Читать книгу Married To The Mop - Barbara Colley - Страница 10

Even knowing that she would probably have to straighten the kitchen again before she left, Charlotte decided to clean it first. She had just finished scrubbing down the stove-top and the oven when Sophia Rossi entered the room.

“Oh, phooey,” Sophia grumbled. When Charlotte turned, Sophia made a sweeping motion with her hand. “I was hoping to fix my breakfast before you started cleaning.”

Charlotte smiled. “That’s okay. I can begin dusting the parlor while you have breakfast.”

Sophia nodded. “That’s very kind of you. More than I can say for that other maid. Why, that one wouldn’t give you the time of day.” She paused, narrowed her eyes, and tilted her head to one side. “Are you a believer?”

Surprised by the abrupt change of subject and not quite sure exactly what the older lady meant, Charlotte said, “If you mean am I Christian, then yes—yes, I am.”

Sophia beamed. “That’s wonderful!” She launched herself at Charlotte, and before Charlotte realized what she intended, the older lady threw her arms around her for a surprisingly strong hug. “Now I’m not alone,” Sophia whispered, releasing Charlotte.

“Mama, what are you doing?”

Sophia whirled around to face Emily. “Nothing, dear.” Looking a bit flustered, Sophia smoothed the skirt of her dress. “Just getting a bite of breakfast.”

Emily sighed. “Now don’t go pestering Charlotte. She’s got a lot of work to do.”

“I wasn’t bothering her,” Sophia replied with a petulant expression. She turned back to Charlotte. “Was I?” she demanded, a pleading look in her eyes.

Charlotte smiled and shook her head. “No, not at all.” Still a bit flustered herself after Sophia’s spontaneous affectionate gesture and unwilling to get caught in the middle of the two women, Charlotte said, “Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I think I’ll begin dusting in the parlor while Sophia has her breakfast.”

Charlotte had just finished dusting the double parlor and was ready to begin on the dining room when Emily walked into the room.

“Just wanted to let you know that Mama has finished breakfast now, in case you want to clean in the kitchen. And, Charlotte”—Emily lowered her gaze to the floor for a moment—“I overheard what Mama was saying to you earlier.” She raised her head. “I don’t know quite how to say this, but Robert’s mother can be a bit fanatic about things, if you know what I mean. She’s harmless, but ever since Papa Roberto was murdered, she hasn’t been the same.”

“I understand,” Charlotte said.

Emily sighed. “Poor thing. It wasn’t long afterward—after his death—that she claimed she’d had a religious epiphany. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a believer too. But Mama, bless her heart, goes to the extreme with it. Robert and his brothers all think she went a little crazy. Of course none of them could ever claim to be believers. But now…” Emily shrugged. “I’m afraid she’s getting senile as well. Not because of her beliefs,” she quickly added. “But you see, before I married Robert, I was a nurse, and I worked in a nursing home. So I do recognize the symptoms. In fact, that’s how I met Robert. He was visiting one of his father’s old business acquaintances who lived at the home.

“Anyway, just so you know, we don’t talk about Mama’s condition to Robert. He’s mentioned putting her in a nursing home several times, and if he knew just how really bad off she was…” Her voice trailed away, and after a moment, she shook her head. “What Mama needs is to be with family, not stuck away in some home.”

Emily’s eyes suddenly twinkled and a tiny smile pulled at her lips. “I love Mama, but sometimes she says the most outrageous, off-the-wall things. Just says whatever pops into her head without regard for anyone else. But that’s what I love the most about her.”

Suddenly Emily sobered, and a horrified expression crossed her face. “Oh, Charlotte, I’m so sorry. Here I am going on and on, keeping you from your work.”

Before Charlotte had a chance to say anything, Emily backed toward the door. “I’ll just get out of your way now, but just remember, please don’t mention Mama’s little idiosyncrasies to Robert.” Then she turned and fled the room.

Back in the kitchen, Charlotte loaded the dirty dishes from Sophia’s breakfast into the dishwasher, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the look on Emily’s face when she’d apologized. Charlotte finally concluded that Emily’s panicky reaction had nothing to do with interrupting her. More than likely, Emily had panicked because she’d suddenly realized that she’d said too much. She’d revealed more about her family than she had intended.

