Suitor by Design

He waved off her concern. “I’m fine.” But he leaned against the door frame.

“Let me help you back to bed.”

He managed a grin. “I’m not an invalid quite yet.”

“Oh, Daddy. I didn’t mean that.”

“I just wanted you to know how proud I am of you.” His blue eyes misted. “How quickly the years pass. I remember holding you shortly after you were born, and now you’ve grown into a fine, responsible woman.”

Minnie clutched her handbag to her midsection and averted her gaze. The cosmetics secreted inside burned like hot coals.

“How pretty you are,” he said softly. “I like your hair. It reminds me of the style worn by Mariah Simmons.”

She pushed the unruly locks behind her left ear. “I suppose it is similar.”

“She’s a fine woman. You could do worse than to emulate her.”

Minnie kept her head down so he didn’t see the guilt. She wasn’t emulating Mariah or anyone else that Daddy would consider respectable.

“Give me a hug before you go to work,” he said.

She set down her handbag and held on to his thin shoulders as he squeezed her tight.

He tapped a finger to her chin. “Do good work, my little princess, and don’t be in too much of a hurry to grow up.”

“All right, Daddy.” He’d meant to encourage her, yet as she picked up her handbag, she felt terrible.

* * *

“I could use some advice,” Peter admitted to Hendrick once they were alone at the breakfast table.

Mariah had left to get the children ready for a toboggan outing at the hill in the park. Ordinarily, Hendrick would help, but he was headed to the airfield for the test of the new engine. Instead, Pastor Gabe and his wife were joining Mariah for the sledding expedition. Judging from the disputes and shrieking already under way, the three adults would have their hands full, especially when Pastor Gabe’s two children were added to the mix.

Hendrick eyed him solemnly. “Advice on what?”

Peter squirmed. “Women.”

“Ah, women.” Hendrick dug into his eggs with more fervor. “Mariah might be a better person to ask. Or Anna.”

“No. I want a guy’s perspective.” Even though Peter had gotten closer to his foster brother over the years, he still felt awkward asking such a personal question.

“All right, but I warn you I don’t have a lot of experience.”

“You caught Mariah’s attention.”

Hendrick shrugged. “That was more than likely God’s doing. I said a lot of dumb things around her.”

“You did?” Peter was feeling better already.

“Afraid so. I even left her.”

“I remember that. You went to New York, right?”

“Long Island. Dumbest thing I ever done.” Every once in a while Hendrick got his grammar wrong, just like Peter. “By the time I realized how much I missed her, I figured I’d blown my chances.”

“But you didn’t.”

Hendrick grinned. “She’s a forgiving woman. But enough of me. What’s your question?”

Peter looked at his cold scrambled eggs and half-eaten slice of bread. “Just wondering how a guy can impress a gal.”

“Anyone in particular?”

That was the part that made Peter squirm. “Minnie Fox.”

“I see.” Hendrick scooped up the last of his eggs, and Peter had to wait for him to finish. “She’s pretty young. What? Eighteen?”

“Almost nineteen.”

“Humph. Same age as you. Don’t worry. You’ve got plenty of time. I didn’t get married until I was twenty-eight. Wait it out.”

That didn’t help, especially since Peter was a bit older than he’d claimed to be. “But she’s looking at every other guy.”

Hendrick quirked an eyebrow. “Anyone in particular?”

“Vince.” Peter’s shoulders drooped. “He’s your age at least. Why would she think he’s so great?”

“Because he’s new. Give her time. The newness will wear off. Then you mosey up and show her who she really should be looking at.”

Peter frowned. “How?”

“Like I said, you should probably ask a lady.” He must have spotted Mariah, because he called out to her.

She ducked a head into the kitchen, looking rather frazzled. “What is it?”

“What do women want from a guy?” Hendrick said.

Peter slumped down in his chair and shoveled the cold eggs into his mouth as fast as he could.

“Hendrick,” she said, “what a time to ask something like that. I have children running around everywhere.”

“Just thought you might shed a little light on the subject for Peter.”

Why did Hendrick have to go and name him?

“Peter? Oh,” Mariah said, “be yourself. You’re already a special young man. Any girl with half her wits can see that.” Then she hurried off to break up a row over mittens.

“I see what you mean,” Hendrick said. “She wasn’t much help.”

Peter shook his head, seeing as his mouth was jammed so full of eggs that he couldn’t even figure out how to swallow them. He reached for his cup of tea, now cooled to lukewarm.

Hendrick leaned back and folded his hands across his chest, like a sage elder. “If you ask me, a woman likes a man to make her feel special. Tell her she’s beautiful.”

Already tried it. With the tea, Peter managed to choke down part of the eggs.

“You could dress nice,” Hendrick added.

Peter gave him a look of disgust. How could he dress nice when his hands and arms were covered with grease most of the time? Today, Vince was going to show up. Knowing him, he’d have on that nice suit of his. Next to Vince, Peter looked like nothing, especially to a girl who dreamed of meeting a moving-picture actor. With his last swig of tea, he swallowed the rest of the eggs.

It was hopeless. He’d never dazzle Minnie. Not in a million years.

* * *

Though Minnie kept a lookout from the dress shop all day, she never saw the Pierce-Arrow cruise through town. She had intended to walk down to the motor garage as soon as Jen showed up, but her sister never did arrive. Instead, the post-ball customers kept her busy with requests for repairs and cleaning.

When she finally closed the shop at five o’clock, she headed directly for the garage with the envelope containing the day’s receipts and orders tucked in her coat pocket. Soon enough she saw the Pierce-Arrow in the first bay. Vince and Peter hovered near the front end, discussing something.

Minnie pinched her cheeks for color and pressed her lips together, hoping the lipstick hadn’t bled. Her pulse thrummed as she crossed the street and stepped into the garage office.

“Got one that’ll fit?” Vince asked from the work area.

Minnie wrinkled her nose at the pungent combination of grease and cigarette smoke. She instinctively opened her handbag to fetch a handkerchief to place over her nose and then changed her mind. It might muss her face powder, and it certainly wouldn’t impress anyone.

So instead she forced a smile and stepped boldly through the door into the work area. “I’m here.”

Both men stopped talking to look at her.

Her jaw dropped. “What happened?” Their trousers were wet and muddy.

“Flat tire,” Peter said.

The front passenger’s side was balanced on a jack, and the punctured tire lay on the floor.

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