Twice a Bride Read Free Page B

waste of your money. My father brings the Topeka Journal home from the smoking club.”
    “Once again you’ve underestimated me.” Helen pressed the newspaper to her chest. “Do you consider Denver Podunk?”
    “Well, it’s not New York. Or even San Francisco. But it is out West, away from Kansas.” Susanna tossed her apron into a basket under the counter. “How did you get hold of a Denver newspaper?”
    “The Denver Post , no less.” Helen held the newspaper out to her as if it were a meaty bone. When Susanna reached for it, Helen took a giant step backward.
    Susanna crossed her arms.
    Helen cackled. “Can’t blame a girl for trying to have a little fun around here.”
    “Why should I care about the Denver Post ?”
    “My brother Harold lives in Denver, and he’s been trying to talk my father into moving us all out there. He sent the paper, thinking all the talk about mines and mills would entice him.”
    Susanna took the newspaper from her and spread it out on the counter.
    “Page five, right side.”
    She flipped pages. “I’m in no mood for chasing rabbits, Helen.” Page five. “Can’t you just tell me what you found so fascin—”
    The headline in the upper right-hand corner of the page froze the word in her throat. “Photographer of the rich and famous drawn to wealthy Colorado.”
    “Trenton?”
    “Keep reading.” A smug smile dimpled Helen’s freckled cheeks.
    Sure enough, the article was about Trenton Van Der Veer. Her Trenton Van Der Veer. “He moved to Colorado … set up a studio in Cripple Creek.”Her finger trailed the margin as she read. “Says here Cripple Creek is on the southwest slope of Pikes Peak. ‘The bulk of Colorado’s millionaires call it home.’ ” Her pulse quickened. “He is still photographing the wealthy.”
    And where there was wealth, there were opera houses and theater companies that needed singers. Given a chance, she could revive Trenton’s plans to marry her, take her to live in New York, and introduce her to the top tier there.
    Helen tapped her perky chin. “Feeling better, are we?”
    “Much better.” Susanna took quick steps to the icebox and pulled out the tray of strawberries. “That information, my dear friend, has earned you not one but two chocolate treats.”
    Helen picked out the biggest strawberries on the tray.
    “I’ve heard good things about Denver,” Susanna said. “It’s called the land of opportunity, you know.” That was especially true if it moved her closer to Cripple Creek.
    Nodding, Helen licked a smudge of chocolate off her bottom lip. “You’re starting to sound like my brother.”
    The information about Trenton was worth the whole shop’s worth of chocolates. Susanna held the tray of dipped strawberries out to Helen. “Any chance your father is considering the move?”

W illow drove Miss Hattie’s surrey down the hill on Fourth Street. She would have suggested she and her mother and Aunt Rosemary walk to the Midland Terminal depot this morning if not for the five bags between the two women. Tucker and Ida had planned to come along, with Tucker in the driver’s seat, but he’d telephoned the boardinghouse just moments ago. Ida wasn’t feeling well, and he thought it best they stay home until Ida felt better.
    She’d rolled out of bed with dawn’s first peek through her upstairs window. This was the day her mother and her aunt would return to the house they shared in Colorado Springs, which meant this was also the day she’d begin her new, independent life in Cripple Creek. She’d visited the city for her brother’s wedding and for Vivian’s wedding, and she’d returned with her folks for Christmas at the parsonage last December, but now it was her home. A bittersweet beginning.
    Her mind had awoken in a sprint, and she had yet to catch up to it, let alone rein it in. Her father had passed. Her mother was moving on with her life. She couldn’t help but think God had brought her here at this time for a