Tanis didn’t look too happy and actually hadn’t since the clock struck twelve. I wanted to corner Teddy and ask him what he’d said to her, but my intuition warned me against spending any time alone with him, even if it was in a corner. Tanis waited like the Wicked Witch of the West, ready to pounce anytime she could to discredit me, and in the process claim the prize that was Aaron for herself. By being so upset to see Teddy, I’d just handed her what she needed to know, and who knew what she might try to do with that information.
Tanis put away quite a few drinks, and by three A.M. she was wobbly and slurring her words.
Elias announced that he and Eliana should probably start heading home. Eliana was dancing with John, which was rather a funny sight. Eliana knew her way around the dance floor, but John was best left tapping his feet in a chair. Beside them were Rosalind and Teddy.
“I don’t envy you that long drive,” Aaron remarked to Elias.
“Traffic shouldn’t be too bad at this hour.” Elias glanced over at the still dancing Eliana as she and Rosalind switched partners. “You know, I think it’s really nice that so many of you have known each other such a long time.”
“We went all through school together,” I said.
“Thas right,” Tanis added. “Iz kinda funny the way we all hooked up. Rozzalin an’ John, Marsha an’ James…”
“You and me,” Wayne lovingly prompted.
“You and me,” Tanis repeated, “Val’rie and nobody…”
I rolled my eyes, glad Valerie had already left.
“Em’ly and Teddy.”
I drew in my breath, and Aaron’s already small eyes got even smaller.
“Emily and Teddy?” Wayne repeated incredulously. He reached out for the highball glass Tanis held, which was practically empty anyway. “That’s it; no more liquor for you.” He chuckled. “Do you even realize what you just said?”
“Oh!” Tanis exclaimed, slapping a palm to her mouth. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just not used to seeing Em’ly with Aaron. The las’ time I saw her she wazout wit’ Teddy.”
“Out with Teddy?” Aaron repeated calmly, but with an unmistakable edge. “When was this?”
I laughed nervously, covering my thought of I’m gonna kill that bitch. “Oh, you mean this past summer, when Teddy picked me up after I had car trouble.” I looked at Aaron, whose dubious expression made me nervous. “Remember, Aaron? It was a weeknight. I’d gone down to City Island to have dinner with Valerie, and my car stopped on the way home right after I got off the parkway. I told you about it the next day.”
“Oh, yeah.” Aaron nodded, covering nicely, but I knew he didn’t recall. Because I’d never mentioned it to him. Because no such incident had ever happened. I wished Valerie were still here to back me up. I felt fairly certain I could count on Teddy to support my story as well, but he was still dancing with Eliana, unaware anything was wrong.
I could practically feel the tension in the air, and something in Aaron’s eyes told me we’d be talking about this some more after the guests left. My eyes met Tanis’s, and the way she unabashedly stared at me told me this was no accidental outburst. The heifer was acting, using intoxication as an excuse to rat me out and create static between Aaron and me.
Just as everyone started to relax, Tanis opened up her damn mouth again. “My fahder got sick that night, and I drove down to meet my mudder at the ER. On my way home I stopped at da store furra bottled water.” She shrugged. “There was Teddy at da counter, and Em’ly in his car.” Then she threw back her head and laughed. “Ya know, I never did see what Teddy bought that night. Whatever it was, it was too small to put in a bag.”
At that Aaron’s eyebrows shot up, and everyone else looked startled. There are two common purchases that come to most people’s minds when thinking about items too small to be bagged, and the shocked expressions on everyone’s faces left no secrets what they were thinking. Especially since it was pretty obvious that Teddy didn’t smoke.
I frantically tried to paint another picture to replace the one everyone was clearly thinking of. “I think he said he needed some gum.”
“Oh, I rememba now,” Tanis said, ignoring Wayne’s restrained nudge and for-her-ears only statement. “When I asked you why you were tryin’ ta keep me from seeing your face when I went to my car, you said it wuz ’cause you didden wanna be gossiped about. And here I am, gossipin’.” She giggled.
