Friday arrived sunny and beautiful, perfect for the kick off of the party. The majority of the guests were slated to arrive that evening with some arriving the following day.  The house had been in the Mailler family for generations and was massive. They were holding as many guests as they could in the home and those that they couldn't provide a bed for had rooms at the local inn in town or lived close enough to drive to and from the festivities.

Georgia, however, was anything but sunny and beautiful as she dealt with last minute problems and staffing issues. It seemed the caterers were having to call extra people from London and they wouldn't arrive until early afternoon which was cutting it close. At least with all the organized chaos surrounding her she barely had time to think or worry about the future which seemed very cold and empty.

Diana had actually been very helpful but was totally oblivious to Georgia's heartache. To her Ewan was just being who he always was and there was nothing to worry about. In a way it helped Georgia pretend that nothing was wrong. If Diana had treated the situation with pity she might have lost it.  As it was, in her room at night, all alone, she was close to losing it. 

How could she not be close to losing it? She had had him and she had let him go without a fight. It had been her choice and she was constantly reminding herself of all of the reasons why she had made such a stupid decision.  Now those reasons seemed so much less painful than the reality of not having Ewan. It wasn't like it had been when she left the first time, when she didn't know he loved her. This time she had had his love, felt it, and now she had nothing. She had pushed him away and he had listened to her. The stupid man.

"Georgia!" Diana called from across the vast green lawn. 

Georgia had spent the last hour supervising the installation of the lights, stage, and dance floor and she was hot, tired, and thirsty.

Diana was out of breath when she reached her. "We have a problem." 

Georgia bit back a groan as she turned from the men on ladders and walked back towards the house with Diana following her.

"One of the staff with the caterers..." Diana paused, whether it was for dramatic effect or because she was anxious to share the information was hard to tell. Georgia had the feeling that it was a little bit of both.

"One of the staff is Molly." She stopped reaching out for Georgia's arm stopping her.

Georgia shook her head.  Life wasn't on her side lately. "Have you seen her?"

Diana nodded and looked away, there was more.

"What Diana?" Georgia asked, trying her best not to be short with her.

"I don't think she saw me but I overheard her talking to some of the other staff.  She knows you're here and she's telling everyone who will listen everything that happened."

"Is that all," Georgia said as she started back towards the house.

"Is that all? Everyone will know, about Ewan, about you!"

"I don't care. What's the worst she can do?" The house was blissfully cool as they entered it. "I suggest that we just ignore her."

Georgia headed right for the dining room and stopped short when she saw Craig, Samantha, and Ewan sitting at the table eating and reviewing paper work. Her heart did the usual funny thing it did whenever she saw him. He had taken off his jacket, had his shirtsleeves rolled up, and was wearing his glasses.

"Ms. Dawson," he greeted as she stood staring at him.

"Ewan?" Diana asked from behind Georgia. "I thought you wouldn't be arriving until this evening?" She didn't seemed concerned in the least by her brothers sudden appearance as she made for the sideboard and started making her a plate of food.

Georgia gave herself a brief pep talk as she followed Diana's lead. She and Ewan had been in this exact social position before many times.  She had pretended that there was nothing between them then she could do it again. She put some food, she had no idea what, on her plate and sat at the table as far away from Ewan as she could get.

Diana sat next to her and began to talk softly in her ear about Molly.

"What should we do?"

"Nothing Diana. There's nothing she can do."

"She can ruin my party," she hissed in her ear.

"Not really, but perhaps you should talk to her and the caterer. That would probably make things clear to everyone."

"Can't you do it Georgia?" Diana begged.

"No, I can't," Georgia said the last a little louder than she had intended and the other three looked down the length of the table at them.

"Is there a problem?" Ewan asked, his eyebrow raised.

Georgia looked at him not saying a word. Eventually, Diana cleared her throat. "No." It was pathetic as far as reassuring nos went.

Ewan leaned back in his chair and looked at Georgia his eyes boring into hers and she returned his stare while popping a piece of food in her mouth.  He wasn't about to get her to talk. Nope, this was Diana's problem not hers.

The silence in the room grew as everyone looked from Georgia to Ewan, waiting for one of them to cave.

