Drive and Determination (23 page)

Chapter 22

            Elyssa drove slowly back out the winding drive. Her gaze drifted from right to left and up the towering trees about her, taking in all the beauty. She hoped that her job responsibilities wouldn’t preclude her from taking some leisurely walks through the woods while she was here.
            She drove the five short miles to her aunt’s home and they ate a quick lunch before setting out. They walked Lillian and Frederick to Maddy’s neighbor, who had two children around the same age of her two. She and Maddy often traded baby sitting responsibilities.
            As her aunt drove to the commuter train station, Elyssa spoke with unabated excitement about her morning and gushed over details about the house and its one sole accessory. “Aunt Maddy, you must see this painting! It’s beautiful!”
            The look of amusement in her aunt’s eyes did not escape Elyssa’s notice.
            “I know that look, Maddy. You think I’m carrying on as usual!”
            Maddy reached over and grasped Elyssa’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “No, my dearest niece. It just warms my heart to see you truly happy again. Your uncle and I have been worried sick about you.”
            Elyssa smiled. “It has been a difficult few months. There were times when I felt completely weighed down with grief. When I think I’ve finally made it through, when I least expect it, something will happen that will trigger a memory and just drown me in sadness.”
            Maddy patted Elyssa’s hand before returning it to the steering wheel. “And most likely it will continue to do so. Prayerfully, though, you will find your waves of grief lessen with time and someday you will be able to think of Janet with joyous memories alone.”
            It was silent in the car as Elyssa considered the reality of her aunt’s statement. When she first arrived in Guatemala, she had been frequently overcome with grief. As the week went on, though, she found herself enjoying the things Janet had enjoyed. A soft moan escaped as she recalled how her sorrow and pain had actually eased in Will’s presence and had been replaced with feelings of joy and delight -- in him.
            Maddy looked over at her. “Are you all right?”
            Elyssa nodded. She knew her aunt could read her so well and for that reason, she could not tell her about her feelings for Will until she knew for certain how he felt. She did not want to give Maddy something
else
to worry about and hoped that if she did indeed experience a broken heart while here, she would be able to keep it from her aunt.
            “I have been thinking about what Pemberleo did in establishing the memorials for Janet and Chad. I wanted to wait to thank them until I arrived and could do it in person. When we get into the city the first thing I want to do… I need to do… is go there and thank them.”
            “And face that dreadful Mr. Denton?” Her aunt gave Elyssa a smile.
            Elyssa turned her head to look out the window, a little too quickly for her own peace of mind. Elyssa let out a forced chuckle. “I guess he’s not all that dreadful since he is the one who came up with such a perfect memorial for them both.”
            “No, perhaps he’s not, but I can’t help but recall how upset he made you.”
            Elyssa guiltily looked down and wished she could correct her aunt’s estimation of him. At length, whatever the outcome of her meeting with him, she would tell her what he is truly like.
            When they reached the commuter train station, they had several minutes to wait before the train arrived. Maddy explained to her a little about how the Chicago transportation system worked, the different types of trains, and how often they ran.
            Elyssa pulled out her map and they talked about which stores they wanted to visit. There were an unlimited number of wholesale stores in the Merchandise Mart, but Elyssa decided against going there today as they wouldn’t have time to see even a fraction of the shops. There were a few other stores not too far from the Pemberleo offices, and they decided to stop in as many of them as they could today after her visit with Will.
            The train finally arrived and they boarded. As they rode into the city, Elyssa watched the scenery pass. It seemed a very short distance before they were outside the tranquil country feel of the suburbs and saw signs of the looming city before them. 
            Upon arriving into Chicago, Elyssa felt her heartbeat grow increasingly stronger. She wasn’t afraid to see Will -- in fact she was looking forward to being in his presence again. She was amazed at how much she missed him, but she wondered whether he would be willing to forgive her for the words she lashed out at him at the airport.
            As the commuter train came to a stop, Elyssa and Maddy stood up and walked to the door, waiting for it to open.
