“They’re back,” I said. “I’d better hurry.”
“I should sneak back to my room,” he said, and started for the door, but before he got to it, there was a knock, and without my saying anything, Lucille opened it and stepped in, stopping instantly when she saw Ethan. I held my breath, but instead of looking shocked, she smiled.
“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt anything. I just wanted to let you know we were back and see where you were in your preparations for dinner. Your father had to make an important phone call. Naturally.”
Ethan turned to me like someone sinking in quicksand hoping to be rescued.
“This is Ethan Hunter, Lucille. We were just getting ready ourselves.”
“Yes,” she said. “I assumed that’s who you were. I’m very happy to meet you,” she said, extending her hand to Ethan. I hadn’t realized until then that whenever Lucille held her hand out to someone, she turned her palm down as if she expected him or her to kiss her ring. Ethan gently and quickly shook her hand.
“Me, too. I mean, happy to meet you. I’m sorry for my dumbfounded look. I guess I’m still quite taken with the Heaven-stone estate. It’s all so . . .”
“Overwhelming?” she offered, shifting her eyes toward me wrapped in my towel.
“Yes, exactly.”
“Don’t feel embarrassed. I can’t imagine anyone who comes here for the first time being anything but overwhelmed. Did you have a good trip?”
“Terrific. Everything was on time.” He turned to me. “I’ll just return to my room and wait for you, Semantha,” he said, fumbling for a smooth exit.
“Don’t be silly,” Lucille said, reaching out to seize his left arm. “Go right down to Mr. Heaven-stone’s office and introduce yourself to Semantha’s father. He should be finished with his phone call by now. You men need time together without us flitting about you like moths drawn to candles,” she said, giving him one of her deepest, warmest smiles.
He looked to me for a reaction.
“Yes, that’s a good idea, Ethan. I need another ten minutes or so.”
“Okay,” Ethan said. “See you soon.” He paused at the door to nod at Lucille. She remained behind, watching him leave, and then turned to me.
“I didn’t mean to burst in on you two. I guess I have to wait to hear you say ‘enter.’ Sorry.”
“It’s all right, Lucille.”
“You didn’t tell me how handsome he was. And what a manly, firm demeanor. He handled what could have been an embarrassing situation very well. I’ve met enough so-called sophisticated young men these days to know he’s something special. I’m happy for you, Semantha. Congratulations on your conquest.”
Her unexpected burst of compliments stirred mixed feelings. Of course, I was happy to hear her instant approval, but even from the short time I had known Lucille, I sensed this was quite uncharacteristic. From what I had seen of the way she reacted to people, especially people she met for the first time, whether they were salesladies in department stores or waiters in restaurants, there was always a layer of cynicism for them to crack first before she would have a kind word or get off her pedestal. In her philosophy, people, no matter who they were, were to be suspected and doubted first. She had even muttered that she believed respect should be the final gift bestowed on any stranger. And there was never any doubt in my mind that she saw herself treating anyone with respect as a gift bestowed from high above to them.
“I’ve made no conquest, Lucille. We’re not engaged or anything. He’s just visiting for a few days.” I couldn’t help sounding a bit annoyed, even though I wasn’t sure why I should.
“Of course you’re not engaged, but one look at his face when he looks at you tells me you’ve made a conquest. Don’t be embarrassed. All I’m saying is that he makes a very good first impression. I think you’ve had enough experience to know it takes time and great caution before you invest in any relationship. At least, I hope you have.”
Where I got the nerve to say it I don’t know. Maybe it was Cassie’s touch, but I held my ground and replied, “You and my father haven’t been seeing each other all that long, have you, and you have invested in a long relationship.”
She smiled, but not coldly or coyly. It was more like a high school girl’s dreamy, soft smile.
“No, not terribly long, but when you reach our ages and have been through so many emotional battles and journeys, you develop a deeper wisdom. Just like an experienced diamond cutter can tell you almost instantly whether a diamond is worth a great deal or not, your father and I can peel away what’s necessary to see what is truly in our hearts, and we’ve both found gold. I hope you do as well.” She turned and went to the door. “I’ll see you downstairs, and over the next day or so, I hope to help you to see exactly what you’ve found. You seem a tad unsure. I only wish to help you build your own self-confidence, Semantha.”
My mixed feelings lingered, but now I was thinking that I might have misjudged her again and been unnecessarily harsh when she was only trying to be happy for me. Oh, why did everything have to be so complicated? For a moment, I actually wished I did have Cassie at my side. But then I quickly reminded myself that I had to be my own person now, sink or swim.
I hurried to get ready, afraid that Daddy would frighten or intimidate Ethan so much that he would cut his stay short, but when I started down the stairway, I could hear them both laughing. They were already having cocktails.
“Well, here’s our little princess now,” Daddy declared when I entered the living room.
He and Ethan were sitting across from each other. Ethan rose. Daddy looked at him with delighted surprise and nodded at me before rising himself.
“White wine, Semantha?”
“Yes, please, Daddy.”
He went to the marble bar to open a fresh bottle of Chardonnay, Lucille’s favorite.
“You look terrific,” Ethan said.
