Janet Barton - Somewhere to Call Home

“Oh, no, dear. She does bring back memories of being in Ashland before Becca left to come here...but those memories are good ones and I welcome them.”

Michael gave his mother a quick hug. “I’ll be grateful that she’s here then and do all I can to make the transition to the city easier for her.”

“Thank you, son.”

Michael watched his mother leave the room, hoping that she was right and that it would be good for her to have Violet here. She could use some joy.

Becca’s sudden disappearance after she’d moved to New York City three years earlier had changed their lives forever. It’d been the catalyst for selling their home in Ashland, moving here and starting the boardinghouse. Thankfully, his father had provided for his mother well so that they could fulfill her wishes. She wanted to give safe haven to the people who lived under her roof, especially the young women. She wanted them to have a place they felt was home even while missing their own. And she wanted to make sure that their families would never have to hear that their loved one was missing, never to be heard from again.

Michael had been trained as a private investigator by the best. He’d worked for Pinkerton before opening his own detective agency, and now he made it his life’s work to try to help his clients who had heard those same words—or others similar to them—and to follow each and every lead that might turn up about his sister.

That Violet was the daughter of his mother’s best friend and their next-door neighbor was enough to make him want to watch her as closely as he would Becca, if she were here. Becca was several years older than Violet and while one wouldn’t have called them best friends, he’d always considered them friends and had teased Violet as much as he had his own sister. He knew that if anything happened to Violet, his mother would blame herself, and Michael couldn’t let that happen.

He stood and rubbed the back of his neck before heading down the hall to the front parlor. Their boarders were a good group for the most part, but after what his mother had told him about Violet, he wanted to be there to try to put her at ease among strangers.

“Why, Michael, how nice of you to join us early tonight!” Lila Miller, a young woman who’d been with them for nearly a year, left the side of Luke Patterson and headed in his direction as soon as he entered the parlor.

“Good evening, Miss Miller, everyone,” he said, trying to make eye contact with each person in the room.

“To what do we owe this honor, Michael?” Lila asked. “You’ve barely been on time for meals the last few weeks.”

He’d like to tell her that it was her company he’d been trying to avoid lately, but that was out of the question, of course. Michael didn’t want to offend her. He just didn’t like the way she fawned over him.

“I thought I’d greet our new boarder when she comes down.”

“Oh?” Lila raised a narrow brown eyebrow. “She’s here then?”

“She arrived this afternoon.”

“And she’s here now.” Elizabeth Anderson, one of his mother’s favorite boarders, entered the room just ahead of Violet. “Everyone, meet Violet Burton. I met her at the landing. She seemed a bit hesitant to come down, but I promised her that we’d all be on our best behavior. At least until we get to know her better.”

The young woman who’d followed Elizabeth into the room smiled at everyone and said, “I took her at her word.”

That brought chuckles from the boarders gathering around her, and Michael quickly crossed the room to her side. “Violet, I hope you’ve been able to get some rest?”

His mother was right. This was not the Violet he remembered. That one had been a young girl and, while pretty and sweet, this Violet was a fully grown woman and a lovely one at that. Her black hair was swept up on top of her head, and when her gaze settled on him, he was struck by how brilliantly blue her eyes were.

“I did, thank you, Mr. Heaton.”

She hadn’t called him Mr. Heaton back home. It’d only been Michael...and that in an exasperated tone when he’d been teasing her and Becca. He chuckled at the memory. Perhaps she was only doing it now because of the boarders, but he didn’t like it. “Oh, come now, Violet. Surely as long as we’ve known each other, we can dispense with the formalities, can’t we?”

She looked up at him and her smiled deepened. “I suppose we can...Michael.”

But her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes and the wary expression in them reminded him of all she’d been through so recently. Suddenly his protective instincts rose up full force, shocking him with their intensity. In that moment, Michael knew he’d do all he could to keep Violet Burton safe and to help her adjust to her new surroundings.

Chapter Two

“Dinner is served,” Mrs. Heaton announced from the dining room. “Come along, everyone, we’ll make the remaining introductions while we dine.”

Michael held out his arm and Violet hesitated for a moment before taking it. This was Michael Heaton, after all, not a complete stranger. He’d been her neighbor for years and he was only escorting her across the hall to the dining room. Although he was several years older than Violet, she’d known him all of her life. And his teasing manner was just the same as it had been when she was growing up.

But Violet hadn’t been prepared for the effect of his smile on her. The sheer force of it, with those twin dimples that hadn’t been in evidence earlier that day, left her a little stunned and bewildered that she felt so drawn to him. She told herself it was because it was so good to see another familiar face in this strange city so far away from home, but she wasn’t sure she was telling herself the truth. Her heartbeat hadn’t slowed down since her gaze met his.

He led her across the foyer and into the dining room. Pulling out a chair, he seated Violet while another of the boarders seated his mother at the opposite end of the table. Then Michael took his own place at the head of the table; his chair was adjacent to the one Violet was sitting in.

The brown-haired, brown-eyed woman who’d been standing with her hand on Michael’s forearm when Violet came into the parlor had slipped into the chair opposite Violet, but her attention was solely on Michael.

Others who were in the parlor took their seats at the table, and Violet was relieved to see that, just as Mrs. Heaton had said, most of the ladies were dressed in skirts and nice shirtwaists. Mrs. Heaton had changed into a dark brown skirt and beige shirtwaist as well, and Violet felt as if she fit in with the navy skirt and crisp white shirt she’d chosen. It had a lace insert at the top of the bodice and she’d worn her mother’s cameo, which made her feel a little dressed up, but not so much that she felt out of place. She let out a small sigh of relief.

Once everyone was settled, they all looked to Mrs. Heaton for direction.

“Michael, will you please say grace?”

“Certainly.”

Violet bowed her head while he said a simple prayer of thanksgiving. She was touched that he thanked the Lord for her safe travel as well as for the food. Once he’d finished the prayer, he began passing dishes family-style with some help from Gretchen and Maida. The other boarders began to talk amongst themselves as the dishes were passed around, and Violet felt herself begin to relax.

Michael held the tray while she selected a piece of chicken, and then he handed it off to the man beside her while Gretchen and Maida helped keep the rest of the dishes moving around the table. The side dishes were creamed potatoes, peas, carrots and baby onions. The rolls were crisp and hot, and Violet was glad there were so many small conversations going on that hopefully no one could hear her stomach growl.