The Davonshire Series 2: Loving Words (8 page)

She wanted to ask about his mother, but did not.  She wanted to ask about Devons, but refrained.  She instead opted to talk about him, see if he had a girlfriend and where he planned to go to college.

“I am kind of seeing someone, but we don’t have many people over to the house, so.…” his words trailed off and Elsie let it lie.

As Wilfred watched them approach the house, he noticed how Gianni had become comfortable with her and wondered how much information she had pumped out of the boy.  As they came nearer, Elsie said, “Gianni, I’ve been working a lot and Champ is getting a bit fat.  Would you mind, in the evenings, to maybe play a little ball with him?”

Champ heard his name and bounded through the doggy door with a ball in his mouth.  Gianni took the ball and tossed it a short distance away, and Champ was eager to please.

A half hour later at dinner, it was a more intimate evening with the three of them sitting at the table. Gianni was not filling the space with chatter so the air had become dense.  Elsie broke the silence.  “In my suitcase I have several movies, some new ones and some classics.”

Both Gianni and Wilfred looked up.  “I even brought a few scary movies.”  Gianni thought it was a great idea to watch a movie, but Wilfred seemed skeptical.

“I brought blue ray and DVD!”

Gianni was excited.  “Works for me–let’s see what you got.”  Elsie headed for the stairs while the two cleared the table.

Wilfred asked, “So what did you guys talk about on your greenhouse tour?”

Gianni looked confused.  “We talked about the greenhouse, big guy.”

Wilfred was surprised she had not asked him more, but before he could ask another question of the boy, she returned with an armful of movies, many Wilfred had wanted to see but hadn’t taken the time to order.  Gianni had seen most of the movies with the exception of maybe five, so they let him choose.

To any watching from the outside, it appeared like a normal family movie night.  Wilfred sat in the recliner, Elsie in the oversized chair, and the boy sprawled on the couch.  Gianni had chosen a comedy that was raunchy and ridiculous, with some moments that were genuinely hilarious.  Elsie had hoped to watch this one in private, afraid that her literary hero would find the sophomoric humor offensive.

In her mind, if she didn’t judge them, they shouldn’t judge her. But she was a guest, and had a great deal to learn about the family of W.E. Devons.

The movie ended and Gianni bid them both good night and headed for his room.  “Come, Elsie, I want to show you something.”  Wilfred grabbed a lightweight blanket from the couch and threw it about her shoulders as he led her to the patio.  The night was clear.  The sky was full of stars and the moon was full.  It cast an eerie stillness over the desert setting as the wolves began to howl at the moon.  She had never seen anything so beautiful.

Wilfred was somewhat shocked as she turned to him with teary eyes and said, “I love it here.”

For a second he was touched by the sharing of her pure emotion. The moment was ruined by the interruption of a very rude and nasty thought. He only found himself thinking
please don’t turn weird on me
.

When he arrived in the kitchen to start a light breakfast, Wilfred was shocked that Elsie had been already in the kitchen.  She had made poached eggs, crisp bacon and, of course, the coffee was ready. She added grapefruit halves to bowls and placed everything on the table.  Little was said as they enjoyed the soundless tranquility of the morning. 

Gianni arrived right on time, and Elsie set him a place at the table as well with a normal breakfast.  He sat quietly, eating, responding when spoken to, not monopolizing the conversation.  Elsie found herself smiling at him.

When he spotted her staring, he scowled at her, “What’s wrong, Lady?”

She said nothing other than “I was just trying to figure a way to ask you to maybe play a little fetch with Champ before you left for school.” 

“No problem, Lady,” he said as she cleared the plates and headed upstairs to prepare for the morning ride.  Her butt was terribly sore, but she would be game. Wilfred had made mention of heading to the office after the ride, and she would put her best face forward and try to hang.

She joined him at the stables and headed to the tack room to grab her saddle and bridle for Morgana, but Mario had already prepared the grand lady for a ride. Elsie tried to remember everything he had taught her yesterday as she led her mount out of the barn.  Wilfred was impressed when she mounted up with no difficulty and Morgana accepted her gentle nudging with no complaint. 
She is using those thighs to guide that powerful animal
.  He would take it easy on her this morning and only do an hour ride.  They were both pleasantly surprised when they got halfway down the trail and were joined by White Bear on his beautiful Paint, Geronimo.

 The Indian said nothing as the three rode along in the calm of the early morning.  Wilfred knew he would have to ride again in the afternoon to exercise Lancelot, but today he opted to ride his Pinto, Steady.  As they reached the crest at the back side of the ranch, White Bear brought Geronimo to a steady trot with Elsie and Wilfred matching the pace.  After a half mile, Geronimo, who was familiar with the path, quickly picked up the pace and began a jaunty canter down the stretch.  Morgana must have taken it as a personal challenge and took off into a full gallop, with Steady following suit.  Elsie didn’t panic; she held the reins loosely as Mario had taught her and gave the lady her lead.  The horse galloped for about a mile and Elsie was invigorated by it all.  When Morgana finally slowed, she ran her hand along the horse’s withers and praised her for a good job.  The three turned their horses and headed back to the stables.

