Into the Whirlwind (45 page)

Anka picked up the black book and held it out. “I learn English,” she said. The lettering on the spine of the book indicated it was a Polish-English dictionary, but Mollie was curious about the paper Anka seemed to be hiding. She stepped a little closer.

“What are you doing?” she asked again. “Where is Dr. Buchanan?”

“Andrew,” she began, then made a scraping motion across her face.

Mollie tried to understand. “Shave? He has gone for a shave?”

Anka nodded. “Yes. Shave.”

It still did not explain the woman’s presence here. Mollie glanced pointedly at the piece of paper on the desk, and Anka
followed her gaze. Picking up the page, Anka looked like she was struggling to find words. “My English . . .” She made a waffling motion with her hand. “I write English for Andrew. Bad English. Help?” She held the page out to Mollie.

“You are asking me to help with your writing?”Anka nodded vigorously. It seemed a little odd, but she certainly wanted to know what Anka seemed so embarrassed about. Mollie glanced at the page, her eyes widening with astonishment as she read:

Dear Andrew. We are same people. I am alone, like you. I have big hope, like you. Please wait for me to find English. You make my heart fly.

Mollie plopped down onto the dentist chair, staring in astonishment at the letter. Did Zack know the girl he was courting was dallying with another man? With his best friend, no less? She looked up at Anka, and the girl covered her heart with her hand and pounded. “Andrew.” The way she said the word was heavy with a combination of yearning and hope. “I need Andrew. I hope Andrew.”

“Does Zack know how you feel?”

“Zack?” The women looked confused, and Mollie repeated herself several times, but it did no good. Anka did not understand.

The door opened, and Dr. Buchanan strode inside, freshly shaven and flushed with good health. “Hello, Miss Mollie,” he said jovially. “I hope you’ve only come for a visit and are not suffering in dental misery.”

“I just stopped by for a visit,” Mollie said. “I was surprised to see Anka here.”

The dentist’s grin broadened. “I’m teaching her how to help in the office. She has the makings of a fine dental assistant.”

Anka nodded vigorously, picked up a tooth puller, and gave it a hearty twist as she made a grisly cracking sound. Both Dr. Buchanan and Anka roared with laughter. Mollie made a mental note never to allow Anka near her with that wicked-looking piece of equipment.

“Dr. Buchanan, may I speak with you outside for a moment?”

“You can speak freely in front of Anka. I intend to marry her, so there should be no secrets.”

Mollie was dumbfounded as she looked between Anka and Dr. Buchanan. They were out in the open with their scandalous liaison? “But, Zack led me to believe . . .” How precisely could she say this? While she scrambled for words, Dr. Buchanan spared her the embarrassment.

“Zack never had any serious intentions toward Anka, nor she to him. If he allowed you to believe otherwise . . . well, it would not be the first time a man tried to salvage a little pride by escorting a pretty woman about town.”

Her breath left her in a rush, and she sank back down onto the dental chair. What an idiot she had been! He had pretended to hide it, but Zack had more pride than all the kings of Poland rolled together, and she had kicked him in the teeth repeatedly over the past nine months. Her heart picked up tempo, and she felt light-headed. There was
nothing
between Anka and Zack!

But there was a green paisley scarf hanging from Zack’s coatrack, and she had been a fool to accept his blithe dismissal of it.

Mollie sprang to her feet. “Thank you for your time!” she tossed over her shoulder as she hurried through the open doorway.

After making two streetcar connections and crossing three bridges, Mollie raced toward Hartman’s as fast as her legs could
carry her. She was breathless as she hurried up the steps and recognized the same doorman who had held the door for her throughout all the years she had done business with Hartman’s.

“Mr. Kern, I’m glad to see you have survived the fire! Can I go up and see Zack Kazmarek?”

“He isn’t here anymore.”

Her spirit dimmed just a fraction. “Has he gone to lunch? When is he expected back?”

The doorman looked distinctly uncomfortable as he shifted his weight and glanced around the landing to the store. “I heard a rumor that he quit, but some say he was fired. Either way, he isn’t here anymore. His office was cleaned out last week.”

Her skin started tingling all over, and she clutched Mr. Kern’s arm. “What happened?” she asked in a trembling whisper. Zack would follow Louis Hartman to the ends of the earth! Whatever had caused a rift must have been terrible and completely unexpected.

“No one is saying anything,” the doorman said. “I don’t think anyone except Mr. Hartman even knows.”

Mollie turned and left the store, wandering toward the streetcar stop. Not until she walked smack into a construction worker did she realize she wasn’t even seeing what was directly in front of her face. All her thoughts were consumed with Zack and whatever had caused him to quit so abruptly.

She clenched the handrail on the streetcar as it delivered her to the west-side neighborhood where she disembarked. Her footsteps picked up pace. She’d seen all the moving men outside his home a few days ago and had not questioned him when he’d asserted it was merely about relocating his parents’ Polish collection.

Why had she accepted that so easily? On that day he was no longer working at Hartman’s, but he hadn’t mentioned a word
to her. Could he no longer afford the home and was forced to move? Anxiety gripped her as she quickened her steps.

If Zack was in financial trouble, she would figure out a way to help. If the fire had taught her nothing else, she knew the value of pulling together in times of crisis. But she’d have to be careful. Men had such pride.

