He looked deep into her eyes, and the others on the street seemed to fade away. Is he making a declaration? Now? She let her hand fall from the ribbon.
Before she could properly react, he smiled like he knew the reaction he had caused, doffed his hat, and was off. He thought she was pleased. No. She wasn’t. That was the problem. What was she going to do?
Chapter Thirty-Two
By Saturday morning, the excitement of the WCTU meeting had worn off and Ethel had resumed her murmurings about leaving town again. Fortunately, Mim was doing a good job of keeping her talked out of it.
Briar had even considered staying in town for the night in case Ethel decided to leave while she was gone. Perhaps it was best if the two older girls were given time to speak privately. Ethel’s problems were so much more than Briar could imagine. Miss Olive would have her hands full this weekend between Sadie’s physical needs and Ethel’s emotional ones.
After work, Briar reluctantly pulled the bicycle out of the shed for her trip home. She’d never been so torn about leaving. She wanted to stay, but if she did the children would worry about her. Besides, she had to find out if Fanny had managed to devise a plan about the spindle.
Since Briar’s frames were working so well, the overseer had given her two of Annie’s old frames to run, and even they ran without mishap now. No one was running as many frames as she was. It seemed the curse might be too old to cause any problems, so if there was a way to safely keep the spindle, Briar would be all for it.
She swung her leg over the bar and got ready to push off when she heard her name.
“Briar!”
Wheeler grinned at her and made his way over to her side of the street. “Walk you to the cottage today?” he asked.
Her stomach knotted. Should she try one last time to see if they could connect again? So many pressures were weighing in on her that she questioned her judgment on everything.
In reply she hopped off the bicycle, and he fell comfortably in step with her. He took one of the handlebars.
“Thanks for helping Ethel the other night,” she said.
“No problem. I meant what I said earlier. If you ever need me, I’m here for you.” He gave her the look that used to make the butterflies in her stomach explode.
She smiled tentatively back. No butterflies. Just a general feeling of unease.
“What happened to that man after you boys took him away?” Briar had a hard time saying the word husband in relation to someone married to her room-mate.
“He left town. We saw to that. He had a friend here who he was staying with and that fellow said he’d make sure he was on the train today. If it was running. With these rail-worker strikes going on, you never can know.”
“What if the train didn’t run today?” If Ethel were to catch sight of him still in town, that would be it. She’d pack her bags and be gone before Mim could talk her into staying.
Wheeler shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s not your problem.”
Of course it was her problem. How could she not worry about her friend?
“You know, the other day Mr. Smith came in to observe how I handled a conflict in the bailing room. He wanted to see if I was up for the challenge, and if two older men would listen to me.”
“And?”
He stood tall, a big grin spread across his face.
“Well done,” Briar said, knowing he was fishing for praise.
“You know,” Wheeler said, dipping his mouth close to hers. “You’re the prettiest girl at the factory again.”
“Oh.” Oh. Briar’s face grew hot. That was a clumsy compliment. Her mam’s saying came to mind: where the tongue slips it speaks the truth.
He produced a flower and handed it to her. When she didn’t immediately reach for it, he plucked off the bloom and tucked it into her hair above her ear. His finger traced the line of her cheek and, for a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. She turned her head away. He took a step back and crooked out his arm for her to hold.
Instead of taking his arm, she took over pushing the bicycle.
“How is your family?” he asked, letting his arm drop to his side.
“The boys are causing trouble as usual, and Pansy is ever the little mother over them, and Nanny has gone—”
“That’s great! I forgot to add that Mr. Smith must have told Mr. Albans, because then he stopped by my area and congratulated me on the move to Burlington. I leave Monday after next. They’ve also been impressed with you lately. We could both be moving to Burlington and then, who knows?” Then he smiled the smile that used to make her weak in the knees. But not this time.