Miss Pelton stopped him with a hand to his sleeve.“Be gentle with her but don’t give up.She’s a hard one to get to know, but I think it’s because she fearsbeingknown.She had a harrowing childhood.”
“Harrowing?”
“It’s not my story to tell, but it explains her reticence.Now I had better catch up before she successfully evades lunch.”Miss Pelton called to her fiancé over her shoulder as she shot forward.“Nora and I will meet you there.”
Detective Hall strolled to Ezekiel’s side with hands in his pocket and a half-cocked smile.“A word of advice: soda mint tablets.If you intend to pursue Nora, you’ll need them.She and her friends will constantly give you indigestion.”
Ezekiel laughed.“Then I’ll be sure to pick up several bottles during my break tomorrow.”
Chapter Sixteen
LUNCH ATDETECTIVEHALL’S PROVED...interesting.His parents and siblings generously took their meal elsewhere, giving Detective Hall privacy to interrogate Ezekiel over fried pork steaks, potatoes, and gravy.Miss Davis maintained her expressionless mask like a gambler throwing everything she had left into the pot.Too bad for her, Ezekiel planned on winning that pot and had an unexpected ace up his sleeve in the form of Miss Pelton.She worked his every answer to Detective Hall’s questions to Ezekiel’s benefit—even if said answer was far from one that met the detective’s approval.
“With a schedule such as yours, is it even fair to pursue a woman?”Detective Hall questioned.“Especially Nora.She spends enough time alone as it is.”
“You make me sound like a lonely hermit, Abraham.”Miss Davis glowered at him over her empty plate.“I’m rarely alone.I have Lily during the day and Father during the evening.”
Miss Pelton laid her napkin on her plate.“I don’t see the problem.Women are usually attending to house duties alone while their husbands are at work.At least until children arrive.”Her cheeks pinked as she regarded her intended from across the table.Obviously she had her own future in mind, but the argument did help Ezekiel’s case.
However, Detective Hall wouldn’t allow it to stand.“Be that as it may, Mr.Beaumont’s job requires him to be gone both mornings and evenings until late.That is no life for any wife.”
“Who says I want to be his wife?”Miss Davis objected.
“Thatisthe man’s eventual intention.”
“If we suit,” Ezekiel corrected.“Just because two people court doesn’t mean they’ll marry.To be clear, I’m not opposed to the idea, but I’m also not willing to put that sort of pressure on a new relationship.”
“We don’t have a relationship.”She clattered two knitting needles onto the table and reached into her bag hanging over the chair’s back.
“Not yet, Donna Anna.”Her annoyed countenance was everything he’d hoped for.
“I will stop calling you Don Giovanni ifyoustop calling me Donna Anna.”She continued to dig in her bag.
“I suppose I’ll have to grow accustomed to Don Giovanni, then.”
A brown ball of yarn thwapped against the table next to the needles.
Miss Pelton laughed.“You can’t start knitting socks at the supper table because you’re annoyed with the man.”
“It’s better than my stabbing him with the needles.”Judging by the way she picked them up and glared at Ezekiel, she believed the opposite.
Detective Hall cleared his throat.“No one is getting stabbed, and there is no need to knit.”He looked pointedly at Miss Davis, but those needles stayed in her grip.“We’re finished with our meal, which leaves us with two questions.Are we splitting directions from here?Or, Nora, do you trust him enough to go to your house and examine that repair you mentioned?”
Miss Davis took her time in putting away her knitting supplies, and even after she finished, she stared at Ezekiel in stony silence.Miss Pelton and the detective sat quietly, giving room for her to make the decision.
Ezekiel waited too as the woman who had the power to stall his plans or encourage them hid her thoughts.The more time passed, the more difficult it became not to speak.He fidgeted in hopes of keeping his tongue in check, but at last he could do it no longer.“Please, MissDavis.I promise my intentions aren’t completely self-serving.I truly do want to—”
“Stop.That’s enough.I merely wondered how long you could withstand the silence.”Her victorious smirk knocked the rest of what he planned to say from memory.
“You were testing me?”
She shrugged.“Abraham says silence is an effective interrogation tool, and I already know you can’t be silent.So, yes.I was testing you.”
Beside him, Detective Hall laughed outright.“He wouldn’t last two minutes in an interrogation room with me.He’d be confessing every crime down to the time he stole a cookie from the cookie jar.”
“Har.Har.Har.Feel free to laugh at my expense until I go broke.”Ezekiel feigned indignation, but it was a relief to know she was comfortable enough to instigate some good-natured ribbing.“I can, however, honestly say I have never stolen a cookie from the cookie jar.They never made it that far.”
Miss Pelton joined in the merriment.“We best not allow you anywhere near my molasses cookies.I’m certain Theresa and Flossie would fight you to the death.”
