Forget Me Not, Books I, II and III

At the Plaza

THEY STEPPED INTO THE LOBBY behind two bellmen carrying their luggage. Calvin tipped the man holding his suitcase and told him he would take it up to his room himself. He then moved to tell the man who had hold of Teddi's things that she would just be checking in and to take them up to her room as soon as she did.

Teddi didn't know whether to be bothered or flattered by Calvin's actions. He was being sweet, but she hadn't asked him to be. She sighed heavily as he came to stand in front of her again. "I guess this is where we say goodbye then," said Teddi, looking toward the front desk, and avoiding his probing eyes.

"We should talk later."

"I don't know. I'm going to be busy with my sister and all that." She fiddled with the hem of her short jacket. He made her crazy. She was losing all sense of decorum. Luckily, a happy warm familiar voice saved her from her predicament in the next moment.

"Teddi!"

Teddi relaxed as she turned to the brassy-haired brunette walking steadily toward them with a baby on her hip. "Liza!"

***

Before Calvin had a chance to be introduced, he was tackled by a slightly shorter male named Riley Wynne.

"How's my favorite kid brother?" Riley squeezed him in a bear hug.

"Good. Let's uh, get up to the room now, shall we?"

"I see you're still as popular with the ladies as ever," Riley commented, obviously having spotted him talking to Teddi before his approach.

"Oh, she's not uh... She's just a friend. I'm not even sure she's a friend. She's more like a—"

"Save it, and say goodbye, so we can get your stuff up to our room."

"Uh, what do you say we head up to the room without the goodbye? Then we can eat. I'm starving."

"You didn't eat on the train?"

"What of it? Doesn't mean I'm not starving," Calvin half-joked, then started toward the elevator until Riley stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Why don't you want to say goodbye to your friend?" Riley asked, glancing back over to the two women who were waiting in line to check-in. "They look familiar. Are they from Brookhurst?"

"No," Calvin said quickly, letting his eyes rest on Teddi's rigid form. She was tense again. He knew it was because he was in the room, and she still felt his presence. Another sure sign to Calvin that they needed to talk. This could not go on like it had been, but dealing with it in front of Riley and her sister was not an option. "I just met her on the train. Don't worry about it." Before his brother could protest, the elevator doors opened and Calvin pushed him inside.

"Ease up there, kiddo. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to avoid that girl out there."

"Believe me, Riley, that is the last thing I want to do."

***

Two minutes to four on Thanksgiving Day found the Donovan sisters heading toward Palm Court, a restaurant in the hotel, for a special Thanksgiving buffet. The day had been going well. First, they took Ella to the parade. Teddi had never seen so many people all in one place. Afterwards, they returned to Teddi's suite to rest. Fortunately, she had not run into Calvin yet. Half of her hoped he and his brother decided to change hotels at the last minute. Of course, the other half wanted something entirely different.

Liza gave their names to the host after they'd entered the restaurant. He smiled and offered them a seat while he went to prepare their table.

Teddi watched her sister, bouncing a sleeping Ella on her knee.