The Davonshire Series 2: Loving Words (11 page)

Willie quickly made her exit to change into her more comfortable clothing and Elsie asked Wilfred, with White Bear’s help, to set up the buffet.  On the patio, the Sterno had been lit and the plates placed on the buffet.  Wilfred informed everyone, “We’ll be ready to start lunch as soon as Willie comes down.”  When she and the teens came down, David Sr. would bless the food and start lunch.

Before all that could transpire, Gianni came downstairs with four more kids who were Chuck’s sons.  Chuck’s wife, Maya, was sitting with the uncles.  They were introduced to Elsie as David Sr.’s brothers, Earl and James.  Wilfred was named after Earl and David was named after James. 

Earl was Khalea and Chuck’s father and Elsie was surprised when Jaelon arrived, passing out kisses to her father, James.  Elsie was even more surprised that Jaelon was a twin and her brother, Jordan, was lounging in a corner.  Then she found out the Halley was David’s wife and she was also carrying twins.

Rod came later and shook David’s hand, but David seemed irked that Rod had not kept him updated.  Rod held his ground with his former boss.  “I work for your brother now, so my loyalty is to him.”

David only nodded. “A lot has changed in a short time.” 

Rod smiled back.  “You don’t even know the half of it.  Your brother is a hell of a man.”  He paused.  “He has not only earned my loyalty, but also my respect.” With that said, David settled down.

Willie returned in jeans, riding boots, and a tattered T-shirt.  She had washed her hair that hung wet and loose down her back.  David Sr. claimed, “I’m starving, please bow your heads,” and he began to pray.

Immediately after the prayer, Wilfred opened the buffet line to oohs and aahs over the spread.  David Sr. walked over to Elsie and said, “I don’t know what kind of writer you are, but as a cook, I think I love you.”

She immediately liked the handsome patriarch who sported a full head of thick gray hair, but Wilfred’s mother only gave her a cordial smile.  She offered to fix Elena Devonshire a plate, but the beautiful woman focused her attention on her husband, who was loading his plate with nothing but meat.  For every two pieces of meat David Sr. placed on his plate, Elena removed one.

He shouted over his shoulder to his brothers, “There are sausages, ribs…” Wilfred removed the other covers, “… ooh, steaks, chicken on the bone, not those ole sorry dry breasts he’s always feeding us!” 

Before anything else could be said, David Sr. grabbed Elsie and planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek. Her eyes were wide as she looked at Wilfred’s mother. Elena only patted her on the hand. “He is a very affectionate man,” she said to Elsie as David Sr. grabbed Will and kissed him as well.  Wilfred was frowning like a kid being shown too much affection by his parents in front of his friends. “Aww, man Dad, cut it out,” he said with a bit of a wry grin.

Jaelon helped her mother, who immediately noticed that her daughter could not keep her eyes off Rod, who was also being closely watched by Rita, who had quietly arrived.  Elsie fixed Rita a plate and seated her at the end so no one would make physical contact with her.

With everyone fed and seated, Elsie quickly went to the kitchen to grab some more ginger ale.  David was shocked.  “You’re drinking something more than water and beer?”

Wilfred laughed.  “This stuff is like liquid crack.” Everyone noticed that Elsie’s face had dropped.  “It’s a funny story actually.”

Elsie shook her head while silently mouthing the words, “No, it’s not.”

They had everyone’s attention and Wilfred was dying to tell everybody about his shopping adventure.  “Elsie and I went to one of those big box warehouse stores to buy the stuff for the cookout.”

Everyone stopped chewing and looked down the table at the two of them.  David was the one to actually ask, “You did what?”

Elsie was the one to answer.  “It’s something we’ll never do again.”

Wilfred looked shocked that she didn’t share his enthusiasm.  “Why?  It was a very fun outing.” 

Elsie looked at David Sr., and shook her head, while silently mouthing the words, “No, it was not.”

She added, “I lost him four times in the store.” Everyone wanted to know what had happened.

“The first time,” she began the tale, “I found him in the frozen section being petted by a pack of cougars.” Her face was taut.

“Hey, the one without her front teeth that I kissed, she had potential!”  Wilfred said this as if being petted was an insult.  Elsie looked at Elena, and again, shook her head while silently mouthing the words, “No, she did not.”  Aloud, she added, “She was every bit of 85 and the dirty old woman kept patting you on the butt.  He even had the nerve to tell her if you only had more time he would take her on top of the bags of potatoes and break her hip,” Elsie’s eyes rolled up in her head.

A few members of the family started to laugh. As Wilfred stuck his tongue out between his teeth and winked at Khalea.  Elsie exhaled in exasperation, “The second time I lost him, I found him in electronics trying to load a 50-inch television, an Xbox and a Kinect on a cart.”

