Help Wanted (23 page)

Kate, as usual, looked gorgeous. Her straight, thick auburn hair hung in big loopy curls over her shoulders, but she had an added sparkle about her that Claire couldn't entirely attribute to the professionally applied makeup.

"You look breathtaking," she told her big sister. "I mean it."

Kate smiled and said, "That may be true, but you look stunning."

Claire looked at her reflection.

Mission accomplished.

"Come on. Let's get dressed."

Kate disappeared into her sprawling master bedroom suite's walk-in closet and came out with two garment bags.

"Here. I think this is yours."

Claire laid it on the bed and unzipped it.

"Uh, what is this?" she asked, staring at the red strapless gown with a fitted, embroidered bodice and full, floor-length silk skirt.

"What?" Kate asked, turning from what she was doing to survey the dress alongside Claire. "Do you like it?"

"Absolutely, but what happened to the green one?"

"Oh, yeah, that. Ya know, the more I looked at it, the more I thought 'bridesmaid.' When I saw this at Nordstrom's, do you know what I thought?"

Claire looked at the dress. "Not a clue."

"Well, to tell you the truth, I didn't think much beyond the fact that I really liked it, so I grabbed it."

"When?"

"When Mom and I were out shopping."

Claire groaned. "You didn't tell her it was for me, did you? They're staying over at Uncle Carl's tonight, right?"

"No and yes."

"Huh. Did you try it on?"

"Yep. Sure did. It'll fit you better than it did me."

"What do you mean?" Claire asked, beginning to feel her stomach churn.

"Well, for one thing, it was a little too short and a little too baggy up here." She pointed to her chest.

Claire blushed. "Oh, shut up. You try having four kids and not have it affect your figure."

"Yeah. Not gonna happen. Red's a better color on you anyway."

"I wish I had worn bigger earrings," Claire complained, tugging at the little gold hoops she had in her ears. "And a necklace."

Fluffing her hair, Kate pulled a box out of a drawer in her nightstand and, handing it to her sister, said, "Got it covered."

Claire took a deep breath, kissed Kate on the cheek, and changed into the dress and checked herself in the three-way mirror. Kate stood behind her, fluffing out the skirt.

"The trick will be to not get wrinkled on the car ride over."

The sisters talked for the entire drive down Michigan Avenue.

When they had just about reached their destination, Kate asked, "Did you tell him?"

"No, not yet." Looking over at her sister, Claire said, "Let's see how tonight goes."

As the silver BMW SUV pulled up in front of the historic Palmer House hotel, the doorman open Claire's door and helped her out.

A valet parking attendant approached Kate with his mouth hanging open. Amused, she handed him her car keys and dangled a twenty in front of him.

"Not a scratch."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Claire just looked at Kate and rolled her eyes. "You're terrible."

"What are you talking about? I tipped him."

Passing through the iconic hotel's ornate gilded entrance, they stepped up a flight of stairs into the elegant lobby with a fresco ceiling. Taking the elevator to the fourth floor, Claire caught her breath as they stepped out onto the intricately patterned carpeted floor and entered the glorious Grand Ballroom. When her eyes fell on the exquisite detail of the moldings and chandeliers, memories or her own wedding reception began to bombard Claire.

Pushing back the guilt that threatened to overtake her, she turned to Kate and asked, "So, no date tonight?"

Kate just smiled and followed her in. "We'll see."

"But you had me respond that I was bringing two guests."

Before Kate could reply, Claire stopped and took in her surroundings. "So beautiful."

 They queued up with the rest of the guests waiting in line to exchange their invitations for table assignments. While admiring some of the other women's dresses, Claire felt someone take her hand and pull her out of the line.

"Look at you! You look beautiful," Di cried as she looked at Claire head to toe. "That gown is divine."

"Yes, but is it stunning?" She smiled back

Dianne laughed in reply just as Kate joined them. "Consider it an early Christmas present." 

Claire smiled at her sister. "Thanks, but I don't know where else I could possibly wear it."

Shrugging, Kate mused, "Then we probably should've left the tags on."

Refocusing on Di, standing before her in a midnight blue designer tuxedo pantsuit, Claire returned the compliment and introduced her sister. 

