It Happened at the Fair (39 page)

He stared at her, the breeze ruffling his trouser legs. “Have you, have you fallen in love with Hodge?”

“No!” She surged to her feet. “Where’d ya get a fool thought like that?”

He said nothing.

She started pacing again, giving another soliloquy and making sweeping gestures with her arms. He let her rant and pace and rant some more.

Finally she ran out of steam and squatted down in front of him, placing her hands on his knees. “Please, Cullen.” Tears poured down her face. “Please marry me. I’m beggin’ ya.”

“You really do love him.” Cullen still couldn’t quite wrap his mind around it.

“I don’t. I don’t love him at all. I love you. I’ve loved ya my whole life.”

Rather than argue, he brushed his knuckles down her cheek. “And I’ve loved you, you silly woman.”

“But yer not gonna marry me?” Her voice sounded pathetic.

“I’m not going to marry you.”

A quiet moan came from the back of her throat. Sitting back on her feet, she covered her face and cried.

Lifting his hip, he retrieved a handkerchief and tucked it in her hand.

Finally, she began to wind down. She blew her nose. Then blew it again, and again before finally wiping it clean.

She raised her face. “Will ya, will ya at least kiss me one last time?”

Tears of his own surged to the surface. He forced them down. “No, Wanda. We’ve done all the kissing we’re ever going to do.”

After a tremulous sigh, she turned her head away, looking at everything but him.

Taking her by the elbows, he helped her stand. “Come on. I have to get you back to Machinery Hall. You’re going to be staying the night with a nice lady from the Crowne Pen Company. In the morning, come back to my booth, then I’ll walk you to the train station and buy you a ticket home.”

She hiccupped, then cried some more. Placing his arm around her, he pulled her into his side and walked her back. When they approached the Hall’s entrance, he stopped, took her by both shoulders, then leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I do love you, Wanda.”

Her eyes filled. “I know. I was sorta hopin’ fer the other kind of kiss, though.”

He smoothed her hair back with his hand. “Those kisses are to be saved and closely guarded. You must promise me you will not ever, ever let a man kiss you like that—not even Hodge—until he’s put a very handsome ring on your finger.”

“Ya must be crazy if ya think I’d make a promise like that. Those kisses are clearly the very best kind. They put the others to shame.”

He frowned. “I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

Squeezing her by the shoulders, he propped her up like a child. “He will misunderstand. And will think you offer him more than you mean to. I really do want you to—”

She placed a finger against his lips. “I promise to try really hard not to let anyone kiss me like that.”

“Not good enough.”

She wiped her eyes with the palms of her hand, then tucked the well-used handkerchief into her sleeve. “I don’t suppose you want that back?”

“No. And don’t change the subject.”

Bracketing his face, she ran her thumb against his cheek. “I’m tired, and I’m ready to go to bed.” Her eyes filled. “If ya change yer mind?”

Placing his hands over hers, he gently moved them to her sides and gave them a squeeze. “My mind is made up, I’m afraid.”

“You might—”

This time, he put his finger against her lips. “Good-bye, Wanda.”

She kissed his finger, even while tears streamed silently down her face. “Good-bye.”

He helped her to the door, then walked her to the Crowne Pen Company’s booth.

The moment Miss Carpenter saw them, she took in Wanda’s distress, then scrambled from behind the counter.

Cullen gave a nod of his head. “This is Miss Wanda Sappington, the young lady I told you about. Wanda, this is Miss Greta Carpenter.”

Reaching for Wanda’s hand, Miss Carpenter took it in hers. “Is everything all right, honey?”

Though she nodded, Wanda’s eyes filled again.

Miss Carpenter glanced at Cullen, then hooked her hand around Wanda’s arm and pulled her close. “Well, come meet the girls. We were just getting ready to go get some ice cream from the concessionaire.”

Miss Carpenter gave a brief look over her shoulder.

Cullen’s throat worked. Thank you, he mouthed.

And then he left them.

NEAR VIEW OF MOVABLE SIDEWALK

“When she finally stepped off the machine, darkness had long since taken hold.”

CHAPTER

44

Cullen paced the walkway outside Harvell House. The steady stream of fairgoers leaving the park had dwindled down to an occasional carriage passing by. Where the devil was Della? Every boarder’s name had been marked off the list except for hers. He’d gone straight from Machinery Hall to the Children’s Building, then to Blooker’s. But she was nowhere.

It was well past dark. The fair would be closing soon, and she’d have to walk these streets alone. She was every bit as upset as Wanda and every bit as vulnerable. What was she thinking?

Had she been hurt? Was she, at this very moment, lying alone in some hospital with no one to look in on her? To check and make sure she was receiving the best of care? What if she’d wandered into a tightly packed crowd and become frightened? What if she’d conked her head and couldn’t remember who she was? He wondered how many hospitals Chicago had and how long it would take to visit them all.

He called up newspaper articles buried in the back sections of the paper. Short mentions of women who’d arrived at the fair from out of town, then simply vanished into thin air. In the advertisement section, desperate families had descriptions of their loved ones and appeals for information. Every woman described had been young, beautiful, and on her own.

He tried to stem the flow of his imagination, but horrific possibilities continued to bombard him. He cursed. He prayed. He willed her home with his thoughts. Yet still she did not appear.

