Benita continued. “Give yourself some time to adjust.”
“I don’t have a choice.” Ramona put down her sandwich and absently traced a line through the condensation on her lemonade glass. “Quincy’s happy at Penn. He says his work is challenging, although he has less of it since Penn’s history division has more support staff. He advises a lot of students, which means he isn’t able to get to all of them as often as he’d like.”
Benita frowned. “Then what does he like about it?”
A new voice interrupted their discussion. “Benita, I’m glad I saw you sitting here.”
Benita turned to greet the new arrival. “Why don’t you join us, Ethel? Are you ready for tonight’s rehearsal?”
“Of course.” Ethel Knight took the empty seat beside Benita. “Hello, Ramona. How long will you and Quincy be in town?”
“We’re staying until after Doreen and Alonzo’s wedding.” Ramona seemed surprised by the warm greeting.
“Good. You’ll be here for Vaughn’s play. Mystic Park is a great musical.” Ethel’s voice bounced with enthusiasm. “The only drawback is Simon’s presence in it.”
“What do you mean?” Ramona tilted her head.
“He’s making a pest of himself.” Ethel sighed with exasperation. “He calls, pretending he wants to talk about the play. What makes him think I want to talk with him about the play? I don’t.”
“How do you know he’s pretending?” Benita watched the older woman methodically arrange her lunch on her tray.
“Because I didn’t come down with the last rain.” Ethel snorted. “He may say one or two things about the play. But then he starts hinting hard that he wants to come over for dinner. What makes him think I’d want to have dinner with him? I don’t.”
“I can see how that could be a problem.” There was humor in Ramona’s voice.
Benita exchanged an amused look with Ramona before returning her attention to Ethel. “Would you consider reconciling with Simon?”
“Absolutely not.” Ethel shook her head adamantly. “He lied to me for years. I can tell he wants me back, but he could hold his breath.”
Benita nodded at the confirmation. “There are other good-looking men in Trinity Falls.”
“Speaking of which, I saw Quincy while I was at TFU Tuesday morning.” Ethel turned back to Ramona.
Ramona frowned. “He had breakfast with former colleagues.”
“I don’t know about that.” Ethel returned to her soup. “But I do know that it was Quincy Spates coming out of Foster Gooden’s office first thing Tuesday morning.”
“I believe you.” Ramona’s tone was pensive. “I just don’t understand why Quincy never mentioned meeting with Foster.”
Benita exchanged a puzzled look with Ramona. “He probably just forgot to mention it.”
“Probably.” Ramona nodded.
Neither of them seemed convinced. Was there trouble in paradise?
“I still can’t believe Ginny mi
ssed rehearsal.” Vaughn pulled his black Acura into his townhome’s garage Wednesday night. He’d stewed the whole drive home from Trinity Falls University after rehearsal.
“I can.” Benita unfastened her seat belt. “I hate to say I told you so.”
“Do you?” Vaughn didn’t want to hear how right Benita had been. He pressed the button to unlock the car doors, then unfolded himself from the driver’s seat. “Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate your filling in for her. And you were wonderful.”
She really was. Benita was a natural actor and a gifted singer. If she wasn’t busy managing other celebrities, she could have a successful career of her own.
“You know Ginny Carp has been unreliable since birth.” Benita stood from the passenger seat and shut her car door. “Aunt Helen claims Ginny’s mother was pregnant with Ginny for ten months. She swears that’s the real reason Ginny’s an only child.”
Vaughn chuckled. He gave Benita a grateful look as her ridiculous story eased his tension. He offered her his hand, enjoying the feel of her much smaller one.