Silver Master

Chapter 12

MRS. FURNELL WAS WAITING AT THE FOOT OF THE STAIRS. Celinda, preparing to lock her door, looked down and got a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Luck had been with her earlier when Trig had left. Mrs. Furnell had evidently not heard him descend the stairs. But she was lying in wait for Davis. It was too much to hope that she would not know that he had spent the night.

Davis was halfway down the stairs, a suitcase in either hand, Max perched on his shoulder. He nodded pleasantly at Betty when he reached the front hall.

“Good morning, Mrs. Furnell,” he said.

“I thought I heard someone coming down the stairs.” She chuckled. “I meant to tell you both that I had the oddest dream—” She broke off, wincing in pain. She touched her temples with her fingertips. “Oh, dear, I seem to have a headache coming on. Probably that new pillow.”

It wasn’t like Betty to complain about aches and pains, Celinda thought. Worried, she started down the stairs, the plastic-covered pink dress draped over one arm.

“Are you all right, Mrs. Furnell?” she asked.

“What?” Betty blinked. Her face cleared miraculously. “Yes, dear, I’m fine. Just a bit of a headache. But it’s easing up already. I’ll take something for it in a minute. I just wanted to wish you a safe trip to Frequency City.”

“Thank you,” Celinda said.

Araminta stuck her head out of Celinda’s oversized tote and chortled happily at Betty.

Betty laughed lightly, reached into the pocket of her purple track suit pants, and took out a small, paper-wrapped candy. “There you go, Araminta.”

Araminta accepted the gift with polite greed and downed it with two or three efficient crunches of her sharp little teeth.

Betty beamed at Celinda. “Give my regards to your sister.”

“I’ll do that,” Celinda promised. She tried to edge surreptitiously toward the front door. Unfortunately, Davis was standing in the way, and he showed no signs of moving.

Betty smiled archly at Davis. “I see you’re going to attend the wedding with Celinda.”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Davis assured her.

“You know, I don’t believe Celinda has had any overnight visitors in the four months she’s been here except for her sister, who came to visit her last month.”

Davis gave her a wicked grin. “You can’t know how happy I am to hear that, Mrs. Furnell.”

Betty laughed. “Go on, you two. You’ve got a long drive ahead of you.”

Celinda yanked open the front door and hurried outside to the Phantom. Davis followed at a more sedate pace. He opened the small trunk and put the suitcases inside. She arranged the pink dress very carefully on top of the suitcases and then stood back and watched him close the trunk.

“You do realize that it will be a miracle if my reputation survives the week,” she said.

He shrugged. “What’s the big deal about having a man spend the night?”

“A marriage consultant’s reputation is her most important asset. In fact, the vast majority of successful consultants are in Covenant Marriages. It sends a subtle signal to the clients, you see.”

“That the matchmaker knows what she’s doing?”

“Exactly. Mrs. Takahashi took a big chance when she hired me. If word gets out that I let men I barely know spend the night, she’ll probably ask me to leave.”

For some reason that observation seemed to irritate Davis. “I spent the night on the sofa, remember?”

“Yes.” Celinda started toward the passenger door. “But appearances are everything in my business.”

He went around to the driver’s side and looked at her over the Phantom’s low roof. “Don’t worry, if your reputation gets damaged because of this case, the Guild will take care of it.”

She didn’t know whether to laugh or grit her teeth. “Got news for you; there are some things even the Guild can’t fix.”