And starting rumors, I thought wryly. “What I said was that sometimes people make something out of nothing, and then unfounded rumors get started,” I clarified, my tone more than a little sharp.
“Oh, sure, things like that happen all the time,” Marsha said quickly.
“Yes, all the time,” James added. “Parris Island is so full of gossip about who’s doing what with whom, it’s just unbelievable sometimes.”
Tanis laughed loudly. “I know if I’d been in a man’s car at ten o’clock at night and I wuzn’t seeing him socially, I wouldn’t want anyone ta see me, either.”
This time we all heard Wayne’s response to her. “Tanis, shh!”
Elias cleared his throat. “I’m going to get my coat and Eliana’s. We’ve got a long drive home.”
Wayne quickly picked up on the vibe. “Tanis, I think we should call it a night as well.”
She responded with a loud burp and an embarrassed “Excuse me!” that made us all laugh and helped relax some of the anxiety in the air.
Marsha and James said they would go as well, and when Rosalind, John and Teddy stopped dancing, they made it unanimous. Tanis had successfully brought on the end of the party.
Aaron and I saw everyone out, but it was too cold to stand in the doorway until they all drove off, so we closed the door, even then shivering from our few minutes in the cold.
“It was a wonderful party, don’t you think?” I said chattily, dreading the inevitable.
“Yeah, it was.”
“I’m just going to put the leftover food away. I’ll clean the kitchen and wash the dishes in the morning.”
“I’ll help.”
I thought I’d have a few minutes to plot a strategy, but with him offering to help I had to think quickly. I was torn between raising Tanis’s allegedly drunken revelations or letting the matter lie. I decided to address it; if I didn’t it would suggest I had something to hide. Righteous indignation was the way to go.
“How about that Tanis?” I began as I covered dishes with plastic wrap. “Trying to make it sound like Teddy and I had something going on when we’ve never been nothing but friends who work in the same building.”
Aaron bent to place plates in the dishwasher. “She certainly got my curiosity revving.”
“Oh, come on,” I said in my very best “don’t be silly” voice.
“Emily, you never told me about having car trouble. Why didn’t you call me?”
“Aaron, Valerie and I were at dinner for over two hours. It was about nine-thirty when my car died on me. I didn’t want to call you that late to come to Euliss, especially if you were performing a procedure in the morning. I had Teddy’s cell number in my phone; we’d exchanged numbers before we had lunch. Friday is usually just a half day for him. So it made sense for me to call him.”
He walked over to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “Look at me, Emily.”
I tried not to look nervous.
Aaron spoke softly. “From the way Tanis was talking, it sounded like he was buying condoms. I know that’s what everybody thought.”
“That’s why everyone made such a hasty exit. She really cast a pall over the mood, didn’t she?”
“I don’t really care how it sounded; I just care about the truth. Did you sleep with Teddy, Emily?”
There was only one answer I could possibly give. “No, Aaron.” I lied, waiting for God to strike me down dead.
What I felt was Aaron’s fingertips on my chin. He raised it, leaned in, and kissed me tenderly. “That’s all I wanted to know. Now, let’s get this food put awa
y and go to bed.”
I swallowed the breath I’d been holding so he wouldn’t feel me letting it out. I felt lower than a damn limbo stick.
Wayne called me the next morning. “Is everything all right with you and Aaron?”
“Of course,” I said breezily. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Because of that ridiculous story Tanis told. She feels really bad about it.”
I’ll just bet she does. “Like you said, Wayne, it was a ridiculous story. Aaron recognized that. Besides, he remembered that night. We had a good laugh over it. So be sure to tell Tanis there’s no harm done.”
“Oh, that’s great. I’ll let her know. I’m about to go home. She wants to pick up her kids.” He sounded a little sad, like he wished he could stay, but apparently Tanis didn’t want her kids to know he existed. I had a feeling she planned to keep it that way.
