Nancy’s Theory of Style (39 page)

“Junie Burns was on a run when I went
outside. She thinks that we…”
Nancy
still couldn’t believe that Junie had turned on her. “She was really nasty and
bitter. She’s going to tell everyone that we slept together.”

“Don’t freak, Nance. Everything’s still
cool between me and Todd. I’ll call and tell him you crashed here, but nothing
happened. Everyone knows that Junie’s been jealous of you for years, so it’s
not like he’s going to listen to a thing she says. Come have breakfast.”

When Todd didn’t call her that afternoon
or evening,
Nancy
hoped that Bailey was right.

On Monday,
Nancy
tried to focus on her work, but her
confidence had evaporated and she found herself second-guessing all her
decisions. Too often she caught herself staring at her beautiful, aloof
assistant and thinking that if he gave her a comforting hug, she would be able
to clear her mind and figure things out.

Sometimes their eyes met and she a wave
of sorrow and longing that seemed to grow stronger every day.

When
Nancy
received her attorney’s statement, she
wrote out a check for the retainer. She used a pen with green ink because green
is the color of hope.

She went out with Bailey on a few nights
while Sloane babysat. They dashed from one gathering to another. She met new
people and renewed old associations. She started getting invitations again,
most of which she couldn’t accept because of Eugenia.

One day as
Nancy
was dropping Eugenia off at Three
Bridges, Mrs. Kanbar said, “May I have a minute?”

“I hope there’s no problem with Eugenia.
She hasn’t hit anyone with that sword has she?”
Nancy
followed Mrs. Kanbar into her office.

“Only once, and she stopped after a
time-out.” Mrs. Kanbar sat at her desk and said, “Eugenia’s getting along very
well and her social skills are developing very nicely. She’s joined a small
group and plays with them every day.”

“She talks about Olivia and Pierce all
the time.”

“I know Eugenia’s with you temporarily,
but if things should change, I wanted you to know that we would be happy to
have her stay. The family of the boy who left has decided to relocate.”

“Oh,”
Nancy
said. “Thank you very much, but
Eugenia’s mother doesn’t live here. Or anywhere for long. She travels.”

“I’ll leave the offer open until she
returns and you can talk to her about it.” Mrs. Kanbar smiled sympathetically. “Now,
the other matter is your boyfriend Rick, who’s become very important to Eugenia.
She told me that she’s anxious about him. Is he suffering from depression? Because
we can give you a referral to a family therapist.”

“I don’t have a boyfriend named Rick. My
assistant is named Derek, and he’s fine.”

“She said ‘Rick’ clearly. Her verbal
skills are excellent.”

“Eugenia’s? Regardless of her skills, or
lack thereof, she knows his name is Derek. He’s perfectly well. He’s delightful.
I have no idea where Eugenia got the idea that he’s unhappy.”

Mrs. Kanbar had a skeptical “Are you
sure you don’t wear a bigger size of jeans?” expression and pushed a business
card across the desk. “If you should ever want to talk to someone, here’s
someone who’s been helpful to other families.”

“We’re not a family,”
Nancy
said rising from her seat. “Thank you
for your concern.”

As they walked home, she said, “Eugenia,
why did you tell Mrs. Candybar that Derek is sad?”

“Not Derek. Rick is sad.”

“There is no Rick. There is only Derek. He’s
fine.”

Eugenia’s look was more skeptical than
Mrs. Kanbar’s.

“Okay,”
Nancy
said. “Why do you think Rick is sad?”

“He’s sad in his eyes. He said he has to
go away, and I told him no, don’t go. Olivia had a birthday. When can I have a
birthday?”

“I am nice to him, and I’ll call your
grandmother and ask her what your birthday is. If she’ll answer my call.”

“We can give Rick a kitten and he can
bring his kitten to play with us and Blackbeard. Make him stay.”

“He can’t have a kitten. His boyfriend
is allergic to cats. Derek is staying.”

“Maybe a puppy. We can take them on our
annual trip to the park every day. When are we going to the park?”

“We’ll go after I’m done with this
party. You don’t need to worry about Rick slash Derek. He’s extraordinarily
happy.”

“Huh!”

Back at the apartment, after
Nancy
settled Eugenia
down to look at picture books, she went over the latest reservations for the
fundraiser and called Mrs. Friendly to discuss the seating chart.

“You take care of it, honey. Is it
important?”

“Yes, because people who aren’t Mrs.
Bentley Jamieson Friendly are going to feel insulted if they’re at the wrong
table or seated with people they hate.”

 
“I gave up keeping track of who hates who
decades ago. If you’re as smart as I think you are, you will, too, before your
life is ruined trying to accommodate the whims of others.”

“But Mrs. Friendly…”

“Bye, honey.”

Nancy
referred to her notes from Gigi’s
party, but she had to ask Derek to work with her on figuring out the tables. “This
is an inexact science,” she said as they stood over a sheet of poster board
moving around 3x5 cards with names and notes. “GP can have the table by the
caterer’s station since it’s his first year and he’ll be spending his time
supervising the actors.”

As she moved a card across the paper,
her arm brushed against Derek’s. “I didn’t mean that. Sorry.” She felt clumsy
and nervous. And then, when she glanced at his face, it was as if she was
seeing someone else for just a second, someone she knew and loved more than
anyone in the world.

She needed to get over him.

When Derek took Eugenia to Miss Winkles
for her piano lesson and so he could change a light bulb,
Nancy
called Bailey and said she’d like to go
away with him. “I’ll want to relax after the fundraiser on Friday, so we can go
on Saturday morning and come back early on Monday. Would you like to go to
Stinson?”

“That’s great, Nance. I have something
important I want to ask you.”

