A Love for All Seasons

by Bettye Griffin

  Jack felt her arms tighten around his waist for a second before she let go and smoothly climbed the stairs.

  He turned to Todd. “How’s Daphne?”

  “Not good,” he said grimly. “Apparently, she feels responsible for what happened. She kept saying, ‘I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean it.’ I can’t imagine where that came from.”

  Jack thought of what Alicia told him and thought, It came from her, but wisely kept quiet. “You probably should get upstairs to her.”

  “Yes, I guess so. I finally got her in a chair.” He looked into the empty living room. “Any idea where Martha took Fletch?”

  “She and Marvin brought him upstairs to bed.”

  “Good. He doesn’t need to see what’s going on.”

  Once more, the family gathered at the hospital for a vigil in the emergency room. This time, though, the outcome was different. The doctor came out and said, “I’m sorry, we weren’t able to revive her.”

  Chapter 25

  My Sweet Lord

  Several hundred people came to the church in Stamford to pay their respects to Caroline Timberlake. At the funeral service, sitting in the front row with Daphne, Todd, Fletch, and her uncles and their wives; Alicia took the most comfort knowing that Jack sat just two rows behind her, after her cousins and their families.

  The flustered feeling she got from being close to him had faded in the past days. Jack was still busy at work completing his project, but he called her often as she worked with Daphne to plan the funeral.

  Thank heavens it was nearly over. Her mother was at peace, reunited with the husband she loved so much. Alicia kept telling herself that was what counted the most. When sadness threatened to overtake her, she pictured her parents dancing together, moving as smoothly as Astaire and Rogers. Still, she was human enough to wonder what her mother planned to tell her in those last moments.

  Although everything said that night pointed to Daphne being privy to the contents of the confession, Alicia refused to ask her sister. She simply would not give Daphne the satisfaction of refusing to divulge what she knew. When they gave the history to the doctors at the hospital, Alicia explained that Caroline had become agitated as a result of Daphne’s interruption and refusal to leave, an account with which Toni Livingston reluctantly agreed and Daphne vehemently denied. The sisters had barely spoken since. Todd served as a liaison between them during memorial plans.

  The service went by in a blur, followed by the drive to the cemetery and the repast at the Mason’s lodge, where Fletcher Timberlake had been a member. Only family and close friends returned to the house after the repast.

  Alicia sat quietly with Jack in the living room when Sam McDaniel, the family’s attorney, approached her. The short, stout dark-skinned man with round cheeks had handled her parents’ affairs for as long as she could remember. “I thought this might be a good time to go over the generalities of Caroline’s will. We can discuss it in more depth after the New Year. Daphne and Todd are already in the library.”

  “All right.” She turned to Jack. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”

  In the library with its walls of built-in bookcases, Sam sat behind the cherry wood desk as Alicia, Daphne, and Todd faced him in tufted leather chairs.

  “I’ll be as brief as possible,” Sam said. “Caroline’s will was relatively uncomplicated. I’m sure you both knew that she retained three life insurance policies. The smallest covered her funeral costs, and she instructed that anything left should be given to the church.” At their nods he continued. “The others were both in the same amounts, fifty thousand dollars apiece. One lists Alicia as beneficiary, the other Daphne.”

  Once again the attorney peered over his bifocals to see if anyone had any questions. “Your mother made a bequest of five thousand dollars to the church, in addition to what will likely be a small amount left from the insurance policy. She left her share of the family business to you girls equally.

  “Caroline made very little changes to Fletcher’s bequests. Virtually all stocks, mutual funds, and bank accounts have been passed to the two of you equally.”

  “What about the house?” Daphne asked, sounding anxious enough to make Alicia turn her head to look at her. She noticed her sister’s posture had changed so that she leaned forward. She half expected Daphne to hold out her hand so Sam could lay a key in her palm.

  “You’ll remember that your mother sold the cottage on Martha’s Vineyard after your father passed,” Sam replied.

