“And does everyone bring a date?”
“Not everyone.” Doris grinned. “I’m not bringing anyone this year. I think it’ll be more fun this way. Say, do you need a ride?”
“That would be wonderful.”
They exchanged phone numbers, and Doris promised to pick her up at seven thirty sharp. Pausing to peer into her reflection of the chocolate shop window, Doris grimaced. “Good grief, I better get myself to the hairdresser’s fast. I look like a wreck!”
As Doris hurried away, Caroline caught a glimpse of another image in the shop’s gleaming window. Staring at her own reflection, she felt shocked. If she hadn’t known better, she would’ve assumed that was her mother looking back! Maybe there was something to what her sister and a few of her coworkers had been suggesting to her after all.
Chapter 9
As Caroline went into her little apartment, she was overwhelmed with conflicted emotions. On one hand, she knew she should be thankful that her job was not in jeopardy. At least she didn’t think it was. Not for six weeks anyway. On the other hand, she felt like she was in way over her head. The MG Chocolate Factory—at least the executive employees—was so sophisticated and worldly compared to what she’d been used to. And compared to the other secretaries, including Mrs. Gallagher, who was probably in her late fifties, Caroline was a dowdy, mousy, frumpy plain Jane.
Oh, she knew that appearances were deceiving. And she knew she was a good, steady, reliable worker. But she also knew that she’d stuck out like a sore thumb today. And now she was expected to come up with an appropriate outfit to wear to the formal New Year’s Eve party tonight. She looked through her spartan closet, trying to determine if there was something in there she might be able to make over into some sort of an evening gown. But without a magic wand, it looked impossible. Perhaps the wise choice would be to simply stay home. Or was that the coward’s way out?
“Hello? Caroline?” Marjorie called from the top of the stairs. “Joe said he saw you coming home—you down there?”
“I am.”
“Well, come on up here. Lulu’s still napping and I want to show you something.”
Caroline barely reached the top of the stairs when Marjorie grabbed her by the hand. “Come on, Sis. Let’s hurry before Lulu wakes up.”
“Where are the boys?” Caroline whispered as they started up the stairs.
“Joe took Danny outside after his nap. I gave them a picnic snack to eat out there.”
“Well, you are just the one I need to talk to,” Caroline said quietly. “Turns out you were right about my fashion sense. Or lack of it. Seems that I need to improve my image.”
“That is exactly what I have in mind.” Marjorie pulled Caroline into her bedroom where the bed was piled with clothes.
“Are you packing to go somewhere?” Caroline picked up a pretty pink blouse.
“No. These are the clothes that are already too small for me.” Marjorie patted her rounded midsection. “And I got to thinking it’s a shame to have them just sitting in my closet. Meanwhile my sister is running around town looking like the war’s still on.”
Caroline sighed. “Point taken.”
Marjorie held up a periwinkle peplum jacket and matching skirt. “I just got this a few months ago. On sale at Miss Beverly’s Fine Fashions. I only wore it once. To a luncheon with Rich’s mother.”
“Very pretty.”
Marjorie held the jacket up to Caroline. “It will look lovely on you.”
“Oh, Marjorie, I can’t take your new suit. You’ll want it back after the—”
“It’s just a loan,” Marjorie explained. “You can use these things until you can afford to update your own wardrobe. And it will be good to get them out of my closet. It only makes me sad to see them there.” She grabbed a handful and thrust them toward Caroline. “For all I know, they’ll be out of style by the time I can fit into them again.”
“This is so incredibly generous.”
“Well, you used to give me your hand-me-downs,” Marjorie reminded her. “I always acted like it wasn’t fair that I had to wear secondhand clothes, but the truth was I loved having your things. I used to think you had real style back then. Back before…well, before the war and everything. You know…”
“I know.” Caroline felt her eyes getting misty. “This is really sweet of you, Marjorie. I honestly don’t know how to thank you.”
“Well, just take good care of them.” She chuckled. “I know you will. You were always much more careful with clothes than I was. Even that short stint I did for the modeling agency, I would get hecky-pecky for not handling garments properly.”
