Donna took Lily’s hand. “Sit down; I have a story to tell you.” By that time the sun had burst through the clouds and its brilliant light caught Donna’s face in such a way that it made her shoulder-length, caramel-colored hair sparkle. She was a beauty, and even at 49 years old, still turned heads wherever she went.
“So do you remember when you were, oh, 11 or 12 years old, when I was dating an artist named Ken Richards?”
“Kind of.” Lily thought for a second. “Wait. Was he the artist from Massachusetts?”
Donna nodded her head. “New Bedford, actually.”
“Yeah I think so. Didn’t Mom and I visit him in Greece when I was shooting Aegean Paradise?”
“Yes, he also has a home in Mykonos, where he spends a couple of months each year painting.”
Whatever happened with you guys?”
“Nothing major. The timing wasn’t right. However, I recently ran into him again.” Donna’s face turned crimson. “Well to be honest, I had a gig on the Cape with Carly and I read in the local paper that he was hosting an exhibit in New Bedford, which wasn’t too far away. I decided to attend.”
“How did it go?” Lily asked, intrigued.
“Great. I bought a colorful landscape that he’d painted of the island of Paros. The work is gorgeous and already hangs in my living room. You should come over and see it.”
“No I mean, between you two. How did it go?
Well, so far, so good.” She smiled. “Great, actually. The timing seems a lot better this go round. So Pali, even after fifteen years, it proves that if you love someone, then set them free.” Donna stood up and brushed the crumbs of Daisy Rose’s crackers from her lap.
“So do I get to spend some time with you and the artist?”
“Absolutely. He’s got to meet you. After all, you’re my family.” Donna squeezed Lily’s hand and smiled.
I’m glad for you, Auntie D., I really am. But I don’t know if it’s ever going to happen with Robbie. I think I better move on and try to forget him.”
“Think about what I said. Follow your heart and I know you’ll make the right decision.
Donna opened her burgundy tote and took out her cosmetics bag. Without even looking into the mirror, she expertly applied her wine-red Chanel lipstick.
“Mom used to do that—put on lipstick without looking at a mirror. How do you do that?
Donna smiled and her newly painted lips glistened. “It’s like anything else: After you do it for so many years, you become a pro. It’s the same thing with love and relationships. Experiences soon enough make you an expert. So be smart.”
“Wow, you even turned makeup application into a teachable moment. Very impressive.”
Donna put her makeup back into her purse and looked at Daisy Rose, peacefully asleep in her stroller. “I’ve been meaning to ask you if you’re going to plan a big to-do for the baby’s first birthday.”
“Of course. I have to finalize a few details. The next couple of weeks are a bit hectic—my last performance is Saturday the 19th and I was thinking of having her party the following weekend, Sunday, on her actual birthday. Do you think Serendipity 3 is a good place to have it?”
Serendipity 3 is an Upper East Side New York City ice-cream restaurant that, since the 1950s, has catered to children. As soon as customers enter the front door, they are immediately propelled back in time. The front room resembles an old-fashioned ice-cream parlor, with vintage toys and penny candy for sale. The restaurant is located in the back room that you reach by walking through this nostalgic General Store. With its balloons and bright colors, the décor is eye-catching for both kids and adults. Over the years, the restaurant had been featured in movies and TV shows because of its unique ambience and wonderland quality. Their sundaes are huge and world-famous, and the frozen hot chocolate is the epitome of sweet decadence.
“Perfect. I’ll be there with bells on. Who knows: I may just ask Ken to join us.”
“Oh I get it. Sort of put him through trial by fire. If he can make it through the day with fifteen toddlers high on sugar, then maybe he’s the perfect man for you.”
Donna laughed. “Now you’re catching on.”
“Speaking about ‘perfect men,’ the guys are coming over in a little while for some family time. Want to join us? It’s going to be only for an hour or two because Kristin, Jessica, and Jodee are coming over later for take-out and for what they call a tribunal.”
Lily spied a group of sparrows cautiously hopping toward the opposite bench and threw leftover pieces of her sandwich bread in their direction. Ten of them swooped down and quickly retrieved the ciabatini morsels.
