Edwina (18 page)

“No... it’s just that no one has ever called
me that before. Cecelia calls me Ed, and I hate it, actually.” She
helped him carry the cups.

Spencer stopped and turned. “Have you told
her?”

“No. Why should I? It’s her pet name for me.”
Edwina shrugged.

“So you don’t really mind, then?”

“Well, I do, but I don’t want to hurt her
feelings.”

“Ah, I see how it is.” He winked and headed
toward the kitchen, cups clinking in the saucers.

How was it?
Edwina wondered.
What
did he mean by
that? That she was a wimp
because she couldn’t tell her sister she hated the pet name she
called her? Oh now, there I go, reading way too much into a simple
comment.

In a minute, Spencer was back. “I have to go
to work. You’re on your own until Cecelia comes back.”

“What? You have to leave?”

“I have those infernal tuition bills,
remember?” Edwina heard the slam of the door. She was in charge of
the guests. Scooping a deep breath into her lungs, Edwina headed
for her room to change her clothes. She wasn’t about to let Cecelia
catch her in jeans with guests in the house.

Twenty minutes later, she appeared in a pair
of tan dress pants and one of her new Goodwill purchases, a V-
necked white blouse with light brown flowers. And her
Birkenstocks—for about one minute. They would be nearby when
Cecelia came.

The library was where she
wanted to be at the moment. She needed a comfort book. Down came
two or three volumes from Cecelia’s limited resources; her library
was still being assembled.
The History of
Modern Scotland
was a start. Guilt
assailed her. She should be reading about her Irish
heritage.

She sat in a straight-backed chair—very
uncomfortable for reading... she would have to inform Cecelia of
that—and held the book on her lap.

The doorbell sounded again after a mere hour.
She’d just gotten into the depths of the book. Cecelia wouldn’t
ring. Who could it be? Maybe the Scot had returned.

Smoothing her hair now set free of its
ponytail, she grabbed the knob and pulled.

“I forgot my key, again,” Cecelia whined.
“Spencer called, said my guests have arrived. Are they comfortable?
Did you get them coffee? Have they eaten?”

“Whoa,” Edwina raised her hands. “They’re all
taken care of. Spencer was here and made a late lunch, even
dessert, and they are resting in the Crème and Rose room—or what-
ever you call it,” she said proudly, glad to see her sister.

“Good, then all’s well? They arrived
early.”

“You’re telling me.”

“Did they say why?”

“No, actually they didn’t.”

“I’m sorry, Ed. You and Spencer must have
been horrified, right in the middle of cleaning . . .”

“To say the least.” She decided not to tell
Cecelia that she dined in her jeans.

“Well, thank you. It’s very important. To my
entire career, for that matter.” Cecelia was already going into
production mode. “I’m going to change into something nice and
comfortable. I’ll take it from here.”

“Would you mind, then, if I took a walk? I
could use some fresh air.”

“Not at all. The sun has come out again and
it’s really beautiful outside.”

Have you got dinner plans?”

“
Of course. Reservations at
the Brown House. Eight o’clock. Spencer was able to get us in this
evening.”

“I’ll get out of your hair then. Need me to
do anything while you’re gone?”

“Well,” Cecelia unbuttoned her navy blazer,
“you could drop off something at the cleaners for me. I want my new
suit to be perfect for the show.”

“All right. No problem. Just let me know
where.”

“Great. I’ll get everything together.”
Cecelia was off at a run.

Edwina took the opportunity
to dash to her room and change once again. She’d never spent so
much time changing clothes in a single day. She decided on a pair
of black jeans, a light blue sweater, and Birkenstocks.
Ah... comfort clothes
.
She sighed.

“All right, here’s the suit. Please don’t let
anything happen to this outfit, Ed. It’s expensive, even for my
tastes.”

Edwina’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding?
You’d admit that?”

“You know I hate wasting money. But this is
not a waste of money. It’s an investment in my future success as a
female business owner, not to mention my new show. After all, I’m
going to be seen by millions of viewers. This is my one chance to
look the part.”

