Vintage Love (251 page)

Her next word from him was a letter mailed in Boston. He begged her forgiveness and said he was trying to make a fresh start. He promised he would write again. His second letter came some time after she had gone to Manchester to work and was forwarded to her. His tone was less optimistic, and he was frank in telling her that no one seemed to want to trust him with a responsible job. The Norths had spread their venom about him well. The last time she heard from him he’d merely sent a Christmas greeting with his name and no message or forwarding address.

By the time Judith returned to Port Winter, the theft and Miles Estey had been pushed aside for other more immediate matters of local gossip. The new bridge was the center of attention, and with it Alan Fraser had stepped into the local limelight. No one mentioned Miles to Judith, but she knew many of her friends must think about him when they met her. She made a point of not mentioning his name, either. But there were times, such as now, when he was very much in her mind.

She often asked herself if she had truly been in love with him.

She turned down the coverlet and began slowly to prepare for bed. It had been typical of her mother to spy on her and mistake the innocent kiss she had exchanged with Alan Fraser for the sign of a great romance. No use attempting to explain to her any more than she had just tried to do.

As she slipped between the sheets and turned off the lights, she recalled a conversation she’d had with the handsome Brian on one of their several dates.

She had said, “You’re so much more aggressive than Alan.”

Alan’s older brother had flashed her one of his winning smiles. “You really think so?”

“Yes. It’s one of the first things I noticed about you.”

“Alan has plenty of ability,” Brian told her, “probably more than I have. But he lacks confidence.”

“I feel that,” she agreed.

Brian had become serious. “Father takes it for granted that I should do everything better than Alan; sometimes I find that isn’t so easy. And it also isn’t good for Alan.”

She’d smiled. “You think he has a younger brother complex?”

“Very much so.” Brian nodded. “Father is making it worse. He wants me to go into the firm with him, and he feels Alan should go to another city if he wants to practice law.”

“That doesn’t seem fair,” she said, “especially as Alan probably wants to join your father’s firm.”

“He does,” Brian said. “And he hasn’t any idea how Father feels about him as yet. I’ve got to talk to Dad and somehow try to make him change his mind.”

Judith had been impressed by Brian’s generosity. “You’ll not lose anything by doing it, I’m sure,” she’d said. “And I’m glad I’ve gotten to know you. Somehow it makes me able to understand Alan and his problems better.”

He had given her a troubled glance. “I’ve enjoyed having you as friend, too,” he said. “I only hope Alan takes it the right way.”

She’d shown surprise. “Why should he object to our being friends?”

Brian had shrugged. “That’s hard to explain. Alan sometimes gets queer ideas. He’s moody, you know. There is a kind of weak streak in his nature, a tendency to give up when he comes face to face with a situation he doesn’t understand. In a way, I suppose Father may not be entirely wrong about him.”

“Meaning?”

“He has too many warring elements in his nature,” Brian said. “And he’s far too sensitive for his own good. Faced with a true crisis, I’m not sure that he wouldn’t break.”

Judith stared up into the darkness. Those words rang anew in her ears, although they’d been uttered by Alan’s now dead brother on a night long ago. Surely the crisis had arrived for Alan! Would his brother’s ominous prediction come true?

Judith was positive they were facing trouble when their first caller the following morning was Councilman Fred Harvey. Councilman Harvey had been one of those supporting Alan for the post of chairman of the bridge authority, and she had always had a warm regard for the little man. Originally he had been brought to Port Winter to manage one of S.C. North’s smaller enterprises. He had been clever enough to see the need for the service in the city and had left his job with North to establish a rival service of the same type.

His business had become a success overnight and, due to Fred Harvey’s shrewd manipulations, he was soon an S.C. North in miniature, having his hand in a number of other firms. North eventually grudgingly acknowledged the little man’s talents as a promoter by making a bid to buy the original service, which Fred Harvey gladly sold him at a neat profit, since he already had enough new enterprises to keep him busy.