            The two ladies kept pace with the crowd of people also exiting as they made their way down to the street. Having taken another look at the map, her aunt knew they had could either hail a cab or enjoy a brisk walk of a couple blocks to reach Pemberleo’s office building.
            Both Elyssa and her aunt opted for the walk. It was a beautiful day and Elyssa wanted to get a real feel for the city. Along the way, they passed one beautiful building after another and Elyssa was in awe at the splendor of all the architecture that surrounded them.  She had never seen anything like it and her eyes darted from the addresses of each building they passed and then upwards toward the sky as they passed the tall edifices.
            Elyssa’s feet came to an abrupt stop and unwittingly her hand went up to her heart when they finally came to the Pemberleo Offices building looking out over Lake Michigan. As her eyes traveled up, she couldn’t help but wonder which floor Will was on. She figured his office was probably on the lake side of the building and had a wonderful view.
            Maddy looked at her and smiled. “Now I’m sure he won’t be all that bad, Elyssa. Just tell him you appreciate what he’s done. You’ll do fine.”
            Elyssa looked quizzically at her aunt. “Excuse me?”
            “Mr. Denton. I’m sure he will be most accommodating to you, dear.”
            Elyssa reached out and placed her hand gently on her aunt’s shoulder to reassure her. “I’m sure he will, but if you don’t mind, Maddy, I should like to go up there alone. There are some things I need to say to him and I wondered if you wouldn’t mind waiting for me down in the lobby.”
            “Of course I don’t mind, Elyssa. Take as long as you need.”
            They stepped into a large, beautiful lobby and Elyssa felt her chest tighten so dreadfully that she had to force herself to take each breath. As they walked across the marble floor, she believed she could almost feel his presence. Maddy pointed to some benches in the corner. “I’ll wait for you over there.”
            Elyssa walked over to the office directory and saw that Pemberleo occupied five floors of the building with the executive offices being on the eighteenth floor. Seeing his name, William Denton, President, sent shivers of anticipation through her.
            She joined a few others at the elevators and waited for one to come down to the lobby and open. There were three elevators in all, and when one of them finally opened, it quickly emptied. If Elyssa had any second thoughts about getting on, the push from the crowd around her would have made the decision for her. Once inside, floor buttons were pushed and Elyssa didn’t know whether she was grateful or not that there would be several stops before she reached the eighteenth floor.
            As she stood in the elevator, however, she couldn’t help but overhear the conversation between two gentlemen.
            “I hear he anticipates being gone the whole week. Some problems arose in Guatemala that needed his attention. I don’t think he was too keen on having to make the trip.”
            When she heard Guatemala, her ears tuned in to their conversation.
            “When did he leave?” the other gentleman asked.
            “Took the jet this morning. I thought it was odd that Will never seems to be bothered by having to make these unexpected trips, but he seemed rather distressed to have to leave this time.”
            “You don’t suppose he had some rendezvous he had to cancel?” The man chuckled.
            “William Denton?” The two men cast laughing glances at each other.
            “No!” They both said at once.
            The two men got off on the seventeenth floor, leaving Elyssa and another young woman on the elevator. At the eighteenth floor, Elyssa felt as though she had to step out, but she knew she would have to put off facing Will until he returned next week. She decided against even going in and leaving a message. She needed to speak to him to his face.
            She cautiously stepped off, gratefully finding herself in a hall. Her eyes took in the length of it and she smiled at the Guatemalan artifacts they had decorated it with. She pushed the elevator button to take her back down and as she waited, she looked just behind her at the door that was marked with his name.
            “Another day, Will,” she said softly to herself. The elevator finally opened and she returned downstairs to her aunt.
            When she stepped back out into the lobby, her aunt seemed rather surprised to see her return so quickly.
            “Oh, dear. It was terrible, wasn’t it? Did he just brush you off or did he not even see you?”
            Elyssa put up her hand. “No, apparently he left this morning for Guatemala. He’ll be gone the whole week.”
            “Oh, that’s too bad. But look. I saw this while I was waiting.”
