скачать книгу бесплатно
“Might be a good idea. And just so you know, I’ve been assigned to keep you safe while you take your photographs.”
“Oh...well, that does make me feel better, I suppose.” She managed a smile.
“You don’t have to take the offer, Millie.”
“I know.”
They walked toward the foyer. “I’m sure there’ll be another one of these days.”
“Perhaps. I assume you want me to say no.”
“It might make my job easier.” He grinned but then turned serious and surprised her when he said, “Actually, Millie, I want you to do whatever you believe the Lord is leading you to do.”
He sounded so sincere Millicent felt bad for presuming she knew what he was thinking. “Please say a prayer I get some direction soon.”
“I will.”
Millicent nodded. “Thank you. I think I’m going on up. Good night.” She headed upstairs. Oh how she wished she and Matt weren’t so different, that he didn’t disapprove of her starting her own business. Especially now she’d seen a side of him he’d never shown her before—his strong belief in letting the Lord guide them.
* * *
As always, the next day passed fairly fast for Matt. There was always much to do and he loved seeing the progress being made. When they broke for lunch, he told his crew about the upcoming photo shoots and wasn’t surprised by their reaction.
“What? Is the boss crazy? He’s letting women up here?” Burl asked.
“He is. I don’t like it much, either, but we don’t have a say in the matter. We just have to watch out for them, and a few of you men need to watch your language, too. You know who you are.” Some of his men talked as if they’d been raised out on a ship somewhere and he certainly didn’t want them offending Elizabeth or Millicent.
“Yes, sir,” several men murmured.
“I don’t like it, though,” Henry said. “I know all too well how easy it is to lose one’s footing up here.”
He was one of the men who’d had a near accident earlier in the week. “I know you do, Henry. I’ll try to keep them away from the edge. I don’t think it will be too much of a problem.” With Millicent’s fear of heights, he wasn’t very worried. But he wasn’t about to tell his men about that fear—they were already skittish about having women on the job as it was.
The rest of the afternoon, they mumbled and grumbled about the upcoming week, but he knew they were just getting their frustration out. Better they do so now rather than later.
Matt wished he could relieve his stress as easily, but it was his friends who were going to be disrupting their work, and he didn’t know who he could complain to, except the Lord. But He already knew how torn Matt was with wanting to help them and not wanting them in his workplace.
When the work whistle blew letting them know it was time to quit for the day, Matt waved goodbye to his crew and after checking the jobs they’d all done to see where they’d begin the next morning, he took off, too.
The men’s grousing had set them back a bit on getting the day’s work done and by the time Matt arrived home, it was almost dinnertime. He hurried downstairs to wash up and made it back up just in time to hear Mrs. Heaton announce that dinner was ready.
He was burning with curiosity to hear Millicent’s decision. Would she decide against taking the offer or would she face her fear?
At the dinner table, he pulled out her chair and heard her whisper to him, “Elizabeth and John want to meet us at the soda shop around eight so we can talk about a schedule of some kind. Will that work for you?”
“You’ve decided to take the offer, then?”
“I have. I telephoned Elizabeth this afternoon.”
Matt nodded. “Eight will be fine with me, then. I’ll meet you in the foyer around seven forty.”
“I’ll be ready.”
Matt wondered if she really were ready for this assignment. But he knew she wouldn’t want any advice from him. She was aware he knew heights frightened her and that he’d been assigned to keep her safe. Her decision was out of his hands and all he could do now was pray that he could keep her out of harm’s way.
* * *
After dinner, Millicent hurried upstairs to neaten her hair and get a lightweight jacket for the walk to the soda shop where she and Matt would meet Elizabeth and John. As the clock in the foyer chimed the time, she rushed downstairs to find Matt standing in the entry to the big parlor talking to the other boarders while he waited for her. Something about his profile, the way that lock of his hair fell across his brow, made her pulse skitter through her veins.
“Are you ready, Matt?”
He turned with a smile. “I am. Just waiting on you.”
“Let’s go, then.”
Once they were on the sidewalk outside, she said, “I hope we won’t disrupt your workday too much.”
He shrugged. “You all won’t be there every day. We’ll catch up if you do.”
“That’s true. I’m not sure what the scheduling will be or how you and the Talbots want to go about it all. I suppose it’s a good thing they want this meeting.”
“I’m sure we can figure it all out.”
Millicent enjoyed the walk with a star-laden sky overhead and lights appearing in the windows of the homes they passed. They turned the corner and walked down to the next, to get to the soda shop the Heaton House group often frequented in warm weather. They didn’t visit it much when the days and nights became much cooler. Somehow ice cream didn’t sound quite as good when it was cold.
Their timing was good. John and Elizabeth were approaching from the other direction and they all reached the shop at the same time.
