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Edward looked out the window in his office. The lunch hour had ended forty minutes ago, which meant more than half the day had finished. He thanked God for it. The scratch in his throat had grown significantly in the last two hours and the ache in his head had trebled. Yelling at Lily had only made things worse. Now guilt weighed on him as much as his coming sickness.
I have nothing to feel guilty for. She's the one who lied to me.
Had Lily been honest with him from the very beginning, he suspected his feelings toward her would not be so bitter. He had thought her a pretty girl the first time he'd seen her, but had he known she was married, he could have kept those feelings at bay.
Really? Are you quite certain of that?
He scoffed at his inner voice. It irritated him that it was right. Pretty? Edward had thought Lily far more than just pretty. Beautiful. And then he'd begun speaking to her and found out she was smart as well. It was a pleasant bonus.
Edward had never been one of those men who preferred quiet women with little brains who would do whatever he said the second he said it. He liked women he could carry a conversation with. Women who piqued his interest. What interest could be piqued with a woman who agreed with everything he said?
Lily. Her face circled his mind. Red hair, green eyes, trim yet curvaceous figure. Her lips had tempted him from the moment they'd met. If only he had known she was unavailable...
Lily Dyer, or as he'd come to find out, Lily Dickinson. Her married name. Her husband's name. She'd lied to him. It had felt like a dagger in his heart when he'd learned just before leaving that she was married. She'd played him for a fool.
If Dr. Shannon had not mentioned Lily's husband in response to Edward's inquiry as to Lily's bruises, then he might still not know.
"How could she not have told me she was married?" he muttered.
Did you ever ask? came a strong voice from deep inside his head.
He shook it away and coughed slightly. It was not up to him to ask every woman he met whether they were married. If they were married, it was their duty to make it known before anything more was said. Before any intimacies could pass between them.
No. Lily had hidden the truth from him, and for that, he could never forgive her. To think that he'd actually begun to care for her... He was truly a fool.
Even today, when he'd first seen her upon entering the factory, he had felt something stir within him. Some primal need to protect her. If the opportunity ever presented itself to knock her husband flat on his back, he would not hesitate to seize it.
There was a loud knock on his door. "Come in," he called.
Della Garrison entered.
"You've been gone awhile," he said. "Did you have some trouble at the apothecary's?"
Della glared at him and flung a small glass vial onto his desk. It bounced off a ledger, remaining intact, and he caught it before it could crash to the floor.
"What on Earth are—"
"The only trouble I've had today is that which you've caused yourself," Della snapped.
He took the vial in his hand and frowned, looking at it. "I don't understand. Did I not give you enough money for the apothecary? I told you if it was more than I handed you to have him charge it to my account."
"No, you gave me plenty," she yelled, taking some coins from her change purse and throwing them at him.
"Miss Garrison! Stop this now!" he barked, shocked by her scandalous behavior. He was ready to throw her from the room.
And then she used "the tone." The one that could make milk curdle.
"I returned a half hour ago," she said, her hands on her hips. Her voice was stern yet soft—a mother punishing her child. Her dark hair fell in soft waves around her face, framing it perfectly. "I've been busy tending to the mess that you created while I was gone." Her face was livid. He thought that someday she would make some man quite lucky, provided that he could keep up with her.
"Miss Garrison, I truly don't know what you're referring to."
"Lily Dickinson," she said, folding her arms across her chest.
Edward blinked. He wanted her to go now so that he might take whatever potion the apothecary had sent him. He hoped it would work quickly to cure him of the cold he felt coming on. It was stronger now than it had been this morning. His head thundered with pain on the right side of his temple. It had been that way since his meeting with Lily.
"What about Lily?" he asked. "I mean Miss Dyer... Dickinson." He sighed heavily.
"Don't even try to tell me that Lily's making things up," Della demanded.
Edward started. "What has she told you?"
"That you all but pushed her from your office this afternoon. That you yelled at her and caused her to hide in the washroom for the last thirty minutes crying her eyes out."
Edward blinked. He wasn't sure what to say. How much did Della know? What exactly had Lily told her?
