LITMIR.BIZ

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nodded.

      Amanda conceded defeat and threw on her coat. The hat took longer, since the pins refused to hold it in the proper place. Every time she thought she had it just right, she’d take a step, and the hat would slide to the side.

      “You don’t need to look perfect,” Pearl complained. “At this rate we will never get there. Here.” Pearl tied the ribbons under Amanda’s chin.

      “You know I hate to have anything tied under my chin.” Amanda tugged on the ribbons, but Pearl had knotted them.

      “If we don’t go now and get this taken care of, there won’t be any time left to cook.”

      “Then we can forget this little errand that you refuse to divulge and go straight into cooking lessons.”

      Pearl laughed. “You can’t wriggle out of this that easily.” She opened the front door. “Come along.”

      Amanda gave up and followed her friend. Instead of heading to the store, Pearl took off in the opposite direction, toward the dunes. Amanda hurried and caught up.

      “Where are you going?” Her words came out in gasps.

      “It’s a surprise. Don’t you love surprises?”

      “It depends. Some of your surprises didn’t turn out all that well. Like the excursions you proposed back at the orphanage.”

      “They would have been highly educational if Miss Hornswoggle could have overlooked that one little problem at the cathedral.”

      “The boys claimed we locked them in that room with all the robes, when they should never have gone in there in the first place. And you made me go tell Miss Hornswoggle, so she could fetch someone to unlock the door.”

      Pearl shrugged. “She always forgave you anything. I would have had to clean the floors for two months.”

      Amanda laughed at the memory. “She did have a soft spot for me.”

      “And no wonder. You are the sweetest, prettiest girl on earth.”

      Pearl’s words sent a shiver down Amanda’s spine. Hugh had said the very same thing, but he hadn’t meant it. “No surprises, please.”

      Pearl laughed. “This isn’t bad. I promise. And I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.”

      Amanda wasn’t certain she believed her. “Then tell me where we’re going and what we’re going to do there.”

      “You’ll find out soon enough.”

      Amanda sighed. She would have to guess. “Does it have something to do with that project you asked me to work on?”

      “Perhaps. In a roundabout way.”

      Amanda hated when Pearl acted like this. It meant she had come up with some grand idea that involved her. When Pearl had approached her about coming to Singapore, she’d held back all the details until Amanda agreed to consider it. By then Pearl had purchased the train ticket to Chicago for her. If Amanda hadn’t suffered such humiliation at Hugh’s hands, she might have asked more questions, but she was eager to leave. Only after they were settled on the train, carpetbags safely stowed, had Pearl shown her the advertisement. At first Amanda had rejected the idea of marrying a stranger. The memory of Hugh’s cruel treatment of her still stung. She couldn’t imagine allowing another man to touch her, but as the train ride wore on she began to realize the advantages. A man advertising for a wife would not expect a great deal. He wouldn’t care about her past. He must be desperate and could not possibly reject her.

      How wrong she’d been.

      Again she had to hurry her step to catch up to Pearl, who was heading in the wrong direction. “If we’re working on that project, why aren’t we going to the school or the store?”

      “Oh, I doubt you’ll work on it at either place, at least not until just before Christmas.” Pearl stopped in front of a weathered house that could use a good whitewashing. Even the shake shingles looked a bit threadbare. “Here we are.”

      “At a stranger’s house? Who lives here?”

      Pearl smiled coyly. “Let’s find out.”

      Amanda gasped. “You’re going to barge in on strangers?”

      Pearl only laughed as the opened the door. “Come in with me.” She grasped Amanda’s hand. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

      Pearl dragged, and Amanda reluctantly followed, but the tug up the single step made her stumble. She looked down to catch her footing, and her hat slipped to one side. She frantically tried to straighten it before entering the house.

      “Here we are,” Pearl called out as she tugged Amanda through the doorway.

      It took a few seconds for Amanda’s eyes to adjust to the lower light. When they did, she found herself face-to-face with Garrett Decker.

      * * *

      Garrett should have known that Pearl would drag her friend along. Since the day the ladies arrived on the Milwaukee, Pearl had been promoting Amanda. None of that matchmaking had been subtle, but for good measure Roland constantly pointed it out.

      “Oh!” Amanda gasped, quickly straightening the hat that had slipped slightly to the side. “I didn’t know.” Pink suffused her cheeks, not from the cold. “I would never have intruded.”

      “Nonsense,” Pearl said, her gaze sweeping around the room. “You’ll need furnishings, of course, but first a good scrubbing is in order.” She crossed to the kitchen stove and examined the firebox. “Full of ashes. No doubt one of the workers left it this way. No matter, a little elbow grease will take care of that. Speaking of grease, this stove needs to be scraped. It smells rancid. When was the last time someone lived here? You can’t bring children into this house until it’s clean from top to bottom.”

      Garrett’s head spun as Pearl continued her instructions. It didn’t help that Roland was snickering the whole time. As for Amanda, she looked even more confused and embarrassed than he was. For the first time since the fire, he felt for her. Clearly, Pearl had roped her into this without saying a word. Roland’s chortles meant he’d known exactly what his fiancée had been up to, yet he’d failed to mention that Pearl was bringing Amanda along. There was no doubt about it. He and Amanda had been thoroughly set up.

      “Of course you will need curtains. With ruffles, don’t you think?” Pearl addressed that last to her friend, who stared dumbfounded.

      “No ruffles,” Garrett snapped. A man had his limits.

      Pearl ignored him. “Roland says you can have any of the scraps and discarded fabrics from the store. I saw some pretty lace in the bin.”

      “No lace, either,” Garrett added.

      Again Pearl charged ahead without seeming to hear him. “With Mrs. Calloway’s sewing machine, it won’t take any time at all to make curtains for all the windows.” She looked around. “There aren’t that many. Two in front and this one in the kitchen. I assume those are bedrooms.” She headed to each, poked her head in and came back with the report that each bedroom contained one window. “That’s only five windows, and these front ones are the largest. What color would go best?”

      Considering the walls were a dingy, unplastered gray, the color didn’t much matter. Unless it was too bright.

      “No bright colors,” Garrett stated.

      Amanda finally found her voice. “I think that Mr. Decker and the children must approve the colors and design.”

      Garrett was warming more to Amanda Porter by the minute.

      Pearl blazed right ahead. “Of course. Perhaps you and Garrett should go through the available fabrics now.”

      Garrett coughed. This was getting out of hand. “I have repairs to make on the house before

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