The Perfect Wife Read online

  Chapter Five

  Since Natalie would be gone for a while, Mark decided to pay his friend, Ben Martin, a visit. With Natalie upset and heading off to Tony’s farm, there was no point in going to church. Everyone knew he’d gotten married. If he showed up without her, who knew what rumors would circulate through Omaha? He was much better off heading out to his friend’s parsonage instead.

  Thankfully, Ben’s church service was earlier than the service Mark went to in downtown Omaha. Ben’s parish presided over the rural community, and those people liked to get the service done with plenty of time to do chores at their farms. When Mark arrived at Ben’s small parsonage, he got out of the buggy, secured the horse to the post, and opened the screen door. “Knock, knock,” he called out.

  From inside, there was a loud groan. “Why are you here?”

  Mark entered the house and shut the screen door behind him. Ben wasn’t in the parlor as he expected.

  “I have good news,” Mark called out as he passed through the parlor. “Annabelle will be coming over to my house for dinner on Thursday evening. Be there at six.”

  “I’m not going,” Ben replied from the kitchen.

  Mark went to the kitchen and saw Ben slumped in a chair, his head on the table. A couple of peppermints were next to him. Mark’s eyes widened. Ben only sucked on peppermints when his stomach was bothering him.

  “Are you sick?” Mark asked.

  He didn’t bother looking up at Mark. “Yes. I’m sick with guilt. I never should have agreed to marry you and your brother to those poor ladies without telling them what was going on.”

  “Not you, too.” Mark sat in the chair across from him. “This is ridiculous. There was no way Velma was going to marry Tony if she knew about it. She and Natalie would have been fighting over me until we were all in our graves. I didn’t get to where I am by sitting around and waiting for things to happen.”

  Ben lifted his head. “I’m not blaming you for any of it, Mark. I blame myself. I should have had the courage to tell you no. I’ve let you talk me into a lot of things over the years, but never once did you ask me to do something this serious.” He picked up another piece of peppermint and stuck it in his mouth. “I couldn’t sleep at all last night, and I could barely eat breakfast.” He rubbed his stomach. “I feel awful. I hate lying. Do you have any idea how hard it is to give a sermon in front of a bunch of people knowing full well I participated in sinning?”

  “No,” Mark admitted. “I don’t. But why should I be stuck with Velma just because she wanted it? Why should Natalie be forced to marry Tony—who didn’t even want her—because Velma wanted it? Since when does Velma get to make all of the decisions for everyone?”

  “I understand why you did what you did, but it doesn’t excuse my part in the whole thing. You’re not a preacher. You’re not held to the same standard that I am.” He let out a long sigh. “Tony and Velma didn’t even come to church today. Tony never misses a Sunday. Even when he has to stay up through the night to take care of an animal, he comes to the Sunday service. He hates me. Because of me, he might even hate God.”

  “Tony’s not going to hate God because of it.”

  “How can you be sure? A preacher’s conduct can have an impact on what people think of God.”

  Mark considered Ben’s words. He supposed his friend had a point. How often did he watch what he said and did around his clients so that they would be happy with the construction project? Happy clients meant business, and business meant money. Ben’s business just happened to be spiritual in nature.

  “I didn’t think of things that way,” Mark admitted. “I was wrong to involve you in my scheme. Looking back, I should have just told Velma I was marrying Natalie and let her tell Tony she didn’t want to have anything to do with him. I honestly did think I was doing the right thing by lying to everyone. I thought once Velma got alone with Tony, she would realize how much he loves her and that money isn’t the most important thing in the world. But I can see I was wrong. Tony’s not happy, so obviously, Velma didn’t figure that out yet.”

  “Lying never accomplishes anything good.” Ben rubbed his stomach. “I’m done with it, Mark. I don’t care what you come up with next time. I’m going to be honest about everything.”

