As soon as our eyes met, the years fell away like dried leaves fell from branches in autumn. Daddy was still tall, but he was much slimmer, and his face was a great deal leaner, so that his cheeks and chin were more bony and hard. His dark eyes were still very prominent, and although gray strands had invaded his temples and were spotted through his coal-black crown, he still had a thick, rich head of hair. He wore a dark blue jacket and slacks with black boots, and I saw he had a thick, wide belt with a silver buckle shaped like a horse's head. After all, Daddy was now a Texan, I thought.
Gavin gazed in awe. Jimmy and Fern's six-year-old half-brother was tall for his age. He looked adorable in his blue suit and bow tie. He had Daddy's black hair, but a round face with a lighter complexion. He had Edwina's brown eyes and soft, small mouth, but Daddy's straight, strong nose.
Edwina looked younger than she had in the pictures I had seen. She had a warm, gentle smile—a lot like Momma Longchamp's smile, I thought—and I imagined that was one of the things that had attracted Daddy to her so quickly. She stood nearly as tall as he did, and she had a firm, sleek figure with long arms and legs and a narrow waist. She wore a dark blue wool coat and a dark blue dress. She had her brown hair brushed back and pinned with pearl combs, and she wore only a trace of rouge and some light red lipstick.
Jimmy rushed down the steps to shake Daddy's hand and hug Edwina. I could see how much she liked him. Then he lifted Gavin in his arms and turned as I approached.
Daddy stood there smiling and shaking his head. I drank up the special kind of virile, pantherlike handsomeness that was his.
"You've become a mighty pretty woman, Dawn. Mighty pretty," he said.
"Thank you, Daddy." The tears were streaming down my face, but I didn't notice or care. He held out his arms, and I ran to them, ran to his embrace. He held onto me tightly for a moment. In his strong embrace I felt all the frustration and sadness he had endured, and I understood that his pain had been just as sharp as mine, if not sharper. He kissed me on the forehead and then wiped my cheeks with the back of his long, thin hand.
"Now, now, no tears. We're gonna have a nice reunion here. No sadness, hear?"
"Okay, Daddy," I said, smiling.
"I want you to meet my Edwina," he said, turning.
Edwina extended her hand. It was warm and soft in mine. I could see she was a tender woman whose smile came right from the heart.
"How do you do?" she said. "I'm glad we're finally meeting."
"So am I. Welcome," I said.
"It's so beautiful here," she remarked, turning. "Jimmy wasn't exaggerating." The bright, warm late-autumn afternoon did much to add to the sparkle and charm of Cutler's Cove. Our lawns were still rich green, and the trees were full of color: yellows, browns and reds. Above us the sky had turned a dark blue, and the clouds were puffy and milk white.
"Thank you." My heart was doing flip-flops. I could barely catch my breath.
"And now meet Gavin," Daddy said.
"Hello, Gavin. I'm Dawn. Wait until you meet Christie," I told the wide-eyed little boy in Jimmy's arms.
"And Fern," Jimmy emphasized.
"Where is she?" Daddy asked, looking around.
"She's inside doing errands for the bellhops, Daddy," I said.
"Put her to work already, huh?" he said.
"She loves it, Daddy," Jimmy said. "She can't wait to come home from school and be in the hotel. Come on. Let's go inside. Julius will bring your suitcases to the house, but first we want to show you the hotel. Are you hungry?" he asked Edwina.
"No, we just ate on the plane," she answered.
"I'm hungry," Gavin quickly piped up. Everyone laughed.
"He's always hungry," Daddy said. "I think he's got two hollow legs."
We marched into the hotel, and Daddy and Edwina gaped around at everything.
"Bigger than I remember," Daddy remarked, nodding, his hands on his hips.
"Over there is the dining room," Jimmy said to Edwina, pointing, "and off left is what we call the card room or tearoom. There's a ballroom to the right where the guests see shows and dance at night. We'll take you out to see the pool and the tennis courts and—"
Jimmy stopped when Fern came running down the corridor to report to the bellhop desk. She never even saw us watching her.
"That's her, Daddy, little Fern," Jimmy said.
