bottom lip and stared at the floor.
Out in the hallway Charlotte frowned. She’d always been a private person, the type who wouldn’t think of airing her personal problems to anyone but possibly her sister Madeline. Even then, she’d think twice. But these women seemed to know a lot of really personal stuff about Tessa. Was it possible that telling all to the whole group was a prerequisite for joining the Red Scarf Sorority? She shuddered. If so, they’d never have to worry about her applying for membership.
Inside the room, Mary Lou reacted to Tessa’s “but” by narrowing her eyes suspiciously. “But what?” she questioned.
Tessa shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Aw, come on now, there’s got to be something else.”
Again Tessa shook her head. “I can’t talk about it. Not now. Not yet,” she whispered.
“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” one of the women said. “We could always make this Lisa person disappear. Permanently,” she added with a giggle. “We could do it and no one would be the wiser.”
Several of the women snickered.
“I have an even better idea,” another offered. “Let’s make Frank disappear permanently instead.”
“No, no, that’s too easy,” another woman argued. “Besides, Tessa still loves him. What about if we cut his thing off though. Then see how Miss Lisa likes him.”
When the other women howled with laughter, Charlotte decided that she’d heard enough. As far as she was concerned, they were all crazy, but a fun kind of crazy, and though she certainly didn’t agree with their little joke or the invasion of privacy, she found that she was just a wee bit envious of the sisterly camaraderie they seemed to share.
Figuring that no one was going to miss her if she left and also figuring that she’d come back to clean Tessa’s room after lunch, Charlotte grabbed the supply cart.
“Ah, excuse me. Wait a minute.”
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tessa wave at her. Swallowing her impatience, she paused.
“Don’t leave,” Tessa pleaded.
Suddenly conscious that every eye in the room was staring at her, Charlotte waited as Tessa hurried to the doorway.
“What’s your name?” Tessa asked.
Uh-oh, now what? Maybe she’s going to report you.
Yeah, yeah, I’m shaking in my tennis shoes. Big hairy deal. “My name is Charlotte LaRue,” she said evenly.
“Well, Charlotte, I owe you an apology. I’m really sorry for my earlier outburst. Please come back inside and clean.”
An apology was the last thing that Charlotte had expected, and when the women inside the room abruptly burst into cheers and applause, she felt her face grow warm with shame and embarrassment. Being the center of attention left her little choice but to accept the apology as gracefully as possible, so she nodded. “Everyone has good days and bad days.”
“Oh, that’s so generous of you,” Tessa said as the women dispersed and filed out of the room. “And please don’t be embarrassed.” She motioned toward the group. “That was just their way of confirming that I’ve worked through my crisis.”
Well, whoop-de-do, good for you. The instant the sarcastic thought popped into her head, Charlotte’s conscience whispered, Shame on you. And she was ashamed. After all, who was she to criticize another person’s way of handling a crisis? Judge not, lest ye be judged…different strokes for different folks.
Forcing a smile, Charlotte said, “I’ll get to work, then,” and she headed for the bathroom.
Once in the bathroom, all she could do was stare. Every available surface in the small room was covered with beauty products or jewelry. She’d cleaned a lot of homes over the years and had worked for many women who were obsessed with youth and beauty, but she’d never seen such a collection in one place before, enough to fill a whole suitcase. Why anyone would want to haul all of that stuff around was beyond Charlotte’s comprehension.
“Sorry about all of that,” Tessa said, entering the bathroom. “Here—why don’t I just get some of it out of your way.” She walked to the sink countertop, picked up a velvet jewelry bag, and began gathering up the jewelry. “I know it’s silly, but I just can’t bear to go anywhere without all of my things. My daughter calls it my bling-bling.” She laughed. “I call it my security blanket.”
Whatever floats your boat. Charlotte winced the instant the flip words popped into her head. What on earth was wrong with her today? She’d always believed in “be ye kind, one to another,” and all she could do was think ugly thoughts. With a sigh and a silent prayer for a better attitude, she picked up a lone earring that Tessa had missed.
“You missed this one,” she said. Staring at it, she paused to admire it before handing it to Tessa. Normally she preferred stud earrings to dangling ones. The stud earrings were much more practical for her line of work. But the earring was gorgeous. Light as a feather and made of hammered gold, it was shaped into a triangle that dangled from a post that was faced with a much smaller identical version of the triangle. The pyramid shape of the earring reminded her of the type of jewelry displayed in the King Tut exhibit when it had visited the New Orleans Museum of Arts years ago.
“This is just beautiful,” she murmured, picturing in her mind how it might look on herself. “It’s so simply elegant,” she said, handing it to Tessa. “Not too large or gaudy, but not so small as to be insignificant.”
“Yes, it is elegant, isn’t it? That particular pair is my favorite—an anniversary gift from my husband last year.” She blinked several times as if to hold back tears, then said, “I had hoped to wear them to our banquet tonight.” Tessa frowned, then sighed. “Problem is, I can’t find but one of them. At first I thought it might have been stolen by that maid that they fired, but since nothing else was missing I decided that I must have either accidentally left it at home or, Lord forbid, I lost it. Anyway, I’ve looked everywhere.” She waved her hand to include the bathroom and bedroom. “Like I told the other maid who cleaned yesterday, if you happen to find it, I’d be ever so grateful.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for it,” Charlotte assured her.
“Thanks,” Tessa replied.
When Tessa left the room, Charlotte sprayed window cleaner on the mirror behind the sink. But her thoughts drifted back to what Carrie had told her about having to fire one of the maids for stealing. Maybe the maid who was fired had stolen Tessa’s earring. But no, stealing just one earring didn’t make any sense.
With a shrug, Charlotte exchanged the window cleaner for an all-purpose cleaner, and sprayed the countertop and sink.
Several minutes later, Charlotte was just finishing up the bathtub-shower combination when Tessa stuck her head in the doorway.
“Ah—excuse me, Charlotte.”
Charlotte gave the edge of the tub a final swipe, then turned to face Tessa.
Tessa had changed blouses and was holding the one that she’d changed out of.
“Two
