Julia knew what he meant.
“I always knew I wanted to be an accountant. When I got out of school, I went to work for the Bigelow & Benson Financial Corporation. Now I have my own firm.”
“That’s nice,” Julia said.
“That’s about all there is to tell about me. Tell me about you.”
Julia was silent for a moment. I’m the illegitimate daughter of one of the richest men in the world. You’ve probably heard of him. He just drowned. I’m an heiress to his estate. She looked around the elegant room. I could buy this restaurant, if I wanted to. I could probably buy this whole town, if I wanted to.
Henry was staring at her. “Julia?”
“Oh! I…I’m sorry. I was born in Milwaukee. My…my father died when I was young. My mother and I traveled around the country a great deal. When she passed away, I decided to stay here and get a job.” I hope my nose isn’t growing.
Henry Wesson put a hand over hers. “So you’ve never had a man to take care of you.” He leaned forward and said earnestly, “I would like to take care of you for the rest of your life.”
Julia looked at him in surprise. “I don’t mean to sound like Doris Day, but we hardly know each other.”
“I want to change that.”
When Julia got home, Sally was waiting for her. “Well?” she asked. “How did your date go?”
Julia said, thoughtfully, “He’s very sweet, and…”
“He’s crazy about you!”
Julia smiled. “I think he proposed.”
Sally’s eyes widened. “You think he proposed? My God! Don’t you know if the man proposed or not?”
“Well, he said he wanted to take care of me for the rest of my life.”
“That’s a proposal!” Sally exclaimed. “That’s a proposal! Marry him! Quick! Marry him before he changes his mind!”
Julia laughed. “What’s the hurry?”
“Listen to me. Invite him over here for dinner. I’ll cook it, and you tell him you made it.”
Julia laughed. “Thank you. No. When I find the man I want to marry, we may be eating Chinese food out of cartons, but believe me, the dinner table will be beautifully set with flowers and candlelight.”
On their next date, Henry said, “You know, Kansas City is a great place to bring up kids.”
“Yes, it is.” Julia’s only problem was that she wasn’t sure that she wanted to bring up his children. He was reliable, decent, sober, but…
She discussed it with Sally.
“He keeps asking me to marry him,” Julia said.
“What’s he like?”
She thought for a moment, trying to think of the most romantic and exciting things she could say about Henry Wesson. “He’s reliable, sober, decent…”
Sally looked at her a moment. “In other words, he’s dull.”
Julia said defensively, “He isn’t exactly dull…”
Sally nodded, knowingly. “He’s dull. Marry him.”
“What?”
“Marry him. Good dull husbands are hard to find.”
Getting from one payday to the next was a financial minefield. There were paycheck deductions, and rent, and automobile expenses, and groceries, and clothes to buy. Julia owned a Toyota Tercel, and it seemed to her that she spent more on it than she did on herself. She was constantly borrowing money from Sally.
One evening, when Julia was getting dressed, Sally said, “It’s another big Henry night, huh? Where’s he taking you tonight?”
“We’re going to Symphony Hall. Cleo Laine is performing.”
“Has old Henry proposed again?”
Julia hesitated. The truth was that Henry proposed every time they were together. She felt pressured, but she could not bring herself to say yes.
“Don’t lose him,” Sally warned.
Sally is probably right, Julia thought. Henry Wesson would make a good husband. He’s…She hesitated. He’s reliable, sober, decent…Is that enough?
As Julia was going out the door, Sally called, “Can I borrow your black shoes?”
“Sure.” And Julia was gone.
Sally went into Julia’s bedroom and opened the closet door. The pair of shoes she wanted was on the top shelf. As she reached for them, a cardboard box that was sitting precariously on the shelf fell down, and its contents spilled out all over the floor.
“Damn!” Sally bent down to gather up the papers. They consisted of dozens of newspaper clippings, photographs, and articles, and they were all about the Harry Stanford family. There seemed to be hundreds of them.