Beth stood in the kitchen and listened to the tape carefully and decided she might be letting her imagination run away with itself. Aunt Sophie sounded fine. She sounded strange on television but on the phone she seemed just like herself. Beth took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and looked at the kitchen clock on the wall. She had an hour before she had to be at work and now was the best time to call her mother in France. She dialed the number.
“Mom?”
“Beth? Is that you, sweetheart? Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, of course! Everything’s great! I just wanted to hear your voice and run something by you. Gosh, I miss you!”
“I miss you too, baby! What’s going on?”
“Oh, a bunch of things. I just saw my pretty aunties on QVC. I guess they are in the middle of launching their vitamins. And they have the cover of People magazine next week so you might want to look that up online. I’ll save you a copy.”
“Well, that’s a very big deal! People, huh?”
“Yeah, hot stuff.”
“I’ll say. They’re something else, those two. And what else? Have you seen Cecily very much?”
“Oh yeah, I see her all the time. She’s the greatest.”
“Yeah, she’s a groovy chick.”
Beth giggled and said, “Mom? Nobody says groovy chick anymore, not since Woodstock.”
“Sure, give me a hard time! So, how’s that job at the restaurant going, and the other one too?”
“Well, my first article comes out this week, so I’ll send that to you, and the restaurant job? It’s hard as hell!”
“Could you not say hell, please?”
“Okay. It’s as hard as purgatory?”
“Much better. Thank you.”
“Oh, Mom. Anyway, I wanted to tell you about this real estate investment opportunity I have that I am very interested in because my trust-fund portfolio is losing money all over the place.”
“It is?”
“Yeah. The recession is eating it alive. I’m down like thirty-five percent.”
“What? But Henry’s supposed to be watching it for us!”
“Yeah, well, good old Uncle Henry is fly-fishing is Jackson Hole, Wyoming, while his offices get redecorated.”
“He is? Good grief. Well, still, honey, I wouldn’t dream of investing in anything without his advice. He’s the family money maven. Anyway, tell me about it.”
“Well, you know they knocked down Bert’s, right?”
“I knew they were going to do that. I guess they figured it would cost more to fix it than to replace the building.”
“Whatever. It’s history. Anyway, the land was bought by this man from Atlanta who develops beach properties for commercial use.”
Beth outlined the rest of the details to her mother, who listened and asked a lot of questions.
“And I imagine you want to break into your trust to invest in this?”
“No, not exactly. I just want to borrow some money against it. Only for ninety days.”
“Look, Beth, here’s my problem with this. Actually, I have more than one. First, your father was adamant that he didn’t want you to touch your trust until you are thirty. I think he thought that by the time you were thirty you would understand that you never touch the principal.”
“Oh, please. If there’s anything left!”
“Hear me out. Second, when you talk about this fellow Max, it sounds to me like you are personally involved with him.”
“We’re just friends. I swear,” Beth lied, and hated herself for it, but did her mother have ESP?
“Okay, but still. It sounds like you are more than friends. Mother’s intuition. How old is he anyway?”
“He’s thirty-seven.”
“Too old. Don’t even think about it, you hear me?”
“Mom, honest to God—”
“Please don’t—”
“Okay, honest to goodness.”
“Better. Much better. And third, why would you want to invest in something your uncle declined? It doesn’t make good sense to me. Does it?”
“Well, you’re there and I’m here. If you were here and met him and saw the prospectus, you’d get out your checkbook. I’m just thinking this is a great short-term way to make up what I’ve lost and any idiot can see it’s going to be awesome.”
“Any idiot, huh? How much money are you talking about?”
“One hundred thousand,” Beth said as nonchalantly as she could without swallowing her tongue like a whole tube of liverwurst.
Susan was quiet for a minute and Beth wondered if she had lost the connection.
“Mom? Are you there?”
“Yes, I’m here. Beth?”
“Yes?”
“Did Aunt Maggie leave anything behind in her medicine cabinet that interests you? You know, like happy pills for people on a major bummer?”
“Um, no.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Look, Mom, I’m dead serious. I even had my account manager down here to look at it and he’s putting his own money in.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know. Probably about the same or a little more.” Another lie.
“I see. Look, Beth, we’re just not the kind of people who go around doing things like this. We’re not risk takers. You and I are not rich.”
“Really? Uncle Henry’s not a risk taker?”
“He went to business school. He’s trained to understand risk.”
“My account manager graduated first in his class at Harvard Business School. And what about Aunt Sophie and Aunt Allison? They were only twenty-one when they opened their first studio. Who supported them? Where’d they get the money?”
“My stepfather gave it to them, God rest his soul.”
“See? Look, I’m going to write out what I need for you to sign and I’ll fax it over to you. You look at it and tell me what you think. If you decide you want to support me, just sign it and fax it back. Couldn’t be easier.”
“Beth, I just don’t think this is the right time to be doing something like this. The world is too uncertain.”
