sat up straight. “Yes, I do. Not socially, of course, but both of the younger Myerly girls were in my debutante classes several years ago.”
“Of course. Lovely girls, both of them.”
If you say so. Personally Gwen felt the youngest Myerlys were spoiled, self-absorbed brats who’d made her classes hell for all involved. The older Myerlys hadn’t helped the situation with their own self-important attitude. She was glad there weren’t any other Myerly children at home ready to debut.
She nodded instead. “I haven’t met Grace before, although I do know who she is.” Everyone knew Grace Myerly. The woman was constantly in the papers for her charity work and her fabulous parties. Tall, willowy, gorgeous and seemingly gracious, she was the epitome of Southern high class and, by all standards, the perfect type of woman for Will.
Something unpleasant coiled in her stomach.
“Why don’t you take Gwen, Will?” Evie piped up with that idea, sending Marcus’s fork clattering to his plate. Will froze, his eyes locking on Gwen’s face with a “Fix This” look, but she was too busy choking on her wine to do anything.
Evie, however, was oblivious to the change in atmosphere. “That way, Gwen can help keep me from messing up, and you won’t have to deal with—what did you call it?—‘the desperate cling of ageing socialites.’” When no one spoke, Evie looked at each face closely. “What? What’s the problem?”
Evie looked genuinely confused. Will wanted to help, but wasn’t sure he knew where to start. Marcus looked horrified, and Will knew at any moment Marcus would say something snobbish or classist and make the situation worse.
The grandfather clock in the hallway ticked in the silence as tears gathered in the corners of Evie’s eyes because she didn’t understand the currents swirling around her.
Gwen recovered first and placed her hand over Evie’s. Will remembered that look on her face from their first meeting—the moment had passed and Gwen was back in charge. She’d know exactly the right thing to say.
He couldn’t wait to hear it.
“Evie, honey, it’s not appropriate to ask one person to ask another person to a social function like that. It puts everyone in an uncomfortable situation.” Gwen’s voice was gentle, with no trace of censure. “It puts Will in the position of asking me or risk insulting me or hurting my feelings, when he may have someone else in mind to ask. I take the risk of hurting his feelings if I have to say ‘no’ for whatever reason, plus it’s embarrassing for the people involved to have such personal matters discussed in front of others. Understand?”
Evie nodded.
Bravo, Gwen.
“Remember, one of the most important purposes of etiquette is to make everyone feel comfortable and at ease. Quizzing people about their dating habits or trying to fix them up on a date never makes anyone feel at ease.”
And that reminder was for you, Marcus. Score two points for Miss Behavior. Hopefully Marcus wouldn’t bring up the topic of Grace Myerly again. It was only luck this time that sidetracked the conversation before Marcus had Will and Grace combining HarCorp and Myerly Cattle into one large family empire. Marcus and Peter Myerly had been pushing shallow, bubbleheaded Grace at him since Grace’s debut.
If Gwen had intended that remark for Marcus however, she didn’t show it. She seemed fully focused on Evie.
As Evie opened her mouth to say something more, Gwen’s expression changed from one of cool calm to an unmistakable “We’ll discuss this later.” Evie nodded again in understanding, then turned her mother’s megawatt smile on everyone.
“I see, and I’m very sorry if I made you all uncomfortable.”
Gwen adeptly steered the conversation in a new direction, and the moment seemed forgotten. Marcus was soon pontificating on something—Will lost the thread quickly—and Evie and Gwen nodded in all the right places.
A weight lifted from his shoulders. Gwen was a godsend. Marcus was pleased. Evie was a new person—in three days, Gwen had not only improved her manners exponentially, but Evie seemed to be smiling more. For the first time in weeks, he really felt like this whole situation would work out. Nancy would be getting a nice surprise in her next paycheck for delivering Miss Behavior to his front door.
As Mrs. Gray served dessert and coffee, he nudged Gwen’s foot under the table again, and smiled his thanks. Gwen seemed to understand.
His BlackBerry chirped, indicating an e-mail. Probably Davis’s sales report finally arriving. He fished it out of his pocket to check.
“You’re not supposed to do that, Will.” Evie’s voice stopped him before he could open the message. He looked up to see Evie shaking her head at him in censure. He heard Gwen’s shocked “Evie!” but Evie continued.
“Gwen says you’re not supposed to have cell phones and stuff at the dinner table. It’s rude to put technology before people. Right, Gwen?” Evie turned to Gwen for confirmation.
Gwen looked completely ill at ease.
Belatedly Will realized Evie—and by extension, Gwen—was right. He’d lived alone for so long, he’d gotten into lots of bad habits. He slid the BlackBerry back into his pocket and opened his mouth to apologize.
Marcus beat him to the punch. “Evangeline, William is a very busy man and the business needs his attention.”
He tried to jump in. “Evie, I—”
“But Gwen says the rules apply to everybody all the time. It doesn’t matter who they are.”
Gwen went slightly pale. “Evie, we don’t correct others.”
“But you correct me all the time.”
“That’s because it’s my job. What’s rude is to correct other people in social situations. Especially your elders,” she whispered.
“But, Gwen…” Evie’s cheeks were getting flushed.
Marcus adjusted his cuffs and leaned forward. “Evangeline—”
“Why does everyone get to tell me what to do and tell me how wrong I am when they’re breaking rules too? Will has his BlackBerry, Uncle Marcus is holding his fork wrong, and I’m the one getting yelled at!”
She had a point. She also had their father’s famous temper, and that he knew how to deal with.
“Evie…”
But Evie carefully placed her napkin on the table and pushed her chair back. As she stood, he saw her take a deep breath to control herself. “Uncle Marcus, Will, I apologize for losing my temper and being rude. If you’ll excuse me, I have a headache and need to go lie down. Good night, everyone.” With that, she stomped from the room. Moments later, he heard her bedroom door slam.
Silence followed her departure. Gwen looked shocked and Marcus was frowning again.
With an attempt at levity, he said, “Well, she’s certainly learned the art of the dramatic exit.”
