“Let me just get a vase,” Frannie said, wiping her hands on her apron.
“No need,” I said. “I don’t want them.”
“Such pretty flowers,” she said. “I’ll put them in water.”
“Frannie.”
“Miss Ada said to. I heard that much. And I work for her, not you.”
“Do you know how to drive?” I asked.
“What?”
“Never mind.”
I heard laughter from the living room, and, lacking a clear escape route, I took a deep breath and then went to join them.
Daniel was on the sofa, Ada in the chair opposite him. Sally had apparently fallen in love and was on Daniel’s lap, kissing his hand. That traitor. “Sit,” Ada told me, still laughing. “You didn’t tell me how funny Dan was—or how handsome.”
I ignored her. “What do you want, Daniel?”
“I—uh . . .” He looked from me to Ada and back, then he took a deep breath. “I’m just going to lay it all on the line. I can’t stop thinking about you.”
I stared at him as if he had just said he murdered people for fun.
“How sweet,” Ada said. “Marilyn, darling, isn’t that sweet?”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I asked her.
“Immensely.” She turned back to Daniel. “And you drove all this way to tell her that?”
He nodded. “I went to your house—I went a few times actually. Your mother finally told me where to find you.”
I exhaled forcefully, blowing the air out over my bottom lip. “Daniel—”
“Dan,” Ada corrected. “I believe once you crash through a piece of stained glass in an act of passion, you count as friends.”
Driving couldn’t be that hard, could it?
“Dan,” I said through gritted teeth. “I’m sorry you drove this far, but my answer is the same as it was two months ago. No.”
He looked vaguely confused—but unlike Freddy, it was cute on him. As much as I hated to admit that. “I—oh—no—I’m not here to propose—again. That was my father and I—I don’t know why I went along with it.” He ducked his head, then looked back up at me. “Actually, I do. I like you. And I thought—” He stopped for a moment to collect his thoughts. “My parents were a match. And I always liked you, even when we were kids. And I just figured it’d help our families, and we already knew each other better than most matchmade couples . . .” He turned to Ada. “No offense, ma’am.”
“None taken at all.”
I glared at her. Why was she suddenly being so nice?
“It was stupid. I know that. But I thought, if you were game, why not?” Dan asked.
“I wasn’t.”
Dan smiled ruefully and ran a hand through his hair. “I know that now.” He turned so he was actually facing me, and I inched slightly away. “I came here to ask if I could take you on a date. A proper one.”
“Of course you can,” Ada said. “Marilyn, go get dressed.”
“Ada!”
She held up her hands in a gesture of innocence. “What? I can’t speak for you, certainly, but I give my wholehearted permission.”
“Look, Dani—Dan. I’m not interested in dating anyone right now. I want to focus on myself. And my writing. And I don’t—”
“Your writing?” he asked. “What are you writing? I’d love to read it.”
I could have kicked myself.
“He’d love to read your writing, Marilyn,” Ada said. “How very modern and interesting compared to so many other young men.”
If looks could kill, even her meanness wouldn’t save her. She would have been six feet under and cold already. The actual last thing I needed was her bringing Freddy up and Daniel taking that information home to my parents. I could kiss college goodbye forever if that happened.
“That’s not the point,” I said through gritted teeth. “I’m just not dating right now.”
“Nonsense,” Ada said. “Dan, if Marilyn won’t go out with you, you’ll stay for dinner tonight.”
I made eye contact with her, trying to communicate how entirely unwelcome this was through telekinesis or some other psychic ability, but like my nonexistent driving skills, I seemed to lack the power to save myself that way.
And when Ada just smiled at me in response, I realized that if I didn’t go have dinner with Dan, she was going to invite him to stay with us.
“If I agree to have dinner with you tonight and I’m still not interested, will you leave me be?”
For a moment, I felt sympathy for him. He drove all this way, thinking he would get a warmer welcome than I was willing to give.
But they also had these amazing things called telephones and he could have saved himself the effort if he had just picked one of those up and dialed.
“If you really don’t want to, I’ll leave now,” Dan said. “I just thought—you seemed like the type who would appreciate a grand gesture.”
“She is,” Ada assured him. “And she wants to go out with you. She just doesn’t know it yet.”
“Ada!”
Ada smiled broadly. “Go upstairs and start getting ready, Marilyn. Dan, darling, I’ll call the Princeton and get you a room—I’d offer to let you stay here, but I’m afraid that wouldn’t be fitting with two unmarried women and I’d hate”—she winked at him—“to do anything that would force you two to get married to save your reputations—as much as you may still be able to salvage them, that is.” She rose and Dan followed suit. “I’ll make you a reservation for dinner as well. Did you bring a tie? If not, there’s a haberdashery in town.”
“I did.”
“Lovely,” she said, taking his arm and leading him to the door. “The Princeton is just a few blocks over. You could walk, really. I’ll make the call and then you just come back here at six and pick our Marilyn up. I’ll make sure she’s ready.”
Dan looked over his shoulder at me, sulking on the sofa. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“Can’t wait,” I said with as much sarcasm as I could muster.
Ada shut the door behind him and then came back to me. “What are you waiting for? We need to figure out what you’re going to wear!”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
She pointed a finger at me. “Because I can spot a good one a mile away. He cares about your interests. He respects what you want. And he drove all this way to try. Even Sally approves, and I told you, she’s an excellent judge of character. Now you’re going to stop pouting and go set your hair while I call the hotel.” I didn’t budge. “Now. Move.”
Sighing, I pulled myself off the sofa. This was going to be a very long night.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
After Ada arranged accommodations for Dan and made a reservation for our dinner, she marched into my room without knocking.
“Hey! What if I was naked?”
“It’d be nothing I hadn’t seen before,” Ada said as she crossed to the closet and began riffling through my dresses. “No. No. No. Maybe. No.” She looked at her watch. “We probably have time to go get you something new in town.”