“Look, Mom. I know it’s hard for you to think of me as anything but a little girl. You just don’t realize that I am old enough to be married and have a family of my own.”
And you don’t want to realize that because it would make you feel like you’re a thousand years old yourself and then you can’t be eternally cool, she thought but did not say.
“In another culture, perhaps.”
“Mom? You were my age when you got married.”
“Times were different then.”
“Okay, Mom. Listen, do what you want, but at some point you, Aunt Maggie, Uncle Henry—all of you are going to have to start treating me like an adult.”
“Oh, Beth. Let me give this some thought, okay?”
“Okay. But I only have like a day to decide, so time matters, Mom.”
“I hear you. Let me just take a walk around the block and I’ll call you back.”
“Hey, Mom?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you, and thanks.”
“I love you too, Beth.”
“And listen, Mom, this is a really good, solid opportunity. I swear.”
Beth wondered if her mother was going to hang up the phone and call Maggie or Simon or Grant, or would she try to track down Henry in the backwoods of Wyoming? Or maybe she would just take a walk around the block as she said she was going to do. Beth tried to put it out of her mind so she took Lola out to the front yard. Lola was a great diversion. Beth sat on the bottom step and watched her dog run around for a few minutes. After she had scared away a few squirrels and some little black birds of a species unknown to Beth, Lola came and sat right at Beth’s feet, panting from exertion.
“Does my baby want some water? Come on, miss, your momma’s gonna take care of that right now.”
Just as she changed the water in Lola’s bowl and placed it on the floor, the phone r
ang. It was her mother.
“Okay, I’ve thought about it and here’s what I think.”
She had not opened with a blast of No way, forget it, you’re too young to do this, you’re an idiot… so Beth held her breath and waited for her to continue.
“I tried to think of what I would do in your situation if it was me making the investment, and I just think that one hundred thousand dollars is an insane amount of money to risk. To be honest, it makes me feel a little bit sick to my stomach. So, I’m thinking put in ten thousand and see if he lives up to his promises, and then invest in another deal with him for more money if it turns out that he’s a straight-shooter. How does that sound?”
Beth’s head was spinning with panic and her heart began to race. Ten thousand? That’s all? She had already told Max she was going to give him ten times more than that! She would look like a fool! A complete and total fool! He would never believe a word that came out of her mouth again for the rest of her life! She might as well give him nothing if all she had to offer was this humiliating pittance! He would never see her as a full partner! Much less a wife! She was going to lose Max! Lose him! Forever!
She was just about to start screaming but something told her to calm down and just say, Okay, that sounds good, and thank you and you’re probably right, which she managed to do. Just barely.
“Look, Beth, you said this guy is developing beach properties all up and down the coast, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.” Beth was so upset she could hardly stay focused on the conversation.
“So, if this one works out, you might want to do another. I think it’s always a good rule of thumb to start slow and build, don’t you? I mean, that’s what Henry would say. I’m pretty sure about that.”
“You’re probably right. But it’s not what I had hoped for.”
“Well, life is like that, isn’t it? I mean, Beth, ten thousand dollars is an enormous amount of money! Think about it! It’s more than some people ever have to invest in anything besides their home, and for a girl of your age to have it to invest is a very incredible thing!”
“I guess.”
“So, Doodle, you send me the paperwork and I’ll sign whatever I have to sign and that’s it! And, hey! Congratulations! This is your first independent investment! Woo hoo!”
“Thanks!” Beth tried to sound enthusiastic but her disappointment had shaken her so badly it was as though her life were over. In that moment she wanted to die.
“Well, honey, I just wanted to let you know that I think you’re brilliant and I trust you and your judgment. And I love you. Here’s the fax number.”
Beth wrote it down and said goodbye to her mother, trying to sound upbeat. How was she going to tell Max? She would drop this bomb, he was going to walk away from her, and she would never see him again. Wait! she thought. Is Max only in this for the money? She had thought that before, but more and more she had become convinced that Max really cared about her for her and not just for her wallet. This was the obvious pitfall of mixing business and pleasure. She had to ignore her insecurity and proceed with confidence! She would just tell Max and he would understand. Wouldn’t he? She would say, Max? Remember that one hundred thousand? Well, now it’s ten. Yeah, right, that would impress him. Yeah, sure, that’ll work with him. And that other ninety thousand would just have to come from someone else, like that wrinkly old woman she saw him with at Atlanticville. Holy shit! she thought. I can’t let that happen. I just can’t. He needs the money. I know he does!
He had never come right out and said he was desperate in so many words but she knew it, and if she was desperate, she told herself, it was only because she wanted to be the one who made life so easy for him. She wanted to clear his path, pave his way, pre-solve any and all problems he might ever have. He would want her with him for the rest of his life. She would be his lucky charm, his guardian angel, his savior. Now, that dream along with her heart and soul were blown into little bits of laughing dust, floating through all the rooms of the Island Gamble, mocking her, whispering terrible things about her. She had to be a big shot, didn’t she? Now what! Look at her! She’s ridiculous! Everyone knows it!