How sad, Charlotte thought as she headed upstairs to strip the sheets off of the beds. Unlike Sophia, who was spunky and said what she thought, poor Emily was cowed and afraid of her shadow—classic signs of an abused woman.

By midmorning Charlotte had washed the bedsheets, put them in the dryer, and washed a load of towels and washcloths. She’d cleaned the upstairs bathrooms, dusted and straightened the bedrooms, and all she had left to do upstairs was make up the beds and vacuum.

She was taking the sheets and pillowcases out of the dryer in the laundry room when she heard voices in the kitchen. With her arms full of clean bedding, she passed through the kitchen on her way upstairs. Two men were seated at the breakfast table with Emily. On the table were several sheets of what appeared to be a list of some kind.

All three looked up when Charlotte entered the room, and Emily smiled. “Oh, Charlotte, wait a minute.” When Charlotte stopped, Emily motioned for her to come closer. “I want you to meet Mario and Tony—Robert’s brothers.”

Charlotte stepped closer and nodded at the two men. Both had dark hair, dark eyes, and looked to be in their mid-thirties.

“Nice to meet’cha,” the one named Mario said. Then he returned to studying the list on the table. The other brother, Tony, gave her a curt nod, then he too returned his attention to the list.

“We’re going over the guest list for the party,” Emily explained. “It looks like just about everyone that was invited is going to show up.”

The brother named Tony glanced up and gave Emily a frustrated look. “Em, there’s no reason for the maid to worry about the guest list.”

When Emily’s cheeks darkened with embarrassment, Charlotte decided to save the poor woman the trouble of apologizing…again. “Guess I’d better get busy,” Charlotte told them. “Nice meeting y’all.”

By midafternoon, Charlotte was back in the laundry room folding the towels and washcloths. So many people had been in and out all day that she ignored the sound of the back door opening and closing.

“Who are you?”

Charlotte jumped at the unexpected question, and when she whirled around, a young girl who looked to be around thirteen or fourteen and a boy who was probably a bit younger were standing in the doorway.

“I’m Charlotte, with the maid service,” she told the girl. “And who are you?” she asked even though she already knew from the framed photos scattered throughout the house that they were the Rossis’ children.

“I’m Amanda Rossi, and this is my brother, Brandon. So what happened to Jennifer, the other maid?”

Charlotte smiled. “Your mother said that Jennifer had a family emergency to take care of.”

For several moments more, both children stared at Charlotte, then, without a word, they both turned and headed for the kitchen.

“She’s older than Jennifer,” Charlotte heard Brandon tell his sister. “I wonder if Daddy knows yet. If he don’t, he’s gonna be mad.”

Unease crawled through Charlotte. Did Robert Rossi know that his wife had hired her, or had Emily done so on her own? Surely he did.

“Daddy’s always mad about something,” Amanda retorted. “I hate him.”

“He is not always mad. You’re just being mean.”

“Is too always mad. And he’s the one who’s mean, especially to Mama.”

“Is not!”

“Is too!” Amanda argued. “And I’m going to kill him just like he killed Papa, if he hurts Mama again.”

In the laundry room Charlotte stiffened with shock and a suffocating sensation tightened her throat. He killed Papa…hurts Mama again. Out of the mouths of babes. Charlotte shivered. The courts couldn’t convict Robert, but courts made mistakes. And Emily…At least now she knew the reason that Emily’s makeup was heavier on one side of her face.

Even so, Charlotte tried telling herself that all teenagers, at one time or another, hated their parents and spoke out of turn. But not all teenagers threaten to kill a parent.

“You’re a liar!” Brandon shouted. “And I’m gonna tell Daddy what you said.”

“If you know what’s good for you you’ll keep your mouth shut, you little brat.”

Since no one else seemed to be paying attention, Charlotte decided that she’d better break up the fight before one or both decided to get physical.

“I’m gonna tell,” Brandon yelled defiantly.

Just as Charlotte stepped out of the laundry room, another voice interrupted the two squabbling children.

“And just what are you going to tell?” The voice was male, hard-edged with a cold, disapproving tone. “And what’s all the shouting about?” Several moments passed without a sound. “Well?” he demanded. “I’m still waiting for an answer.”

