years.
She lay her head back down and drifted lazily to sleep. Tomorrow they'd be in Chicago. The West.
Chapter 5
They arrived in Chicago with a haughty burst of steam as the sleek, black engine pulled to a stop before the crowded platform. Angelina descended the stairs in a dissipating cloud of steam in front of Tonio, disappointed by the sprawling, populated city. The city with the reputation as the nation's most wicked seemed tame and ordinary as she'd ridden along the rail lines, scanning the sights for some remnant of the frontier town she'd dreamed of. But the city of nearly two million seemed little different than New York.
The depot was no better. She saw no wild cowboys, child thieves, crime bosses, or painted ladies strutting about. The crowd that thronged against the arriving passengers was like any other, a varied mix of the ordinary. Any vestiges that might have remained from the city's wild founding days were not evident from anything Angelina could view.
"Salvo! Sal!" Tonio yelled across her, as he waved at someone in the crowd. A short dark man waved back. Tonio moved in front of her and grabbed her hand, pulling her along as he swam through the crowd toward his friend.
"Tonio!" The two men clapped each other on the back.
"This is your friend?" Salvo said. "You didn't say anything about a girl."
Tonio grabbed Angelina by the shoulders and pulled her forward in front of him. "Salvo, meet Angelina Allessandro. Angelina, Salvo."
"Tonio, what? You getting shy in your old age? Why didn't you tell me that your friend was a woman? Thought I wouldn't approve?"
"You pay by the word in a telegram."
Salvo wasn't listening. He focused on Angelina.
"Pleased to meet you. I admit I was surprised when Tonio telegraphed that he was bringing a friend. I've known this man for nearly ten years now and not once has he brought someone with him when he comes to visit. But I can see why he would make an exception in the case of such a beautiful woman." Salvo's gentle southern Italian fell on Angelina's ears like sweet summer dew. She liked him immediately. He reminded her of the men back home.
"I'm escorting Angelina to her anxious groom in Idaho. She's a mail-order bride."
She flinched at the term. "I have an arranged marriage."
"Your husband must be a confident man to choose Tonio as your escort." Sal leaned close to her, as if he were about to reveal a great secret. "Our Tonio is a famed ladies' man. Don't let him seduce you."
"You insult the lady, Sal. She's made a vow of honor." His words would have been noble if not for the light mocking tone in which they were spoken.
"The groom is a friend of yours?"
"Never met him." Tonio nodded toward Angelina. "Neither has she."
The confused look on Sal's face amused him. "Then how—"
"His brother was bringing her over, but got sent back. Nonna Gia asked me to take her."
"Nonna Gia." Sal shook his head knowingly, as if there were no resisting Nonna Gia. "Nonna Gia. Well?" He held open his hands in front of him in a variation of the Italian's favorite gesture, the shoulder shrug meaning What can you do?
"She is up to her old tricks, Tonio. Perhaps this time you don't escape." He nodded toward Angelina. The corners of his mouth twitched in sudden amusement. "Stranger things have happened than falling in—"
"Let's get out of this crowded depot." Tonio grabbed Angelina's elbow to propel her forward. She didn't understand what Salvo found so amusing.
"The old woman won't rest, Tonio." He wagged his finger at Tonio and left to bring the carriage round.
A short woman with an ample bosom greeted the threesome at Salvo's apartment in Little Hell. Tonio looked like he was hugging a child as he reached out to greet her.
"Maria, it's so good to see you. You look beautiful, as usual." Tonio gestured toward Angelina. "I would like to introduce you to my traveling companion, Angelina Allessandro. Angelina, this is Salvo's lovely wife, Maria."
"Pleased to meet you." Angelina stepped up to greet Maria, who barely came to her shoulders. It annoyed her that Tonio's voice held such open affection as he complimented the plain woman.
"Here. Come on in everybody and have a seat. Dinner will be ready in just a minute. I have a few last minute preparations to make. I would have had it on the table, but you can't depend on the trains running on schedule. I ought to know! I've waited