Chapter 33 Cynthia
Cynthia
Late June
The staff gathered at Iris’s request in the employee kitchen. Even Mrs. Dudley stopped stirring a giant stockpot atop the stove in order to give the housekeeper her full attention.
“Quiet down, quiet down, please,” Iris said, lifting a broad, work-worn hand in the air.
The chattering stopped immediately, and Cynthia had to wonder how often such a meeting was called.
It seemed to her that perhaps it was a bit unusual, from the way the other more experienced members of the staff were behaving.
“I know that you have all been working very hard throughout the season, and believe you me, I appreciate it. But I’m going to have to ask for you to give a little more today than usual.
As most of you have been here in years past, you’ll know how much strain extra events can cause.
For those of you who are new, brace yourselves.
Additionally, I am sorry to say that if you had a day off scheduled for today, it will have to be postponed. ”
Cynthia’s heart sank. She had hardly managed to pull herself out of bed the past three mornings from sheer exhaustion.
She had been looking forward to her time away from the resort, more to give her body a rest than for the plans she had made with Pauline to spend the day lounging on the beach and going for a ride with Glenn in his boat.
“Everyone’s day off?” Dolores asked, shooting a disappointed look in Cynthia’s direction.
“Everyone’s, I’m afraid. Miss Arden just rang up to let me know that she has been asked by the Maine Federation of Garden Clubs Conference to allow them to tour the property.
They were scheduled at a different location, but their plans have fallen through at the last minute due to a fire on the premises. ”
Calvin raised his hand. “Is it the same crowd we hosted last year?” he asked.
“To my knowledge, yes, it is.” Iris looked around the room, her gaze settling on Cynthia for just a beat longer than it did on the other members of the staff.
At least, that was the way it felt to Cynthia.
“We cannot allow the high standards at the Maine Chance to slip just because we’re hosting a garden club in addition to our normal guests.
Mrs. Dudley, Maurice may need you to pitch in with the after-tour luncheon Miss Arden has promised to the members of the local garden club. Will you be able to do that?”
Mrs. Dudley snorted and placed her pudgy hands on her hips.
“I expect I can manage just fine to help turn out a few dozen small sandwiches and whatever fancy desserts he’s got planned.
If I’m there giving him a hand, I’ll be able to make sure to bring all the leftovers back for the lot of you,” she said, winking at the younger maids and chauffeurs.
Cynthia had never been so hungry in all her life as she had since starting her job at the Maine Chance.
She had not realized how many calories it must burn to be on one’s feet all day, making beds, vacuuming, and scrubbing bathrooms. Even her time with Mrs. Putnam did not seem to slake her constantly rumbling belly.
She was pleased to note that however much she ate, she didn’t seem to have gained an ounce.
If anything, she was slimmer than ever, with her muscles toning up and any available excess paring away like the peel from a potato.
“I knew I could count on you, Mrs. Dudley,” Iris said with the briefest of smiles.
“Now, as to the rest of you, you need not make yourself expressly available to those guests visiting from the garden club, but if any of them makes a request of you, please do your best to try to honor it. They will certainly make some sort of additional mess, and I have never known them not to try and take advantage of anything that might be on offer here at the resort. For most of them, it’s a peek behind a very expensive curtain, and they can’t help trying to get the best look they possibly can manage. Are there any questions?”
“How long will they be here?” Calvin asked.
“The tour is scheduled to last between two and four this afternoon, with refreshments to follow immediately afterwards in the West Garden. I will be sure to hurry them along if they haven’t all left by five thirty.
” Iris looked around the room for more questions.
Hearing none, she pointed towards the door.
“Let’s get to it. I appreciate you putting in the extra effort. ”
Cynthia hurried out of the room with Calvin directly on her heels. She turned towards him once they were out of Iris’s earshot.
“Does it really make that much more work for the staff to host a garden party?” she asked.
Calvin nodded. “It changes the atmosphere entirely. The local women who attend don’t always confine themselves to the grounds but sneak off into the house and run around looking to spot celebrities or eyeball the house.
I can’t say that it tends to be the year-round locals.
In fact, it almost never is. Those women are above such things.
But people who visit the lake seasonally oftentimes have enough money to want to name-drop but not enough to stay here at the farm.
They are the worst of all possible combinations. ”
“Do they just wander around?” Cynthia could understand the temptation.
Even though she had been at the Maine Chance for some time herself, she could still not quite believe the opulence of the surroundings.
And while the staff had every reason to keep the guests’ identities to themselves, if they wanted to keep their jobs, members of the public would have no such compunction.
“For the most part they do.”
“If it causes so much trouble, why does Miss Arden allow it?” Cynthia asked.
“Miss Arden is an avid gardener and loves to show off her grounds. Besides, she is deeply committed to the community, even though she doesn’t make her home here full-time, and if the garden club wishes to include her property on its tour, she is more than happy to say yes.
After all, the garden club sells tickets and raises money for local charities every summer.
Any time she allows it, this property sells the most tickets of any of them. ”
Cynthia could well imagine that it would. As spectacular as the house was, the grounds were at least as beautiful. In the twenty years since the resort had been in Miss Arden’s hands, it had been lavished with attention and what surely must have been truckloads of money.
“I shall have to tell Mrs. Putnam I may not be as available. I don’t expect she will be any too pleased to hear it,” Cynthia said.
Calvin put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.
“I can tell her if you want. Mrs. Putnam does seem to have a soft spot for young men,” he said, a broad smile spreading across his face.
“Besides, she doesn’t want to get on my bad side, not since I’m the one who keeps smuggling in her preferred contraband. ”
“Which contraband is that?”
He leaned close to her ear and whispered, “She’s rather partial to gin.”
“I thought she brought the bottle in her studio from home,” Cynthia said.
“She may have brought something from home, but she sent me out to procure more since she’s been here.
And nothing but top shelf for Mrs. Putnam, I can tell you.
But it’s all hush-hush, so don’t you go telling anybody now, you hear?
Smugglers like me end up earning most of our summer money with contraband. ”
“My lips are sealed. Anything that goes on between you and Mrs. Putnam is absolutely not my business.” Cynthia winked at him and was gratified to see a faint blush coming to his cheeks.
“But I will take you up on your offer of telling her about today. And I’ll have to think of a way to thank you when the garden club event is behind us.
” She wondered whether she was coming off as too forward.
“I’ve already thought of something. On your next day off, come for a drive with me. There’s a place I’ve been wanting to show you.”
Her heart fluttered, and she nodded. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Iris bearing down on them.
It wouldn’t do to be seen fraternizing with a male member of the staff—at least, not with so much to do.
Calvin seemed to have the same thought, and he gave her a fleeting smile before turning on his heel and heading off for the outbuilding where Mrs. Putnam had set up her studio.
Cynthia permitted herself one last glance at him before turning towards the Arden House.
Had Calvin asked her on a date, or was it just a ride with a friend?
She gave herself a mental shake and, with difficulty, turned her attention to racking up a list of duties that needed fulfilling before the garden club descended that afternoon. If some of them were going to come snooping, there mustn’t be the least bit out of place.