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Lancelot hesitated, stiffly almost on point toward Mary. Looking for rescue from disgrace, no doubt. Instead, Mary glared at him. He wilted and slunk off.
Aunt Cynthia gave Mary a long, considering look. What was that about? Van shrugged mentally. He could never figure out what anything Aunt Cynthia thought was all about.
“I have cucumber sandwiches to go with the tea,” Aunt Cynthia told Mary.
So much for his vain hope. The two women swept toward the dining room.
ShouldVanjoinLancelotinthecorner?No.Itwould be peaceful, but Van had a feeling it would be dangerous to his peace of mind to leave the two women alone together. Who knew what they’d decide they shouldmakehimdoonceoneofthemstartedegging the other one on?
The tea service was already set out on the dining room table, along with little cakes that barely gave a man a mouthful, and tiny sandwiches with no crusts and less taste. Aunt Cynthia poured the tea, of course. He took his strong and black. Mary took lemon, ginger, and a touch of honey. He grabbed a half-dozen petits fours.
“I’ve heard nothing about you from Van,” Aunt Cynthia told Mary. “I intend to remedy any gaps in my knowledge right now.” Aunt Cynthia picked up her tea, floated into the living room, sank gracefully into a chair and patted the arm of the sofa nearest her. “Come. Sit. Stay.”
Van eyed the spidery legs of the antique chair on the other side of his aunt. It was safely farther away from the part of the sofa Aunt Cynthia had patted, but no, he’d never dare settle his bulk on the embroidered seat of that chair. He settled cautiously into the far side of the couch, as far from both of them as he could get.
“I met Van in the park, Mrs. Smythe,” Mary said.
“Oh dear, I don’t know about this Mrs. Smythe business. Call me Cyn. No one does, but I wish they would. And I wish they’d think of it as S-i-n, although — ” she heaved a huge sigh “ — I don’t imagine they will. I have a feeling you might understand why I wish they’d think of me as Sin. I think we are going to be great friends. So much so I suppose I really must make a little confession. I know all about your meeting in the park.”
“All?” Van felt phantom curves pressing against him, and thought he might choke on his tea.
“I think so, yes. You must tell me if I missed anything interesting. While you two young people were off chasing Lancelot just now — ”
The Basset Hound scrambled up into an alert sit and looked hopeful.
“Not on your life, Lancelot. You don’t look nearly ashamed enough of yourself,” Aunt Cynthia said.
Thedogwhimperedandfloppedbackdown,hiding behind his ears.
“Now where was I? Oh, yes. You were chasing Lancelot, and I was checking in with a few friends. The trail soon led to Mrs. Kazinski. She — ” Aunt Cynthia twinkled “ — admires your sense of fashion, Mary.”
“Oh, no! She told you about that.”
“Oh, yes. And isn’t it interesting Van said not a word about this? It took my own powers of deduction — dog in your arms, Van always takes Lancelot to that park — to find my way into casting the light of day on his little secret. I know several people, who know several other people, with windows overlooking the park.”
Aunt Cynthia sat back to scan Mary, from the blonde mane all but obscuring her eyes to the well-worn, probably well-loved sneakers on her feet, and back to her impish grin. Van didn’t mind at all tracingthesamepath.Okay,hisperusalpausedfora significantamountoftimealittlenorthofhermiddle. It was in the nature of things, wasn’t it? Hills and valleys just naturally make a man long to explore. And help him ignore the person they belong to.
“Tellme,mydear.Doesthatdazzlingsmileofyours make it difficult for you to get people to take your brain seriously?”
Well, sure, her smile was rather bewitching. But it certainly wasn’t the biggest — Van cleared his throat — barrier to focusing on her intellect. He was having a lot more luck with other barriers. Or was he?
The happy flash of Mary’s white teeth shone even more brightly. “Why, thank you, ma’am — uhhh, Sin. Sometimes I do have to work at it a bit to get people to change their minds on my mind, or lack of it. My boss at the magazine has been a tough nut to crack that way.”
“Do tell.”
“I went to graduate school in business administration — ”
“I think that might surprise me if I hadn’t already learned a bit about you.”
“ — but I always wanted to write too. That is, I have written. I do write. My mom saw the ad for a society columnist atToronado Life Online Magazine. It wasn’t exactly my heart’s desire, but it’s not that easy to get any kind of writing job these days. Besides, Mom said she’d disown me if I didn’t apply.”
“One certainly does need to make you youngsters do what we know is best for you.”
“I wish you’d been in charge of teaching Pete Santini how to behave himself.”
“I take it your initial job interview with that gentleman did not go well.”
“He said he didn’t want a ditzy blonde in the newsroom.”
