Free The Secret of the Villa Mimosa by Elizabeth Adler Page A

dress. “How do you ever hope to get yourself noticed in beige? I can see Phyl’s influence at work. You know I’ve never seen that women in anything but black and white. I can tell you it would drive me nuts.”
    She smiled, wafting away cigarette smoke and added smugly, “I’ve always found the best way to catch a man’s eye is to wear a bright color. Pink preferably. And a few good diamonds, of course. But then, I guess after what you’ve just been through, you don’t want to be noticed right now.” She patted Bea’s hand sympatheticaly. “Don’t worry, dear girl. You’ll be safe with Millie.”
    Bea smiled gratefully. She could see that life with Millie was going to be a series of ups and downs, but she knew Millie really was kind under that bullying facade.
    “Who needs men anyway?” Millie demanded, holding up a copper-colored sweater that almost matched Bea’s hair and shaking her head disapprovingly. “I’vebeen married three times, dear girl. First to a polo player. Then, in my racing phase, to a jockey. And last to an international playboy. And let me tell you there is nobody less
fun
than
a playboy.
After him I figured three times was enough. Marriage was not for me. Not that I haven’t had the odd little flutter”—her dark eyes twinkled with mischief—“but at least I didn’t marry them.”
    Bea laughed with her, and then Millie said impatiently, “Hurry and get changed, dear girl. We’re off to lunch at Le Cirque. Put on the smartest of those ghastly beige suits and a big smile, and prepare to enjoy some of the best food in New York. And make sure you order all the most fattening dishes; you could use a bit of flesh on your bones. And then tonight there’s a fund-raising dinner at the Waldorf. Our President is speaking, you know. I thought it might be interesting, and I bought a table so there will be lots of people to introduce you to.”
    Bea’s heart sank at the thought, and Millie caught her apprehensive glance. She said briskly, “Of course you’ll cope. I’ll just tell them all that you had an accident and that your memory is a bit hazy.” She yelped with laughter as she added, “Other than that you are a perfectly normal young woman.”
    Bea found herself whirled into two frantic weeks of lunches, fund-raising dinners, and charity balls. She even got used to Millie complaining all the time about her simple taste in clothes, her minimal use of makeup, and her unwillingness to eat a good breakfast.
    “You’re as bad as my mother,” Bea retorted one day as she turned down dessert at yet another smart lunch.
    “Even your mother would not have turned down dessert at Lutèce.” Millie glanced at her overcasually as she added, “By the way, what was your mother like?”
    Panic fizzed up Bea’s spine. She stared blankly at Millie. “I just said that, didn’t I? About my mother. And yet now, when I’m trying to visualize her, trying tothink of her voice saying, ‘Eat your breakfast or you won’t grow up big and strong,’ all I get is that same blank wall in my mind. There’s just nothing there.”
    Her voice had risen in panic, and Millie patted her hand soothingly. Phyl had asked her to watch out for any signs of returning memory, but she hadn’t realized quite how upset Bea would get.
    “Poor child,” she said in a quiet voice, unlike her usual boisterous high-pitched chatter. “You must feel desperately lonely. And I can tell you I know a thing or two about loneliness myself. We shall just have to cheer each other up, won’t we? After all, we’re off to Paris next week, and there’s nothing like France to put a glow in a girl’s heart.”
    Bea surely hoped she was right.

10
    M ahoney telephoned Phyl a few days later. “I’m calling in my marker,” he said confidently. “Remember? You promised me dinner?”
    “In exchange for Coco. I remember. And since I’m a woman who always pays her debts, Mahoney, you can name your time and place.”
    He could