Part 23 (2/2)

”Good,” Edward replied. ”Almost too good.”

”No such thing.”

”No, but I'm scrambling to keep up. And I'm not a happy scrambler,” Edward replied.

Mason laughed. ”That you're not. You're a d.a.m.ned planner just like your grandfather, always so meticulous, dotting all those i's and crossing all those t's. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.”

”You're exhausted because you're eighty-eight and you're still helping out at the pub every night,” Edward said reasonably.

”Don't even like to think of the place having to get by without me,” Mason replied. ”Your brother's always happy-and grateful I might add-to see me. Unlike some people I know.”

”How many plane tickets have I sent you?” Edward countered as he always did to this jibe. ”And how many times have you actually come over here?”

”Once was enough, thank you very much,” Mason grumbled. ”Can't follow those d.a.m.ned accents. Every word stretched out into infinity. They talk so slow down South a body could drop dead from boredom waiting for a sentence to end.”

Edward laughed. He'd had to interpret for both sides of a conversation during Mason's only visit to Atlanta.

”It would be better if you came home for a visit,” Mason said. ”In fact, an old friend of yours was in the Fox tonight asking about you.”

Edward closed his eyes, knowing from his uncle's attempt at nonchalance exactly who he was talking about.

”She looked fine. Beautiful really,” Mason said. ”Her husband's died, Eddie.” His great-uncle used the nickname when he most wanted to make a point. ”Almost a year ago now. She's come home to take care of her mother. This could be your opportunity to win her back.”

Edward sighed as a picture of Julia Bardmoor formed in his mind. She'd been tall and lithe and beautiful in her wedding gown, which was what she'd been wearing the last time he'd seen her. Her blue eyes had s.h.i.+mmered with tears when she'd left him at the altar all those years ago; as unable at the last to commit to a nomadic life of hotel postings across the United States as Edward had been to give them up to have her.

”I saw the look in her eyes when she asked about you, lad,” his great-uncle said softly. ”It's not too late.” He hesitated. ”It's never too late for love,” he said quite dramatically.

”Said the confirmed bachelor as if he had a clue what he was talking about,” Edward said. ”Have you started writing Hallmark cards on the side?” He laughed, trying not to notice the hollowness of the sound. ”I'm a lot more likely to listen to your advice if you choose a subject you know something about. Say drinking. Or causing trouble. Or . . .”

”Fine,” Mason said. ”So tell me how things are going with that Hunter person you've taken on.”

”Oh, I'm working on whipping him into shape,” Edward replied. ”He's bright and so far he's taken what I've dished out. At the moment he's focused, though I'm not sure he's grasping the reasoning behind things. Between his sister and her mother-in-law's referrals business is booming. Hence the scrambling to add staff I mentioned earlier.”

”And the screenings?” Mason asked. ”Have you started season two?”

”Yes,” Edward said. ”We're two programs in and the group's grown even larger.”

”Well, season three is a corker. In the episode last night s.h.i.+rley MacLaine told Maggie Smith to-”

”Oh, no,” Edward cut his great-uncle off. ”Don't do it. I am not listening to this. I've forbidden the ladies to skip ahead. I'm not going to betray them by getting a blow by blow from across the pond or anywhere else.”

”Ach. You and your straight and narrow,” Mason complained. ”It's just a television program. I really don't see the harm.”

”It's not about the program,” Edward said. It's about keeping my word. And not taking shortcuts. Who was it that taught me that 'a good name is better than bags of gold'?”

”No need to go quoting Cervantes on me. And I'm fairly certain that was your grandfather's favorite quote, not mine.”

Edward's cell phone rang. Glancing down he recognized James Culp's phone number. ”I've got a client calling,” he said. ”I've got to ring off. But I'll be speaking to Mum and Dad over the weekend. Perhaps we'll have a word then. But none of those words can be about the new season of Downton Abbey.”

”All right,” Mason said. ”But I still think you should consider a trip home sometime soon before someone else s.n.a.t.c.hes Julia up again.”

”Right,” Edward replied. ”If I suddenly decide that I can't survive another day without a wife, I'll consider it.” A picture of Julia fleeing the church and him, her head bent, her long white veil billowing out behind her, rose in his mind. The picture was sharply focused, its colors so bright that the image was every bit as painful today as it had been when it was formed.

”THREE DOWN, ONE TO GO.” BROOKE STEPPED BACK and set her paintbrush on the edge of the painter's tray to survey Marissa Dalton's bedroom. ”What do you think? Is it too much purple?” She'd debated whether the color would be best as an accent, but Marissa had been so in love with the deep plumy shade, they'd decided to use it as the base color. The fourth wall had been taped off to be painted in floor-to-ceiling stripes of purple and white.

”Is there such a thing?” Bruce Dalton asked.

No! It's perfect! And beautiful! Marissa, Natalie, and Ava confirmed. Each girl held a dripping paintbrush, which would have been even more alarming if the room hadn't already been emptied and the old carpet and pad removed. The only casualties were the girls' play clothes, hair, faces, and each and every sc.r.a.p of exposed skin.

If fun could be counted in paint spills, the girls were having a blast. Both Natalie and Ava had chosen the colors and fabrics that would be used in their rooms, but Zachary had shuddered in horror when Brooke had suggested that they do the work together and had instead insisted on hiring a slew of expensive painters, fabricators, and cabinetmakers.

Brooke looked at Bruce Dalton, who had purple streaks in his hair and down one cheek. Purple spatters from an unfortunate run-in with Ava's paintbrush covered the back of his shorts. Brooke hadn't fared much better.

”I think we're going to have to hose everyone down when we're done,” Bruce said.

”And then you said we could have pizza,” Marissa reminded her father. Her eyes glowed with excitement. ”With extra cheese and pepperonis on it.”

Bruce and Marissa had made another surprise recipe for dessert. Afterward Brooke would show Marissa the curtains she'd made from a bold polka-dot print they'd chosen together. Brooke had thoroughly enjoyed the hours she'd spent cutting out the fabric and sewing the panels. It had been so long since she'd had the opportunity to work with her hands. She laughed when Bruce ran a hand through his hair, leaving a purple stripe in its wake.

He shook his head in mock dismay when he realized what he'd done. ”It's going to take more than a hose to get all of us clean.”

”Maybe we can jog through a car wash?” Brooke suggested.

The girls squealed with laughter. Bruce shot Brooke a wink. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this comfortable in her own skin-even if it was doused in purple paint.

”I like purple way better than blue,” Natalie said.

”Me, too,” said Marissa.

”Only boys like blue,” Natalie said.

Ava nodded in agreement. Her frizzy red curls were squashed together with clumps of purple paint. ”Daddy hired-ed a painter and that's what color they painted the nursery.”

Ava scratched her nose, leaving a telltale blob of purple, but Brooke barely noticed. Her brain was stuck on what Ava had just said. ”A nursery?” she asked.

”Yeah,” Natalie answered importantly. ”For the new baby boy that Sarah's going to bring home.”

Time slowed down and may in fact have stopped while the words sank in. The paintbrush fell out of her hand and landed on her tennis shoe in a puddle of purple paint as their meaning sank in. She bent to pick it up, taking her time as she tried to process this new development and all its ramifications.

”All right girls, you keep up the good work,” Bruce said. His hand found and cupped Brooke's elbow, offering support as she straightened. ”Brooke and I are going to go place the pizza order and get cold drinks for everybody. We'll be right back.”

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