Chapter One, Episode 83 - Chain of Events - Situationally Theirs

Review, Revision, Edit and Update
In revision for Chain of Events, it involved the shifting of sentences within the third paragraph. Rather like moving puzzle pieces. Each sentence was ok, but their placement didn't quite fit nicely. 

I did add detail to several pieces of the dialogue that just seemed suspended in mid air with no attached little animation or thought bubble. These details provided context and clarity to the conversation between Giles, Dez and Emmie.

Chain of Events

Emmie and Dez were out in the garage talking with Giles. Bursts of laughter spilled into the warm spring afternoon. Earlier, they had been in the kitchen having tea with Martha, her long-time friend and Real Estate agent, Gracie, and Elizabeth, the Estate cook. Digby stopped briefly on his way to his office, but didn’t stay long. 

 Giles, chauffeur and mechanic for the Estate wiped the axle grease from his hands and laughingly exclaimed “You can’t be serious are you, Miss Dez?”

“As serious as this Covid virus, Giles. And call me Dez - not Miss Dez. Money was just lying on a desk at the bank that evening. All I wanted was a few coins and some bills.  I couldn’t see anyone around. Then, all of a sudden, I was on the floor and those two goofy security guys were dousing me with Lysol spray. I didn’t know I’d set off a chain of events that would lead me all the way into this garage.”

Thinking aloud, Giles said “So it must have been at the beginning of the pandemic? Right after everything shut down?” Gathering up his tools and putting them away on his tidy workbench, he spoke to Dez “I know those two guys, that’s if it was Stanley and Giovanni. We used to bowl together for what seems years ago but it's really been only about three months. We had our last game the day before all the restrictions hit us.”

Emelina decided to join their easy conversation. “Giles, what do you think of my wayward sister?” 

“Well, she’s not like any other wayward people I know. Sounds like my two friends did a pretty good job of cleaning her up for you. She does seem to be pretty good egg, Miss Emelina.”  Giles stopped Miss Emelina before she had a chance to ask that he drop the 'miss'. “No, I won’t drop the Miss and call you Emmie. I’ll still call you Miss Emelina. You’re still my boss. It was hard enough to learn to call you Miss Emelina when you’d been Mrs. Beaufort since I’d been hired. I’ve finally got used to that change.” Picking up some car wax and a polishing rag, he got to work shining up the Lexus. 

“Now that we have our names straight, what do the two of you think of Martha and Digby getting married?”  Dez was really the newcomer to the Beaufort Estate, so didn’t have the same history that Emmie and Giles did. She only knew that Martha and Digby had been there the longest, longer even than Emmie.  

Emmie spoke up “There was a time when I would have fired them on the spot.” She adopted a pinched and very serious look on her face: “There will be absolutely no fraternization between staff members.” Her face relaxed into a smile.

“And now?” Dez and Giles spoke at once. 

“Now, I just think it’s wonderful.” Emmie tilted her head to one side, thought a moment and continued. “They have been such good friends and all those rules belong to Michael’s mother. She did try hard to be Lady of the Manor. She passed on years ago and Michael, good son that he was, kept those rules in memory of her. I’m not sure he ever believed in them though, at least with this staff. I suppose it is a wise idea in many situations. All our rules on this Estate have been tossed up in the air like a deck of cards and we’re left to put them all back together again, keeping the ones that are still useful and dispensing with the ones that are just no longer useful.”

Dez stood up straight hearing her big sister speaking from her heart. Giles stopped polishing the hood of the Lexus, his arm still in position. “That’s quite an answer Miss Emelina. But you’re right. There was a time when you definitely wouldn’t have been here at the garage unless it was to…no, you would have rung your little bell and sent someone else - Brigitte, Martha, maybe even Cook to ‘fetch’ me.”

Dez interrupted the bumpy trip down memory lane: “Let’s get back to Martha and Digby. You two are getting far too serious. Do either of you really think that Digby should buy that cottage for Martha?” Dez had been let in on the wedding present secret. Even so, she was still not quite sure how or where she fit in on the Estate. She was never sure whether asking questions was the right thing to do.

Giles had resumed his polishing of the Lexus, moving around to the passenger side of the vehicle. From his bent position, he called out “What I know of Digby, and we’ve become quite good friends, when Digby makes his mind up about something it gets done. Yes he does investigate all the angles but makes sure they fit with his plans." He stood up. "This one has been a tough one for him. Appointments with his financial advisor. Research into the most qualified Real Estate agent. Poring through city records to make certain the cottage is sound. I'm sure he's not done yet."

“Speaking of Digby, your phone is buzzing and ‘Digby’ shows up on the caller ID.” Dez handed Giles his cell phone that had been lying on the tool bench. 

Giles quickly wiped his hands on the polish cloth and took the phone from Dez. “James. Hello. What can I do for you?”……….I’m just out here in the garage with Dez and Miss Emelina………Sure, I can take a break……Just a minute…….” Giles turned to Miss Emelina. “Can I take the Honda for a while? James wants to take a drive.”…….He turned back to his cell phone. “Yes Miss Emelina said she won’t need me. She and her sister are driving into town in Dez's car, to check on some supplies they ordered for the orchard……….Just give me about ten minutes while I put things away in here and I’ll be right in .”

“Is everything all right, Giles?” Emmie was concerned. She desperately hoped that there would be no health problems for either Martha or Digby.

Giles noticed a frown creasing Emmie's brow. “Don’t you worry, Miss Emelina. James is fine. He’s just got something that needs working out and he needs a friend to bounce things off of. We’ll go for a drive - a long drive. He sounded pretty serious.”

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, 

like art….It has no survival value; rather it is 

one of those things which give value to survival.”

~ C.S.Lewis, The Four Loves