26. Vanna

"You're sure you won't change your mind?"

Bonnie hesitated. She hated to disappoint Trev, but the truth was she simply did not feel comfortable spending the night before the Senator's birthday bash at the lake house. Saturday was reserved for immediate family, and since Bonnie had declined Trev's proposal and was still far from certain she would ever agree to marry him, she felt she could not, in good conscience, accept his invitation. "Your parents will read too much into my being there," she had already explained to him. "It wouldn't be right." He had tried to talk her round, but she had held her firm. "I'm sure," she told him now. "I'll come up Sunday morning."

He had the good grace not to argue. "You're planning to take the SteerE?"

"Yes," she drawled, piqued by so obvious a question. "Why do you ask?"

"You remember Vanna Greeley? One of Dad's campaign staffers? I happened to mention you'd be driving up by yourself, and she suggested you could make the trip together. You live right along her route to Lake Anna, so she wouldn't have to go much out of her way to pick you up, and as she pointed out, it would be a waste to take two cars when you could easily car pool. She said she'd enjoy the company. What do you think?"

Bonnie thought traveling two hours with Vanna was bound to be much more entertaining than perusing the latest issue of The Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, and lost no time taking down her contact information. "I guess this'll make us even," Bonnie said, after she and Vanna had worked out all the necessary details.

"Come again?"

"This is the favor you owe me, right? For helping you with the Senator's gift."

"Oh, that!" Vanna laughed, a sweet, chiming sound. "Not at all. The way I see it, I'm actually deeper in your debt. I was dreading showing up at the party all on my lonesome."

Bonnie had just closed the front door behind her, and was enjoying the warmth and cloudless sky of the late May morning when Vanna's SteerE, a slightly older model than Bonnie's own, emerged from the shade of the tree-lined drive and, rounding the curve, slowed to a stop at the bottom of the flagstone walkway. The gull-wing doors rose silently, and Vanna stepped out from the near side, her face sunny as the day. "Good morning," she called, as Bonnie closed the distance between them. "Can you believe this weather?"

"Gorgeous," Bonnie agreed. The same might have been said with equal justice of Vanna's appearance. Her navy-and-white seersucker blazer worn over a white-on-white embroidered cotton top struck the perfect balance between dressy and casual while the matching seersucker short-shorts and navy espadrille wedges showed her long, shapely legs to advantage. The sunlight gilded the loose waves of her flowing hair, and glinted off the slim gold chain and simple cross at her neck. "I love your outfit. You look great."

"Thank you for saying that," Vanna said, placing a hand over her heart. "You set my mind at ease. It took me just forever this morning to get dressed! I must have tried on all the clothes in my closet. My bedroom looks like it's been hit by a tornado!" She popped the trunk, and helped Bonnie store her oversized bag. "You look pretty as a picture, yourself. That's such a lovely dress, and the print! What're those, sailboats and sea birds? How apropos!"

They were soon on the highway, where, traffic volume being low on account of their early start, their SteerE was able to reach and maintain the maximum speed limit almost immediately. As the miles sped smoothly by, and the cityscapes of northern Virginia gave way to the more rural South, Bonnie discovered she had not been mistaken in Vanna. With little more than minimal prompting, Vanna kept up a steady stream of diverting conversation, replying in an open, friendly manner to questions about her life and family. They had, it turned out, many points in common: like Bonnie, Vanna was proud of her family, and bragged at length on her father, Roger, a venture capitalist with an uncanny ability to anticipate trends and invest early in the next big thing. Her mother, Samantha, was Vanna's inspiration and role model. Having guided and coached her daughter to the Miss Virginia Teen crown, Samantha had parlayed her experience and contacts into a business venture, The Pageant Academy, which offered support and training for young women engaged on the beauty queen path. Vanna had been one of her mother's first hires, and gave pointers on public speaking and deportment on a part-time basis.

"I'm the eldest of three, too," Vanna said, citing another similarity. "Although in my case, it's sisters, not brothers." She read the question flashed in Bonnie's look, and explained, "Trev mentioned it. Really, he talks about you all the time! You'd be amazed the things I know about you."

"Such as?"

"Well, let's see… You're about six months older than me… You graduated summa cum laude from Princeton… You speak fluent French and have traveled the world over. What else? You're not only a talented artist, but a first-rate scientist, too. You work at the Jeffersonian, like your famous grandparents before you… And you are shamefully addicted to fashion."

Bonnie burst out laughing. "Trev never told you that!"

"No," Vanna admitted with a smile. "I worked that out on my own. I know a fellow sufferer when I see one. You know, I actually dreamed, growing up, of becoming a fashion designer, having my own label, dividing my time between New York and Paris."

"What happened?"

"Turns out making beautiful clothes isn't nearly as fun and glamorous as wearing them. I swear, my sewing machine was possessed by an evil spirit bent on breaking my will."

Bonnie chuckled at this fanciful explanation. "So, you abandoned the fashion world for politics? I don't see the connection."

