Chapter 27

Nora, Higgie, and Aunt Sorcha sat around the dining table over a big pot of chicken and dumplings.

"We usually eat in the kitchen," Higgie informed her.

Nora was glad that they weren't eating there now. As it was, she couldn't help but make the comparison of this relaxed, companionable

meal with the last uncomfortable dinner she'd had with her own family.

"Well, miss, we'd eat out here more often if we received more visitors," Aunt Sorcha said, then glanced at Nora. "But now

that there are three of us..."

"Oh, I'm not—" Nora began.

"True," said Aunt Sorcha. "Caroline has told me all about it. Consider yourself one of the household now."

After pressing large dessert bowls of fruit on them, Aunt Sorcha quickly washed the dishes and announced that she had a meeting

to attend. "I suggest you two get to bed early. Though I expect you'll be gabbing into the wee hours. I'll lock up when I

return."

And off she went.

Nora was nodding on her feet, but instead of going upstairs, Higgie motioned her to the cozy parlor, where they sat on a long

camelback sofa. Higgie tucked her knees up and leaned back against the rolled arm.

"I'm sure I must be an imposition," Nora blurted. "I don't know why George brought me to you. I'll try to find someplace to live. I'll pay my share here until I do. I really appreciate it and I'm so..."

"Don't you?"

Nora stopped. "Don't I what?"

"Know why George brought you to me? Well, actually to the two of us?"

Nora shook her head.

"Because he knew he could trust us."

Nora was confused.

"To take care of you, ninny."

"I can take care of myself," Nora said without much conviction. She hadn't been doing a very good job of it lately.

"Of course you can, we all can. The point is we shouldn't have to, and we don't have to. But isn't it nice to know someone

cares about how you fare?"

Nora nodded. "You and Sadie and Lavinia have become my best friends."

"And George?"

"He's been very open-minded and helpful."

"We noticed."

"But he shouldn't have imposed on you."

"Aunt and I are delighted to have you here. I especially hope you'll like staying here. I love Aunt Sorcha to pieces but she

usually goes out after dinner and it gets dull having no one to talk to while she's out making the world a better place.

"Really. It will be fun," Higgie assured her. "Unless you don't think you'll be comfortable here?"

"How could I not be?" Nora said, and in spite of her best effort, tears sprang to her eyes.

Higgie pulled a handkerchief from her waistband and handed it to Nora, waited for Nora to dry her eyes, then asked, "Do you

play cards?"

"Gin rummy, but I'd like to learn other games."

"And jigsaws—do you like puzzles?"

Nora nodded. She wasn't sure whether she did or not. She could barely remember her childhood when life was fine and they didn't

know the hardship that was to come.

"But Higgie, I'll pay my fair share."

"Absolutely not. I told you I owed you one."

"But what? I don't remember anything."

"Remember you asked me to the talk on tuberculosis?"

Nora nodded.

"And I got to talking with Dr.Jamison?"

"I remember."

"He asked if I would be willing to give him some pointers on bookkeeping. He's opening his own clinic. I said I'd be happy

to. And, well, he came over one evening and we worked out a method for keeping track of patients and cross-referencing their

care..." Higgie looked away. "Actually, he's visited several times and once he invited me to tea."

"That's lovely," Nora said. "But I didn't do anything. You did."

"You got me away from my drab existence and inspired me to do something worthwhile for a change. I mean outside of keeping

the books for the architectural firm."

"You like him?"

"I do," Higgie said.

"I'm glad. I hope you can help him get set up."

"And make him famous and rich," Higgie added. "Then maybe he will build your hospital."

Nora laughed. "That is a lovely dream."

"Well, it might come true. Please say you'll stay."

"Okay. But do you have an empty jar?"

"Like a mason jar? Yes."

"May I have it?"

"Sure." Higgie frowned but went to get one.

While she was gone, Nora took out several dollars that she'd secreted behind her belt. When Higgie returned with the jar and handed it to her, Nora stuffed the money into it. "You don't want me to pay, but I've seen what anger money causes. I'll just put it in here, so if Aunt Sorcha ever needs it..."