Hoisting her skirts to her ankles, she dashed up the steps of the landing and pounded on the door of his townhouse. “Zack? Are you here?”

She leaned toward the door but could hear no one moving inside. She set both palms against the door, the blue paint cool in the summer heat as she pressed her ear to the door, listening for any sounds inside.

Which was why she nearly jumped from her skin when the door was yanked open. “Zack!” she said, a surge of relief rushing through her. “I was so worried.”

He wore a look of mild amusement. “What were you doing to my door? Licking it?”

She caught her breath and adjusted her shirt. When he held the door wide, she looked into the house with dismay. It was nearly empty!

“Are you moving?”

He tugged her inside and closed the door behind her. “I told you. I leased a space for my parents to store their treasures. They are over there unloading it as we speak. I don’t expect I’ll see much of them in the coming months. My mother is happier than a pig in mud.” He held his arms wide, spanning the huge open space. “I’ve got no idea what to do with all this liberated square footage, but my first step will be to build a legitimate parlor. Have a seat, Mollie.”

There was only a single settee and a footstool in the front room. She lowered herself onto the settee, and he pulled the
footstool a few feet out, splaying his legs and looking ridiculously large as he sat on the tiny piece of furniture. “And to what do I owe this unexpected visit?”

There was no point in quibbling or trying to find delicate words. “I went looking for you at Hartman’s, but the doorman said you don’t work there anymore.”

“That’s right.”

“What happened?”

Zack didn’t appear upset or embarrassed as he peered at her with assessing eyes. “Louis and I had a falling out. It was time to press ahead.”

“But . . . but . . . you don’t seem upset. Louis was like a father to you; you told me so yourself! Why are you so calm about this?”

He sobered, lacing his fingers together and staring at the floor. “I owe Louis a debt I can never fully repay. Ever. But that loyalty sometimes led me to places I shouldn’t have gone. There were other people in my life who deserved my loyalty, and I couldn’t serve them as long as I was with Louis.” He put his hand on her knee. “I should have figured out a better way to handle your land deed. I’m sorry about that, Mollie.”

“I see,” she whispered. “What are you going to do now?”

“If you are worried about the Copernicus watches, don’t be. My quitting Hartman’s will have no effect on the Ponte Vecchio deal.”

She hadn’t even considered the watches, but she had a fortune tied up in those spectacular, impractical watches. Zack grabbed her hand and tugged her upright. “Let’s go back to the dining room and I’ll show you the paper work.”

Heaven help him, but seeing Mollie again was torture. Dealing with her would be unavoidable until those Copernicus watches
were sold, but if he had known she was coming he could have braced himself. As it was, all he could do was pretend it didn’t hurt to have his heart taken out and stomped beneath her dainty-soled boots one more time.

Behind him, those boots clicked on the hardwood floors, and the sound echoed off the bare walls as she trailed after him into the dining room. He picked up a sheaf of papers from the table. “Have a seat, and we can go through these together.” The last thing he wanted to discuss was business, but he cleared his throat and looked around for a pencil.

Mollie remained standing at the entrance of the dining room, staring as though caught in a trance. He followed her gaze to her cinder-pocked silk scarf still draped over the coatrack. A flush heated his face. Why hadn’t he stashed the blasted thing out of sight? Now she was going to start jumping to conclusions and realize what a milksop he still was over her.

There was no help for it. He kept his tone steady and professional as he held the stack of documents toward her. “The contracts will need to be amended to remove my name as the intermediary. As soon as you find another attorney to represent you, we can transfer all responsibility into his name.”

“Zack, I walked in on Anka writing a love letter to Dr. Buchanan this morning.”

Great, now he could no longer hide behind Anka either. He stood a little awkwardly and fiddled with the pages in his hand. He could not be happier for Dr. Buchanan’s good fortune, but squiring Anka around had let him salvage a teaspoon of pride.

“I take it you found that surprising?” he asked.

He remained motionless as she walked across the nearly empty dining room to stand before him. She didn’t look surprised, she looked . . . hopeful? He didn’t move a muscle as she laid her palm against his chest. What was she doing?

“Yes, I found it surprising. I also found it surprising that you still have my green scarf, although I’m glad you do.”

“I’m not giving it back, if that is what you are after.”

“I don’t want it back, I want you to have it.”

His eyes widened as she stepped even closer, his chest tingling where her hand lay softly against him. Why was she staring up at him with her heart brimming in her eyes? It was the way she had gazed at him last autumn. He wanted to swoop down and haul her into his embrace like a marauding Viking and forget Colonel Lowe had ever existed. Instead, he stayed carefully still. “And why is that?” he asked softly.

“Because you don’t scare me anymore.” She placed her other hand on his chest. “You used to intimidate me down to my toes, but since the fire, everything is different. I can be myself around you. Flaws and all.”

“You don’t have any flaws.” None that mattered anyway. Sometimes he wanted to drag her to the lake and throw her in, but she was still perfect in his eyes and he would flatten any man who said otherwise.

“Neither one of us is perfect, but I love you, Zack.”

His heart threatened to stop beating. He clenched his fists to stop himself from scooping her up into a bear hug and shouting to the world. She had let him down so many times before, but she hadn’t finished speaking. Her voice was soft and a little breathless.

“I’m sorry it has taken me so long to realize it, but I’ve never been good with squishy things like emotions. It took me a while to put a name to what I was feeling.”