Blessed Assurance Read Online Free Page B

silks, and more. Instead, she’d only read about it in the Trib .
    Her mother coaxed, “Won’t you please come in this time. It’s so cheery inside.”
    â€œThere’s no reason for me to look at what I can’t afford.” At her mother’s crestfallen expression, Jessie said, “Linc and I are making ends meet, but I have to save for his future. I want Will’s son to go as far in life as he is able.”
    â€œYou’re only in your twenties. I want you to enjoy life more while you can.”
    My joy died with Will. He’ll never walk the marble floors of Palmer’s Palace. “Mother, I’m going to my first baseball game today. What could be more fun than that?” Jessie was rewarded with a genuine smile from her mother.
    â€œThen I won’t keep you. I’m sure you have much to do, so you can make the game in time.” With a wave, her mother walked through the door held open by a boy in a royal blue uniform with bright brass buttons. Stylishly dressed and still handsome, her mother looked exactly right walking into the elegant store.
    Will had always said that Hiram Huff’s only redeeming quality was that he always demanded his wife wear the very best. Which only proved what Will had believed was right; happiness didn’t lay in finery. I have Linc, a home, and Susan—God’s given me all I need.
    Jessie hurried to the butcher. Out of the corner of her eye, the way a slender man in a dark suit moved, a kind of cocky nonchalance, caught her eye. It was Mr. Smith. That indefinable feelingzigzagged through her again. She pushed it away. She’d never see Smith’s face at her door again. And woe to him if she did.
    Â 
    Lee wearied of roaming the unusual wooden sidewalks of downtown Chicago. In the main shopping district around State and Randolph, the streets and sidewalks were flush with each other. But a few blocks away, though the street and first floor of a business were even, often the entrance was by means of a staircase to the second floor. Why?
    As he walked, several windows with signs saying “Help Wanted” had beckoned him, but crosscurrents inside him had kept him walking by. What did he really want to do while he set everything up? He’d planned to start by getting a room at Jessie’s. But he’d failed at that. How could he get close to Jessie Wagstaff?
    His stomach rumbled. Just ahead of him on the south side of the river was a tavern, “The Workman’s Rest.” Its sign also proclaimed “Free lunch with nickel beer.” His mouth watered at the thought of a long draught of ale. But as he approached the double swinging doors, he paused. He shouldn’t go in.
    Two burly men crowded one on each side of Lee and carried him along with them into the tavern. One of them called out, “Pearl, brought you a new customer! He’s wearing a suit!”
    Lee halted, shocked at finding himself in the last place he wanted to be.
    â€œHe’s welcome!” The woman behind the bar called back without taking her eyes from the two tankards of ale she was filling at the tap. She thumped them down on the bar, then wiped her fingers on her white apron. “Welcome to the Workman’s Rest, stranger. I’m Pearl Flesher. Put her there.” The woman thrust out her hand.
    She was tall, blond, good-looking and thirtyish. Lee accepted her hand. “A pleasure, ma’am.”
    â€œA man with manners. What can I do for you, mister?”
    Lee was stumped. He knew he was expected to say, “A beer, Pearl” but he couldn’t.
    â€œHe wants a beer just like we do, Pearl,” the workmen on bothsides of him declared. “Come on, we can’t waste our short lunchtime.”
    Lee cleared his dry throat. “Really, I would prefer a barley water.” The words brought a stunned silence to the two workmen.
    â€œBarley water!” one exploded.
    â€œYes, my stomach, you