  Mark studied his friend as he put another peppermint into his mouth. He didn’t realize how much this kind of thing bothered his friend. He supposed he’d gotten so used to lying to clients in order to make them feel good that lies didn’t bother him as much as they bothered other people. If Mark had told half the clients the truth, they wouldn’t ever do business with him again.

  Telling a man that he told boring stories or a woman that she had no fashion sense when they insisted on asking him for his opinion wouldn’t work. They’d take offense to the truth and find business elsewhere with someone who was willing to tell them what they wanted to hear. Despite what Ben thought—despite what Natalie and Tony thought—this wasn’t a black or white issue. There were shades of gray to consider.

  But Mark liked Ben. Ben was one of the few people who’d been with him through everything, and because of that, Mark decided he wasn’t going to involve him in anything that involved lying again.

  “I won’t ask you to lie for me ever again,” Mark promised his friend.

  Ben glanced at him, as if not believing it. “Really?”

  “Really.” When Ben relaxed, Mark added, “I’m sorry, Ben. I didn’t realize it would affect you this way.”

  “Thanks, Mark.”

  “Do you feel better?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “Good because you’re down to your last peppermint.” He glanced around the small kitchen. “Unless you have more hidden somewhere.”

  “No. This was it. I went through the entire jar between yesterday and now.”

  Mark shook his head. “You’re going to smell like mint for a week.”

  Ben chuckled, and Mark was glad his friend was finally at ease. “Are you sure you don’t want to come to the dinner on Thursday? It would be a good chance for you to speak to my sister.”

  “No. I can’t spend an evening with her under these circumstances.”

  With a shrug, Mark stood up. “Alright. You can’t blame me for trying to talk sense into you. If you don’t act fast, someone else will swoop in and sweep her off her feet.”

  Though Ben didn’t seem all that pleased with the possibility of such a thing happening, he stood by his decision, so Mark accepted it. He just hoped Ben wasn’t making the wrong decision in not taking the opportunity to be with Annabelle.

  ***

  Natalie wiped the tears from her eyes, but it was no use. No matter how much she tried not to cry, the tears kept coming. Her visit with Velma hadn’t turned out well at all. She had apologized to Velma. She had even told her that she hadn’t known what Mark had done until this morning. But Velma hadn’t wanted to hear any of it. She’d ordered Natalie off of her property and went back into the sod house, slamming the door behind her as she did so.

  Natalie should have known Velma wasn’t going to believe her. From the moment they met, Velma had been skeptical of almost everything. She hadn’t believed she could cook. She hadn’t believed she could sew. The only thing she felt she could do with any kind of talent was cleaning, and even then she had wondered if she could do as good a job as her maids had. It’d taken Natalie considerable time to assure her that she’d done just fine. Velma seemed to think the only thing she was good at was entertaining wealthy people. But that was absurd. Natalie knew she could do other things. Velma just chose not to do them because she was afraid she’d fail.

  If only Velma had let Natalie or Jenny teach her how to cook and sew, she probably wouldn’t have resisted marriage to Tony so much. Looking back, Natalie wished she had been more persistent in teaching Velma what to do. Then, maybe then, they’d be on speaking terms right now.

  By the time she returned home, she had managed to calm down enough so that she wasn’t sobbing
uncontrollably. She was, however, still in tears. The coachman gave her a sympathetic look as he helped her out of the carriage.

  As much as she appreciated it, it only brought more tears to her eyes. She went up the steps of the large house, and when she reached the front door, the butler opened it before she could turn the doorknob. She forgot the butler opened the front door. She mumbled an apology and made a beeline for the stairs that would take her to her bedroom.

  “Natalie?”

  She paused as soon as she recognized Mark’s voice coming from the formal parlor. She didn’t know if she wanted to see him yet or not. She was torn. While she was still mad at him, another part of her wanted to be with him. She’d never been in love with anyone, so the contradiction confused her.

