Chapter Six

Caroline glanced into Richard’s office and quickly turned back to her computer when he looked up and their eyes met. She blushed and was trying to focus on work, when her attention was diverted by a text from Lucy.

—Red alert!—

Before Caroline could reply or ask what that meant, Richard motioned for her to come into his office. She got up from her desk and walked in.

He was beaming. “Caroline, I have those art books I promised Megan. They’re sitting on…”

Then Caroline heard the dreaded click-click-click coming down the hall and cringed.

“Richard! Richard Meadows, where are you?”

Richard groaned. “That would be Misty. I’d know those stilettos anywhere.”

Misty Peterson waltzed down the hall toward Richard’s office, and suddenly Caroline understood Lucy’s message. Misty was wearing a bright red camisole, a white skirt with red polka dots, red high-heeled sandals, a mauve headband around her frizzy bleached blonde hair, and way too much ruby red lipstick. Caroline turned her face away to avoid laughing.

“Richard, thank goodness.” Misty brushed past Caroline with a dirty look as she swept into his office. “I’ve got a ton of things to talk to you about. Our wedding’s less than three months away, and I’m positively crazed! Let me show you these invitations.” She plopped the sample books on top of his desk, scattering his work papers everywhere.

Caroline watched the two of them, wondering yet again what the attraction was. Richard looked chagrined as he glanced over at Caroline but quickly turned back to his fiancée.

“What’s going on here?” Misty demanded, looking from one to the other.

“It’s just that we were working, Misty, and we didn’t know you were coming.” Caroline sighed as she leaned down to pick up Richard’s papers off the floor. It galled her to be polite to the woman, but for Richard’s sake she had to fake it.

“See here, Caroline, I’ll drop by whenever I like. Richard is my fiancé.”

“Yes, I know.” Caroline bit her tongue.

She might have wondered how a classless woman like Misty ever snagged a great guy like Richard, but she already knew. She’d heard some of it from Richard, some from his grandmother, and some of the story from Jack, who had helped facilitate the whole thing. If Caroline were prone to violence, she’d throttle Jack. True, he thought he was just being a friend to Richard, but his involvement allowed Misty to make her sneaky move. Caroline understood why Richard had gotten sucked into the plan. But she’d never understood what was in it for Misty, who didn’t even seem to really like Richard. Yet the wedding plans were in full swing.

Misty was the spoiled daughter of coffee magnate Merrill Peterson, which gave Caroline pause every time she bought a Peterson’s coffee. Misty mostly spent her days shopping, going to spas, and spending money however she pleased, all with her father’s credit cards of course. Then one day last summer, Caroline and Richard were having lunch at an outdoor café near their office and Misty, who was out shopping with her best friend Krystal McAlister, spotted them. The two of them stopped by the table, supposedly just to say hello. But then Misty sat down, squeezed herself between Caroline and Richard, and pointed to a chair for Krystal to sit, too. Misty monopolized the conversation, going on and on about how she hadn’t seen Richard in ages, reminding him they were high school sweethearts, and what would his mother think if she knew he’d neglected her, yada yada yada. Caroline had to stop eating her salad, because Misty’s whole performance made her nauseous.

Later that day, Misty called Jack at work. Lucy patched the call through, but since his office was adjacent to the lobby, Lucy could easily hear the whole conversation, at least Jack’s side of it. Mostly it centered on who Richard had been having lunch with.

According to Lucy, who gleefully dished to Caroline, Misty must have told Jack that seeing Richard again brought back all the old feelings she had for him.

“Old feelings?” Caroline asked. “Seriously?”

“Well,” Lucy continued with a gleam in her eye, “Misty must have been pumping Jack for info about his girlfriend, aka you, because Jack told her you were just an employee. So then I heard Jack agree to set up some kind of get-together.”

