Every Christmas Eve my family would get together at a designated home for holiday cheer and exchanging of gifts. This year it was our turn to host the party, so I spent the day cooking and getting the house in order.
By seven, we were ready for the invasion. Hattie and Uncle Ned were the first to arrive… along with a tray of stuffed crabs. Uncle Ned never liked being late. It made me wonder why he ever married Hattie. If Hattie was known for any of her many eccentricities, it was her ability to be exactly one hour late to any function.
Val was the next to join our party, bringing her favorite champagne with her. It was chilled to the exact right temperature, naturally.
Hattie and Ned chatted with my father at the bar while Val followed me into the kitchen.
“You look like hell. You’re too thin,” she scolded, as we walked through the kitchen door.
“Thanks, Val. There is nothing like family to tell you the bitter truth.”
She ignored my comment. “Any news from him?”
I shook my head.
Val raised her silver eyebrows at me. “Your aunt tells me you are seeing some shrink. Is that wise?”
“Wise enough. The shrink is a nice guy. His mother is a friend of Hattie’s. He’s a little rough around the edges, but I guess he’s all right.”
“All right? Listen to yourself, Nicci. Since when have you been interested in nice, all right men?”
“Since I learned that the other kind can break your heart. Men like the shrink are safe and can spare you a lot of pain.” I nodded to the champagne bottle in her hand. “Do you want to open that?”
Val snatched up a towel from the kitchen counter. She placed it around the bottle of champagne. “I wouldn’t put much faith in your aunt’s selection of men. She’s such a silly bitch. Did she bring those damned stuffed crabs again?” She eyed the tray of crabs sitting on the counter. “Anyway, I know the guy you’re seeing. He’s become the new flavor of the month as far as shrinks go. Everyone who is anyone uptown is trying to see him. Sammy Fallon is singing his praises all over the city.”
I was momentarily stunned like a deer in headlights. “Sammy? Are you sure?”
“Yeah, Sammy. She’s his number one patient. From the way she talks about him, I’d say she is planning on making him her new play toy.” She pulled the cork out of the bottle.
“Val, does Sammy know I’m seeing him?”
Val poured out two glasses of champagne. “Not yet, but once old blabber bitch out there gets to her,” she thumbed her nose toward the living room, “then your secret is out. Although, I’m glad you’re getting even with old plastic boobs Fallon. All the crap she pulled with trying to take over Beauvoir Scrap. She’ll probably feel so overwhelmed when she hears you and the good doctor are an item, she’ll go and have her thighs sucked out.”
“That might happen sooner than you think. Michael invited me to BeBe Comeaux’s party at the Hilton.” I raised my eyebrows, waiting for Val’s reaction.
She grinned, appearing pleased. “Then I will have to make sure I go this year. I’ll want a front row seat to see the look in Sammy’s eyes when you walk in on his arm. It seems you and Sammy are continually sharing men. But this doctor, from what I’m hearing, is only concerned about his reputation and his pocketbook. Be careful.”
The doorbell tolled. I left Val in the kitchen, monitoring the spinach dip on the stove. An ever-expanding Colleen and a scowling Eddie were waiting in the hallway when I reached the entrance.
“Colleen,” I said, truly amazed at her girth. “You’re absolutely glowing.”
“Thanks, Nic.” She turned to Eddie. “See?”
“I still think you look fat.” Eddie walked off toward the den.
“He’s just jealous of the baby,” Colleen cooed, rubbing her belly.
I escorted her to the back den. Eddie was already being smothered with kisses from Hattie. At the sight of her daughter, Hattie stopped harassing her son-in-law and ran to Colleen, hugging her ferociously. Hattie’s world had always revolved around her only child. Even though they fought continually, I could see Hattie was lost without her. Seizing the opportunity to slip away, I made a hasty exit to the kitchen.
Val was still stirring the spinach dip when I returned. The bottle of champagne was already half empty.
“Is your Uncle Lance here yet?”
“No, it’s Eddie and Colleen.” I rolled my eyes. “Colleen looks like a small circus tent.”