I had decided to wear the strapless aqua blue dress I had worn for Daddy’s last birthday party. I expected to hear Daddy say something about it, but he didn’t. Mother had once told me that Daddy was as oblivious to what she wore as any stranger might be. He hadn’t been that way with Cassie, but she was right when it came to her or to me. “But,” she had added, “he never fails to tell me how beautiful I look. It’s a standing joke for him to ask me if I have just bought a dress, even though I have worn it two or three times.”
I did notice, however, that Daddy never seemed to fail to remark about Lucille’s clothes. At least in that regard, his behavior toward a woman other than Cassie had changed, but then again, I wasn’t there when he had first begun seeing Mother. Perhaps he had given her as much attention then, too. Cassie, of course, had blamed Mother for Daddy’s indifference.
“She lets him take her for granted. She never surprises him,” she had said. I should have known back then, sensed how unnatural it was for a daughter to be so critical of her mother, but, like Daddy, I made excuses for her. Cassie was just too intelligent to be anything but objective and honest.
“Let’s wait for Lucille before making any sort of toast,” Daddy said, handing me my glass of wine. “Now, then, Semantha, you didn’t tell me Mr. Hunter was majoring in business and had won his college’s coveted future entrepreneur award. How could you overlook something like that?”
“I didn’t know about any award,” I said, looking at Ethan. “You never mentioned it, or I would have remembered.”
“Oh, modest, eh, Ethan?” Daddy said. “Let me give you some quick advice. No one blows your horn better than you do yourself. I don’t care whom you hire to promote your business or your career. They just won’t have the same passion. There’s no shame in being proud of your accomplishments, and more often than not, we have to blast our own headlines.”
“You’re right,” Ethan said. “I see that now, especially in this competitive environment.”
“Precisely. Ah, here she is!” Daddy cried. “Ethan, this is—”
“We already m
et, Teddy,” Lucille said.
I was surprised she had gone strapless as well and put on one of her more elegant black satin dresses with a pleated bust. She complemented it with a pair of emerald and diamond earrings and a four-leaf clover emerald and diamond necklace strung on gold.
“Well, look at that,” Daddy said. “Lucille’s wearing a special gift I gave her. You should be honored, Ethan. Those earrings and necklace marked a little anniversary of ours.”
Lucille laughed. “Your father insists on giving me gifts every month to celebrate our first real date,” she said.
“I don’t blame him,” Ethan said.
Lucille’s eyes seemed to glitter when she looked at him and gave a little nod of thanks.
“Glass of your white wine?” Daddy said, pouring it.
“Yes, my dear.” She moved to the bar.
I stepped closer to Ethan. “Their little anniversary was the first night I met you,” I whispered.
“Then I’ll have to start giving you a gift, too,” he replied.
“Well, then, let’s toast the hope that Ethan enjoys his visit,” Daddy said, raising his glass.
Lucille held her smile. “I think I can safely say he’s already done that,” she said.
Ethan blushed and drank rather than speaking.
Our conversations that night both during cocktails and at dinner moved through more topics than ever. I could see that Daddy was quite impressed with how much Ethan knew about the current retail scene, including some favorable and not-so-favorable business tax laws. Whenever the conversation got too dry for her taste, Lucille changed the topic to something to do with their upcoming wedding. Discussion of food and music led to more about the wedding menu and the choices she had made for the orchestra.
“This sounds like the wedding of the century,” Ethan remarked.
“To us, it is,” Lucille replied. “But you’re very nice to say so.”
To my surprise, she gave Mrs. Dobson a compliment on the dinner as well, but afterward, she did say that for real lobster Alfredo, we would have to go to Eva’s Bistro in Lexington.
After dinner, we went into the den, where Daddy showed Ethan all of his fine electronics, his stereos and high-definition television.
“Not that we have that much time to spend on home entertainment these days,” he said.
“It’s no one’s fault but your own, Teddy,” Lucille gently chastised. “You should have better executives on your staff so you would feel more comfortable about assigning responsibilities. You’re no different from a president and his cabinet.”
“Take note, Ethan,” Daddy said. “A good woman sees where her man needs to be strengthened and subtly, perhaps not so subtly sometimes, makes sure that’s what happens.”
“Maybe that’s because we take criticism best from those we love and those who love us,” Ethan said, focusing on me when he said it.
“Well said,” Daddy replied.
Soon after, Lucille suggested that Ethan and I go for a walk.
“After all, Teddy,” she told Daddy, “they don’t need to spend all their time with us. I’m sure they have lots of catching up to do.”
“Oh, sure, sure. Go on. Show him the pool,” Daddy suggested. “All the ground lights are on. Enjoy.”
“Thank you, sir,” Ethan said, and then looked to me. I rose and led him out.
“My soon-to-be stepmother has a way of taking over everything,” I muttered. “Even our agenda.”
“Actually, I’m glad she made the suggestion,” Ethan whispered. He laughed and hurried us out of the house. “But don’t misunderstand me. Your father’s a terrific guy. He made me feel comfortable from the moment I met him.”
“I’m glad, Ethan.”
“I can see why he’s so successful. And your future stepmother’s quite a nice surprise, too.” When I didn’t comment, he added, “Don’t you like her?”
