She brightened. “Going out would be nice.”
“It’s supposed to be chilly tomorrow, so dress warmly.”
LuAnn suddenly looked down at her wrinkled shirt and jeans. “Uh, these are all the clothes I have. I, uh, I left home kind of quick.” She looked embarrassed.
Charlie said kindly, “That’s all right: No luggage, no problem.” He sized her up quickly. “What, you’re about five ten, right? Size eight?”
LuAnn nodded and blushed slightly. “Maybe a little bigger on top than that.”
Charlie’s eyes hovered over her chest area for a moment. “Right,” he said. “I’ll bring some clothes with me tomorrow. I’ll get some things for Lisa, too. I’ll need a little extra time though. I’ll be here around noon.”
“I can take Lisa with us, right?”
“Absolutely, the kid comes with us.”
“Thanks, Charlie. I really appreciate it. I wouldn’t have the nerve to go out on my own. But I’m kind of itching to, if you know what I mean. I never seen a place this big in my whole life. I betcha there’s probably more people in this one hotel than in my whole hometown.”
Charlie laughed. “Yeah, I guess being from here, I kind of take it for granted. But I see what you mean. I see it exactly.”
After he left, LuAnn gently lifted Lisa out of her carrier and laid her in the middle of the king-size bed, stroking her hair as she did so. She quickly undressed her, gave her a bath in the oversize tub, and dressed Lisa in her pajamas. After laying the little girl back down on the bed, covering her with a blanket, and propping big pillows on either side of her so she wouldn’t roll off, LuAnn debated whether to venture into the bathroom and perhaps give the tub a try as well to work the pains out of her body. That’s when the phone rang. She hesitated for an instant, feeling guilty and trapped at the same time. She picked it up. “Hello?”
“Miss Freeman?”
“Sorry, you’ve—” LuAnn mentally kicked herself. “Yes, this is Miss Freeman,” she said quickly, trying to sound as professional as possible.
“A little faster next time, LuAnn,” Jackson said. “People rarely forget their own names. How are things? Are you being taken care of?”
“Sure am. Charlie’s wonderful.”
“Charlie? Yes, of course. You have the lottery ticket?”
“It’s in the safe.”
“Good idea. Do you have pen and paper?”
LuAnn looked around the room and then pulled a sheet of paper and a pen from the drawer of the antique-looking desk against the window.
Jackson continued: “Jot down what you can. Charlie will have all the details as well. You’ll be happy to know that everything is in place. At six P.M. the day after tomorrow, the winning ticket will be announced nationwide. You can watch it on TV from your hotel room; all the major networks will be carrying it. I’m afraid there won’t be much drama in the proceedings for you, however.” LuAnn could almost envision the tight little smile on his lips as he said this. “Then the entire country will eagerly wait for the winner to come forward. You won’t do it immediately. We have to give you time, in theory of course, to calm down, start thinking clearly, perhaps get some advice from financial people, lawyers, et cetera, and then you make your joyous way up to New York. Winners aren’t required to come to New York, of course. The press conference can be held anywhere, even in the winner’s hometown. However, many past winners have voluntarily made the trek and the Lottery Commission likes it that way. It’s far easier to hold a national press conference from here. Thus, all your activities will take a day or two. Officially, you have thirty days to claim the money, so there’s no problem there. By the way, in case you haven’t figured it out, that’s why I wanted you to wait before coming. It would not look good if people were aware you arrived in New York before the winning number was announced. You’ll have to remain incognito until we’re ready to present you as the winner.” He sounded upset that his plans had been altered.