Caroline laughed. “Yes, that was one reason I preferred to just give you my older clothes than to lend them to you. I never knew what kind of shape they’d come back in.” She held up a cheery red dress with small white polka dots. “This is fun.”
“I outgrew that waistline right after Thanksgiving,” Marjorie admitted. “But it ought to fit you perfectly.” She pulled out the full skirt. “And the hemline is much more fashionable than that.” She pointed to Caroline’s gray skirt.
“So I’ve gathered.” Caroline told Marjorie about how stylish the other secretaries looked today. “Next to them I was a dowdy duck.”
“It’s possible they were dressed more colorfully than usual because it’s New Year’s Eve,” Marjorie told her. “I mean I’ve seen some of them before and I’ll admit they’re rather chic, but they probably don’t always dress up so much.”
“Speaking of New Year’s Eve…” Caroline told Marjorie about the party at the Gordon home. “Won’t you and Rich want to go?”
Marjorie frowned. “Some day we’ll go. At least I hope so. But not until Rich gets a big promotion and moves up to the executive offices.”
“Oh…well, I didn’t really want to go, but Mr. Gordon went to a special effort to make sure I knew I was invited.” She felt her cheeks warming. “I mean because I’m a temporary employee, you know? He thought I might not feel like I belonged there.”
“Mr. Gordon invited you personally?” Marjorie’s eyes grew wide. “Himself?”
“Yes. I was on my way home. He ran out onto the sidewalk and stopped me.”
“He ran?”
“Well, maybe he didn’t actually run. I mean he sort of rushed out.”
“Oh, Caroline, I’ll bet he likes you.”
“I’m sure he likes all his employees. He seems like a very nice man.”
Marjorie grabbed Caroline’s hand. “Do you like him?”
“Well, of course I like him. He’s the president of the company.”
“You know what I mean, Sis.”
Caroline’s cheeks grew even warmer.
“Look at you—you’re blushing.” Marjorie forced Caroline in front of her big dresser mirror. “You do like him, don’t you? You can tell me.”
Caroline’s hand went up to her cheek. “Oh…I don’t know…I suppose I sort of like him. I mean that sounds so silly…childish even.”
“That’s wonderful!”
Caroline laughed nervously. “Why is that wonderful? You know as well as I do that my chances with a man like Mr. Gordon would be minuscule…especially with someone like Evelyn Stuart around. I’m pretty sure that those two are a pair. I even heard some of the girls at work are wagering that he will propose to her by Valentine’s Day.”
Marjorie frowned. “Well, that doesn’t give you a whole lot of time, now does it?”
“I don’t think time is going to help.” Caroline leaned forward to peer at her frumpy image in the mirror. “The bathroom mirror in the apartment is a bit cloudy,” she confessed as she touched her hair. “I think my hair looked better in it down there.”
Marjorie chuckled. “At least that’s an easy fix.” She reached for a hairbrush and immediately began unpinning Caroline’s thick auburn hair. “You brush it out while I get something from the guest room closet.”
By the time Caroline had brushed her hair out, letting it fall
loose upon her shoulders, Marjorie returned with a long garment bag in hand. “I got this when I was working at the modeling agency, before the war began.” Her voice was laced with excitement. “I nearly forgot about it. I haven’t worn it since before Danny was born, and I’m afraid it might be a bit out of fashion by now. But perhaps we can do something about that.” She slowly unzipped the bag and a full skirt of rich garnet-colored satin poured out.
“Oh, Marjorie.” Caroline felt her eyes growing large. “That is lovely.”
“Wait until you see the rest of it.” She carefully extracted it from the bag, holding it out like a prize. The fitted bodice sparkled with garnet-colored sequins and looked like something that might’ve been worn in a movie. “It was a little snug on me after I had Danny, but I’m sure it’ll fit you perfectly.”
“It’s beautiful.” Caroline ran her hand down the shiny skirt. “Just beautiful.”
“I was wearing it when I met Rich.” Marjorie held the gown up to herself and sighed. “The modeling agency had sent some of us girls to work at an awards ceremony, something to do with the film industry, but not the Academy Awards. Anyway, we wore designer gowns, and afterward, we were allowed to purchase them with a really big discount.” She laughed. “I used all my earnings just to buy this silly old gown.”
