Loving Mr. July (17 page)

Holly looked over Cynthia’s head at Marjorie.
“I think we’re talking Kurt, Auntie.”

Cynthia nodded, as her eyes filled with
tears. “It was after the appreciation dinner, and I’d spent the
night…”

She looked over at Marjorie. “Sorry.”

Marjorie patted her arm, a slight smile
coming to her face. “My sons have been adults for a while now,
dear.”

Cynthia gave her a watery smile and turned
back to Holly. “The next day, I came back to cook him dinner. Only
when I came around the corner, he was walking with a beautiful
woman—”

“—which would be me?” Holly put a hand to her
chest in a dramatic gesture, the little grin on her face removing
any hint of hubris.

Cynthia nodded. “So I left—”

“And you haven’t answered his calls or let
him see you since.” Holly said the words in a matter of fact
tone.

When Holly caught the raised brow of her
aunt, she shrugged. “I’m his assistant. I know things.”

Cynthia nodded. “I’m an idiot.”

Marjorie considered her for a moment. “What
are your intentions toward my son?”

Holly let out a peal of laughter.

“It’s a valid question.” Marjorie’s face took
on a look of mild reproach.

Unabashed, Holly kept giggling. “Oh, Auntie
Marj, you sound like the lord of the manor, protecting one of his
daughters. Are you going to examine Cynthia’s hips next? Make sure
she’s got good childbearing potential?”

Marjorie’s lips twitched before she gave in
to laughter too. “So I’m protective of my sons.”

Holly giggled. “He’s a thirty-six-year-old
man. Been out of the house for what, almost two decades now?”

“Okay, okay.” Marjorie put up a hand to
acknowledge the point. “But you’ve seen Kurt. He’s been miserable.
As a mother you always want your children to be happy. Doesn’t
matter how old they are, you still want to fix things.”

“I love him,” Cynthia said, as soon as she
could get a word in edgewise. She let out a ragged sigh. “But I’ve
treated him so badly in the last month, he may never want to see me
again.”

“I want to be mad at you.” Holly’s amusement
faded and a slight frown creased her brow. “Because I love Kurt
like a brother, and you’ve made him miserable. On the other hand,”
Holly said, her lips curving, “you’re the first person he’s ever
had to work for. And in a way, it’s been sort of humorous to watch
him being led on a merry dance.”

Cynthia gazed at Holly, the despair she felt
still making itself known in her tears. “I wasn’t playing him.”

“Not intentionally, I know,” Holly said. “If
you had, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“I never in a million years thought I had a
chance with him.” Cynthia talked softly, staring straight ahead.
“I’ve had a secret crush on him since Sharon met Blake. But why
would a gorgeous man like him who could have anyone he wants be
interested in an overweight basket case?”

Marjorie lifted a hand to turn Cynthia’s face
in her direction. “You’re far too hard on yourself, my dear. And
anyway, looks fade. I’ve told my boys for years to have some fun,
but when they finally pick someone to be a mother to their
children, to choose wisely. And to be honest, I couldn’t think of
someone I would be happier to welcome into the family than
you.”

At her words, Cynthia’s tears came even
faster.

Marjorie put an arm around Cynthia’s shoulder
and gave her a quick hug.

Cynthia looked from Marjorie to Holly. “I’m a
mess, aren’t I?”

“Yep,” Holly replied. An engaging grin passed
over her face. “But nothing that the makeup store in my purse won’t
fix. Can you hold our table for a bit, Auntie Marj, while I go work
my magic?” She waved a hand in the general direction of Cynthia’s
face.

At Marjorie’s smiling nod, Holly led Cynthia
to the bathroom. She wouldn’t let Cynthia look in the mirror.
Making a paper towel damp, she wiped at Cynthia’s face, taking
special care around her eyes. She grimaced. “I don’t have eye
makeup remover, but we’ll see if we can’t make the smudges look
like they were meant to be.”

She whipped out a bottle of face makeup, and
with gentle fingers, smoothed the liquid over Cynthia’s face. Next
she brought out a tube of mascara. “Don’t worry, it’s new,” she
told her before applying it to Cynthia’s lashes. A few brushes of
eye shadow and a swipe of lipstick followed. After a few minutes,
she turned Cynthia toward the mirrors. “Look.”

Cynthia turned to take in her appearance. All
traces of her tears were gone from her face. Holly had made up
Cynthia’s eyes with more makeup than Cynthia had ever used, but had
applied it so masterfully, the old makeup smudges really did look
intentional.

