“That’s right. In fact, as I recall, that’s exactly what we did. Raoul, anything to add?”
“No Miss Vera. I think James and I had a beer and you had an ice tea. Miss Hannah came by just before noon and we all went for a walk on the grounds. What’s the matter? I feel like we’re being interrogated.”
“No, it isn’t that. That’s not what I’m trying to do. Just trying to make a point. After the game we all went out for a walk, what did we talk about? Do you remember?”
The men looked at each other.” The usual. Sports, work and Doris and Penny. Is that what this is all about? Something about Doris and Penny?”
“Yes, Raoul it is. It’s about your girlfriends, and how much you talk about them. And, of course what you say. Say about them.”
“All good, as I recall,” said James. “We love our girls. Very much. Why?”
“Because, James and Raoul, for so long as I’ve known you, every day we talk about Doris and Penny, and every day you tell me how much you love them. But then I find out last night and today, that you tell me, but you don’t tell them. Doris and Penny told me today that you’re almost like strangers when it comes to sharing your feelings with them. Is this true?”
James squirmed in his seat, then said, “It’s very … personal, you know Miss Vera. Not sure this is a proper discussion to be having with you. Here and now I mean. Not meaning to be rude, but why’re you taking an interest in all this?”
Hannah looked at Vera. “He’s right you know. This is none of your concern Vera. This needs to stop right now.”
“No, this needs to be discussed here and now. And to answer your question, James, I’m butting in where I’m not wanted because I care about you, and your brother. And I care about Doris and Penny who love you two very much. But you don’t tell them. Telling me is useless. You need to talk to your girls and let them know just what they mean to you. Or one day you might wake up and it’s just the two of you having walks with Hannah and me. And I don’t think that’s what you want, is it?”
Raoul was squirming in his chair and looked ready to bolt. This was emotional overload for a guy who was so bottled up inside that any emotion was difficult to feel, let alone express. James was looking a little piqued himself; he liked Miss Vera, but this was very close to crossing a line.
“I can see that everyone agrees that I’ve crossed a line. None of my business, and I should just shut up. I’m just telling you men that you need to figure something out about Doris and Penny and just what they mean to you. And you two ladies need to decide what you want from this relationship and whether or not you are getting it. If you aren’t then what’re you doing? Worst of all, none of you talk to the one person you should share everything with. And all of you are afraid of something. Afraid of saying what you’re thinking, what you feel, expressing your needs? Honestly, I’d be ashamed to live that way. You should all be ashamed too. And that includes you Hannah. You’re as bad as they are.”
“What did I do?”
“Shush. Now go ahead and bash me for being a busybody sticking her nose into things that are not my affair. Go ahead. Then when you decide that you’re miserable with your lonely unfulfilling lives, just remember what I said today. So, you’re right and I’m wrong. OK then. Good luck and leave me out of it from here on out. No more talking about this subject. It’s closed and from now on; it’s all business. I for one choose to be happy and honest, which is more than I can say for any of you.”
Vera left the room and went into the bedroom. Hannah heard the door lock, signaling she wasn’t welcome right then either.
They all sort of just looked at each other, saying nothing. Then Penny said, “She’s right, you know. You, Raoul Bentley, whenever you decide to start talking to me and tell me that you love me and treat me like I matter, then maybe we can have a proper relationship. I love you but not enough for this to be my future. If you can’t talk to me, well, then, you’re not the only fish in the sea. Not by a long shot. Doris, are you coming or are you one giant coward too? Honestly, I don’t know why we didn’t act like grownups before. Miss Hannah, if you’d kindly show us the way out, I’ll be going home now. Alone.”
Doris and Penny collected their things, and Hannah escorted them downstairs and out onto the busy Kensington District Saturday crowds.
James followed them down. “I’ll take you home,” he shouted after them.
“Don’t bother,” Doris said. “We can find our own way home, thank you very much.”
James looked at Hannah, wondering how it had all gone so wrong so quickly.
“Don’t look at me,” she said. “None of this was my idea.”
Chapter 40
The next few weeks around the Manor were somewhat tense; even Vera and Hannah had little to say to one another and their relationship, always so large and happy, had cooled a degree or two. Hannah wasn’t angry with anyone, including Vera. Hannah’s relationship with James was similarly unchanged, though perhaps a wee bit cooler than the norm. James for his part was feeling uncomfortable around Vera and thought that some of that strain had rubbed off on Hannah.
Why Vera was acting so distant was a mystery to everyone. Hannah decided that she would leave the situation alone and if it didn’t resolve in a short while she would have to say something to her friends. Raoul was most affected; he and Vera were now fully estranged, and hardly speaking. It seemed a shame to Hannah; the two really enjoyed each other’s company, and this issue had nothing to do with them. But they were frosty toward each other and had little to say that was not job and business. Vera stayed in and avoided his company; likewise, he was busy working with his brother and George Oak on one project or another.
A few days after the events of the weekend, Vera called the girls, so she could stop by and drop off an envelope for the bakery closure. The Team was now working out of the Loft for a few days due to various folks floating through London that Hannah needed to meet.