"And if I refuse to take it?"

"Then I will have to find another place to live."

Higgie shook her head. "You're a hard nut to crack, Nora Bromley. You can put your money in the jar, but I have every hope

that one day you'll trust people to be your true friends."

The next morning when Nora and Higgie came downstairs, Aunt Sorcha had their breakfast waiting for them. Oatmeal with raisins

and brown sugar. A delicacy that overwhelmed Nora. They left for work with containers of leftover ham pie, an apple, and flasks

of tea.

They took the trolley uptown. Higgie got off at Twenty-first and Nora continued on to Thirty-first. But instead of going directly

to the assembly room office, Nora stopped by the Colony Club site to thank George and Mr.Wojcik for helping her.

Dressed in a crisply starched shirtwaist, her skirt brushed until it looked new—all thanks to Aunt Sorcha—and her hair done

with special care, she stepped into the new club, and stopped in amazement.

The interior actually looked like a club. Most of the construction equipment had disappeared. The walls were bare and clean

and ready for a coat of paint or wallpaper. Most of the metal shavings and sawdust had been swept away. It must have taken

days for this to get to such a pristine state, but with the murder and the unraveling of her life, Nora had let it happen

without her. She'd slept on the office floor surrounded by darkness never realizing that just outside the door, her dreams

were coming true.

The sound of distant hammering led her to the trellis room, where several carpenters were putting the finishing touches on the fountain base. George was observing them, hands thrust into his pockets.

Nora stood watching, amazed at the building, at the progress, and at her part, small as it was, in the making of it. And she

would do more as soon as Elsie returned and they began installing the furniture and decor. She could already see it. The little

wooden tables and chairs would be perfect for this room. Like being in a garden in winter.

Elsie had been right all along.

George turned and caught her eye, surprise turning to a smile as he strode toward her.

And all the humiliation of being found sleeping like a vagrant on the office floor washed over her.

"You look wonderful," George said. "I mean... you look well rested. I hope you're comfortable at MissHiggins's."

Nora nodded. For a moment... "Yes, thank you. And thank you for helping me yesterday."

"Oh, that; my pleasure." He turned to view the trellis room. "We're making good progress, don't you think?"

"Yes, I do. Well, I'd better get over to the assembly room. I'm sure more things have been delivered while I was... uh...

away."

"Of course. Maybe we... Well, come over any time to check on things."

"Thanks, and tell Mr.Wojcik thank you."

"I will."

Nora turned to go.

"And Nora. You really do look wonderful today."

"Thanks." She managed not to smile until she was out the door and hurrying down the sidewalk.

As the days passed, deliveries of decor accelerated. Each morning Aunt Sorcha would send Higgie and Nora off after a hearty breakfast. Every evening when they returned, Nora exhausted from coordinating the flow of goods and Higgie exhausted from the panic that had turned the architectural firm into chaos, Aunt Sorcha would have dinner ready.

Each week, Higgie brought Nora's paycheck home since they had all decided that it would be better for Nora to stay away from

McKim and Mead, even though they were mostly out of town.

The news about Mr.White's murder ebbed and flowed, but Nora wasn't bothered by reporters again. The wife of Harry Thaw was

giving them enough scandal to keep them in print for ages. The summer passed and Nora forgot about looking for another place

to live.

At first Nora missed her family and felt guilty that she'd somehow failed them. She'd written to tell her mother and Rina

of her move, and had received one letter in return. Her mother apologized, assured her that they didn't think she had done

anything wrong and that she was a good daughter, but she finished with the admonition not to write again, as Louise had threatened

to destroy the letters. "You must forgive her, dear Nora, she has had a difficult life."

They had all had difficult lives, Nora thought unsympathetically. Many people had worse than her family. Rather than moping

around and complaining, they did something about it. There were even other people organizing to help them have a better life.