            The two walked over to a small sign indicating that Pemberleo offered tours of their coffee plant on Fridays at eleven in the morning and one and three in the afternoon.
            “That might be fun, wouldn’t it Elyssa? Edward will be off in the afternoon and if I can find someone to watch the children, why don’t we come back into Chicago and take the tour? Apparently the plant isn’t too far from here.”
            “Oh, I don’t know,” Elyssa said. “I might be really busy at the house.”
            “We can combine a shopping trip with it. That way you won’t feel so guilty about taking some time for yourself. Come on, what do you say?”
            Elyssa laughed. “Well since I saw one side of the coffee production in Guatemala, I guess it would be interesting to see the rest of the process.”
            “Good!” Maddy clasped her hands. “I think it will be interesting. Edward always enjoys things like that.”
            They walked out of the building and Maddy turned to Elyssa. “Now, where were those stores you wanted to check out today?”
            They consulted their map again and plotted out their course. The first store they stopped in appeared to be very up-scale and Elyssa felt as though the salespeople looked down their noses at her because she didn’t work for a well-known design firm and they didn’t know who she was. They left after merely looking at a few items.
            After feeling the same way in each of the first three stores they came to, Elyssa turned to her aunt. “If only they knew what a big sale they could have made if they had treated us with a little more respect!”
            “I’m sure they would have changed their tone if they knew about the house you are working on. They might even know the name Richard Fitzpatrick.”
            “Well I’m not inclined to inform them of that just to garner their approval. If they can’t accept some independent designer from California, I won’t do business with them!”
            They walked to another store that Elyssa had circled on the map. It was a few blocks away and Elyssa knew from the information she had taken from the internet that it would be smaller than the ones they had just been in.
            They finally reached the other store and walked in. An older gentleman greeted them and told them that his wife was out ill and he was minding the store. As Elyssa glanced about her, she wondered if they would have anything at all of interest to her.
            “Now,” he continued. “I can help you with a few things, but my wife’s the real expert. Hopefully, she’ll be back tomorrow.”
            “That’s OK,” Elyssa said. “I would like to look at some samples of designer fabrics, if you have some.”
            “Oh, yes. That we do!”
            He took her to a small room off the main floor where there were rows and rows of fabrics. They were meticulously sorted by texture, color, and company. “Just let me know if I can help you. My name is Curtis Jones, by the way.”
            “Thanks, Mr. Jones!” Elyssa said. “I’m Elyssa Barnett and this is my aunt, Madeline Garner. Do you, by any chance, allow people to take some of the samples out of the store to see if they work well?”
            “We certainly do! Take home as many as you want. But let me warn you. If you take any samples down from the rod and then change your mind, just leave ‘em. My wife has a very particular sorting system that even I don’t understand.”
            Elyssa laughed. “I can see she is very well organized!”
            “I have some coffee brewing over here and some cookies if you like. Can I bring you some?”
            “Thanks. That sounds great!”
            He took their coffee orders and returned with a plate of cookies. When Elyssa took a sip, she knew immediately that it was Pemberleo Coffee.
            Elyssa spent at least an hour going through the fabrics, matching tints and hues to the paint colors she had marked and occasionally asking for her aunt’s opinion. When she finished, she had a pile of fabrics that was as diverse as a sampler box of candy. Knowing she needed to scale down her selection, she then went through that pile, pulling out ones she wanted to take with her, leaving the others for Mrs. Jones to put away.
            Elyssa laughed as she held up one of the samples, admiring its color and running her fingers across the heavily textured fabric. “Maddy, I can’t help but feel as though this Fitzpatrick character is going to get his house decorated exactly according to my own personal preference, unless he decides he really doesn’t care for what I select.” She picked up one of the fabrics she discarded. “Do you think I should throw in some bizarre pieces just to see what he does?”
            Maddy smiled. “I think he is very fortunate to have chosen you, my dear, and you must trust your instincts about this. You were chosen because of the designer board you submitted and he must have appreciated your partiality toward the traditional look. Personally, I think too many people go a bit overboard just to be different. I have a feeling he just wants something nice that will stand the test of time.”