Claire Gulliver #02 - Washington Weirdos by Gayle Wigglesworth Read Free Book Online Page A

went into the attached room which opened into a luxurious bath and opened the closet, pulling out a luggage rack on which to place her large wheelie bag. “If you’d like some help unpacking, just hit star-seven on the phone and Mrs. Kramer will arrange it. She will also take care of any laundry or ironing you need done.” He smiled and winked at JoJo as he hurried out.
    Claire looked at the bag and sighed. She would have to unpack. Maybe her clothes hadn’t had time to wrinkle again as she had only packed them a short while ago. And she needed to find her other shoes.
    “JoJo, Gramimi said for you to go get changed for dinner.” Amy popped her head in the open doorway.
    Claire wondered if the little girl ever slowed down; she was like a whirling dervish with her eyes sparkling, her toes dancing, every bit of her was in constant motion.
    “I thought we weren’t dressing.” JoJo was clearly reluctant to move, hovering expectantly over Claire’s suitcase and waiting to see what treasures would come forth.
    “Not dressed, but Gramimi said no shorts. We can pick. Come on, I’ll race you to the nursery.”
    With that she was off and JoJo, refusing to be beaten, was on her heels. Claire was left in peace to look more closely at the room; to peek out the windows at the sloping lawn ending at a dock stretching into the bay, or inlet, or whatever it was; to change into a casual dress, a soft print with a longish skirt and matching soft blouse; and finally, to plop in the comfortable chair and rest a moment.

    Maybe she dozed, but suddenly she was conscious that time had been moving along and she wondered if she was late. She punched in the number star-seven on the phone and, sure enough, Mrs. Kramer answered.
    “I’m sorry to bother you, Mrs. Kramer, but I wondered what time dinner was being served.”
    “No bother, none. And a good thing you called or you might have missed cocktails. Dinner is at seven tonight. You know, because of the girls’ schedule. Cocktails are being served now in the parlor, so any time you’re ready will be fine.”
    It didn’t take long, because suddenly Claire felt the need for a cocktail.
    “Hello, dear. Are you settling in?” MiMi turned to her husband. “Get Claire a drink, love. She looks as if she could use one.”
    David was sitting in a comfortable looking chair with a glass of amber liquid in his hand. He good-naturedly got to his feet. “What can I get you?”
    “White wine would be great, thanks.” Claire looked around the room with appreciation. “What a wonderful house you have MiMi. It’s like some of the great manor houses I saw in Britain but more comfortable, like it’s really lived in.”
    “That’s very sweet. We do live in it and we’ve tried to keep it updated so it’s comfortable as well. It’s so sad when one of these lovely houses becomes so outdated it is a chore to live in it. Suddenly it’s so costly to update that the owners would rather sell it or tear it down. That’s what happened to this old neighborhood. When my mother lived here there were more than two-dozen of these great houses. Now we’re the only one left.” She sighed and smiled. “But we love this place, don’t we, dear?”
    “We do. But we could have had a couple of new homes for the cost of upkeep on this one,” her husband grumbled, then admitted, “but MiMi’s right. We all love it, and someday the granddaughters will be living here.”
    As if on cue, there were footsteps in the hall and Amy arrived in her customary burst of energy. “Did we miss cocktails? Did we? JoJo took so long to decide what to wear, I didn’t think she’d ever be ready.”
    “Shush, Amy. I did not.” JoJo arrived more sedately as befitted her ten-year-old maturity.
    “You both look very nice, girls. And you have plenty of time for a drink. Grandpap, the girls need a cocktail.”
    David got to his feet once more, winking at the girls as he mixed elaborate drinks of fruit juice and seltzer. He