4

Josephine folded her arms on her family’s kitchen table and rested her head on her black cotton sleeves. Being angry at the dead was draining. Pangs of guilt fluttered in Josephine’s chest as she accepted the neighbors’ sympathies along with their sweet-smelling cinnamon bread. September 17 would go down in her diary as the longest day of the year even if the sun had already set.

Her back muscles ached as if she had pick-axed her way through a wall of granite. Maybe it was from the standing and hugging, maybe still from her fall, maybe—she didn’t have enough emotion left to care. Her hearing must have been going, too. She thought she heard footsteps outside the door. Certainly, condolence visits were done for the night. A knock at the door startled her whole family.

Her mother straightened her skirt and stumbled to the door. Her passionless face brightened with an I-can’t-believe-it’s-you smile.

Mr. Chambers came into view.

“Mr. Chambers, do come in,” her mother said. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?”

“I’m sorry to bother you at such a difficult time.” Mr. Chambers rotated his hat in his hand like a waterwheel.

Ushering their guest to a small sofa, her mother struggled to get seated in her lounge chair.

“I’ll heat some water for tea,” Josephine said, leaving Ann and her mother to accept Mr. Chambers’s condolences and answer any further questions about Ivan.

When she returned from the kitchen, she sat in a chair next to the loveseat. Mr. Chambers gave her a friendly nod all the while rubbing his palms together as if winter had set in. What had brought him out to the row houses so late?

“I don’t mean to be forward.” Mr. Chambers cast a glance in her direction. “I came about my son, Geoff.”

“Oh.” Josephine pictured Geoff’s fragile state. Did she leave something in his room? Give him pills the doctor counted? “I hope nothing has happened?” She tried to keep her voice from cracking.

Mr. Chambers shook his head. “Geoff is going to be taking up residence at the Gilbertsens' hunting lodge on Douglas Island for the winter. We thought it would be best for his health.”

“I hear the lodge is very nice,” Mrs. Nimetz said, edging out of her seat.

“It is,” Mr. Chambers agreed. “Mr. Gilbertsen updated the plumbing before he died. Montgomery Ward mail order, I think. Being on the island will shelter my son from the influenza. It’s only a matter of time before the sickness comes here. In his state, we can’t risk an illness.”

“I didn’t realize he could live alone,” her mother said encouragingly.

“He can’t. He needs a caregiver.” Mr. Chambers paused. “I know it’s a sad time for your family, but Josephine spoke of her experience with the Gilbertsens. And Mrs. Gilbertsen has sung Josephine’s praises. It seems she was a superb junior nurse when Mr. Gilbertsen was ill, and I am in need of a nurse.”

“My sister is not a nurse,” Ann corrected.

“Close enough.” Heat rushed to Josephine’s face. “I assisted Mrs. Gilbertsen when her husband had pneumonia. They stayed in town to be close to the doctor, but I cared for his day-to-day needs.”

Her mother’s brows V’d like a flock of gulls. “Josephine helped, though she came home at night.”

Mr. Chambers leaned so far forward she thought he was going to pray on bended knee.

“Geoff needs daily care. I would compensate your daughter well Mrs. Nimetz, at least one and a half times your husband’s salary, and it’s temporary. Geoff will come home next summer. God willing.”

“Absolutely not,” Ann commanded everyone’s attention. “With all due respect, Mr. Chambers, I hear your son is shell-shocked. That lodge is on the other side of the island. What if there’s an incident?”

Josephine bristled at the insult to Geoff. He could be difficult, but he didn’t seem crazy.

Mr. Chambers rested his elbows on his knees. He stopped wringing his hands, and instead, laced them into his graying brown hair. “I assure you, Mrs. Nimetz—”

“Geoff is in his right mind. I met him this morning.” Very early this morning. Josephine stood and crossed her arms. She would not see Mr. Chambers humiliated by Ann’s run-amok mouth. “When did you say the position ends?”

“June.” Mr. Chambers’s voice rose like an Easter hymn. “We expect Geoff will come home then.”

“She is my youngest,” her mother said. “Who will help me sew?”

Ann rubbed her mother’s back.

