A Great Catch (16 page)

Standing before the ladies of the Council Bluffs Equal Suffrage Club, Emily glanced at her checklists before looking up and scanning those gathered in the Yacht Club. Even Olivia DeSoto wouldn’t find fault with her preparations. She’d considered every possibility, every nuance, and every detail.

Her lips curved in a smile. She could do this. She could balance Carter, baseball, and her suffrage work. She could do it all and still not leave anything out.

Tapping her gavel on the podium, she took a deep breath of the tangy lake air. “Good morning, ladies. I’d like to start by going over—”

“Excuse me.” Olivia shot from her seat, waving a handkerchief in the air. “I move we elect a new president.”

Lilly grabbed Olivia’s sleeve and tugged on it. “Sit down. We don’t have time for your nonsense.”

Yanking her arm free, Olivia squared her shoulders dramatically. “I have proof Emily is letting her relationship with Carter Stockton and the Manawa Owls interfere with her duties to our association.”

“What proof?” Wizened Gertrude O’Neil scowled beneath her overly plumed hat.

Olivia waved the newspaper. “Emily’s weekly article should have been in today’s edition. However, it’s missing. When I inquired about it, Mr. Fletcher said she turned it in late.”

A knot the size of Lake Manawa formed in Emily’s stomach. Olivia was right. She had failed the ladies.

Mrs. O’Neil’s scowl deepened. “Is that true, Emily?”

“I—I—I was late, but Mr. Fletcher indicated he’d still print the article.”

“Emily.” Marguerite smiled. “How late was it?”

“Only about half an hour. But it was my fault. I take full responsibility.”

“Poppycock.” Lilly propped her hands on her hips. “Our esteemed editor must have had something come up and used your tardiness as an excuse to bump your story.”

“But you heard her,” Olivia whined. “She admitted to missing the deadline.”

“And you’ve never been half an hour late to anything?” Marguerite joined Emily at the front of the room. “I think we all know better. All in favor of dismissing Olivia’s motion, say ‘aye.’”

Feminine voices called out the response, filling the room.

Olivia’s pitch rose above the din. “Mark my words. Emily’s attention is divided.”

The ladies chattered among themselves.

“Ladies.” Emily struck the gavel again and cleared her throat. “Let me assure you the passage of suffrage in Iowa and in this great nation of ours is of uppermost importance to me. I would do anything to see that it happens.” She paused and took a slow, deep breath, allowing the ladies to weigh her words. “Now, if we can avoid any further distractions, we have a lot to accomplish and a very short time to do so.”

After Emily received reports from each of the Bloomer Girls’ committees, the ladies went to separate tables to work. Chatter rose, and the heat of the stuffy room made Emily’s head throb. She sat down at an empty table and rubbed the kink in her neck.

“Emily.” Olivia’s loud, singsong voice signaled trouble. “You didn’t say anything about the posters I designed.”

Lifting her head, Emily sighed. “Let me take another look at them.”

“Here’s one.” Olivia held up the rectangular sheet of paper, displaying an upended Emily for all to see.

Several ladies giggled, but Emily didn’t miss the frown on Lilly’s face or the anger on Marguerite’s. Martin’s advice popped into Emily’s mind.
Don’t let her get to you.

Emily took the poster from Olivia and perused it at arm’s length. “I will say one thing, Olivia. It certainly gets a person’s attention. And your idea is brilliant. Get them there with humor and then sock them with the seriousness of the subject. I’ll gladly give my likeness to accomplish something so important for the cause.”

The women erupted in applause and praise for Emily’s good sportsmanship and selfless efforts. Joy pushed Emily’s nagging headache to the side momentarily. For so many years, self-doubt had plagued her. But now, between Carter and these ladies, a sense of pride filled her. She wouldn’t be parading her accomplishments down Broadway, but it did feel good to matter.

You’ve always mattered to Me.

The words pressed on her heart. Was God trying to tell her something? She shook her head. No, not her.

She touched her throbbing temple. Sally Nesmit appeared with a list of supplies needed to build the additional bleachers for the Bloomer Girls’ game. Emily took the pencil from behind her ear and jotted notes in the margin.

There’d be time to think about God later.

“Well, if it isn’t my brother.”

Carter stiffened as Nathan, broad-shouldered and impeccably dressed in a crisp summer suit, approached him on the boardwalk. “What do you want, Nathan?”

“Can’t I enjoy the resort, or is it reserved for those of you intent on not growing up?”

“Nathan, let it go.” Carter tossed his beach bag on the bench beside him. “Why are you really here?”

“It’s about the discrepancy in Mrs. Graham’s account you came to see me about.”

“You found the error?”

Nathan raised an eyebrow. “Yes and no.”

Making no effort to hide the grin spreading across his face, Carter sat down on the bench. He motioned to the other side in invitation. “So, the great Nathan made a mistake.”

“No.” Nathan remained standing. “There’s no error on the bank’s part. The error is hers.”

“Why are you so certain?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? The old woman is daft.”

Carter bolted to his feet, fists cocked at his side. “You don’t even know her! Mrs. Graham is more quick-witted than you’ll ever be.”