Daddy squinted as he gazed. Finally Fern turned our way, and Jimmy waved. She said something to Robert Garwood and then sauntered across the lobby slowly.
"Spitting image of Sally Jean," Daddy muttered. "Fern," Jimmy began, "this is your father."
Fern looked up at him with cold scrutiny as Daddy smiled.
"Don't you want to give your father a hug, honey?" I asked.
She shrugged.
"Oh, it's gonna take some time," Daddy said understandingly. "But I-guess we can shake hands, can't we?" he said, extending his. Fern looked at it as if it were diseased and then reluctantly placed hers in his. She pulled it back as quickly as she could.
"Hi," she said. "We don't look alike," she added quickly. Daddy threw his head back and roared. Fern looked away, but I saw her smirking.
"No," Daddy said. "You look more like your mother."
"This is Gavin," Jimmy said. Fern turned to him with more interest. Gavin, shy, looked back intently, his dark brown eyes scanning her from head to toe.
"Hello, Gavin," Fern said. Then, surprisingly, she leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. He looked just as surprised as the rest of us. "May I take him and show him around?" she asked. "I can take him to the ballroom where Christie's having her piano lesson."
"Gavin, you want to go with your sister?" Jimmy asked him. He looked at Jimmy and then at Daddy, who kept smiling widely. Gavin nodded, and Jimmy lowered him to the floor. Fern seized his hand and started away, Gavin trotting to keep up.
"Wait, Fern," I said. She turned back impatiently. "You haven't said hello to Edwina," I reminded her.
"Hello," Fern said quickly.
"Hi, Fern," Edwina said, smiling. Fern started away again.
"We'll meet right here in ten minutes or so," Jimmy called after her.
"Ain't she something?" Daddy said, shaking his head. "Gonna be a heartbreaker, that one," he added.
"I believe you're right, Daddy," Jimmy said. "Come on. Let us show you about. Sure you don't want something to eat or drink first?"
"I'm too excited," Edwina said. She threaded her arm through Daddy's. I decided they did look good together, and I could see from the way he looked at her that he loved her very much.
I never realized how proud I was of Cutler's Cove until we showed Daddy and Edwina around. They were so impressed with everything and Daddy kept saying things like, "I can't believe this is all yours, honey. Wouldn't Momma be just burstin' with joy?"
After we had shown them about the hotel and Daddy saw all the changes, we gathered Fern, Gavin and Christie together and walked over to the house, where Daddy and Edwina oohed and ahhed some more. Jimmy took Daddy around to show him some of the details of the construction while I paraded Edwina about the dining room and living room, showing her our furniture and artwork. Mrs. Boston put up some water for tea, and we sat around and talked some more. The children went upstairs with Fern so Christie could show Gavin all her toys. Fern had taken to the role of big sister rather quickly.
"I can't get over how mature Fern is for her age," Edwina said, shaking her head.
I knew that Jimmy had told Daddy everything about her, so I didn't have to go into Fern's tragic history. Instead, Edwina told me about herself, how she had been married before, but how her husband of only two years had been killed in a truck accident in Texas. Less than a year later she had met Daddy, and they had taken to each other quickly. We had a good talk while Jimmy and Daddy inspected the house and the grounds. I decided I liked Edwina a lot, and I could see how she would be a good stabilizing influence on Daddy. He and Jimmy came in on us while she was telling me how much Daddy's boss liked
him.
"Nobody blows my horn better than she does," Daddy remarked. Edwina smiled up at him, and they kissed. Jimmy and I exchanged a quick glance, both of us happy to see Daddy so pleased with his life now. I thought Jimmy was right about him—he was a changed man, more settled, gentler, wiser.
When we looked in on Gavin, Fern and Christie we found Gavin and Christie seated quietly on the floor with Fern standing above them, her arms folded across her chest. She looked like a stern schoolteacher. Christie and Gavin had toys and games all around them.
"Everything is fine," Fern told us. "Everyone is behaving," she said
"Ain't she the little lady?" Daddy said.
"The whole world should get along as well as children do," Edwina said.
"Ain't that the truth," Daddy added.
