Nellie looked out the back and waved at Jace and the children and Mrs. Everett standing on the porch in her nightgown. She brushed away a tear and turned to look at the road ahead.
What greeted her at home was worse than she had imagined. She had never seen her father in such a rage.
“You could have been killed for all I knew,” he yelled. “Your sister and I, not to mention half the town, have been up all night looking for you. We have been worried sick about you while you…you…” He was too angry to speak.
Terel had no such problem. She wept into a lace-trimmed hankie. “I am the laughingstock of Chandler. My own sister cavorting about with that man. Where did you spend the night, Nellie? With him?”
Guilt seeped through Nellie with every word they spoke. If either of them had disappeared for an entire night, she would have been sick with worry. Part of her was glad Jace had destroyed the note or she would not have had the past heavenly twenty-four hours to remember. Another part of her was very sorry to have caused her family so much concern.
“I don’t believe you care about us, Nellie,” Terel said, sobbing. “You don’t care about the misery you caused us.”
“Yes, I do,” she said meekly.
“But what is to prevent something like this happening again? It seems to me that all Mr. Montgomery has to do is crook his little finger and you come running.”
“It’s not like that,” Nellie said, but she knew that it was. If Jace asked her to leave with him again, she probably would. “I apologize for worrying you. I really do.” Tears were coming now. She really had been very inconsiderate in her behavior. “I wish…”
“You wish what?” Charles said sternly.
“I wish that both of you got what you wanted from me,” she said, and, sobbing, she ran blindly from the room.
Terel and Charles stood staring after her. There was one thing they were in agreement on: What they wanted from Nellie was for her not to interfere with their comfort. If the truth were known, neither of them was too upset over Nellie’s absence, but they were furious that their comfort had been disturbed. Charles had had a cold dinner last night, and Terel had returned home to find that her clothes had not been ironed, and today she’d had to cancel her tea party because Nellie had not stayed home to prepare the food for it.
“That’s one wish that I hope comes true,
” Charles muttered.
Terel made her way down Coal Avenue toward her dressmaker’s. She had one more fitting for her dress for the Harvest Ball, and then it would be ready. She had spent far too much on the dress, but she’d worry about her father’s anger later. She was especially pleased with the gown. It had over a hundred pink silk roses on the skirt and bodice. The short sleeves were layered with lace, and there was a skirt of lace under a draped overskirt of pink silk charmeuse.
She couldn’t help smiling as she thought of the entrance she’d make at the Taggerts’ on the night of the ball. In fact, she couldn’t seem to help smiling about a lot of things. The best, and most surprising, thing was that an invitation to the Harvest Ball had arrived for her after all. She’d been sure that after the little mix-up with those boys last year she’d never be asked back. But Terel guessed that she was so popular now that the Taggerts just couldn’t ignore her. In addition, for the last four days Nellie had been a joy. The house had never run more smoothly. The meals had been on time and delicious, and all of Terel’s clothes had been perfectly pressed and hung in her wardrobe.
There had been no further mention of the night Nellie had disappeared, and no sign of Mr. Montgomery. After weeks of turmoil it looked as though the Grayson household was returning to normal. Except that now Terel was indeed the most sought-after young lady in Chandler—she couldn’t possibly accept all the invitations extended to her. And her father’s business was doing better than it ever had.
An hour later, as Terel stood in front of the mirror in her dressmaker’s studio, she looked at herself in her ball gown and smiled. All in all, there wasn’t a cloud in her sky.
“Yes, it’s perfect,” Terel said. “Send it to my house.”
The dressmaker was happy to have at last pleased Terel. The many roses had been very time-consuming to make. “Shall I send Nellie’s, too?”
Terel stopped pirouetting before the mirror. “Nellie’s what?”
“Her dress for the Harvest Ball. Shall I send Nellie’s ball gown to your house at the same time I send yours, or would she like to have a final fitting?”
She’d been so busy she’d completely forgotten that Nellie had been invited to the ball as well.
“Let me see the dress,” Terel whispered.
“Of course,” the dressmaker said, smiling as she stepped behind a curtain into her workroom. “I am very proud of it. I consider it one of my finest creations. I never knew Nellie had such excellent taste in clothes. Of course, the whole town is saying that there is a great deal that they never noticed about Nellie. I for one never realized she was a beauty.” She stepped back through the curtain, a gown of ice-blue satin across her arms. “Nellie looks lovely in the dress, really lovely.”
The gown was very simple, off the shoulder, low-cut, and Terel knew that Nellie would indeed look lovely in it.
The dressmaker looked at Terel’s stricken face. “Have I said something wrong? Perhaps Nellie meant this as a surprise, and now I’ve spoiled it.”
“Yes,” Terel said, trying to recover. “I think it was meant to be a surprise. I was hoping Nellie could go to the ball, but I wasn’t sure she’d be able to.”
“Nellie said something about that. Actually, what she said was quite odd. She said that since both you and your father were going to be out that evening, she didn’t think that her going to the ball would disturb your comfort. Wasn’t that strange? ‘Disturb your comfort.’ That’s just what she said.”
Terel turned away from Nellie’s beautiful gown. “Perhaps you’d better send the dresses separately, so when I see Nellie’s dress I can be properly surprised.”