Mail Order Match Maker (13 page)

Max’s eyes widened, but he nodded understandingly.  “And now Higgins ha
s been your protector ever since?”

“And he does things like checks people out for me.  He’s watching the woman I saw and trying to make friends with her.  I hope he can talk her into leaving.”

Max walked around his desk to her, sitting on the edge of it.  “Why did you wait so long to tell me all this?”

She shrugged.  “Even though I’d been writing to you for two years and I knew Higgins had checked you out as thoroughly as possible, I was still afraid.  I didn’t think you’d hurt me and I trusted you as much as I trust anyone, but I couldn’t get rid of the fear.”
  Her eyes met his.  “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head.  “You have no reason to apologize.  You did nothing wrong.  I wish you would have told me sooner, but having never been in your shoes, I can’t say that I wouldn’t have done the same thing.”  He sighed.  “I only have one thing to say.”

“What’s that?”  She was almost afraid to hear his reaction.

“I wish Arthur was still alive, so I could thrash him to within an inch of his life, let him heal and do it again over and over for fifty years.”

She eyed him with surprise.  “I didn’t realize I’d married such a violent man.”  She was so happy he didn’t turn the violence toward her, though.

He let out a short laugh.  “I didn’t either.”  He took her hands and pulled her to her feet.  “I’m sorry you went through all that, but I’m very happy you told me about it.”

“You don’t think less of me?”  Her eyes searched his for any sign of pity in them.

He shook his head.  “I’m so proud of you for rising above it.”

She sighed, leaning against him, thrilled he’d taken the story as well as he had.  “And Higgins?”

“We’ll keep him.  But you need to start telling me everything you tell him.  No more secrets from me.”  He pulled her against him as he said the words, letting her know that everything was forgiven.

“No more secrets.”  She rested her head against his shoulder.  “Higgins is waiting for me to let him know how our talk went.  Do you want to go with me?” 

Max looked down at her.  “Would you mind?”

“Not at all.  No more secrets.  I have nothing to say to him that I wouldn’t say in front of you.”

Max smiled, thinking it would be the right thing to do to let her go on her own, but he did want to let Higgins know all was well between them.  “Let’s go together then.”

They walked down the hall to where Higgins was still sitting on the sofa in her parlor, obviously lost in thought.  “Higgins?” Harriett called out to him.

“Mrs. Farmer.”  Higgins jumped to his feet, his eyes traveling back and forth between the couple in front of him.  “Is everything well between you?”

Harriett nodded and smiled.  “I told him everything.”  She had her hand linked with Max’s hoping that would make him understand as much as anything else that everything was good between them.

Higgins sagged a bit in relief.  “I’m happy that your talk went well.”  His eyes met Max’s.  “I apologize for not telling you what was happening earlier, but it wasn’t my story to tell.”

Max held his hand out to Higgins.  “Thank you for saving my wife.  You have a place in our home for as long as you want it, whether you work here or not.”

Higgins smiled.  “Thank you, sir.”  He looked at Harriett.  “She’s the same age my daughter would have been, and I’ve looked at her as a daughter for a long time now.  I don’t like the idea of having to leave her.”

Max shook his head.  “That’s not going to happen.”

Harriett smiled at Higgins.  “Are you going back to watch the Andersons?”

Higgins shook his head.  “Not tonight.  I’ll go back there in the morning.  I hope to find a chance to talk to her tomorrow and become her friend.  I’ll have no way of influencing her to leave otherwise.”

Max raised a brow.  “Influencing her to leave?  You are going to encourage her to leave her husband?”

Higgins nodded.  “Mrs. Farmer has asked me to do what I can to get her out of there.  So that’s what I’ll do.”  He rubbed the back of his neck.  “I’ll check in with you tomorrow and let you know how things are going.”

Max and Harriett watched as Higgins left the room to go to his bed. 
Max looked down at her.  “I’m tired too.”

She nodded.  “It’s been a long day, and I have to start planning the party for our nieces tomorrow.”
  She grinned up at him happily, excited the talk was over and she would get to start planning the party the following day.

He groaned.  “Do you really have to have them all over?  Do you have any idea what you’re getting into?”

She took his hand and pulled him toward their bedroom.  “I’m so excited.  I can’t wait!”

He sighed.  “I can.”

Chapter Eight

Maxwell tiptoed around for the next two weeks, almost afraid to touch Harriett.  He still made love with her, but was very gentle, letting her know that her feelings were extremely important to him.  She wanted to scream at him that he didn’t need to treat her like a porcelain doll.  She was a woman and wouldn’t break.

She’d thought he would be able to see her strength when he heard her story, but instead, he wanted to protect her and cosset her.  It was enough to make a strong woman who had been independent for ten years scream with frustration.  How did he think she’d made it through all she’d been through with no one but Higgins?

The party for their nieces went extremely well.  Harriett found them a joy to be around, and was even able to get shy Daisy out of her shell some.   “It’s not that I don’t like you, Aunt Harriett,” Daisy said earnestly.  “It’s that I can never think of what to say to people I don’t know.”

Harriett nodded understandingly.  “Do you want to know a secret?”  She leaned close to the young girl, whispering softly.

Daisy nodded
with wide eyes.

“I was just as shy as you when I was your age.  At my coming out ball, I stood in the corner and giggled with my two closest girlfriends instead of dancing with boys until one came up to me and pulled me onto the dance floor with him.  I was afraid to even look at boys.”
 

“Really?”  Daisy looked excited and encouraged that Harriett had been shy as well. 

“Really.  And I’ll tell you something else.”  Harriett lowered her voice just a bit more to make what she was about to say seem even more special.

“What’s that?”