  Alicia nodded. Caroline explained to her and Daphne at the time that she couldn’t bear to spend the summer there without Fletcher coming out on the weekends to join them. Even Daphne, greedy as she was, couldn’t object. Caroline gave both girls part of the proceeds of the sale. “In addition, she gave you each a fifty percent share in the house,” Sam continued. “If the house is sold, you each will get fifty percent of the proceeds. As I’m sure you know, the mortgage has been paid off, and the house has appreciated considerably in value over twenty-five years. Any loans taken out will be the sole responsibility of the person doing the borrowing. Defaulting on a second mortgage can lead to losing your interest in the house. Whoever lives in the house is responsible for its upkeep, if both of you live here the maintenance costs and taxes are to be divided.

  “Taxes are paid from the rent money received by the Lewis family. Any improvements made must have complete approval of both owners, and they will not be reimbursed unless and until the property is sold. Any disputes are to be handled by myself,” Sam concluded, peering at them from over his half-sized bifocals.

  Alicia kept waiting to hear more about Martha’s family other than that their rent money went toward the property taxes. When nothing else was said she decided to ask. “What about the Lewises?” Did she imagine it, or did Sam suddenly look uncomfortable?

  “This is where Caroline made some caveats not in Fletcher’s will,” he began. “Martha Lewis is to decide whether she wishes to stay on as chief housekeeper and cook.”

  “What if I decide I don’t want her here?” Daphne said.

  “And what if I decide I want her to stay on?” Alicia countered.

  “It is unlikely, after fifteen years of service, that Martha’s performance would suddenly become unsatisfactory,” Sam noted. “Any disciplinary action must first be brought to my attention. I’ll then arrange a tele-conference with both of you, possibly with Martha as well, and I will make the final decision. In short, Daphne, you can’t take it upon yourself to let her go.”

  As Alicia expected, Daphne’s features contorted into a scowl. “I don’t like that at all. You’re saying she can tell me to kiss her butt and I can’t fire her without discussing it with the two of you?”

  “And if I know you, Daphne, you’ll goad her into telling you just that so you can insist she be fired,” Alicia said.

  “I’d do no such thing, Alicia.”

  “You’d better remember that the rent she pays covers the taxes on this property.”

  Todd gestured to Daphne to be quiet as Sam spoke.

  “There’s more involving Martha,” he said, speaking slightly louder than before.

  “I think you have our attention,” Alicia said with a smile.

  “Caroline also specified that the Lewises’ rent is to be kept up with the rate of inflation and should not increase more than five percent a year without special approval from myself.”

  “What!”

  Alicia gave her sister a triumphant smile. “Planning on hiking up Martha and Marvin’s rent, were you?”

  “That’s ridiculous. For years they paid no rent at all. Even now they’re only paying something like seven-fifty. Seven-fifty, for a three-bedroom apartment that’s worth three times that much. It’s criminal, I tell you!” Daphne said, her voice ringing with righteous indignation.

  “Not when you consider that Martha’s wages have always been tied in to the rent her family pays,” Sam replied calmly. “Fletcher and Caroline consulted me when they made th
e original arrangements. I know the Lewis family lived in the guest house rent-free for their first two years. At that time Martha was paid two hundred and fifty dollars a month for cleaning the entire house and preparing breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

  “Not exactly princely wages,” Alicia remarked.

  “They still came out ahead,” Daphne muttered.

  “And that really kills you, doesn’t it?” Alicia said in frustration. “Why shouldn’t Martha and Marvin get ahead?”

  Daphne met her gaze defiantly. “Because they’re not the type of people who deserve to live in this area, that’s why. They don’t fit in. It’s not my fault that they lost everything they had in an apartment fire and didn’t even have sense enough to buy an insurance policy so they could at least replace their belongings. So they move on up from Bridgeport to Westport and they’ve lived here fifteen years. That still doesn’t mean they belong here.”

  Alicia stared at her, momentarily speechless. When she found her voice, she said, “You’ve got an awfully lofty attitude for someone whose father started off as a stable boy on a Hudson River estate.” Caroline may have been a child of privilege, but Fletcher had told them of his humble beginnings many times, always adding where a person came from shouldn’t limit what he or she could accomplish. “Do you feel that Pop didn’t belong in Westport, either?”