She called her mother to see if the
beach house was available and if she could watch Eugenia.

“Your father won’t be using it because
he’s in
Chicago
,” Hester said and
Nancy
heard the sound of
ice tinkling against glass. “I’d love to help you, but I’m coming down with a
cold.”

“Mom, why don’t you visit Aunt Frilly
for a few weeks? You know how much you like staying with her.”

“Maybe, Nanny.

“Speaking of Aunt Frilly, have you
talked to her recently? I need to ask Birdie about Eugenia’s preschool.”

“You have her in pre-school? That’s
nice.”

“Didn’t Dad tell you? There’s a spot
opening up and I don’t know what Birdie wants to do.”
Nancy
thought of how happy Eugenia was at
Three Bridges. Birdie would pull her out and drag her around, leaving her with
slatternly hotel maids and hippie communes.

“I’ll call Frilly later. Good luck at
your party.”

“Thanks, Mom. Love you.”

“Love you, Nanny.”

Nancy
tried her cousin, Sissy, who laughed
and said, “I’m not taking her because then I’ll be stuck with her.”

“Sissy, you should be so lucky as to
have Eugenia’s company. She’s got amazing artistic vision. I have no intention
of letting her with someone who can’t appreciate that. Good day,”
Nancy
said and hung up
and chewed at a rough edge of her fingernail.

She called Milagro, who was away on a
trip, but Sloane came through with a suggestion. “The boys are having a
sleepover at a friend’s on Friday, but I can watch Eugenia for the rest of the
weekend if Mrs. Kanbar can help you find a sitter for Friday.”

“I’ll do that. Thanks.”
Nancy
said. She felt the need to confide in
someone sympathetic. “I’m going away with Bailey. He keeps talking about
marriage and I think he’s going to ask me to make a commitment.”

Nancy
heard the front door open and Derek
came in alone and sat at his writing table.

“A proposal?” Sloane said. “That’s so
sudden. Bailey always talked about not wanting to marry too soon.”

Nancy
had nothing to hide, except, of course,
from Todd, so she said, “I think Bailey’s ready now with the right person. He
wants someone who shares his priorities.” Somehow that didn’t sound very
romantic.

Sloane said, “Lloyd, stop hitting Dobler
with his Elmo! Sorry about that,
Nancy
.
I wish you the best if you believe he’s right for you.”

“We’re really well matched. I know my
father thinks Bailey has a great future and my mother will fall in love with
his renovation project, just like I did. But I’m not telling anyone anything
until my divorce papers are filed.”

When
Nancy
ended the call, she looked at Derek. His
eyes were fixed on his laptop screen. “Derek, I’m going to tell Miss Winkles
that she should call the building manager to help her with chores. It’s part of
his duties.”

“I don’t mind helping her, Madame.”

“But I need you here helping me. Since
you’ll be working on Friday evening, you may have Monday off.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Carrington-Chambers,”
he said coldly.

There was a strand of cobweb in his dark
hair and
Nancy
wanted to brush it away. “As you already overheard, I may start divorce
proceedings very soon. In which case, Todd will not want to pay your salary. What
is the usual procedure – do I contact your agency and have them bill me for
your services, or do I deal directly with you?”

“You cannot afford me, Madame.”

“I’ll work it out with my financial
advisor,” she said peeved. She wondered exactly how much Derek was paid and
knew that her father would recommend that she hire someone right out of college
for less. “I’m going to get Eugenia and you have cobwebs in your hair.”

Chapter 21: Construct Your Milieu

Friday morning arrived too soon. Nancy
dressed in jeans and her superhero t-shirt and began going over her Froth hemp
totes, making sure each contained the supplies itemized on the tags attached to
the handles.

She made scrambled eggs and toast for
breakfast. Sloane’s suggestion had been useful and one of Eugenia’s favorite
teacher’s aides, Eve, was going to babysit her.

“You get to stay the whole day at school
and Eve will bring you home,”
Nancy
told Eugenia. “I’m leaving the key with Miss Winkles, so show Eve her apartment.
Eve said she wants to meet Blackbeard. I’ll be home after you’re asleep. You
can sleep in my bed tonight.”

“Why can’t I come to the pirate party?”

“It’s a grown up party.”

“I want to see the pirate ship.”

“Let’s ask Derek if he can arrange a
visit for us some other time. Maybe we can invite Sloane, Lloyd and Dobler.”

“And Miss Winkles and Blackbeard.”

“We’ll see.”

When she took Eugenia to Three Bridges,
Nancy
stopped on the
sidewalk outside the preschool and said, “Be on your best behavior tonight.”

Eugenia’s brows knit together. “You’ll
come get me?”

“I’ll always come back for you, Eugenia.
I love you very much.” She put her arms around the girl and kissed her cheek. She
didn’t want to let her go. Maybe Birdie would never return.

“I love you, Auntie,” Eugenia said and
gave her a loud smacking kiss on her nose that made
Nancy
laugh.

 
Nancy
returned to Chateau
Winkles to meet up with Derek before they went to the warehouse. He’d loaded
her totes in the Mini and was fielding calls.

Bailey phoned mid-morning and said,
“Hey, Nance.”

“Bailey!” She glanced at Derek who was
talking to the florist. “I’m absolutely overwhelmed with work. I’m
über-whelmed, supernova-whelmed.”

She expected Bailey to laugh, but he
said, “I’m sure you’re calm and in control. That’s what I admire about you. I
know I’ll see you tonight, but I wanted to tell you how much I’m looking
forward to this weekend. Should I bring anything?”

“Just your board shorts and sunscreen. The
house is stocked, and we can pick up anything we need in town.”