The feud between Harvey and S.C. North was not an open one. It had never been declared. But each worked behind the scenes in his own way to harass the other. Judith had the opinion that was why Councilman Fred Harvey had worked so hard for Alan. He wanted to see him get the position as head of the bridge committee so S.C. North wouldn’t get the steel contract for the construction job. Of course she couldn’t prove that any more than S.C. North could, but Alan had been pledged to give the rival company represented by Harvey Wheaton the contract, and so it looked suspicious to her.

The amusing thing about Fred Harvey was that he was innocence itself in appearance and manner. A genial, slightly overweight man of small stature, he wore a perpetual smile on his broad face and beamed happily at the world through his heavy horn-rimmed glasses. His voice was high-pitched and rather unimpressive and further put his opponents off-guard. But there was nothing naïve about his alert mind, and perhaps the tip-off to his keen brain was his direct logic in an argument And his neat thinking habits were reflected in his dress. His clothes were tailored and of the most expensive materials, and he showed remarkably good taste in his choice of them.

As he presented himself before Judith on this morning in late May, he was hatless and wearing a light gray suit of an intricate tiny check pattern. His tie was a dark gray, the collar of his white shirt contoured to show his round face to the best advantage. His dark hair was slicked back, and his eyes beamed at her through his horn-rimmed glasses.

He smiled as he asked, “Alan here yet, Judy?”

She nodded. “Yes. He’s on the phone with the Mayor at the moment.” She was used to Councilman Harvey calling her Judy and didn’t mind it from him.

The short man teetered back and forth on his heels. “That figures,” he said with an air of inward amusement.

Judith gave him a searching glance. “We don’t usually see you so early in the day.”

“No, you don’t!” He was still smiling and obviously enjoying her curiosity.

She knew him well enough to ask, “Something doing?”

Fred Harvey chuckled. “Always something doing in Port Winter! You ought to know that! This is the East’s busiest little metropolis!”

Judith grimaced. “I’ve heard it described in other ways!”

“I saw you standing out on the bridge yesterday,” he said. “You must be a brave girl.”

Judith smiled. “Alan led me out there and left me. I was too frightened to move.”

“No wonder,” Fred Harvey said. “It’s a long way down to the water. Alan should be more careful of you. I would be.”

“I can imagine,” she observed dryly, sliding a sheet of paper into her typewriter.

The Councilman strolled jauntily across to the single window of the outer office with its view of the alley. “Not very inspiring,” was his comment as he peered out. Then he turned to her, still beaming. “Why don’t you come work for me? I’ll give you a good-sized office of your own and two big windows with a view of the park.”

“Why must you always tempt me?” she mocked him. “And you so charming!”

Going along with the joke, he chuckled again. “The fact I’m practically irresistible has nothing to do with it.”

The door to the inner office opened and Alan came out. With a grim smile he said, “I didn’t know you were out here.”

“I believe in getting my day started early. How’s the Mayor?” the Councilman said in a teasing manner.

“Just bringing me up to date on a few things,” Alan said. “What do you know?”

“Probably not much that the Mayor hasn’t told you,” Harvey was willing to concede.

Alan frowned. “Don’t tell me you called just to pay your compliments to Judith!”

Fred Harvey laughed. “Well, Judy is always worth a visit. You’ve got a gem in this girl, and you don’t appreciate her.” He gestured toward her with a pudgy hand.

“Quit stalling!” Alan protested. “What’s doing with Senator Lafferty?”

For the first time Fred Harvey dropped his smile. Giving Alan a wise look, he said, “If you’re planning to cross the harbor on that bridge of yours, I’d advise you to equip yourself with a pair of water-wings.”

“What are you saying?” Alan asked.

“The Senator is out to make trouble, Alan,” the little man warned him.

Alan stood there with an expression of scorn on his face and his hands thrust in his trousers pockets. “The Senator is always looking for trouble one way or another, and often he’s the one who lands in the trouble.”

Fred Harvey grinned. “The Mayor tell you what’s going on?”

“He said this group from the North End Real Estate Owners Association is having the Senator present a petition for them tonight. He hasn’t any idea what it’s about. What do you know about the association?”