Their friends’ excitement was evident on their faces and Millicent prayed once more that the Lord would give her courage to do the job she’d agreed to do. She didn’t want to disappoint them and she badly wanted to conquer the fear that threatened to paralyze her. And if she were honest with herself, she wanted to show Matt that she could.
They all entered the shop and Matt looked down at her. “Do you want a sundae or a shake? Or maybe a cone?”
“A chocolate cone, I think.” Millicent began to dig in her reticule for some change.
Matt stilled her digging hand with his. “This is my treat.”
“No, it’s mine,” John said. “After all, you two are agreeing to this because you’re our friends. Come on, Matt. Elizabeth, I know what you want. Why don’t you and Millicent grab that table there by the window before more customers arrive?”
“All right, dear.”
Seeing the look Elizabeth gave her husband, Millicent felt a small stab of envy. She wanted the kind of relationship they had, but she didn’t think it was in her reach. She’d come to believe that all men were against women being independent and owning their own business.
She sighed and followed Elizabeth across the room and took a seat at the small round table overlooking the street. They watched as the young man behind the counter made their cones and handed them to the men, one at a time.
“John is so happy you’ve agreed to help us, Millicent,” Elizabeth said. “He’s thrilled about these articles and so am I. We do love bringing attention to the needs in the tenements and won’t stop doing that, but we’re glad for the chance to do something different.”
“I understand.” And she did. She’d been along with them to take photos several times. “Reporting about the conditions so many live in must get depressing at times and this will be a nice change for the two of you. I’m excited about it, too.”
“I’m glad to hear you are,” John said as he and Matt approached with a cone in each hand.
Matt handed Millicent hers and took a seat beside her while John sat down next to his wife. Millicent took a lick and closed her eyes. She loved chocolate ice cream.
“Well, I thought we should talk about a schedule of some kind, so we all can plan. Matt has said late morning or early afternoon might be best, as the weather will be getting pretty cool going into fall. He’s used to working up high in changing climates, but we are not. So I think the decision should be left to you women to make.”
Millicent and Elizabeth exchanged glances. Both of them were morning people.
“We’d like mornings,” Elizabeth said.
“Sounds good. How about nine?” Matt asked. “That will give us time to get some work done and know what needs to be taken care of for the rest of the day. Hopefully, I can keep the men working instead of ogling you two lovely ladies.”
Millicent felt her face heat at his compliment. “Nine is fine for me. What about you, Elizabeth?”
“Yes. That time is good.”
“We’ll start there. As it gets cooler, we can change the time if we need to. I do feel the need to warn you—I’ve talked to my men, but there are a few whose language is not appropriate for a lady’s ears. Should you hear anything like that, please let me know and I’ll take care of it.”
It was decided they would begin on Friday afternoon.
“We can be as flexible as you need us to be, Matt. My editor will be happy with an article each week if possible, but if not, then hopefully one every other one.”
“That should work well for us. First time up, we’ll show you what’s been done until now and that might be your longest day. After that, you’ll be able to move floor to floor with us.”
Millicent’s stomach fluttered. But was it with excitement or apprehension? She wasn’t sure. She glanced at Matt and found his gaze on her. He smiled.
She answered with one of her own, hoping he couldn’t see how very nervous she felt about it all. When he winked at her, she almost dropped her cone. Oh, that man!
Chapter Three (#ulink_63cf9e7a-0072-5433-a02c-48f66163e434)
The rest of the week Millicent waffled between being excited about the assignment, and fear that she’d lost her mind in agreeing to take it and wanting to find a way to get out of it. She tossed and turned at night until she finally gave it all over to the Lord, asking for peace about her decision. She’d accepted the job and she didn’t want to let anyone down.
Thankful to keep busy with several requests to take family photographs over the next few days, if Millicent wondered why Matt didn’t mention anything at all about the assignment, she told herself it was because he dreaded having people disturbing his workday as much as she dreaded being there.
She’d worked on the album for Mrs. Heaton after coming up from downstairs each night, and Julia and Emily joined her. Emily had to work the coming Saturday, but Millicent and Julia made plans to go to another suffrage meeting that day and decided to make a quick trip to the Ladies’ Mile afterward, so this time when the men asked they could honestly say they’d gone. No need to listen once again to their negative opinion of their attending another meeting.
Still, busy as she’d kept herself, Friday came way too quickly for Millicent. John and Elizabeth picked her up in a hack to have room for her professional equipment, and Millicent felt more nervous than she’d ever been as they met Matt at the bottom of the Park Row Building.
“Come on, let’s go,” Matt said as he led them into the elevator. “I’m glad John helped you get your equipment. I suppose I thought you’d use your Kodak.”
“I wasn’t sure what I’d need,” Millicent said as the elevator began to move. Her stomach did a little flip before settling back in its place and she took a deep breath. She could do this. The Lord was with her and He would get her through.
