To Dream Again (37 page)

***

While Nathaniel was out, other suppliers made their deliveries, and of all the companies that brought materials to the factory that morning, Harvey & Peak was the only one willing to honor the agreements Mara had made with them weeks earlier. All their other vendors had demanded cash on delivery. With Nathaniel gone, Mara had no idea what else to do and had paid them. Afterward, she sat down with Michael in the office, and they discussed the situation. "I don't understand it," she said.

"You're certain they understood you were expecting thirty days' credit?"

"Of course they did, Michael. I would never pay cash on delivery."

He leaned back in his chair. "Shall this be a problem in future?"

"I hope not," she answered. "We can't afford it. We have to have thirty-day terms or we won't be building any trains."

She glanced up to find Nathaniel standing in the doorway, leaning with one shoulder against the jamb. She'd been so preoccupied, she hadn't even heard him come up, but his expression told her he'd heard their discussion.

"Did you talk with Halston Tin?" she asked him.

"Yes." He entered the office, but he did not elaborate.

"What did they say?" she asked as he walked past her desk.

"I don't want to talk about it," he snapped and entered his laboratory without another word.

Startled, she stared after him. A quick glance at Michael told her that he was just as surprised as she by Nathaniel's testy answer. She started to rise, then hesitated, at a loss. His abrupt manner and terse words were so unlike him, she didn't know what to do. She sank back down in her chair.

He came out moments later and headed for the door. "Michael, do we have all the materials we'll need to fulfill our Christmas orders?"

"Yes. I already have the men started on the locomotives."

"Good. I want the first one off the line today."

"Today?" Michael turned in his chair to look at the other man.

"Yes, today." He paused in the doorway. "I'll be gone for the rest of the day," he said and walked out.

"What about Billy?" she called after him.

"I'm sure you can find something for him to do," he called over his shoulder as he started down the stairs.

She and Michael exchanged bewildered glances.

"What's the matter with him?" the engineer asked.

"I don't know," she murmured. "I wonder what Halston's had to say."

"Nothing good, obviously." Michael rose. "If I'm to have the first train off the line today, I'd better return downstairs."

Mara nodded absently, her mind still on Nathaniel. It simply wasn't like him to behave this way, and it worried her. She had come to rely on his optimism and confidence to carry her through when things went wrong. But what about when his optimism deserted him?

When Billy arrived, he was confused and hurt by Nathaniel's absence. Nathaniel had promised to teach him some new fighting moves today, and his failure to keep his promise was a keen disappointment to the child.

"He has some important work to do that he hadn't expected," Mara explained, wrapping an arm around Billy's shoulders and pulling him closer to her chair. "I'm sure he hasn't forgotten."

She studied the boy's downcast face, knowing how much it hurt when promises were not kept. A delay of one day could seem like a lifetime to an eight-year-old, but she was certain Nathaniel would not break his word. He wasn't that kind of man.

Since her debate with Nathaniel about the fighting, she'd done some thinking about the situation, and she had come to the reluctant conclusion that he was right. Billy couldn't be persuaded to go to school if it would be a source of torment and hurt. Until he developed some confidence, school was simply not feasible. She still wasn't convinced that fighting was the best way to develop his confidence, but the fact remained that the boy had been assaulted several times, and Nathaniel was doing exactly what he'd said he would, teaching the boy to defend himself.

She tightened her arm around Billy's shoulders, wishing she could bring a smile to his face. "I have some things to do today, and I need your help."

He lifted his head. "You do?"

"Absolutely." Mara rose to her feet. She had to think of something important to do that Billy could help with. She took him by the hand and picked up her reticule. "Come along. We don't have time to dilly-dally."

"Where are we going?"

Mara herself didn’t quite know. "I suppose you'll just have to come along with me and find out," she said, hoping she thought of something by the time they reached the street.

