“Short notice,” I said. “Where will you put them?”
“In Peter’s old room, for the time being,” said Emma. “Derek is already drawing up plans for the self-contained apartment he’ll build for them in the south wing.” An enchanting smile wreathed her face. “It’ll have a nursery.”
The word nursery sparked memories of rocking my boys to sleep when they were small enough to hold in the crook of my arm. I could almost smell the talcum powder and the sweet, indefinable baby scent that has nothing to do with diapers. An unexpected twinge of envy assailed me when I thought of Emma and Derek singing lullabies to their grandchild-to-be.
“Have you told Nell and Kit?” I asked.
“Yes, and they’re as happy as we are,” said Emma. “Peter and Cassie have always been a bit of a mystery to Kit, and vice versa. They’ll finally have a chance to get to know one another, living and working together under one roof.”
“Working together?” I said. “Will they be working together?”
“It was Derek’s idea,” said Emma. “Peter told Derek that he and Cassie wouldn’t be comfortable living at the manor unless they could pay their own way, so Derek suggested they work for me. And they agreed!”
“Do they ride?” I asked.
“Like the wind,” said Emma, “but they’d rather ride for pleasure than give lessons. You won’t believe it, Lori, but they asked if they could run the office! It should be a good fit. They’re tactful and they’re well organized—you have to be when you live out of a duffel bag—and they’ve handled budgets and bills and schedules for their research projects. It’ll take me a couple of days to bring them up to speed, but once I do . . .” She caught her breath, then continued with a faraway look in her gray eyes, “I’ll never have to look at another piece of paperwork again. I’ll be able to—”
“Grow a prize-winning eggplant, knit a circus tent, and invent the cure for the common cold,” I broke in cheerily.
“I don’t know about curing the common cold,” said Emma, laughing, “but I will be able to spend as much time as I like in Mr. Huggins’s gardens!”
“Jack will be delighted,” I said. “I should warn you, though, that Mr. Huggins’s estate may not have sufficient funds to pay for your plan as written.”
“We’ll do what we can with what we have,” said Emma, undaunted. She glanced at her wristwatch, then jumped to her feet. “I’d better get moving. I have a to-do list as long as my arm, but I couldn’t do anything until I’d shared my wonderful news with you.”
“I’m glad you did,” I said, getting up to give her a hug. “It really is wonderful news.”
“It is, isn’t it?” She returned my hug, then broke free, saying, “Derek and I will throw a welcome-home party for Cassie and Peter at some point, but I’m not sure when. You and Bill will come, won’t you? And you’ll bring the twins? Peter’s dying to see Will and Rob.”
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I assured her.
I walked Emma to the front door and waved her on her way, then made a mad dash for the study. My brain had begun to fizz again. I hoped Aunt Dimity would offer me a reasonable explanation for what had just happened because I couldn’t think of one myself.
I’d seen Emma beside the wishing well. I’d heard her wish for the perfect someone to appear on her doorstep and manage the riding school for her. By her own testimony, her wish had come true. On Thursday, Peter and Cassie would appear on her doorstep, and in two days, after she’d brought them up to speed, they would manage the riding school for her.
“Weird coincidence, my foot,” I muttered to Reginald when I entered the study. “Let’s see if Dimity can reason her way out of this one.”
I actually had my hand on the blue journal when the doorbell rang again. Urgently.
“Are you kidding me?” I groaned and Reginald’s pink ears seemed to droop with frustration.
I released the journal and returned to the front door in a testy mood. Had my visitor been a salesman, he would have regretted ringing my bell urgently. I must have looked out of sorts because when I flung the door wide, Elspeth Binney fell back a step.
“Have I come at a bad time?” she asked meekly.
“No, not at all. Please, come in,” I said, too surprised to remain irritated. To see Elspeth unaccompanied by her cronies was unusual. To see her alone on my doorstep in the middle of the day was unprecedented. “Shall I put the kettle on?”
“No, no,” she said. “I can’t stay long—so much to do!—but I simply had to tell you my wonderful news!”
“More wonderful news,” I murmured weakly, wondering if another weird coincidence was about to land in my lap.