Fine Things

by Danielle Steel

  “I don't know who you are.”

  “The hell you don't.” He laughed, and it was an evil, raucous sound. She had never liked his laugh, and now she knew exactly who it was. What she didn't know was how he had found her again, or why. And she wasn't sure she wanted to know. “Where's my kid?”

  “What difference does it make?” It was Chandler Scott, the man who had fathered Jane, which was different from being a father to her. What he had done had to do with Liz, but nothing to do with the child. The man who was a father to her was Bernie Fine, and Liz wanted nothing more to do with this man. Her voice told him so when she answered him.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You haven't seen her in five years, Chan. She doesn't even know who you are.” Or that you're alive, but she didn't tell him that. “We don't want to see you anymore.”

  “I hear you're married again.” She looked down at her belly and smiled. “I'll bet the new hubby has bucks.” It was a disgusting thing to say and it angered her.

  “What difference does that make?”

  “I want to know my kid's all right, that's why. In fact, I think I ought to see her. I mean, after all, she ought to know she has a real father who cares about her.”

  “Really? If you were so interested in that, you should have let her know a long time ago.”

  “How was I supposed to know where you were? You disappeared.”

  That brought something else to mind she couldn't figure out as she listened to him, her heart pounding angrily. There was a lot she would have liked to say to him once upon a time, but now it was so long ago. Jane was seven years old. “How'd you find me now?”

  “You're not too hard to find. You were listed in an old phone book. And your old landlady told me your married name. How's Jane?”

  Her jaw clenched as he said her name. “Fine.”

  “I thought I'd drop in to say hi one of these days.” He tried to sound casual.

  “Don't waste your time. I'm not going to let you see her.” She thought he was dead, and Liz wished he were.

  “You can't keep her from me, Liz.” His voice had a nasty ring to it.

  “Oh no? Why not?”

  “Try explaining to a judge that you're keeping a natural father from his daughter.”

  “Try telling him you abandoned her six years ago. I'm sure he'll be very sympathetic to you after that.” The doorbell rang, and Liz felt her heart pound. It was Jane, and she didn't want her to hear her talking to him. “Anyway, get lost, Chan. Or to put it a little more clearly for you, go screw yourself.”

  “I think you just did. I'm seeing a lawyer this afternoon.”

  “What for?”

  “I want to see my kid.”

  The doorbell rang again and she shouted out to wait just a minute.

  “Why?”

  “Because it's my right.”

  “And then what? You disappear for another six years? Why don't you just leave her alone?”

  “If that's what you want, you'll have to talk to me.” So that was it. Another scam. He wanted money from them. She should have known.

  “Where are you staying? I'll call you back.” He gave her a number in Marin, and she jotted it down.

  “I want to hear from you by tonight.”

  “You will.” Sonofabitch, she said through clenched teeth as she hung up and she went to the door, looking pale, and let Jane in. She had been banging her lunch box against the door and there was a big chip on the black paint and Liz yelled at her, which made her cry, and she slammed into her room, as Liz went in and sat down on the bed, close to tears herself.

  “I'm sorry, sweetheart. I had a rough afternoon.”

  “So did I. I lost my belt.” She was wearing a pink skirt with a white belt she loved. Bernie had brought it from the store, and she treasured it, like everything else he gave her, and most of all himself.

  “Daddy'll bring you another one.”

  She looked slightly mollified as she sniffed and Liz held out her arms, as Jane came to her reluctantly. It was a hard time for all of them. Liz was tired. Bernie was on edge, thinking she was going to have the baby every night when they went to bed. And Jane wasn't sure just how the newcomer would affect her life. It was natural that they were snapping at each other a little bit. And this sudden reappearance of Chandler Scott didn't help. Liz brushed the hair back from Jane's face, and gave her a plate of the cookies she'd made for her that day, and a glass of milk, and when Jane sat down at her desk to do the homework she'd been given in school, Liz went quietly back to the living room. She sat down with a sigh, and dialed Bernie's private line. He picked it up himself, but he sounded busy when he did.