"Now then, Miss Garrison, I don't know what Miss Di—Mrs. Dickinson—has said—"
"I just told you what she's said," Della cried, cutting him off.
Edward's sinuses grated on him. His nose felt stuffy and runny all at once, and Della was helping matters very little.
"I am your boss, Miss Garrison," he said, trying to remain calm, "and I do not at all care for the way in which you are speaking to me."
Della paled slightly at his words, and Edward felt as though he'd made his point. Then her eyes flashed red, and she started yelling all over again.
"What did you say to her?" Della asked. "Tell me so that I can hurl the same insults back at you!"
"You're awfully protective of a friend who makes a habit out of lying," he snapped.
He could see by the look on her face that he'd gotten her.
Della licked her lips. "Lily told me that she'd misspoken about her marital status to you."
"Misspoken? She lied, Miss Garrison."
Della nodded. "All right then, she lied. But she only did it because she was worried about her job."
He cocked his head to the side, confused. "What do you mean? I see no connection between her job and her marital status."
"You may not, but many factory owners do. When you first arrived here at Saunders Factory, no one knew you. We did not know if you shared your father's feelings on such matters or those of most other owners."
A light went off in his head. "She thought I might fire her if she was married," he said, and Della nodded. He was still angry, but at least now he was beginning to understand.
"That doesn't explain the rest of it," he said quietly.
Now it was Della who looked confused.
"Rest of what?" she asked. "I thought you were angry with her because she'd lied to you."
"I am," he said. "I was."
He realized that although Lily had told Della of her lie, she had clearly not told her of the special closeness they'd shared. Of why the lie had stung him so much. If she had not shared that information, he was certainly not going to either.
Della continued to glare at him, but her features softened ever so slightly. "What is it I don't know?" she asked. She took an awful lot of liberties for someone who was just a secretary, but she had proven invaluable to his father in his absence, and he admired her courage in standing up for her friends, even if it was a bit misguided.
"Nothing," he finally said. "You're right. I'll apologize."
She opened her mouth but must have thought better of it. She'd won the argument and understood that now was the time to remain silent. If she'd been a man, she'd have made a most imposing business opponent.
He left her alone and went to find Lily. She was at her station in the packing room. Her back was to him, and she was staring into a box. There were several others in the room with her. Everyone except Lily looked up when he came in.
"Good, day, Mr. Saunders," Patty said.
He nodded and offered her a small, courteous smile. Lily's back straightened. Her head snapped up, and she began staring straight ahead at the wall now instead of the box.
He cleared his throat. "Miss... Mrs. Dickinson, might I have a word with you?"
Several sets of eyes turned to Lily. They looked wonderingly at her, and he knew the gossip would begin the moment she stepped out of the room. No doubt the women would think she was in trouble. He didn't want that, even if he was still angry with her.
"I need your assistance with some filing," he said, hoping that would stop any rumors before they started. Lily sometimes helped in his office as well as his father's, especially during their busy season, which was fast approaching.
The women looked bored now. Their eyes turned away from him and Lily and went back to their work. Slowly, Lily rose from her seat and followed him out of the room. She kept her head down as they walked.
Della flashed him a smile from her desk as they passed. Edward shut the door to his office and cleared his throat. Lily lifted her eyes to his, and he saw that they were red. Della had not been exaggerating, she must have been crying since last leaving his office.
Somehow, seeing her red-rimmed eyes angered him rather than softened him. What right did she have to be so upset? Della was painting him as some sort of monster, but he was not the one who'd done anything wrong. It infuriated him all over again.
"You said you needed help with some filing?" Lily said in a small voice.
Edward picked the first thing off his desk he saw. It was his father's dietary restrictions, written in Dr. Shannon's hand.
"Can you type this up for me, please? I need a second copy. When you're through, add it to my father's files under 'Medicine' and return the original to me."
Lily nodded, and he handed her the list. She hesitated before leaving the room. "Is that all?"
"That's all," he said and shut the door behind her. Della could yell all she wanted. He was not going to apologize. Not now, not ever.
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