“What is it they say? The jury’s still out.”
He laughed and then grew serious, his eyes narrowing and focusing on mine. “No one can replace your mother, I’m sure. That’s what your father’s going through. It’s not easy to marry someone who was happily married but who lost his or her spouse.”
“Let’s not talk about it right now,” I said, maybe too sharply.
He stopped talking, and we just walked until we came to the pool. As Daddy had said, everything was lit up. The water glistened.
“This is beautiful,” Ethan said. “This looks like an Olympic-size pool.”
“Almost.”
“I was on the swimming team in high school, you know.”
“No, you didn’t mention it, just like you didn’t mention your college award.”
“Yeah, well, I kind of got caught up in my ambitions and chose not to join any teams at college. I didn’t want to take away from my work. I was determined to graduate with honors. How about we take a swim tomorrow before breakfast with your father and future stepmother?”
I laughed at his enthusiasm. “Okay,” I said, “but Daddy gets up early.”
“And Lucille?”
“Often just as early.”
“So, if we miss them, we miss them. We’ll see them when we go to Lexington,” he said. “I didn’t come here to spend time with them, anyway.”
I was glad to hear that. For a few moments, I thought he was more intrigued with my father and Lucille and the Heaven-stone business than with me.
He flopped onto a chaise and patted the space beside him for me to join him.
“I could sleep out here under the stars tonight if you were with me,” he said. “Hey, that way, when we wake up, we could just undress and jump in the pool.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“I can dream, can’t I?”
He put his arm around me, and I relaxed with my head on his shoulder.
“It’s so quiet here,” he said. “Where I live, there’s so much traffic noise, horns, brakes screeching, and clatter that you don’t even want to keep your windows open at night. I’m sure glad I made this trip.”
“Me, too.”
He turned to kiss me, and then he just stared a moment too long.
“What?”
“I’m really, really sorry for the way I behaved at the motel. It was just such a shock to hear about your horrible experience, made even more horrible because of your sister’s involvement.”
“It’s all right, Ethan. Please stop mentioning it.”
“No, it’s not all right. It was immature of me, and selfish. I should have had more sympathy and understanding. How often does it come up? I mean, with your father?”
“Never,” I said. “He acts as if it never happened.”
“So, there’s really no contact . . . I mean, what you told me about those cousins and . . .”
“No. They won’t even be invited to the wedding.”
He nodded. “Well,” he said after a long moment. “Then that’s how I’ll treat it, too, like it never happened.”
I know he was saying that to make me feel better, but it didn’t. If I told him how I celebrated my daughter’s birthday and how often I imagined her crying, he might think differently, but it wasn’t something I wanted to share with anyone, not yet and maybe not ever.
We actually fell asleep in each other’s arms for a while at the pool, he because of the trip and me because of all the excitement. I also hoped it was because we were so comfortable wrapped up in each other, so comfortable and safe, that we had no fear just drifting from words to thoughts to dreams. He was awake before I was. When I opened my eyes, he was staring at me and smiling.
“How long have you been awake?” I asked.
“A while. I didn’t want to wake you. You looked so angelic.”
I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair. The few clouds that had been loitering in the sky above had moved on and left the stars undressed.
“It sure is a beautiful night,” Ethan said.
“Angel eyes.”
“Pardon?�
�
“That’s what my mother called the stars.”
“Very nice.”
“We should probably go in. It’s late, and you have some wild idea about getting up early,” I said.
He laughed, stood up, and took my hand.
We walked back silently, and when we entered the house, it was quiet as well. The lights had been turned off in the den. Mrs. Dobson and Doris had long since cleaned up after dinner, and both had gone to bed. There were no lights on down the hallway coming from Daddy’s office, so he wasn’t up late catching up on some important business.
“Everyone’s asleep,” I whispered.
We practically tiptoed up the stairway. At my bedroom door, we paused, and Ethan kissed me good night, but he didn’t just kiss me and go off. He held me for a few long moments, embracing me as if we had been apart for years or had crossed oceans to be together again. Perhaps in his eyes, coming to the Heaven-stone estate was like crossing some sort of ocean, overcoming some deep and wide gap between us. He kissed me again and whispered good night. I watched him start away. He turned and in a louder whisper said, “Wake me when you wake.”
“If I don’t and you wake first, wake me,” I whispered back.
He smiled and went to his room. I couldn’t recall a night when I had gone to sleep with a fuller heart and a deeper faith in my dreams to come. No nightmare would dare cross my threshold of happiness, not a sad thought, not a fear, nothing. Sleep would be more like drifting in warm space, waiting for the gentle nudge of morning sunlight to wake me, and never would I be more eager to awaken and greet a new day.
I curled up in my bed and snuggled against my comforter and pillow, scented and soft. Had I been dreaming before I had gone to bed? Was Ethan Hunter really sleeping in the room just across and down the hall from mine? I almost felt it necessary to get up and peek into his room to see if he was truly there. I laughed at myself and then thought only of his eyes, his smile, and his lips on mine. As I had hoped, sleep quickly embraced me and took me prisoner for the night.
Secret Whispers Page 16