With Billy in tow, she left the office and headed down the stairs, racking her brain to think of something for them to do together. She'd spent many afternoons entertaining her daughter, but that had been a long time ago. Besides, she had no idea what an eight-year-old boy would consider fun. Dolls and tea parties were probably out of the question. Billy had told her how he and Nathaniel had spent their Sunday afternoon a fortnight ago, but she doubted she'd be any good at spitting cherry pits and playing football. And given her limited kite-flying abilities, that wasn't a good idea either.

She stopped on the production floor long enough to tell Michael she was taking the rest of the day off, and she couldn't help smiling at the stunned expression on his face.

"But you heard Nathaniel. He wants the first train out today. And he said he shall be away all day."

Mara smiled. "I have come to have great confidence in your abilities, Michael. I trust you."

Leaving the astonished engineer staring after her, she turned away and headed toward the front door, hand in hand with Billy, still trying to think of a way for them to spend their afternoon.

But as they left the factory, Michael's words came back to her, and those words gave her an idea. Nathaniel wasn't the only one who could come up with special surprises, she decided.

***

Nathaniel turned down Whitechapel High Street just as the church clock chimed half past six, tense in body and tired in spirit. He'd spent the afternoon calling on their other vendors, and he'd found the Halston Tin story repeated over and over. Suppliers who'd had no problem extending them credit a week ago were suddenly refusing to do so. He was more certain than ever that Adrian was responsible, and he had never felt more frustrated in his life.

Beckett was at his usual post on the corner. Nathaniel stopped for a moment. "How's your leg, Henry?"

The old man bent down and rubbed his knee where it joined the wooden peg. "Achin", guv'nor, and that's a fact," he replied mournfully.

"Isn't that ointment helping?"

"Aye," the old man replied, with the usual melancholy sigh. "But not tonight. There be a mighty storm comin'."

Nathaniel glanced up at the black, starless sky as another gust of wind whipped a lock of hair across his brow. "I think you're right. Don't be caught out here when it starts."

"I was just packing up the cart to 'ead for me lodgings, guv'nor."

Nathaniel nodded, bid the coster good night, and turned toward the factory. He opened the front door, wondering what the hell to tell Mara, but he came to a halt in the doorway, all his worries forgotten at the sight that met his eyes. Everything had been shut down for the day, but no one had left. Instead, he saw the men clearing away equipment and moving tables toward the center of the room. The women were hanging brightly colored streamers and chatting like an excited flock of magpies.

Nathaniel saw Michael leaning over one of the tables and fiddling with his gramophone, a beautiful girl beside him, tendrils of dark hair peeking from beneath the kerchief she wore, and a picnic basket in her arms. She had to be Rebecca, Michael's bride-to-be. Mrs. O'Brien stood near the couple, removing baskets piled with food and cases of beer and lemonade from a wheelbarrow and arranging them on another table.

His gaze scanned the room until he caught sight of Mara, and he smiled, watching her. She was about a dozen feet away, up on the ladder they'd installed that led up onto the mezzanine, tying a huge red bow around the rail and trying to form it just right.

Billy spied him standing in the doorway, "'e's 'ere!" the boy shouted and raced across the floor, dashing around the tables and people that blocked his path, to throw himself at Nathaniel.

Heads turned to look at him as he automatically wrapped an arm around Billy's shoulders and continued to stare at the sight before him, completely astonished. He looked up at Mara on the ladder, who was looking down at him, smiling. "Surprise!" she called down to him.

He lifted his hand and gestured to the chaos. "What is all this?"

He watched her climb down from the ladder, and he managed to catch a pleasing glimpse of a stocking-clad leg below the hem of her black skirt, a leg as shapely as he'd imagined, before she jumped off the ladder's last step. Her skirt swirled down over her high-button shoes, and Nathaniel felt a twinge of disappointment, wondering if she intended to climb ladders again anytime soon.

"It's a party," Billy told him. "We're celebratin'."

"We are?" He looked at Mara, still quite confused.

