Free The Vineyard by Barbara Delinsky Page B

going to be all right. Natalie was here—and even thirty years older than in the last photos Olivia had seen, she was lovely. She was of average height and slender, in neat jeans and a polo shirt with the vineyard logo on the breast pocket. But Olivia was most drawn to her face. Her skin was dewy, only barely made up, lightly creased but soft and sweet. Her hair was thick and white, gently shaped to her jaw, faintly windblown, feminine but not prim. She stood straight and agile, wore her age with pride and style, and exuded command.
    Olivia was immediately in awe.
    Still smiling, Natalie opened the door and, amid the faintest scent of freesia, waved them inside. Olivia was just as delighted with what she saw there. The front hall was large and predominantly green. It had an Old World feel to it, with lots of dark wood interrupted by several murals. The staircase made a gradual turn, with alanding every five or six steps. A big orange cat sat on the first landing. A smaller black-and-white one sat halfway to the second.
    Olivia could tell the instant Tess spotted the cats by her excited little catch of breath.
    â€œYou’re just in time,” Natalie said. “There’s a war going on here. I need reinforcements.”
    The words were barely out of her mouth when a woman entered the hall. She looked barely sixty. Her gray dress said she was the maid.
    â€œMrs. Seebring, that’s your daughter on the phone.”
    â€œOlivia, Tess, this is Marie,” Natalie said, rolling the
r
. “She has worked at this house since she was old enough to hold a job. That’s thirty-five years. Now, suddenly, she decides she wants a career change? I don’t think so.”
    â€œIt’s time,” Marie said, extending a piece of paper that Olivia guessed to be her notice.
    Natalie drew her hands back out of reach. “I won’t take that. You’re upset with the change, is all. But I need you, Marie.”
    Marie shook her head.
    â€œAt least wait until after the wedding,” Natalie begged.
    â€œI can’t,” Marie said and handed the paper to Olivia, who took it out of sheer surprise. “Mrs. Seebring’s daughter is on the phone. The woman has been trying to reach her. Would you please make her take it?” She turned and walked off.
    â€œMarie,”
Natalie protested.
    â€œI have wash to do.”
    â€œI don’t
care
about the wash,” Natalie called, but the maid was gone. She sighed and gave Tess a more tenuous smile. “Guess we lost?”
    Tess nodded. “Are these your cats?”
    â€œYes. That’s Maxwell on the landing and Bernard halfway up.”
    â€œThey’re both boys?” Tess asked, then gave a small cry and bumped into Olivia when a third cat brushed her leg.
    â€œThat’s
Henri,”
Natalie said, giving the name a French twist. “No need to be afraid.”
    Tess knelt to pat the cat. This one was a black-and-gray tiger. “I’m not afraid. I just didn’t see him coming.”
    â€œNeither did I,” Natalie said. “He showed up here one day looking half starved, and I couldn’t turn him away.”
    With Tess momentarily content, Olivia was acutely aware of the telephone button blinking red on the mahogany table by the stairs. “We can wait here, if you want to take that call.”
    â€œI don’t,” Natalie said. “My daughter isn’t any more pleased with me than Marie is. None of them understands. As far as they’re concerned, I’m an old piece of cotton candy that should just be sweet and pink. They don’t credit me with having a mind.”
    â€œThe phone, Mrs. Seebring!”
came Marie’s distant call.
    Natalie pressed two fingers to her temple. Her eyes met Olivia’s.
    â€œWould you like me to take it for you?” Olivia asked.
    Natalie’s relief was instant. “Please. Introduce yourself. Tell her that I can’t talk