Ewan eventually gave up with a long load of swear words that would have made a sailor blush and definitely made Samantha blush. "Craig, go find out what is going on please."

"At least he said please," Georgia said as she popped another piece of food in her mouth and chewed. Realizing what she had said, that it was so close to what had happened in their first meeting, she had to look away as she blinked back tears.

They all went back to what they had been doing.  Diana and Georgia eating in silence and Samantha and Ewan working silently. It took about fifteen minutes before Craig returned taking his seat.

Ewan turned to him waiting for his report but he just nodded towards the door and Cameron came into the room hesitantly.  Cameron and Candy had been sent from London to help Diana and Georgia since they weren't needed at the main residence. They had proven loyal and dependable.

There was a tense silence as everyone looked at the girl.

Cameron looked over at Georgia who gave her an encouraging smile. No matter how miserable she was it was no reason to make Cameron more uncomfortable. "Go ahead Cameron. I'm aware of the situation."

Cameron let out deep breath and nodded.  "That's o.k. then." She turned to Ewan and swallowed hard as she took in his disapproving frown.

"It's alright Cameron, he doesn't bite. I promise." Georgia tried to reassure her again as Ewan sent her a smoldering look that made her glad she was sitting down.

"It's Ms. Harold sir, she's saying the most horrible things about Ms. Georgia."

"Ms. Harold?" Ewan looked at Craig.

"Molly Harold, sir. She used to work for you about a year ago. You asked her to leave after she made some inappropriate remarks about Ms. Dawson."

Ewan went still as he glanced over at Georgia. "Is this what you refuse to handle Diana? Is this what you want Georgia to handle?"

"She frightens me Ewan," Diana whispered.

Ewan's eyes stayed on Georgia. "What is being said about Ms. Dawson?"

"I'd rather not say sir." Cameron looked at Georgia for help.

"It's fine Ewan. There is nothing the girl can do to harm me. It's not as if it hasn't been said before and I'm sure it will be said again." Georgia rose and moved to escort a very uncomfortable Cameron from the room.

"Now!" Ewan commanded, not listening to anything that Georgia had to say.

Cameron nodded and took a deep breath tears in her eyes. "Molly is saying that Ms. Georgia has already done you sir and now she's doing Ms. Diana.  She didn't get what she wanted the first time so she trying a different tactic." There was a stunned silence as everyone absorbed this.

Diana turned bright red and Georgia started laughing. It was a true belly laugh and she even snorted a little. "Thank you Cameron," Georgia said as she fell back into the nearest chair trying to catch her breath.

"I never heard such a thing," Diana said, looking embarrassed.

"Let it go, Ewan." Georgia turned to him with a real smile.  "It really doesn't matter, and even you have to admit that no one is going to believe it." She shook her head as she thought about the lengths some people would go to in order to hurt others.

"She's also talking about how you attacked Mr. Mailler and that you'll probably do it again tonight. She says that Mr. Mailler paid you off to get you to leave quietly and that you were carrying his child but that you had it aborted."

"Boy, I have been busy according to Molly," Georgia said, standing no longer finding humor in the situation.  Nothing in the world, not even the prospect of death, would make her abort Ewan's child. She forced herself to look at Ewan who looked livid.

"Ewan please, let it go. For me?" She walked over to him and put her hand on his sleeve. "You've made your choice. I support it, now let this go it will only cause more drama."

"What choice have I made Georgia?" He looked at her sternly.

"Isobel-," she choked out the word.

"I never said that I chose Isobel. I said that nothing would interfere with my employees and business. I didn't say anything about Isobel."

Why was he playing games?

"I have a lot to do before this evening," Georgia said.  She would not be drawn in again.  Her job was almost done and she would be gone.

Ewan nodded not trying to keep her. "Please let Samantha help you. That's why she's here."

Samantha was looking from her to Ewan warily. Georgia couldn't blame her, she was living it and she found the situation confusing. She smiled at Samantha and led the way from the dining room to the sitting room across the hall. There really was a lot to do and a short time in which to do it. She wasn't going to think about Ewan, she wasn't going to think about him saying he wasn't going to marry Isobel.

She wasn't going to think about how that changed things.