“Oh, this I have got to see.” Val handed me the spoon and rushed out of the kitchen, taking her champagne glass with her.
Any opportunity to revel in Hattie’s misery, Val was there. The only time I ever saw them agree on anything, was the day of my mother’s funeral. They both held each other and cried for hours. Her loss had been the only olive branch they had ever shared.
I was about to carry a tray of cookies into the den, when the kitchen door swung open. I was expecting Val, but it turned out to be Eddie.
“I’ve been wanting to talk to you,” he mumbled, his eyes directed to the floor.”I want to apologize for my behavior at the wedding.”
I tried to slip past him, but he purposefully blocked the doorway. “It’s all right. I know you were just coming to the aid of a friend. I never got to thank you for being so chivalrous.” I nodded to the hallway. “You’d better get back to your wife.”
“Wife, ha! You mean that cow I married. All she does every day, all day, is eat. She is driving me insane. I swear one day….” His eyes were all over me. “I love you, Nicci.”
I took in a deep breath, clutching the tray of cookies. This was all I needed. “Eddie, Colleen is your wife. She’s going to have your baby in a few months. You can’t go around being married to one person and loving someone else.”
“I know I could make you happy, Nicci.”
I tried to push him out of the away. “I don’t want you to make me happy, Eddie.”
“Why not? You don’t think I’m good enough for you, but I’m good enough for the blimp out there. Is that it? Or is it that shrink Hattie told me about? She says you are going to marry that guy. Are you in love with him?”
I was desperate to get out of the kitchen, but again he stepped in front of me. I was so angry with him that I jammed the heel of my right shoe into his foot. He let out a loud scream.
“Leave me alone, Eddie!” I shot past him and out the kitchen door.
When I stepped into the hallway, Hattie and Colleen were running to see what all the fuss was about.
“I heard Eddie scream,” Colleen fussed.
“He’s all right.” I calmly directed them away from the kitchen. “He just stubbed his toe.”
Thankfully, the doorbell rang. I gave Hattie my tray of cookies and went to answer the door.
Waiting on the porch, holding out his arms to me, was my Uncle Lance.
“Nicci!”
I warmly embraced him and was immediately enveloped by his expensive cologne. I pulled back and inspected his face. He was taller than my father, with striking dark brown hair and pale green eyes. Wearing a tailored black suit and red tie, Uncle Lance had classic, chiseled features and always sported a deep summer tan, even in December.
“Everyone here?” He peered into the house. “Hoovers here?”
“Wait until you see Colleen, Uncle Lance.” I stood back from him and shook my head. “But be nice.”
He grinned at me, chuckling with delight. “Aren’t I always?”
I sighed heavily. It was going to be a long night.
***
The party broke up around eleven. Uncle Lance decided to stick around. My father went to bed, leaving the two of us to clean up in the kitchen.
I noticed during the course of the evening that Uncle Lance’s green eyes had some new dark circles beneath them, and his usual lively step appeared slower than I remembered. I knew he wasn’t working late at the office, but he was working late somewhere.
He always had that hurried look in his eyes, and was n
ever calm until he was out the door and on his way to his next destination. Uncle Lance was a wanderer. He wandered through marriages, friendships, and life. Now it seemed as if all that wandering was finally catching up with him.
“You all right, Uncle Lance?” I questioned, as he carried a tray of glasses into the kitchen for me.
“I’m fine, sweetheart. Just too many nights out on the town.” He smiled and placed the tray next to the sink.
“Don’t you think you should slow down? Maybe get some more rest? You know, you’re not a spring chicken anymore.”
He tweaked my nose. “Listen to you. Stop worrying about me and start worrying about school. One more semester to go and then you’re outta there!”
I laughed at his impression of an umpire at a baseball game. “I want to thank you for being so supportive all these years. I appreciate it.”