Josephine glimpsed her mother’s arthritic hands curved in unnatural ways. She didn’t help her mother sew; her mother helped her tailor dresses and suits. With the new department store in town, business had evaporated. She turned to Mr. Chambers. Indebtedness swelled in her chest. The Chambers had taken care of her after her fall. Could taking care of Geoff really be that bad? “Until June you say?”

“Only ’til June,” Mr. Chambers said. His fingers brushed the edge of her sleeve. “Very few people who meet Geoff visit again. You did,” he added softly.

An acceptance caught in Josephine’s throat. Ann was capable of taking care of her mother. The money would cover expenses, even the cost of her mother’s medication.

“I would be forever grateful to you, Josephine. Mrs. Prescott is too busy to take care of Geoff while performing her household duties. And the stress on my wife and young son…” Mr. Chambers stopped to compose himself. “Bradley is only ten. My wife doesn’t think Geoff’s situation right now is appropriate for a young boy to see. I had other arrangements made, but they fell through. I don’t know what else to do. I’m at a dead end.”

Josephine’s pulse raced. Red, itchy blotches erupted on her hands. Her family waited for her answer as if she was declaring the war to be won.

“What about us?” Ann asked, filling silence. “My sister would be leaving the family business to take care of your son. She is almost eighteen. People will talk. And we are already dealing with enough gossip.”

Her mother nodded. “It has been difficult for us.”

Mr. Chambers addressed her mother. “I assure you; I will use my status in this community to suppress any slander against Josephine or your family. People who understand my son’s injuries realize he is not out chasing women.”

If that wasn’t an understatement, she didn’t know what was. Geoff sprinting? Josephine tried to glean any indication of her mother’s wishes before replying to Mr. Chambers. Her mother’s face was as plain as bed linen.

She turned toward Mr. Chambers. “I have taken care of someone who was ill, but pneumonia is different than your son’s injuries,” she paused not wanting to say anything too personal about Geoff. “The salary is generous.” She faked a charm school smile as her mother’s words came back to her about taking much-needed medication, ‘only at night.’ Not anymore. Was she out of her mind?

She cleared the cobwebs from her throat. “I accept. At least I won’t have to sneak a peek at the fashions in Mr. Rickteroff’s store window to see our competition.”

The grooves in Mr. Chambers’s forehead vanished. He shot to his feet and grabbed her hand. “Thank you,” he said, hugging her briefly. “My family is in your debt.”

Josephine’s mother settled back in her chair and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief.

“You are a man of great wealth,” Ann said, diverting Mr. Chambers’s attention. “Surely, doubling my stepfather’s wages is the proper thing to do for Josephine and our family?”

“Very well. Your sister does have experience with the infirm. I’ll send the car for her in the morning.”

Josephine’s mind spun like a top. “I’ll need time to say good-bye. And finish a customer’s blouse.”

Mr. Chambers clasped Josephine’s hand in his. “One o’clock then?” He slowly released his grip. “I won’t forget your sacrifice.”

Josephine nodded. “I will do my best.” She hoped that would be good enough.

Her mother accompanied Mr. Chambers to the door, sending regards to his wife and sons.

Josephine’s stomach hollowed as if Mr. Chambers had snatched her confidence before fading into the night. She recalled her encounters with Geoff Chambers. A chilled night shiver wracked her bones. If only Ivan hadn’t gambled his paycheck. If only her mother hadn’t been arthritic. If only she had earned some of Mr. Chambers’s money before Ivan had need of it.

Her mother wrapped her in a hug. “You are special, my blessing,” she whispered. “With your position, our family will make it through this nightmare.”

Josephine embraced her mother and buried her face in her mother’s braided hair. Will I be able to make it ’til June? Will Geoff?

She didn’t want to leave her mother and sister, but she didn’t want to disappoint Mr. Chambers. Her stitches ached as she remembered her fall in the woods. The Chambers had taken her into their home and tended to her injuries. How could she refuse to take care of their son? Her own compassion had brought her face to face with Geoff. And Geoff did need a nurse. Disappointing Mr. Chambers would weigh upon her heart. Disappointing Mrs. Chambers would cost her a customer. Her best customer.

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like death was the only way she could get out of this arrangement. Geoff Chambers’s death or something short of her own.