“I didn’t have to resort to that. Your aunt filled me in over supper. Told me as much as she wanted me to know.”
“You and my aunt are entirely too chummy. You know that, don’t you?”
“We have things in common.”
“Such as?”
“This and that.”
“I could fire you for insubordination,” he mused speculatively. “Probably should.”
“But you won’t,” she said with confidence.
“Why is that?”
“I know all your sins, going way back.”
“Sins? What sins? You always said I was your precious angel,” he retorted.
She grinned at him. “I’m biased. Doesn’t mean the rest of the world would see you the same way.”
“I’m not running for political office, Molly. Doesn’t matter much what skeletons come tumbling out of my closet.”
“If you say so.”
Kevin turned serious. “Molly, what did happen here yesterday?”
“Ask your aunt.”
“She needs looking out for. I don’t want anyone, even Gracie, taking advantage of her.”
“I know you love Delia,” Molly soothed. “But she’s got all her wits about her, Kevin. There’s no need to worry. No one’s going to take advantage of Delia. If you ask me, Gracie’s the one who’s in over her head. Looked downright bemused, when she left here yesterday.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Ask your aunt,” Molly repeated, and firmly shut the kitchen door behind her.
Kevin mulled over the enigmatic remark most of the morning. It turned out his aunt had slipped out of the house at the crack of dawn to get her hair done. A neighbor had stopped by to take her. Molly claimed to be as surprised as he was that Delia had made a clean getaway.
He was resting in his hammock, pondering the implications of Gracie’s little tea with his aunt, when he heard a car door slam. He could have gone to investigate, but he suspected Molly would see to it that his aunt found him. Sure enough, a few minutes later she was heading his way. He got a subtle whiff of her lily of the valley perfume just before she arrived.
“I brought you a fresh lemonade,” Delia said, handing him the glass.
“A peace offering?” he inquired, opening his eyes to gauge her reaction. He was so startled by the sight that greeted him, he almost choked on the first sip. “What the devil happened to you?”
Her hand fluttered up toward her shorn hair. “I like it,” she said defensively. “It’s stylish and easy to care for.”
“It’s red, for heaven’s sakes.”
“Strawberry blond, actually.”
“What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking I ought to spruce up a bit if I’m going into business.”
Kevin concluded he needed something much stronger than lemonade to hear the rest of this. He made do with a long, slow swallow of the beverage at hand. The tart drink only added to the acid already churning in his stomach.
“Maybe you’d better sit down and tell me exactly what’s going on,” he suggested quietly. “From the beginning.”
She regarded him with a stubborn set to her chin. “I don’t have to answer to you, you know.”
“Humor me then. I’d like to hear what you’re up to. I’m guessing it has something to do with Gracie’s little visit yesterday.”
His aunt beamed at him. “What a lovely young woman! No wonder you’re so fond of her.”
“How did she happen to be here for tea, when I specifically asked you to stay away from her?”
“Kevin, you are my nephew and I love you, but you do not get to run my life. If I want to make new friends, there’s not a thing in the world you can do about it.”
He gritted his teeth. “So you just happened to pick Gracie to become your new friend?”
“Well, of course, I wanted to get to know someone you’re so obviously fond of. I just wish I’d insisted on inviting her out here sooner. She’s been so many interesting places, had so many fascinating experiences.”
“Couldn’t you have waited until I introduced you?”
“I might not have that many years left,” she said wryly. “You tend to be stubborn.”
He sighed. “Okay, I suppose there’s no harm done. Have you satisfied your curiosity? Is this the end of it?”
She toyed with her lace-edged hankie, twisted it nervously into a knot. She also avoided looking directly at him. Her reaction was not encouraging.
“Not exactly,” she conceded.
The business, he thought with an impending sense of doom. How could he have forgotten? “Tell me,” he said grimly.
“Gracie and I were talking,” she began, then beamed at him again. “My, she does have some exciting ideas for that bed-and-breakfast of hers.”
“She shared that with you?”
“Yes, indeed. I asked about it, of course. I could just see how lovely it would be. Have you heard what she has in mind or have you been too stubborn about that, too?”
“There’s not going to be any bed-and-breakfast,” he said fiercely. “The details don’t matter.”
“Well, they did to me. Did you know I once envisioned operating a gracious old inn myself?”
“Did you really?” he asked skeptically. “This is the first I’ve ever heard of that.”
“You know how it is. Life takes us down a different path and things change.”
Something in her voice alerted him that there was more to this than he’d ever imagined. Delia had never talked about lost dreams before. “You’re serious, aren’t you? You actually wanted to operate an inn?”
“As a matter of fact, I did. I doubt you remember much about the old Colonial Beach Hotel, but it was something in its heyday. There were galas, famous guests from the cream of Virginia society.” She sighed. “Of course I was much too young to attend such things, but I heard about them. Mama and Daddy went several times. I always thought how wonderful that hotel would be if it could become a family resort with old-fashioned games on the front lawn, croquet, badminton, that sort of thing.”
Kevin was astounded by the amount of thought she’d apparently given the idea. “Did you ever consider buying it?”
“Women in my generation didn’t do such things, but actually, yes,
