I retrieved my phone from the nightstand. There was only one person I knew who was an expert at listening; I only hoped he would want to listen to me at two in the morning.
Michael picked up on the second ring.
“Nicci? Nicci, is that you?”
“Michael, I’m sorry, but I don’t know what to do. My cousin, Colleen, you went to her wedding—”
“I know, honey,” he interrupted. “Sammy called me in hysterics a couple of hours ago. I figured you were at the hospital for the night. I was going to go over in the morning. How is she?”
“She’s going to be all right. Michael, I think I caused this. Eddie came over all pissed off Christmas Eve and was talking about how he hated Colleen. I might have made him angrier by saying some stupid things. I’m afraid he lashed out at Colleen because of me.”
“Hey now. You didn’t cause any of this.” His voice was calm and soothing. “From everything I’ve heard about him, this was something that would have inevitably happened. Colleen was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m sorry about the baby, but at least now Colleen can get out of this marriage with a large settlement.”
“You don’t understand Colleen. All she has ever wanted her entire life was to marry Eddie. I don’t know if she will want out. I’m afraid she’ll stay with him, no matter what he does to her.”
“Would you like me to talk to her?”
“I don’t know. Give her a little time. Right now, she has to get over her injuries.” I took a deep breath, feeling my edgy nerves settle. “Thank you for offering though, and thank you for listening. I’m just a little strung out about all of this.”
“You think Eddie is still in love with you and blames Colleen from keeping the two of you apart.”
I rubbed my hand over my face, not quite sure what to say. “How did you know that?”
“I first got the idea at the wedding. For a man that was marrying another woman, he sure couldn’t keep his eyes off of you. Then later on, Sammy let it slip that he has always had feelings for you, and that his marriage to Colleen had frustrated him a great deal. She sought my advice on how to help him get over you and get on with his life.” He cleared his throat. “That is all confidential client information. Please don’t repeat it.”
“I won’t. Thanks for telling me.”
It was easier talking to him on the phone than in person. I didn’t feel under the constant scrutiny of his gaze when we were on the phone.
“Stop thanking me. I want to help.” He was silent for a while, and I was beginning to think he had fallen asleep on me. “I thought about you a great deal today. My family asked a lot of questions about you, especially my mother.”
I relaxed in my bed, giving him a light chuckle. “I hope you lied and made me sound good.”
“I told them that after you climb Mount Everest this month, you have to finish your dissertation on world affairs, then report to Washington for your cabinet post.”
I liked him this way. He almost sounded like a different man. “Mount Everest is next month,” I corrected.
“Why don’t we ever talk like this when we’re together?” he sighed into the speaker. “When I’m with you, I always get the distinct impression you don’t want me around. Tonight is the first time I’ve ever felt like you are actually talking to me, instead of through me.”
I silently reprimanded my lack of effort with the man. I needed to try harder. “I promise to do better in the future. You just have to give me some time, Michael.”
“I’m not in a hurry, Nicci.” I heard him yawn into the phone speaker. “Well, it’s pretty late and you’d better get some sleep. Colleen will need you tomorrow. I’ll call in the morning to see how she’s doing, and if she’s ready to talk. Good night.”
I hung up reconsidering my position on Michael. He had been kind to me and I knew I had not given him a fair chance. It was time to make a new start with the doctor.
***
The next morning, Colleen was awake and eating breakfast. I had expected her to be depressed and withdrawn, like a wilting flower, but I should have known that she was made of tougher stuff—we both were. When I walked into her room, she was sitting up in a chair and complaining about the Jell-O Aunt Hattie was trying to feed her.
“I hate red. I want orange,” Colleen bellowed.
She turned up her nose at Hattie’s repeated attempts to coax the Jell-O down her throat. Ned and Hattie looked frazzled. They obviously had not slept much, and Colleen’s tantrums were not helping.
“Only you would ask for orange Jell-O for breakfast,” I proclaimed.
I was carrying a wilting, green ivy plant with me. It was the only thing I could find at the grocery store at seven in the morning.
Colleen rolled her eyes. “Great, the cavalry.”
I smiled at Aunt Hattie and Uncle Ned. “I’ll take over. Why don’t y’all go home? I’ll call if she needs anything.”
Uncle Ned hurried his wife out of the room, despite Hattie’s repeated requests to stay and care for her daughter.
After they had gone, I approached the bed. I put the plant down on the bedside table next to Colleen. Her eyes were all over me.
“They have been very worried about you. We all have,” I insisted.
“Right,” she snorted. “You just came to gloat. To say I told you so.”
Her right eye was swollen shut and her bottom lip was split down the center. She had bruises under both eyes, and there was still packing in her nose, making her sound stuffy when she talked.
“Colleen, I did not come here to say I told you so. You know I never expected this of him.” I searched her bloodshot eyes. “Did you?” She looked away from me and stared out the window. “I’m sorry about the baby,” I softly added. “I know how much you wanted it.”
“I didn’t want it!” she snapped. “I thought Eddie wanted it, but when he started turning away from me and…I’m glad I lost the baby. Maybe he will find me attractive again.”
I shook my head, stunned by her disclosure. “Colleen, you’re not going back to him. You can’t. Look at what he did to you.”
“I’m all right. Just sore. I caused this. I fell down the stairs.”
“Colleen, no one believes that!”
“Well, that’s the truth. I am not filing charges against Eddie.” She folded her arms across her chest, appearing resolute. “The police were already here again this morning and I told them it was an accident. I will not make my husband suffer for my clumsiness. Sammy has already promised to take me to her plastic surgeon and redo me. Make me pretty for Eddie.”
