“What business took you away from here?” she asked.
He opened the bottle, then poured them each a small amount. “I have shipping concerns, ownership in a railroad, partnership in several large mercantiles in both cities.”
“Varied interests.” Remarkable interests, she thought. The potential for financial gain didn’t interest her as much as the variety. What would it be like to enjoy such success? To be able to point at a store or an office and know that one had produced it from nothing?
“I enjoy a challenge,” he said, staring deeply into her eyes.
Without meaning to, she laughed. “Please, sir. May we suspend the seduction until after the meal? I find myself hungry for Mary’s roast beef.”
Zeke didn’t seem the least bit offended by her question. He leaned back in his chair and picked up his wine. “That obvious?”
“Some of it is your reputation.”
The young woman reappeared with two bowls of soup. She set them down, then gazed longingly at Zeke. He dismissed her with a brief, “Thank you, Ella.”
Alethea watched the young woman go. “Another conquest?”
He frowned. “Never. She’s too young and has family here.”
“Is your concern that her family would come after you or that you wouldn’t want to shame her in front of them?”
“My concern is mostly her age, and her standing in the community.”
“So there are rules?”
That slow, easy smile emerged again. “There are always rules, Mrs. Harbaugh. Or may I call you Alethea?”
“You may not.”
He laughed. “What if I can tell you your name comes from a Greek word meaning truth?”
“Impressive,” she admitted. “You speak Greek?”
“I’ve studied the language. My sorry skills are more for reading. I doubt I could speak a word. But you haven’t answered my question.”
She felt an odd heat on her cheeks. She knew that allowing him to call her by her first name implied an intimacy he had not earned and was not entirely proper. And yet, there was something about the way he said it. Each syllable lingering on his tongue. As if the name had weight and meaning. Or perhaps she had simply had too much wine.