“That’s all right. I’m glad you’re forging into new territory. Besides, your mother would be as proud as hell of you. She always intended to go to nursing school before she married your father. He was dead set against your mother having a career.” He took the towel from me and started drying the glasses. “Just give your old man some time, kid. He’ll be excited as a fox in a hen house when he sees you walk up on that stage and get that diploma. He just wants you to be close by, where he can keep an eye on you. Billy always was the overprotective type. You should have seen him with your mother when they were first married. In fact, your old man wouldn’t even let me come to visit until you were born. He was afraid your mother was still in love with me, or something crazy like that.”
I turned and stared in disbelief at my uncle. “I never knew that.”
“Don’t let him know I told you. He doesn’t like for me to tell you too much about our relationship with your mother. He says I demean him in your eyes.”
I handed him a glass to dry. “That sounds like something Dad would say.”
“I hear you got a new fella,” he said, winking at me.
I shook my head. “He’s not my fella. We’ve just had two dates. Nothing serious.”
“Yeah right, that’s what they all say. Your father doesn’t like him. In fact, he told me to talk you out of seeing him anymore. He said he wasn’t artistic enough for you. Whatever that means.”
In some ways, Uncle Lance reminded me a great deal of David. They both had a carefree love of life and lived it on the edge. They were passionate men, except that Uncle Lance had never found the appropriate venue for his passion. David, at least, had his painting.
“Well, I’m going to the Comeaux New Year’s Eve party with him. After that, I don’t know.”
“Wow, sounds like you’re really interested in this guy. Careful, Nicci, you’ll have to curtail your enthusiasm.” He clasped my arms and shook me. “Why are you wasting your time with him if he doesn’t light your fire, so to speak?”
“I’ve given up on the big bang theory of love. If he’s well mannered, comes from a good family, and is successful, that’s enough.”
He let me go. “My God! Now you sound like Hattie. Nicci, don’t ever sell yourself off to the highest bidder, even if he happens to know how to hold a knife and fork. There’s much more to marriage and a lifetime together than what you just described. Anyway, what’s with the sudden talk about husband hunting? You never talked like this before. What’s up with you, kid?”
I went back to the dishes while he hovered over me. “Are you going to dry?” I asked, handing him another glass. “I’m okay, Uncle Lance, really. Just a little tired and a little put off by Colleen and Eddie.”
He took the glass from my hand. “Is the little bastard bothering you?”
“Not exactly. He was actually trying to apologize for the night of the wedding. Then he started ranting about being in love with me, so I drove my heel into his foot.”
“That’s why he was limping around for most of the evening. Sorry I missed that wedding. I heard, as weddings go, it was the most entertaining of the year.”
“Dad told you what happened?”
“Hell, half the city told me what happened.” He paused, pressing his lips together in a half-frown. “Look, if Eddie gives you any more trouble, let me know. He has some debts around town that his mother doesn’t know about. I could have some people lean on him for collection.”
My mouth fell open. “I always knew you had underworld connections.”
Uncle Lance playfully grinned. “This is New Orleans, kid. You ain’t nobody until you know somebody who can do something illegal for you.”
***
The next morning, Dad and I were sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee and waiting for Uncle Lance to wake up. He always stayed over for Christmas when he wasn’t married. I felt he just didn’t want to wake up alone on Christmas Day.
My phone rang while we were waiting in the kitchen. I checked the caller ID and then I peeked over at my father. After my uncle’s disclosure the night before, I debated about taking Michael’s call in another room. After three more insistent rings, I decided against it.
“Hello and Merry Christmas!” Michael shouted when I answered.
There was a great deal of noise in the background and I could barely hear him. “Merry Christmas to you. Sounds like a party.”
“Yeah, my family always has a big party on Christmas Day. They are all asking about you. I told them next year you would be here. We have the big dinner deal today with all the relatives. They’re about forty of us. You’re welcome to join us.”
“I’m going over to my Auntie Val’s. She has a big dinner every year and we always go there.”
My father was straining his neck to listen to the conversation.
“Well, have a good time.” Michael sounded a little disappointed. “I’ll call you tomorrow. I’ve got a hectic day at the office, and then I’ve got some patients to see in the hospital. ‘Tis the season.” Then he was gone.
My father nonchalantly turned the page of his newspaper. “He calls a lot.”
