make sure that she was not already dreaming.
Then he winked and clicked the light off. She was seeing Tonio reflected in her ceiling. He'd seen her undress, night after night. He'd seen her half naked. She should have been furious. She should have blushed. Instead, she reached up and gently stoked the polished wood where his image had been. Then she rolled over and punched the pillow, knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep.
Chapter 9
Angelina sat at a table, staring at her menu, but not seeing it. Her mind was occupied with other, more important matters. Outside her window the barren hills of eastern Montana had long since rolled by, replaced by the mountainous terrain of the Rockies. The train chugged slowly up the steep grade of the eastern slope of Lookout Pass. A porter had cracked the window beside her table. The morning air became chillier by the minute, its sweet alpine scent mingling with the breakfast fragrance of the dining car. Little clumps of dirty snow, hanging tenaciously to life in the shade of sturdy evergreens, began to appear as the train made its way up the mountain.
Angelina wore the traveling outfit Tonio had bought her in Chicago. Her small white hat was pinned slightly askance shading one side of her face. The casual observer would have mistaken her expression for serenity, seeing nothing of the turmoil and apprehension that knotted her stomach. Sometime early in the afternoon the train would descend Lookout Pass and cross from Montana into Idaho, arriving in Wallace within the hour. She had just that long with Tonio. Then he would walk out of her life.
She picked up a spoon and toyed with it as she sat, then set it down and readjusted the napkin next to her plate, wondering for the hundredth time if she had the courage to live by her honor and meet her husband. Or, if she had the courage to ask to run away with Tonio. She was fairly certain he would refuse her. He'd said almost as much. So maybe it wasn't courage she sought but resignation. She played with her grandmother's necklace.
She looked up in time to see Tonio enter the room. His dark good looks caught the attention of two ladies at a table in front of her. They buzzed in quiet conference, but Angelina knew what they discussed.
"Good morning." She smiled her finest for him.
"Playing with your cross again. Soon, you'll have a different one to bear. One that may weigh more heavily around your neck than that delightful gold one." He smiled as he seated himself in the chair opposite her. "Have you ordered yet?"
A waiter appeared. Angelina ordered in the slow, correct English Tonio had trained into her in their diction lessons. Gone were nearly all traces of her accent. He smiled in approval. It buoyed her confidence to realize that she had a gift with language. Concentrating on her English soothed her. She must appear calm and assured. Tonio ordered and the waiter disappeared.
"Today is the day you meet your white knight, is it not?" Tonio asked. "Savior from spinsterhood, great protector and all that."
"I hope. If he has received Mario's wire, he will be waiting for me."
"Then it will be your wedding day as well. The old man will probably squire you right to Cataldo Mission so you can be married legally and before God. The Mission is the only Catholic Church in the Valley. He's no doubt making elaborate plans even as we speak. I hope he gives you the fairytale wedding you deserve. And let's not forget the wedding night."
"My marriage bothers you. Tonio—"
He shook his head. "Don't say it, Angel. I told you I'm not the man for you. But to answer you, it's the idea of these mail-order, arranged marriages in general that I disapprove of. Have you forgotten where I came from?
"My parents were a mail-order couple. My beautiful mother was from Milano, and of course Papa was a Torinese. Growing up in their home, I saw how wonderfully the arrangement can work." His voice dripped with sarcasm. "What did my lovely mother get for her end of the bargain? My ass of a father and early death. Wonderful things, those. And of course, me."
"Not all arranged marriages turn out badly." She wanted to believe that.
"For your sake, I hope that's true. But I fear, well, never mind my fears. Here." He shoved some papers her way. She'd been so preoccupied she'd been unaware he'd