The sisters were delighted that Vera had called; Doris and Penny had spoken to each other on the way home that night and afterward. Whether the situation had been handled well or not, they understood what Vera was trying to do. For them and for their men. And, though Penny felt strongest, Doris had to agree that Vera was right. They deserved to be romanced a bit, told they were loved and treated as special. If they could never get that from the brothers Bentley, maybe they were deluding themselves about whether their men truly did love them. Love them the way they wanted to be loved. After all, if the guys couldn’t share their feelings, how did the girls truly know what they felt?
Penny was almost militant about the situation, believing that she had a right to be treated better, and as someone special. Very special. She was through guessing about how Raoul felt; he needed to shape up or find another girlfriend. If he couldn’t show her that he cared, then as far as she was concerned, he was done. Toast.
Good riddance to bad rubbish, as the Brits are wont to say.
Doris for her part still held out hope, but as the days went by, James still didn’t call. She had expected he would. It broke her heart that silence was his only response. Maybe Vera and Penny were correct. They were still young, but not kids any more. She loved James. Or did she? Maybe she loved the idea of James, the idea of having a handsome man in her life more than the actual man himself. As she totaled up the pluses and minuses, she was despondent over the accounting.
She hated this. She preferred her delusional romance to actual solitude.
Vera popped into Hannah’s office to tell her she was going out, and she’d be back in a few hours. Vera failed to mention she was going out alone, and unescorted, and Hannah, who wasn’t paying attention, failed to notice. When James and Raoul stepped in to talk to Hannah later that day, she offhandedly asked if Vera was back already.
“Don’t know what you mean, Miss Hannah. Miss Vera didn’t leave. Not with me…”
That’s when it dawned on him that she had left without him. He
called Ogden Medlow and Murden Wills in case she left with them, as she occasionally did. He called George Oak who usually kept track of everyone, and once having established she had gone out alone, he called Vera, but got no answer. Then he called security at the building entrance. Vera had left hours ago, alone. She was walking off in the direction of the Underground. No, she hadn’t told them where she was off to.
Raoul was angry with himself for letting his moodiness about Vera’s actions on Saturday get in the way of his job. His job was to keep Vera safe; he had let her down. He had let Miss Hannah down. When Dr. St. James found out about this lapse, he would be fired. And he had probably already lost the only woman he had ever loved whose name wasn’t “Mum” or “Sis”.
Worse for James and Raoul, they realized that Vera had been right all along. But they were men; their egos and bravado had gotten in the way of seeing that all Vera was trying to do was help. Ripping the band aid off the wound is sometimes the only way to let it heal. Raoul realized that now. He had needed a swift kick in the ass to jar him out of his stubborn habits. And habits they were; bad habits learned over a lifetime and ingrained into his daily life. He knew he had to let go; to let Penny into his most vulnerable places.
Vera had told both Raoul, and his brother that they could leave a small footprint in life, and keep themselves safe and tucked away, or they could’ve a large foot print, accept some pain, and find every bit of the joy that life held for them. They couldn’t have both; they could either open up or close off. At the time, they just smiled; they had no idea what she was talking about.
Now they did.
“We have to fix this, James. And quick. Where do you fancy she went? I’m dreadfully worried. How could I have let this happen?”
“My fault too. Damn! Damn, damn, damn,” said James.
Hannah watched her men punish themselves, but Hannah was certain that Vera was with Doris and Penny. They had been communicating regularly all week, though Vera thought that was a secret between her and the girls. Hannah knew better. They were probably at the bakery, but they might also be at the Pub commiserating. She would have a chat with Vera about this tidbit. Vera knew better and was just being as childish as her guys. Still, Vera was a grown woman, had travelled the world alone and could manage the Underground.
“C’mon boys, let’s go collect Vera. I think I know where she’s at. You would too if you thought about it?”
“Where to?”
“The bakery. I’m dead sure she’s there with Penny and Doris. Probably roaring drunk by now. The lot of ‘em.”
Raoul said, “If they are, they’ll get a piece of my mind for the worry.”
“Really, Raoul?” asked Hannah.
“No. But I’d want to. Maybe I should leave that to you, Miss Hannah. You’re better at scaring them. Doubt they’d take me seriously. Plus, I’m a little afraid of the three of them being together now.”
“Might be best. After we collect the delinquent, you boys take us home, and then take the night off. Make up with your girls. I’ll talk to the old man, and get the girls cleared for weekends at the Manor. We can fix this. Starting now.”
“Yes ma’am. Just what you say.”
“Step on it James; we’re burning daylight.”
***
The girls were indeed at the bakery and so was Vera. The ladies were quite surprised to see Hannah and the men. They hadn’t been drinking; they had been working. Vera was elbow deep in flour as Penny and Doris were teaching her all about commercial ovens, schedules, and the competitive bakery business in Old London Town. The schedule was grueling, and the profits slim. But the girls had kept on with the bakery on Belmont Street called Pennington’s that had first been started by Grandpa Pennington, a miserable old codger who could make a farthing dance for an hour on a loaf of rye.