“It’s legitimate enough,” Fred Harvey admitted. “But it doesn’t have many members, and most of them are also big shots in the Democratic Club and friends of the Senator.”

Alan nodded. “So he’s using them as a front?”

“Could be.”

“What’s he after?”

The Councilman looked wise. “What’s S.C. North after?”

“My scalp, among other things,” Alan said. His eyes narrowed with real concern as he asked, “You think at this late date North has put the Senator up to new obstructionist tactics to try and delay finishing the bridge?”

“That’s why I’m here this morning,” the stout little Councilman admitted. “I was the one most responsible for your appointment. I figure I’ve gotten you in this mess; the least I can do is stand by you.”

“Thanks,” Alan said bitterly. “Then you actually think this amounts to something?”

Fred Harvey beamed happily again. “When S.C. North and the Senator put their heads together, they usually come up with something. I figure they’ve got a dilly this time.”

“Oh?”

The Councilman nodded. “You remember when the plans for the bridge were first drawn up,” he said. “There was a spur leading directly to Harrigan Street and on to the shopping plaza in the North End and the residential area beyond.”

Alan gave Judith a quick glance as he considered this. Then he told Fred Harvey, “Yes. I believe we did consider an extra exit leading to Harrigan Street. We abandoned the idea because the cost was out of all proportion to the service the spur would offer.”

“Some people don’t see it that way.”

“What about it?” Alan wanted to know. “When we changed our plans, no one protested.”

Fred Harvey gave him a crafty look. “That was because the Senator was having his annual Florida vacation at the time. Now that the omission has been brought to his attention by the North End Real Estate Owners Association, he’s on the warpath.”

“But that’s ridiculous!” Alan protested. “The plans were approved months ago.”

“Ridiculous or not,” Harvey said, “the Senator is going to ask you to halt work on the bridge until the question of a spur to the North End has been thoroughly gone into.”

Alan drew his hands out of his pockets and stared at the litle man in complete amazement. “Halt work on the bridge!”

“That’s it!”

“But it doesn’t make sense,” Alan said. “We’ve already received our grants from the state and federal governments, and they don’t include the expense of that spur. Added to that, the cost of a delay would be ruinous whether we decided to go ahead with the spur or not. It could add millions to the construction costs of the bridge.”

“The Senator knows that,” Harvey said calmly.

“Then he’s deliberately trying to scuttle the entire project,” Alan said angrily, “even though it’s half completed!”

“From his point of view and S.C. North’s, it makes sense,” Harvey told him.

“The public won’t stand for it,” Alan said.

“North owns both newspapers in town,” Harvey reminded him. “He can mold public opinion pretty much as he likes.”

“But this is too obvious,” Alan said.

“Maybe and maybe not,” Fred Harvey warned him.

“I think I can tell you what they have in mind. They’ll get the Mayor and Council to vote on a delay until the matter can be considered. Then it will be tossed in the lap of you and the bridge authority. You’ll have a joint meeting with the Council, and no one will be able to agree. Meanwhile, with construction halted, your daily expenses will mount with nothing to show for it. When this has gone on long enough, the Senator will urge the Council to vote on abandonment of the project until a Governor’s committee can review the entire matter and assess the practical advantages of a North End spur. By that time you will have resigned as chairman and North will be working to put one of his men in your position.”

“You make it sound logical,” Alan admitted.

“I know what’s in the air,” Fred Harvey assured him. “And it isn’t the scent of roses! Once North has his key man in charge of the bridge authority, the Governor’s committee will come to the conclusion the spur isn’t necessary, and they’ll start construction again. Only this time you won’t have anything to say about it, and S.C. North will. And they’ll use North steel to finish the job!”

“That’s what it’s all about!” Alan said.

“What else?” the Councilman wanted to know.

Alan couldn’t seem to comprehend the situation even now that Fred Harvey had explained it to him in detail. “I can’t believe they’d risk wrecking the project to get their own way,” he said in a wondering tone.

“Then you don’t know the Senator or S.C North very well,” the Councilman told him. “This represents a chance for a hefty profit into the bargain.”

Alan gave him a troubled look. “What do you think I should do?”