“You’re right.” Edwina had to agree and made
it a point not to ask the price. She’d probably figure exactly how
many months of rent she could have paid in exchange for the
extravagant suit she now held in her hand.

“I’m off then.” Edwina headed out the door
with instructions in hand.

“Beware of thieves. Go straight to Gwin’s
first. They’re the best cleaners in town. They know me. It’s only a
few blocks away, and don’t set the bag down, whatever you do,
Ed.”

“
I won’t.” Edwina wanted to
stick her tongue out. How hard could it be to deliver a suit to the
cleaners?

She had taken a few steps when she heard
another ques- tion. “Have you got your key?”

“Yes, but it didn’t work, Cecelia.” She
stopped, glad for the reminder.

“Oh yes, I forgot to tell you. I had the
locks changed again. Let me get you the new key.”

Edwina waited. With the new key tucked safely
in her secret purse compartment, she was on her way. She stepped
out into a glorious early evening. Raindrops glistened and shot
rays in all sorts of directions. If she squeezed her eyes just so,
rainbows appeared in the myriad puddles.

She pulled the torn slip of paper from her
pocket to read the directions to Gwin’s when a gust of Chicago wind
burst around the corner and sent the paper flying faster than she
could run. It was gone out of sight.

Now what? Ask directions. Simple. She’d just
call Cecelia’s cell. Reaching into her pocket, she realized she had
not grabbed her phone.

She looked up and saw a phone booth. She’d
call from there. She brought the suit inside the booth with her and
carefully shared the small space with the precious cargo.

“I’ve lost the address,” she complained. “The
wind.”

“You still have my outfit, don’t you?”

“Of course, it’s right here with me. I just
need the address again.” Cecelia repeated it slowly, and with one
more admonition to be careful, let her go.

“Jeesh, you’d think the Taj Mahal was in
here.” Carefully, Edwina lifted the Marshall Field’s bag and
clamped her fingers around the handles. She would deliver the
outfit to its destination.

Twenty minutes later, she had done just that.
With the garment safely in the hands of Gwin’s employees, she set
out for a short walk. An hour later she hurried her step and rode
the elevator up, put the key in the lock, and stepped inside
saying, “Cecelia, your dress will be ready by . . .”

The Scot and Cecelia were talking animatedly
and hadn’t noticed she’d come through the door. Evidently they had
a lot to say to each other. Edwina watched. They were both
beautiful people. Just right for each other. The Scot was a
businessman in his own right and her sister, well... they made a
handsome pair. A little chunk of her heart slipped through a hole
in her stomach.

Shrugging, she placed the ticket for the
cleaners on the table under a clear vase filled with fresh white
roses, the deed safely done. She slipped off her shoes and instead
of leaving them at the door, carried them with her and tiptoed down
the carpeted hallway unnoticed.

Chapter 31

“G
ood morning! Rise and shine. I’ve tons of errands for you.”
Cecelia stood in her bedroom, pushing earrings into her
lobes.

“I’m up... I’m up.” Edwina had slept well in
the luscious bedding. “What thread count are these sheets?” She
smoothed her hand over them.

“One thousand. Same as the best hotels. What
do you want for breakfast? Spencer’s here and hasn’t slept all
night, so make it quick.”

“Okay.” Edwina hopped out of bed and headed
for the bathroom shower, which was conveniently located in the
bedroom... just like the best hotels. She made her way to the
kitchen.

“Such beauty I have not seen in years.”
Spencer’s humor evidently had no end.

Edwina’s hand went to the lush white towel
wrapped around her wet hair. “No time to blow dry. Besides, I heard
you haven’t slept.”

“Ah, so ye’ve got o’ bit o’ sass in ye, have
ye, lass?” Edwina’s eyes widened. He sounded just like the Scot.
“Ah... so she smiles after all.”

“
What’s that supposed to
mean?”

“Just that you made it through yesterday’s
faux pas—”

“Shhh... don’t let Cecelia hear you. I never
told her I dined with her guests in my jeans.” Spencer made a face
at her and shook his index finger in the air.

“Worse things have happened, Winnie.”

“I really wish you wouldn’t call me Winnie,”
she said through a bite of scrambled eggs.