Elsie unsaddled Morgana then rubbed her muzzle.  “Thank you, milady, for a wonderful ride.”  She grabbed a carrot as she led her to the stables and began a quick and efficient brush down.  For only her second day around a horse, she was doing rather well and Wilfred realized he needed to reevaluate Mario’s job skills and give the young man more responsibility.  He had taught Elsie well. 
Her thighs did well, too
. Wilfred shook his head to erase the thought.

Elsie showered and changed quickly, ignoring the muscles screaming at her in pain.  A bottle of ibuprofen magically appeared on her nightstand.  She popped two and headed down the stairs.  The pain would have to wait- she was headed for her first day of work in the office.

What they were going to do was beyond her and she still hadn’t seen hide or hair of Devons.  It didn’t matter. Whatever Mr. Devonshire needed her to work on in that office, she would do, still with hopes of landing a permanent position.  She didn’t know what to prepare for lunch, so she just joined him on the patio.  

Champ was upset they were leaving without him again, but she gave him a few doggy treats and promised they would play when she returned.  It appeared as if Gianni had truly worked the little dog out, and in all honesty, he was happier to lounge about in luxury on his doggy mat.

Rod was brimming with excitement when they arrived at the office.  Wilfred was wary of the man’s happiness and knew that for Rod, excitement meant a great deal of work.  He led them both in the conference room and presented stacks and stacks of manuscripts to them both as if he had discovered the fountain of youth. The man was grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat while both Wilfred and Elsie gawked at the mounds of paper.

Wilfred was the first to break the silence. “And what have we here, Rod?”

Rod looked at Wilfred as if had experienced an audible brain fart.  “The writing contest that we talked about last month.”  He was still smiling.  “These are the first entries to arrive!”  Elsie walked over to the table and began to thumb through the manuscripts.

Elsie turned to Rod.  “Can you fill me in on this?”

Rod reviewed the contest that Davonshire House had started.  “We are launching an eBook division of novellas.  Some of them are serialized, others are one offs.”  As he whirled around the room, he brought the Davonshire House website up using the wall projector to display the site.  True enough, there it was.  Wilfred had vaguely recalled talking about the contest and approving the concept, but he had not realized Rod had launched the actual contest without his final approval.

He moved to the table and began to review the works.  “All of these are romance novellas?”

Rod was grinning when he answered, “No, I also posted an open call for submissions.  Since we are reading anyway, let’s find one or two new authors to add to the family.”  UPS had just left as they were walking into the office and now Jaelon came in with a new stack of twenty more entries. 

Wilfred turned to Elsie.  “I know this may be out of the loop, but you have a bit of time before starting the Devons project.”  His eyes were a light brown as he stared at the stack.  When he looked back her, the irises had darkened a bit more.  “I need you.”

She nodded and started separating the stacks by the thickness of the manuscripts.  Wilfred and Rod joined in.  Once the books were sorted, she asked, “How many readers do you have for the contest?”

Wilfred exhaled.  “You, me, Rita…” he looked at Rod and realized the man had no formal background in literature, but because he launched this without his approval, “… and Rod.”  Wilfred went around the corner to collect Rita.  Elsie then began to re-sort the stacks into four, adding a thin, mid-range, and thick stacks to each group. Each reader now had 40 entries each to sort through.  Wilfred took his stack and headed to his office. 

Elsie and Rod followed suit.

Three hours later, Wilfred felt like he needed a bath, a shower, and to be re-baptized.  There was no way that this stuff could be considered literature.  These writers wanted this porn to be considered romance? 

This is why I am a recluse
. 

If this is what women found to be provocative, he could not stomach much more of it.  He needed to stretch his legs and went for a cup of coffee, still carrying the manuscript,
Hairy Love
, in his hand.  In the break room he found that his stomach was rumbling, signaling a need for food.       

He checked on Elsie in her new office.  “Are you okay, Elsie?”  She looked as if all the color had drained from her face as she held up the manuscript she was reading, aptly titled
The Black Poker
and shook it at him.

 “What is wrong with these people?”  Her voice raised three octaves.  “Would you like to take a guess at what his black poker is?”  Wilfred nearly choked on his coffee.

She had gotten herself worked up.  “This is a porn script for a bad movie.  This nasty little man should be sent for therapy because he is two steps from being a creepy serial killer slash rapist!  Tell me these can’t get any worse?”  Wilfred was now in a full-blown gut laugh. 

Rita walked around the corner with a copy of a thin manuscript, frowning.  “Oh yeah, this one is called
The Cat’s Meow
.”  Elsie and Wilfred looked at her.  “She likes to dress up like a cat and have sex in a furry costume.”  Wilfred had taken a seat and was trying to stifle his laughter.  Rita’s mouth twisted.  “When the character orgasms, she likes to meow.”  Rita shuddered.