We showed Daddy and Edwina to their room so they could shower and dress for dinner. Mrs. Boston had prepared a turkey and all the fixings. It was truly going to be a Thanksgiving.
Jimmy had talked me into permitting Christie and Fern to stay home from school the next day so they would have more time to spend with Gavin.
"Otherwise the poor guy will be bored to death all day," Jimmy said.
In the morning after breakfast Jimmy took Daddy Longchamp around with him to see the kinds of work he had to supervise. I knew the two of them would be happy off discussing boilers and motors. I had introduced Edwina and Daddy to Betty Ann and Philip. Edwina got along very well with Betty Ann, who took her to see the twins and their portion of the old section of the hotel while I tended to some business matters.
In the afternoon we all had lunch in the dining room. To my surprise and delight, Philip volunteered to take Edwina and Betty Ann into town to see some of the sights and shops. Daddy was content spending his time with Jimmy around the hotel. Fern, still acting the role of big sister, took Christie and Gavin back to the house. I returned to my office for a meeting with Mr. Dorfman. It ran longer than I had anticipated, and when I looked up at the clock I saw it was nearly four.
Wondering how the children were getting along, I decided to stop over at the house. Mrs. Boston was in the kitchen preparing a large roast beef. We were going to have Philip, Betty Ann and the twins over for dinner as well, since Daddy had to leave the next morning.
"I hope the children haven't been a problem for you, Mrs. Boston," I said when I paused in the kitchen.
"The children?" She thought a moment. "You know, Dawn, I completely forgot they were here. They've been so quiet up there."
"Oh? Well, that's very nice," I said. I imagined that Mrs. Boston was so involved with her dinner preparations that she wouldn't have heard them anyway. I went up the stairs quickly and was surprised to discover they weren't in Christie's room; they were in Fern's, and the door was shut.
I started to open it when I heard Fern say, "You can touch it, Christie. It's not going to bite you."
I hoped they hadn't brought a little garter snake into the house. Mrs. Boston would absolutely faint if she saw it, I thought, laughing to myself. But when I opened the door I was shocked to discover Christie and Gavin facing each other, both totally naked. Fern was standing with her back to me and apparently hadn't heard me enter.
"Mommy," Christie cried. Fern spun around, her face turning beet red.
"What in the world . . . what's going on here, Fern?" I demanded.
"Nothing," she said quickly. "I mean . . . I don't know," she sputtered. She stepped away from the two of them. "You don't know? Why are they undressed?"
"They did it themselves," she said quickly. "I was . . . downstairs, and when I came up I found them like this. It was Gavin's idea," she said, pointing accusingly at him. "He told Christie he would show her his if she would show him hers."
I looked at Gavin. He stood terrified, his eyes glazed with fear.
"Is that true, Christie?" I asked.
She started to shake her head, but her eyes caught Fern's furious look of warning. Then she started to cry.
"Get them dressed," I commanded. "Immediately."
"Come on, Gavin," Fern said, pulling him to the bed, where most of his clothing lay. She lifted him up and started dressing him while I helped Christie.
"I don't understand this, Christie. Why would you do such a thing? Don't you know it's not nice to undress yourself in front of boys?" She kept crying, but I was seething inside. I knew Fern was lying, and I wanted Christie to tell me so.
"I'm sorry, Momma," she bawled. "I'm sorry."
"And Gavin's momma and daddy will be very upset, too."
"Maybe you better not tell them," Fern said. "Daddy Longchamp looks mean enough to heat the skin off him."
"Fern!" I spun around on her. "You will have him absolutely terrified of his father."
She shrugged.
"Nothing happened. They just looked at each other. You don't have to tell," she insisted.
"We'll discuss it afterward," I said. "Finish dressing him."
As soon as the two of them were fully dressed I sent them out of the room and downstairs to wait while I spoke to Fern. She sat on her bed and stared down at the floor.
"How could you do such a thing with children that little?" I said, forgetting for the moment that I was speaking to a girl only a little more than ten herself.
"I told you," she said, glaring back hatefully, "I didn't do it."
"Stop lying. I heard you just before I opened the door." She stared at me a moment, and then suddenly she burst into tears.
