by Lee, Kimball
“A doctor,” he whispered right before he lost consciousness.
*
“Good morning sleeping beauty,” Bly said, he stood next to the bed and handed Charlotte a bottle of water and two Motrin. “I’ve ordered some breakfast for us and then we have the auction at Sotheby’s. Close your mouth please Charlotte, just save your arguments for the court room. I’m buying your wedding ring, if you don’t want it, flush it down the toilet, but it’s not open for discussion. After that we’re going for a drive.”
“A drive? Does anyone drive in Manhattan?” Charlotte asked and as she sat up the sheets fell away and Bly had to force himself to look the other way. “Sorry, didn’t mean for my nudity to offend you,” she said, smiling at his involuntary reaction to her naked body. “How did I get naked anyway?”
“I undressed you, very lovingly and tenderly and it left me physically uncomfortable, if you’re wondering,” he said and cocked an eyebrow as he spoke.
“Poor baby, I’ll bet you took things in hand and feel all better now.”
Bly couldn’t help but blush and he began to unbutton his jeans and climb in the bed with her. There was on a knock on the door then and Bly shouted, “Go away dammit!”
“Room service, Sir. Should I come back later?”
“Great timing,” he said, his eyes still smoky with desire as they bore into Charlotte’s. “Come in, I should probably feed my wife, she needs to keep up her strength.” He smiled at Charlotte and the smile was so completely true and carefree that Charlotte felt her heart twist and begin to melt. It felt good to see ‘oh so serious’ Alexander Bly at ease and almost playful, but the future worried her to no end.
At the grandiose Sotheby’s auction house Bly was treated like royalty. Numerous inquiries were made as to his mother’s health and it became obvious that the only other woman he bought lavish jewels for was Evangeline. When the lot came up with the ring that he was waiting for, Charlotte nearly fainted. To say the diamond was the size of a teacup was an understatement, it was enormous. He paid more than eight million dollars for it without batting an eyelash and slipped it on Charlotte’s finger as three security guards stood by.
“I’ve had my eye on this ring for some time now. I bring my mother here for her birthday and Mother’s Day and any other day that suits her fancy. The ring is one of a kind even for the master jeweler, Harry Winston. I knew it belonged on your finger, Charlotte, a one of a kind jewel for my one of a kind love,” Bly said, and kissed her, running his hands through her hair as everyone in the auction house clapped.
“You’ve lost your mind Bly, I would never wear such a thing; it’s obscene! Now take it and have them put it in a vault or something, surely it isn’t safe to wear a diamond this big,” Charlotte said. She held up her perfectly manicured hand to slip the ring off but looking closely at it, she caught her breath. It might have seemed gaudy if it hadn’t been so simply perfect. It was the shape of an emerald but with smoothly cut corners and large baguette diamonds on the either side. It rose majestically from a smooth platinum band and as Charlotte admired the ring she noticed how it hid her wedding band completely. She yanked it off and placed it in Bly’s hand and walked out of the building and down the street.
“Charlotte what’s wrong? If you don’t like the ring I’ll buy you another, just tell me what will make you happy. Your wish is my command, you know that,” Bly said, as he caught up to her and grabbed her hand so that she spun around to face him. “What is it? Please tell me,” he said brushing the tears from her face and closing his arms around her.
“This is what’s wrong,” she said, holding up her hand so that her wedding band was in his face. “I’m an adulterer now and you’re buying baseball sized diamond rings and mountains of luggage for me. And I’m letting you, and worse than that, I’m fucking you!” Three designer-clad society women on the street gasped and hurried away when they heard her and she shouted after them, “Oh go fuck yourselves, I’m sure no one else will!”
“Charlotte, you never cease to amaze me,” Bly said and laughed and held her close as she cried.
“I need to go to Texas, I want see my kids, I miss them, I miss… my real life,” Charlotte said, and Bly stopped laughing. “Alright, I’ll make a call and have the jet standing by. I’d like to make a quick stop at FAO Schwarz to pick up a couple of gifts for the kids, are you okay with that? I don’t want to arrive empty handed.”