"My love of fashion led me to compete for Miss Virginia Teen, and that's when I had my first taste of campaigning. Not for a candidate, no," she said quickly, once again anticipating Bonnie's reaction. "I was campaigning for myself, trying to win the title. It's remarkably similar to running for office, when you think about it. There's a lot of interacting with the public, making appearances, giving speeches, and always being ultra-conscious of projecting the right image, being graceful under pressure, and staying on message. And then, there's the platform that all pageant contestants are obliged to put together."

"A platform? Really? That does sound political."

"It's called a 'platform,' but it's really a social issue or a cause the contestant believes in and advocates for. In my case, I partnered up with Girls, Unlimited. You may have heard of it. It's an organization devoted to supporting girls' ambitions and helping them to build the self-confidence they need to achieve the goals they set themselves. I know from personal experience how important it is to have strong, capable women as mentors and role models, so their mission really resonated with me."

Bonnie thought of her own good fortune in having three outstanding women to inspire, love and support her. "That's work well worth doing."

"We accept donations in any amount," Vanna said, a roguish gleam in her eye. "The point is, I really enjoyed stumping for my cause, and I discovered I had a real aptitude for it, too. I love to talk — whoever'd guess! — and l love the challenge of talking people round to my way of thinking. Plus, I don't discourage at all easily. That, and a real belief in what you're advocating, of course, is all you really need for campaign success."

Bonnie could well imagine that few people could resist Vanna when she set to work on them. "It was a lucky day for Girls, Unlimited when you chose them for your platform."

"Aren't you sweet to say so! But really, I've benefitted just as much as the organization, trust me. It's just so rewarding having a worthwhile purpose in life, the sense of doing your part, however small, to bring about positive change. I really missed that feeling when I stopped competing. Lucky for me, my college roommate roped me into volunteering for Congressman Walker's re-election campaign, and that's all it took. I found that same sense of purpose, the camaraderie of a team pulling together toward a common goal, the excitement of the contest, the working to win. I was back in my element, and totally hooked!"

Bonnie shook her head in wonder. "You can't really enjoy canvassing door-to-door, and making hundreds of fundraising phone calls!"

"It's crazy, I know, but I do! Oh, and I just heard yesterday I've been hired on to Senator Wyndham-Pryce's campaign staff! It scarcely pays anything at all, of course, but it means I'll be able to take a leave of absence from my job at the Pageant Academy and devote myself full time to the campaign!"

Bonnie could not enter into Vanna's elation, but congratulated her sincerely nonetheless. Watching Vanna as she enumerated the delights inherent in supporting her candidate, Bonnie was reminded how very pleasant it could be spending time with a woman her own age, and how long it had been since she'd had a close female friend. She had completely lost touch with her high school girlfriends, and her college roommates were living in other parts of the country and pursuing demanding careers of their own. Gabby Franklin was always willing to grab some lunch or a drink after work, but she was older, and apart from their work, they shared few interests. She and her cousin-in-law Adele would sometimes have a girls' day out, but this was more of a treat than a frequent occurrence. As for Trev's sister, Bonnie had made friendly overtures over the years, but for whatever reason, Emma's reception had always been tepid at best. Now, here was Vanna, so easy and outgoing, so lively a companion that Bonnie realized what she'd been missing. She found herself wondering if Vanna would be amenable to their becoming better acquainted.

Evidently, Vanna had have been thinking along similar lines, because she was saying, "You should really come with us next time. It was such a blast! Gus and I lost a bundle to the one-armed bandits, but Charlie played blackjack, and came away a big winner."

"Charlie and Gus," Bonnie repeated, in a bantering tone. "Would one or the other of these gentlemen be the matrimonial prospect you mentioned last time we talked?"

Vanna looked at her blankly for a moment, and then burst out in a merry peal. "Sorry," she said, noting Bonnie's bemusement. "I don't mean to laugh, only you see, Charlie and Gus are my sisters!"

Bonnie groaned. "Charlotte and Augusta! Of course."

"As for Mr. Might-be-right, let's just say I'm on his radar now, if just barely. In other news, he may have some serious competition! There was this hunk of a man at the blackjack tables last night, a real high roller with the devil's own luck. He'd attracted a crowd, so we went over to see what the commotion was about. The man just couldn't seem to lose! Charlie fell in lust at first sight, and asked around about him. Turns out, he's well-known in gambling circles: Eddie Booth. Any relation of yours?"

Bonnie's ears pricked up at the name. Eddie had been playing least-in-sight for the last several weeks, and she had no idea what he'd been up to. "He's my cousin," she admitted.

"I was so hoping you'd say that! I may just have to ask you for an introduction, if not for myself, then for Charlie. Unless, of course, he's already spoken for? There was a tall, blond woman right beside him all night long, practically hanging on his arm."

Bonnie's spirits sank a little. "Was she, maybe, wearing too much make-up, and showing a lot of skin?"

Vanna hesitated. "Well… I don't like to speak ill of the absent, but yes, you could say that."

Valeria Dunbar… If Bonnie's suspicions were not precisely confirmed, neither were they allayed. She did not know what answer to give to Vanna's question, so it was just as well that at that moment the SteerE began to decelerate noticeably, and in a suave baritone, it announced, "In five hundred feet, you will arrive at your destination. Prepare for disembarkation."