Read Amaryllis (Suitors of Seattle) Online

Authors: Kirsten Osbourne

Amaryllis (Suitors of Seattle) (10 page)

Since he was still working, she decided to surprise him by making the pancakes his mother had taught her to make.  She carefully measured the ingredients and heated up the pan.  Her hands were sweating as she worked, because she was certain she’d mess up the meal, and she so badly wanted the first meal she made for Alex to be perfect.

When she’d made enough to feed them both, she left them on a plate to warm and sank onto the bed to read while she waited for him.  He took his time with his client, which she knew was good for his business.

When he finally came in the door, he sighed happily.  “I have five paying clients now, and one pro bono.”  He slipped off his jacket and tie and rolled up his sleeves turning to the stove when he noticed the pancakes waiting for him.  “You cooked?”  He turned to her with a pleased smile.  “Thank you!”

She laughed.  “Don’t thank me until you’ve tasted them.  They might be terrible.  It’s the first time I’ve ever made them.  Your mother showed me how on Sunday.”

“I’m sure they’ll be wonderful.”

“You sit down
, and I’ll serve us both.  Can you tell me about your client?”

He shook his head.  “I can’t.  I have to keep everything confidential.”  He rubbed the back of his neck while she put the plate in front of him.  “I’m really glad that I’m getting some work, though.  I worried that it
would take me a long time with another lawyer already practicing here.”

She took the seat across from him and poured a small amount of syrup onto her pancakes.  “But the other lawyer in town charge
s so much.  He only has a few clients, because he won’t take anyone on who won’t pay him a fortune.”

“I know.  All of my clients so far are average men who make an average wage.”  He shrugged as he ate his first bite of pancake.  “This is really good!”

She smiled and tried a bite herself.  They weren’t as fluffy as she was used to, but they were definitely edible.  “Hey, they aren’t bad.”

“I’m impressed.”  He took a sip of the coffee she’d made before adding, “I like that my clients are ‘normal’ people.  I think everyone deserves a fair shake with the law, and this town has needed a lawyer for the average man for a long time.”

“You’re right about that.”  She reached out and squeezed his hand.  “You’re exactly what this town needs.”

He spent some of the evening on paperwork for one of his cases, and she spent her time reading.  She was pleased that they were finally able to be in the same room without arguing again.  She watched him work at their little table for a minute, wondering if he ever planned to tell her about killing his father.  She felt that it was the only thing keeping them from having a good marriage.

He felt her watching him and looked up at her.  “Everything all right?” he asked.

She nodded.  “I just like watching you sometimes.”  She looked back down at her book, embarrassed to have admitted that.

He smiled, feeling for the first time like their marriage could actually work.

Chapter Eight

 

 

Alex had just shown another new client to the door the following day when he saw a man coming down the street with a big sign tucked under one arm.  He stopped in front of his office and started to hang it.  Alex walked around, a frown on his face as he looked at the sign, which said, “Alex Anderson, Attorney at Law.”

The sign was huge and well-made.  It was just what he’d planned to buy for himself as soon as he’d saved enough money to do it.  He watched for another moment while the man finished hanging it, before walking
up to him.  “Who bought this?”

The man shrugged.  “Didn’t give her name.  Pretty little blonde with spectacles.”  He glanced over at Alex.  “Looks good, don’t it?”

Alex nodded, as the rage slowly built inside him.  “It does.  Thank you for your hard work.”  He stared at it for another moment, thrilled to see the sign there, but feeling a burning need to say something to his young wife about it.  “Did she already pay you?”

“Wouldn’t have made it if she hadn’t.  Enjoy.”  The man walked away down the street, unknowing of the anger building in Alex.

Alex went inside and checked his schedule.  Two hours before anyone else was set to come.  He locked the door and walked toward the library, his anger building with each slow step he took.

When he reached the library, he opened the door and walked to the front desk, finding Amaryllis sitting behind it doing paperwork.  He didn’t see anyone else in his cursory glance around, so he said exactly what was on his mind.  “Did you by chance buy me something?”

Amaryllis’s eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands together.  “Is it finished?  Did he hang it?  How does it look?”  She couldn’t believe it was already done and was excited to see it when she got home from work that evening.

Alex placed his palms on her desk and leaned his weight on them so he was closer to her eye-level.  “I asked you not to spend any money on me.  I told you that I would support us.  What the hell were you thinking?”  He was yelling by the time he got to his question.

She stared at him, having a hard time believing he was that angry over her gift.  “I thought you’d like it.  I thought it would help your business!”

“You betrayed me!  You knew it was something I was completely against, and you did it anyway!  What makes you think that was all right with me?”  His voice carried through the building, and he just didn’t care.  Amaryllis needed to listen to him for a change.