“I thought I’d stop at each floor so that you’ll be able to see the progress on each one.”
Millicent grasped the rail a little tighter.
“You all right?” Elizabeth asked, looking at her closely. “You’re a little pale.”
No way was Millicent going to admit to being scared—not with Matt there. “I’ll be fine.”
The elevator lurched before coming to a shuddering stop and Millicent’s stomach did a deep dive, while her heartbeat thundered in her ears.
But when the door opened and she saw a mostly enclosed floor, with window openings instead of open space, she began to relax.
“I think I’ll need my tripod and camera for the inside shots,” Millicent said. Matt helped her set it up while Elizabeth and John explored a bit. After she took a few shots, they went up to the next floor and on to the next. Each floor was in varying degrees of construction. Some had offices already enclosed, and others were only framed. They didn’t tarry too long on any landing—only long enough for her to get a few photos of the differences on each. If it weren’t for that jerky elevator, Millicent could say it wasn’t near as bad as she’d thought it would be—until they got to the higher floors, which were mostly open expanses.
“This one is the last one we’ve got floored,” Matt said as the elevator doors opened. “It’s where my men and I are working.”
He went out first to help her and Elizabeth out. Millicent breathed deeply and briefly closed her eyes while his attention was on her friend, trying to fight her way through the fear of being up so high. She opened them again as Matt said, “There’s no ceiling yet, but the floor is solid. Just watch out for equipment and don’t go near where the men are unless I give you permission.”
He took hold of Millicent’s arm and turned to John, who held his wife close. “Follow me.”
As they walked, she caught her breath. Even from the middle of the wide expanse, Millicent saw out to the ocean. “Oh...” she breathed. “It is beautiful up here, Matt.”
“It is, isn’t it? Once you get a little closer, you’ll be able to see more. But you don’t want to look straight down your first time up. But don’t worry. I’m not about to let you get that close to the edge today.”
While the view was everything Matt ever claimed it to be, Millicent began to tremble at the very thought of being near the edge—even though a solid metal rail surrounded it all, she could imagine leaning out too far and—
Matt grasped her arm and turned to John and Elizabeth, bringing her back from where her thoughts were carrying her. “In fact, I don’t want any of you getting near the edge until I believe you’ll be safe and my men can do their jobs without gawking at Millicent and Elizabeth. You’d think they’d never seen a pretty woman before.”
He turned around and strode closer to his workmen. “You men get back to work or I’ll send you home and you’ll be a day short in your pay!”
The men quickly quit staring and returned to doing what they were hired to do, while Matt shook his head and hurried back to Millicent’s side. “I knew it’d be like this.”
“I’m sorry for the disruption, Matt,” John said. “At least we’ll only be here for a while one day a week. Hopefully, they’ll get used to us before long.”
“Oh, they’ll get used to you or they’ll go home,” Matt said. “Come on. You should be able to see the Statue of Liberty from over here.” Matt led her and Elizabeth farther out onto the floor while John followed with the rest of Millicent’s equipment.
He stopped about ten feet from the edge and pointed to the left. “There she is. Can you see her?”
“I can,” Elizabeth said.
“She’s lovely,” Millicent replied. She took her camera from John and set it on its stand in a position to get the best shot at that time of day, and took several photographs of the statue.
In the meantime, she heard Matt point out a man he called Burl to John and Elizabeth, and tell them that they could go ahead and interview him first, and then when the other workmen took their break, they could speak to them while he stayed with Millicent.
She turned her camera a bit and got shots of ships at sea, and then she turned back to Matt a bit too fast and became quite dizzy. As Millicent tried to focus, seeing all the open sky behind him, a wave of nausea washed over her. She swallowed hard and forced a smile.
“You’re white as a sheet, Millicent.” He moved to her side and gripped her arm as if he thought she might collapse. “Do you need to sit down?”
“No! I’m fine. I—” Dear Lord, please give me strength. I don’t want to embarrass Matt in front of all of his men. And she didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of him.
“You aren’t fine. You look like you’re going to...be sick.”
She fought back the notion that he was right and stood straight up. Right now, all she wanted to do was run for the hills—if she could find any. And she wasn’t going to give Matt the satisfaction of thinking he was right all along. She gritted her teeth and whispered, “I am not going to be sick, Matt. I can do this.”
“Millicent, as much as I understand how you want to prove something to yourself, this isn’t the place for a woman, especially one who’s nearly paralyzed with fear being up this high,” Matt said in an exaggerated whisper. “You didn’t have to agree to this... I tried to—”
She looked him in the eye. “Mathew Sterling, I am not going to quit. I’d like to take some photos of Central Park from up here. Can you help me get my equipment to where the best view would be?”
He stared at her for several moments, then let out a deep breath and shook his head. “You are without a doubt the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met!” He picked up her tripod and camera and took off in the opposite direction. “Come on, follow me.”
