worry, my dear,” Hypatia assured her. “You’re in good hands with Dale Bowen.”
Smiling wanly, Petra silently conceded defeat. “Nice to know.”
“Speaking of getting to know those with whom you work, dear,” Hypatia said, “I was wondering about Mr. Anderton.”
Petra’s gaze sharpened. “Really? Why? What have you heard?” Her aunties were not the sort to read the scandal sheets or indulge in gossip, but something in Hypatia’s tone had sent up warning flares.
“Only that he is a very presentable, successful gentleman and unattached, I believe. Your sister mentioned him.”
Petra wondered what else Dallas had told them about Garth and why she had bothered. Dallas was known to meddle and blithely took credit for getting Odelia and Kent back together after a half-century-long separation. She fancied herself something of a matchmaker, but she knew that Petra was focused on establishing herself in her career and uninterested in romance. Still, the fact that Dallas had bothered to even check out Garth annoyed Petra almost as much as Garth’s agitating for an introduction to her family. She suspected that he meant to charm them out of any objections they might have to his pursuit of her, and that made the fine hairs stand up on the back of her neck.
She shook away the sensation and found Hypatia studying her with gentle concern.
“Is something wrong, dear?”
“No, no.”
Odelia rushed back into the room just then, Kent lumbering in her wake. “Sister!” she cried. “The violinist we hired for the reception has broken his arm! Whatever will we do?”
Hypatia twisted in her chair. “Oh, dear. Well, perhaps the twins—”
“They’re playing for the ceremony!” Odelia exclaimed. “Not the reception!”
“We’ll think of something,” Hypatia said, pinching the bridge of her nose. Petra took that as her cue to leave.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to wash my hands before dinner.”
“Of course,” Hypatia said absently.
Petra all but ran. The last thing she wanted was to get caught up in the wedding fever. She was happy for Aunt Odelia and Kent, but she couldn’t let anything sidetrack her just now, especially not a man.
* * *
Pausing at the head of the stairs, Hypatia caught the faint sounds of a television program. She looked to her left, noting the narrow band of light that shined beneath the door to the combination bedroom and sitting room that Petra had taken for her own. She’d said she’d be looking for her own space once the renovations on the hotel were completed. All three of the sisters had hurried to assure her that she was welcome to stay at Chatam House as long as she liked, even permanently, but Hypatia suspected that Petra wasn’t really thinking that far ahead.
Concerned for some time now about her sweet niece, Hypatia started toward Petra’s door, but then she paused, wondering if an old woman’s company was what Petra needed. Sadly, Hypatia was not really sure what her niece needed. Petra had always seemed a little lost somehow. The girl was perfectly capable, of course. She’d held a number of interesting jobs since graduating from college, but she’d never seemed to settle into anything, and so far as Hypatia knew, she hadn’t dated much, either.
Hypatia could identify. She hadn’t been much interested in dating herself, not in her youth and certainly not now. So much of the world seemed intent on pairing off, but she had never seen the point of it all. Then again, she’d always had her sisters. Triplets shared an incredible bond. It seemed almost unthinkable that one of them should marry, especially at this stage of life! Hypatia had always assumed that one must be called to marriage as one was called to ministry. Yet here was Odelia about to marry at the very end of her life—or nearly so.
Odelia Monroe. The notion still boggled the mind.
Hypatia considered another niece, Petra’s younger sister, Dallas. While Petra seemed to avoid more than the most casual of relationships with men, Dallas dated frequently, throwing over one fellow after another in her search for Mr. Perfect, having declared early on that Mr. Right simply wasn’t good enough!
Neither girl seemed to have a clue about true romance or God’s calling in her life.
And yet, Petra had asked about Dale Bowen. Hypatia sensed that something more than professional concern lay beneath those seemingly casual queries. Could it be romantic interest?
Sighing, she had to admit that Chatam House had somehow become Romance Central. It had all started with their nephew, Reeves, and the granddaughter, Anna, of their good friend, Tansy Burdett. Then their niece Kaylie had met her husband, Stephen, when he’d come to Chatam House to recover from an accident. After that, it had been Kaylie’s brother Chandler and Bethany, the sister of their former gardener, Garrett Willows, who, as it happened, had met and married his wife, Jessa, at Chatam House just last month. Oh, and one mustn’t forget Asher, Petra’s brother and another nephew, and Ellie, Kent’s granddaughter. Their romance had paralleled Kent and Odelia’s.
Chatam House hadn’t seen so many happy couples since…well, ever! Perhaps it had to do with the upcoming wedding. Once that was behind them, surely things would get back to normal.
Hypatia laughed at herself. As if anything would ever be “normal” again after Odelia married. Well, they’d just have to find a new normal. God would show them the way. It wasn’t as if Odelia was leaving them, after all. They were gaining a brother, not losing a sister. They had all discussed it, she and her sisters.
Who discussed such things with Petra? Hypatia wondered. She and Dallas loved each other, but they didn’t seem that close, and their mother, Maryanne, had always been so busy with her practice. Troubled, Hypatia moved to the door of Petra’s room and lightly knocked.
Petra called for her to enter, and she did so, slipping quietly into the comfortable room. “I just thought I’d check on you, dear,” she explained. “You seemed…preoccupied at dinner.”
Pointing the remote at the flat-screen TV mounted above the fireplace, Petra shut it off. She motioned for Hypatia to join her on the couch. Upholstered in pale lilac, it made a pretty contrast in the mint-green and creamy-white room.
“I have something difficult to do tomorrow,” Petra explained haltingly as Hypatia sank down on the edge of the sofa cushion. “I have to remove…someone from the project.”
“Ah. That can’t be pleasant.”
Petra shook her head. “No. In fact, it’s more awful than I thought it would be. Because he doesn’t deserve it.”
“Oh, dear.”
“It’s just one of those unhappy things,” Petra said, shaking her head again, “but it’s probably for the best.”
“I can tell you’re distressed by it, though.”
“Yes, well, it comes with the job,” Petra informed her.
“And this job is very important to you, isn’t it, dear?” Hypatia asked, trying to understand.
“More important than you know!” Petra exclaimed. “Oh, Aunt Hypatia, this is my chance, my one real chance, to make something of myself!”
Shocked, Hypatia drew her spine straight. “Why, Petra Gayle Chatam,” she scolded, “you are precious just as you are! How can you doubt it?”
“But I’m not like the rest of them!” Petra cried plaintively. “You know how dedicated my parents are.”
“Yes, of course.”
“And Asher is a wonderful lawyer.”
“Without question.”
Petra shot to her feet and began to pace. “And Phillip! He leads the life of an adventurer, climbing