A New Kind of Bliss

by Bettye Griffin

  Apparently Valerie never had any delusions. When her daughter was six, she had another baby, a son. And when her son was six and her daughter twelve, she had one more daughter. Since none of the kids looked alike and there was no steady man in Valerie’s life, rumor had it that they all had different fathers.

  My mother had told me about each of Valerie’s successive pregnancies as soon as she learned of them, adding in a confused voice, “I don’t understand. Why doesn’t she just marry one of the men she’s been sleeping with?”

  I didn’t understand it myself. By the time Valerie had her youngest child, her career had advanced, and she had become a highly sought after motivational speaker. She was well paid and had a lifestyle to match, with a spacious house on a quiet street on City Island.

  “It puts Winnie in an awkward situation,” Mom continued. “She’s always talking about Norman’s kids and Wendy’s kids, but she never says anything about Valerie. In fact, if I hadn’t known her for so many years, I’d think she had only two children, not three. And Valerie’s got everything going for her. I wonder what makes her have all these babies. It’s like as soon as they outgrow their babyhood she gets pregnant again.”

  “Well, she’s in her forties now, Mom, so I think she’s shut down production.”

  “Yes, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be more babies in her family. Bea Pullman told me that she saw Valerie and her kids at a restaurant on City Island and that the oldest daughter looked like she was pregnant.”

  Bea Pullman was the fourth member of their card-playing group. “Oh, I’m sure she was mistaken. Valerie sends all those kids to parochial school,” I said.

  “I doubt she got this baby during school hours,” Mom said in a droll tone.

  Wayne came for me at seven-fifteen, looking quite handsome in a navy blue suit, which, since he worked as an electrician for Con Edison, I suspected was his standard outfit for weddings, funerals, and dinner parties. Although for a funeral I supposed he’d skip the snazzy geometric red and blue tie and matching silk hanky in favor of something more solemn.

  We said good night to a beaming Mom and set out on our way in Wayne’s Grand Marquis. The day had been warm, but the night was cool. June in New York had always been iffy, and I was grateful the shawl I borrowed from Mom was a knit blend and not the oversized lace doily type that provided no warmth whatsoever.

  “Your mother seems to be doing pretty well,” he remarked.

  “Yes. I think it helped her a lot when I told her I’m staying on.”

  “You’re moving back to Euliss? Hey, that’s great!”

  I shrugged. “Well…I don’t know if ‘moving’ is the appropriate word. I’ll probably be here for about six months to help Mom adjust to taking care of things herself.” In the back of my mind I was already dreading having to change locations twice in six months.

  Then again, after six months in Euliss I’d probably be ready to run for my life.

  Rosalind and John lived in an ivy-covered thirties Tudor on a quiet street. The house had belonged to the senior Hunters after they left Euliss—the scuttlebutt was they were ashamed to face their neighbors after John married Rosalind—and they sold it to John when they retired and moved to Florida. I noticed three other cars parked in the wide driveway. One undoubtedly belonged to Rosalind and one to John, but what about the third one? Did that maroon Mazda 929 parked next to us belong to Tanis or to Dr. Aaron Merritt? My palms suddenly felt damp.

  Rosalind answered the door, looking stunning in a tan short-sleeved knit dress with a gently draped neckline and white paisley print. Her low-heeled pumps were a standard for her, for as children she had towered above most of the fellows at school, eventually growing to five feet nine and marrying a man who stood only two inches taller. She kissed both of us hello. “I’m so glad to see you guys.” She added, “Oh, thank you!” when we presented her with her hostess gifts, by Smirnoff and Bacardi, respectively. “Come on in. Tanis is here already.”

  I let out my breath as softly as I could. Aaron hadn’t arrived yet.

  John Hunter, sitting in the living room with Tanis, rose to greet us. Never thin, even as a teenager, he’d become nicely broad in early middle age. With curly blond hair, round corn-flower blue eyes, and a nose that didn’t get in his way, he was still good-looking. In high school all the girls had crushes on him. The black girls were thrilled when he showed an interest in one of us. The white girls, on the other hand, were shocked. A jealous Mary Alice O’Brien started a rumor that Rosalind was putting out for him, and when Rosalind heard her say it after gym class she slammed Mary Alice against a locker and made her take it back.