“You don’t need to buy his love, Bly. He’s young but I’m telling you, he’s more complicated than that.”
“I’m not trying to bribe him Charlotte, just trying to get my foot in the door.”
*
Charlotte had said only a few words as she and Bly flew from New York to Texas. Bly was hurting because of it. In all the years he had loved Charlotte, it never crossed his mind that she might stop loving him one day. His heart beat wildly as he sat across from her in the comfort of his new jet and it was partly because she was shutting him out. Mostly it was because he was going to meet their son. He knew she was feeling guilt at what she considered her betrayal of Finn. She would come around soon, he decided, she would remember that Finn had lied to her and had chosen to risk his life not once, but many times. Charlotte would see that her safe place was with Bly and that Finn had so easily given in to what mattered most to him. Finn had closed his eyes to the pain it caused Charlotte and the possibility that he might never return to her and the children.
“How about some music?” Bly said, popping the iPod into a dock.
“Okay,” she said vacantly, and the flat tone of her voice made him want to shake her out of her funk. He wanted to pull her up from her seat and hold her hard against him. He wanted to tell her that she was his and that his heart beat only for her. But of course she already knew that and still she was far, far away from him.
Music filled the jet’s cabin, he had clicked the iPod on and set it to play in a random pattern. A song he didn’t recognize was playing and he started to ask Charlotte who the band was, but she was crying as if the words had unleashed something terrible inside her.
“But tell me, did you sail across the sun? Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded, and that heaven is overrated? Tell me, did you fall from a shooting star, one without a permanent scar? And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?”
“Ah Charlotte, Charlotte. Please don’t lock me out, don’t do this to us, I’m begging you. I love you and that will never change… I’ll always put your happiness ahead of my own. We’ll be with your children in half an hour and everything will be alright. You can’t imagine what it means to me to meet Atticus, to know that he came from us, from our love. Whatever you want and need, however you decide it should go from here, I’ll go along with. Only please don’t stop loving me,” Bly said, he moved into the seat next to her and kissed her tears away. He traced the planes of her beautiful face with his fingertips and she wrapped her arms around him and wept with her face buried against his neck. He inhaled the fragrance of her hair and her skin and his heart settled into a normal rhythm because Charlotte was still part of his world.
“Your new stepmother has a nice long runway,” Bly said looking out the window as the jet banked and prepared to land. “Here, buckle your seat belt, let me help you.”
“My stepmother has what?” Charlotte asked, her thoughts had been elsewhere, contemplating what was ahead. Bly would meet Atticus and as Newton’s Law assured, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Charlotte and Finn had built a family around a child that was only partly theirs and now his father had come to claim him.
“She owns one of the largest ranches in Texas and it has a state of the art airstrip. This jet can’t land on an average private runway, they’re too short. Belinda Rhodes has her own Gulfstream 550, it’s an exceptional aircraft. I’m a Dassault man myself, but to each their own. Anyway, it’s nice that we can land here instead of driving from San Antonio,” Bly said after he had buckled
Charlotte in and kissed her cheek as she turned away from him.
“This isn’t the same jet you had before, is it?” she asked.
“No, it’s a newer model, the Falcon 5X. Money can buy things and a modicum of comfort, as we discussed before. Foolish people think money can buy happiness, I would be the first to tell them how misguided they are. It certainly can’t buy what means the most in a man’s life,” Bly said, and he held his breath waiting to hear what she would say.
“Dassault is a French company, isn’t it? Your new jet is very beautiful and very… opulent,” she said and nothing more.
A Jeep waited to take them to the ranch house and Hadley and Atticus ran to Charlotte and flew into her arms as soon as she climbed the steps to the front door.
“Mom, mommy, mommy!” Hadley and Atticus both squealed and Charlotte loved the sound of their voices, although she thought she might go deaf because they were so loud and excited.
“Oh, my loves, my little loves!” She said, and wrapping the two of them in her arms, she kissed their soft cheeks and sweaty little necks.
Charles and Belinda stood back and gave her space with her children and Charles’s brow was deeply furrowed as he and Bly studied each other.
