Chapter 19 #2
Georgie admired that quality in her mother and had struggled to live up to it.
At first she had felt guilty about pursuing a career that combined her love of fashion with the aptitude for marketing she had honed through a variety of summer jobs at the boutiques in Newport.
When held up against her mother’s many accomplishments—accomplishments that had real meaning to real people—Georgie had worried that her choices were shallow in comparison.
Her mother, however, had encouraged Georgie to follow her passion.
“You’ve got a lot of years to work,” Nancy had said. “You’ve got to love what you do.”
And Georgie did love it. She loved the challenge and the process involved in presenting clothing, jewelry, shoes, and accessories in a way that enticed and seduced.
She loved the brainstorming sessions with her high-spirited, creative team, the drawings, colors, fabrics, textures, and smells.
Somehow she had to figure out a way to get her career back on track.
Working quickly and trying hard not to think about what she was doing, Georgie plowed through her mother’s clothes.
She divided them into piles of what she wanted to keep for herself and Ali, things to be donated and others to be thrown away.
Georgie contemplated a dress that had gone out of style twenty years ago.
Curling up her lip with distaste, she mumbled, “What was she thinking holding on to this?”
In the back of the closet, she found a pile of clothes she had sent her mother from Davidson’s, many of them still with the tags attached.
Not surprised by the discovery, she laughed.
Try as she might, Georgie had never had much luck in upgrading her mother’s fashion sense.
Jeans and T-shirts had been the mainstays of Nancy’s wardrobe.
When Georgie finished going through the clothes, she turned to the desk and sorted paperwork, some bills she hadn’t noticed on an earlier mission, correspondence involving the center and a pile of old pictures.
The clothes, the hats, the white gloves, and the cat-eye glasses made her smile.
In the bottom right-hand drawer, she found a packet of papers tied with a pink ribbon.
Curious, Georgie untied the ribbon and gasped at what she found—every letter she had written to her mother during her freshman year of college.
As she flipped through the pages and relived those first few scary months away from home—away from her mother—the wound of her loss tore open once again. Warm tears flowed unchecked down her cheeks as she realized no one would ever again love her quite that much.
Georgie had no idea how long she sat there clutching the letters when her ringing cell phone snapped her out of it. Reaching into the back pocket of her shorts, she retrieved the phone, wiped her face, and flipped it open.
“Georgie? It’s Tara. Did I catch you at a bad time?”
“No,” she said to her assistant at Davidson’s. “How are you?”
“I’m sorry to bother you on a Sunday and all,” Tara drawled in her deep Southern accent, “but you’ve got to get back here, girl!”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“Half the department’s threatening to walk if they bring that witch Nina Taft in as director. They’re planning to tell Lorraine they’re going to quit if she doesn’t hire you back.”
“That’s crazy,” Georgie said, even though she was touched by her employees’ loyalty. “You can’t let them do that. Lorraine is under pressure from above. It wasn’t her fault I got fired.”
“Well, it wasn’t yours either,” Tara said indignantly. “It certainly wasn’t your fault that your mama got sick, Georgie, and it’s not like we’re falling apart without you. We’re holding things together just fine. You’d be proud of us.”
Georgie smiled. “I have no doubt.”
“We were totally shocked when Lorraine sent an e-mail around on Friday night telling us you’d been ‘let go.’ We all got together at Melinda’s last night, and that’s when I heard what they’re planning to do about it.”
“I was shocked, too,” Georgie confessed. “Believe me. But I understand that Lorraine can’t hold my job forever.”
“That’s bull crap.” Tara snorted, too much a lady to curse. “You work your fanny off for her. Your job should’ve been safe indefinitely.”
“I appreciate that, Tara, and I’m sorry I’ve put you all in such a bind.”
“Is there any chance you can get back here? Soon? Before there’s nothing left of our department? We need you, Georgie.”
Feeling torn in a thousand different directions, Georgie thought it over. “I need some more time to get things settled here.”
“If I know for sure you’re going to be back in the next couple of weeks, I think I can convince the others not to quit.”
“Just because I come back doesn’t mean they won’t still bring Nina in.”
“If we tell Lorraine we’re all going to quit if they do, that might get their attention.”
“I don’t want anyone making threats they aren’t prepared to follow through with. You never know. She could call your bluff. Don’t do anything crazy, do you hear me?” Blocking all thoughts of Nathan, Georgie said, “I’ll be back in two weeks, if not sooner.”
Tara released a heavy sigh of relief. “Thank you, Georgie.”
“Hopefully, I can convince Lorraine to hire me back.”
“We’ll get you back. Don’t worry.”
“I appreciate that, Tara. I really do.”
“How’re you holding up?”
Georgie glanced at the letters in her lap. “I have good moments and bad moments, but I’m doing okay. Thanks for asking.”
“We sure do miss you.”
“I miss you all, too.”
“Keep me posted on your ETA?”
“I will. You keep the troops from rebelling.”
“I’ll do my best. Take care, Georgie.”
“Thanks for calling.”
Georgie took the pack of letters with her when she left her mother’s room and crossed the hall to stash them in her suitcase.
In the bathroom, she splashed some cold water on her splotchy face and brushed her hair.
She was anxious to get to the hospital to see Gus and needed to save enough time to shower and change before Nathan picked her up at two.
Her stomach twisted with nerves when she thought of him and the promise she had just made to her coworker. She had made it clear to him from the beginning that she intended to go home to Atlanta eventually, so it wasn’t like he could be mad at her for doing just that. Right?
As she made the decision to keep the phone call from Tara to herself, Georgie realized it was time to get serious about wrapping things up in Newport.
In all the madness of the last few months, it had been easy to forget that she had people relying on her in Atlanta, too.
They had worked tirelessly for years to make her look good to her superiors.
She couldn’t let them down. She wouldn’t let them down.