  Wayne turned to greet John, leaving me facing Tanis. I was surprised at how small she looked in person, maybe a size six. At a size ten, I can hardly be referred to as full figured, but I felt like a lumberjack next to her.

  She wore a simple drop-waisted, sleeveless berry-colored dress with a V-neck and pleated bottom, and matching pumps. Her trademark long, wavy hair had been relaxed into a texture as straight as railroad tracks, losing none of its lush thickness along the way. She wore it in a layered style that brushed her shoulders at its longest length, and of course no gray showed.

  She took one of my hands in both of hers and pressed her cheek to mine, careful not to get too close. “Emily, I’m so sorry to hear about your dad. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get to the wake or the funeral. I was shooting that week.”

  She seemed sincere, I thought, but who knew? The woman role-played for a living.

  “It’s been ages, hasn’t it?” she added.

  “Yes, it has. I heard about your new show. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. Fortunately, we were picked up for a full season. The network made that commitment to Bob.” She spoke about the veteran TV actor who’d signed on to star in the hourly drama.

  I resisted the urge to point out that many a star had gotten a full-season commitment for new shows that tanked. I wanted to keep things pleasant, but so help me, the first time she said something bitchy, the gloves would come off. “Congratulations,” I said with as much warmth as I could muster.

  We sat on the sofa, and I reached to help myself to a cheese puff from a tray Rosalind had set up on the coffee table. I hadn’t eaten lunch, and it melted in my mouth in seconds. I promptly reached for a stuffed mushroom.

  John fixed drinks, and I helped myself to hors d’oeuvres at ninety-second intervals, hoping no one would notice.

  “Feeling a little peckish, are you, Emily?” Tanis asked, her eyebrows raised in amusement.

  I flashed an uncomfortable little smile. I decided I liked Tanis better when she smiled at refrigerators and cuddled up to bottles of shampoo on that game show she used to do.

  My fingers gripped the arms of my chair when the chiming sound of the doorbell reverberated through the house. I felt Tanis’s eyes on me and because of that resisted the urge to smooth my dress. Why was she watching me like a lazy worker eyes the clock? Had Rosalind told her she hoped Aaron and I would hit it off? And even if Rosalind had seen fit to share that information, what did that have to do with Tanis?

  I took a sip of my wine, the warm liquid calming me. It had been years since I’d been set up with anyone, but I don’t ever remember feeling so nervous. Maybe it got harder when you got older because you knew opportunities were fewer.

  “I’ll get it,” John said.

  I took a bigger sip, and then, suddenly panicky, I took a gulp. This was it.

  A minute later John returned with one of the best-looking men I’d ever seen.

  Chapter 4

  Rosalind had been right. He was about six one, light brown–skinned, with a mustache and neat goatee. But it was his eyes that stood out to me. Not the color, which was an ordinary brown. Their shape commanded my attention. They were narrow, like he’d just gotten out of bed. I’ve always been a sucker for a man with bedroom eyes. Al had them.

  The marvelous specimen standing just a few feet away from me l
ooked like he belonged on the cover of GQ. Instead of a suit he wore a navy blazer over tan pants, a white shirt, and a navy-and-red print tie.

  Aaron greeted Rosalind first, then shook Tanis’s hand. “I’m sorry I missed Rob. He’s spending a lot of time in California these days, isn’t he?”

  “Oh, he’ll be back Sunday,” she replied breezily.

  As Rosalind introduced Wayne to Aaron, I hoped she’d be subtle when it came my turn and would remember that it’s not just what you say but how you say it. If she injected too much enthusiasm she might as well put her arm around me and announce, “And right here we have the answer to All Your Problems,” like some spokesperson hawking a vitamin supplement on a TV infomercial.

  Rosalind didn’t let me down. “Aaron Merritt, Emily Yancy,” she said simply.