  “Hi, sweetheart, bad time to talk?” She was so damn tired, and she was having contractions all the time, especially when she was upset, like now, after talking to Chandler.

  “No, no, it's okay.” And then suddenly he realized with a start. “Is it time?”

  “No.” She laughed. She wasn't due for two more weeks. And it could be late, the doctor always reminded her.

  “You okay?”

  “I'm fine …more or less …” She really wanted to talk to him before he came home. She didn't want Jane to overhear her telling him about Chandler Scott. “Something very disagreeable happened today.”

  “Did you get hurt?” He was beginning to sound like Grandma Ruth and Liz smiled, but not for long.

  “No. I got a call from an old friend. Or an old enemy, I should say.”

  He looked puzzled as he frowned. What enemies did she have? None she'd ever mentioned to him. Not that he could remember anyway. “Who was that?”

  “Chandler Scott.” The name electrified them both, and there was a long silence from his end.

  “Is that who I think it is? Your ex-husband, right?”

  “If you can call him that. I think we lived together for a total of about four months, and legally a lot less than that.”

  “Where did he come from?”

  “Jail probably.”

  “How the hell did he find you?”

  “My old landlady. Apparently she gave him my married name and told him we were living here, and it was easy after that.”

  “You'd think she'd ask before she gave the information out.”

  “I guess she saw no harm in it.” She stretched uncomfortably on the couch. Everything was uncomfortable. Sitting, standing, lying down. Even breathing was difficult now, and the baby felt huge, and moved constantly.

  “What did he want?”

  “He claimed he wanted to see Jane.”

  “Why?” Bernie sounded horrified.

  “Honestly, I don't really think he does. He said he wanted to 'discuss it' with us. He said he'd go to an attorney about visiting rights unless we talked to him.”

  “That sounds like blackmail to me.”

  “It is. But I think we ought to talk to him. I said we'd call him back tonight. He gave me a number in Marin.”

  “I'll talk to him. You stay out of it.” He looked worried as he stared at his desk. The timing was just terrible. Liz didn't need a headache like that at a time like this.

  “I think we ought to talk to an attorney ourselves. Maybe he has no rights by now.”

  “That's not a bad idea, Liz. I'll check it out before I come home.”

  “Do you know who to call?”

  “We have counsel for the store. I'll see who they suggest.” He hung up after that, and Liz went back to see if Jane had finished her math homework. She was just closing her books and she looked up at Liz expectantly.

  “Is Daddy bringing me a new belt tonight?” She looked hopeful and Liz sat down with a sigh.

  “Oh sweetheart … I forgot to ask …we'll ask him tonight.”

  “Mommy …” She started to cry, and Liz felt like crying herself. Everything seemed so difficult suddenly. It was hard enough just moving around and putting one foot in front of the other these days, and she wanted to make things easier for Jane, not more difficult. Poor Jane wa
s all shook up about the baby coming into her life and changing everything. She climbed onto her mother's lap, still wanting to be the baby herself, and Liz held her while she cried. It made them both feel better afterwards and they went for a long walk, and bought some magazines. Jane wanted to buy some flowers to give to Bernie when he came home, and Liz let her pick a bouquet of iris and daffodils, and they walked slowly home again.

  “Do you think the baby will come soon?” She looked at her mother half hopeful and half afraid, and half wishing it would never come at all. Although the pediatrician had told Liz that Jane was a good age to deal with this sort of thing. He thought she'd adjust very quickly once the baby was born, but Liz was beginning to wonder about it.

  “I don't know, sweetheart. I hope so. I'm getting pretty tired of being fat.” They exchanged a smile as they walked hand in hand.

  “You don't look so bad. Kathy's mom looked terrible. Her face got all fat like a pig”—she distorted her face and Liz laughed—“and she got all these blue things in her legs.”

  “Varicose veins.” She was lucky, she had never gotten them.