  “That was different. Besides, I could tell you a thing or two about—”

  “Daphne!” Todd’s tone held a stern warning.

  Daphne glared at Alicia, who returned an equally steely and unyielding stare.

  “If this afternoon is any indication of what the future holds, I’ve got a feeling my services are going to be needed frequently,” Sam remarked. His eyes went from one sister to the other. “You know, Caroline would be very sad to see the two of you going at it like you were raised by wolves.”

  “I don’t care,” Alicia said defiantly. “She has no cause to say that the Lewises don’t belong in Westport. Our parents were both open-minded people who knew a thing or two about being dismissed on the basis of their background, specifically race, and in my father’s case, class as well. They believed in helping people. That was why they took in the Lewis family in the first place. And they were both proud of what Martha and Marvin accomplished.

  “That guest house is tiny, just over a thousand square feet, yet it’s divided into three bedrooms. No way is it worth over two thousand dollars as rental property,” she declared.

  Sam nodded. “Something else for you to consider, Daphne. These were your mother’s wishes.” He paused to let that sink in. “She also willed Martha twenty-five thousand dollars and her jade necklace and bracelet.”

  At this Daphne opened her mouth, then abruptly closed it.

  “There were a few other bequests of jewelry. A pearl ring to the pastor’s wife, a few other pieces to her sisters-in-law. That’s pretty much it.”

  Todd got to his feet. “Thank you, Sam.” The two men shook hands, and Todd escorted Daphne out of the room.

  Alicia remained in her chair. She closed her eyes and sighed. “Sometimes I can’t believe my sister and I are related.”

  “I think Caroline would be tremendously disappointed in Daphne if she witnessed what just happened, and Fletcher, too.”

  “At least Mom had the foresight to predict that Daphne might try to force Martha out and prevented her from doing it.” She yawned. “I’m tired, Sam. I don’t think I can take being around any more people. I think I’ll excuse myself and let Daphne take over as hostess until everyone leaves.”

  She returned to the living room to find Jack talking with Pete and Rhonda. Most of her other friends returned to New York immediately after the church service, and Shannon had left shortly after returning to the house. Alicia and Shannon had agreed that it wasn’t fair to their administrative assistant, Amy, to have to hold down the fort all alone, and afternoons tended to be busy with requests for court reporters.

  Both Jack and the Robinsons looked her way as she approached them, making her feel a little like a prize hog at a state fair.

  “Hi guys,” she said pleasantly. “Can I borrow Jack for a minute?”

  At the Robinson’s urging she took Jack’s hand and led him to the kitchen, where she leaned against the counter, pressed her palms against her temples and said, “Ahhhhh!”

  “Something must have happened in there to upset you,” he guessed.

  “I think it’s a combination of everything. My sister is behaving like a greedy gut, like no one but her is entitled to any of Mom’s things. She truly makes me want to vomit, Jack. I do hope all of my parents’ friends leave soon. I can’t stand the idea of listening to one more person telling me the same old ridiculous lines, like ‘She’s in a better place now. ’How the hell do they know about what happens after you die? And people saying how nice Mom looked in her casket. Her brothers are morticians, for heaven’s sake. Of course they’ll make her look as good as they can.”

  “How about a nice walk along the beach before you burst a blood vessel?” he suggested.

  She let out her breath and looked up at him with a smile that relaxed her entire face. “You always seem to know the right thing to do. Come on, let’s go before anyone comes looking for me.”

  They slipped out the back door and climbed the low brick wall that separated the back yard from the beach, Jack holding her hand to help her up and then lifting her and allowing her body to slide down. They gazed at each other but did not kiss or even embrace, both of them knowing this wasn’t either the appropriate time or place. Instead they began to walk, their arms brushing as they moved.

  Jack had never walked along a beach in winter before last week. The sand felt firm under the soles of his shoes, like packed-in dirt.

