Amaryllis (Suitors of Seattle) (6 page)

She locked the door to the library
, and they walked through the busy streets to the battered women’s shelter. 

When his mother opened the door and saw the two of them together, she immediately had tears in her eyes.  “Amaryllis!  It’s so good to see you!”  She pulled the younger girl into her embrace.  “What are you two doing here?”
  She was so obviously excited just to see them show up at her door together, Amaryllis knew she had to convince her she was in love.

Alex smiled at his mother, thrilled that she was so happy to see Amaryllis.  His mother had always had a fondness for his fiancé, and he was thrilled to be able to tell her they were getting married.  “Is John around?” he asked, wanting to give them the news together.

Mildred looked at him.  “Are you going to ignore me and talk to John all night again?”

Alex laughed.  “No, I just want him here as well.”

Mildred nodded.  “I’ll run and get him.  Amaryllis?  Why don’t you put some coffee on?  I just baked a cake.”

Amaryllis went to the kitchen and opened the cupboards to get the coffee beans down, putting the
m in the grinder automatically.  Coffee was the one thing she was adept at making, but only because Mildred had taught her while she volunteered there.  Alex leaned against the counter watching her as she carefully measured the grounds and put them into the pot.

“I didn’t know you could make coffee,” he told her.

“Don’t get too excited.  Making coffee is really the only thing I know how to do around the house other than embroider.  I’m going to be a useless wife.”  She knew he was planning on basing most of his practice on helping the battered women in the area, so she envisioned a life of poverty.  They hadn’t discussed her continued work with the library, but she assumed he would make her quit.  She didn’t bring it up, because she wanted to be able to work for as long as she could.  Not necessarily for the small amount of money it brought in, but because she enjoyed her work so much.

“I can do most household chores.  I cooked for myself a lot while I was at college.”  He shrugged.  “My mother taught me some of the basics as well.  She had a broken arm for a while, and I did a lot of the cooking, so my father wouldn’t get angry.”  He left the rest of his statement unspoken.  She knew his father had abused his mother, and everything was explained in that short sentence.

“Well, I’m glad one of us can cook then.”

Mildred came back then with John Higgins in tow.  Amaryllis knew that Alex called the older man John, but her family had always referred to him as simply “Higgins.”  He’d moved out here with her aunt when she’d come to marry her uncle Max as a mail order bride.  There weren’t a lot of mail order brides who brought their butlers along with them, but Harriett’s situation had been unusual all along.

Amaryllis turned away from the stove.  “Higgins!”  She flew into his arms and hugged him tightly.  He was an honorary uncle to her, which was what had made her break-up with Alex even harder than it would have been.  “It’s so good to see you.”

“You could have come by anytime.  I wish you hadn’t shut us out.”

Amaryllis shrugged, looking down at her feet.  She knew she hadn’t handled things well.  When she’d heard about Alex and Sarah, she’d refused to do any more volunteer work for the shelter and had instead dedicated her time to a local orphanage.  Her parents had insisted on volunteer work for each of the girls once they’d reached an age where they could help.

Alex stepped to her side and took her hand in his, smiling at his parents.  “We have news and wanted you both here for it.  We’re getting married.”

Mildred put her hand to her mouth, squealing in surprise.  Alex’s eyes met John’s, and he knew that the older man had kept his confidence.  “Oh, that’s wonderful!” Mildred exclaimed.  “When?  A Christmas wedding would be pretty.”  She kept her gaze on Amaryllis who had forced a smile.

“Saturday,” Alex told her.

Mildred leaned back against the work table.  “Saturday?”  She looked between the two of them.  “You’re not expecting, are you?”

“Of course not!” Alex told her.  “We’ve just been in love for four years.  Neither of us see a need to wait, do we, Rilly?”

Amaryllis hated deceiving Mildred, because she had a lot of respect for her.  “We’re just ready to start our lives together.”  She smiled at Alex, making it as genuine as she could. 