Rina hadn't added anything to the letter, which could only mean she was still angry. Nora didn't blame her. She was just a

child—or should be.

Nora wondered what her mother would think about her new living situation. At the beginning of each week, Nora put money in

the mason jar for her room and board, and left it on the kitchen counter. Each day when she returned from work, the jar had

been returned to the cabinet. The jar was never emptied.

Aunt Sorcha and Higgie absolutely refused to spend it. It wasn't as if they were rich and could afford to support another person. They were just generous. Something Nora realized she needed to learn. She'd been scrimping and saving for so long, she didn't know how to so easily give more than she received.

At night Nora and Higgie did jigsaws. Sometimes Higgie would work on her tatting while Nora chose a book from Mr.Higgins's

superlative library and curled up in the big comfy chair. Sometimes they just talked about "girl things," according to Higgie.

The summer fell into a steady rhythm. Every morning they would catch the trolley together for the ride to their respective

offices. And Nora found herself missing not just Sadie and Lavinia, but the drafting room, even with Collin Nast in it. Before

the murder, she had begun to earn respect from her colleagues. Some had even become friendly. And she worried about what they

might think of her now.

But then she would forget everything when she arrived at the site and something new and amazing caught her attention as the

building transformed more and more into the Colony Club. The cornices and woodwork had been installed. The walls were primed

for paint and wallpaper. All waiting for Elsie's return.

"We can't wait any longer to hang the ceiling over the swimming pool," Mr.Wojcik informed them one day. "Tomorrow it gets

installed, no more waiting."

Everyone that day stopped their work to go downstairs to watch. Nora took the morning away from her burgeoning inventory to

watch the trellis arbor carefully raised piece by piece over the swimming pool just like Mr.White had described it. When

the last section had been tied off at the proper height, the electricity was connected, and above them, hundreds of tiny lights

winked from grapes of clear blown glass.

Fit for Grecian goddesses , Nora thought. And tried not to imagine MissMorgan or MissMarbury and quite a few of the others garbed in bathing costumes.

"All the trappings of a pagan orgy," Mr.Wojcik whispered to George.

George laughed. "The ladies will love it."

There weren't too many meetings since almost everyone was still out of town for the summer. But Nora was not lacking in her

introductions to new ideas. There were nights when Nora and Higgie helped make signs for Aunt Sorcha to take when she left

to go out marching and meeting for causes that Nora had already begun to learn about from the Colony Club lectures. And while

they painted, they discussed a myriad of topics, the future of medicine and the modernization of working conditions. Unions,

housing, and even women getting the vote, which was a particular hobbyhorse for Aunt Sorcha.

Nora often wished she could introduce her to the Colony Club ladies; she would be a powerhouse among them. But it was an exclusive

club, no matter what their great works were. Besides, as Sorcha pointed out the one time Nora mentioned it, "There are more

organizations out there than a person could ever join. The way to resolve problems is from all angles."

On the nights when Aunt Sorcha was home they would play cards or dominoes. Some nights Dr.Jamison would join them for dinner

and a rubber of canasta, for which Nora was showing some aptitude. There were even a few times when Aunt Sorcha, busy with

a speech she was writing, insisted they invite George to make a fourth. Those were the really fun nights where concentration

on the game soon devolved into laughter and good-natured claims of foul, until Aunt Sorcha's return startled them into complete

silence. She'd look over the group while they held still, then say brightly, "Carry on." And went off to make them all tea.

It was fairly clear to Nora that there was more to Higgie and the doctor's friendship than playing cards and bookkeeping. Even though Higgie would deny it, saying that she could never leave Aunt Sorcha. "She's taken care of Papa and me since my mother died years ago. I couldn't repay her by leaving her to live alone."

"I'd hardly call her alone," Nora said. "She's out almost every night with one group or another. And besides, I'm here." Nora

bit down on her words. "Not that I could ever take your place, but she would have someone nearby if she needed help with something."

"But what about you?" Higgie asked.

