Chapter 56 Cynthia
Cynthia
The sun beat down on the bench. It should have warmed her, but Cynthia could not seem to feel anything but cold.
The sound of an approaching train made her reach for her luggage.
She glanced at her wristwatch. It had to be the one that would take her south.
A shadow fell across her, and she looked up.
Calvin stood there in his chauffeur’s uniform, his cap tucked under his arm.
Over his shoulder, she spotted Glenn and his family, quarreling and tugging suitcases along the platform.
Even from a distance, she could see an ugly bruise clouding the side of Glenn’s face.
“What are you doing here?” Calvin asked as she got to her feet.
“Catching a train,” Cynthia said. “I believe that’s mine now.” She gestured towards the locomotive slowly pulling into the station.
“You’re not leaving, are you?” Calvin asked.
“I can’t stay.”
“There isn’t anything—or anyone—to keep you here?” he asked, stepping closer and reaching for her hand.
Her throat tightened. There were so many reasons she wished to remain, including the one standing before her. “I’m only leaving because I lost my job.” She squeezed his hand, feeling the warmth of his through her cotton glove.
“I think you’ll find that Mrs. Putnam has taken care of all of that,” Calvin said. “In fact, she sent me here to fetch you.”
Cynthia’s eyes widened. Could it be true? Was it possible that she needn’t board the train?
“You know how forceful she is. Mrs. Putnam won’t take too kindly to you leaving before she’s done with you.
She’s right over there.” Calvin gestured to one of the Maine Chance’s cars, the same Cadillac limousine he’d been driving when he stopped to pick her up on the day she interviewed for the job.
Mrs. Putnam rolled down the window and waved Cynthia over. She descended the platform, Calvin following closely, carrying her suitcases.
“What do you think you’re doing, running off before I’ve finished my painting? Or my stay at the Maine Chance, for that matter?” she said.
“It wasn’t my intention to leave you in the lurch.”
“Well, you’ve managed to nonetheless. Get in.” She patted the seat beside her.
Calvin stowed her suitcases in the trunk while she slid in next to Mrs. Putnam. She collapsed against the warm leather seat. Mrs. Putnam stuck her hand into her purse and extracted a billfold. She withdrew a five-dollar bill and waggled it at Calvin over the driver’s seat.
“Be a dear boy and fetch me a bag of potato chips and some bottles of cola. You can stash them in the apple shed for me when we get back.” He touched his chauffeur’s cap as he reached for the money. “And don’t feel you should hurry. I wish to speak to Cynthia on my own.”
“Thank you,” Cynthia said as Calvin closed the door and moved away from the car.
“This is the sort of thing best handled by women. Now, I’ve spoken to Iris and also to Elizabeth. Your job is not in any jeopardy.”
“You spoke to Elizabeth Arden about me?” Cynthia’s heart pounded, and her palms grew damp. Iris had always made her sound so formidable. Surely it couldn’t be a good thing to come to her attention.
“Of course I did. How else was I to have you reinstated?”
“What about Iris? She mustn’t lose her job because of me.”
Geraldine snorted. “If either of you had lost your job, it would be because of my husband’s fool of a niece and her wretched son. I gave them both an earful and sent the lot of them packing as soon as Iris told me what happened.”
“Glenn is related to you?” Cynthia couldn’t quite believe her ears.
“Not by blood, thank heavens. After the stunt he and his mother pulled, they might as well not be related to me by marriage either. Anselm left his entire estate to me, and they’ve just given me more than enough reason to make sure they don’t get their hands on any of it.”
Geraldine smiled and drummed her fingers on the car seat between them.
“So, Iris won’t get in any trouble over this, even if she gives me my job back?”
“Once I explained to Elizabeth what had actually happened, she was more than happy to forget the whole incident. She is a strong, independent woman herself, and when she heard about your quick thinking and decisive action with the gin bottle, she enthusiastically took your side in the matter. In fact, she praised Iris for hiring someone like you in the first place. Iris’s position is no more at risk than yours. ”
“I don’t know how to thank you,” Cynthia said. It was suddenly hard to swallow. Having women like Iris, Geraldine, and even Miss Arden believe and support her brought tears to her eyes.
“You’ll thank me by staying for the rest of the season. I need a maid I can count on, and I still have several paintings left to complete if I am to have enough for the show in November. I expect you’d best tell Calvin that you aren’t about to leave.”
Cynthia reached across the seat and gave Mrs. Putnam’s hand a squeeze before pushing open the door. Her heart lifted as the gap between her and Calvin closed. He shifted the paper grocery sack to his hip and freed up one hand as he stopped in front of her.
“Does the smile on your face mean you’ve worked things out with Mrs. Putnam?” he asked.
“It does. It looks like my job is secure for the rest of the season, at least. I’m not going anywhere.”
“That’s good. If you had headed home, she would have sent me down after you. She was cursing a blue streak in the car on the way to her house. She was adamant that you were needed here.”
“Is Mrs. Putnam the only one who wants me to stay?” Cynthia asked.
“No, she isn’t. There are several of us who cannot do without you. At least, not until you head back to Barlow in the fall.”
“I won’t be going back to Barlow.”
He tipped his head slightly to the side. “But Mrs. Putnam has arranged it so that you will be able to earn the rest of your tuition money.”
“I’ll still need the money. I’ve just decided to transfer to the University of Maine.”
“Are you sure about that?” His eyes crinkled.
“I’m sure. It turns out that Barlow is not my sort of place after all. Besides, I checked into it at the library, and the cost of tuition and room and board at U Maine is affordable enough that I can almost cover the costs with what I’ve already earned this summer.”
“Isn’t U Maine all the way up in Orono?” he asked.
She stepped forward and reached for his warm, broad hand.
“All the way up there. It’s a good thing that a certain young man I like will soon have his own plane so that he can easily visit me.”