Mildred looked between them for another minute or two before saying, “Well, that’s wonderful then.  Does your mother need help?”

Amaryllis shook her head.  “It’s just going to be family at my house at two on Saturday.  I hope you’ll both be able to come on such short notice.”  She bit her lip worried about whether or not they’d have time to make it.

“Of course we’ll be there!” Mildred told her.  “We wouldn’t let anything keep us away.”

They talked quietly of wedding plans while they ate the cake Mildred had prepared.  Amaryllis motioned to the upstairs.  “No guests right now?”

Mildred smiled.  “Just three.  A young mother and her two sons.  They’ll be down in a bit for dinner.  Will you stay as well?”

Amaryllis shook her head.  “My parents didn’t know I was coming here after work, so I need to get home.”  She stood, having finished her cake and coffee.  “I’m going to head there now.”

Alex stood drinking the last of his coffee as he did.  “I’ll walk you home.”

She started to tell him to stay and visit with his parents, but decided against it.  It would look bad.  Once they’d hugged the older couple and started on their way, she said, “You don’t have to see me the whole way.  You can just walk as far as your office.”

He sighed.  “I’ll see you home.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know I don’t.  I like being with you.  I love you.”

She shrugged, not looking at him.  “Do what you want.” 

He took her hand in his as they walked.  When she looked at him, he said, “You told me to do what I want.  I want to touch you, and since we’re on the street, this is the best I can do.”

She sighed, staring straight ahead again.  She just wasn’t willing to argue with him. 

She blushed as they passed his office, thinking about what had led to their engagement.  She still couldn’t believe she’d done that with him.  What had she been thinking?  Her whole life was changed because of an afternoon of insanity. 

He stopped at the front porch and kissed her softly.  “I won’t see you tomorrow.  I have some things to see to.  I’ll be here Saturday.”

She nodded.  “I’ll see you then.”

As soon as she walked into the house, her mother called her into the parlor.  They’d had no time to talk after Alex had left the night before, and there was never really time in the mornings with the bustle of the younger girls getting ready for school and Amaryllis preparing for work. 

“We need to talk about the wedding,” Mary told her.

“Mama, we don’t have time to plan anything special.  The wedding is in two days!”

“Sit down, Amaryllis.”

Amaryllis sat with a huff, not even wanting to think about their plans.  “Okay, I’m sitting.”

“First of all, did you hear from Alex?  Do you have a time for the wedding?”

“Yes, it’s at two.”  She waited for the endless details to begin.

“Okay, we don’t have time to have a new dress made, but we can alter Rose’s wedding dress to fit you.”

Amaryllis nodded.  She had spotted the dress lying over the back of a chair and had guessed at her mother’s intentions.  “Fine.”

Mary shook her head.  “I know you feel forced into this marriage, but you can’t blame just Alex and your father.  You had a very active part in all of this.  I need you to remember that.”

“I know.”  Amaryllis bowed her head, the emotions of the last two days weighing her down.  “It’s so much easier to blame it all on Alex, though.”

Mary nodded understandingly. “It is, but it’s a terrible way to start a marriage.”  She stood up and walked over to shut the parlor door.  “Let’s see how this fits you.  I think it will be close, but you’re more slender than Rose was when she married.”

Amaryllis stripped down to her petticoats and slid the dress over her head.  It was beautiful, of course, because that sort of thing mattered a great deal to Rose.  She stood still while her mother walked around her, pinning it in places.  “Just a couple of tucks at the waist should do it.  I don’t think I realized that your bosom was the same size as Rose’s.  I thought I’d have to let it out there.”

Amaryllis shrugged.  She didn’t much care about the size of her breasts, and Alex hadn’t complained so she guessed they were fine.  “I’m just thinner through the waist so it makes me look bigger on top, I guess.”

“Okay, we’ve got it.  You can take it off.”  Mary helped her unfasten the buttons in the back before helping her step out of it.  “How do you want to wear your hair?”