Chapter 24
Beverline managed to come outside as Sonny and the boys were unloading the U-Haul, under the guise of picking up the mail, which was pretty transparent, considering the mailman didn’t deliver until about noon and it was barely ten A.M.
No one but me was around when she came out. When she returned, holding a sale circular I was pretty sure she’d deliberately left in the box from yesterday, the fellows had come out to bring in more boxes and furniture, with Mom looking on. I watched as my brother and nephews greeted her respectfully. Sonny even tipped the rim of his baseball cap, a gesture that reminded me of just how old he was.
Beverline nodded acknowledgment and remarked to me, “My, my, you certainly have a lot of help. All these people aren’t moving in with you, are they?”
“Mrs. Wilson,” Mom said in a weary tone before I could stop her, “my family has been very fortunate. We never had to live in overcrowded conditions, like many people were forced to do because most landlords charged blacks higher rents. We’re not about to start living like locusts at this late date.”
“I see.”
“The great majority of black people weren’t born with silver spoons in their mouths. Where did you live before you moved into Aaron’s beautiful home, Mrs. Wilson?”
Beverline’s mouth went flatline. “In Philadelphia,” she replied haughtily.
“Funny. I could have sworn my daughter mentioned something about Camden, New Jersey.”
Sonny overheard and exclaimed, “Whoa! Camden? That’s a rough town. It’s sure a long way from a mansion in New Rochelle. You’re from Camden, ma’am?”
Beverline turned on her heel and disappeared inside the house, leaving the three of us to watch her retreating back. “What’d I say?” a bewildered Sonny asked.
Mom and I didn’t bother to restrain our laughter.
Aaron invited Mom and me to join his family for dinner on Monday. Mom told me she didn’t want to accept, but she didn’t think it would be right not to, so we went. Shirley had made place cards for us. Aaron sat at one head of the table, and Beverline at the other. I sat on Aaron’s right at the table, next to Billy. Mom sat across from me, next to Kirsten and Arden. I blessed Shirley for keeping Mom and me close to Aaron and as far from Beverline as we could get.
Beverline didn’t disappoint us. “Are you getting settled?” she asked as she spooned some mashed potatoes onto her plate.
“Yes, we are,” I said, trying to be amiable.
“We do hope you’ll be comfortable,” Aaron said. “If there’s anything you need, just holler.”
“I hope the apartment isn’t too small for you,” Beverline added. “It is, after all, the servants’ quarters.”
Arden giggled, while Aaron, his gaze hardened, said, “It’s also referred to as a guesthouse, Beverline, and that’s the description I want used.”
After that, Mom refused to go back, even though Aaron invited us for dinner at least once a week. I had no problem telling him that Mom simply couldn’t deal with Beverline’s attempts at putting us down.
“I’m sorry, Emily. I’ve talked to her about it. I can’t say I blame your mother for not wanting to join us. Beverline is deliberately being difficult.”
“Personally, I think it’s a lost cause.”
“I’m still hoping there’s a chance for the girls.”
I grunted. I didn’t see how.
We settled into our new home in the next weeks. Mom found a church, and I attended services with her the first time she went and then occasionally afterward.
My living so close to Aaron made both of us reluctant to go to the motel on the weekends, so we worked out a system. After we’d come back from wherever we’d been for the night, we’d go to the guesthouse and have a nightcap, chat, and ultimately, after Mom had fallen asleep, we’d neck. He’d go home, then call me when the coast was clear, and I’d dash in through the side door off the laundry room and up the back stairs to his bedroom. We’d fall out laughing—quietly, of course—at having pulled a fast one, and then we’d spend the night together. I’d get up at seven and leave the same way I’d come before anyone else woke up. Making like a tiptoe burglar wasn’t the most satisfying way to have a love life, and of course the sex itself wasn’t overly satisfying either, but I told myself to concentrate on how good life was. If it wasn’t for Aaron, Mom and I wouldn’t have a place to live. And he seemed satisfied. He had a healthy sexual appetite. If only he realized how much he was missing.