“Keep your voice down!  This is a library,” she hissed at him.

“I will not keep my voice down!  Do not
ever
go against me like this again.  I will support us.  Your money is for you!”  He turned and left the library as quickly as he’d come, standing outside the door with his fists clenched.  He couldn’t return the sign, because it had been custom-made for him.  He’d have to keep it and have a constant reminder that his wife didn’t listen to a word he said. 

As he walked home, he was still bristling with anger.  What really had the woman been thinking to do that to him?

Amaryllis put her head in her hands, glad she was alone in the library.  As soon as Alex left, all the wind left her sails.  She felt the tears leaking from her eyes.  How could he yell at her for giving him a wedding gift?  Yes, she’d deliberately gone against him and found a way to help him, but couldn’t he see it was her right to give him something? 

She looked up at the sound of footsteps, her eyes going to Lawrence’s face.  “I forgot you were here,” she said, as she hastily brushed the tears from her face. 

“You have every right to buy things that will help his business.  You have every right to buy whatever you want to buy.  You work hard and your money is important.”  He didn’t say another word as he left the building. 

Amaryllis stared after him, hoping he wasn’t going to try to follow Alex anywhere.  She
didn’t need the two of them to break out in a fight. 

Alex got home and slammed the door to his office.  The fact that she’d had the sign made exactly as he would have wanted made matters even worse as far as he was concerned.  What was wrong with the woman?

He went to the apartment and started a chicken stewing for their supper, still shaking with anger over her defiance.

 

*****

 

Amaryllis worked methodically for the rest of the day.  She was pleased that only one of two people came into the building needing help finding books.  Every time she opened her mouth she was afraid she’d yell at whoever was in front of her, but she knew she couldn’t take her anger on Alex out on anyone else.  No, she wanted that anger to build, so when she saw him, she could give him a piece of her mind he’d never forget.

When she locked the library and headed home, she was still seething with anger.  She stopped and looked at the sign before walking around to the back door so she wouldn’t disturb Alex if he was with a client.  Even in her anger, she knew not to disturb his work place.  It was too bad he didn’t afford her the same consideration.

She saw he wasn’t there, but smelled the chicken in the pot and sank down onto the bed.  Instead of reading as she usually would, she picked up a piece of paper and a pencil, and made a list of the reasons he infuriated her. 

1.
      
He wouldn’t let her use her money.

2.
     
He refused to trust her.

3.
     
He had gotten angry when she didn’t trust him, when she had evidence   not to.

4.
    
He’d acted like a deranged imbecile in the library.

She had the end of the pencil in her mouth thinking about what she would put as number five when he walked into the apartment, the anger still palpable between them.  She put the
pencil and paper down and stood up to go face him.  He needed to understand that she would not back down.  She had a right to her own opinions and emotion, and if he was going to show up at her place of business and yell at her during the day, he’d better expect her to return the favor at night.

She moved to mere inches in front of him, cranked her head back and gave him her opinion.  “You had no right to come to the library today and yell at me.  What were you thinking?  That’s my place of work!  You could have cost me my job!”

“There was no one there!”

She started shaking in her anger.  She couldn’t help it.  She wanted to kick him and call him every name in the book.  “There was someone there, but it doesn’t matter if there was or not!  You don’t have a right to come to my work place and yell at me!”  She poked him in the chest to emphasize her opinion.  “Do you want to know why I ‘defied’ you and bought you the sign?  Do you really want to know?”

“Because you don’t think I’ll ever make enough money to be able to buy it for myself?”

She closed her eyes to try to control her temper.  She wanted nothing more than to stomp on his foot, and she had a feeling he wouldn’t appreciate that at the moment.  “No, I did it because I wanted to give you a wedding present.  Do you remember getting married on Saturday?  Well, I do, and I realized I hadn’t given you anything to celebrate the day except a lot of grief over not wanting to marry you.  I thought giving you a gift would show you that I’m happy to be your wife and I’m willing to work through any issues so we could be happy!”  The word happy was shouted at the top of her lungs.  “Don’t you feel happy now?”  She turned away from him and walked over beside the bed facing the wall, so frustrated she knew she shouldn’t say another word or keep looking at him.

He stood staring at her in shock.  “A wedding gift?  You really meant it to be a wedding gift?”

“Why is that so hard to believe?”  The tears were back in her eyes.  Whether they were tears of anger or frustration, she was uncertain, but she dashed them away with her fingers as she turned to face him.  “
Can you even remember how it used to be between us, Alex?  We used to live for the moments we could be together, and we’d sit and hold hands and just be thrilled to sit and talk and listen to each other.  I want us to be like that again.”  Her voice was barely a whisper as she said the last of the words.