“A tribunal? I’ll bite, what’s a tribunal?”
“How about we start walking back to the apartment and I’ll fill you in on the details on the way,” Lily said.
Lily stepped out of the Pavilion to throw her leftover wrappers in the trashcan on the other side of the flower-lined cobblestone path. She paused to watch a family pass by—a couple walking hand in hand on their way to the lake, their two young daughters skipping a few feet ahead of them. The adorable girls were dressed in matching polka-dotted dresses and each carried a large pink hula hoop. Their long, shiny, blonde curls bounced up and down as they skipped.
Lily looked wistfully at Donna. “Oh, see that’s what I want for Daisy Rose. A mother and a father who love each other and a sister for Daisy Rose to play and share secrets with. I missed that growing up as an only child.”
First of all, you didn’t miss anything. Trust me it’s not always so wonderful. You know I have an older sister?”
Lily nodded. “Cheryl Lynn, right?”
Auntie D. shook her head. “Yes, what you don’t know is growing up she made my life miserable. She’s a bitch now and she was twice the bitch back then. There was no sharing, hand holding, or skipping in our household.”
“I’m sorry, I had no idea.” Lily said as she gave the stroller an extra push up a small hill toward Central Park’s West 72nd Street transverse, a place where pedestrians, joggers, bicyclists, and horses and carriages travel across the park to get to the East Side.
So, I’ll bet when those perfect-looking sisters get back home after a long day in the park, they’ll be fighting and calling each other names, instead of skipping and singing.” Donna said.
Lily shook her head when she saw the sadness in her Aunt’s face. She stopped and looked at the sky, eager to change the subject. “It turned out to be a beautiful day, didn’t it?” Before Donna could reply, Lily added “And please don’t make the analogy about sunshine appearing after stormy weather and how that applies to relationships, please.”
“Wouldn’t think of it. So, tell me about the tribunal the girls are holding at your apartment tonight.” Donna stopped to take a breather. She was wearing black Ferragamo suede pumps that were not meant for the steep hills in Central Park and certainly not for dodging poop left behind by the horses as they went clop, clop through the park.
“First off, I’m positive it’ll include lots of wine and laughter— both at my expense. The tribunal is Jessica’s, Jodee’s, and Kristin’s way of judging whether Jamie and I ought to be back together or not. Because of all the conversations we’ve had over the last two years— where I totally trashed Jamie—they feel it is their earned right to judge, based on the hours they listened to me. If the evidence shows that he has redeemed himself, then they won’t ever again say another negative word about him. If the decision is that he hasn’t, they’re allowed to remind me, once a week, what a big jerk he is,” Lily explained.
“And what is Jodee going to be doing while this is going on?
“Oh, she’s the attorney for the defense.”
“She’s defending the relationship?”
“Oh yeah—she thinks Jamie’s hot.” Lily winked. “So do I.”
They walked past the two grand staircases leading down to Bethesda Terrace, a large fountain with the famous Angel of the Waters statue on top. The fountain’s
water cascades into the upper basin and surrounding pool. The beautiful angel symbolized the purification of water and is an artistic tribute to the time New York City finally got its first clean water supply from Croton Aqueduct in 1842. The Statue refers to chapter 5 of the Gospel of John, where an angel is blessing the Pool of Bethesda.
Lily and Donna stopped to look at the statue and its grounds. The latter was crowded with children who danced around a trumpet-playing musician, as well as with couples walking hand in hand and people seated all around the fountain, soaking up the sunshine.
“I’ve always loved that statue; it’s one of my favorite places in Central Park.”
“You should love it. Did Mom tell you the story of how she came up with your first name?” Lily shook her head, so Donna continued. “The next time you walk down there, take a look at what the statue is holding in her hand. You’ll see that it’s a lily, which symbolizes purity. Your mother and father met one summer afternoon right by the fountain. He was throwing a Frisbee on the grassy hill directly behind it. Your mom was waiting for me to meet her for a picnic and walk through the park. Anyway, the Frisbee hit her in the back of the head, which he said was an accident—I never believed it.” Donna chuckled. “Anyway, by the time I arrived, they were deep in conversation. The fountain became their meeting place when they started to date. So after they were married and Mom got pregnant with you, she thought of the lily in the angel’s hand.”
