terel had an idea that her father’s freight company made quite a bit of money, but Charles Grayson wasn’t about to part with any more of it than he could help. That’s why they lived in a very ordinary house and had only one very bad, but cheap, servant. Charles wouldn’t part with his precious money to raise their standard of living.

  Terel had learned how to deal with him. When she wanted new clothes she went to a store and charged them. Her father’s pride kept him from refusing to pay the bills.

  But Nellie knew nothing about their father. All Charles had to do was say he couldn’t afford more servants and Nellie doubled her efforts to help make ends meet.

  So what would happen if Nellie left, Terel thought. What if she went away and left Terel and Charles alone? Terel knew that Charles would make her life hell. He’d no doubt expect Terel to spend her days cooking and trying to get the lazy Anna to do something. If Terel did get out of doing the work, it would only be through waging enough battles to equal a war. Her father could be pleasant; cold, perhaps, but all right if his basic needs were taken care of and he didn’t have to spend too much money. But he could be a tyrant over simple matters such as his dinner being late. Terel couldn’t imagine what his temper would be like if she had to prepare his dinner. She didn’t know the first thing about cooking.

  “Nellie cannot leave before I do,” Terel whispered. Under no circumstances was she going to allow Nellie to marry and leave Terel alone to take care of their father. Terel’s jaw clamped shut. If nothing else, Nellie couldn’t marry someone like Mr. Montgomery. Today was just an example of what would be said if fat, boring Nellie caught a man like that. She could hear Charlene now. “Your husband is nice, but he’s not as rich or as handsome as Nellie’s husband. Who would have thought that Nellie would get the catch of the season, all while wearing such ugly dresses? Terel, maybe you should have learned to cook.”

  No, Terel thought, she couldn’t bear the ridicule—and she intended to see that there was no reason for her to bear it.

  At six o’clock her father walked through the door, just as Terel knew he would, and she smiled, because Nellie still hadn’t returned. She pulled out her handkerchief, sniffed a few times, and went running to her father.

  “Oh, Papa,” Terel wailed, throwing her a