Someone To Run To

8

"Oh my goodness!" Eva exclaimed.

She was up on the second floor tidying up one of the rooms. She just happened to gaze outside. Eva had long light brown hair and piercing blue eyes. She loved working at the Collins mansion. She had been there longer than any of the other housekeepers. The pay was good and she had a place to live thanks to Alan. The one thing she wanted more than anything in the world was for him to be happy. She had heard Kate and Grace talk about Gina, the girl he saved from the diner, and how beautiful she was. She hoped something would come of it. She ran out of the room she was in and into the one directly across the hall.

"Kate!" she cried.

Kate, who was bent over cleaning out from under the bed, raised, nearly hitting her head. She glared hatefully at her co-worker.

"What in the world are you going on about, Eva? What are you trying to do, kill me?"

"No," Eva said. "There's something I think you should see though." She motioned for Kate to follow her.

Kate laid her feather duster down and followed her reluctantly. "This had better be good for you to interrupt my cleaning," she grumbled.

They walked across the hall to the room Eva had just left and over to the window. She pointed down toward the grounds. Kate's eyes widened in surprise.

"Is that Alan with Gina?" she asked.

"Yes," Eva answered excitedly. "He has his arm around her."

"I see. Do you think something is going on there?"

"I don't know about you, but he never put his arm around me."

Kate thought for a moment. "No, he hasn't me either and he was talking about her like crazy at breakfast this morning. Maggie told him to shut up about her like four times."

"I remember! Do you think it's possible? Has he finally found somebody?"

She shrugged. "There's no way to tell."

"There's only one way to find out," Eva said deviously. "And we'll do it tonight." She grinned.

Kate had already hopped on her thought train. "All of us. You, me, and Grace. This should be good."

"We'd better let Grace know."

"We will. As soon as possible. I just hope we get the answer we're looking for."

***

Alan and Gina came in the front door laughing. He had just told her a joke she had never heard before.

"You're hilarious," Gina commented. "I bet you're a hoot at a party."

"I don't know," Alan declared. "I don't think I've ever been to a party."

"I have. It's where I met Jack." She grimaced as soon as she said it. Why couldn't she get him out of her head? "I'm sorry. I don't know why I keep bringing him up."

"He hurt you. It makes him harder to forget."

"You haven't hurt me, but I'll never forget you."

Her words touched him. He blushed. "I hope you won't because I don't think I could forget you if I tried." Their eyes locked for a moment. A deep longing he couldn't explain came to the surface. He cleared his throat and broke eye contact. "I'm going to go ahead and go tell George about our plans for tomorrow."