“I know. And I understand why. But you don’t have to worry about anyone else. I promise. I’m awake now. To everything.” I lean forward and press a chaste kiss to his lips. While I want to linger longer, want to drive far, far away from here and spend the day in his arms, it’s time to put this last remnant of my past to rest, so the future will be fully ours.
Blanche isn’t at all what I expect. She’s small, diminutive. Shy. Pretty in a way that doesn’t threaten, just like me. She lifts her coffee cup to her lips, and I see her wrist shake with nervousness. She’s the only other customer here, and I’m relieved for the both of us. Still, she glances around the café furtively as I approach, as if she’s worried someone has followed her. “Thank you for coming to meet me, Miss Halloran,” she says by way of greeting. “I didn’t know what to expect.”
“Nor I,” I say. “I’ve been a ball of nerves. This is all a bit strange, isn’t it?”
She smiles. “Yes.”
“I’ve been wondering how you found me.”
“I hope this won’t be too upsetting, but I hired a private investigator. He followed you for weeks in Kansas City, then followed you here, on the train. That’s how I found out where your aunt lived.”
I vaguely remember the stranger on the train, the one I bumped into at the station and then saw again in the dining car. It must have been him. “But why go to such great lengths if you already knew Ted was having an affair with me?”
“I needed proof. About the affair ... and Ted’s illegal dealings, although my investigator reassured me that you were innocent in all that.”
“Illegal dealings?”
Blanche’s small hands grip the edge of the table. “Didn’t you ever wonder where all his money came from, Miss Halloran?”
“I assumed it was from his businesses.”
“Yes. His businesses.” Blanche’s lips tighten. She lowers her voice to a whisper. “Do you know what cocaine is?”
“Yes ... I’m aware of what it is.”
“Well,” she says, “that’s where Ted’s money comes from. He runs it all over the country, along with liquor and hashish. He’s in thick with the mob, which is why I’m so nervous. I’m working with a federal marshal. But it’s taking more time than I’d hoped to get Ted arrested. I’m very afraid of him and I’m growing more desperate.”
I sit back in my chair, stunned. I had my suspicions about the bootlegging, given Ted’s encyclopedic knowledge of spirits, but drugs? “I had no idea.”
“Well. He fooled the both of us, didn’t he?” She laughs and shakes her head. “Ted and I were both schoolteachers when we first met. Did you know that?”
“No. But he was always cagey about his life. Now I see why. And this new girl? Who is she?”
“Oh, there are several girls, dear. There always have been. You were never the only one.” Blanche smiles sadly. “I’m sorry if you thought you were.”
I sigh, not the least surprised. “How can I help?”
She reaches into her pocketbook and draws out a piece of pink paper. “If you’ll read this affidavit and go with me to a notary to sign it, I need it to file for divorce. As concrete proof of Ted’s adultery. After the divorce is granted, I plan on taking the children and getting as far away from Missouri as possible.”
I read over the document quickly, then together, we walk to the post office, where I sign the affidavit and the clerk notarizes it with his seal. I’m not worried one iota about what having such a confession on record will do to my reputation. It feels good to come clean. To behonest about my past. I’m starting over, and so is Blanche. We’re more alike than I ever could have imagined.
“Thank you so much, Miss Halloran,” Blanche says, hastily stowing the affidavit in her pocketbook, her eyes brimming with tears. “I only want my life back. To live with my children and be free. I never asked for any of this.”
“I understand,” I say, reaching out. She gives me her hand, and I squeeze it gently. “I have something for you. Something that may help you and the children.”
I pull Ted’s ring from my pocket and offer it to her. Her eyes widen at the sight. “Oh my.”
“I’m so sorry for all the grief I’ve caused you,” I say. “I should have never ... I should have known better. I wasn’t raised that way, Mrs. Fitzsimmons.”
“We all make mistakes, Miss Halloran,” she says, her tone gentle as she takes the ring. “What matters most is what we learn from them.”
I watch her walk away, brisk little thing, and think about how strong we women truly are. How strong we have to be, in this man’s world.
Chapter 24
September 18, 1925
The morning after my meeting with Blanche, I find Marguerite’s bed empty, covers knotted and twisted, as if she wrestled someone—or something—in her sleep. Thunder crashes, shaking the house. The light patter of rain that began late last night has become a deluge, water sheeting sideways against the clapboards, the sky an ominous shade of green. I frantically search the rooms upstairs and down for Marguerite as the lights flicker, threatening to plunge the house into darkness.
