Chloe by Lyn Cote

would have been mine.
He shrugged. “I don’t recall the address.”
    Kimball’s index finger shot out at Roarke. “I’ll find out where she is and you’ll pay for this.” He shook his finger in Roarke’s face. “Mark my words. You’ll pay.” With a last glare around the room, the man stomped out.
    In the silence that remained, Roarke’s mother motioned the housekeeper to pour more coffee. “What an unpleasant man to have at breakfast.”
    Roarke hid a faint smile behind his cup. Leave it to his mother to say just the right thing. The smile was short lived, however. He knew the empty ache inside him would last a long, long time—maybe for the rest of his life. But then, he’d be drafted soon so that might not be as long as he feared.
    In the midst of these dark thoughts, a fresh worry niggled at the back of his mind. He’d better call Kitty and tell her to warn Chloe that her father would be looking for her. He hoped Theran’s precautions would keep Chloe hidden. Roarke had given up Chloe to free her. And it had better work.
    On Monday afternoon, Chloe—wearing the green-sprigged dress, straw hat, and white gloves she’d been married in—waited on the front steps of the red-brick rooming house. The day was warm and she had come outside to force herself to stop crying. When would Minnie show up? She leaned against the black wrought-iron railing and tried not to relive the wrenching memory of Theran marching with thousands of other doughboys onto the ship. His last jaunty wave to her would live in her mind forever.
    A sob tried to swell in her throat; she forced it down. “How can I miss him this much already?” she whispered to herself. She remembered the sensation of lying in his arms, so loved, so protected. Now his ship, bound for France, was hours out to sea.
Theran, please come back to me.
    Chloe caught sight of Minnie turning the corner toward her. The young black girl in a sober new gray dress and plain straw hat was staring up at the corner street signs and house numbers. “Minnie,” Chloe called and waved. “Minnie!”
    The maid saw her and waved in return. “Miss Chloe!”
    Chloe met her up the block and impulsively hugged her. “I’m so glad to see you. How did yesterday go?”
    “I found a good colored church and I met some people,” Minnie said with a perky grin.
    “I . . . I didn’t get to church yesterday,” Chloe confessed.
    Minnie giggled. “I bet you didn’t.” Chloe blushed. Minnie giggled some more and gave Chloe a saucy look. “You sure did marry up with a good-lookin’ man.”
    Again, it was as if they were girls again. Somehow leaving Ivy Manor behind had permitted them to go back in time. Chloe wondered if Minnie noticed this.
    “People at church tole me how to get over here to you,” Minnie went on, “and give me the addresses of a couple of them employment places. Agencies, they call ’em.”
    “Well done.” Chloe was impressed. “I’m ready to accompany you.”
    Minnie turned and Chloe fell into step with her. “The subway station is only two blocks ’way from your place,” Minnie informed her. “That’s good ’cause then you can go anywhere you want, easy as pie. I rode the subway mostly yesterday afternoon so I kin get used to it and find places by myself.”
    “Theran taught me this morning,” Chloe said, feeling a bit queasy. Subways made her stomach jump.
    “New York’s a big place,” Minnie commented. “But I like it.”
    Chloe nodded, hiding her own uncertainty. “I rode the subway back all by myself from seeing Theran off.” She heard her voice catch in her throat. Theran had left her. She pulled her white ruffled handkerchief from her pocket.
    Minnie patted her arm. “You gone be all right. You smart an’ pretty an’ you married to a soldier. Nobody gone mess with you.”
    Chloe felt suddenly determined to put her sorrow away and help her friend. Taking a breath, she nodded firmly. “You’re right, Minnie. I’m going to be