“Well,” Ellie said, then could think of nothing else to say, so she went up the remaining stairs. Lew was right behind her, and he motioned her toward a seat in the cabin. She was the only passenger. It didn’t surprise her to see a box on the seat beside her, and when she opened it, she saw a packed lunch of small sandwiches with different fillings, a tin of smoked oysters, a box of petit fours, another box of Godiva chocolates, and a bottle of champagne. At first, Ellie started to dive right in, but instead, she pushed the food away. She’d found out where boxes of Godiva chocolates led—straight to her thighs.
The two men were checking the dials on the control panel in front, a
nd Ellie leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. A billionaire, she thought. Billion with an s on the end of it.
“How about this?” she heard, then opened her eyes to see Lew holding out a plate of food toward her. There was grilled chicken, salad, and some steamed vegetables. In his other hand, Lew held a bottle of water.
“Thank you!” Ellie said, then smiled at him. Wonder if he’s married? she thought, then wanted to kick herself for thinking such a thing. She was still married. But not for long, she thought as she took the food he offered her.
“We’ll be there in about an hour,” Lew said, “so as soon as we’re aloft, you can move around. There are books and magazines in the back, as well as the head. Anything you need, let us know.” Smiling, he took his seat in the pilot’s chair beside the other man, who turned, gave Ellie a smile and a salute, then both men gave their attention to the airplane’s controls.
They landed before Ellie had time to finish all the articles in three People magazines. It was certainly odd to see stories about people and to know what was going to happen to them within the next three years. She knew which marriages were going to break up, who was going to die and who was going to be involved in a scandal. But, to Ellie’s mind, by far the worst thing was knowing what was going to happen to Princess Diana in just a few months.
When the plane landed, she was almost grateful to have an excuse to close the magazines. She didn’t like knowing the future. People magazine had once done an article on her and she was glad it wasn’t in the magazines she’d just seen. She didn’t want to see herself smiling and thin, but know that for the next few months she was going to go through the worst ordeal of her life.
“Ready?” Lew asked as he opened the door of the plane.
When Ellie looked out, she saw beautiful northern California landscape, rolling land in the foreground, snow topped mountains in the far distance. Between her and the mountains she could see little dots that she was sure were cattle.
“All his, I guess,” Ellie said as she reached the bottom step.
“Every thousand acre,” Lew answered, obviously enjoying Ellie’s sense of awe.
“How far to the house?”
“About forty-five minutes. Valerie doesn’t like the planes landing near the house and disturbing Mark.”
“Let me guess,” Ellie said. “Marcellus Woodward the Second, nicknamed Mark.”
Lew cocked his head at her. “You’re smart, aren’t you?”
“Guilty,” Ellie said, laughing. “But I don’t think you’re just the guy who flies the plane, now are you?”
“Harvard Business School, first in my class,” he said, smiling at her. “Piloting is a hobby, and Woody lets me fly this thing but not the jet.”
He’s flirting with me! Ellie thought, then realized that she was flirting back. How long had it been since any man had looked at her in that way? How long had it been since she’d wanted a man to notice her?
As she followed Lew to the waiting Jeep, she thought, Maybe I should write a story about a billionaire who has an assistant who—
She thought about the story all the way to the house.
It was nearly six-thirty by the time they got to the house, and Lew drove past it. It was a long, low house made of logs, and it had been designed to look like a cabin out of the Old West, but it would never fool anyone. For one thing, it had to be the size of a football stadium.
“Wonder which forest was sacrificed for that?” Ellie couldn’t prevent herself from muttering.
“One that Woody owns,” Lew answered. “And he found oil under the trees, a little gold, and there might be some uranium there too.”
“Right,” Ellie said, nodding. “Figures.”
Lew drove for a few minutes more, turned a corner around a stand of cottonwood trees, and they came into view of a perfect little house. It was small, set under mature trees, and it had the look that only age could give it.
“The original farmhouse?” Ellie asked.
Lew smiled at her perception. “That it is,” he said. “But Valerie calls it the summerhouse.”
At that Ellie smiled as she thought of Leslie’s summerhouse, and she wondered how the other two women were getting along with their job of changing their lives. If Madison would only hang up on Roger, then her life—
“I’m sorry, I was daydreaming,” Ellie said when she realized that Lew had said something to her.