“I can understand why.” Caroline stared at the gorgeous garment. The style was classic, with a sweetheart neckline and fitted three-quarter-length sleeves. And the full skirt poured out in luscious billows of satin.
“Naturally, I had to come up with an excuse to wear it again.” Still holding the gown to her, Marjorie waltzed around the bedroom.
“Naturally.” Caroline smiled at her younger sister.
“Which is why some of us girls—from the agency—decided to go to a USO Christmas party. We wanted to show off. And, of course, we were dressed to the nines. And, as you know, that’s where I met Rich.” She laughed. “The rest is history.”
“Well, this gown is absolutely gorgeous. And I can’t imagine why you’d think it was out of fashion. I realize I’m not an expert, but I don’t think a classic sort of dress like this could ever be out of style.”
“Maybe…but it’s not as flashy as some of the gowns I’ve been seeing in movies and magazines lately.” She held it up to Caroline now, nodding with approval.
“Well, it has plenty of flash for someone like me.” Caroline giggled. “Honestly, Marjorie, I feel like I’m about seventeen again, getting ready for my class prom.”
“It’s about time you had some fun.” Marjorie removed it from the padded hanger. “Let’s get you out of that old-lady suit and see how this looks.”
“Do you really think it’ll fit me?” Caroline hurried to unbutton her jacket.
“Well, you know we’re nearly the same size, although I’m a little shorter than you, but I wore it with a sweet pair of matching high heels. Maybe you could wear it with a lower heel.” Marjorie already had the back opened up.
“I don’t own a pair of shoes that would look right with this dress, and you know my feet are bigger than yours.”
“Looks like you’ll have to go shoe shopping.”
By seven thirty Caroline was elegantly dressed. Besides the garnet gown and a new pair of black patent leather pumps, she wore a pair of borrowed garnet earrings and a black fur stole. Marjorie had helped pin her hair into a looser, more feminine style and insisted she wear a touch of lipstick and rouge. “I feel just like Cinderella,” she nervously told Marjorie as they waited in the front room for Doris to arrive.
“You look like a movie star.” Joe looked at her with wide eyes. “I can’t believe you’re really my mom.”
“Thanks, sweetheart. I actually feel a little silly,” she confessed. “I’m not used to dressing up like this.”
“Is that your friend?” Marjorie pointed to the light blue car pulling into the driveway.
“Looks like it.” Caroline thanked Marjorie once more, then bent down to kiss Joe on the cheek, wiping off the lipstick smudge and smiling. “I know you’ll be good for Aunt Marjorie. And you’ll go to bed when she says to.”
He nodded. “Have fun at your party, Mom.”
“I’ll try.” As she hurried out to Doris’s car, she had no idea what to expect and desperately hoped that she wasn’t overdressed. She felt somewhat relieved to see that Doris had on a formal gown, too, a shimmering confection of pink and blue. But still, she felt uneasy.
“This all feels so strange to me,” Caroline admitted as Doris took a winding road that went up a hill. “As if I’m someone else…not me.”
“Wait until you see the Gordons’ home,” Doris said as she turned into a long driveway. “Then you’ll really feel like you’re someone else.”
The Gordon home was stucco like Marjorie’s, but it was enormous and all lit up with cars pulling in and guests piling out. A parking valet took Doris’s keys, and the next thing Caroline knew they were walking through the big double doors, going into an enormous foyer that resembled something from a Hollywood movie set.
“Welcome,” Mr. Gordon graciously greeted them both, politely introducing Caroline to his father as a young man collected their wraps. “Mr. Maxwell Gordon, the founder of MG Chocolates,” he said proudly. Both men wore nearly identical black tuxedos and both looked very elegant—the young and the old. And now Caroline began to feel slightly more comfortable in her formal gown. She wasn’t the least bit overdressed.
“Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Clark,” the senior Mr. Gordon told her. “And good to see you again, Miss Fowler. Welcome—welcome! Please, make yourselves at home.”