“Come on in and sit down, would you like something to drink?” Belinda said, motioning to Bly and Charlotte.
Atticus wrenched himself away from his mother’s embrace and stood looking up at Bly.
“Hello Atticus,” Bly said, kneeling in front of the boy, his heart had begun to thunder as he looked at his son. “I’m… Alex,” he said holding out his hand.
Atticus shook his hand and Bly smiled at the strength of his grip. He was seven years old and much too tall for his age. As he stared up at Bly his hand went to his forehead to brush back a wayward lock of hair. That small gesture hit Bly like a thunderbolt as he stared into eyes that were so clearly Charlotte’s and the little face with its dimpled chin that clearly marked him as part of Bly.
“Do you wanna see my battleships and jets?” Atticus asked Bly, then he took him by the hand and led him into the cavernous great room and Bly gladly followed.
“Are those presents for me?” Hadley asked, looking up at Bly sweetly and he smiled at the mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
“Yes, this one is for you and I have gifts for your brother and your friends as well,” Bly said and when he leaned down to give her the pretty wrapped package she slipped her little arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. “I like you, you’re tall like my daddy,” she said, and Bly looked up at Charlotte and saw that her face was happy at last.
Charles introduced Bly to Belinda and her children then handed Mojitos to the adults from a silver tray held by a maid. Everyone sat and watched as the children opened their gifts. There were intricately detailed ships for Atticus and Cuatro, a princess dress with a tiara and matching jewelry for Hadley, and Beatz headphones for Matilda.
“Cool, I’ve been wanting these,” Matilda said, “thank you Mr. Bly. Mother, I need to go into San Antonio for a manicure and pedicure, will you please have Hector drive me?”
“Matilda we have company, can’t you wait until tomorrow?” Belinda asked.
“Nobody cares if I leave Mother, I have shopping to do, tell Hector I’ll be ready in a few minutes and I need your credit card,” Matilda said, playing with her hair and giving her mother a look of pure teenage disgust.
“I like the ship, Mr. Bly,” Cuatro said, cutting his eyes aside to give his sister a sly look. “I like to write and draw, do you wanna hear a poem I wrote last night?”
“Absolutely, and you can call me Alex,” Bly said, smiling at the boy who was the same age as Atticus but several inches shorter.
“What did you write, you little brat?” Matilda asked, she stood with her hands planted on her hips as she stared down at him.
“This is my poem,” Cuatro said in a sing-song voice, “Hadley is pretty and Atticus is cool. Matilda is mean and acts like a tool.”
“Cuatro! What a thing to say about your sister, she is not mean and what do you mean by ‘tool’?” Belinda asked, taking the piece of paper from him while Charlotte and Bly tried not to laugh.
“You don’t even know what that means you little pisser,” Matilda rolled her eyes and followed a young man out the front door, slamming it dramatically.
“Yes I do,” Cuatro yelled at the closed door, “it means you’re a dick and an idiot!”
Charles took Cuatro by the hand and escorted him up a wide stairway and Belinda finished her Mojito and said she really had no idea where children learned such things.
“We learn them in school,” Atticus said and didn’t miss a beat as he played on the floor with his and Cuatro’s toy ships.
“What’s a dick?” Hadley asked, her huge blue-grey eyes looking from Charlotte to Bly.
“You’re both going to private school next year,” Charlotte said, and Bly just laughed.
“Do you wanna see the horses, Alex?” Atticus asked, he was standing in front of Bly suddenly and motioned for Bly to follow him outside. Bly followed him willingly, turning to Charlotte with a euphoric smile. “You can come too, Mom, but you can’t come see the horses in a princess dress, Hadley,” Atticus said as he went out a set of tall glass doors.
“I don’t wanna come with you, Atti, and I’m not a princess, I’m a movie girl. I’m the star in a Disney movie not a real princess, I’m just pretending,” Hadley said and bowed grandly.
*
“Granddaddy is teaching me to ride, this horse is named Chief, he’s my favorite,” Atticus said, slipping under a metal fence and into a corral.