I put my iPhone down on the kitchen table. “He’s a nice guy.”
Dad buried his head deeper in the newspaper. “I don’t like him.”
“Why don’t you like him?”
My father put the paper down on the breakfast table. “Because he doesn’t make you happy. It’s like you’re going through the motions with him. Your heart isn’t in this—”
Uncle Lance came bounding into the kitchen, wrapped in my father’s favorite red silk robe. Dad groaned beside me.
“Good morning and Merry Christmas.” Uncle Lance was bursting with a huge grin and a five o’clock shadow.
“Thank you, Tiny Tim.” My father glowered at him. “That’s my robe.”
Uncle Lance caressed the robe’s lapel. “Yeah, looks better on me.”
“That’s debatable,” my father griped.
Chapter 18
After we returned home from Christmas dinner at Val’s, I settled down on the sofa in the living room to look through the book Uncle Lance had given me on the history of nursing. My father was in his study, still trying to win at the hand held video game I had given him. I was enjoying my book, when my cell phone interrupted. When I retrieved the phone from my purse, I was surprised to see my aunt’s cell number flashing on the iPhone screen.
“Aunt Hattie we just left you at Val’s—”
“Nicci! Nicci!” It didn’t sound like Hattie. “You have to come right away. There’s been an accident.” She started crying.
“Hattie, what did you say? What accident?” There was some shuffling, as if the phone was being muffled. “Nicci, it’s Uncle Ned.” He sounded, if possible, worse than Hattie. “We’re at Touro Hospital. Colleen has been pretty badly beaten up. They think she may lose the baby. Can you come and help us? They’re asking questions I don’t know how to answer.”
“Colleen was beaten up? Who did this?”
“Eddie. Eddie beat the hell out of her. They think it was some time this afternoon. Can you come?”
&nb
sp; “I’m on my way. I’ll meet you in the emergency room.” I hung up and ran to the study. “Dad, get out here quick!”
***
Colleen had already been transferred out of the emergency room and up to the women’s unit when we arrived at the hospital. We found Aunt Hattie and Uncle Ned in the hallway outside of Colleen’s room. Hattie was washed over, completely pale. Uncle Ned told us that Colleen had some bruises and a broken nose; otherwise, the doctors said she could go home in the morning. She had lost the baby in the emergency room.
I sat for a while holding Aunt Hattie’s hand, but she never said a word; she just kept staring down at the floor. Finally, I walked over to where my father and Uncle Ned were talking in the corner of the hall.
“Sammy won’t be stupid enough to protect him,” my father grumbled, holding out his hand out to me.
I took it and held on tight.
“Colleen called about ten this morning,” Uncle Ned related. “They had a fight about which family they were going to spend Christmas Day with. She told Hattie that they were going to stay in and eat dinner with Sammy. Sammy found her a few hours later. She called the ambulance and then called us.”
I peered down the long hospital corridor. “Where’s Eddie?”
“Who knows? Sammy says she hasn’t seen him since this morning.” Uncle Ned leaned against the wall. “She thought the two of them had left to go to Val’s. That was, until she found Colleen. We sent Sammy home an hour ago. She was more upset than Hattie.” He glanced over to his wife. “I better go sit with her.”
As Uncle Ned put his arms around his wife, I turned to my father. “What happens to Eddie?”
“Nothing until Colleen presses charges.”
I gawked at him in astonishment. “Nothing?”
“Colleen has to press charges. In the emergency room, she told the police she tripped and fell.” Dad shook his head. “Look, Hattie and Ned are going to stay. They’ve sedated Colleen, so she’ll sleep all night. We can come back first thing in the morning.”
He put his arm around my shoulders and guided along the hospital corridor to the elevators.
***
Later that night, I lay in my bed, unable to sleep. I was staring up at the ceiling, replaying my conversation with Eddie in the kitchen on Christmas Eve. I had known he was angry, and I felt guilty for not warning my family. I needed to talk to someone about what had happened. Anyone would do.
The Nicci Beauvoir Collection: The Complete Nicci Beauvoir Series Page 21