"Di, this is Kate Nelson, my sister and date for the evening."

Dianne held out her hand. "Nice to meet you." Then she did a double take as she looked at the tall, auburn haired woman before her. "Wait a minute. You don't mean Kate Nelson the photographer, do you?"

Kate smiled and nodded. "One and the same."

Dianne stepped back and put her hand to her chest. "Well, I'll be damned. I had no idea. I've admired your work for years."

"That's very kind of you."

A loud whooping laugh followed by an ear-grating cackle interrupted their niceties. Turning, Claire lowered her voice and asked, "What was that?"

Dianne looked in the direction the noise came from and rolled her eyes. "Oh no. Carlotta. What's she doing here?"

Claire caught sight of a plump, garish middle-aged woman farther down the line. Wearing her jet-black hair in little pin curls all over her head, she had on bright-red lipstick with matching nails they could see from where they were standing. She was wrapped tightly in a black sequined gown that looked as if it weighed more than she did.

They watched as she hiked up her girdle while speaking and laughing with other women in line.

Dianne muttered to herself. "Way to ruin an evening."

"Who is she?" Claire asked.

"Lester's ex. And the writer whose column Mattie took over."

Leaning closer to Claire, she whispered, "And she was not at all pleased that I chose you over her to replace Mattie when she moved on."

"Ah. So, why is she here?"

"Ya got me. I didn't see her name on the list. Maybe one of her cronies from the old days brought her as a guest. But do all you can to steer clear of her. Once she has a couple of Harvey Wallbangers, there'll be trouble. Trust me. I'll be right back." 

Dianne dove past the members of the Infant Welfare Society who were taking invitations and started searching the place cards on the tables reserved by the paper.

Kate laughed and said, "This is gonna be fun!"

"Tons," Claire agreed. She just hoped she had brought enough Tums to make it through the evening.

Dianne returned to them and began surveying the newcomers at the end of the line.

"Who are you on the lookout for now?" Claire asked.

Smiling, she responded, "Oh, any single gorgeous men, of course."

Catching the dazzling wedding set on Dianne's left ring finger, Claire started to ask, "But aren't you—"

Dianne waved her off. "Yes, terminally. But he's in New York this weekend, and I'm here, so…"

All three women laughed, almost missing the commotion that was beginning to erupt at the back of the line, which had started to wind down the stairway into the sprawling lobby on the level below.

They instead watched as a distinguished-looking middle-aged man made his way to the front of the line with a younger woman on his arm. As they passed Carlotta, the smile on her face disappeared, and the circle she was in grew silent.

"And that," Di whispered, "is Lester Crenshaw and his new wife, Nina."

Claire looked at Lester. He carried himself as she would expect someone in a position of authority, but he appeared to have a pleasant, respectful demeanor.

"Huh, he's not at all what I pictured," Claire uttered. "His wife looks a little young for him, doesn't she?"

Dianne let out a chortle. "That seems to be the consensus. Can you believe she just had a baby about three months ago?" Di asked.

Claire admired the woman's flawless figure and sighed. "Well, she's young. And she's probably breastfeeding. I know that helped me lose the baby weight."

Di chuckled. "Wouldn't surprise me. It doesn't cost anything, does it? Everything's about return on investment with those two. Maybe that's why they hooked up."

"You mean those aren't binoculars?" Kate asked, referring to the small black carrying case slung over Nina's shoulder, no doubt with a breast pump in it.

"Aren't you the comedienne tonight?" Claire asked.

"Sorry. Nervous habit."

Surprised by her reply, she asked, "Nervous? What in the world do you have to be nervous about?"

Kate nodded toward the back of the line.

All heads had turned. A man was emerging from the crowd with his overcoat draped over his arm. When he spotted Kate, he handed his coat to a waiter rushing past him and walked directly to her, ignoring everyone else.

"Hi, doll." He put his arm around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. He then nodded to Claire and said, "Nice to see you again."

"Same here." Claire smiled while raising an eyebrow at her sister.

"Jake Garnet, this is my editor, Dianne Devane. Dianne, Jake Garnet."