“What a sweet story. How come my Mom never told me?”
Donna shrugged. “Hard to say. Could be that talking about your father was not a favorite topic of conversation for her.
A look of regret washed over Lily’s face. “I often wonder about him. Why he never contacted me—how can a person do that? Leave a child and go have a life somewhere else, with a second family.” Lily looked down at her sleeping angel and continued. “I couldn’t imagine that.”
Donna sighed, recalling the mess—financial and emotional—that Lily’s father, Scott, had left behind for Daisy to deal with. Lily was only six months old at the time and the burden he had dumped on his young wife was unfathomable. It took her years of hard work to pull herself out of the mire he had left behind. “You know, Pali, I’m sure that your Mom never told you this, but Jamie reminded her of your dad, and not in a good way.”
“Really?”
“Yes. His anger issues, his cheating, and even his looks. Your Mom never wanted you to make the same mistakes she had.”
Lily looked puzzled. She stopped and turned and looked at her Aunt for a few seconds. “Wait a minute: Is this your way of telling me that Jamie isn’t good for me?”
Donna feigned innocence. “Moi? I wouldn’t do that.”
They finally arrived at the East Side entrance to the park. Once they stepped out and on Fifth Avenue, Donna held up her hand and hailed a yellow cab.
“What are you doing—the apartment’s only a few blocks away?”
“Tell that to my feet!” Donna said as she stepped into the taxi.
“Daisy Rose, come to Mommy!” Tommy, Fernando, and Donna were all seated on Lily’s living-room floor. Recently, Daisy Rose had progressed from crawling to walking by holding on to chairs, sofas, table legs—anything she could grab that would get her from one place to the next on two feet.
Lily extended her arms, urging the baby to walk toward her. “Come on, Munchkin, you can do it.”
“Day Ro do it!” The toddler declared proudly. She took one step and promptly fell on her bum. A stranger would have thought the adults in the room were blithering idiots, the way they reacted. They clapped, they cheered, they whistled, and they carried on as if the toddler had won the New York City Marathon.
Daisy Rose sat in the middle of the room full of her admirers—her minions. She laughed and clapped her hands, looking from one adult to another. When they stopped clapping, she would point her finger and command. “More, clap, more!”
When Daisy Rose became sleepy, she stretched out on the carpet. Her t-shirt lifted up, revealing her little round belly. Lily bent down and gave Daisy Rose a loud “raspberry” on her stomach. The “raspberry” tickled and Daisy Rose giggled until she began to hiccup. This sent the adults into another round of laughter.
“When the merriment slowed down, Lily stood up. “Well folks, playtime’s over. I have to get Miss Daisy Rose ready for bed before her Mommy’s friends come over for a play date.”
“You sure know how to spoil a good time, don’t you Mommy?” Fernando said as he handed the toddler over to her mother.
“Yeah I’m a regular buzzkill.” Lily laughed and took the baby from him. “Oh my God. What did we feed this child today? She feels like she’s gained a ton.”
Donna walked over and pushed Daisy Rose’s curly long hair out of her eyes. “The way she’s been eating lately, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s getting ready for a growth spurt.”
“That, or she is carrying an extra load in her diaper.” Fernando quipped. Lily lifted Daisy Rose over her head and smelled her bottom to see if she could detect a soiled diaper.
“No, smells as fresh as a Daisy,” Lily joked and gave the baby a nibble on her chin.
“Okay little girl, it’s time to say bye-bye to your Auntie and Uncles because it’s sleepy time.”
Daisy Rose waved bye-bye to her fans. The three adults circled the toddler and each took their turn kissing her rosy cheeks.
“I have to get back to the office, so I’d better run.” Tommy turned to his partner, Fernando “Honey, do you want to share a cab downtown?”
“Sounds good, as long as you’re paying.”