“Wow, you are good.”

“Worked at the makeup counter in Nordstrom’s
during college.” Holly handed Cynthia the tubes and bottles of
makeup she’d used. “Here, they were all samples anyway.”

Cynthia turned to Holly and gave her a quick
hug, feeling tears well up again. “Thank you.”

“No more crying.” Holly admonished as she
hugged her back. “Don’t ruin my work.”

Cynthia swallowed. “I’m trying.”

“We need to get back to poor Auntie Marj.
Hopefully the wait staff hasn’t booted her yet.” Holly touched up
her own lipstick with a quick hand. “But before we do, I have to
ask, do you want him back?”

“Back? I barely had him. But yes, I’d do
anything to undo the last few weeks.”

“There’s still hope.” Holly hung her purse
back over her shoulder. “And I can give you an inside track. So if
you want my advice—”

“—crawl? Beg? Plead?” Cynthia put her hands
together in a prayer position and gave Holly a wide-eyed gaze.

“It’s a start.” Holly chuckled. “Although if
you give him that look, he’s going to wonder if you’re
constipated.”

Cynthia giggled.

“Seriously, you hurt him. Big time. I mean, I
was really hating the bitch that screwed him over. And I had no
idea who she was.”

Cynthia winced.

“Sorry. But I was. I mean, he’s never, ever,
acted like this. And he’s just gotten more and more morose.” She
followed Cynthia into the hallway.

“You have every reason to hate me. I’ve been
a complete idiot.”

“Yes you have.” Holly looked her straight in
the eye. “And if Auntie Marj hadn’t raved about you, in nauseating
detail…” Holly rolled her eyes and grimaced. “…before you came into
the room today, I probably would have ripped into you.”

Cynthia hung her head. “You still
should.”

Holly put a hand on Cynthia shoulder. “Nah,
you’re beating yourself up enough for all of us. And I can tell you
care about him.”

Cynthia stopped her before they reached the
dining room entrance. “I don’t just care about him, Holly. I’ve
never felt like this about anyone in my life. The rollercoaster of
emotion. The incredible highs you thought were just fantasy. And
the lows that have you understanding why people want to kill
themselves. I’ve never let myself get that close to anyone.
Ever.”

Holly regarded her for a moment. “I believe
you.” She gave Cynthia another quick hug. “And you know the
irony?”

Cynthia lifted her brows in question.

“The reason I was at Kurt’s that night when
you saw us?” She paused and peered closely at Cynthia. “I was in
the same boat as you are right now. I thought my life was ending
because my boyfriend, who I am madly, totally in love with,
appeared to have developed interest in someone else.”

“Appeared to have?” Cynthia held the door of
the dining room open for Holly.

“Yeah.” Holly talked over her shoulder. “I
saw him going into a jewelry store with a beautiful blond that I
didn’t know.”

“And jumped to conclusions like I did?”

“Yep. I mean it didn’t help that I was
majorly hormonal that week.” Holly grinned back at her. “But the
reason he was going into the store?”

“Buying something for you?” Cynthia took the
easy guess.

Holly held up her left hand, where a
beautiful emerald, surrounded by diamonds, and all set in platinum,
glistened on her ring finger. “My engagement ring.”

“And it’s a beauty.” Cynthia held up her hand
to admire the unusual ring choice. “Not a conventional sort, I take
it?”

“No. He is, but he knows that I’m not, thanks
to meticulous research he did with my family.” She gazed at the
ring with a satisfied smile on her face. “I don’t know how Kurt was
able to keep quiet about it, I was such a blubbering wreck that
night.”

“So bottom line is, you were very recently a
complete idiot too.” Cynthia spoke to her in the easy, blunt manner
she usually reserved only for Sharon. The realization gave her
pause, hoping she hadn’t offended, until Holly’s quick grin had her
letting go of the momentary tension.

“So I can hardly be a hypocrite, can I?”
Holly’s lips curved up on one side. “And now we better go rescue
Auntie Marj. Hopefully the table clearing police haven’t booted her
yet.”

Cynthia followed Holly feeling more peaceful
than she had in weeks. She might have blown it with Kurt, true. But
it wasn’t over until it was over, she reminded herself. And in the
mean time, while she figured out how to show Kurt how she felt
about him, she was going to enjoy the company of these two
women.