"Oh, you're going to go tell Jimmy now, and Daddy Longchamp, and everyone will hate me. That's just what you want," she cried.
"Fern, that's not so. I don't want anyone to hate you," I said, but she just cried harder and harder. "I'm not going to tell them," I said finally. "I'm not."
Her crying stopped instantly.
"You're not?" she asked, grinding the tears from her eyes. "No. But it was a very naughty thing to do. Why did you do it?" I demanded.
She thought for a moment and then said, "They were playing with dolls, and Gavin wondered why the boy dolls didn't have what he had," she said. "Then Christie asked what that was, so I thought they should both know the difference. It was just educational. Like science class," she explained.
"That's not the way to teach them, Fern, and I asked you once before not to talk about those things with Christie yet. She's too young," I said firmly.
"Okay," she said. "You're really not going to tell?"
"I said I wasn't, but that doesn't mean I'm not very upset. Nothing like this must ever happen again," I emphasized. She nodded.
And then she narrowed her eyes and said, "If you tell Jimmy after saying you won't, I'll hate you forever." My mouth gaped open. The force of her threat made my breath catch in my throat. For a moment I couldn't speak.
"It's not nice to threaten, Fern," I responded, but she didn't look away. She made her eyes blank and refused to speak. My heart pounding, I turned and left the room.
Maybe it was a mistake, but I didn't say anything to Jimmy about the incident. Everyone was enjoying Daddy and Edwina so much, I didn't want to spoil the day and the evening. Our meal was wonderful. Even Philip, who I feared would be snobby and condescending to Daddy, was charming and friendly. I assumed he was doing everything he could to continue to make up for the horrible way he had behaved when Jimmy was away. He kept looking at me to see if I was pleased with him.
Before the evening ended I played the piano and sang. I saw that it brought tears to Daddy's eyes. When I was finished he got up quickly and came to me to draw me into his embrace. He bowed his head into my hair, his breath stirring it as he spoke.
"If only Momma was here to see this," he said. We both cried, and then Betty Ann talked Christie into playing the piano, too. Little Gavin looked absolutely fascinated with her. He sat unmoving, his eyes fixed on her every move. Afterward, when we all applauded, I thought he clapped his little hands harder than any of us.
Betty Ann got the twins to perform a little dance when I p
layed for them. Everyone loved the way the golden twosome hugged—and turned each other and then clapped their hands for themselves. We all laughed.
Only Fern looked unhappy. She sat in a corner, away from everyone, a sour expression on her face unless Jimmy spoke to her or looked at her. Then she would smile widely, lovingly. Toward the end of the evening Daddy tried to talk to her, asking her questions about school, but she was very flippant and acted completely disinterested. Finally he laughed and gave up.
It was time for all the children to go to bed anyway. Betty Ann and Philip left with the twins, promising to meet Daddy and Edwina for breakfast in the dining room in the morning. After they left, Daddy, Edwina, Jimmy and I sat in the living room talking about Fern.
"I think you two did a wonderful thing rescuing her from that terrible life and bringing her here to live with you. She's certainly got a lot of advantages," Daddy said, shaking his head. "She's lucky now, growing up in a place like this."
"It doesn't bother you that she's not going back to live with you right now, Daddy?" Jimmy asked.
"Oh, no, Jimmy. I think she's better off here, now that I see her. She's a big girl already, and—well, to tell you the truth, we're just making ends meet as it is, and we want to do as much as we can for Gavin," Daddy said.
Jimmy nodded, but when he gazed at me I saw the sadness in his eyes. I knew he was wishing Daddy had had these thoughts about him when he was Gavin's age, but that was a different time, almost a different world.
"Okay, Daddy," Jimmy said. "We'll do the best we can for Fern, and we'll keep in close touch with you."
"Oh, I know you two will do just fine by her, just fine," Daddy said. A silence dropped around us as Daddy gazed from Jimmy to me and then back to Jimmy. Jimmy and I glanced at each other. We knew what had to be going through Daddy's mind: He had known us only as his children, and now we were man and wife. He tried his best to hide it.
Cutler 3 - Twilight's Child Page 33
