We were ushered to a green velvet two-seater positioned against another wood-carved backdrop—this time lattice and Buddhas and suns and moons, and I don’t know what else, were all carved into the mahogany sculpture. I tried to compose myself and not appear so struck by the opulent decor.
“Ah, here he comes, our generous host.” I unglued my eyes from my surroundings and turned to see the man walking toward us from the other side of the train car. “Miss Olive, and Miss Ruthie,” they continued, “please meet Mr. Archibald Carmichael.”
“Archie?” I said, shocked, though my face mustn’t have revealed it because he smiled broadly, as if he couldn’t be happier to see me.
“I was wondering when you’d look up and recognize me. It’s so lovely to see you again.”
“What areyoudoing here?” I said abruptly, then took a deep breath. I refused to let him see that he’d hurt me. “This is so unexpected!” I gestured to the luxurious car.
“It’s quite a place, isn’t it?”
Ruthie was looking at me nervously, her eyes pleading with me to keep my calm, and the gents who’d invited us seemed even more perplexed.
“So, you two know each other, it appears,” one said, trying to look cheerful, though more likely regretful that he hadn’t set his eyes on another dancer back in car number seven.
“Yes,” I said. “We’ve met. Back in the city.”
“I’m so glad you’re here, Olive,” he said, taking my hands in his. “Traveling to the mountains, I presume?”
I pulled my hands away, momentarily stunned; I couldn’t think where I was going. It was rare for me to lose my tongue or be flustered like this, but seeing him again had thrown me completely off balance.
“We’re going to the Adirondacks,” Ruthie jumped in. “We’ve been invited to perform at a few of the Great Camps—CampSagamore, Camp Uncas, Camp Santanoni,” Ruthie said with a flourish. “We’re starting off at the Pines.”
“Yes, the Pines Camp,” Archie said, looking pleased with himself. “That’s where I’m staying, with Anne.”
Anne? The audacity!
“What a treat for you,” I said. “Well, I suppose we’ll see you there.” I turned to head back to our car. “Thanks for showing us around, fellas. We should get back to our friends, they’ll be needing us for the finale.” I tried to laugh.
“Won’t you stay?” Archie reached for my hand again, but I pulled it away, more abruptly this time.
“Why, yes.” Ruthie stared at me. “We’d be honored to keep you company for a while.”
I glared at her, furious that she wasn’t catching on to my desire to leave. Reluctantly, for Ruthie’s sake only, I took a seat.
“Say, do you gents have any more of those martinis lying around?” Ruthie asked.
“Sure thing, there’s a stocked bar back this way,” one of them said, pointing, and Ruthie walked off arm in arm with both of them toward the other end of the car, leaving me sitting on the green velvet, where Archie joined me.
A tall, slim man in a black suit appeared immediately at our side and brought a small table to us, placed a white napkin on top and asked what we’d like to drink.
“A coffee, please,” I said, wanting to keep my wits about me.
“I’ll have the same,” Archie said, “with a shot of brandy.”
When the man left, Archie turned to me and smiled, but I lookedout the window. I didn’t know what to do. The way he was behaving, his gentle demeanor—relaxed and seemingly happy to see me again—suggested that he didn’t know that I knew about his engagement. Should I even give him the satisfaction of knowing the reason for my coldness? He thought he’d got away with having a fiancée in one state and a show girl in another. But now that we were going to be at the same camp, all would be revealed, and he didn’t even seem to care.
“So, you own all this?” I asked.
“Yes, for almost a year. It required a bit of work, but I think it’s looking pretty smart now, and it’s running smoothly too.”
“How do you end up owning a train?” I said with disdain. He didn’t seem to notice.
“Not the whole train, just the train car—they hook it up to the back of the commercial trains and take us wherever they’re going. We can switch tracks and hook onto other trains at various points along the way, so we can get places faster. It’s more direct and it’s a much more comfortable ride. I use it to go back and forth to Cincinnati quite a bit, but this is only my second time taking it to the Adirondacks.”
“Oh.” I attempted to sound disinterested.
“Olive, I’m sure you’ve been busy, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” he said. “Ever since our dinner.”