He stared at her, realizing she was right.  What had come over them to make them bicker so much?  They both wanted happiness, and here they were, doing nothing but screaming at each other.  He crossed the room quickly and pulled her into his arms, dropping to rest his chin atop her head.  “You’re right.  I’m so sorry, Rilly.”

Her shoulders were shaking by this point.  She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck, but said nothing.

“I’m sorry that I got angry over the sign.  I’m sorry that I went to the library and yelled at you.  I’m sorry that we’re fighting so much.”  He kissed the top of her head.  “I’m sorry that I don’t treat you like I used to.”  He sighed.  “Thank you for my wedding present.  It’s exactly what I had in mind to buy as soon as I had saved enough money.  Now I don’t have to worry about it.”

She sniffled and pulled away from him, looking up into his face.  “You really like it?”

“I love it.  It’s perfect.  I had two new clients walk in off the street today when they saw it.  It’s already helping my business.”

“I’m glad.”

He walked to the edge of the bed and sat down, pulling her down beside him.  “When I was growing up, my father found something new to be angry at my mother about every day.  I’ve always promised myself that I wouldn’t be like him.  I would make sure that I only expressed anger with words, but that I would also make sure to look for the best in my wife, instead of deliberately seeking out the bad.  I’m going to try harder to do that.  I need to look at the things you do and be thankful for them, not get angry because I don’t want you to do them.”

Her eyes met his.  “Thank you.”  It was the closest he’d ever come to telling her that his father had beaten his mother.  She’d known that there had been problems for years.  She waited for him to tell her the rest, but he didn’t. 

He stroked her hair away from her face where it had fallen from her usually neat bun.  “Are you getting hungry?  I made a nice thick chicken stew.  It’s starting to get cold outside and I thought it would be good.”

She stood up, walking toward the stove, knowing then the moment was lost.  He wouldn’t tell her about what had happened tonight.  Maybe he’d learn to trust her soon.  “That sounds good.”  She took down bowls and served him one, before remembering the list she’d made in anger.  She rushed to the bed and tore it up, hoping he wouldn’t ask what it was.

Luck was not with her.  “What was that?” he asked.

She shrugged, sitting across from him and taking her first bite of the stew.  “This is really good.”

He watched her, raising an eyebrow.  “What was that, Rilly?”

“I made a list of all the reasons you make me crazy.”  She stared down into her stew and waited for his anger.

He laughed.  “Are you serious?  You actually listed the reasons?  How many were there?”

She sighed, her eyes meeting his.  “I got to four before you came in.  I’m sure it would have been much longer if I’d had a little more time.”

He laughed even harder.  “And that’s why I love you so very much.  You don’t pull punches
, and you tell me what you think.  Do you have any idea just how wonderful you are?”

She laughed.  “My sisters have let me know exactly what I should think of myself, I assure you.”

He took her hand in his.  “They weren’t seeing you through my eyes.” 

 

*****

 

After supper the following evening, her sister, Daisy came to the house with a big smile.  “Aunt Harriett just had the baby.  It’s a girl!”

Amaryllis squealed.  “A girl?  That’s wonderful!  What did they name her?”

“Florence Mary.  Isn’t that lovely?”

Amaryllis smiled.  “It’s better than another flower name!”  She grinned at her sister.  They’d all hated having flower names as they’d grown up.  It wouldn’t have been bad to be named Rose or Lily if all their sisters hadn’t had similar names.  Amaryllis had been a silly name to begin with, in her own opinion.

“Anything is better than another flower name!” Daisy agreed.  She backed away from the door.  “I need to get back home.”

“You won’t come in for a cup of coffee?” Amaryllis asked her.  She was sorry she didn’t have a cake or cookies to offer to go with it.

Daisy shook her head.  “No, Mama will worry if I’m gone too long.  She wants me back before dark.”

“Do you want Alex to drive you?”

“No, I like walking in the evening.  It’s going to be too cold for good walks soon.”

Amaryllis hugged her sister.  “Are we all meeting up at Aunt Harriett’s tomorrow afternoon to see the baby then?”  Every time someone in the family had a baby, the entire family gathered at their home the Saturday afternoon following the birth.  She wasn’t sure why the tradition had started, but they’d enjoyed it. 

“I’m sure we will!”

“I’ll see you then!”

She hurried to the back to tell Alex the news.  He smiled and nodded.  He’d been a member of the family for as long as Higgins had been married to his mother.  “Are we all meeting at Harriett’s tomorrow then?”

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