“I wasn’t aware that we were being paid,” Jocelyn said, and more animosity than she meant to reveal came out in her voice.
“Now, now,” Greg said, “ladies need to keep their tempers in check. Hey, Joce, maybe you’d like a job working here. It might help support that big house of yours.”
Jocelyn could feel the blood leaving her face. It looked like the news that Miss Edi had left her no money for the upkeep of the house was out.
“Greg!” Sara said in exasperation. “I told you that in confidence.”
“Oh, right. Sorry, Joce.”
Joce stood up. “Listen, it’s almost l
unchtime, and I need to go. Tess said that Ramsey would be back today, and I need to see him about some legal things.”
“Sure,” Greg said. “So I hear you have two boyfriends and can’t make up your mind which one you want.”
“Okay,” Joce said. “I better go. I…” She looked down at her dirty brush and knew she should clean it, but she didn’t want to stay there a minute longer. “I’ll see you later, Sara, and your store is going to be beautiful.”
“I’ll see you tonight,” Sara called as Joce went out the door.
Joce heard Greg say, “What did I do? I was just teasing her.”
When she was outside, Joce breathed a sigh of relief, and she practically ran to Ramsey’s office.
“I figured I’d see you today,” Tess said as soon as Joce entered. “Did you come to see Ramsey or to get away from Greg the Obnoxious?”
“To get away,” Joce said. “I feel like I could use a shot of tequila. What a jerk he is. How can Sara like him?”
“I don’t think anyone has lived long enough to answer the question of why someone likes someone else. She laughs at his jokes and thinks his grandiose plans are great.”
“Do you think that people from Richmond are going to drive all the way to Edilean to go shopping?”
“No,” Tess said. “Why don’t you come into my office?”
Joce looked around her and realized she’d never been inside Ramsey’s office before. She’d walked and driven past it many times, but had never been inside. It was an old house, probably built in the early 1900s, that had been remodeled into a comfortable but elegant office space. In the front was a waiting room furnished in reproduction eighteenth-century pieces.
“From Colonial Williamsburg?” Joce asked.
“Of course,” Tess said as they went to the back of the building. They passed two desks with women behind them, and they looked up curiously when Joce walked by.
“They’re shocked that I have any women friends,” Tess said as she closed the door to her office. It was beautiful but in a stark way that Joce couldn’t have stood for long. There were no photos on the desk, nothing personal anywhere. Just like her apartment, Joce thought. It’s as though she doesn’t want anyone to know about her life.
“So what was he up to today?” Tess asked as she sat down behind her desk, leaving Joce to take one of the seats in front.
Joce didn’t like the desk between them, but she said nothing. “You mean Greg?”
“Yes, of course. I was so involved in the catering and you were so wrapped up in your book, that neither of us paid any attention to Sara’s new boyfriend. It’ll be more difficult now.”
“True,” Joce said, but her voice was cautious. “You aren’t suggesting that we do anything about it, are you? And, besides, as far as I can tell, Sara likes him. She doesn’t need anything to be done.”
“After I met him, I talked her into letting MAW handle the legal aspects of the store.”
“Meaning?”
“That I reminded her that she has no money, so she shouldn’t sign any papers. Let him pay for everything, and let it be on his head when the thing fails.”
“You’re sure the store will fail?” Joce asked.
“I think that if Sara opened a little place with her own creations and did a lot of altering for a select clientele, she’d do well. Sara is good one-on-one, but I can’t see her getting involved in Fashion Week in New York. Can you?”