Please call me Evie.” Evie shook her hand, but it was a timid handshake. They’d work on that tomorrow.
“Since we’re going to be working closely together, why don’t you call me Gwen?”
Evie grinned, and Gwen knew she had a winner on her hands.
“Evie, take Gwen’s things to her room.” Evie disappeared around a corner, dragging Gwen’s suitcase behind her, and Will lifted an eyebrow at her. “Miss Behavior?”
“On the TeenSpace site. Kind of like Miss Manners.” He finally guided her out of the foyer and into a living area with another spectacular view of Dallas. The man must really like looking out over the skyline. “That’s why Evie knew what I was talking about there in the hallway. We went over introductions just last week on the site.”
He nodded and changed the subject abruptly. “Mrs. Gray will have dinner ready in just a minute or two. Would you like a drink?”
Desperately. But she shook her head and declined. She needed her A-game tonight, and a drink wouldn’t help. Perching carefully in the wing chair opposite his, she tried to make small talk. It wasn’t easy.
Will picked up his glass from the coffee table and swirled the amber liquid. Scotch? Bourbon? she wondered briefly, then lost her train of thought as he leaned back in the chair and propped his feet on the edge of the coffee table. They were large and tanned, and for reasons she couldn’t begin to explore, oddly fascinating to her.
“Gwen?”
She snapped back to the conversation and felt the guilty flush creep up her neck. She’d been staring at his feet, for goodness sake. What on earth was wrong with her?
She smiled an apology.
“You can get settled in after dinner. Please make yourself at home. If you need anything, just let Mrs. Gray know.”
“Thank you.”
“Now, let’s talk about Evie.”
Another complete turnaround. Will got bonus points for remembering the small pleasantries, but he remained focused on why she was here.
“What about me?” Evie came into the room and flopped on the sofa.
“I want to hear how Gwen’s going to miraculously turn you into a lady before the Hospital Benefit. You should be sitting up straight and paying attention.”
Evie straightened up and both Harrison siblings looked at her expectantly.
Good God. What have I gotten myself into? “Well…”
Mrs. Gray chose that moment to call them to dinner and Gwen sent up a word of thanks. This was the strangest situation of her career, and she wasn’t sure how to proceed. Dinner would make this much easier.
How wrong she was. Evie chattered like a magpie, covering every topic that crossed her mind, from the TeenSpace site and Gwen’s column to how much she disliked the food in America. Will said little, occasionally commenting on Evie’s monologue when she paused for a breath, and when his BlackBerry beeped in the next room, he went to get it and brought it back to the table with him.
Gwen watched it all in a state of mild shock.
“So, how do you become a manners expert, Gwen? Is there like a school someplace or something?” Evie perched her chin on her fist and gave Gwen her full attention for the first time during the meal. Will even looked up from his BlackBerry to hear her answer.
Well, at least it was some progress. “There are several schools, actually. I have a B.A. in International Affairs, and I’ve attended protocol schools on both coasts. But my family was in the Foreign Service, so I’ve spent my entire life—”
“Really? Cool! Where did you live?” Evie spoke in a series of exclamation points, which wouldn’t be too bad if she would stop interrupting.
“D.C., Germany, England, Japan. Asian culture is a special interest of mine.” While she had Will’s attention, Gwen debated adding more to that statement in hopes he’d make the connection to what she could do for HarCorp’s expansion plans. The opportunity was lost almost immediately, though, as Evie sped on to the next topic of what was beginning to feel like an inquisition.
“Did you have to go to special classes and stuff so you wouldn’t embarrass your parents?”
“Um, sometimes. My mother’s a fiend for proper manners, and she taught me most of what I needed to know. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been allowed in public.” She punctuated the statement with a grin, but Evie stiffened and glanced at Will. Okay, that may have been a sore spot for her, but she’d meant the statement to be funny. With the slight tightening of Will’s jaw as well, she realized her attempt at humor had fallen flat. The light mood turned tense. So, it seemed that was a touchy subject in the Harrison household as well. She hurried on to cover the awkward moment. “But a lot can be learned from books, so I brought you some reading material.”
Evie rolled her eyes. “More homework.”
Will pushed his chair back from the table and stood. “You’ll have to excuse me, ladies. I have a conference call in ten minutes. I’ll leave you two to get to know each other.” A second later, he was gone.
Evie merely nodded and went back to her dinner. Gwen, however, felt her jaw hit the table before she could stop it. Jeez-Louise. A certain amount of laxity was allowed at family meals, but this was ridiculous. She chose her words carefully. “Is this a normal occurrence?”
Evie poked at her peas. “Not really.”
Gwen felt her shoulders sag. “Oh, good.”
Continuing to push her peas around aimlessly, Evie didn’t seem to notice Gwen’s relief. “Will normally eats in his office if he’s home. Sometimes we’ll watch a movie or something while we eat.” She looked around the dining room with interest. “You know, I think this is the first time I’ve eaten in here.”
Gwen choked, then swallowed her lecture on the importance of family meals taken at the table. Her own parents had been such sticklers for family meals, partly due to Mother’s abhorrence of the mere idea of a TV tray. One of the first things she did when she moved out on her own was to eat dinner in the living room. She’d felt so rebellious, she nearly had to call home to brag about her indiscretion.
Evie sat up straight in her chair, drawing Gwen’s attention back to the situation at hand. “How am I doing? Am I hopeless?”
The earnest, expectant look on her face was so different from the usual teenagers that suffered through her classes, and Gwen’s heart clenched at Evie’s need to please. “You’re not hopeless at all, just a little rough around the edges. Would you like to start your lessons tonight?”
Evie’s eager nod would have been almost comical if Gwen hadn’t seen that need exposed earlier. “Then sit up straight, feet on the floor…”
“It’s taken care of, Marcus. Evie’s lessons start today.” The old man could be such a nag.
“Who did you hire? Did you check her references?”
Will
