Chapter 22

Lady Catherine and Lady Amelia returned to London three days later with a plan in place for The Iris House. The first order of business was to find a location suitable for housing the young ladies. Remington was shocked when he received the call from Lady Catherine stating, not only had they found one building, but they found four more in different areas of the city.

"Lady Catherine, isn't that a bit much?" Remington questioned.

"Actually, Lady Amelia had a brilliant idea. Since our first location has had such an overwhelming success, word on the street is spreading and we are nearing capacity. The winter has been harsher than usual, so the boys are taking a chance on a warm bed and a hot meal, even if it's just temporary. Three of the buildings only need minimal renovations. We could easily open a second Foundation house and two Iris House locations in just a few weeks. Lady Amelia's donation is more than we could have imagined," Lady Catherine stated.

Remington narrowed his eyes and sat forward in his chair, drawing Laura's attention from across his office where she sat, reading several case files. "When you say more than you could have imagined, how much are you talking about?"

Lady Catherine hesitated. "Well, her initial donation is just over five million pounds."

Remington's hands shook as he tried to form words. "Five million pounds," he sputtered.

"What?" Laura gasped.

Remington covered the mouthpiece of the phone and tried to explain. "Lady Amelia's donation… five million pounds. Laura, do you know how much that is in American Dollars?"

Laura lifted her eyes toward the ceiling and mentally calculated. "At the current rate of exchange… if my math skills are right… close to eight and a half million."

Remington turned back to the phone and gasped, "Are you sure that's right?"

"Quite sure, Mr. Steele. Lady Amelia lives a comfortable life but not an extravagant one. Even Eddie left me quite comfortable after his death with the money she gifted us for our wedding," Lady Catherine assured him.

Remington leaned onto his elbow and admitted, "I don't know what to say. It's… I'm not sure exactly what it is but… please extend my thanks. Her generosity will help a lot of lost souls."

"Which is precisely why she's doing it. She knows all the good that can come from this… she just needed you to guide her," Lady Catherine said.

"Guide her? I haven't done much," Remington denied.

"That's not true. It was your idea for the Harry Daniels Foundation that made her realize she had the tools to help all along."

"No," Remington insisted. "It wasn't my idea. It was Daniel's. I just did as he asked."

"In any case, it was you who got the ball rolling. I'm sorry to cut this call short, but the lawyers will be here soon to finalize the paperwork. I'll be sure to send along copies as soon as they are stamped."

Remington nodded. "I'll keep my eye out for them. I'll give Drew a call tomorrow to follow-up on this week's reports. Please tell Lady Amelia I am forever indebted to her."

"And she is humbly the servant of the homeless now. We'll speak again soon." Lady Catherine disconnected the call, leaving Remington speechless as he dropped the receiver onto the phone base.

Remington covered his mouth with one hand as his mind contemplated what Lady Catherine said.

Laura watched him carefully before she rose to her feet. "Let me guess, Lady Amelia found a building, but it's more than she expected?" As she spoke, she rounded the side of his desk and leaned against the edge.

"No… she's found five. Three in conditions well enough we can expand the foundation into a second building and still get The Iris House up and running sooner than expected." Remington lifted his eyes to hers. "Who would ever've believed… an unwanted little boy would one day help others."

Laura reached over and brushed the stray lock of hair off his forehead lovingly. "From the stories I heard from Paddy and Zach, I don't believe you were ever unwanted. Unfortunate is a better word. But look at you now. You've risen above it all."

Remington shook his head slowly. "There's still a small part of me that's waiting for the other shoe to drop. For something to happen when we least expect it."

"What? You don't believe you deserve happiness? After all you've been through in your life? What we've been through together?" Laura traced the line of his cheek with her fingertip.

Remington captured her hand in his. "No, that's not it. Do you remember…" He trailed off and sighed before continuing, "Do you remember when Descoine tried to make mincemeat out of me when he thought I was your Remington Steele? The case before I came along?"

"Of course I do. How can I forget? You tried to leave me for my own good and you see how that turned out." Laura laughed softly.

"It's sort of that feeling. A lingering… I don't know… foreboding… Bloody hell, I don't know what I'm saying," Remington groaned as he dragged one hand down his chin.

Laura smiled at her husband. "I do. But don't worry. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen because whatever does come our way, we're going to handle it together."

They both looked up when they heard a knock on the door just before Bernice entered. "I don't mean to interrupt but you have a phone message. I didn't want to interrupt you when you were on long-distance." She handed Laura the pink slip of paper and added, "You might want to call her sooner rather than later. She sounded nervous."

"Nervous? Nervous how? Who?" Remington questioned.

Laura read Bernice's note. "Collette Virtan. She must be back from London. Thank you, Bernice. We'll take it from here."

Bernice smiled at them. "Do you mind if I sneak out an hour early today? I have to meet–"

"Let me guess. He's tall, blonde hair… a musician?" Remington teased.

"Frances and Mrs. Holt," Bernice deadpanned. "We're going over the plans for Laura's baby shower."

Laura blushed and shook her head. "I already told everyone, we don't need to have a baby shower."

"Too late. Frances has already taken it upon herself to create a guest list longer than his legs," Bernice stated as she pointed to Remington. "I'm trying to talk her down."

Laura pressed her fingers to her forehead and groaned loudly. "We can forgo this formality. We don't need a big party with people I don't even know."

"Oh, it's worse than you think. She was going back and forth between renting out the gazebo at the barn her son rides, the ballroom at McCallum Park, or a place downtown." Bernice sauntered toward the door before looking over her shoulder sympathetically. "I'll do my best to nip this in the bud."

"Can you do something?" Laura pleaded with her husband.

Remington's eyes widened. "What would you like me to do? You know how your sister is. She's like a bulldog. Once she gets her teeth into something..."

"I don't know. She listens to you. You're her voice of reason," Laura admitted.

"Voice of reason? Frances?" Remington gasped.

"Crazy, I know, but for some unexplained reason she doesn't question you." Laura tipped her head and blinked several times.

Remington rolled his eyes. "Fine… dial the number. I'll see what ledge I can talk Frances off now. But… you know as well as I do, she's going to have this shower one way or another."

Laura crossed behind his chair and reached for the phone. "I know… so let's see if we can get the guests down to a manageable… ten."

"Lau-ra." Remington lifted an eyebrow.

"Fine… twenty… five. No more. I won't be paraded around with some sort of silly sash that reads mother-to-be or anything else like that," Laura insisted.

Remington reached up and wrapped his hands around the sides of her rounded belly. "No parades. No sashes. Just you and a bunch of ladies opening little packages of nappies and whatnots."

Laura narrowed her eyes at her husband. "And tell her it's Jack and Jill."

"What does that mean?" Remington's mouth dropped open.

"It means, dear, you'll be opening gifts right alongside me," Laura replied, her voice filled with sarcasm.