Tommy shrugged and put his right arm around Fernando. “Don’t I always?” Donna picked up her tote bag and put her arm through Tommy’s free one. “I’m meeting Ken in the West Village, so I’m going to hitch a ride with you handsome gents and maybe I’ll pay.”
“Even better,” Tommy and Fernando said in unison.
It was not until Lily bathed Daisy Rose, read her two nursery rhymes, and sang her four songs that the toddler finally drifted off to sleep. Lily tiptoed out of the nursery, walked into the dining room, and opened the antique credenza. She took out four Baccarat wine glasses and two bottles of Merlot produced by one of the local vineyards on the North Fork of Long Island. She opened the bottles to let them breathe and walked over to the window seat and stretched out. She was bone tired and could have used a hot bath and a long nap before the girls came over.
The night before they had gone to sleep later than usual and the morning had arrived way too early, when Daisy Rose cried for attention at 6:00 a.m. It was Margaret’s day off so Lily brought Daisy Rose into her bed, hoping the toddler would go back to sleep. Instead, the infant had ended up entertaining her parents and keeping them awake.
Lily smiled when she thought of her beautiful baby and how precious she was first thing in the morning—her eyes half opened and her curly hair a messy tousle. Lily felt fortunate that she had a happy, healthy, and loving child.
Daisy Rose invented a game that morning in bed. She crawled over to Jamie, pushed Lily aside, and said, “My daddy,” and kissed him. Then she turned around and crawled over to Lily and pushed Jamie aside and said, “My Ma Ma,” whereupon she kissed Lily. Then she would end the game by spreading out her arms so she could touch both parents and proudly declare, “Mine.”
Lily and Jamie laughed and clapped, which motivated Daisy Rose to start the game over and over again. This went on until almost 8:30 a.m. when Jamie had to take a shower so he could get cross town for his 10:00 a.m. call time.
Jamie had recently landed a lead role in the new Clarence Howard movie, Henry’s Hammock. The plotline that Lily had gathered, from what Jamie had told her and from the bits and pieces of the script that she’d read while running lines with him, was that the character Henry discovers, when he gets on his hammock, that it mysteriously transports him back to another place in time. When Henry is ready to return to modern day, he has only to get back onto th
e hammock and have it rock the opposite way.
Lily made a concerted effort not to roll her eyes when Jamie told her the premise of the film. He was excited about starring in it and she didn’t want to appear condescending.
She poured the Merlot into the cut-crystal stemware and sat back down on the window seat to stretch out. She held the glass up to the window and turned it around slowly until she found the perfect angle that projected a prism bouquet of colors against the adjoining wall.
She recalled how much her Mom had adored prisms. One summer she had asked Lily to help string twenty of them on wires and hang them in front of one of the kitchen windows at the farm. Daisy would eat her lunch and watch the sun hit the prisms, splashing red, green, blue, purple, and yellow circles and diamonds across the entire kitchen.
She thought of Daisy and of the story Donna had told her about how her parents had met. It was hard to imagine Daisy as a young woman. As long as Lily could remember, her mother had always been in control and definite about all the decisions she made in life. From what Donna had told her, Daisy’s choice in men was questionable—at least when she was younger.
Lily knew that if Daisy were alive, she would have weighed in as soon as Lily and Jamie had gotten back together. Lily could hear her mother’s voice now:
“Darling, the man lied to you, cheated on you, borrowed money from you, and never paid you back. He even punched holes in your walls. What are you doing?”
Lily smiled, took a sip of wine and counted herself lucky that Daisy was not part of the upcoming tribunal. With her gift of persuasion and legendary “ Daisyisms,” Lily would not have a fighting chance and Jamie would be out the door in no time at all.
But Lily felt there had been a major shift in the way Jamie acted and treated her. He was thoughtful and generous—two things he had not been years earlier. And now he was so adorable with Daisy Rose that it melted Lily’s heart.
The truth of the matter was that Daisy was no longer there to give her opinions. Lily was now a grown woman with a child. It was her responsibility to do whatever she felt was right for her and the baby. In this case, it meant trying to make the situation with Jamie work.
The Silver Cord: The Lily Lockwood Series: Book Two Page 6