“Did you think I’d be someplace else?” Theodosia asked. She lifted an eyebrow as she popped a blue-and-white chintz cozy over a teapot. “Wait a minute, am I supposed to be someplace else?”
Delaine shook her head. “No, no. It’s just that I’d planned to attend your tea and somehow—I have no idea how—the time completely slipped away from me.” She waggled her head back and forth, her eyes going purposely wide. “Things have been cray cray you know?” For some reason, Delaine had begun using texting phrases, like cray cray (for “crazy, crazy”) and sup (for “What’s up?”) in her everyday conversation.
“So you really are here for tea?”
“Oh yes,” Delaine said. “In fact, I’d say it’s a celebratory tea.”
“The occasion being . . . ?”
Delaine grinned like a Cheshire cat and batted her eyelashes. “Renaldo has decided to stay in Charleston for a few more days!”
“Lucky you.”
“Aren’t I? He said he wants to take me out tonight for a fancy dinner and then escort me to the Rare Antiquities Show tomorrow night.”
Theodosia looked at her sharply. “Where did you say your boyfriend was from?”
“I didn’t actually specify,” Delaine said. “But since you’re interested, I’ll tell you. Renaldo hails from near Nice, in the south of France. He has a chateau in a small town by the name of Beaulieu-sur-Mer.”
“Is that anywhere near Monte Carlo?” Theodosia asked. It had just occurred to her that Renaldo Gilles was new in town, too. That is, new in town since just before the robbery.
“I suppose it probably isn’t all that far from Monte Carlo. It’s in that ooh-la-la French Riviera vicinity, anyway.”
As Delaine drummed her fingers on the counter, her rings caught the light and flashed. Theodosia was momentarily reminded of the butterfly brooch at Heart’s Desire. Before all the broken glass, before all the heartbreak. Then she pulled her thoughts back to the here and now.
“And you’ve known Renaldo for how long?”
“It’s only been a few weeks,” Delaine said. “But when you’ve finally discovered your true soul mate in a world filled with treacherous, barbarous creeps, it feels as if you’ve been together forever.” Delaine clutched her hands together, then touched them to her heart and beamed.
“Your soul mate,” Theodosia said. “My, that is major news.” Delaine had been discovering her soul mate for as long as Theodosia could remember. First there’d been Cooper, then Charles, then Roger, and wasn’t there someone named Bentley? But no need to dredge all that up. “Now that you mention it, you do have a certain glow about you.”
Delaine touched a hand delicately to her cheek and moved closer to the counter. “I just had a caviar facial at the Silver Moon Spa. So I’m feeling positively incandescent.”
“I hope it’s not catching.” Theodosia chuckled.
“Silver Moon is such a gorgeous spa,” Delaine babbled on. “Fresh flowers everywhere, a mineral springs hot tub, architecture like a Grecian temple, and absolutely everyone caters to your slightest whim. It’s absolutely decadent, my kind of place. While I was checking out, I even ran into Grace Dawson. You remember her, don’t you? The two of us sat together at lunch yesterday.”
“Sure, the nice lady with the Dobermans.” But Theodosia really remembered Grace Dawson as the wealthy woman who was dating Lionel Rinicker.
“Do you know that Grace employs a personal assistant?” Delaine asked, seemingly enraptured. “Isn’t that amazing? He was there with her today, this wonderful little person who actually takes notes and runs errands and does her complete bidding. Just like the movie stars have.”
“Sounds great.” Theodosia knew having someone at her beck and call would just make her anxious. She’d have to hustle up busywork for them to do.
“Grace is an extremely classy person,” Delaine said. “She knows that blue chip isn’t just something you dunk in a bowl of guacamole.” She idly fluffed her hair. “Anyway, I wanted to hit the spa so I’d be in tip-top shape for my evening with Renaldo.”
“Wait a minute,” Theodosia said. “What exactly does Renaldo do for a living?”
“Renaldo is in the import-export business,” Delaine said. “A little of this, a little of that.” She gave a vague wave of the hand. “French perfumes, Italian shoes, silks, what have you. You know, high-end luxury goods.”
“And where did you meet him?”
“A fashion trade show in Miami.”
“Interesting. I look forward to getting to know him a little better.”
Renaldo Gilles might be Delaine’s soul mate and an import-export agent, but Theodosia sincerely hoped the man didn’t plan to export any luxury goods from the Heritage Society over the next couple of days.
24