Vera said, “Something wrong? What’s the cavalry doing so far from the Fort?”
Hannah gave Vera her sternest look but knew she was terrible at being mad at her lover. She was annoyed with Vera; but it was no big deal.
“Next time, please let someone know where you’re going. If not me, someone.”
“We were worried,” chimed in Raoul. “Dreadfully worried. It was wrong, very wrong of you to leave like that.”
Raoul was deadly serious, but his brother burst out laughing. “That was good, little brother. You might even to have been able to scare Sis with that one. When she was six. But not anymore. Let’s just leave the scolding to Miss Hannah; we have some amends to make with the women we love. Especially with the woman I love. I hope she still loves me.”
“You’re a proper fool, and you don’t deserve me, but…” She slid into his waiting arms.
Raoul said, “And Penny. I’m an even bigger fool. I have loved you since the day we met. Head over heels. Just didn’t know how to say it. Still don’t, but I promise I will try. I’ll try to be a little better every day. If you’ll have me back.”
“You’re on probation, Mr. Bentley. Long term probation but come here you … incredibly handsome hunk of a man. I’m going to let you make it up to me. Starting tonight.”
Hannah looked at Vera. Her gambit had worked, though Vera had been a lot less sure of it when the day began.
Hannah said, “It’s home for you Miss Vera. You have some ‘splainin to do.”
“Am I in trouble?” Vera asked innocently.
“Loads, but I’m sure we can work out your penance. Something small, but very punitive.”
“Maybe I was really, really bad. I was gone for quite a while you know. Hours without telling a soul. Met some dodgy types on the way over here and barely escaped. Worse than you can imagine.”
“When it comes to my Vera, I can imagine a lot.” Hannah paused. “In that case, I’ll probably have to grill you for hours. I’ll see what tools we have left in the nightstand.”
“I’m not goin’ easy. I can tell you that. I’m a lot tougher now. This may take some time and all of your considerable skills.”
Hannah smiled, “I’m counting on it, missy. I’m counting on it.”
Chapter 41
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I mean exactly what I just said. I don’t know.”
Vera was with her new friends at their bakery in one of the priciest, toniest sections of the downtown London tourist and financial districts.
Vera asked, “Now tell me again how much you net per month after you pay for everything? I mean how much before taxes?”
“We clear maybe, I don’t know, eight or nine hundred pounds a month. Take home. But we live above the bakery, rent free and we get by. No need to look down on us for that. We’re doing just fine.”
“No, you’re not. Now, once again, how big is the place. I mean all three floors?”
“Vera! We don’t know. We never measured the place; hell, we’ve worked here all our lives. With Daddy, and with Grandpa before he died. It’s all we know.”
“I’m not looking down on you, by the by. And I’m not saying anything about what you have or have not done, or what your daddy or grandpa did either. I’m talking about what this is right now. And, right now, we need to look at what you need to do with this place to maximize its value to you and your sister.”
“What are you talking about? It’s our bakery and our livelihood. That’s what it is and what it’s going to be.”
“What do you owe on the place?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you have a mortgage, line of credit something like that? I mean what do you owe?”
“Nothing. We don’t have any of that; wouldn’t know how to get any of that. Can’t afford that neither.”
“OK. Do you have a tape measure? Tools? Anything?”
“No.”
“All right then, you sit tight. I’ll get some help. Then we’ll see.”
“See what?”
“See what to do with this … place. Then we’ll fix you up
.”
The girls stared at each other, puzzled looks across their faces. They liked Vera; she was kind, and thoughtful. But they had no clue what she was carrying on about. Vera for her part wondered how the girls could be sitting on a gold mine and utilizing their asset so poorly. She would assess the situation, then give them her business plan.
Her college major, Art History, was of no use to her in this endeavor. But her daddy was a banker, and she understood the term “highest and best use”.
The girls would too in about a week.
***
It was Saturday morning, a week later, and the sisters, the brothers Bentley, and Hannah were once again back at the Loft. Hannah had contacted the old man, had him run his background checks, and given the OK for the sisters Pennington to come out to visit the Team, or more specifically a portion of the Team, at the Manor on weekends. Or for that matter, any time they chose.
Edward recognized that the ladies worked for their living, usually six days a week, just to eek out a modest income in the family business they had inherited from their father. When Vera mentioned that the bakery building was about six thousand square feet distributed over three floors and a basement in central London, he was quiet. He made the connection that Vera had, and just as quickly.
Then he said, “Get it appraised, then contact the man at Harrington Estate Sales in Kensington I mentioned in the email. He’ll advise on how to get top dollar. I think your idea to refurb and lease the space triple net to a Fortune 500, as upscale retail, will make them quite comfortable. Financially I mean. I’ll send someone your way, and you can get this wrapped up quick. Then, they can have a bakery somewhere else if they still want to work in that biz. What was your major again, Vera?”
“Art History.”
“Well, your father would be proud. Smart analysis and better long-term financial structure. You should’ve followed him into banking.”
“He wanted a son. Never let me forget what a disappointment I was. Apparently, I was born with the wrong standard equipment.”
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