Holly thought quickly and some type of recognition ofsomethingplayed around the edges of her brain. She extracted the bracelet from her pocket and shuffled quickly through the charms, wondering if there was something that could be related to the environment – the one that looked like a sunflower, perhaps? The pink ribbon charm could also hypothetically connect the owner to the breast cancer benefit in October.
‘Could you by chance get me a list of the people who were at those events?’ Holly asked, thinking that if the gallery owner sent her the freelancer information in the meantime, she might be able to cross-reference this with the names of the people attending Margot Mead’s benefits.
Once again she heard Jessica sigh. Clearly this sort of task was outside her pay grade.
‘I don’t know, I mean, I have atonto do and with Christmas in a few days, I just don’t know if I can pull this sort of information. I have to finish up all Ms Mead’s shopping, and I’m still arranging for couriers for some of these other gifts for her friends, and then I am trying to get New Year’s Eve finalised. I don’t know when I am going to do myownChristmas shopping, and I have my parents coming to town tomorrow for the holidays. As it is, I’ll be lucky if I get to spend five minutes with them, let alone have any time off. Ms Mead already said how she was going to need me to deliver something on Christmas Eve, and I just know that this is going to carry over onto Christmas itself and well … ’ Jessica stopped talking and Holly could practically feel the stress coming from the other end of the line. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for her; Holly was sure it was hard to do other people’s bidding all day, especially when it left you no time to do your own.
An idea popped into Holly’s head, and she prayed that this level of bribery would work.
‘Jessica, you don’t know how much this would mean to me if you could pull those lists for me. I know it is just a few days before Christmas, and I know just how hard you must work. If there is any way that you can get the names of the people who attended the benefits, and possibly email them to me, I would truly appreciate it. And just to show my gratitude, if you wanted to swing by the store I work at some time, maybe when you are out running some errands, I would be happy to let you use my staff discount on anything you might like. We have some really fantastic party dresses in stock right now, and you sound like the type of girl who probably has big plans for New Year’s Eve.’
There was a pause, and Holly held her breath.
‘I have to work New Year’s Eve,’ Jessica said tartly. ‘Like I said, there’s a benefit. I mean, I love my job, but I’m stillworking.’
Holly couldn’t help but think that while it might be glamorous to be an attendee at some of these benefits, it was probably a different story when you were handling guest lists and juggling the desires of your employer.
‘I see.’ Holly said, trying to figure out how she could spin this. ‘Well, I bet you still need a new dress for it, though? I’d imagine dealing with wardrobe changes for all of Ms Mead’s events can get expensive. I bet it also gets tiresome when you have to wear the same dressoverandover… ’
Holly heard Jessica take a sharp breath on the other end of the line and knew she had struck a nerve. No would-be Manhattan fashionista would deign to be seen in the same ensemble multiple times, even if it was for an event associated with work.
‘So maybe, you could come into the store, pick something out and oh, I don’t know, wow your employer and her friends at this benefit? We have some divine flapper dresses, or some really great gowns from the fifties. That era is so hot at the moment. In fact, we have something very similar to what Reese Witherspoon wore at theIn Styleawards last week.’
‘Really?’ Jessica squeaked. ‘I love Reese. Anyway, OK fine. I’ll try and pull those lists for you. And I will stop by, maybe tomorrow or the next day. Will you be at the store?’
‘Of course.’
‘Fantastic. Maybe I owe myself a reward. Fat chance of getting one from her,’ she added, referring to her errant boss. ‘I’ll try to pull up the lists and bring them with me, is that cool?’
Holly grinned. ‘Jessica, that is the coolest thing I have heard all day.’
27
Later that evening, she filled Danny in on the progress that she had made that day. She toyed with her own bracelet, finally taking it off and laying it next to the mystery one. She had far fewer charms than the other, which led her to suspect that perhaps the bracelet belonged to an older woman.
So many charms from so many different stages of life – the flower, horseshoe, handbag, Tiffany key,corno, the wedding bells, Eiffel Tower, baby carriage, a carousel … all milestones, important moments in someone’s life.
Looking at the two bracelets side by side, Holly was struck by how much more living she had to do.
‘So, the guy from the gallery says the horn charm is from Italy?’ Danny was saying. ‘So now you know that this person was in Italy. On vacation or something.’
‘I would think so.’ Holly pulled her son close. ‘I bet it’s a magical place, don’t you?’ she said dreamily. ‘I’ve always wanted to go to Italy, Florence especially. It seems awfully romantic. Think of all that history, all that art, it gives me goose bumps to think about the people through the ages who must have walked those streets.’
He looked at her. ‘Why haven’t you ever gone?’
Holly smiled, considered the innocence of childhood, of being Danny’s age. He still existed in a world where responsibilities, work and commitments were a far-off thing, and while Holly was a firm believer in whimsy, she also knew that exotic vacations became less important (or indeed realistic) when you had bills to pay, children to take care of and a job to attend to. But she still knew it was important to keep such mystique open to him.
‘Oh, I don’t know, Danny, I guess I need to win the lottery. Or put you out to work.’ She smiled cheerily, but tilted her head in question when a frown appeared on his face. ‘What’s that look for?’
‘Mom, maybe if you had someone else around, like my dad or something, then maybe you could travel, because it wouldn’t be just you.’
Holly felt a familiar trepidation at this line of conversation.
‘Now Danny, even families who have two parents around can’t always afford to take extravagant vacations. You shouldn’t think that way.’
He shook his head and Holly could see that they were rounding to the familiar discussion of how a dad around here might make things easier. Her mind raced, trying to think of a way to avoid it.
‘Anyway, who needs a vacation when we’ve got so much going on these days? Our first Christmas dinner at home: that’s a big deal. Maybe tomorrow after school, we can go out and pick up a Christmas tree?’ she suggested.
