CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The next morning Ellie and Kevin related the strange turn of events to Melanie.
“Europe? Indefinitely?” Melanie was just as shocked as they were.
“I know. It just seemed so sudden. Not like Linda at all,” Ellie said, shaking her head. “It was like Randall just took over. I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.”
“Well, you did eventually talk to her, right?” Melanie looked at both of them. “You mean, you didn’t even get to talk to her?” She slammed her palm on the table and her usual orange aura was tinged with red.
“We did go over there. When we couldn’t reach her on the phone,” Kevin said. “There was no answer at the door. I guess they must have left right after they called Ellie.”
Melanie looked at Ellie, who nodded in confirmation.
“We tried to reach her, we did,” Ellie said. She felt terrible and could feel tears of frustration burning in her eyes. “But in the end there wasn’t anything else we could do.”
“Okay, then.” Melanie sighed. “We’ll keep the home fires burning, so to speak, and hopefully she’ll call us from this whirlwind vacation. Of course, that’s assuming nothing bad has happened to her.”
The three of them sat in silence.
Finally Melanie cleared her throat. “So what are you going to do, Ellie? This changes things for you a bit. You are short an employee and now it appears you have a household to look after.”
At that moment the door of shop opened, bringing a cool burst of air in and a few remaining leaves that had been left on the sidewalk outside. Ellie stood and squinted. She knew the man who stood there. It was Jeffrey, the butler from Linda’s party.
“Mr.…ah, Jeffrey,” she said. “Can I help you with something?”
The older man smiled, clearly pleased that she had remembered him. He walked over to her and surprised Ellie as he grasped her hands in a warm clasp. Ellie looked closely at him. Strange. He didn’t appear to have an aura either. Ellie was dumbfounded. Was there something about the people in Linda’s life that made them invisible to her?
“Actually, I’m here to help you, young lady,” he said.
“Me? Do you know how to reach Linda?” she asked in a rush, the absence of an aura forgotten.
His smile slipped a fraction. “Unfortunately, I don’t know how to reach Mrs. Jordan. Mr. McGinty assured me she is in the best of hands and was greatly looking forward to her trip.”
“So you spoke with Randall too?” Ellie saw him nod his head and sighed. “I see. I’m sorry. I’m just worried about Linda after what happened that night. You said you were here to help me. What can I do for you?”
“Mr. McGinty knows that since I retired I have a lot more free time on my hands. I used to be employed at one of the finest dining establishments downtown. I was there for thirty years and was able to make a decent living. Put my kids through college and all. That’s why Mrs. Jordan always asked me to help out overseeing her dinner parties and the like,” Jeffrey explained.
Ellie had no idea where he was going with his story as he rambled on. She smiled encouragingly and tried to look interested, hoping he got to the point soon.
“Mr. McGinty knew that by taking Mrs. Jordan to Europe he was leaving you with a hole in your employee roster. He wants to be sure that the spot is still here when Mrs. Jordan returns,” he said.
“Of course, I wouldn’t give her job away. She’s welcome back when she gets back to town,” Ellie said, although he brought up an issue that had been nagging her in the back of her mind. Linda’s abrupt departure left her in an awkward situation. She wasn’t looking forward to finding the right person as temporary help that she would essentially be forced to let go once Linda returned. She thought she was finally starting to catch Jeffrey’s drift.
“Randall asked you to come and work for me, didn’t he? So that Linda wouldn’t have to worry about losing her job,” Ellie finished for him. Randall’s taking care of things quite neatly, she thought.
“That’s right,” Jeffrey said in agreement. “I don’t mind. I’m happy to help and having a job, even temporarily, will be a nice change for me. Plus I think the wife is pleased as punch to get me out of the house for a while,” he said, his eyes twinkling. Ellie saw that they were dark gray, a rather unusual color; almost hypnotic.
“It seems that Randall thought of everything,” she said, and for once she didn’t worry about trying to censor the sarcasm in her tone. She was damn tired of Randall McGinty’s interference in her life.
“He just wants what is best for Mrs. Jordan. One less thing to worry about, so she can focus on getting better,” Jeffrey said.
“Sounds like everyone is getting their ‘change of pace’ in this arrangement,” Melanie said dryly to Kevin.
“This does seem to have solved my problem, Jeffrey.” Ellie gave in. “Welcome to the team. When can you start?”
“Excellent!” Jeffrey seemed delighted. “I can start immediately, of course.”
“Well, that’s great.” Ellie was less enthusiastic but she had to admit that this turn of events was a great relief. “Kevin, can you show Jeffrey where he can put his jacket and hat?”
Kevin nodded and after a moment’s pause, Jeffrey followed him into the back room.
Ellie sat back down across from Melanie.
“Another fascinating plot turn,” Melanie said thoughtfully. “So far, though, you’ve been quite the beneficiary of this strange plot twist.”
“What do you mean?” Ellie didn’t care for Melanie’s tone of voice or the direction she was going.
“The party on Saturday night? That was just a fancy excuse for you to hook up with the handsome doctor.” Melanie gestured toward the door as if David was going to walk through it at any minute. “Linda leaves you in charge of her grand house, all expenses paid, and you could be living there for who only knows how long. Then you have an employee neatly provided for you to cover Linda’s spot. It just seems all very convenient for you.” Melanie was pulling out her notebook even as she was speaking. “And we all know how Randall seems to favor you.”
“You make it sound like I had planned all of this.” Ellie was mortified at the turn of conversation. “Linda is my friend, and sure she planned that party because I think she worried about me. I guess I’ve been a bit…depressed lately, and everyone seems to think the answers to all my problems can be solved by having a man in my life,” she said. “And everything else is just a coincidence. I’m helping Linda, and she helped me by asking Jeffrey to help out.”
“But from the sound of everything, Linda didn’t ask you a single thing. Randall did,” Melanie reminded her.
“We both know that lately they seem to be one and the same whether we like it or not.” Ellie was starting to get testy. She didn’t like Melanie’s logic for one second.
“Yes, whether we like it or not. There haven’t been a lot of options in the last twenty-four hours, have there?” Melanie agreed. “Our friend has been spirited away, and we are left to man the ship.”
“Yes, and we will, for Linda.” Ellie’s words were much more confident than how she actually felt.
“Of course, dear.” Melanie picked up her pen and stuck it in the corner of her mouth. “I’m getting some great stuff out of all this, though. I think I’m going to write for a while, while it’s all still fresh in there.” She tapped her pen to her forehead.
“All right.” Ellie got up from the table. “I’ve got a new employee to train anyway.”
Melanie was already scratching away in her notebook, and murmured a dismissal. Ellie didn’t know what else the day would bring, but the work was always there. So she decided it would be best to focus on that for a while instead.