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"Josh, have you been waiting long?" Around 1 p.m. in the afternoon, a brand-new car pulled up in front of Josh. Margot got out of the car and warmly gave Josh a hug.
"Not at all. Waiting for the most beautiful lady in the world is my honor!" Josh flattered.
"Oh, Josh, you're such a sweet talker." Hearing Josh's compliment, Margot burst into laughter and then pointed at the driveway. "This is the car I prepared for you. How is it? Do you like it?"
"A little flashy, but very beautiful. I like it!" Josh looked at the car and raised an eyebrow.
No doubt, a wealthy woman like Margot wouldn't offer anything cheap.
Although this car was slightly inferior to a Cadillac V16, it was in no way lesser than Margot's own Packard.
It was a 1942 Lincoln Continental, the last model Lincoln released before America joined the war.
Although the redesign had lost the European-style curved fenders of the original 1939 model, it actually appealed more to Josh's aesthetic.
The only drawback was, as Josh said, it was a bit too flashy.
Well, not the model itself, but the color… the car was burgundy.
"Young people should be a bit more lively and bold. You act too mature," Margot said unconcernedly. "Come on, get in. You drive!"
When they went to see the house yesterday, Josh said he could drive. Margot didn't quite believe him at first, but after letting him try, she found Josh's driving skills were even better than hers, so she had no worries now.
As she spoke, Margot reached out to grab the suitcase beside Josh.
Josh had two suitcases, one large and one small.
The big one was a classic 28-inch leather suitcase of the era.
The small one looked only about 7 or 8 inches.
Margot didn't overestimate herself by trying to lift the big one, as it already looked very heavy.
So, she decisively went for the small one.
And then, as soon as she lifted it, she nearly fell over.
Luckily, Josh was quick and caught her.
Good thing he was fast—if Margot had fallen, it wouldn't have been a big deal, but if the box got damaged and its contents spilled out, that would be a real mess.
"What's in this box? Why is it so heavy?" Margot asked in shock after nearly falling.
It was heavy, yes, but only about 30 pounds—not too heavy to lift.
It was just that the actual weight far exceeded her expectations, and she had used too much force, almost causing her to fall.
"It's not convenient to say here. You'll know once we get to Evanston," Josh said mysteriously, then put the small box in the car.
"Wow, now I'm really curious." Seeing Josh's mysterious expression only made Margot even more curious.
There were no delays on the road, and Josh soon drove to the house in Evanston.
This time, the middle-aged man next door wasn't watering his garden but enjoying afternoon tea in the yard with his wife, basking in the late winter sunshine.
"Tommy, are they new neighbors? Looks like we're going to have neighbors from now on," said the wife, who wasn't around yesterday and was now curious at the sight of the young couple.
"No, we've always had neighbors. It's that girl. She just doesn't live here. But it looks like the boy is going to be the one living here from now on," the middle-aged man named Tommy replied.
After Josh and Margot came yesterday, he did a bit of digging and found out that the house next door was always owned—by a rich young girl.
So he immediately connected the dots to Margot.
"Do you think we should invite them over for some coffee? After all, we'll be neighbors," Tommy's wife suggested.
"Heh, let's not disturb the young couple. That boy brought luggage—clearly he just moved in today. Who knows, they might be going at it inside already." Tommy laughed jokingly.
"Uhh… you might be right." His wife paused for a second, then nodded.
If it were mid-20th-century China, doing such things in broad daylight would be frowned upon. But in the West, it was perfectly normal.
Back when she and Tommy were young, they'd done even crazier things.
Thinking about that, she couldn't help but feel her cheeks grow warm.
"What's wrong, Sarah?" Noticing his wife's unusual expression, Tommy became interested. He put his hand on her leg and asked, pretending not to know.
Though they were an old married couple, they had been apart for four of the past five years.
It wasn't until they moved here last year that the family reunited.
As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder—and after four years apart, the feelings between them only deepened.
Plus, they weren't that old. Tommy was in his early 40s, and his wife had just turned 40. Both were still full of energy.
"Cut it out, don't mess around. You still have to pick up the kids later," his wife rolled her eyes and slapped his hand away.
In America, school ends early. Even in the 21st century, kids are usually out by 3 p.m.
Back in the 1940s, school was even less demanding, so classes ended around the same time—or earlier.
It was already past 2 p.m., so it definitely wasn't time to be fooling around.
Understanding this, Tommy reluctantly withdrew his hand.
At the same time, inside the house next door, Josh and Margot were not, as the Tommy couple speculated, engaged in any passionate activities.
After all, they had only known each other for two days. Though Margot was very fond of Josh, she wasn't the type to throw herself at him so easily. She still had the reserve of a well-bred lady.
If it weren't for the fact that her husband changed drastically after marriage—rarely home and constantly partying—Margot might not have developed feelings for Josh either... something she hadn't told Josh.
Margot had long since discovered that her famous athlete husband had more than one mistress outside—and was spending her money to do it.
At this point, Margot's situation was a bit like Rose from Titanic, yearning to escape the cage of her former life.
The difference was, Margot had the upper hand in two ways: first, her husband cheated first, while Rose betrayed Cal while still engaged; second, though Rose was a bankrupt aristocrat, Margot wasn't nobility but was the one who actually controlled the money.
Marriage laws of the time weren't as sound as they would be in the future, and the family wealth originally came from Margot's inheritance. If she made her husband's infidelity public and filed for divorce, that tennis-playing husband wouldn't see a dime.
Likewise, Josh wasn't Jack.
Jack was a genuine poor guy—he won his steerage ticket through gambling.
But Josh wasn't poor.
For example, when Josh opened the small suitcase and revealed 500 ounces—nearly 15 kilograms—of gold bars, Margot was momentarily stunned.
Not that she hadn't seen money before—500 ounces of gold was only worth a little over $20,000 on the black market. Margot's fortune was hundreds of times that amount.
It was just that when Josh said he had money, she thought it was just pride talking.
She didn't expect he really had quite a bit of money.