Suitor by Design. Christine Johnson
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land.”
“Don’t worry,” Ruth said. “We’ll be back long before the baby is born. Why, we’ll probably return before the end of winter.”
Mother managed a feeble smile. “I’ll miss you, dear.”
“Me, too.” Ruth hugged their mother. “There is one thing I need to ask.”
Mother pulled away. “What is that?”
Ruth ducked her head. “The fare. We don’t quite have enough saved. I wondered if you might loan us the rest.”
“You’ll have to ask your father.”
Ruth hurried off to do just that, but Minnie knew what the answer would be. Daddy would never deny his most talented daughter a chance at her dream. That left Minnie at home and in charge of the shop. The responsibility was enormous.
Mother must have realized that, too, because she gave her a very stern look. “Are you ready to take charge, Miss Wilhelmina?”
Minnie cringed at her full name. Mother only used it when angry or extremely serious. “I guess so.”
“Humph,” Mother grunted, returning to the bread dough. “We’ll see what your father says. This will be an added burden on him.” She looked up. “And you’ll have to quit your cleaning jobs in order to manage the shop.”
Minnie hadn’t thought of that. Though she’d longed to stop cleaning houses, quitting those jobs meant less money coming in. They would have to get even more frugal. No more cherry sodas or magazines. No frivolous purchases at all, unless she took the job that Peter had offered. Ruth couldn’t do it. Ten dollars would buy a lot of food. She would have to accept the offer—and pray that Vince found her so enchanting that he overlooked the poor workmanship.
* * *
Peter stepped away from Mr. Kensington’s Packard and scratched his head. His plan had gone wrong somehow. Now he was stuck working with Ruth instead of Minnie. Worse, Minnie had tittered and giggled at everything Vince said. It was disgusting. What could she see in Vince? He must be ten years older than her. Then again, she’d been fascinated by Reggie Landers, and he was years older than her, too. After that crush ended, he thought she would come to her senses. Apparently not. It seemed that anyone with a fancy suit caught her eye, but not a hardworking man.
He tossed the wrench into his toolbox and wiped his forehead with a rag. Kensington wanted his car by the end of the day, but he couldn’t seem to concentrate. The morning’s efforts had amounted to removing two valves and picking up the wrong-size wrenches time after time. At this rate, he’d never finish the job on time.
Concentrate. By fixing his attention on the tools, he managed to pick out the proper wrench this time. It slipped from his damp, greasy fingers and clattered to the floor. He wiped his hands on the rag and picked up the wrench.
Just thinking about Minnie made him sweat. She’d twisted things around so much this morning that he’d plumb forgot he wanted to ask her to the church supper tonight. Now he’d have to sit alone with the rest of the family. Hendrick had Mariah. Anna had Brandon. Even Ma Simmons had memories of her beloved late husband. He could only dream of having a gal to love, but he wanted just one. Minnie. He’d fallen for her the moment he set eyes on her, but she’d never given him the time of day. One chance. That was all he wanted. Just one chance.
“Peter?”
The most precious voice in the whole world yanked him out of misery and into a firestorm of hope. “Minnie. What are you doing here?”
She stood in the doorway between the office and the shop, looking so pretty he couldn’t rip his gaze from her. From the red plaid skirt to the matching hat, she could warm up the coldest heart. The snow dusting her shoulders and hat made her even more beautiful. He wiped his brow again.
“You busy?” Her gaze dropped to the floor, her boots dripping with melting snow.
“Not at all.”
She looked up hopefully. “I was wondering if you might reconsider.”
Peter quickly thought through what she might mean and came up empty. “Reconsider?”
“Hiring me.” She shrugged and tilted her head in that way of hers that drove him crazy. “Instead of Ruth. She’s going to New York, you see, and can’t do the upholstering that you wanted. But, if you’d give me a chance, I’d like to try.”
Peter’s heart nearly stopped. She wanted to work with him. His plan wasn’t dead at all.
She dropped her gaze. “I understand. You want someone experienced to help out your friend. Here I went and said I didn’t know how to do it and would do a horrible job and all—”
“All right.” He had to cut her off before she dug a bigger hole.
Her wide-eyed wonder shot an arrow straight into his heart. “You mean it? I can help?”
“Yeah.” Then a thought occurred to him. If she was willing to work with him, maybe she would agree to a little more. “Maybe you can come to the church supper with me.”
She blinked. “Tonight?”
“Yeah. We can, you know, talk things over.”
“Oh. We can’t do that now?”
Peter examined the wrench in his hands. “I suppose, but I’m pretty busy.”
“Oh. But it’s Ruth’s last night home, and we all want to be together. Daddy can’t go out, especially not in this heavy snow.”
Peter could have kicked himself. “I forgot.”
“You couldn’t know.” Her quick smile dazzled him. “I’ll stop by later, then. Your friend is bringing the car on Saturday?”
He nodded, unable to think of a word to say.
“Saturday, then.” She gave him a little wave before waltzing through the office and out of the building.
Peter watched her go, unable to move a muscle and not entirely sure what had just happened except that she wanted to work with him.
He finally had a chance.
The rest of the week flew by in a flurry of activity. Between Ruth and Sam leaving Thursday morning and two clients wanting last-minute alterations on their ball gowns for Friday night’s Valentine’s Day Ball, Minnie didn’t have time to think. She also forgot to notify Mrs. Neidecker that she was giving up her job while Ruth was gone and thus had to serve punch at the ball.
By Saturday morning, she was exhausted.
“Get up, get up,” an annoyingly cheerful Jen called out. “It’s another gorgeous day.”
Minnie pulled the covers over her head. “It’s dark out.”
“I can see the moon and the stars. That means sunshine. Mr. Hunter says that sunny days and cold nights make the airfield perfect for flying. He wants to test out the new cold-weather engine they’ve been designing over at the factory. It’s got a special cowling—”
“Sorry I asked.” Minnie hadn’t understood a word her sister just said. Honestly, she couldn’t fathom how any woman could be the slightest bit interested in mechanical things. She had to practically hold her breath inside the motor garage.
“Better get moving. You have to open the shop this morning.”
“You can do it,” Minnie moaned. “Please?”
“Not a chance. I want to be at the airfield at first light. That’s when the Hunters are testing the motor. If it works, they’re going to start planning for the run to the North Pole.” Jen whistled “Ain’t We Got Fun?” as she headed