8. Damage

Eddie could never be persuaded, afterward, to describe precisely how he convinced Wick-Sweets to remove his provocative video from circulation, but, as the stealth videographer was spotted over the next week wearing wrap-around sunglasses both day and night, and speaking with less than his usual crisp diction, it was generally assumed Eddie had not limited himself to well-reasoned arguments.

In any event, by the time the video was taken down, the damage had largely been done, and it only remained to determine on a strategy for minimizing it. The young male voices in the family conclave were all of one opinion.

"You're going to have to take one for the team," Eddie told Bonnie.

"Yeah," Junior agreed. "You can't hang Trev out to dry! That would be cruel!"

"Better just go with the flow for now," Max nodded. "Then, in a couple of months or so, you guys can pretend to have fight and call it all off. Much less embarrassing for the poor guy."

"You don't actually have to marry him," Eddie assured her kindly. "If you don't want to."

"A fake engagement? That's your recommendation?" Grandpa B looked at each of his grandsons in open exasperation. "This is Bonbon we're talking about here, remember? How long before somebody sees right through her play-acting? A couple of months? Bah! She couldn't carry it off even for a day!"

"And, there's no reason she should have to," Christine Booth-Hodgins said in her typically decisive manner. Her mother was so rarely in her corner that Bonnie could only stare in surprise. "Trev made an extremely foolish decision to propose in public, and it's for him to bear the unpleasant consequences of that error." She pinned her nephew and then each of her sons with her uncompromising glare. "I trust you will learn from his misstep, and behave with more circumspection when it comes your turn to propose marriage."

Eddie threw his hands up in protest. "Don't look at me, Aunt Christine! I'm not in the market."

"You won't be until suddenly you are," she announced cryptically, and set off to stamp out the next fire.

When applied to for his thoughts on the matter, Trev's reply was, essentially, the same as Christine's. "It was a boneheaded move on my part. My family's been in the public eye long enough for me to know better."

"But, it wasn't the paparazzi! It was a former member of my family!"

"That doesn't make you responsible, and, besides, it wasn't like I didn't know what he was capable of. So, it'll be awkward for a few days. It'll blow over soon enough. I love you for being willing to cover for me, Bonnie, but I'm a big boy. I can take my lumps."

There followed an afternoon of fielding vid-chats from excited relations and friends, among the first of whom was her Grammy A. "Ma chère petite, raconte-moi tout!" Bonnie obeyed, and recounted the proposal from start to finish, watching as her grandmother's radiant expression gradually dimmed and finally turned pitying. "Ah! Que je suis désolée!" With subsequent well-wishers, Bonnie was less forthcoming, and, channeling her inner Mark Twain, told one after the other, succinctly, that reports of her engagement had been greatly exaggerated.

There was no respite at the Jeffersonian the next morning, either. Bonnie's fellow interns in the workroom, most of whom were female, were agog to hear all the details of her romantic night, and eager to see her ring. They balked at believing she had turned down so fabulous a matrimonial prize as Trevor Wyndham-Pryce, preferring to put her denials down to an understandable, if snobbish, insistence on protecting her privacy, but Bonnie maintained her version of events so stubbornly, they had at last no choice but to take her at her word.

Later that morning, she received a summons to Dr. Baer's office. She found him seated at his desk, careless as usual in his appearance, his plaid flannel shirt as rumpled and unkempt as his dark, wavy hair. At her entrance, he lifted his gray eyes from the document he'd been examining, sat back in his chair, and studied her for a long moment without speaking.

Bonnie endured this scrutiny, determined not to be the one to break the silence, but then caved first. "You wanted to see me?"

"It has come to my attention, Miss Booth-Hodgins," he said, in the patronizing tone she found so grating, "that your circumstances have changed materially over the last few days, and that, as a result, you may be actively tempted to give up your fellowship. I am no expert in these matters, certainly, but I appreciate that much of your focus and energy in the coming months will be taken up with such vital activities as evaluating likely venues, picking out china and silverware patterns, preparing guest lists and so forth. I fully understand, given these new and varied demands on your time, that your work here might not hold as much interest for you as it has to date. My only request is that you grant me a few weeks' notice, so that I can arrange for your replacement."

Bonnie concentrated on steadying her breathing so as not to betray her extreme irritation. "You have been misinformed, Dr. Baer. There has been no change in my circumstances, as you put it."

He raised his eyebrows, as if mildly interested. "Is that so? You are not, then, engaged to be married to the prospective heir to Virginia's premier political dynasty?"

His reductive characterization of Trev further set her back up. "Not at this time, no."

"Ah! I begin to see… You're indulging your prerogative not to acquiesce the first time your suitor offers, all the while reserving the right to accept at a later date. I must say you surprise me. I did not have you pegged as the coy type."

"Dr. Baer," Bonnie bit out, "with respect, the choices I make in my personal life are none of your concern. You may be assured that I have no intention of abandoning my fellowship, and that I will continue to devote myself to carrying out my responsibilities here to the very best of my abilities."

He regarded her squarely, and then, as if convinced of her sincerity, nodded briefly. "In that case, Miss Booth-Hodgins, you greatly relieve my mind. I am glad to know that the three months I have invested in your training have not been wasted, and that the team will not need to lose valuable time bringing a replacement up to speed. Thank you for your candor. I believe that is all." He took up the document he had been perusing, effectively dismissing her.

She had turned on her heel and was all but out the door when he said to her back, "If my remarks offended you in any way, please accept my apologies." She was too stunned to do more than bob a quick nod, and hurry back to the canvas awaiting her ministrations in the workroom.