  Mark hurried over to her. When he saw her tears, he rubbed her back and said, “I take it things didn’t go well with Velma.”

  “How could they?” She wiped more tears away. “She thinks I knew you lied to her.”

  He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her to the formal parlor. Once there, he shut the doors then encouraged her to sit next to him on the couch.

  “Natalie, you’re such a sweet person. It’s one of the things that made me fall in love with you.”

  “Why did you make Velma think she was marrying you? Why didn’t you just tell her you wanted to marry me?”

  “Because she wouldn’t have accepted it.”

  “Yes, she would have. She and I agreed that if you chose me, or if you chose her, then the other person would marry Tony.”

  Mark shook his head. “I know you would have accepted it, but she wouldn’t have.” Before she could protest, he took her hand in his and squeezed it. “I’ve been around a lot of people, and I’ve picked up many things along the way. Velma was determined to marry me. If I had let her know I was going to marry you, she would have gone to my parents and tried to coax them into talking me into marrying her instead of you.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  “No, I’m not. Do you know where Velma stayed on Friday?”

  “She went to your parents’ house.”

  “And do you know why she did that?”

  “She had to mend her wedding dress.”

  “No, that wasn’t why she did that.” He brushed his thumb along her hand, an action which helped to sooth her swirling emotions. “She was trying to convince my parents that I was better off being married to her.”

  “You don’t know that for sure.”

  “Yes, I do. Didn’t you pay attention to the things she was telling my parents when we all had dinner together?”

  Not sure what he was getting at, she hesitated to answer.

  “She dropped all of those hints about how her own family entertained a lot of clients,” he told her, his voice soft. “She was trying to impress upon them how prudent it was that I pick her.”

  “But she said Tony worked hard and that he contributed a lot, too.”

  “She said that in order to get my parents to think that you—a farmer’s daughter—would be a better match for him than she would be.”

  Natalie gasped. “No, that wasn’t why she said that. She said that because she realized you’re not the only one who works hard.”

  “I know how to read people, and she was hoping to get my parents to use their influence to get Tony to marry you. Then she’d be free to marry me.”

  No. He had to be wrong. Velma might have wanted to marry Mark, but she wouldn’t have resorted to manipulative tactics to get her way. She had agreed that she would marry Tony if Mark only told her that he didn’t want to marry her. It was as simple as that.

  She studied Mark’s face and saw that he believed everything he was saying. He was fully convinced that Velma was trying to influence him and Tony through their parents.

  “If I had been upfront with Velma,” Mark continued, “she would have found reasons to delay the wedding.”

  “That can’t be true.”

  “It is, sweetheart.” She shook her head, but he added, “I know you want to believe the best in everyone, but not everyone has the best of intentions. You have to be careful.”

  “Should I be careful with you since you lied to everyone?”

  “That’s different.”

  “Is it?”

  “Yes. I was doing what was best for everyone. Velma will be happy with Tony once she gives him a chance. I saw the way she looked at him. Deep down, she wanted to marry him. And there’s no doubt he wanted to marry her.”

  She bit her lower lip. She thought she had noticed the attraction Velma had had for Tony, but she had convinced herself she’d been imagining things since Velma pushed so hard to be with Mark.

  “Velma didn’t want me. She wanted my money,” Mark said. “I know I can’t prove any of this, but I’m asking you to believe me. Please, Natalie, have faith in me. I realize the means by which I made everything happen weren’t ideal, but it was the only way we could be together.” He paused then added, “Tony’s a good man. He’ll treat Velma right. He’s dependable, hardworking, and, though he looks a little rough because of the stubble on his face, he’s tender. She’ll be happy. I promise.”

  Since he seemed so sure of things, she felt herself relaxing. “I hope so. I want Tony and Velma to be happy together.”

  “They will be.” He squeezed her shoulders. “And I promise I won’t lie to them ever again.”

  “Or me?”

  “I won’t lie to you, either.”

  “Thank you.”