At Aaron’s urging I took to going to The Big House, as Mom and I dubbed it, nightly during the week to have a drink and some conversation with Aaron. “I want Kirsten and Arden to get used to you being around, maybe get to know you better,” he’d said. “If they get to know you on their own, they won’t be so influenced by what their grandmother says.”
I still felt more at home chatting with Shirley in the kitchen than I did trying to make conversation with Aaron’s daughters. I was sliding rings on the cloth napkins as she cooked a roast for dinner one Thursday night when the phone rang. Shirley answered it in her usual professional manner. “Yes, Doctor,” she said. “Everything’s almost ready. And Emily is here.” A pause. “Yes, she’s in her room.”
Obviously that part wasn’t about me. I watched as Shirley pressed a button on the intercom. “Kirsten, your daddy wants to talk to you.”
I felt a twinge of jealousy, which I immediately told myself was wrong. Aaron had every right to want to speak with his daughter.
A few minutes later a sullen-looking Kirsten entered the kitchen and handed me the receiver to her cordless phone. “Daddy wants to talk to you.”
I took it, wondering why she looked so upset. “Hi, Aaron! What’s up?”
“Hi,” Aaron said. “I just wanted to let you know I’m going to be late tonight. I’m at the Rye Town Hilton. There’s a demonstration of a new scan, and I decided at the last minute to check it out. Between the demonstration, the questions, and all the networking going on here, I probably won’t get out of here for another hour. They’ve got food and drinks here, so y’all go ahead and eat. Don’t worry about holding dinner for me.”
“Oh! All right.” I was wondering how I could get out of dinner with the family, since Aaron wouldn’t be there. “Uh, Kirsten looks very unhappy about you being late.”
“That’s because I promised her I’d take her out for a driving lesson. Like I said, this came up at the last minute. She might sulk for a while, but she’ll live.”
“All right.” Then I heard him talking to someone in the background. “Tell Elias I said hello.”
“That wasn’t Elias. That was your old friend Shelly.”
I frowned. I had no friends named Shelly. The only one I knew was…“Shelly Muldoon?”
“Yeah. She’s giving the demonstration.”
“Oh.” Suddenly I remembered Teddy telling me that Shelly sold medical equipment. “I wouldn’t exactly call her a friend, Aaron. She’s just someone I went to school with.”
“Okay. Listen, they’re about to start. I’ll see you when I get home, huh?”
“Yes. Bye.”
I clicked the OFF button on the phone. “Shirley, Aaron says not to hold dinner for him. He’s at a demonstration in Rye.”
“All right. Will you be staying for dinner?”
I sighed. Shirley was aware of the tension that existed between Beverline and myself. “I’ll let you know.” I had an idea that might make for warmer relations between myself and Aaron’s daughters.
I found Kirsten in the family room, her arms crossed stiffly over her chest and her lower lip slightly protruding.
I handed her the receiver. “Your dad won’t be able to take you out for your driving lesson, since it’ll probably be dark by the time he gets home. I can understand why you look so blue.”
I was being kind in my choice of words. Between her arms and her lip she looked like a spoiled brat. Still, I remembered how it felt to be sixteen and have your learner’s permit. At that age I’d wanted to practice driving at every opportunity, too.
“Yeah,” she said. “I don’t know why he had to go to that dumb seminar.”
“Well, I have to go to Walgreen’s to pick up some things for my mother. Would you like to be my chauffeur?”
She brightened cautiously. “Really, Emily?”
“Sure. You do promise not to total my car, right?” I added with a chuckle. “And not kill me.”
Her back straightened as she sat up expectantly. “Neither of you will get a scratch. When will we go?”
“I think we should go now. I want to be back before the sun even starts to set.”
Kirsten was on her feet in a second. “Let’s go!”
“Well, I have to get my purse, and so should you. Having your learner’s permit with you is the only way you can prove you’re authorized to drive, remember?” I watched as she made a run for the stairs, taking them two at a time in her youthful exuberance.
A New Kind of Bliss Page 24
