Part 33 (1/2)
”Yes.” Andrea began to smile.
”Well, it's perfect for you. And I like your new hairstyle.” Delores turned to Tracey. ”Doesn't your mother look wonderful?”
”Mommy's always beautiful,” Tracey replied, earning a hug from Andrea.
Once Bill, Lonnie, Lisa, and Herb had joined them, they made their way to the largest table in the dining room of the Lake Eden Inn. As usual, Delores had arranged place cards, and Hannah found hers. She was seated between Mike and Norman again. She gave a little sigh, decided it wasn't worth making a fuss about, and pulled out her chair to sit down. But before she could take her place at the table, Tracey rushed up to her.
”Aunt Hannah?” Tracey looked anxious. ”Will you go to the ladies' room with me?”
Hannah nodded and slid her chair in again. There was more to this request than met the ear. Tracey was one of the most independent very-soon-to-be first graders in her cla.s.s. If she'd needed to visit the ladies' room, she would have told Andrea where she was going, and gone by herself.
Hannah waited until they got out into the carpeted hallway outside the dining room, and then she asked, ”Okay, what is it?”
”I want to get three more Girl Scout merit badges before the awards program, and one of them is for cooking. You have to make lunch all by yourself. The only part I can't do is dessert, and I want to have cookies.”
Hannah thought she knew what was coming. ”And you want me to teach you how to bake cookies?”
”Yes, Aunt Hannah. Will you, please? I can't ask Mom. You know why. I can't ask Grandma Delores, either. I know she doesn't bake. And if I ask Grandma McCann, I might hurt Mom's feelings.”
”And you don't think it'll hurt your mom's feelings if I teach you to bake?”
”Why would it?” Tracey shrugged, and it was a miniature duplicate of Andrea's shrug. ”You're the professional, Aunt Hannah. Everybody knows that.”
Flattery will get you everywhere, Hannah thought, and that's something you did get from your mother! But of course she didn't say that. She said instead, ”I'll be happy to teach you to bake, Tracey. It'll be fun.”
”Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies?” Tracey asked her. ”They're Mom's favorites and then I can bake them for her.”
”Good idea. Do you want to go on to the ladies' room? Or was that just a ploy to get me alone to ask me?”
”It was just a ploy. Let's go back in, Aunt Hannah. I want to use Mom's cell phone to talk to Bethany. She couldn't come because she's too little for one of Grandma's dinner parties, but I promised I'd call and tell her good night.”
It was a lovely meal. Delores had ordered something new on the menu. It was called ”A Taste of the Lake Eden Inn,” and it was a meal of ten small samples of Sally's best dishes.
”That was great!” Bill said, putting down his fork after eating the last morsel of Sally's Flourless Chocolate Cake. And then he turned to Andrea. ”That tasted almost as good as you look tonight. I've got the most beautiful wife in the world.”
For one brief second Andrea looked shocked, but then she started to smile. ”Thank you, honey,” she said.
Thank you, Bill, Hannah thought, but she didn't say it. She was glad Bill had taken her advice when she'd cued him in about Andrea's makeover. ”Thank you, Mother,” she said instead. ”That was a wonderful meal!”
Everyone else jumped on the bandwagon, thanking Delores for inviting them and complimenting her on her menu choice. When the thanks had died down, Delores rose to her feet and gestured toward Carrie. ”We have some very good news, but I'll let Carrie tell you. And after she does, I have some personal good news of my own.”
Delores sat down, and Carrie stood up. Hannah had a feeling they'd rehea.r.s.ed this. ”I'm not sure you know this, but Marge and Patsy asked us to hold a silent auction for the Honus Wagner baseball card that belonged to their brother, Gus. We sent out notices yesterday morning, and as of two o'clock this afternoon, our Granny's Attic Web site had received five firm offers.”
”Tell them about the minimum opening bid,” Delores prompted.
”The minimum opening bid for the card was one million, five hundred thousand dollars,” Carrie said. ”That's the least it could sell for. And the fact that we've received five bids in less than forty-eight hours shows that there are a lot of interested parties out there. I wouldn't be surprised if the winning bid is over two million dollars.”
”When does the bidding close?” Andrea asked.
”Next Sat.u.r.day morning at ten. We gave them a week to discuss it with their clients and enter a bid.”
”That's wonderful!” Hannah clapped her hands. And then she asked the question she knew was on everyone's mind. ”Who gets the money?”
”It'll be divided evenly between Marge and Patsy,” Delores told them. ”Gus never married, and he had no children. Marge and Patsy are his only surviving siblings.”
Herb gulped so loudly, they all heard it. ”You mean Mom and Aunt Patsy could each inherit almost a million dollars?”
”That's right,” Carrie told him, ”minus our commission, of course. And now Delores has something to tell you.”
”It's the real reason we're celebrating tonight,” Delores said, smiling at all of them, ”but not even Carrie knows why.”
Carrie nodded. ”It's true. She wouldn't tell me. She said she wanted to tell everyone all together.”
All eyes were on Delores, and she clearly reveled in the moment. Hannah decided to ask the critical question. ”What are we celebrating, Mother?”
”Remember when we all got together at the Inn the last time?” Delores asked.
”I remember.”
”And I said I was working on a secret project, and I'd tell you if it actually happened?”
”I remember,” Hannah said.
”Well...it happened.”
”What happened?” at least four of them asked at once, and Delores laughed.
”The secret project was my book. And a big New York publisher bought it.”
For a moment they were all shocked speechless, and Hannah was the first to recover. ”Congratulations, Mother! Is it a book about antiques?”
”No, it's fiction.”
Carrie's mouth dropped open in surprise. ”A Regency Romance?” she guessed.
”You're right!” Delores told her, looking very proud of herself. ”And I used every one of you for characters. Isn't that marvelous?”
Uh-oh! Hannah said under her breath. ”You used all of us?” she asked aloud.
”Of course, dear. One must write from life, you know. My three dear daughters are in it, of course, and I think I did a good job of depicting your true characters.” She turned to Carrie. ”Naturally you're in it, Carrie. And so is Mike, and Norman, and Lisa, too. You're there, Herb. And Bill. And Lonnie. I even put some members of my Regency Romance group in it.”
”How about me, Grandma Delores?” Tracey asked.
”Of course, darling. I couldn't write a book without putting you in it. You might not be the age you are now, though, so don't look for a six-year-old girl.”
”Okay, Grandma. I won't.”
”You know what they always say about real people in books, don't you?” Delores asked them, her eyes scanning the crowd.
”No, what do they say?” Hannah finally asked, when no one else spoke up.