home.”
Jackson hefted Ethan into his arms. “We won’t be long.”
“Just long enough for me to get my things and tell my cousin and his wife that I’ll be living on the island with all of you,” Ellie offered and held out her hand to her oldest stepson.
Instead, Daniel took his father’s hand, and Jackson offered her a look that suggested it might be a good while before she earned the boy’s trust.
Determined to wait this child out with sheer patience and love, Ellie started up the lane. By the time they turned at the corner and she saw the unique double-door entrance to the Emporium just a few yards ahead, her heart was pounding. Instinctively, she braced to a halt.
“Nervous?” her husband asked gently.
She moistened her lips, brushed at her skirts, and nodded. “I’m not quite sure how Mark or Olivia will take to our getting married,” she admitted, giving voice to her own fears for the first time.
“It’s my place to tell them,” he argued.
“They’re my relatives. I should tell them,” Ellie countered. Because it would be inappropriate for her to enter her cousin’s tailor shop, which Mark had been quick to point out to her when she made that mistake upon her arrival, she led her new family into the display room in the front of Olivia’s shop, where half a dozen winter capes had been artfully arranged to tempt the most discriminating shopper. On the far wall, a sideboard held books of pictures of the latest styles, along with samples of fabric, and several upholstered chairs offered ladies the opportunity to relax in comfort while they made their selections.
Before the bell over the door had stopped tinkling, Olivia emerged from behind a curtain that separated a pair of small fitting rooms from the main shop. At forty-seven, she was sixteen years older than Ellie, a good six inches shorter, and quite round at the hips, but she was still blessed with classic features and lustrous blond hair that made Ellie feel exceedingly plain just being in the same room with her.
“You’re back today. Already?” Olivia noted with disappointment as she stepped aside to let a customer pass by her.
Ellie did not know the woman who followed on Olivia’s heels, but the very last thing she wanted to do in front of anyone else was to share the news of her marriage to Jackson Smith with Olivia, especially when the woman was clearly irritated by her arrival.
Olivia smiled at her customer and nodded toward Jackson. “You know Mr. Smith, of course, but this is my husband’s cousin, Elvira Kilmer, whom I was telling you about,” she said without introducing Ellie, in turn, to the well-to-do woman, who was dressed in a rose-colored brushed linen gown that was far more elegant than Ellie would ever need to wear.
The woman smiled graciously at Ellie. “It’s wonderful to hear you’ve come to Harrisburg to live, especially since your cousin here has told me how kind you’ve been to volunteer to help Jackson with housekeeping and such. Spinsterhood does have its advantages now and again, I suppose,” she murmured before turning all of her attention to the man at Ellie’s side without giving Ellie a chance to respond. “How are you and these dear boys of yours really faring, Jackson?”
“We’re doing well, Christina. Thank you,” he replied, without offering the news that he had just remarried.
“I had a letter from Dorothea the other day,” she said and shook her head. “The poor dear is suffering so from the heat in Philadelphia. I wrote to advise her to return home for a visit, since we’re enjoying such a cool spell, but I doubt my sister will come. Her husband is very busy with his legal practice, and she’s far too devoted to him to leave the city without him.”
Ellie would have dismissed the familiarity between this woman and her new husband as nothing more than a conversation between old friends, until she saw his gaze harden and his back stiffen. “I wish her well, of course,” he
Jackson hefted Ethan into his arms. “We won’t be long.”
“Just long enough for me to get my things and tell my cousin and his wife that I’ll be living on the island with all of you,” Ellie offered and held out her hand to her oldest stepson.
Instead, Daniel took his father’s hand, and Jackson offered her a look that suggested it might be a good while before she earned the boy’s trust.
Determined to wait this child out with sheer patience and love, Ellie started up the lane. By the time they turned at the corner and she saw the unique double-door entrance to the Emporium just a few yards ahead, her heart was pounding. Instinctively, she braced to a halt.
“Nervous?” her husband asked gently.
She moistened her lips, brushed at her skirts, and nodded. “I’m not quite sure how Mark or Olivia will take to our getting married,” she admitted, giving voice to her own fears for the first time.
“It’s my place to tell them,” he argued.
“They’re my relatives. I should tell them,” Ellie countered. Because it would be inappropriate for her to enter her cousin’s tailor shop, which Mark had been quick to point out to her when she made that mistake upon her arrival, she led her new family into the display room in the front of Olivia’s shop, where half a dozen winter capes had been artfully arranged to tempt the most discriminating shopper. On the far wall, a sideboard held books of pictures of the latest styles, along with samples of fabric, and several upholstered chairs offered ladies the opportunity to relax in comfort while they made their selections.
Before the bell over the door had stopped tinkling, Olivia emerged from behind a curtain that separated a pair of small fitting rooms from the main shop. At forty-seven, she was sixteen years older than Ellie, a good six inches shorter, and quite round at the hips, but she was still blessed with classic features and lustrous blond hair that made Ellie feel exceedingly plain just being in the same room with her.
“You’re back today. Already?” Olivia noted with disappointment as she stepped aside to let a customer pass by her.
Ellie did not know the woman who followed on Olivia’s heels, but the very last thing she wanted to do in front of anyone else was to share the news of her marriage to Jackson Smith with Olivia, especially when the woman was clearly irritated by her arrival.
Olivia smiled at her customer and nodded toward Jackson. “You know Mr. Smith, of course, but this is my husband’s cousin, Elvira Kilmer, whom I was telling you about,” she said without introducing Ellie, in turn, to the well-to-do woman, who was dressed in a rose-colored brushed linen gown that was far more elegant than Ellie would ever need to wear.
The woman smiled graciously at Ellie. “It’s wonderful to hear you’ve come to Harrisburg to live, especially since your cousin here has told me how kind you’ve been to volunteer to help Jackson with housekeeping and such. Spinsterhood does have its advantages now and again, I suppose,” she murmured before turning all of her attention to the man at Ellie’s side without giving Ellie a chance to respond. “How are you and these dear boys of yours really faring, Jackson?”
“We’re doing well, Christina. Thank you,” he replied, without offering the news that he had just remarried.
“I had a letter from Dorothea the other day,” she said and shook her head. “The poor dear is suffering so from the heat in Philadelphia. I wrote to advise her to return home for a visit, since we’re enjoying such a cool spell, but I doubt my sister will come. Her husband is very busy with his legal practice, and she’s far too devoted to him to leave the city without him.”
Ellie would have dismissed the familiarity between this woman and her new husband as nothing more than a conversation between old friends, until she saw his gaze harden and his back stiffen. “I wish her well, of course,” he
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