“Honestly, Carter, can you say you haven’t considered the possibility that Mrs. Graham’s senility is to blame?” He paused and then laughed. “That twitch beneath your right eye tells me you have. I take it, then, you’re thinking with your heart again, and that your reaction comes from your connection to her granddaughter.”

“How did you hear about her?”

“News travels fast from the lake. Did you think you could keep the fact you’re seeing a Graham from me?”

“Leave Emily out of this.” Carter intentionally struck Nathan’s chest with his shoulder as he walked to the railing. He stood there inhaling the fishy lake air for several seconds before turning around to face his brother. “Did you come all this way to tell me you believe you’re still perfect?”

“No, I came to meet some friends for a business lunch. Finding you was a bonus.” He shoved the bag from the bench into Carter’s chest. “And it appears you’re off for another day of frolicking in the sun. Eventually Dad will get tired of supporting you, Carter.”

“What I do is none of your business.”

“Really? You don’t think your decisions reflect on our family? That my associates question me regularly as to why you haven’t started working at the bank yet?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Rest assured, it may seem your life isn’t my business now, but it will be when you come work for me. Then I’ll be able to straighten you out like our father should have done a long time ago.”

Jaw set, Carter tossed the bag back on the bench. “I won’t be working at the bank.”

“Be careful what you say, little brother. I can tell you’re awfully sweet on Emily Graham. So much so, I daresay you’ve entertained the idea of marrying her. Do you believe you can provide for a wife by playing baseball?”

Carter’s heart thudded against his ribs, and he clenched his fists again. “Didn’t you say you had a meeting to get to?”

“I did.” Nathan nodded his head. “But mark my words, little brother. If you keep seeing Miss Graham, you’ll be sitting at a desk in my bank within the year.”

“Dad owns the bank.”

He chuckled. “For now.”

Kate snipped the rosebush stem beneath a node. She stood back up and cocked her head, squinting at the oddly shaped bush. No matter how much she clipped, it seemed unbalanced and looked more like a flamingo than a vase, as it should. Some things were hard to fix.

“Hello, Grandma.” Emily shifted her stack of papers from her right hip to her left. “Isn’t it a little late in the season to be pruning?”

“Yes, June means I’m a bit tardy, but I need to teach this overzealous rosebush who is in charge.” She tugged off her gardening gloves and sighed. “But I’m ready for a break. Why don’t we go have some lemonade and you can tell me how your meeting went?”

Kate pointed to a silver tray bearing a pitcher of lemonade situated between the two new wicker rocking chairs. The chairs, selected from the People’s Department Store, had been delivered earlier in the day. Since Millie and Ethel would most likely plant themselves in the two chairs for hours, Emily would seldom have the opportunity to sit in them.

“Where are Aunt Millie and Aunt Ethel?” Emily placed her papers beside the tray on the rattan table and sat down.

“Playing bridge with Mrs. Alamander and Mrs. Wendell.” Kate filled two of the glasses and passed one to Emily. “I think they’re quite taken with the game.”

Leaning back, Emily appeared to relax against the ornate weaving. She dug the toe of her shoe in the ground and gave the chair a push. As she rocked, lemonade splashed on her chin. She came to a stop and giggled as she dabbed at the liquid. “I can’t believe I did that.”

Kate smiled. “I can.”

Emily took another swallow. “I don’t think I know Mrs. Alamander or Mrs. Wendell.”

“Oh, but I bet Millie and Ethel have made sure they know you.” A smile played on Kate’s lips. “Well, we don’t get much time alone these days, so tell me about your meeting, or better yet, tell me how things are between you and Carter.”

“Grandma, you’re almost as bad as Aunt Millie.” Pink tinged her granddaughter’s cheeks. “The meeting was fine except for Olivia. That woman delights in making me look bad.”

“I’m guessing she thinks it makes her look more important. We all want a place of significance, Emily. Our own insecurities drive us to do things our heart knows are wrong.” She let her words soak in for a moment before continuing. “And Carter? Did you work things out?”

“How could you tell we had a spat?”

Kate sipped her drink. “Your aunt Millie said he looked quite penitent this morning. I assumed you’d had a tiff.”

“It was my fault as much as his. I had a lot to do and should have insisted he bring me home. Instead—”

“Instead you got angry at him.”

Her head dropped in shame. “Between learning to play baseball, my suffrage work, and Carter, I’m meeting myself coming and going.”

“Why do you do it, dear?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m not saying it’s not important work, but I wonder if you know the real reason you insist on staying so busy. Even before the Bloomer Girls’ game, you seemed to have a need to not have a minute to spare.”

“But the fight for a woman’s right to vote is important.”

“It is important. I’d always hoped you’d see that.” She set her glass down. How could she make her granddaughter understand the truth? She took Emily’s hand. “But there are other things even more important.”

“Grandma, when we’ve won the right, when this is over, then—”

“Then what, Emily? Who will you be then?”

Tears laced Emily’s long lashes. Only birdsong and the sound of the wind ruffling the trees filled the silence between them. Finally, a yawn escaped Emily’s lips, and Kate patted her arm. “If you hurry, maybe you can get a nap in before your aunts’ return.”