  He kissed her. “Just so you know, there was no client that I had to meet yesterday. I only said that to get us out of the church before everyone started chasing me with pitchforks and fire.”

  She chuckled. “They wouldn’t have done that.”

  “You saw how upset Tony was. I’m sure he would have rallied everyone against me in under five minutes. He’s a force to be reckoned with when he’s angry. You might have ended up a widow a lot sooner than you expected when you promised ‘till death do us part’.”

  “No one would have killed you, but I understand why you hurried out of there as soon as the vows were done.”

  He rubbed her back. “So, you’re not mad at me anymore?”

  “No, I’m not.” She pulled him in for a hug. “I just hope you’re right and that Tony and Velma will be happy.”

  “I don’t know if they’ll be as happy as us, but I assure you they will be.”

  He brought his lips to hers, and soon, she forgot about everything but how wonderful it was to be in his arms.

  Chapter Six

  “You’ll be happy to know Tony and Velma were in town today,” Mark’s father said as he came into Mark’s office.

  Mark looked up from his desk where he was working on the sketch of the new project they had just contracted to build. “What did they do?”

  “They went to Miss Flynn’s.”

  “The Miss Flynn who makes dresses?”

  His father gave him a wry smile. “Is there another Miss Flynn?”

  Mark thought it over and realized the only other Miss Flynn was the woman’s thirteen-year-old sister. So technically, the answer was yes, but since the sister was only thirteen, he decided not to point this out.

  “Anyway, the two seemed to be getting along,” Mark’s father said. “I would have approached them, but I thought it best to stay out of their way for the time being. A newly married man should have some time alone with his wife.”

  Unable to resist teasing his father, Mark replied, “Which is why I’m sitting in this office when I could be with Natalie.”

  “You’re the one who scheduled all of these projects. You could have cleared your calendar to stay home.”

  “And miss out on Mr. Gordon’s visit? I don’t think so. I’ve been working on getting him as a client for half a year.”

  It’d taken him a great deal of effort to secure Mr. Gordon’s account through letters. Another client told him Mr. Gordon was looking to move to Omaha to open a res
taurant, and as soon as Mark found out, he’d started a correspondence with the man in hopes no one else would get to him first. Now that Mr. Gordon was in Omaha, he wasn’t about to let it go.

  Besides, the fact that Natalie didn’t get to see him all the time would only mean she’d miss him during the day, and if she missed him, then she’d be happy to see him. And if she was happy to see him, she’d follow him to his bedroom and he could have his way with her.

  “Mark?” His father snapped his fingers in front of Mark’s face.

  Mark jerked. “What?”

  His father smiled in amusement. “I didn’t think you were listening. I was just asking if you want me there when you talk to Mr. Gordon.”

  “No, I need to start handling new clients on my own.”

  “Alright. I’ll let you get back to work.”

  Mark gave him a nod and returned back to the sketch he was doing.

  About fifteen minutes passed before his secretary knocked on his door. “Mr. Larson, your sister wishes to see you.”

  Before Mark could tell him to let her in, she breezed past him. Judging by the look on her face, she wasn’t the least bit happy with him. She walked right up to him and set her hands on her hips.

  “I can’t believe you pulled such a horrible stunt on Tony,” she blurted out.

  Mark glanced at his bewildered secretary. “Shut the door and leave us alone.”

  There was no need for others to hear this. Annabelle wasn’t one to keep her opinion to herself. He should have known she would stop by to give him a piece of her mind.

  “You are a horrible person,” Annabelle continued. “How could you do that to Tony? How could you let him think Velma wanted to marry him?”

  “Didn’t you talk to our father about this?” Mark asked as he gave her his full attention. “I explained this to Father yesterday.”

  “All Father said was that you said Velma wants to be with him. Father said we should see how things work out before we tar and feather you.”

  His eyes grew wide. Tar and feather him? Surely, she couldn’t be that upset.