  He listened carefully as Alicia told him about what transpired in the library. That sister of hers was a real piece of work. He wondered if the pair would even see each other after today.

  He felt Alicia handled the situation reasonably well. Since Caroline’s death he feared Alicia would cope by returning to the excessive drinking he’d noticed when they first met, but he’d had dinner with her twice since that sad episode at the hospital, and she declined his suggestion to order a bottle of wine. Perhaps the source of her stress came from witnessing her mother’s decline—which he was sure couldn’t have been easy—and now that Caroline’s suffering had ended she would revert to the near-teetotaler Pete and Rhonda spoke of.

  He felt badly about not being able to spend as much time with her during such a difficult time due to the demands of his position. He’d had the audio/visual guys screen the presentation for him just yesterday, and he spotted some things he wanted changed. His team was working on it now, and he felt a little less guilty about taking the day off to be with Alicia. He only had two days left to give a final green light for the project by the deadline of the first workday of the New Year. Tomorrow was sure to be a marathon day.

  He’d been putting in a lot of those lately. The team members joked that after this was over they all had some Royal Caribbean coming. He liked the idea of taking a cruise with Alicia, relaxing on a sun-brightened deck, enjoying balmy sea breezes and sipping cocktails, and then dancing after dinner. Not the boogie down kind of dancing, but the romantic kind, the kind where you glided across the floor the way his grandparents must have done when they were young.

  Between her mother’s death and his project, some time to merely enjoy each other was just what they needed. His family, who tried to take a trip together every three years, had a cruise vacation planned for February. Maybe he’d invite her to attend the reunion with him.

  The more he thought about it the better it sounded. But he knew this wasn’t the right time to mention it to her.

  After walking for nearly half an hour they found themselves back where they started, the Timberlake’s back yard. Jack checked his watch. Three-forty. His team probably had the video re-done for him by now. He really should check it the first chance h
e got.

  “Alicia, I’m thinking about heading home,” he said tentatively. “Will you be all right?”

  “Yes, I feel a lot better now. I’ll walk out with you and say good-bye to everyone, and then I’m going up to lay down. I feel exhausted, like I just swam the English Channel.”

  “It’s been a big day for you.”

  She stopped just short of the kitchen door and turned to him. “Jack, I can’t thank you enough for being there. You helped a lot more than you think you did. I want to tell you how much I appreciate it.”

  For one crazy second he considered telling her he loved her. He let the idea go as quickly as it formed. She’d made her feelings about love plain to him the night of the storm. The last thing he wanted to do was give her more emotional issues to deal with. He’d made progress, of that he was certain. Even Pete pulled him aside and told him it looked like he’d been wrong about the low likelihood of him ever getting anywhere with Alicia.

  Jack bid the remaining mourners good-bye and walked outside with Alicia along with Pete and Rhonda. A few ofAlicia’s friends he recognized had attended the funeral, including Jenny Walters and Derek Taylor—the latter keeping a respectable distance—and her business partner, Shannon Anderson, whom he’d met just a few weeks ago when he went to Alicia’s office in Lower Manhattan to retrieve his laptop. Shannon introduced him to her parents at the cemetery. She attended the repast, unlike most of Alicia’s friends, who returned to Manhattan following the conclusion of the graveside service, but left soon after arriving at the Timberlake home.

  Holding Alicia’s hand, he walked with her to the Robinsons’ SUV and stood while Pete helped Rhonda into the high-sitting vehicle. After the Robinsons drove off with a wave, Alicia walked with Jack to his Aviator, which he’d deliberately parked well down the street out of deference to the many seniors returning to the house.

  “If you need me, no matter what time it is, just call,” he instructed after using the remote to unlock the door, but before opening it. Impulsively he wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in the niche between her neck and shoulder, the warmth of her skin radiating the fragrance he’d gifted her with on Christmas, just a few days before. The corners of his mouth turned up when he felt one of her hands on his shoulder and the other resting on the back of his head, and he allowed himself the luxury of believing it would all work out.