What could be better, she thought, as looked
around the dining room with its warm wood coffered ceilings and
crown chandeliers, than fabulous food in beautiful surroundings
with good people? These two marvelous women felt like family
already, and she decided to do everything she could to make that a
reality.

“Pretty fancy place for a meeting, Auntie,”
Holly said, sipping a cup of coffee in between bites of what looked
to Cynthia like a brick of chocolate and whip cream disguised as a
pie.

“Not every day my favorite niece gets
engaged, you know.” Marjorie patted Holly’s arm.

“I’m your only niece, Auntie.” Holly winked
at Cynthia.

“Details.” Marjorie circled her hand in the
air. “Besides, I wanted to get to the bottom of my son’s love
affair.”

Cynthia, taking too big of a swallow of the
very hot coffee, started coughing.

Marjorie gave her an arch look. “I wasn’t
born yesterday.” She straightened the silverware next to her plate.
“Besides, I’ve seen the pictures.”

“Patty’s pictures?” Cynthia’s voice came out
in a squeak. “As in the calendar shots?”

“Um hmm.” Marjorie lifted a profiterole to
her lips.

Cynthia put a hand up against one side of her
face. “Before or after she Photoshopped?”

Holly put down her coffee, studied her aunt’s
face and then faced Cynthia. “Are we talking photos of Kurt
here?”

Cynthia felt the heat come to her face. She
nodded.

“Sounds like there’s a story?” Holly glanced
back and forth between her aunt and Cynthia.

“I think she should only see the ‘afters,’
don’t you?” Marjorie dapped at her face with her napkin.

Cynthia put the other hand up to her face,
covered her eyes. “I cannot believe I’m having this conversation
with you.” She uncovered her eyes to see Marjorie trying to hold
back a smile.

“Don’t laugh. You’re his mother!”

Marjorie let out a chuckle then.

“Don’t mind her,” Holly told her, pulling
Cynthia’s hands down from her face. “She may look prim and proper,
but under those pearls and pleasant attitude is one serious
joker.”

“You’re taking away all my fun.” Marjorie
added sugar to her coffee.

“Don’t worry,” Marjorie said with a look at
Cynthia. “Kurt was even more embarrassed when I talked to him about
it. And he didn’t know I’d seen the ‘befores’ when he covered his
ears.”

“Okay,” Holly said, digging into her
chocolate bomb with a vengeance. “This is completely unfair. When
do I get to see?”

“And I told him I wanted to meet the woman
who had made him look like that,” Marjorie continued as if Holly
hadn’t spoken. “Because I had a feeling she was going to be my next
daughter-in-law.”

“What?” Holly stared at her aunt.

“What?” Cynthia echoed. She felt a little
dizzy.

“Oh yes.” Marjorie nodded. She dug in her
enormous purse and brought out her cell phone. “I’ll show you the
proof, Holly.”

“Oh. My. God.” Cynthia put her head in her
hands. She muttered through her fingers. “Please don’t tell me you
have the ‘befores.’”

“I have everything, dear.” Marjorie jabbed at
the screen with the tip of her pastel pink manicured index finger.
“Ah, here we go.”

Cynthia groaned.

Holly almost grabbed the phone out of
Marjorie’s hand. “Oh my. That’s quite an outfit. He sure doesn’t
look too happy though, does he?”

She swiped the phone to retrieve the next
photo. “Wow, he’s got some serious abs going. If he wasn’t like my
brother, I’d sure get hot and bothered.”

Cynthia raised her head to watch the range of
emotions cross Holly’s face. She could picture the photos Holly
viewed without even looking at them just by watching her new
friend’s face. She could tell when she passed the ones where Kurt
had been laughing. And the ones where he had started to get
irritated. Of course, she told herself, it wasn’t the fact that
she’d looked at those photos almost every night for the last few
weeks. No, that wasn’t it.

After the final swipe, Holly gasped, put a
hand to her mouth and gave a nervous giggle. She looked up at her
aunt. “I see what you mean.”

Holly turned to Cynthia. “You cannot mean to
put this one in the calendar.”

“I don’t have the final say, Patty does.” She
held up a hand when Holly started to bristle. “But Patty wouldn’t
do that to him either. She’s Photoshopped away the, um,
evidence.”

“I think there’s a folder title ‘Calendar’ in
there somewhere,” Marjorie said, waving at her phone. “You’ll see
the ‘afters’ in there.