Wilfred frowned.  “I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for those meddling kids!” 

Everyone started to laugh and they looked to Elsie for a straight answer.  This time she was looking at David Jr. when she shook her head, for the third time, while quietly mouthing the words, “No, you would not have, Mr. Carswell.”  The kids all laughed at the reference to the well-known Scooby Doo villain.

 “Boss, you were having an argument with a nine-year-old, who had just kicked your butt in Halo.” Everyone started to laugh, as Elsie added, “Not only did you lose the game, you were also losing the fight.”

Everyone looked to Wilfred who was looking at his Uncle Earl, shaking his head, while silently mouthing the words, “No, I wasn’t.”

 “It was the nine-year-old who told on you,” Elsie said as Wilfred smiled and agreed.

“Well, yeah, that’s true,” he said to more laughter.

One of Stefano’s kids asked, “What did the boy say, Ms. Elsie?”

Elsie started to laugh. “He said, ‘Hey, lady, that dude
ober dere
is trying to sneak a fiddy inch TV back to yo’ crib.’” 

Everyone at the table broke out laughing, including Wilfred, who muttered under his breath, “Little snitch bastard.”

David was amused by the interaction between the two and asked, “Well, did he buy the TV?”

Both Elsie and Wilfred simultaneously shook their head, while silently mouthing the word, “No!”  But she let everyone know that he did get the new Xbox and Kinect, which now led to him challenging all the teens to a Halo tournament. 

She continued, “The third time I lost him, he escaped and was running around sampling all the free food in the store.  Bad idea, Boss, I tried to tell him.”

Wilfred rubbed his stomach and drank some more of the ginger ale.  He wore a full-blown grin.  “I should have listened but I didn’t.”

“I told him, you have a limited diet and your body cannot handle the combinations of processed foods that you are putting in it.  Tuna quiche, chicken salad, cheese nibbles and of course chili.” 

Everyone repeated, “Chili?” For the first time she nodded her head while silently mouthing the word, “Yes!”

 Wilfred, like a child, yelled out, “I ended up with this stomach condition,” he looked at Elsie, “what did you call it?” He rolled his eyes upwards trying to recall the words, and then snapped his finger in a
voila
moment, “oh yeah, the bubble guts!”

His mother sucked in her breath, but he was not slowing down. He continued by saying, “Which made for a fun ride home.”

Elsie shook her head again, while looking at Willie, silently mouthing the words, “No, it was not,” which brought scores of laugher.

Someone yelled out, “What about disappearance number four?”

She was smiling.  “You are profiting from disappearing act number four, which took my illustrious boss to the meat section, where he decided to buy six months’ worth of meat.”

Wilfred was not fazed.  “Hey, now you don’t have to cook dinner tonight, or lunch tomorrow or even dinner the next night.  It’s like Thanksgiving on the grill.”

She noted that he had a point.  He held up the glass of ginger ale.  “This is what she purchased to settle my stomach.”

 “He made me go back in the store and buy five cases.  I now have to ration it to him, because he is addicted to the sugar.”

Wilfred shook his head, while silently mouthing the words, “No, she doesn’t,” which brought out even more laughter from the group, especially after he reached down beside him and slowly raised a 2-liter bottle of Canada Dry ginger ale.  He poked his tongue out between his teeth holding the bottle like an alcoholic with a bottle of Ripple.

“I can’t wait for the next time that we have to go back.”  Wilfred was still grinning, thinking he had outsmarted her with the hidden bottle.

Elsie’s eyes got wide.  “You mean we have to go back?”  This lone question brought more laughter from the whole family.

She rose to go to the kitchen to make sure everything was off, picking up the two-liter bottle as she left.   There was more laughter.  She was bringing out more lemonade and tea and when she returned Willie was standing next to Wilfred, begging him to braid her hair.  He was refusing.  Willie yelled, “Mommy, Will won’t help me!” 

Elsie tried not to act shocked but David was watching her closely.  The two began to play fight and Will yelled, “Dad, tell her to leave me alone!”

They went back and forth with the teens snickering and the uncles and aunts looking un-amused.  Elsie watched with some interest and finally Will gave in and began a long braid that extended down Willie’s back to her butt.  With deft and practiced hands, her ponytail was now a tight bun identical to the one on the back of Will’s head.  Without her hat, sunglasses and makeup, Elsie was able to get a good look at her face.

Wait, she said Mommy.  He said Dad.
  Standing side-by-side, she came to the quick realization that they were not lovers, but twins. Almost identical, if Will didn’t have the facial hair.

