Evie, however, was oblivious to the change in atmosphere. “That way, Gwen can help keep me from messing up, and you won’t have to deal with—what did you call it?—‘the desperate cling of ageing socialites.’” When no one spoke, Evie looked at each face closely. “What? What’s the problem?”
Evie looked genuinely confused. Will wanted to help, but wasn’t sure he knew where to start. Marcus looked horrified, and Will knew at any moment Marcus would say something snobbish or classist and make the situation worse.
The grandfather clock in the hallway ticked in the silence as tears gathered in the corners of Evie’s eyes because she didn’t understand the currents swirling around her.
Gwen recovered first and placed her hand over Evie’s. Will remembered that look on her face from their first meeting—the moment had passed and Gwen was back in charge. She’d know exactly the right thing to say.
He couldn’t wait to hear it.
“Evie, honey, it’s not appropriate to ask one person to ask another person to a social function like that. It puts everyone in an uncomfortable situation.” Gwen’s voice was gentle, with no trace of censure. “It puts Will in the position of asking me or risk insulting me or hurting my feelings, when he may have someone else in mind to ask. I take the risk of hurting his feelings if I have to say ‘no’ for whatever reason, plus it’s embarrassing for the people involved to have such personal matters discussed in front of others. Understand?”
Evie nodded.
Bravo, Gwen.
“Remember, one of the most important purposes of etiquette is to make everyone feel comfortable and at ease. Quizzing people about their dating habits or trying to fix them up on a date never makes anyone feel at ease.”
And that reminder was for you, Marcus. Score two points for Miss Behavior. Hopefully Marcus wouldn’t bring up the topic of Grace Myerly again. It was only luck this time that sidetracked the conversation before Marcus had Will and Grace combining HarCorp and Myerly Cattle into one large family empire. Marcus and Peter Myerly had been pushing shallow, bubbleheaded Grace at him since Grace’s debut.
If Gwen had intended that remark for Marcus however, she didn’t show it. She seemed fully focused on Evie.
As Evie opened her mouth to say something more, Gwen’s expression changed from one of cool calm to an unmistakable “We’ll discuss this later.” Evie nodded again in understanding, then turned her mother’s megawatt smile on everyone.
“I see, and I’m very sorry if I made you all uncomfortable.”
Gwen adeptly steered the conversation in a new direction, and the moment seemed forgotten. Marcus was soon pontificating on something—Will lost the thread quickly—and Evie and Gwen nodded in all the right places.
A weight lifted from his shoulders. Gwen was a godsend. Marcus was pleased. Evie was a new person—in three days, Gwen had not only improved her manners exponentially, but Evie seemed to be smiling more. For the first time in weeks, he really felt like this whole situation would work out. Nancy would be getting a nice surprise in her next paycheck for delivering Miss Behavior to his front door.
As Mrs. Gray served dessert and coffee, he nudged Gwen’s foot under the table again, and smiled his thanks. Gwen seemed to understand.
His BlackBerry chirped, indicating an e-mail. Probably Davis’s sales report finally arriving. He fished it out of his pocket to check.
“You’re not supposed to do that, Will.” Evie’s voice stopped him before he could open the message. He looked up to see Evie shaking her head at him in censure. He heard Gwen’s shocked “Evie!” but Evie continued.
“Gwen says you’re not supposed to have cell phones and stuff at the dinner table. It’s rude to put technology before people. Right, Gwen?” Evie turned to Gwen for confirmation.
Gwen looked completely ill at ease.
Belatedly Will realized Evie—and by extension, Gwen—was right. He’d lived alone for so long, he’d gotten into lots of bad habits. He slid the BlackBerry back into his pocket and opened his mouth to apologize.
Marcus beat him to the punch. “Evangeline, William is a very busy man and the business needs his attention.”
He tried to jump in. “Evie, I—”
“But Gwen says the rules apply to everybody all the time. It doesn’t matter who they are.”
Gwen went slightly pale. “Evie, we don’t correct others.”
“But you correct me all the time.”
“That’s because it’s my job. What’s rude is to correct other people in social situations. Especially your elders,” she whispered.
“But, Gwen…” Evie’s cheeks were getting flushed.
Marcus adjusted his cuffs and leaned forward. “Evangeline—”
“Why does everyone get to tell me what to do and tell me how wrong I am when they’re breaking rules too? Will has his BlackBerry, Uncle Marcus is holding his fork wrong, and I’m the one getting yelled at!”
She had a point. She also had their father’s famous temper, and that he knew how to deal with.
“Evie…”
But Evie carefully placed her napkin on the table and pushed her chair back. As she stood, he saw her take a deep breath to control herself. “Uncle Marcus, Will, I apologize for losing my temper and being rude. If you’ll excuse me, I have a headache and need to go lie down. Good night, everyone.” With that, she stomped from the room. Moments later, he heard her bedroom door slam.
Silence followed her departure. Gwen looked shocked and Marcus was frowning again.
With an attempt at levity, he said, “Well, she’s certainly learned the art of the dramatic exit.” And a little bit of Gwen’s “extreme politeness” trick.
Gwen seemed to be calling on that same trick. “My apologies as well. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go talk to Evie.”
He caught her hand as she tried to rise and a little zing of electricity shot through him. The way her eyes snapped up to his had him wondering if she’d felt it, too. “Leave her alone for a little while. She needs to calm down first.”
Marcus chuckled, and Will got to watch Gwen’s jaw drop in shock. “She has the Harrison temper, that’s for sure. William’s right, Gwen. I’ve dealt with this before myself—with both Bradley and William, mind you. She’ll need to stew for a while before she can calm down. There’s no use trying to talk to a Harrison while they’re angry.” With that, Marcus pushed his own chair back from the table.
“But I’ll leave you two to sort that out.” He reached for Gwen’s hand and shook it warmly. “It was a pleasure to meet you, my dear. You’re doing a wonderful job with Evangeline.”
Will walked Marcus to the door. “I must say, William, that’s the most interesting dinner I’ve had with you in years.”
“You can say that again.”
When he returned to the dining room, he found Gwen gathering plates from the table while Mrs. Gray clucked at her to stop.
“Come on, Gwen. I’ll get you a drink and we’ll sit on the balcony.”
She followed him to the other room but declined the glass he offered. Guess a trip to the balcony is out, too. Gwen didn’t sit, either. Instead she gripped her hands in front of her and straightened her spine as she faced him.
“I’m sorry about that, Will. Really. I expected her to blow at some point…I just didn’t mean for it to happen in front of you and Mr. Heatherton. I figured she’d take it out on me.”
“You