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“Well, why don’t we call Mrs. Anderson in? I’m sure she would be able to help.”

“Are you sure we should do that? I would hate to take her away from her other duties. I already take up so much of her time.”

“I can say with the upmost certainty that she would be happy to help us get to work on this as soon as possible.”

She lit up. “All right then, if you’re sure, I would love that.”

“Then I’ll go and get her. Give me just a moment.”

A short time later, the three of them were all sitting together. Once Mrs. Anderson joined them, he found himself sitting back and watching more than anything else.

Watching how excited Rebecca got he couldn’t help the way his own excitement seemed to grow. It was almost contagious. He could feel it starting to creep in, doing its best to push away the concerns and the doubts.

Still, he couldn’t quite press down the seed of anxiety blooming in his chest at the thought of all those people coming into his home.

He was glad she wanted to keep it small. He wasn’t sure if he could handle much more than that.

But even keeping it small, he couldn’t remember the last time anyone other than Patrick had come to see him.

One thing was for sure, it was going to be quite the adjustment, but for Rebecca, he would find a way to manage.

It was no less than she deserved.

CHAPTER 15

The second she got the approval, Rebecca threw herself into preparations for the dinner party. Even though they were keeping it small, it still seemed like there was an endless list of things to do.

The guest list and the date may have been set, but there was still the invitations, the menus, any activities she might want to plan for the evening. Not to mention deciding on the silverware, place settings, Mrs. Anderson even asked if she would want to change out the drapes or the art on the walls for the party.

It was all enough to make her head spin.

A few days later, she was in a sitting room, putting some of the finishing touches on the menu. Originally she had expected they would send the invitations out first, but Mrs. Anderson recommended getting the kitchen staff the menu first so she was almost done with it when a voice startled her from the doorway.

“You seem to be hard at work. Should I come back later?” Penelope’s voice called, making her jump.

Rebecca turned to the door at lit up at the sight of her friend. “You are always welcome here. I just wasn’t expecting you. Come in. sit down.”

She smiled, taking her seat. “Don’t you know by now you should always expect me.”

Rebecca chuckled. “I supposed I should by now, but some how you always seem to keep surprising me.”

“Well, I do try.” Penelope grinned, glancing at the papers Rebecca had in front of her as she started to set them aside. “Are you working on something for the dinner party?”

Rebeca blinked in surprise. “How did you know about that? We haven’t even sent out the invitations yet. Unless, William or Mrs. Anderson did it on their own, but I thought I was going to help with that.”

“You don’t need to worry,” she smiled. “I didn’t get an invitation or anything like that.”

“But then how did you find out?”

“I saw William on the way in and he told me I should ask you about it that’s all.”

“Oh, of course. I should have known it would be something like that,” she said shaking her head.

“So? Tell me all about it?”

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything!”