woman gasped aloud. “Put that down immediately!”
“Don’t get your panties in a wad, Mrs. C.,” Winnie said. “I’m just curious by nature. I like touching things, you know?” She walked over to a Tiffany lamp. “Oh, now, I like this.”
“Hands off!” Esmerelda almost shouted, causing Winnie to jump and almost knock over the lamp. Esmerelda sank into her chair and mopped her forehead with a handkerchief. She looked at Marilee. “What’s the meaning of this?”
Marilee tried to hide her amusement. “Winnie was living at Blessing Home until it was declared unsafe. We’ve managed to find homes for the other girls, but we haven’t had any luck placing Winnie.” She stepped closer and whispered, “She has mood swings, and her pregnancy has made them worse. I guess you might say she’s hormonally challenged right now.” Marilee cut her eyes toward the girl.
Esmerelda looked from Marilee to Winnie before settling her gaze on Marilee once more. “What does that have to do with me?”
“I was sort of hoping you’d let me crash here on your sofa for a while,” Winnie said. “I’d really prefer my own bedroom, you understand, but I don’t want to put you out. I reckon I could set up a bassinet over here by this window. I want my baby to have plenty of sunlight, and this place is kinda dark, if you don’t mind my saying so.”
“You must be out of your mind,” Esmerelda said to Marilee. “No wonder your husband left you.”
Marilee was surprised the remark didn’t sting as much as it had in the past. “Now, now, Mrs. Cunningham, I know you’re a person of good breeding, and you wouldn’t think of stooping to insults, so I’m just going to state my business. We need a home for Winnie, and you have the biggest house in town. Surely you wouldn’t mind having a guest around.”
“I most certainly do mind,” the woman said. “This is not a hotel.”
“It’s big enough to be a hotel,” Winnie said. “I hear this place even has an elevator and swimming pool. Would it be okay if I brought some of the brothers over for a weenie roast and pool party?”
Esmerelda stared in horror. She turned to Marilee. “Don’t think for one minute I don’t know what’s going on here. You’re simply trying to embarrass me for making a fuss over the candelabra. Well, it won’t work. I did my duty by donating it to your charity, it’s not my fault you weren’t there to hand it over at the drawing. I can only hope you’ve come to your senses and will see that it is delivered safely to the woman who won it.”
“I don’t want your dumb old candelabra,” Marilee said. “We’ll find another prize.”
“What do you mean, you don’t want it? Do you have any idea what it’s worth?”
“I know what it’s not worth, Mrs. Cunningham. It’s not worth being called a thief.” Esmerelda looked away. “But that’s not why I’m here. Winnie needs a place to stay,” she repeated.
“Is this a sleeper sofa?” Winnie asked. “I’d hate to sleep on this expensive fabric, what with my bladder problem.”
Esmerelda looked as though she was about to have a seizure. “Dudley, come here this instant!” she called out loudly. The butler seemed to appear from nowhere. “Please escort these women from my home. And carry that candelabra to their car.” She turned to Marilee. “My business with you is finished. I’ve done my part.”
“Forget the candelabra, Dudley,” Marilee said. “And we are more than capable of showing ourselves out.” She and Winnie started for the door.
“You wait just a darned minute, young lady!” Esmerelda said. “You are not leaving this house without that candelabra. I insist! I’m not about to have my friends think I went back on my word.” She drew herself up proudly. “I’m retiring to my bedroom now. I don’t want to hear another word about it.” She left in a huff.
Marilee looked at the butler. “I’ll bet she’s a peach to work for.”
Dudley chuckled as he followed them out the door, carrying the candelabra.
Marilee pulled into her driveway twenty minutes later and found Clara and Ruby planting mums in the old cast-iron pot out front. “We thought it would cheer you up,” Clara said as Marilee and Winnie climbed from the car.
Marilee was touched by her friends’ thoughtfulness. “Thank you.”
“How did things go with Esmerelda?” Ruby asked.
“The woman needs a beating with a big stick,” Winnie said. “Imagine her not wanting to take me in. And here I am with child. I’m telling you, she can go from zero to bitch in two seconds flat.”
Marilee laughed as she pulled the candelabra from her back seat. “Naturally, she insisted we take the candelabra after all. She doesn’t want to look bad to her friends.”
“What friends?” Winnie muttered.
“Did she apologize for what she said about you?” Ruby asked.
“What do you think?” Marilee presented the candelabra to Clara. “I trust you’ll see that this gets into the right hands.”
“Yes, of course.” She put it in her car.
“By the way, my next-door neighbor happens to be partners with Bobby Benson, and he has offered to take a look at Blessing Home. If he agrees to patch the roof, we’ll have to come up with the money.”
“How do we know he won’t walk off the job like Bobby?” Ruby asked. “And how much is he thinking of charging us?” As committee treasurer, she was tightfisted when it came to doling out money.
“He’s going to let me know,” Marilee said. “I think that with the benefit luncheon and cookbook sales we should be able to cover it.”
“There’s a lot more to be done,” Clara said. “We’re going to have to put our heads together and come up with more moneymaking schemes.”
Ruby looked thoughtful. “How about a white elephant sale?”
“That might work,” Clara said. “What do you think, Marilee?”
Marilee sighed. “Maybe.”
“Have you lost interest in this project?” Clara asked.
Marilee was beginning to wish she’d never gotten involved, but she couldn’t let them down again. “Of course not. It’s just—”
“She’s got a lot on her mind,” Ruby said. “And rightfully so. Honey, Clara and I need to take on more responsibility, what with all that’s happened. And we need to get our other volunteers off their behinds.”
Clara gave a harrumph. “What volunteers? They’ve all dropped out.”
“Let me see what Mr. Brewer has to say, once he takes a look at the place,” Marilee told them.
Winnie started for the house, and then paused. “I have a four-thirty appointment at the clinic tomorrow. I go every three weeks for my prenatal exam.”
“I