She sat down, elbows on the kitchen table, her head resting on the heels of her hands, and began to cry. Oh God! Why couldn’t she ever have anything for herself? Why couldn’t she make one decision on her own and have everyone else think that if Beth said so it must be all right? But nooooo! Not in this lifetime, she thought. Beth was so angry with her mother she didn’t know what to do with herself. If she had been Henry at her age, fresh out of business school, they would’ve all jumped up and said, Oh, Henry’s always been so smart and everything he touches turns to gold! He’s Uncle Freaking Midas Touch! And her twin aunts? Well, there were two of them, a team, and who could argue that they understood what the whole world of fitness was about? All you had to do was look at them! But for Beth? Never. It had never been easy for her and it never would be.
At last, Beth began to pull herself together and she typed up the paper for her mother to sign.
It read, I give my daughter, Elizabeth Hayes, permission to borrow against her trust account with Hamilton Investments, 2020 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, Georgia, up to ten thousand dollars. There was a line drawn for her mother’s signature under which it read Susan Hamilton Hayes Rifkin, and of course, it was dated for that day.
Beth printed the document and stared at the paper. Her mother had tried to understand the depth of Beth’s plight, but plain and simple, she did not. But she had tried. Beth had to give her that much credit. And her mother also thought she had come up with a perfectly acceptable compromise. If this had been only a business deal it might have been reasonable. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Beth’s judgment, it was the amount of the investment that made Susan so nervous. But she did trust her judgment. She had said so in those exact words, had she not?
Big deal, Beth thought, convinced that no one in the world really understood her. Ten thousand.
Suddenly an idea was born in Beth’s mind. She rewrote and reprinted the same document, only the second time she drew a line where the dollar amount was to go and printed it. Then, carefully, she wrote in the numerals of the dollar amount so that it read 10000. It was a small space with no room to write out the amount as you would on an ordinary check.
She faxed it to her mother right away and thought out loud, “We’ll just leave this one to fate.”
Feeling less like a congenial hostess than she ever had, she managed to get to Atlanticville in a timely fashion. Work was a misery. It was hot, the restaurant was crowded, and she wound up clearing tables because two people called in sick. When one table complained that they had been waiting for their food for almost an hour, she was about a splinter away from telling them to go to hell and see how they liked the service there.
She hated her life more than ever and at least three times she fought back tears of anger and thought about just running away and chucking it all—the family, graduate school, and everything.
Alan and Robert pulled her aside twice to see if something was wrong.
“You sure you’re okay?” they said.
“Yeah, just pissed about something unrelated to this place. I’m okay.”
“We can take you out tonight and get you drunk. How’s that sound?” Robert said.
“I’m in,” Alan said. “Come out with us! We’re excellent company.”
“We’ll see. Y’all are the sweetest.”
“We’ll see sounds like a no, bubba,” Alan said to Robert.
“Yeah, darn. Looks like it’s just us again, trolling the bars all alone…It’s very sad, Beth, very sad. Pitiful, really. Right, Alan?”
“Pitiful,” Alan said, looking somber.
They were so adorable. Beth brightened a little and told herself she needed to do a better job of concealing her feelings. It wasn’t professional to consider telling patrons where to get off or to mope around in a cloud of gloom.
By the time she ret
urned from work, her mother’s return fax was there. Beth examined it and went over her plan again. She simply added a zero and faxed it off to Woody at his home with a cover sheet that just said Got it! fully expecting him to call her right away. If her scheme worked, fine. If it didn’t, well, then she would plead insanity and let the firing squad commence. If Beth could not spend the rest of her life in the arms of Max Mitchell, she had all but decided with certainty that life wasn’t worth living.
And speaking of Max, he had not called her all day. Weren’t they supposed to have dinner that night? Yes, they were. Beth looked at her watch. It was already five o’clock. Where was he? She checked the message machine. Nothing. She checked her cell phone, and sure enough, she had missed his call. She dialed him back.
“Hey!” she said. “How’s the greatest guy in the world?”
“Well, you’re not going to like this.”
“What?”
“I’m still in Wilmington. We break ground here in two weeks and the contractor doesn’t have all the permits and it’s just a big mess. But I should be back tomorrow night. I’m sorry.”
She thought he was going to Wrightsville Beach, but she supposed she had heard him wrong.
“Oh, it’s okay. I’m sort of tired and I have to work on this article for the paper.”
“Which reminds me, whatever happened to the other one?”
“Oh, it comes out tomorrow.”
“Cool. Well, that will be fun to see. And Woody went back to Atlanta, I assume?”
“Yeah, he left this morning.”
“He’s a great guy.”
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