Shaken to the Core (25 page)

“But…but how are we supposed to bathe without water?”

“That’s not the worst problem the city is facing, Mother. How are the firemen supposed to fight the fires without water?”

Her mother tsked. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m sure the city planners have thought of such an emergency. You don’t have to concern yourself with such considerations.” She threw a glance at Giuliana, who peeked out of the bathroom, hiding her half-undressed body behind the door. “Mrs. Tretow just arrived. I’ll tell her to bring up whatever water she might have in the kitchen.”

When she turned and descended the stairs, Kate and Giuliana looked at each other.

Giuliana wanted to shrug it off the same way Mrs. Winthrop had, but the ball of worry in her belly wouldn’t dissolve. What if the water mains were broken not just on Sixth Street and up here on Nob Hill but all over the city?

* * *

By the time Giuliana had finished washing up, the water in the basin Mrs. Tretow had brought up had turned a rusty brown color. She laid out on the oak commode the clothing Kate had given her. A tired smile formed on her lips. She had always wanted to wear a shirtwaist. What a way to get her wish!

She slipped her arms into the crisp, white fabric. The shirtwaist was a little snug in the hips and chest, and she had to leave the high collar unbuttoned, but it still felt wonderful to wear it.

The brown skirt seemed to be part of Kate’s motoring outfit. On Kate, it had been so short that she had earned a tongue-lashing from her mother, but it fit Giuliana just right.

Black wool stockings and a pair of simple lace-up shoes completed her outfit. She wriggled her toes, relieved to find that the shoes weren’t pinching.

When she was dressed, she tied the drawstring pouch back around her waist, slipped the pendant watch out from under the shirtwaist, and put it in the pouch so the Winthrops wouldn’t see it.

Her reflection in the mirror made her stare, this time for a different reason. She had combed the plaster dust from her hair, and now she almost didn’t recognize herself in the looking glass.
Don’t get any ideas.
While she might look like one of the rich ladies—despite the cut on her forehead—it was just an illusion.

Careful not to spill any of the dirty water on her fine clothes, she poured it down the drain and carried the empty basin downstairs to see if there was more water for Kate.

“Oh, there you are,” Mrs. Winthrop said as soon as she set foot into the hall. “Hank hasn’t come to work yet, so I need you to help Mrs. Tretow with the biscuits, or they’ll never be ready by the time the Bakers arrive.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Giuliana was already halfway to the kitchen by the time she remembered that she no longer worked for the Winthrops. Apparently, Mrs. Winthrop hadn’t remembered either—or she didn’t know how to relate to Giuliana other than to order her around.

When she entered the kitchen, Mrs. Tretow was pulling a pan of biscuits from the oven. She set them down to cool off and let her gaze run over Giuliana. “Heavens. You look like something the cat dragged in!”

Cat? What cat?
Giuliana decided that it most likely was one of the colorful American sayings, so she didn’t ask.

“She looks all high and mighty, if you ask me,” a voice came from behind Giuliana.

She whirled around.

Biddy was blocking the doorway.

Giuliana lifted both hands in a placating gesture. “I almost was killed when the house fell on me. I do not want more trouble. I only came to help with the biscuits.”

“Wearing my shoes?” Biddy pointed down.

“W-what?” Giuliana settled the folds of the skirt over the black leather shoes she was wearing. She’d assumed that they were Kate’s, but they probably didn’t wear the same size, so Kate must have given her a pair of Biddy’s. Giuliana sighed. Just what she hadn’t wanted: more trouble. “I did not know. If you need them, I can give them to you, Biddy.”

“Let her have the shoes,” Mrs. Tretow said. “I hear things are pretty bad where she lives. She probably lost everything.”

Biddy shook her head without a hint of compassion. “Too bad. She can’t have anything of mine—not my shoes and sure as heck not my position!”

“Is there something wrong with the biscuits?”

Mrs. Winthrop’s voice made them all jump. Biddy immediately gave up her confrontational stance and hastened to get out of the way.

“No, ma’am,” Mrs. Tretow answered. “They’re right here, just waiting to be served.”

Mrs. Winthrop gave a satisfied nod. “Good. You…Julie, start serving breakfast in the morning room. Obedience, you go up and bring Kate some hot water. Tell her to wear something nice. George Baker might accompany his parents.”

After one last glare at Giuliana, Biddy went to do her employer’s bidding.

