Nick rose from the bed and went to choose his clothing for the day. He debated wearing his suit and finally decided against it. They’d be late arrivals to the main meeting and would be traveling around the city before then. He didn’t look forward to breathing the dirty air. He already missed the freezing but clean winds of Wyoming.
Would Frances ever speak to him again?
Drat it all. He should have kept his mouth shut until it was time for the annulment. Was she thinking he’d broken their contract? He groaned.
Now he’d had a taste of what it might be like to be married to Frances, could he go back to the way things had been before? What was the alternative? Going back to Texas and never seeing her again? At the moment, that seemed a worse alternative. Now wasn’t the time to make any final decisions.
Nick stood waiting by the bathroom door when she came out. She refused to meet his gaze, so he didn’t try to push a conversation she obviously didn’t want to have. As he bathed and dressed, he decided to pretend he hadn’t said anything. Perhaps if he acted as normally as he could—as though he’d kept his mouth shut—she’d start treating him the way she had before all of this.
“Do you remember where your father’s other bank is located?” Nick asked, as he stepped out of the bathroom.
“It’s called the Celtic Savings and Loan and isn’t all that far from his main bank.” She was pulling on one of her boots and still hadn’t looked at Nick, but at least she was talking to him again. “It being a savings and loan and not a bank is what got my attention.”
“Did you happen to notice if your father kept any funds there?”
“There wasn’t a lot.” Frances stood and finally looked at him. “It seemed like it was a fairly new account. At the time, I didn’t think much of it besides wondering why he’d decided to do business with someone else.”
“Shall we see if the others are down to breakfast yet?” Nick held out his hand for her as he had every morning since their engagement. Frances hesitated a moment but took it. He allowed himself to breathe.Thank you, Lord.
Charles and Maude were the only ones in the dining room when they got there, but the others soon arrived. It appeared Charles said something to the others because everyone seemed to know Nick and Frances would join them at the Indiana National Bank once they’d searched out the savings and loan.
As they rode one of the streetcars, Frances remained quiet. He didn’t intrude on her thoughts. They turned onto a circular drive.
“Wow,” he breathed, staring at a tall structure in the middle.
“That’s the Soldiers and Sailors Monument,” she said. “They dedicated it in 1902, and it’s a memorial to remember the Hoosiers who’ve served in wars. I wanted to go for the event, but Father didn’t want to deal with the crowds, so we waited a few weeks. Maude and Doris refused to go up the stairs to the observation tower.”
“But you did,” Nick said with a smile.
“Of course, I did.” Frances grinned back at him, and his heart seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. She said, “There’s an elevator which helps, but you still have to climb the thirty-seven exterior steps and then the forty-nine inside to reach the observatory. I counted them.”
She tugged on the bell, and the horse-drawn streetcar came to a stop. Frances, who’d insisted on sitting on the aisle seat of their bench, jumped up and was moving before Nick could offer her his arm. He followed her out to the sidewalk. She scanned the numbers on the building, seemingly oblivious to the people staring at her split skirts.
“There it is.” She pointed to a building.
Rather than be left behind again, Nick took her hand and strode toward it. They must have looked lost as they scanned the lobby because a gentleman in a suit approached them.
“How can I assist you?” The man, who spoke with only the hint of an Irish brogue, addressed his question to Nick.
“It’s my wife’s business,” he said.
“My father, who died last year, had an account here. I’ve been led to believe he might have kept a safe deposit box.” Frances pulled the key from her pocket and held it for the man to see.
“Ah, yes. I remember this case.” The man pinned her with a stern gaze. “Which would you be?”
“I’m Frances, the youngest,” she said without hesitation. “Did he leave any other questions that need to be answered?”
“Yes,” the man said, “but I will need to pull the file. We’ve already had one person demand information on the account, but he couldn’t answer your father’s questions. This way.”
“Do you think it was your uncle or one of his flunkies?” Nick whispered as they followed the man.
“Uncle because I doubt he’d have trusted anyone else.”
“Good point.”
The man led them to a small office and indicated two chairs on the other side of his desk. “May I have someone bring you something to drink?”
“We’re fine.” Frances sat in one of the chairs, so Nick took the other.