“
Ah, so it’s off with me,
hmm?”

“These eggs are good. What did you put in
them to—Oh I forgot, can’t tell right?”

“Yes. And don’t think I lost the fact that
you were avoiding the topic at hand.” Edwina shrugged. “Suit
yourself. You want to call me Winnie, go ahead. I won’t have to
listen to it long. I’ll be out of here in a few.”

“Oh, and break my heart, Miss Winnie
Blair?”

“Yeah.” She threw her linen napkin at him,
and it landed square in the middle of the pancake he had just
poured into the pan.

“You’re wasting my time, woman,” he scolded.
Edwina watched the ruined pancake slide into the sink. “So the big
handsome Scot was your knight in shining armor, huh?”

“Who told you that?” But she already knew the
answer to that. Now it was her turn to look away. “See how she
blushes. Must have been some rescue.”

“It wasn’t anything like that. I... I just...
well, it’s a long story... and very boring.”

“A Cinderella-meets-the-handsome-prince
story? And you call that boring.”

“It was nothing really.” She leaned over her
plate.

“I have a few minutes. Need to clean up this
mess in the sink... so tell me your story, Winnie.”

Edwina gave him a look. He wasn’t going to
stop until he heard it. “I landed in Edinburgh... I’m sure you know
I took Cece’s place on her trip when her father died. She had to go
to Italy. I went to Scotland in her place. That’s all.”

“That’s all? That tells me nothing. Get to
the point. He didn’t call himself your knight for nothing.”

“Well, if you must know, my plane was late
and my hotel room was taken—and the Scot took me to his castle for
the weekend.”

“Castle?” Spencer howled.

“Shh... everyone’s asleep.”

“Those rooms have extra thick walls just
like—”

“I know. Like an expensive hotel,” Edwina
finished for him.

“Right.” He chuckled again.

“
Jeesh, does anything get
past you?” She got up and carried her dishes to the
sink.

“Not a thing. Even when I’ve worked sixteen
hours straight.”

“Why don’t you let me stack the rest of the
dishes in the dishwasher, and you get some sleep.”

“Not a chance. I get paid for this and
believe me,” he looked around,” your sister pays me well. I’m
thinking of starting a cleaning business.”

“Stop it! Trained chef’s don’t start cleaning
businesses. After all, they have that truckload of tuition to pay.
You’d better use your education, after what it must have cost you
to get it.”

“You have no idea.”

“Exactly my point,” she shot back and left
Spencer to his work.

“Thanks for breakfast.” She turned and stuck
her head around the corner.

He nodded her off, a smile
still on his face.
He is fun,
Edwina concluded
. Fun to
be around.
She headed for her
room
.

“Cece, I’m dressed and ready to help. What do
you need done?”

Her sister came around the corner and handed
her a hundred dollar bill. “Go get my suit at Gwin’s, and don’t let
it out of your sight.”

“Right. I’m off.”

Ribbons of yellow taxis colored the view from
every angle as they slipped in and out of traffic. Horns honked,
people were talking, families walked about the great city. And the
sun was shining like a new spring day. The temp read 72 degrees.
Perfect weather for an August day. Humming, she felt free. Free
from her everyday world of whispering all day long so patrons could
study and making dull decisions like which shelf should be moved to
the front and which to the back of library. Who cared anyway?

Shocked, she realized her heart had been a
bit lighter since she’d come to Cecelia’s. She knocked the thoughts
out of her head when a car swerved, nearly hitting a pedestrian.
Her hand flew to her mouth to scream. The car barely missed the
older man. Several people went to see that he made it across the
street.

Life was over so quickly. Perhaps Spencer was
right. Life was too short. She should live her dreams. Dreams? What
dreams did she have? A person couldn’t live out a dream if they
didn’t have one.

While she was trying to decide the one thing
she really wanted in life, she walked right past Gwin’s.

Rushing back, she took the ticket from her
pocket and gave it to the attendant. She was gone an extremely long
time it seemed, so Edwina waited in the lush chairs near the window
and watched people from all walks of life hurry past Gwin’s.

“
Miss, we have no such item
here in the store.” The young woman looked exasperated.