The Reading Garden - Short5
Important notice: All excerpts have been submitted by the author.
Author: Lynda Simons
*Authors note: Singles columnist Jeannie Renamo is looking for a man, and this time she's
serious. Thanks to her publisher, Kyle Hunter, Jeannie has three months in
which to find a rich husband. Which is why she's learning to drink
champagne, eat caviar and ride a horse. Jeannie's never lost a bet yet.
But then again, neither has Kyle.
Jeannie stood in the doorway of the cluttered cubicle, staring at the back
of the entertainment and social editor's chair. "Magda," she whispered.
"Are you busy?"
Magda Ladanski kept the phone pressed to her ear as she swiveled the
chair around. The grim expression she wore brightened when she saw who it
was.
"Not for you. Come in, come in," she invited, stretching her arm back to
drop the receiver on the cradle. "As a matter of fact, you're just in
time." Yanking open her bottom drawer, she lifted out a small white box
tied with string. "Strudel from Henriksson's." She laid the prize before
Jeannie. "Still warm."
Magda Ladanski was one of the few people Jeannie knew who never worried
about her weight. She maintained that on the eve of her forty-fifth
birthday, the Goddess of Menopause had granted her a lovely black mustache
and a license to eat. The mustache Magda was still fighting, but the
license she'd embraced with frightening enthusiasm. Usually Jeannie was a
willing follower, but for the first time in recent memory, the aroma of
apples and cinnamon failed to move her. "Maybe later, " she said then
dragged a chair to the desk and sat down. "Right now I have to talk to
you."
Magda shrugged and pulled the box back. "So talk."
"I have either made the most brilliant move of my career today, or the
blunder of the year."
"Again?"
"Magda, this is serious. I'm getting married."
"Sure. And I'll be the feature model in next year's swimsuit edition."
Magda slid the string from the box and lifted the lid, revealing two thick,
syrupy slices of apple strudel. "This," she said solemnly, 'is what God
intended strudel to be."
Jeannie slapped the lid down. "Will you forget the strudel? I'm really
getting married."
"And that's the big blunder?" Magda pulled a linen napkin from the
drawer and settled it on her lap. "Don't worry so much. Marriage isn't that
bad. I've enjoyed all three of mine. Parts of them anyway. Who knows, in a
weak moment, I might even do it again." She plucked two silver forks from
the pencil holder and set one in front of Jeannie. "We'll eat to your
happiness."
Jeannie pushed the fork aside. "Magda, I need your help."
"Okay, write this down. Reception at Carmen's and don't sign anything
before the ceremony." She stuck a hand into the middle slot of her message
tray and withdrew two china plates. "So who's the lucky guy?"
"I don't know yet."
"Good plan. That way if you change your mind, no one gets hurt."
Reaching into the box, Magda carefullly lifted the first slice of strudel.
"Help me out here."
Jeannie held up a plate. "You don't understand. I need you to help me
find one."
"Find what?"
"A groom of course."
Magda glanced around. "Did I miss something? Is there a sign in here
that says Matchmaker?"
Jeannie lowered her voice to a conspiratorial level. "No, but I think
you'll find the role quite interesting once you hear what I have to say." © 1997
***
*About the author: Marrying Well is Lynda Simons' first book, and she only regrets that it is
not autobiographical. Write to Lynda Simons
"...fabulous characterization, splendid humor and an imaginative conflict
make Marrying Well (4+) by dynamite new author, Lynda Simons, sensational
reading." Romantic Times
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