“My mother had hoped to be out here to greet the guests, too,” the younger Mr. Gordon explained to them, “but she twisted her ankle earlier.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Caroline said.
“But I know she’d like to meet a new employee,” he said. “If you don’t mind, I’ll take you to her.”
“I’d love to meet her.” Caroline turned to Doris. “Are you coming, too?”
But Doris was already waving to a small group of people that Caroline didn’t know. “I’ll catch up with Mrs. Gordon later,” Doris assured her as she hurried away.
Caroline tried to act natural as Mr. Gordon led her through a large room where a band was playing on one end and numerous guests were visiting on the other. But everything was so foreign, so unexpected, she felt as if she were part of a movie set.
“I’m so glad you made it,” Mr. Gordon told her as they exited the busy room, going down a quiet hallway with artwork along both walls. He paused to look at her, and unless she was mistaken, he seemed to approve. A smile turned up the corners of his mouth and his dark eyes lit up. “You look very lovely tonight, Mrs. Clark.”
She felt herself blushing again. “Thank you, Mr. Gordon. To be honest, I’m not used to such formal affairs. I’m a bit like a fish out of water.”
“A most beautiful fish.” He chuckled as he pulled open a door. “My mother is in the parlor, keeping her foot elevated for a bit. She hopes to get in at least one dance with my father before this year comes to an end.” He nodded to where a pair of older women were seated comfortably near a large window that overlooked a pretty garden area. “Mother,” he said as they approached. “I’d like you to meet our newest employee, Mrs. Clark. She’s recently relocated here from Minnesota. She was just hired today.” He smiled at Caroline. “This is my mother, Mrs. Gordon.”
“Pleased to meet you.” Caroline leaned down to grasp the older woman’s hand. “You have a beautiful home, Mrs. Gordon.”
“Please, just call me Gladdie,” she said. “I never went in for all this formality.”
“Then you must call me Caroline,” she said, feeling a bit uneasy.
“And this is my sister, Beulah Peterson,” Gladdie said pleasantly.
Caroline smiled at the older woman. “Pleased to meet you, too.”
“Now, have a seat, Caroline.” Gladdie patted a spot beside her. “Let’s get acquai
nted.”
Caroline glanced back at Mr. Gordon with uncertainty. What was she supposed to do?
“Go ahead and join them,” he said. “And if you’ll all excuse me, I better get back to help Dad greet the other guests.”
“I thought Evelyn was helping with that,” Gladdie said.
“She was, but she stepped out for a bit.”
“Come on, Caroline,” Gladdie urged her. “Sit down and keep us old ladies company. Tell us about Minnesota and what brings you out to our part of the country.”
Caroline sat down next to Gladdie, smiling at the pair of friendly gray-haired women. “There’s not much to tell about Minnesota.” She tried to think of something interesting. “When I left there was quite a bit of snow on the ground.”
“Snow,” Beulah said with longing. “Remember back in Connecticut, that winter when we had five feet of snow?”
“Oh, I don’t believe we ever had five feet of snow, Beulah.” And for the next couple of minutes they argued back and forth over the Connecticut winters. But finally Gladdie turned back to Caroline. “I’m sorry, dear. You know how contrary sisters can be sometimes. Or perhaps you don’t. Do you have a sister?”
So Caroline explained that she did indeed have a sister. “That was what drew me out to California…to be closer to her and her family.”
“And your husband?” Gladdie asked. “My son did introduce you as Mrs. Clark, did he not?”
So Caroline quickly explained about losing Joe in the war. “It was early on…about four years ago…he was in the South Pacific.”
Gladdie reached over to take Caroline’s hand. “I’m so sorry for your loss, dear. So very sorry.”
“Gladdie lost a boy to the war, too,” Beulah said quietly. “Her older son—Max Jr.”
“Oh, yes, I do remember my brother-in-law mentioning that now. I’m so sorry for your loss.” Caroline looked into Gladdie’s eyes. “It’s hard, isn’t it?”
She nodded. “Max Jr. was a good boy. He’d been running the company before he went into the service,” Gladdie explained. “Alongside his father, Maxwell, of course. But Max Jr. had been Maxwell’s right-hand man.”
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