He held out his hand. "Dianne. A pleasure."

"Well, hello. Please, call me Di."

Addressing Kate, she asked, "So, you two are an item?"

Jake, now standing behind Kate with his arms around her waist, said, "Oh, I've begged her, believe me. But she's got a problem with commitment." Kate just shrugged and smiled at Di.

Next in line, Claire and her group moved up, and the members of the charity benefiting from the evening's proceeds greeted them. "Good evening, Ms. Devane. Invitations, please." 

After checking in, to afford them some privacy, Di steered them to a large table in the corner of the ballroom that she had selected. She motioned for a waiter to come by. When he did, he took their drink orders and sent another waiter over with a tray of assorted hot hors d'oeuvres. 

While they watched the crowd filter in, Claire asked, "Shouldn't you be sitting with Lester and Nina?"

"Hell no. I wanted to have fun tonight. Lester's got an agenda."

"What do you mean?"

Di fidgeted in her seat before responding. "Well, he wants to make an offer to a guy who's been filling in for his wife while she's been on leave. Rumor has it Nina's not coming back. Besides that, he's got guests coming in from New York who are interested in syndicating somebody's column…" She flashed a grin at Claire.

"Oh God." She looked toward Kate for moral support, but she and Jake had gotten up to check the view from one of the floor-to-ceiling windows. They weren't speaking, but they were holding hands. 

You go, Kate.

She turned toward Di. "So what do I do? What do I say? This is all new to me."

Covering Claire's hand with her own, she replied, "No worries. I can tell you who they are and what they want. What you reply is up to you, ok?"

"Got it."

By the time her editor had laid out all of the details for Claire, Kate and Jake had joined them at the table.

"I hope you don't mind," Kate started, "but I filled him in on your, uh, situation. That's all right, isn't it?"

Claire smiled nervously. "Sure. Why not? I have a feeling all bets are off after tonight." 

She took a sip of her wine, hoping to gain some courage so she could enjoy the evening, but grimaced at the taste of it and set it aside.

Surprised at the amount of people filling the hall, she said to no one in particular, "I had no idea this place held so many people. I just wish they'd dim the lights."

Almost on cue, the room grew darker, and the orchestra started playing soft music while the guests mingled.

Claire looked out over the ornate room. While massive, its elegance was somehow magnified by the soft lighting.

"Di, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, sweetie."

She wanted to ask the bold, successful woman sitting next to her what she would do if she were in Claire's shoes. Problem was, Dianne would never allow herself to be in Claire's shoes.

"Never mind."

"No, what?"

Claire took a deep breath. "This is all just happening so fast. I mean, four months ago, I was stuck in a terrible job, really miserable, and now I'm here. I don't get it."

"You have Mattie to thank for that. It was her idea to ask you to provide responses to those sample emails. Her plan was to get you to see that you could use your talent in a job that would make you happier than the one you were in."

Craning her neck, Dianne added, "That reminds me, they should be here by now."

"Who?"

"Mattie and Nick."

Claire asked a question already knowing the answer. "Nick DeRosa?"

She reached into her purse and popped an antacid into her mouth.

"What's the matter with you?" Kate asked.

With a pained look on her face, Claire explained, "Nick DeRosa is Luke's cross-country coach. He knows me, and he's friends with Paul."

Dianne shot Kate a concerned look, and Claire felt as if her air supply had just been cut off.

Kate shrugged. "What's the big deal? There are hundreds of people here tonight. You probably won't even see him."

Then Dianne pointed to the place card next to her, pulled a face, and said, "Oh. Never mind."

Claire placed both hands on the table before her and said, "You know what? I'm done being worried. If Paul finds out, he finds out. That's all there is to it." She then waved her hands in the air and said, "Let's just enjoy the evening."

They raised their glasses and cheered each other.

"Hi. Sorry we're late. We couldn't get a cab."

It was Mattie, absolutely sparkling in an emerald-green satin form-fitting gown with spaghetti straps and a matching wrap.

Nick, with his dark hair and olive complexion, looked uncomfortable but very handsome in his traditional black tuxedo. He hadn't said a word since joining them but was staring at Claire. He looked puzzled.