Elsie’s mind went into overdrive.  If Willie was Willie whatever Devonshire, with a pseudonym of Vanity Devons.…  Her mind was working hard with something tugging at the back of her brain.

If David was named after Uncle James, which drew her eyes down the table to James. 

If Wilfred was named after Uncle Earl, she drew her eyes down the table to Earl.

Then it would be logical to conclude that W.E. Devons was a pseudonym for Wilfred Earl Devonshire.

 Her lips were tight.  Willie and Will were still yapping at each other and her stomach had pitted.  She looked up to find David Sr., Elena, David Jr., Jaelon, Uncle Earl, Uncle James, and Rod all staring at her. Even White Bear was looking at her with sympathy. It was very obvious to all, that Elsie had just learned that her idol was in fact her boss. W.E. Devons was not a woman, but Will.

She was the last one to know.  He hadn’t told her.  A whole month she had been here and she didn’t have a clue.

She smiled and excused herself from the table before she threw up.

She paced the floor of her bedroom, wringing her hands and feeling foolish.  She should have known. She should have been paying attention to the signs and clues.  Elsie felt there was no way she could go back downstairs and not feel like a laughingstock.  All those eyes on her, everyone at that table knew but her.  She hit herself in the head– of course they knew, they were his family.  

A fool
. 

A fool was what she was.  She had lived in his house, worked in his office, rode beside him daily, and shared over a hundred meals and had no idea her subject was with her every day.

A light tap came at the door.  Elsie reluctantly turned the handle and was shocked to find Elena standing there. 

“I had been meaning to call or ask how you felt about my decorating.”  She pointed towards the inside of the room.  “Do you like what I have done for your personal retreat?” 

She smiled at Elsie, who was taken aback by the unplanned visit.  “Mind if I come in?”  Elsie stepped back to allow his mother into the room.

“Mrs. Devonshire, I love the space.  I love the color and I even love the purple doggy bed for Champ.”

Elena looked as if questioning her choice, “I wasn’t sure if the Prince poster was going to be over the top.  Did you notice that he signed it for you?”  They both eyed the framed image of His Royal Badness.  Elsie hung her head low wanting to find the right answers, but first she had to ask some questions.

“I do have a question, Mrs. Devonshire.”  Elsie looked at her head-on and Elena waited to see if this was going to introduce the two of them to the topic that actually brought her up to this room.

“I love all the girly items in the bathroom,” she paused, “but I have no idea how to use them.”  Elena took her by the hand and led her into the ladies room and explained the whole skin care system that she had purchased for Elsie to use.

“You have to remember, this is the desert and moisturizing is a must.”  Elena explained all the steps to clean, tone, and moisturize her skin. Elena used the cotton blotters, cotton swabs, and cotton balls to demonstrate the application process.  As they stood face-to-face, Elsie could not stop the tears from falling and found herself saying, “I feel so stupid.  I should have known.”

Elena continued the application process, using the tips of her ring fingers to demonstrate the under-eye dabbing technique that so many women used to apply eye creams.  “How could you know, my dear?  It is one of the best-guarded secrets in the publishing industry.”

Elsie dropped her head.  “He should have trusted me enough to tell me a month ago.”

Elena used the crook of her index finger to bring Elsie’s chin up so they were able to look each other in the eye.  “He trusted you enough to bring you across the country to live with him in this house and get to know him.”

Another tear rolled down Elsie’s cheek. Elena continued, “He also trusted you enough to sleep on the same floor in the same house with him.”  Elena wiped away the tear that ran down Elsie’s face.  “But most of all, my dear, he trusted you enough to go out in public, with nothing to protect him but you.”  A warm smile crossed his mother’s face.

“Mrs. Devonshire,” Elsie paused, “how do I do this?  How do I write his story?  What do I tell the world about this man?”

Elena began to wash her hands in the sink.  “Tell his fans and the public the things that you have learned of him, his life, and the way he lives.”

“But I have no idea how to start to write about his life.”

“Write the story beginning from the moment you entered the picture, which appears to be the moment that the man has come to life.”  She washed her hands and then dried her them on the towel.  “My son is a special man with a special heart.  Other men with his looks would have used it to their advantage, but not my Wilfred.  He has a special soul, a fragile soul that has to be cared for gently.”

Elena gave Elsie a brief, but genuine hug, followed by a pat on her arm.  “Now, don’t dawdle, my dear. You do have a party to host and your guests are waiting.”

As silently as she had arrived, Elena Devonshire left the room to rejoin the family, adding a firm pat on her eldest son’s shoulder and a reassuring pat to her husband. 

The twins had never noticed her departure.