  “It must be horrible, having a baby, huh?”

  “No, it's not. It's beautiful. I don't know, afterwards it's all worth it. You forget all this yucky stuff, and it's really not so bad. If you have a baby with a man you love, then it's the nicest thing in the world.”

  “Did you love my daddy too?” She looked worried and it was odd that she should ask the question today, when Chandler Scott had called after all these years, and Liz was reminded of how much she had hated him. But she couldn't tell Jane that now, and wondered if she ever would. It might affect the way she saw herself, Liz thought.

  “Yes, I did. Very much, in fact.”

  “How did he die?” It was the first time Jane had asked her that, and she wondered if she had heard something that afternoon. Liz fervently hoped not.

  “He died in an accident.”

  “A car accident?”

  It seemed as reasonable as anything else. “Yes. He was killed instantly. He didn't suffer at all.” She thought that might be important to her and it was.

  “I'm glad. It must have been very sad for you.”

  “It was,” Liz lied.

  “How old was I?” They were almost home and Liz was so out of breath she could hardly talk.

  “Just a few months old, sweetheart.” They swung up the front steps and she unlocked the door with her key, and inside she sat down at the kitchen table, while Jane put the flowers in a vase for Bernie and looked at her mother with a happy smile.

  “I'm so glad you married Daddy. Now I have a daddy again.”

  “I'm glad too.” And he's a hell of a lot better than the other one.

  Jane took the flowers into the other room, and Liz started cooking dinner for them. She still insisted on making dinner every night, baking bread, making everyone's favorite desserts. She wasn't sure what she'd feel like after the baby came, or how busy she would be, and it was easier to spoil them now. She made a point of it every day, and Bernie looked forward to coming home and eating the treats that she had made for them. He had gained ten pounds himself, and laughingly blamed it on the pregnancy.

  He came home early that night, made a big fuss over them both, thanked Jane for the flowers, and only appeared as worried as he was when he and Liz were alone after Jane had gone to bed. He had refused to discuss the subject before, for fear the child would overhear what they said. And now he closed their bedroom door, and Jane's, and turned their television on, so she couldn't hear them talk, and then he turned to Liz with troubled eyes.

  “Peabody, our attorney for the store, recommended a guy to me. His name is Grossman, and I talked to him this afternoon.” He also trusted him because he was from New York and had gone to Columbia Law School. “He says this thing's not good. The guy has rights.”

  “He does?” Liz looked shocked as she sat uncomfortably at the foot of their bed. She felt out of breath again. She was really miserable. “After all these years? How is that possible?”

  “Because the laws are very liberal in this state, that's why.” He was sorrier than ever that Berman hadn't moved him home to New York before this. “Apparently, if I'd adopted her by now it would be too late for him. But I didn't. That was my mistake. I didn't think we had to bother with the legalities, as long as she was using my name anyway.” And now he could have kicked himself, after what the attorney had said.

  “But what about the fact that he abandoned her …abandoned us, for chrissake?”

  “That might actually win the case for us, but the problem is, that isn't automatic. That depends on the judge, and it would have to become a 'case' and the judge would have to decide how he felt about the abandonment. If we win, great. And if we don't, we can appeal his decision. But in the interim, and even before this thing would get to court for the first round, which could take a while, they would give him temporary visitation, just to be 'fair' to him.”

  “The man's a jailbird, for chrissake, a con man, a snake.” He had never seen Liz so worked up before. She looked as though she hated the man, and he knew she had good reason to. He was beginning to hate him himself. “They'd expose a child to him?”