This wasn’t over, though; Giuliana knew that. Biddy wouldn’t be happy until she got Giuliana thrown out of the house a second time. Sighing, Giuliana went to set the table in the morning room.

* * *

When Kate stepped out of her bedroom, feeling like a new woman in clean clothes, there was no sign of Giuliana anywhere. Dread crept up her spine. Her parents hadn’t kicked her out while Kate had been cleaning up and pulling the splinters from her hands, had they?

She rushed down the stairs—and nearly collided with Giuliana, who was carrying a basket full of biscuits. Kate gripped her elbow, keeping them both upright, and realized distractedly how good and normal it felt to touch her in this small way. “What are you doing?”

“Carrying biscuits,” Giuliana said with a hint of a smile, as if adding,
Isn’t it obvious?

“You don’t need to do that. You’re no longer our servant, you know?”

“I know. But your mother asked me to help with the breakfast.”

“Asked?” Kate quirked an eyebrow. Since when did her mother
ask
for anything? Demanding was more her style.

Giuliana’s smile grew. “Well…”

Kate took the basket from her and set it down on a small table in the hall. “Breakfast can wait. Let’s get you patched up.” Not waiting for Giuliana’s reply, she pulled her up the stairs and into her bedroom. Once the door clicked shut behind them, her determination waned. She had never before taken care of anyone’s wounds, and she didn’t want to hurt Giuliana, who had already been through so much today.
Darn.
She should have gotten Lucy to clean Giuliana’s cuts, but then again, the doctor had been busy dealing with much more life-threatening injuries.

“Are you all right?” Giuliana touched Kate’s forearm while studying her closely.

The touch sent tingles through Kate’s body. Caught between wanting to escape and wanting to lean closer, she cleared her throat. “I’m fine. I just…I’m afraid I won’t make the best nurse.”

“Better than Biddy,” Giuliana muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing. You will be a very good nurse. Much better than Turi. When I got hurt last, my brother gave me a cloth and said not to bleed all over the fishes.”

That made Kate laugh, and the tension in her shoulders receded a bit. “I’ll try to do better than that.” She led Giuliana over to her dresser, pressed her down onto the chair, and pulled her around to face her.

The cut on Giuliana’s forehead had stopped bleeding, but the skin all around it was already starting to take on a bluish tint. “How did that happen?”

“I think it was a stone from the roof. They fell down on me like rain.”

The blood rushed from Kate’s head. A vivid memory of the dead man she’d seen, crushed by falling bricks, washed over her. That could have easily been Giuliana. She sucked in a deep, steadying breath and willed her fingers not to tremble as she grabbed a clean rag and soaked it with iodine tincture. “Ready? It will burn a little.”

Lips a tight line, Giuliana nodded.

Hesitantly, Kate brought the rag closer to her forehead. She lifted her other hand, laid it along Giuliana’s cheek and jaw, and tilted her head a little to get a better angle.

Giuliana went very still.

Was it because of the touch to her face or because she was preparing herself for the pain? Kate shook off the thought. Why should Giuliana react to her touch? If she held her breath, it was only because she knew the iodine would burn.

Carefully, she dabbed at the cut with the soaked rag.

“Ahi,”
Giuliana murmured but didn’t flinch back.

“I’ll be done in a second,” Kate whispered. Her voice sounded hoarse in her own ears. She pressed the cloth to the wound once more, making sure no dirt remained in the cut.

“We should not do this so often,” Giuliana said with a slight smile.

“Hmm?”

“You taking care of my hurts.”

“Oh. Right. Your ankle.” Somehow, that seemed as if it had happened a long time ago even though only three weeks had passed since then. Kate straightened. “There. All done. Now the cut on your hand.” She held out her hand for Giuliana to lay hers into.

Instead of putting her hand in Kate’s, Giuliana trailed one fingertip over Kate’s palm. “You already fixed yours, yes?”

The touch, as light as it was, sent a wave of heat through the rest of Kate’s body. Quickly, she pulled her hand away and cleared her throat. “Um, yes. Just a few splinters and scratches. Now let’s see yours.”

Without further hesitation, Giuliana put her hand into Kate’s.

An inch-long cut marred the fleshy part of her palm toward her thumb.