The rest of it Caroline got secondhand from Adele Meadows, Richard’s grandmother, who called the next day, fuming about how disgusted she was over the whole thing. Misty was able to talk Jack into going along with the whole setup, so she and Krystal met Jack and Richard at The Village Bar & Grill in Rosslyn Village. Apparently Misty got Richard drunk and then played the guilt card, the one where she reminded him of his dead mother’s dream of seeing him married to the daughter of her best friend, Tildie Peterson. Adele told Caroline that Richard barely even remembered the next morning that he’d proposed. But then a few days later Misty showed up at his office, sporting a five carat diamond engagement ring she’d bought for herself. She flounced in, flashed the ring at Jack, Lucy and Caroline, smirking as she walked into Richard’s office.

When Richard saw the ring he’d been incredulous. “Your father paid for your engagement ring? How does that make me look?”

“Never mind, Richard,” Misty had said. “You can pay me back in other ways.”

Caroline had almost gagged and had to leave the room.

And now, here was Misty again, interrupting their business day, forcing Richard to weigh in on wedding invitations of all things. Caroline leaned against the door jam and did a slow burn.

“Misty, can’t you see I’m busy?” Richard gently patted her arm until she moved it off his desk. “We can do this later.”

“No, we can’t, Richard, not and get the invitations out on time. These wedding preparations have taken too long as it is.”

Richard stood up and walked to the window, staring out. “We’ve only been engaged for a year.”

“Well, if you hadn’t been dragging your feet, and Sharlene insisting on this big society wedding, we could’ve been married months ago.”

Richard turned to face Misty. “Dragging my feet?”

Caroline cleared her throat, causing both Richard and Misty to remember she was still in the room. “Don’t you two have a wedding planner? Why not let her do this?”

Misty scowled at Caroline, but turned back to Richard and said, “Do you think you can make a decision about the invitations before dinner tonight with my parents?”

Richard visibly cringed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Misty threw her red bag over her shoulder and pushed past Caroline. “Sharlene, Daniel, and Adele will be there tonight, too, Richard, so try not to be late.” And with that she walked out the door.

“Caroline, I…” Richard said, at the same time Caroline said, “Richard, what about…”

They both laughed. “You go first,” Richard said.

Caroline stepped back into his office and studied Richard’s face. “I was just wondering about Adele. I know she didn’t really approve of your…”

“My engagement?” Richard nodded and stared up at the ceiling, using his fingers to make air quotes. “‘Don’t give up on love, Richard,’ is what she said.” Richard sighed and dropped his arms to his sides. “According to Grandmother, the love that was Adele and Rich Meadows could’ve inspired romance novels, and I should be looking for the same thing, not settling for Misty.”

Caroline couldn’t agree more, but it wasn’t her place to say so. At least Mrs. Meadows was aware of what a big mistake Richard was making, and he’d be more likely to listen to his grandmother than to her. She nodded and closed Richard’s office door behind her. “He’s engaged!” she whispered to herself for the millionth time.

****

“Mom, what am I supposed to do?” Allie demanded as she stormed into the kitchen. “I take private lessons during the summer, on my piano. That’s what I do, that’s what I’ve always done.”

Susan was unloading the dishwasher and trying yet again to get everything to fit into the smaller kitchen cabinets, when Allie came in and started, or re-started, the same conversation they’d been having for a couple of weeks now. “Have you tried asking Sharlene about—”

Allie put up her hand. “Don’t go there. Total waste of time. Sharlene just makes one excuse after another.”

Susan put her hands on her hips and stared at the open cabinet. The dishes and glassware just didn’t fit right. Maybe she’d brought too much from the Belford house, since the kitchen there was nearly twice the size of this one. She groaned and started rearranging things, again. “Remember I told you Emily was going to talk to her former client, Professor Phillips?”

Allie reached around her mother and took one of the drinking glasses out of the cabinet where her mother had just so carefully placed it. She went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of diet soda, checked the freezer for ice, scowled, and closed it. “Well, did she call him yet? It’s June and I’m wasting valuable time.”

Susan turned her back on Allie and exhaled slowly, hoping her daughter didn’t see her frustration. “I don’t know, Allie. I’ll give Emily a call this evening.”