She nodded, her eyes sparkling with mischief as she approached them.

"What are we celebrating?" he asked as Billy pulled him by the hand, leading him toward the center of the room.

Mara followed. "Michael moved the first train off the line today."

They halted in front of one of the tables, and Nathaniel looked down at the very first piece of concrete evidence that his dream was coming true. Painted dark green, with red trim and brass wheels, the locomotive sat atop a velvet-covered platform. A white card had been centered at the edge of the platform, nestled amid the red velvet. Written on it in Mara's perfect handwriting were the words, "Chase-Elliot Toy Makers, London, 1889."

"I ordered a brass plate," she explained, pointing at the card. "Until it comes, this will have to do."

"It's wonderful," he said, unable to quite believe it. "Thank you."

"Don't become too stirred up over it," Michael told him across the table. "We don't know if the thing even runs yet. We can't test it until the paint dries."

He grinned at the other man. "It better work, or I'll have to have a long talk with my engineer."

Again he looked down at the locomotive, and a sweet mixture of joy and triumph flooded through him. His optimism began to return. Somehow, they would push through this. Tomorrow, he would begin finding alternate suppliers. Adrian couldn't bribe everybody. What happened today would happen again, and Nathaniel knew he had to have other suppliers ready to step in.

He looked up at the crowd of people who had gathered around the table. "I don't know what to say. I'm truly overwhelmed."

"Save the speeches," Michael advised. "Let's eat."

Everyone laughed, and the crowd began to gravitate toward the tables laden with food. Michael introduced him to Rebecca before they, too, walked away, sitting down at one of the tables to eat the kosher dinner she had brought.

Billy tugged at his shirtsleeve. "C'mon, Nathaniel. I'm hungry."

Nathaniel laughed. "You're always hungry," he answered and pointed to the food. "Go on, Scrapper. We'll be along."

Billy didn't need any further encouragement. He whirled around and ran to Mrs. O'Brien, asking her to fill a plate for him. The landlady happily complied, and Mara and Nathaniel watched his eyes grow round with delight as she piled a variety of tidbits onto his plate.

"It takes very little to make that boy happy," Mara murmured.

Nathaniel glanced at her. She was watching Billy, a tender smile on her face. She should have children of her own again, he thought, loving her with all his heart. The past months had brought about many changes in her. She was becoming softer, sweeter. She was as strong-minded as ever, but he knew the fear and bitterness that had been so prevalent when they'd first met were slowly fading away.

His gaze moved to the prim line of her collar and he thought of the night he'd unfastened the button at her throat and massaged her neck. He remembered again the soft warmth of her skin beneath his fingers, felt again the yielding in her tense muscles, and savored again the sheer pleasure of watching her enjoy the massage.

As if she sensed him watching her, she turned to look up at him. He said nothing, but she must have seen something in his expression because her smile faded. Her cheeks suddenly grew pink, and she ducked her head, clasping her hands behind her back and shifting her weight from side to side.

He wanted her, all of her, not just as a business partner, but as the woman he woke up with every morning. He wanted her, not just for one night, but for all of his life. "Was all this your idea?" he asked, feeling the need to say something.

"Yes. Everyone has been working very hard, and I felt that we all deserved a party." She looked up, and a tiny frown of concern knit her brows. "I'm afraid it was rather frivolous of me, wasn't it?"

"Very. I shall have to keep an eye on you."

"It will pay off in the long run," she said as if to console herself, and her frown disappeared. "After all, positive morale of the workers is important, don't you think?"

"Definitely," Nathaniel agreed, trying not to grin.

"I received a very good price on the food from Mrs. O'Brien," she went on. "And I bought all the streamers secondhand in Petticoat Lane."

Nathaniel listened, loving the way she rationalized an expense she considered frivolous and reassured herself that she'd gotten a bargain. She was changing, but Nathaniel hoped she didn't change too much. He loved her just the way she was.