Kate probed the skin around it gently with her fingertips. Thankfully, the cut didn’t seem very deep, as if Giuliana had flinched back from whatever had pierced her skin in time to prevent a more serious injury. Kate soaked a clean corner of the cloth with the tincture and then dabbed at the wound.

Giuliana flinched a little, but her hand remained in Kate’s, warm and trusting.

Kate’s gaze flickered to Giuliana’s face repeatedly to make sure the pain wasn’t too bad. Finally, she lowered her hand with the cloth. “Anywhere else?”

“Um…” Giuliana curled her newly cleaned hand into a fist and hid both hands in her lap. “Only very small cuts on my knees. You do not need—”

“Show me,” Kate said before she could think about it. After all, even tiny little cuts could get infected, right?

Giuliana hesitated but then pulled up the skirt and rolled down her stockings, revealing her shapely legs.

All right. You wanted to patch up her knees; now do it. Kate gave herself a mental shove. You might want to start by looking at them.
This wasn’t a stolen glance at another woman’s legs. She was looking for strictly medical reasons. At least that was what she told herself as she slowly lowered her gaze.

Tiny cuts covered both of Giuliana’s knees, as if she had crawled over glass shards or pieces of wood. Shallow scrapes and scratches marred her shins, and in some places, the skin was still an angry red where the fire had burned through her dress.

Kate needed to take a closer look to make sure there were no glass or wood splinters in the small cuts, so she knelt in front of Giuliana, bent, and leaned closer, holding on to one of her legs to keep her balance.

The electric lightbulbs in the chandelier flickered once and then went out.

With the windows and the curtains firmly closed to help keep out the smoke and dust, the room was pitched into darkness.

Kate’s heart leaped in her chest. She was breathing much too fast—not from fear, she realized after a moment, but from being so close to Giuliana. The darkness robbed her of sight but increased the acuteness of her other senses. She was much too aware of how soft Giuliana’s skin was beneath her fingertips.

Giuliana wasn’t exactly helping. She gripped Kate’s shoulders with both hands and pulled her closer, into the V of her thighs.

Kate started to tremble. Or was it Giuliana trembling against her?

After a few seconds, she became aware of Giuliana mumbling something in Sicilian. She was sure it wasn’t
Oh, that feels nice,
because Giuliana sounded scared. Instantly, Kate tried to move back. She hadn’t meant to scare Giuliana with her unnatural desires.

But Giuliana clutched her even closer.

What was going on? Kate hesitantly laid her hands on Giuliana’s back and rubbed soothing circles. “Are you…scared of the dark?”

Giuliana nodded against her. “When the house fell on me, it was very dark. No light. I thought I die.”

Oh Lord.
And here she was, having impure thoughts! Kate felt like the worst human being that had ever graced this earth. She cradled Giuliana against her, rocking her softly. “You made it out. Nothing is going to hurt you now.”

Giuliana relaxed in her arms, her body warm and pliant against Kate’s. “I—”

A sharp rap at the door made them jump apart. Kate handed Giuliana the iodine-soaked rag and quickly stood from her kneeling position.

Light filtered into the room, revealing Biddy, who stood in the doorway. Her brow furrowed, and she looked from Giuliana to Kate and back.

Kate busied herself by stoppering the bottle of iodine and putting it away. “What is it, Obedience?” She hoped Biddy couldn’t hear the tremor in her voice or the thumping of her heart.

“The Bakers just arrived. Your mother wants you to come down for breakfast.”

“We’ll be right there,” Kate said.

Biddy stared at her, looking as if she wanted to challenge the
we
, but then she ducked her head and retreated.

“Leave the door open,” Kate called before Biddy could close it. She didn’t want the darkness to scare Giuliana again.

As the stairs creaked beneath Biddy’s retreating steps, Kate blew out a breath.

Giuliana looked just as shaken—probably from having to relive the scariest moment of her life, not because they had almost been caught in an embrace.

“Do you want me to…?” She pointed at the rag she had handed Giuliana.

“I can do this.” Giuliana dabbed the iodine over the cuts on her knees and the scrapes on her shins. This time, she didn’t flinch even though Kate knew the tincture had to burn.

When Giuliana was done, Kate handed her an ointment for her burns and looked away until Giuliana pulled the hem of her dress back down.

“All good,” Giuliana announced.

Kate resisted the urge to lightly grasp her elbow and lead her to the door. “Come on,” she said instead. “Let’s go have breakfast.”