Bicycle Built for Two by Alice Duncan

a hand, indicating the private room.
    Bill evidently didn’t share Kate’s doubts
about Alex’s morals and motives. His smile vanished as he held out
his hand. “Mr. English, I can’t thank you enough for what you’re
doing for Ma.” Irrepressible and unable to be serious for more than
a couple of seconds at a time, Bill winked. “She’s worth it,
believe me.”
    “Billy,” murmured Mrs. Finney, pleased but
embarrassed from the look on her face.
    “I’ve already found that out,” said Alex,
grinning back at the boy.
    Well, maybe he wasn’t a boy any longer,
exactly. Kate herself had reached her twenty-second year without
being killed by her father or any of the undesirable people who
populated her sphere in life. Bill was only a year younger than she
was. He could vote in the next election, for crying out loud.
Sometimes Kate contemplated the miracle that had allowed her mother
to rear all three of her children to adulthood. That sort of
statistic didn’t happen very often in the slums, where babies died
every day of everything from starvation to diphtheria to
abandonment.
    She listened to Bill as he sweet-talked
their mother. He’d brought his own little bouquet, picked, Kate had
no doubt, from some rich person’s garden or in a park somewhere.
Bill didn’t seem to mind that Alex’s bouquet was grander than his.
In fact, he thanked Alex for thinking of doing so nice a thing, and
without the sarcasm Kate often heard in her own voice. Dratted boy.
He could charm the apples from their trees.
    After a few minutes, right before Kate
interfered because Mrs. Finney looked as if she was wearing out,
Bill gave his mother a smacking kiss on the cheek. “Say, Ma, I need
to talk to Katie for a minute.”
    Mrs. Finney actually managed a creditable
twinkle. “Investments, Billy?”
    Her son winked again. “You got it, Ma.”
    “Investments?” Alex, who had been watching
the interplay between mother and children with what appeared to be
genuine interest, glanced at Kate and Bill.
    Kate didn’t want him butting in almost more
than she didn’t want her mother to think she was rude. The latter
sentiment prevailed, however, and she reluctantly said, “Yes. Billy
has invested some money in various enterprises.”
    “Really?” Alex stood up. “Ah, would you mind
if I join you? I dabble in the investments myself.”
    Yes. Kate would mind a whole lot. The darned
man was taking over every aspect of her life.
    Mrs. Finney whispered, “How kind of you, Mr.
English.”
    Which pretty much put the kibosh on anything
Kate had been contemplating saying to the man. She muttered, “Sure.
Why not?”
    “I could use some advice,” Bill said,
overflowing with good will and gratitude. His was the sunniest
nature in the Finney family, perhaps because Kate and her mother
had kept him away from his ogre of a father as much as possible.
Kate, who valued his good disposition but believed it was overrated
under certain circumstances, wished they were still little kids so
she could kick him.
    “I doubt that I can offer any advice,” Alex
said modestly. “I was hoping to get some from you.”
    Liar . Kate turned around so her mother couldn’t see the grimace
she adopted for Alex’s benefit. He only grinned at her.
Figured.
    “If you don’t mind, everybody, I’m going to
rest now,” Mrs. Finney said.
    Kate’s attention instantly snapped back to
her. Hazel Finney was the important one here, she reminded herself,
and she mattered a whole lot more than Kate’s uncomfortable
sensation of being overpowered by Alex and his money. Bending over
her mother, she kissed her on the forehead. “Sure, Ma. Rest up.
I’ll put Billy’s flowers in water while the gents gab about stocks
and bonds.”
    Mrs. Finney’s eyes remained closed, but she
smiled. Kate took that as approval of her plan, picked up Bill’s
pathetic bouquet, and marched for the door, past her brother and
Alex.
    Bill held out a hand. “Wait, Katie, I want
to ask you a