He handed her his manuscript.  “Well, this must be his nauseating little sister because this woman is having an affair with what appears to be a Yeti.” 

Rod was not going to be left out of the party.  “I can top you all,” he said as he turned his manuscript to face the group.  The author had included a book cover of a werewolf with a rainbow-covered armband.  Rod’s face was somber.  “The armband is a tattoo that stays in place when he transforms on full moons—so his brethren knows it’s him.”

This gathered a round of raucous laughter from the group.

Wilfred said, “I’m starving, let’s get out of here and get some lunch.”  He left his manuscript on Elsie’s desk and pointed to the door.  Elsie nearly sprang out of the chair, but the surprise came when Rod looked at Rita and asked, “You have plans for lunch?”

“Elsie, can you grab a couple of tomatoes, some lettuce, and veggies for a salad from the greenhouse?”

As she entered the kitchen, she could hear the distinct sound of flesh being seared and she thought thank the heavens, they’re having some a chunk of meat. Elsie was Southern, chicken salad and fish did not constitute meat in her book. Meat was something you had to masticate, not bite once and swallow.  

There were chicken breast cutlets on the grill pan and she found herself physically licking her lips.  She made quick work of washing, cutting and making the salad.  She grabbed two salad bowls from the cabinet and peered out the window to see Rod, Rita, and Jaelon arriving.  Wilfred must have seen the three, as well, and added more chicken breasts to the grill pan.  White Bear must not have wanted to miss out on the action. His golf cart pulled in right behind Rod.  Wilfred added yet another chicken breast and Elsie checked the fridge for leftovers from dinner.

She peeled, smashed, and dumped last night’s leftover baked potatoes into a frying pan. She added onions, some cheddar, and a few chives and started to crisp the edges. Wilfred looked over at the pan.  “Not a bad way to recycle those.”

White Bear and Rod went to wash their hands, while Jaelon added a few more plates to the table.  Rita, with it being her first time in the house, looked about the kitchen.  Wilfred wasn’t accustomed to having so many for a meal so often, but thought maybe it wasn’t a bad thing.

 Wilfred found that he enjoyed lunch immensely as the group chatted about what they had been reading that morning.  White Bear even found himself laughing as Elsie began to recite choice lines from
The Black Poker
.

He wanted her in the worst way, face down and screaming, pleading for help as he pierced her with his favorite weapon of choice, his black poker
.

Elsie’s eyes rolled up in her head.  Wilfred wanted to get a feel of her literary taste outside of his work.  “Is the manuscript salvageable?”

She gave it some thought.  “If it were reworked into maybe an S&M or bondage type of story, versus forcible rape… but is there a market for that kind of thing?”

Rita piped up, “Actually, yes, there is.  And it does quite well in the alpha male domination areas.”  Everyone looked at her with some surprise.  “What? I am the CEO’s right hand.  It’s my job to know every element of publishing.”

Wilfred looked at Elsie and arched his brow.  Rita had been his assistant for four years and today he had learned something new about her.  He also noticed she was eyeballing Rod.  It also didn’t miss his attention as they all climbed into Jaelon’s golf cart to head back to the office that Rita sat close to Rod and didn’t flinch as his arm rested on the back of the seat behind Rita’s shoulders.

The afternoon flew by once everyone made it back to the office.  Wilfred managed to get through three more scripts before dinner and he actually found that he was a bit tired.

Elsie had bribed Gianni into bringing home a couple of pizzas for dinner, and afterwards she sat and played a game of Scrabble with the kid.  It was fairly obvious that Gianni’s vocabulary was rather large as was her own, but she had him beat when it came to strategy.  Gianni wasn’t too pleased and opted after his loss to play Wilfred in a game of chess. 

With a cup of tea in hand, Elsie headed for the back porch to close out her evening.  She didn’t turn when she heard the back door or say a word when she heard the creak of his weight as he sat in the chair next to her own.  She continued to sip her tea and was suddenly struck with an idea.

“How do you feel about game night on Friday after dinner?” she asked.

Wilfred looked over his shoulder to see if someone else had walked up.  She only smiled. “Since Rod and Jaelon don’t have much to do in town, maybe fire up this grill,” she patted the monster roaster, “throw on some burgers and dogs, make some margaritas, and watch a movie or something to close out the week?”

He wanted to be angry. 

He wanted to point at David, or at his mother, or somebody, and yell, “
See! This is how it all starts
!”

Next she would want to add cozies to the tables and placemats and shit.  He wanted to say all of that, but truthfully, lunch had been wonderful.  The conversation was great.  Rita was coming out of her shell and the project, although he didn’t initially approve, was going to really add a new angle and growth to the company.  He felt almost
happy
.

“Sounds good.  I’ll send Conchetta to the store tomorrow.”  He only added, “Make a list of what you need.”  He reminded her that he would be teaching her yoga in the morning at six and breakfast would be after. He bid her goodnight and headed to bed.

He looked back at her thinking, Elsie Mae Booker, “
Hmmph
.”