Flipping open his pocket watch, he decided to give her thirty more minutes. If she wasn’t home in thirty minutes, he was involving the police.

Sitting on the steps, he held his head in his hands. He hoped Wanda was all right. At least he knew she was being well taken care of.

His mind then wandered to the replaced sprinkler heads. It had to be Bulenberg. Who else would have done such a thing? He had no enemies that he knew of. The only person who’d demonstrated opposition of any kind had been Bulenberg.

The irony was Cullen hadn’t made a single sale, so it wasn’t as if Bulenberg had all that much to worry about unless he really felt Cullen’s demonstration would have tipped the scales. And if the demonstration had worked, it very well might have.

Propping his elbows on his knees, he rested his mouth against his fists. Maybe he needed to take a closer look at those sprinkler heads. It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out who the manufacturer was.

A train whistle pierced the silence, momentarily interrupting the crickets’ songs. Then all stilled again, and the night creatures resumed their concert. He checked his watch. She had fifteen more minutes.

As for his demonstration, he had no prayer of getting the director-general’s permission again. And even if he did, no one would come to watch it. No, he had to do something else. Something big and dramatic that would put away all doubts but wouldn’t jeopardize the fair in any way. And he’d have to do it in secret, so neither Bulenberg nor anyone else would have an opportunity to sabotage it.

He snapped his watch closed. Time up. Standing, he squinted down the walkway. Splashes of light from the street lamps offered a spot of illumination between stretches of darkness. Where
was
she?

He started to head toward town, then stopped. What if he made it to the police station, only to discover she’d returned to the boardinghouse while he was gone? Should-I-go and should-I-wait played tug-of-war within him as time seemed to slow to a standstill. Finally, he spotted her. At first it was just a woman, then it was Della. Relief lasted a mere second, then anger wrapped itself around him like a boa constrictor. She was in no rush whatsoever, but shuffled down the walk as if she were a century old.

By the time she reached him, he was shaking with fury. “Where the devil have you been?”

She looked at him as if he were no more than a passing acquaintance. “Good evening, Mr. McNamara. I trust you had a fine day. Would you excuse me, please?” She made to skirt around him.

He stepped into her path. “I have been waiting for you for hours. Where have you been?”

For the first time since he’d known her, she kept her emotions beneath a carefully controlled mask and didn’t so much as twitch. “I don’t believe I’m your concern. Now, if you’ll—”

“Don’t play games with me. I’ve been out of my mind with worry.”

She lifted her brows. “I’m surprised you had room in your mind for anything other than your fiancée.”

All the bluster left him in a whoosh. “Della—”

“Miss Wentworth. I think, under the circumstances, a more formal address is in order.”

He’d leave an address out altogether before he’d revert to Miss Wentworth. “We need to talk.”

“There’s nothing to discuss.”

“There’s a mountain of things to discuss. And it will start with an apology from me. For lying to you by omission.”

Her mask cracked. A searing hurt flashed across her face.

His chest caught. “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”

“Who is she?”

“She’s a woman from home whom I’d planned to marry.” He took a fortifying breath. “Until I met you.”

Shaking her head in denial, she wrapped a fist around a brooch at her neck. “Why didn’t you tell me you were engaged?”

“I should have. I have no excuse.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Then let me explain. I wrote to her and ended our engagement. That’s why she came. To confirm it. But she’ll be returning home on tomorrow’s train.”

“When did you write her?”

Not nearly soon enough
, he thought, swallowing. “Last week.”

She tightened her lips. “I’m not a fool, Cullen. I’ve heard about men who travel from town to town, preying on unsuspecting women. Well, I may have been unsuspecting before, but I’m not so gullible as to believe you broke off an engagement last week just like that.” She snapped her fingers.

“You know good and well I don’t travel from town to town luring women like some spider with a web full of flies.”

“I know nothing of the sort. All I know is what you’ve told me. And if today is any indication, there’s quite a bit you’ve left out.” Her voice cracked. “I need to go inside.”

“Not yet. Can we talk about it, first?”

She shook her head, barely holding on to her composure. “No amount of talk will change the fact that you are not who you say you are.”

“I’m exactly who I say I am,” he barked. “If I could peel off my shirt and prove it, I would. But that would accomplish nothing this time.”

“
Hush!”
she hissed, indicating the brownstone’s windows above them. “People can hear.”

He took a step toward her. “Let them hear. I don’t care. I broke off my engagement. I did it because I am in love with someone else. You.” He gentled his voice. “I’m in love with you, Della.”

She closed her eyes. “Let me pass, Cullen.”

“You don’t believe me? You really think I’d say something like that and not mean it?”

“I don’t know what to think anymore.”

“What can I do to prove it to you? Would you like to talk to Wanda? She’s staying with a woman from the Crowne Pen Company tonight, but she’ll be at Machinery Hall first thing in the morning because I’ll be taking her to the train station.” His face hardened. “It would be incredibly cruel to flaunt yourself in front of her, but if that’s what it takes, by all means, come by in the morning.”

“A very safe offer, considering you know good and well I have class in the morning.”

“
Quiet, down there!”

Cullen looked up at the windows, trying to determine who had shouted. He opened his mouth to tell them exactly what he thought, but Della jerked his sleeve.

“Hush,” she hissed. “They’re absolutely right. I’m going to bed. Good night.”