"What about me? I have my work so far. And when this project is over, I'll get another one... somehow. I doubt if I'll

be able to stay at McKim, Mead, and Whi—" She stopped. There was no more White. And yet he seemed to live in every room of

the new Colony Club.

"Oh, I know that, I have every confidence in you. But there are other things... other people, maybe?"

"I doubt my family..."

Higgie shook her head. "I wasn't thinking of your family, Nora."

"But I am."

"I know. I hope they appreciate you for it." And that ended the conversation.

One afternoon when Nora was overseeing the delivery of twenty cartons of dining linens to the fifth-floor restaurant, George

strode into the room. He turned an expert eye on the proceedings and pulled her aside.

"Almost finished?"

"I hope so."

"Well, let somebody else finish. Mrs.Tova has been asking where you are. She demanded I bring you to tea today."

Nora looked back at her boxes—not exactly what she'd planned for her career in architecture, but Elsie would be back any week

now. "But I have—"

"To come with me," George finished for her. "Where's your hat?"

"Oh, George, I don't wear a hat on work days."

She quickly asked one of the staff to finish unpacking and verifying as George steered her toward the doorway.

Mrs.Tova greeted Nora as if she were a long-lost relative, talking animatedly about everything and piling pastries and sandwiches

on plates.

"Ah, it's about time. You are too busy to come and see me?"

"I've been swamped," Nora said. "I'm sorry."

"No matter. You are here now. And now we can properly celebrate."

"What are we celebrating?" Nora asked.

"Your very own Saint George."

George groaned. "I think you might have wandered into blasphemy, Mrs.Tova."

"No, no, no. It is true."

"What?" Nora asked, intrigued.

Mrs.Tova crooked her finger for Nora to move closer. "It is a secret." She crooked her finger again.

Nora moved closer. "About what?"

"Of how that no-good Nast fellow got a black eye."

"You've never even met the man," George protested.

"Bah. Our Georgie fixed his wagon right fine." She beamed at George, who looked uncomfortable. "After that newspaper said

all those things, he went right over there and gave him two black eyes."

"One," George mumbled and frowned at her.

"George?" Nora asked, surprised. She didn't believe it. He was so calm all the time.

"I lost my temper," George admitted.

"Protecting your honor, he was." Mrs. Tova nodded sharply, giving George her blessing.

George was busy fumbling with his napkin.

"He was a lion," called one of the men at a table across the room.

"George the lionhearted!" his companion agreed, and they both lifted their tea mugs toward George, laughing heartily.

George just ducked his head and frowned at Mrs.Tova. "A secret, huh?"

"Oh, my pigeon pies are in the oven." She bustled off.

"Did you really give Collin Nast a black eye for what he said about me?"

George nodded. "If you must know, yes. And I'd do it again," he said, then stuffed a jelly tart into his mouth to end the

conversation.

"That's how you bruised your knuckles? I thought it was from the job. Thank you." She didn't know what else to say, but she

basked in the glow of feeling that someone would do that for her.

Neither of them mentioned it again, but as he was walking her back to the assembly room, he took her arm. "I've been thinking

lately..."

She turned to him, scrutinized his face. "You sound very serious."

"I am. I've been thinking about the future."

Oh, God, what now? Was he going to pull her off the Colony Club project? Had her reputation become as bad as that?

"We're so busy now; can't we worry about the future later?" Besides, she was already worried about her future. Petrified.

She only kept her wits about her by staying busy and not thinking about anything except the job at hand. And she couldn't

lose this job, too.

He smiled down at her. "You're right. One thing at a time." He slipped her arm in his. "Well, now, do you think they finished

counting the tablecloths while you were gone?"

Nora shrugged. "I sure hope so." And at that moment she hoped a lot of things: that she'd stay employed, that she would one day build her hospital and all the other buildings that lived in her head. That all her new friends would prove to be lasting friends. That her family would welcome her back one day...

"What?" George asked, breaking into her thoughts.

"Nothing," said Nora, reeling as the most traitorous thought she'd ever had caught her unawares. She wanted to be happy.