Allie took both the half-full bottle of soda and the glass and, without another word but with a loud groan, went back to her room and closed the door.

The doorbell rang, and glad for the distraction, Susan left the cabinet doors wide open to go answer it. There stood an attractive man of about thirty, dressed in khaki pants and a green polo shirt with the Bradley University logo on it. He was tall, blond, clean-cut, and had a charming smile.

“Hi, I’m Brandon Phillips. We have a mutual friend, Emily Martin? She told me…”

“Yes, Brandon, of course, come in. Emily’s told me so much about you.” Susan held open the screen door for him. “I wasn’t sure if Emily had gotten a chance to call you yet.”

“Hope it’s okay that I dropped by unannounced,” Brandon said with a smile. “Emily explained your situation, and she insisted I meet your daughter right away. I understand she’s quite gifted.”

Susan beamed. “Yes, in my slightly biased opinion, she is. Let me get her for you.”

Susan went down the short hallway to the bedroom Allie shared with Caroline and knocked twice. Allie didn’t answer, so Susan opened the door. There sat Allie on her unmade bed, listening to her iPod at such a volume that Susan could hear the Mozart blasting through the earbuds, and thumbing through a fashion magazine. She’d carelessly set the moist liter bottle and glass on the nightstand, causing a wet ring. Susan decided the stain would have to wait. “Allie? You won’t believe. That music professor I just told you about is here. Can you come out and meet him?”

Allie shrugged her shoulders, removed the earbuds, and followed Susan into the family room.

Brandon stared at her way too long, but he finally managed to mumble, “Nice to meet you.”

She was dressed in sweats, her hair up on top of her head in a knot, wearing no makeup, yet Brandon stood there speechless. Susan had seen lots of guys fall instantly for her daughter. After all, Allie was striking—tall, slender, long black hair, and carried herself like a model. So it didn’t surprise her that Brandon seemed awestruck. However, Susan had to wonder if that was a good beginning for a working relationship.

“Uh, Professor Phillips. Hello?” Allie snapped her fingers in front of his face.

Brandon recovered himself and stopped staring. “Oh, sorry. Your mother’s friend Emily tells me you have some free time this summer and need a place to practice.”

“Aren’t you kind of young to be a music professor?”

“Allie!” Susan said.

Brandon grinned. “That’s okay, Mrs. Benedict. Or can I call you Susan?” She nodded. “I know I’m young, but that just means I’ve got more energy than those old guys!” He turned his smile to Allie. “And I do own a piano. During the summers, my private students aren’t around much, and I’m only teaching one summer session at Bradley. Lots of free time for you to make use of my instrument.”

“We can’t pay you much,” Susan admitted, “but it would be wonderful if Allie could use your piano occasionally.”

Brandon waved that notion aside. “Oh, no, you don’t have to pay me anything.” He sneaked another glance at Allie. “I’m happy to let Allie have the use of my piano for practice as often as she likes.”

Allie shrugged. “Okay,” she said, and started back toward her room.

“Allie!” She turned around when Brandon called after her. “Uh, I’m always getting free tickets to concerts around town, if you ever want to go. Tomorrow night’s Symphony on the Lawn performance is Mozart. Emily says you’re particularly fond of his music.”

“Whatever.” She turned to walk off.

“Allison!” Susan was incredulous at her daughter’s rude behavior.

Allie turned back around. “What, Mom? It’s not like he’s asking me out on a date.” Allie rolled her eyes and went back to her room.

Susan blinked, mortified. Finally she said, “I apologize for my daughter’s behavior. She can be a little headstrong, and this whole move has been hard on her. It was so kind of you to come over and make her such a generous offer. About the piano, I mean.”

Brandon shrugged and reached for the door. “I know all about temperamental artists. Just tell her to give me a call when she wants to come over.”

“Let me get your contact information.” Susan grabbed her phone off the coffee table, handed it to Brandon, and waited while he keyed in his number. “Thanks for coming by, Brandon.” Susan held the door for him. “I’ll have Allie call you tomorrow and set up a practice schedule.” After I have a talk with her about her manners.