“My hair?  I guess in a bun like usual?”

Mary sighed.  “Why don’t you let Rose do your hair for the wedding?  She’s very skilled with some elegant updos that will be perfect with the dress.”

“All right.”

Mary put the dress over the back of the chair and resumed her seat.  “Let’s talk food for the wedding.  I was thinking a nice supper of chicken and mashed potatoes?  Nothing too fancy for just a family wedding.”

“That works.”  Amaryllis thought about the book she had left on the table in the entry way.  How long would it be before she could escape and finish it?  Sure, she’d read it several times before, but she loved the idea of losing herself in the dream world of literature again.

“What flavor cake would you like?”

Amaryllis stared at her mother.  “Flavor of cake?  Does it matter?”

“It does if you’re going to eat it, and I assume you are.  How about white?  It’s a good cake for weddings.”

Amaryllis nodded.  “That sounds fine.”

“What kind of cake does Alex like?”

“I really don’t know.  I guess I’ve never thought about it.”  Amaryllis was surprised by that.  She’d once thought she knew everything there was to know about Alex, but obviously she never had.

“You only have one wedding.  Are you sure you don’t want to make some of the decisions yourself?”

Amaryllis hadn’t really thought of it that way.  She was so upset with the reason she was getting married that she was denying herself a nice wedding.  Of course, she’d never been one of those girls who spent all their time thinking about what she’d wear when she married and who she’d marry.  She thought for a moment.  “I want Daisy to stand up with me.”

Her mother glanced up at her.  “Daisy?  Not Rose or Lily?”

Amaryllis shook her head.  “No, just Daisy.”  She didn’t explain.  Daisy had always been the quietest of the eight sisters, and she was often overlooked.  She was right behind Amaryllis in age, and soon to be of marriageable age herself, but to her knowledge, she had no idea who she would marry or even had an inkling that she would.  She was content to spend her afternoons helping at the battered women’s shelter after school.  Amaryllis wanted her to realize that even though she was quiet, she knew she was a special person.

“We’ll see if she has a special dress to wear then.”  Daisy had dark hair and brown eyes.  She was actually the darkest in looks of the sisters and definitely the quietest.  What looked good on her rarely looked good on her sisters, so swapping dresses wasn’t simple.

“I’m sure she’ll have something that will work.”  Amaryllis was almost getting excited at the idea now.  She thought about what else she’d want for her wedding.  “I would like Uncle Max and Aunt Harriett to be here.”

“Of course.  I sent Harriett a note earlier that you would be getting married on Saturday.  We just need to send her the time of the wedding and she’ll be here.”

“Good.”  Amaryllis curled one of her legs up under her.  “I really don’t think I want anyone else, though.  Just us and Alex’s parents.  No one else is important enough to me.”  She briefly thought about her friend, Lawrence, but
she didn’t really want him there.  Alex wouldn’t like it, she knew.  She thought about inviting him just to make Alex angry, but shook her head.  No, she was better than that.

Mary smiled, glad to see Amaryllis getting into the spirit of things.  “Do you want anything else special?  I don’t know about flowers…”

Amaryllis laughed.  “You’re the one who loves flowers, Mama.  Not me.  I’d rather carry books down the aisle.” 

Mary laughed.  “I’m not sure how that would go over, but at least you’re marrying someone who loves books as well.”

“But he loves non-fiction books.”  Amaryllis shuddered.  “I mean, I see the purpose in non-fiction books of course, but I can’t imagine actually reading them for pleasure.”

“I’m sure you two will make things work, even with that huge division between you.”  Mary stood.  “I’m going to run into the kitchen and give this to the cook and then work on your dress.  There’s no time to even hire a seamstress.  We’ll have to do it ourselves.”

“Are you sure you remember how to work, Mama?” Amaryllis teased.

Mary glared at her daughter.  “You know as well as I do that I made every dress for this family for years.  I can do a little alteration for you!”