“Atticus no, come back here,” Charlotte called to her son, but he was walking fearlessly toward the horse and Bly climbed the fence and was next to him in a flash.
She watched the boy and the man as the horse approached them, Bly reached out a hand and stopped Atticus from going any farther. The horse was an Appaloosa, a large bay colored stallion with a blanket of white markings on his hindquarters. Charlotte felt a chill run through her as the horse tossed his head and snorted with the whites of his eyes showing. Bly pushed Atticus behind him but Atti spoke softly to the horse and it quieted and lowered its head to nuzzle his hand.
“He only likes me, the wranglers haven’t been able to break him yet,” Atticus said, smoothing his small hand over the horse’s nose and scratching behind its ears as the horse lowered its head further. “Everybody else is afraid of him, but he’s just a little wild and lonely. I should have brought him an apple or a carrot, he really loves those. You have to be careful though, have you ever fed a horse, Alex? You gotta be real careful and keep your fingers curled under or they might accidently get bitten off!” Atticus smiled up at Bly with a look in his eyes as wild as the horse’s. He loves it, Charlotte thought, at seven years old he was drawn to the risk of standing in a corral with something that was huge and savage and untamable.
“I do know about horses, Atticus, I played Polo while I was away at school,” Bly said, walking slowly backwards, pulling Atticus gently away from the horse. They climbed back over the fence and Charlotte let out a long breath. Her face was ghostly pale and Bly didn’t want her to know how dangerous it was for anyone to boldly approach an unbroken stallion.
“Atticus!” Charlotte said, her voice high and sharp, “don’t you know how unpredictable a horse like that can be? Dammit do you want to give me a heart attack?” She leaned down and scooped him against her burying her face in his unruly black hair and hugging him madly.
“Mom don’t say naughty words, it isn’t polite,” he said, and flashed a million watt smile as he grinned up at Bly. Bly tried hard to hide his smile, this was his son and Charlotte’s son, a combination that was awesome to behold.
They rode around the ranch in a golf cart and Atticus sat on Bly’s lap and steered and chattered nonstop. He was a boy who liked to have his way and like Bly, he could mesmerize with a glint in his eye and way too much charm. He had Charlotte’s
killer style of winning an argument and having people see things his way. Finn’s influence had marked him with a big hearted spirit and true kindness, and also a powerful need for adventure.
“Would you like to go to a school where you can ride horses?” Bly asked and Charlotte shot him a look but he wouldn’t face her. “There’s a school called Country Day Preparatory, I think you’d like it, Atticus. Polo is one of the sports they offer and La Crosse and soccer…”
“I am the best at soccer,” Atticus interrupted, “my dad coaches my team cause he’s a great player. He’s from England so he calls it football, but it’s okay, I like the way he talks and nobody knows more about cool stuff than my dad. You should come see me play sometime. I have soccer camp next week, do you know where San Diego is? You could come see me in action.”
“Yes, I know where it is, I live in San Diego too.”
“How did you get here? Texas is a long way, you have to fly,” Atti said and swerved the golf cart to miss an armadillo slowly crossing the dirt road. “Those are usually road kill, and there are lots of rattlesnakes out here too.”
“Okay that’s it, we’re going home; this place is too dangerous. Ugh, I hate snakes,” Charlotte said.
“Oh Mom, it’s not dangerous if you know what you’re doing. I decided I might not be a Navy SEAL after all,” he said, to which Charlotte said ‘thank goodness for that’ and Bly asked what he did want to be when he grew up. “A Navy pilot, that’s what granddaddy’s son was, it is so cool. You have to be the best at flying cuz you land on a ship in the ocean. I am going to do that Mom, so don’t worry about me doing dangerous stuff anymore.”
Charlotte laid her head back against the seat and closed her eyes, “Atticus, my days to worry have just begun, I’m afraid,” she said and sighed heavily.
“Atticus did you get to fly in Belinda’s jet when you came here?” Bly asked, they were driving aimlessly among the wild beauty of south Texas. Live oaks, mesquite, scrub-cedar, and brush were sprinkled across gently rolling hills and long eared jack-rabbits and roadrunners skittered in and out of view.
