“I don’t know if it’s wise for you to go.” Kenzie considered for a moment. “Arthur might feel like we’re ganging up on him.”
“Not at all,” Judith interjected. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for you to be at the hotel by yourself. We’ll sit apart from you, but we’ll be your chaperones.”
Kenzie nodded. “But what about Victoria?”
“At this point, I don’t care,” Judith replied. “She ventured out on her own earlier, so perhaps she’ll be content to remain here. Especially if we tell her we’ll be back soon.”
Camri nodded. “I agree. We’ll tell her that we’re just going down the street to see someone and we’ll be right back. I’ll take money for a cab to bring us home, and we can walk at a fast clip to get to the hotel. We won’t be gone long at all, and she won’t have time to cause too much trouble.” Camri headed for the stairs. “I’ll go get my purse.”
And with that, the matter was settled. Judith followed Camri upstairs to explain the situation to Victoria, and then both women joined Kenzie at the door. They took up their hats and gloves and made their way outside.
At the hotel, the clerk seemed more than a little surprised to have three women asking for Arthur Morgan. He grinned as if they’d just suggested he escort them to Arthur’s room. “I’m sure you realize, ladies, that it’s hardly appropriate—”
“We’re not here to entertain him in his room,” Kenzie interrupted. “Send him a message to meet me in the lobby. He will be quite angry if you fail to do so, I assure you.”
“Never seen a man have so many women come to visit him at a hotel,” the clerk said, shaking his head. “Even his sister was here.”
Kenzie couldn’t imagine that Arthur’s sister had come to San Francisco. She had been expecting a baby in January and surely wouldn’t travel with one so young. But Kenzie said nothing to challenge the clerk. She fixed him with a scowl. “I don’t care who else has come to see him. Get upstairs and give him my message. Tell him Miss Gifford awaits his company in the lobby, but will only wait three minutes.”
The clerk considered this for only a moment, then nodded. He called to a bellboy and whispered something in his ear. The boy scurried up the main staircase without a word.
“There you are, ladies. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve other things to tend to.” He smiled again at Kenzie. “I must say that red hair of yours does your temperament justice.”
Kenzie rolled her eyes and turned to survey the lobby. “Over there,” she said, motioning Camri and Judith to a quiet corner of the room. “You two can sit there, while Arthur and I sit in the little alcove.”
They quickly took their places before someone else managed to claim the seats for themselves. The lobby was bustling, but given the hotel had a restaurant and ballroom, it wasn’t surprising to find the place filling up with evening visitors.
Arthur appeared in less than two minutes. He was breathless and still buttoning up his coat, but he looked delighted. Kenzie had known that if he were in the hotel, he wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to see her.
“I knew you would come to me.” The look on his face was elated. He figured he’d won, and his smug greeting irritated Kenzie.
He tried to take hold of her, but Kenzie waved him off. “Please sit. We wouldn’t want to cause a scene.” She waited for him to pull up a chair.
“I’m so happy you’ve come,” He perched on the edge of his seat. “I hope you’ve come to give me the answer I long to hear.”
“I’m here to discuss it, yes.”
“What’s to discuss? I will take you from here right now. We’ll go be married. I have all the proper papers.”
She held up a gloved hand. “No. First things first. I won’t do anything until I have a chance to speak to Micah.”
“But why, my dear?” He leaned forward and reached for her hand. “He’s no longer important to us.”
Kenzie allowed him to take her hand, but she could see from the look on Camri’s face that she was just as unhappy about it as Kenzie was.
“Perhaps he’s not important, but what I want to say to him is. I never settled matters with you, Arthur. You and I parted without any explanation or farewells between us. It nearly killed me. I suffered terribly this last year.”
“I know, but I’ve already explained that it wasn’t my desire to hurt you. It wasn’t my fault.”
“No. Of course it wasn’t. But if I had sought you out and spoken my heart on the matter, we would never have been parted. Isn’t that true?”
“And if you speak your mind to Dr. Fisher, you think you’ll change his mind?”
Kenzie drew from her limited skills to appear completely shocked. “Of course not! Why would I want that man to change his mind? He threw me over for a hospital, of all things. Another woman would have been bad enough—but a building?” She was pleased by how indignant she sounded.
Arthur relaxed and chuckled. “So you wish to reprimand the greedy doctor. How perfect.” He paused, and his demeanor changed. “Still, I don’t, ah, know that I can reach him. He did promise me that he wouldn’t see you.”
“Oh, Arthur, I’ve never known any challenge to be too great for you. Goodness, but you even convinced me to come here.” She smiled and patted his hand when she really wanted to slap his face. “I’ve no doubt you’ll be able to find him. I want to tell him exactly what I think of him. After that, we can be married.”
