Elinor’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?”
“He needs you as a buffer today.”
“Rosa.” He could feel his face getting hot. “I’m sure it’ll be fine if I go alone.”
“Please, mijo. Just listen to a woman who knows these things. Elinor’s not quite ready to field office calls alone yet, and I have a list of things to do here, so I can’t go. Take her. I trust the two of you won’t get into too much trouble. The most exciting thing in Mission Ridge is their Sonic drive-thru.” She looked down her glasses at him, warning him with her eyes not to do anything stupid where Elinor was concerned.
“Okay, fine. Elinor, are you okay with this?”
She nodded and gathered up her things. “How far away is Mission Ridge?”
“About a forty five-minute drive each way.”
They walked out together, and he opened the passenger side door of his car for her. She tugged at her navy pleated skirt when she sat down and looked straight ahead, probably as nervous about the situation as he was.
It was almost a relief when she asked about Janet Staley the second he got in. Embarrassing as it was, it would give them something to talk about.
“Janet Staley came into my office last year and asked for help setting up a savings plan. She’s a waitress, and she wanted a place to put her tip money where she wouldn’t be tempted to spend it.
“We talked about the possibilities of a CD versus a money market account versus a Roth IRA or a 401K, and at some point she got so flustered that she burst into tears. I felt terrible, thinking I’d overwhelmed her. When I went around my desk to hand her a tissue, she threw herself into my arms and buried her face in my chest. I patted her back, trying to be consoling, but the hug just went on and on with her clinging to me. I finally reached for the phone and called for Rosa to come in.”
“Was Janet actually upset?” Elinor asked.
“I don’t know. All I know was that hug…” He rubbed his jaw. “Her hands were sort of… roaming up my chest. Maybe she was getting comfort from it, but I was definitely getting uncomfortable.”
Elinor’s hand covered her mouth, but whether from shock or the desire to laugh, he couldn’t tell.
“She had already told me about her long-time live-in boyfriend, and I explained what the laws were about shared assets. So, I knew she wasn’t single.”
“Do you have to keep her as a client?”
“No, but nothing has happened since. I mean, we’ve only had phone calls back and forth since then up until today. This is her annual review and we’re meeting right before her shift at the diner. I think Rosa might be blowing this all out of proportion. It could have been all in my head.”
“Her roaming hands were all in your head?”
“Maybe that’s how she hugs everyone.”
“Let’s not find out.”
He laughed. “Deal.”
***
They had lapsed into a comfortable silence by the time he reached the highway. Elinor breathed in deep and settled back against her seat, trying to get comfortable. He had a strip of photo booth pictures tucked into his dash that she’d always assumed were of him and Lucy, but a closer study revealed it was someone else with him.
“Who’s that with you?” she asked, pointing.
“My sister, Hannah.”
“Oh.” She knew he had an older sister and brother. Mom had asked him all sorts of probing questions about his family when he came to dinner, but he hadn’t said much at the time.
“Are you and your sister close?”
“We used to be.” There was so much regret in his tone that she thought he’d leave it at that, but he turned and looked at her. “She’s married to John Warren, the congressman. Since I don’t donate much to his campaigns, and I’m not the least bit influential, I’m sort of low on her list of people to talk to these days.”
“I’m sorry. That stinks.”
“She was a good sister to me growing up. Our parents were busy, so she became sort of this mother figure to me. She took me along to her friends’ houses and looked out for me at home and at school, and after she got her driver’s license, she was the one who took me to and from baseball practice so I wouldn’t ever miss. I think that mothering instinct transferred to John after they got married. She’s very hands-on with his campaigns.” He pointed to the strip of photos taped to his dash. “We took these when I had just graduated high school and she was home from University on break. We actually shared friends and hung out like equals that summer. It was nice.”