  “Nice to meet you, Emily,” he said melodically.

  I managed a cordial hello, mentally giving him five points for his speaking voice. His grip was firm and strong, reminding me of how long it had been since I’d been on the receiving end of masculine attention. But it didn’t feel like it would break my hand. I hated it when men pumped my hand like they were greeting Lennox Lewis. Five more points for consideration.

  Aaron’s eyes and smile didn’t belie anything other than casual friendliness, and I hoped mine were equally unrevealing. I didn’t want to appear overeager, or even particularly impressed, even if my heart was doing somersaults.

  John asked Aaron if he wanted a cocktail. “After dinner,” he replied.

  “All right. In that case why don’t we go in?”

  I watched with annoyance as Tanis chose that moment to strike up a conversation with Aaron, slipping her arm through his companionably as we all walked toward the dining room, leaving me to pair off with Wayne. But Rosalind had made place cards, and Tanis was assigned next to Wayne, across from Aaron and me. Rosalind and John sat at the respective heads of the gleaming brownish red cherrywood table.

  “So, Emily,” Aaron said over the French onion soup, “are you a friend of Rosalind’s or John’s?”

  Damn. He started to make conversation just as I took in a rather large ring of onion. I quickly cut it with my teeth and allowed the uneaten portion to drop back into the bowl. “Technically both of them, but Rosalind and I go all the way back to grammar school.”

  “Wayne and I, too,” Tanis interjected.

  “Yes, that’s right,” I agreed, trying to conceal my growing impatience. “The four of us went all through school together.”

  “That’s impressive,” Aaron observed. “Most people from that far back are out of touch. Do you live here in New Rochelle?”

  “No, we all grew up in Euliss.” Euliss is generally regarded as the shabbiest city in Westchester, and I watched his face to see if he would flinch, but his expression didn’t change. Five more points. “Wayne still lives there, and I’m in the process of relocating from Indianapolis for an extended time. My father just died, and my mother’s having a hard time with it.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Was it sudden?”

  “No, he’d been failing for some time.” As an oncologist, he was probably fishing to see if cancer had claimed my father, but I wasn’t about to discuss Pop’s decline like he’d been a lab specimen or something.

  “Will you be able to get a leave of absence from your job?” he asked, getting the message and moving on. Five more points for his sense of decorum.

  “They’ll keep my job open for six months. It’ll be inconvenient for them to have to hire someone on a temporary basis to fill in, but they were very nice about it.” Before he could ask, I added, “I’m a P.A.” Since he was a doctor, I figured he’d know that didn’t mean public accountant.

  “Oh! What’s your specialty?”

  “Family medicine.”

  “We have something in common, then. I’m an oncologist. I have offices in Manhattan, plus hospital privileges at Presbyterian and Sloan-Kettering.”

  I merely nodded as I took a spoonful of soup, hoping I looked unimpressed, like I was introduced to oncologists working at prestigious medical centers every week.

  “Is everybody done?” Rosalind asked. At the nods of response she rose and began collecting soup bowls.

  “Rosalind, why don’t you let Emily and me help out?” Tanis offered.

  I glared at her from across the table. If you want to be helpful, fine. Don’t bring me into it; I’m busy.

  “No, I’ve got it. You two stay put.”

  Rosalind disappeared into the kitchen, then emerged with a platter of golden brown Cornish hens atop a bed of yellow rice, followed by a bowl containing green beans with bacon pieces, and a basket of rolls.

  After we passed the food around, I turned to Aaron. “What made you want to practice oncology?”

  “How’s Billy, Aaron?” Tanis asked on the heels of my query.

  He glanced across the table at Tanis. “He’s doing real good, thanks.” Then Aaron caught my eye and explained, “My son. He goes to the same school as Tanis’s daughter.”

  “Oh. How nice.”

  “To answer your question,” he continued, “my grandmother died of cancer when she was younger than I am today. She suffered terribly, and being a kid, I wanted to find a cure when I grew up. But I didn’t become a scientist. I’m merely a health provider.” He shrugged, then took a sip of wine. His fingers around the stem of the glass were long and tapered.

