Andthatwas precisely the kind of thinking she needed distraction from.
When she peered into the dining room, she was pleased to find a game of cards in full swing. Settling herself down next to one of the younger girls, she waited for them to finish the round.
A minute passed. Then two. Then five. Ten minutes, and Charlotte found herself twisting her hands together in her lap, all of those terrible scenarios running again through her mind.
“I’ll be right back,” she said as she rose. “I just need to get some air.”
The girl dealing the cards nodded. “You can rejoin us in the next round.”
Charlotte nodded gratefully. She’d get air, clear her mind again, and then lose herself in the game.
Outside, the wind blew strongly enough to ruffle her skirts and send wayward sticks of straw dancing across the board sidewalk. Charlotte drew in a breath, letting it fill her and slow her heart as she closed her eyes.
He would be just fine.
He’ll return at any moment.
She felt much better when she opened her eyes again, and she could even smile as she pictured the owner of the boarding house discovering the door unlocked and Charlotte standing outside like a wild woman in the wind.
Heart beating normally again, Charlotte turned to go inside when a voice stopped her still.
“Charlotte?”
She turned, and there, at the foot of the steps down to the sidewalk, stood Ruby.
It was so unexpected that Charlotte didn’t know whether to laugh or cry out in concern. But her friend from Baltimore smiled at her, and before Charlotte knew it, she’d rushed forward to embrace her.
Ruby looked a fright, her pretty blonde hair a mess of tangles and her skirts torn and stained, even in the dim lamplight shining through the windows from the boarding house.
“Are you all right?” Charlotte asked. “I received a note, and I thought it might be you.”
Ruby’s eyes darted to the left and the right, as if she expected to see someone standing there and listening to their conversation. Finally, they landed on Charlotte again as she clasped her hands in front of her.
“That was me,” she said with a nervous lick of her lips. “But I didn’t see you there so I thought I might come here instead.”
Why didn’t she ask Mark or the sheriff for help? They ought to have been at the church by now. But as Charlotte appraised her friend’s skittish appearance again, she wondered if Ruby hadn’t been too afraid to talk to anyone except Charlotte. After all, she didn’t know Mark or the sheriff.
But she knew Charlotte.
Charlotte reached for her friend’s hand. She wore no gloves, and her fingers were chilled, even on such a warm night. “Tell me, Ruby, what’s happened? How can I help you?”
Ruby looked down, as if she were thinking, before raising those nervous eyes up to Charlotte again. “Please, I need you to come with me.”
“To where? Should we get the sheriff first?”
“No, no, please.” Ruby shook her head so quickly that her hair bobbed with the motion. She wore no hat either, which was particularly odd. Ruby had always been one so careful with her appearance, much more so than Charlotte herself. “We mustn’t involve the law.Please.”
Charlotte’s heart sat uneasy in her chest. What was so terrible that Ruby would refuse the help of the sheriff?
“Does this have something to do with the restaurant? I’m certain Sheriff Young would—”
“No . . . Yes. Perhaps a bit. You’ll understand when you see. Please come with me?” The pleading in Ruby’s voice had reached a level of desperation.
Charlotte’s teeth worried her bottom lip as she looked back at the boarding house door. Mark had asked her to remain here. If he returned, and she’d gone, what would he think? Yet she could hardly walk inside and inform the other girls she was headed out to help a friend who might very well be wanted by the law. And if she simply told them she was going for a stroll, they’d likely think she’d lost her mind and insist she remain put.
Looking back at Ruby’s face—were those tear stains tracing lines down her dirty cheeks?—Charlotte made up her mind.
Ruby was clearly desperate for her help, and Charlotte was not the sort to leave friends without aid when they most needed it. She would go with Ruby, find out what was the matter, and then return quickly to the boarding house—hopefully before Mark arrived.