“There’s nothing in this world wrong with being shy.  You have people all around you every day, and they all talk without stopping.  You’re perfect just the way you are.”  Harriett smiled down at the girl, who was staring at her as if she were some kind of savior.  She felt it was important to make every young woman as confident in herself as possible.  Without confidence, it was too easy to become a victim of men like Arthur.  She never wanted to see one of her sweet nieces be a victim.

“You really think so?”  Daisy’s brown eyes studied her aunt carefully.

“I know so!”  Harriett wrapped her arms around the girl’s shoulders.  “But we should probably go make sure Iris hasn’t rescued every bug in my back garden.  I don’t want them crawling all over me.”  She shivered as the idea occurred to her.

Daisy giggled.  “She tried to fix a spider’s leg once,” she confided.

Harriett shook her head.  “They have seven other legs!  Missing one of them wouldn’t hurt a thing.”  But it did sound just like Iris to be worried about the one leg that was broken.

“That’s what Mama told her!”

The two of them walked through the house together, and Daisy stayed beside Harriett the entire time, recognizing the love in her aunt’s manner.

After the party, Max came out of his study where he’d hidden as soon as lunch was over
, refusing to be part of the chaos that was his family.  “So was the party a success?”

Harriett grinned.  “It certainly seemed to be.  Daisy and I are friends now.”
  She loved that she’d been able to break through his niece’s shy barrier.

Max smiled.  “Daisy’s always been my favorite, but don’t tell any of the others.”

“I thought they were all your favorites.”  She eyed Max as if waiting for him to change what he’d said.  He couldn’t really have just one favorite could he? 

He shook his head.  “Nope.  Just Daisy.  I love her gentle manner.  She’s going to be a wonderful mother someday.”  He turned to Harriett more fully.  “While you were serving cake and punch to the girls, I received a message from one of my other lumber camps.  There’s a problem with some of the workers, and I need to go there and take care of it.”

Harriett frowned.  “How long will you be gone?”  She didn’t like the idea of him leaving, which surprised her a bit.  She’d never thought she’d be one of those wives who wanted to be with their husband all the time.

“About
ten days.  I was hoping you’d go with me.”  He took her hand in his.  “We never took a wedding trip, and this would be part business, but it would be some time away together.”

Harriett didn’t even have to think about it.  Her parlor had been finished a week before, and she was again rattling around in the big house looking for things to do.  “When would we leave?”
  She loved the idea of going with him and spending some time away.

“Monday morning.  We’ll go to church tomorrow, and I’ll go speak with my foreman after church.  We’ll leave immediately after breakfast on Monday, and come back on
Thursday morning.”

Harriett’s face lit up with excitement.  She loved the idea of going with him, even if it was just for a business trip.  “I’d be happy to go!”

A deep voice was cleared at Harriett’s words.  “Go where?”

Harriett turned around to see Higgins frowning down at her.  “Oh, Higgins, I didn’t see you there!”
  She smiled at him, excited to be doing something with her husband.

“Where do you plan to go?”  The concern on Higgins’s face was the only thing that kept Max from punching him in the face for interfering.
  He understood that Higgins worried about Harriett, but she was his wife, and he wouldn’t let anyone hurt her.

“I have a lumber mill in Tacoma with some problems with some of the workers.  I need to go and sort things out, so I’ve invited Harriett to go along with me.”  Max explained, obviously annoyed that he was asked to explain where he was taking his wife.

Higgins frowned.  “I don’t like the idea of you going off without me, Mrs. Farmer.”

Harriett shook her head.  “I know you’re used to being the one to watch over me and take care of me, but I have Max now.  I’ll be fine.”
  She gripped Max’s upper arm, as if to show Higgins she would be fine with Max.

“I’d rather go along just to be sure.”

Max started to step forward, but Harriett held him back.  “I need you to stay here and watch over Mildred Anderson.  I’m very concerned something is about to happen to her.  When I met her I saw something on her face that worried me.”  She was trying to keep the peace, yes, but there really was something she worried about. 

Higgins sighed.  He had learned over the years to trust Harriett’s instincts where battered women were concerned, but his first
duty was to Harriett.  “If you think it’s best that I stay and watch over her, that’s what I’ll do.”  His eyes met Max’s.  “Take care of my girl.”

“You do know she’s my wife and not yours, right?”  Max regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth.  It was obvious by Harriett’s look she was not pleased with his question.  He closed his eyes.  “I’ll take care of her.”

“I realize she is your wife, but she’s been like a daughter to me for much longer than you’ve known she was alive.”  Higgins turned and took his hat off the hat tree standing in the corner of the entryway beside the front door.  “I’m sorry if you begrudge me the fatherly-love I feel for her.”  He opened the door and left the house, obviously off to watch over Mildred and her family some more.

“That was unnecessary,” Harriett said in a cold voice.  “I would think you’d be happy for the way he’s watched over me, not rude about it.”
  She couldn’t believe Max had been so rude to Higgins.

Max sighed.  “I am happy he watched over you, but when a daughter marries, her father has to step back and let the new husband do his job.  It’s time for Higgins to recognize that I’m your husband and it’s now my job to take care of you, not his.”

Harriett nodded shortly.  “If you had watched your daughter get pushed down a flight of stairs, seen her lying bleeding on the floor as blood gushed from her body, losing a baby she desperately wanted, and then worked with her every day for two years so she could regain the use of the leg mangled in her fall, do you really think you’d be able to let her go easily?”  She didn’t wait for an answer to her question but instead walked into her parlor and shut the door, sitting down with a book that she didn’t look at.

Max stood and watched her go, realizing that he was out of line on this one.  He needed to respect Harriett’s need to have Higgins in her life and Higgins’s need to watch over Harriett.  It was strange to him the bond that had formed without them being related by blood, but he had no right to complain about it.  He needed to step back and let things happen as they would.