“Nothing, Daddy,” Amanda said meekly.

Charlotte halted in her tracks. Uh-oh. Daddy’s home.

“I didn’t ask you, Amanda. I asked your brother.”

Several more quiet moments passed before Brandon finally spoke up. “N-nothing, Daddy. We were just arguing over the cookies.”

Charlotte rolled her eyes, but she had to admire Brandon’s fast thinking.

“In case you two haven’t noticed, I have guests with me.”

“Sorry, Daddy,” Amanda mumbled.

“Sorry,” Brandon added.

“We’ll go to our rooms,” Amanda offered.

“Good idea,” her father said.

Charlotte stepped back into the laundry room. Ever since she had realized that Emily was married to Robert Rossi, she had dreaded coming face-to-face with the mobster. Since she now realized that there could be some doubt as to whether Robert knew that Emily had hired her, Charlotte dreaded it even more.

Charlotte eyed the basket of folded towels and washcloths and mentally went over the tasks still to be done. With a grimace and a shake of her head, she picked up the laundry basket. There was no getting around it. She still had work to do, and she certainly couldn’t hide out in the laundry room for the rest of the day. Besides, all he could do was fire her.

Charlotte entered the kitchen just in time to see the Rossi children, armed with cookies and soft drinks, disappear through the doorway leading to the hall.

Three men were in the kitchen, their attention on the retreating children. Out of the three, there was no mistaking which one was Robert Rossi. For one thing, though shorter than his brothers, Robert shared the same dark hair and dark eyes that his brothers had. But Charlotte would have recognized him anyway because of the many newspaper photos and TV news clips she’d seen when he’d been on trial for the murder of his father.

When Robert turned and saw Charlotte, his eyes narrowed. “You must be Charlotte, the new maid.”

Clutching the laundry basket with an iron grip, Charlotte nodded. If he knew who she was, that must mean that he’d okayed Emily hiring her. Feeling a measure of relief, she tried to speak, but the words seemed to stick in her throat.

There had been a few times in Charlotte’s life that she had sensed pure evil when coming in contact with certain people, and meeting Robert Rossi was one of those times. It was his eyes, she decided. Though seemingly polite and friendly, there was a cold, soulless look in the depths of Robert Rossi’s dark eyes that chilled her to the bone.

“Well, Charlotte, nice to meet you,” he said. Stepping aside, he motioned toward the two men with him. “This is Leo Acosta, my attorney, and Porter Anzio, an associate of mine.”

The contrast between the two men with Robert was the difference between hot and cold. The attorney, a sharp dresser, had a shrewd, calculating look about him, whereas Robert’s so-called associate, though dressed nicely enough, had a hard, mean look about him and was the epitome of a mob enforcer, just like in the movies.

“You don’t happen to know where I can find my mother, do you?” Robert asked.

Praying that she could answer, Charlotte cleared her throat, but at the last minute Emily entered the room and saved her.

“Mama asked me to—to tell you th-that she will be down in a minute,” Emily said, her voice soft and tentative.

Robert sighed heavily. “Tell her we’ll be in the library. And keep those kids quiet. I don’t want any interruptions once we get started.”

Feeling somewhat like a fifth wheel, Charlotte didn’t know a polite way to exit the room except just to do it. With a nod to Emily, she hurried past her and fled up the stairs.

Once Charlotte had distributed the color-coded towels and washcloths in each bathroom, she ventured back downstairs to return the laundry basket. As she passed through the kitchen, she made a mental note to turn on the dishwasher before she mopped the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Charlotte was ready for the final chore of the day. She always saved mopping the kitchen for last. As she poured pine cleaner in the mop bucket then filled the bucket with warm water, she eyed the mop hanging on the wall in the laundry room. Since it looked to be in fair condition, Charlotte decided to use it instead of the one she always carried in the van.

She took the mop and the bucket into the kitchen. After she turned on the dishwasher, she pulled out a pair of rubber gloves from her supply carrier. Suddenly the back door crashed open then slammed so hard that she felt the vibration all the way in the kitchen.

Charlotte jerked around just in time to see a heavyset man stalk into the room. Momentary panic gripped her at the look of pure rage on his face as he made a beeline for her.