  “I’m sure you’ve saved many lives,” I added sincerely.

  “Yes, I suppose I have. Sometimes that’s all my patients ask for, to live long enough to see their son’s or daughter’s wedding, or to hold their newborn grandchild, or to be able to attend high school or college graduations. It’s rewarding if I can help them do that.”

  We smiled at each other, and I felt the connection as sure as if someone had handcuffed us together.

  We were still grinning when Tanis interrupted again. “Are you all settled at your mom’s, Emily?”

  “Not yet. I have to go back to Indy and take care of some things.”

  “Has your husband gone back to Indiana already?” Tanis asked.

  Rosalind choked on her wine. John blinked. Wayne looked taken aback. And Aaron’s eyes narrowed into slits so narrow I couldn’t tell what color they were.

  I didn’t buy Tanis’s ignorance act. I’m sure her mother passed on the news of my divorce when it occurred, probably gleefully.

  “Tanis, I’ve been divorced for about a dozen years,” I said with a laugh. “I thought you knew.”

  “Oh, I don’t remember hearing about it.”

  Damn, she was good. If I didn’t know better I would have thought she really was embarrassed. But I wanted her to know she didn’t fool me, so I met her gaze with a knowing smile until she looked away.

  Wayne jumped into the awkward moment. “I was telling Tanis how great she looks.”

  “Yes, she does,” I agreed. “There’s something different about you, Tanis. I just can’t put my finger on it.” I tapped my cheek with my index finger, then discreetly bent my finger to rub my nose. She looked properly shocked at my bold gesture.

  Then I turned back to Aaron, reasonably certain that Tanis would not break in again. “Now, what were we saying?”

  After dinner John suggested we return to the living room. He waved us on, saying he wanted to help Rosalind bring out the dessert and coffee.

  This time I was the one Aaron escorted as we returned to the living room. I caught a glimpse of Tanis glaring at me when Aaron and I sat together on the couch. She quickly covered her scowl with a smile and moved to sit in the chair closest to his end of the sofa, crossing her legs like they were on display at MoMA.

  By the time John and Rosalind appeared with peach cobbler and cream we were having a spirited discussion about a prominent murder case in Rye. Aaron leaned in closer and spoke so only I could hear. “Did you say you’ll be in the area for another few days?”

  “Yes.” The syllable came out matter-of-
factly, but that wasn’t how I felt. Those sexy eyes focused on me were almost more than I could bear.

  “I hope you’ll consider having dinner with me when you come back.”

  “I’d like that.”

  He leaned back, and I forced my attention back to the conversation going on around us. “I think it was the husband,” John was saying. “He’s overacting, if you ask me. Passing out when he identified the body, passing out again at the funeral…”

  “You’d think if he’d wanted to get rid of her that bad he just would have left her,” Wayne said.

  “Marriages do fail every day,” Rosalind remarked.

  “I agree,” Tanis said. She paused, then sighed theatrically. “I’m getting a divorce, myself.”

  The room suddenly became quiet, like she was about to give out hot stock tips or something, followed by murmurings of sympathy. Tanis accepted in a whispery voice, like she was fighting back tears. I felt like I was watching a performance of The Little Foxes. Tallulah had nothing on Tanis.

  “It’s always sad when a marriage ends, but I’m sure it’ll be amiable,” Tanis continued, after a pause to compose herself. “Rob and I waited for a lot of the bad blood to dry up before I filed. It’ll be coming through in about sixty days.” Then she looked at Aaron like she expected him to scoop her up and carry her away on a white horse.

  Now I understood why she’d been on him all night like whipped cream on Jello. If I knew her, Tanis probably had Aaron all picked out to be her second husband before she decided to divorce the first one.

  But I had Aaron’s attention. And I was going to keep it. Tanis had beaten me out long enough. It was time to crown a new champ.

  Chapter 5

  “Well, that was fun,” I remarked to Wayne as he backed out of the driveway. I watched as Aaron climbed into a light-colored Jaguar and I couldn’t help thinking how good I’d look riding beside him.