  “Apparently, yes. The assumption is that the natural father is a good guy until proven otherwise. So first they'd let him visit Jane, then we'd go to court to fight it out, and then we win or lose. But in the meantime, we'd have to explain to her who he is, why he's visiting her, and how we feel about it.” They both looked horrified, as horrified as he had felt when he spoke to the attorney that afternoon. He decided to tell her all of it. “And Grossman says that there's a good chance we wouldn't win. This state is extremely in favor of father's rights, and the judge could be sympathetic to him, no matter how big a sonofabitch we think he is. The theory seems to be that fathers have rights, no matter what, unless maybe they beat their kids or something like that. And even if they do that, apparently provisions are made to protect the child but still allow the abusive parent to see the child. Isn't that encouraging?” He was so angry he had gone at it full force, and suddenly as Liz started to cry, he realized how foolish he had been. She was in no condition to face the possibility of all that. “Oh baby, I'm sorry. … I never should have told you all that.”

  “I have to know it if it's true,” she sobbed. “Isn't there anything we can do to get rid of him?”

  “Yes and no. Grossman was honest with me. It's against the law to buy this guy off, but it's been done before. And he suspects that's all he wants. After seven years, it's not very likely that he's interested in teaching Jane to ride a bicycle. I think probably he just wants a few bucks to tide him over till he winds up in jail again. The only trouble is, if we do that, he may turn up again, and again, and again. It could be a bottomless pit.” But for the moment, he was tempted to try it at least once, and maybe that would get rid of him for good. He had thought about it on the way home, and was willing to give him ten thousand bucks to get out of their lives. He would have given him more than that, but he was afraid if he gave him too much, it would whet his appetite. He said as much to Liz and she agreed with him.

  “Shall we give him a call?” She wanted to get it over with, and the contractions were driving her nuts tonight. She could feel her heart race as she handed Bernie the paper she'd written Chandler's number on.

  “I want to talk to him myself. And I want you to stay out of it. For all you know, this is just a ploy to catch your attention again, and the less satisfaction he gets, the better off you'll be.” It made sense to her, and she was happy to let Bernie handle all of it.

  The phone rang at the other end, and Bernard asked for Chandler Scott. They waited for what seemed a long time, and he held the receiver so Liz could listen too, as a male voice came on. He wanted to know if he had the right man, and she nodded at him and signaled that it was. Bernie took it from there.

  “Mr. Scott? My name is Fine.”

  “Oh?” And then he understo
od. “Right. You're married to Liz.”

  “Correct. I understand you called this afternoon, about a business deal.” Grossman told him not to mention the child or what the money was for, in case Scott was recording him. “I have the results on that for you now.”

  Scott was quick to understand. He liked a man who didn't mess around, although it had been fun talking to Liz again. “Do you think we should all meet to talk it out?” He was talking in the same veiled terms as Bernard, afraid of the police perhaps. God only knew what he was into now, Liz thought.

  “I don't think that's necessary. My client has come up with a price for you. Ten thousand, for the whole package. One time only, for your previous services. I believe they want to buy you out.” The meaning of that was clear to all three of them, and there was a long silence at the other end.

  “Do I have to sign anything?” He sounded cautious.

  “That won't be necessary.” Bernie would have liked that but Grossman had already told him it wouldn't be worth the paper it was written on.

  He came right to the point, and he sounded hungry to Bernie. “How do I get it?” In a brown paper bag at the bus station, Bernie almost laughed, except it wasn't funny. And he wanted to get rid of the sonofabitch as soon as he could, for all their sakes, especially Liz, who did not need the heartache right before the birth of their baby.

  “I'll be happy to meet you with it.”

  “In cash?”

  “Of course.” Bastard. All he wanted was the money. He didn't give a damn about Jane. He never had, just as Liz had told Bernie.

  “I'll be happy to give it to you tomorrow.”

  “Where do you live?” At least their address was not listed in the phone directory, and Bernie was suddenly glad they had done that. And he was equally reluctant to meet him at his office. He wanted to meet him in a bar, or a restaurant, or a doorway. It was beginning to feel like a sleazy movie. But he was trying to think of where to tell him he would meet him.

  “I'll meet you at Harry's, on Union Street, at lunchtime. Noon.” His bank was only half a block away, and he could give him the money and then come home to check on Liz.