This was worse than I thought. “You need professional help, Colleen. You can’t—”
“Please.” She cut me off with a wave of her hand. “Sammy called early this morning. She is sending Eddie off to her villa in Italy for a while. She thinks she can get him in some architecture school in Milan. It’s supposed to be world famous. We’ll have to be separated for some time, but I can go to Italy and visit him.”
Sammy worked fast. The only way to avoid a scandal was to divert the issue and get her problem child out of the country. Her villa was where she had escaped to get away from Eddie’s father. She would now use it to get Eddie away from his wife.
“Sammy wants me to stay with her.” Colleen smiled, despite the discomfort of her swollen face. “She said we could use the time to become best friends.”
Colleen appeared happy about the arrangement. She got to stay married, and enjoy the unlimited use of the Fallon name and money. Sammy knew what would keep Colleen compliant. She was waving the carrot temptingly in front of Colleen and the girl was too foolish to resist.
“When is Eddie going to this villa?” I asked, resigning myself to the fact that the wheels had already been set into motion.
“He left this morning. I wish I could have seen him before he left, but it’s probably better so the gossips don’t get wind of the situation. Sammy said to stick to my story and tell everyone I fell down the
stairs and lost the baby.” She glared at me with her one bloodshot brown eye. “You have to agree to that. You can’t tell anyone the truth or my reputation will be ruined.”
“Is your reputation more important than your integrity?”
“Jesus, Nicci!” she shouted, sounding exasperated. “You were always so high and mighty. Talking about silly things like that. My mother agreed to our story. She thought it would be better if no one knew. Ned, however, went ballistic, as usual.”
“Hooray Ned!” I cheered, throwing up my hands.
She slapped her hand down on the bed. “It’s not that easy for me, Nicci. I don’t come from the rich old family, or have the brains and the great looks like you. I have to take whatever I can get in this world. If that means I have to get shit on every now and then, I can handle it. I would rather keep my status and money than be a nobody with integrity. If I walk away from this marriage, you know what I’ll be? I’ll be poor old Hattie Vasterling’s kid—she blew her chance to be on top of the social heap. I’ve spent my whole life, always being on the outside looking in. And now that I’ve arrived, I’m not about to give it all away because of your stupid integrity.” She held her hand against her packed nose, as if our heated conversation had aggravated her injuries. “Go away, Nicci. Sammy is coming to take me home and I don’t want you here when she arrives. You always seem to upset her.”
Too angry to think of a rebuttal, I stormed toward the hospital room door. I rested my hand on the door handle, and glanced back at her.
“Make sure you give that plant water, Colleen. It can’t live on bullshit.”
Once outside of her hospital room, I was fuming. Sammy had done quite a job on Colleen. And Eddie had obviously not hit her hard enough to knock any sense into her. Even so, I knew Colleen probably wielded more control over her husband and mother-in-law from that hospital bed than ever before. The truth about her miscarriage had become the one thing that could threaten the political and social empire Sammy had worked all of her life to attain.
Looking at it that way, I had to smile to myself. As I walked down the hospital corridor, I realized Colleen had been a lot smarter than I had first surmised. She had single-handedly eclipsed the enigma of Sammy Fallon. And in the process, Colleen was going to make sure Sammy spent the rest of her life paying for the mistakes of her overindulged son.
Chapter 19
It was New Year’s Eve and I was dressed for the big party at the Hilton. Standing in front of my mirror, I couldn’t decide if I should wear my hair up or down. I had chosen a peach, off-the-shoulder satin dress that complemented my fair complexion. Most of the evening dresses I owned were black, but tonight I wanted to wear something colorful, to offset my dismal mood. Not that I was depressed, but I was just not very excited about going out this particular evening. The year had not ended as I had expected, and I didn’t feel there was much to celebrate.
Michael was due around nine. We hadn’t seen each other all week. He had been bogged down at his office with a backlog of appointments, while I had stayed busy checking in on my aunt. Hattie had agreed it was best for Colleen to go back to her husband to avoid any further gossip, but she was heartbroken when Colleen went home from the hospital with Sammy and not her. Colleen had not even called her mother to let her know of her plans. Poor Hattie had gone to the hospital, expecting to take her daughter home, only to be told by the nursing staff that Colleen had already been discharged.
I had spoken to Michael several times on the phone about the current events shaping Colleen’s life. He made suggestions about how to talk to her, but I hadn’t spoken to her since that day in the hospital. I knew she was hopelessly entangled in Sammy Fallon’s web.
After a brief deliberation, I decided to wear my hair down and curled. It was just easier that way. I could hear my father pacing outside my bedroom door, as I sat at my makeup table.
“Dad, you can come in,” I called into the hall.
Gingerly pushing my door open, he came into my room and sat down on my bed.
“You look nice.”
I stared at him through my makeup mirror. “Fathers usually say their daughters look beautiful. Nice? Now I know you don’t like the guy.”
“I just don’t think he’s right for you.”
“I thought we had this conversation already.” I put my powder brush down on the table. “Look, if the guy really bothers you that much, I won’t see him again after tonight, okay? Unfortunately, he’s probably on his way here and I would really tick him off if I stood him up on New Year’s Eve.”
“I just remember how happy you were before, and I don’t see that now. This one isn’t as interesting, is he, Nicci? I could hire a private investigator and find out where he went. Would that make you happy again?”
I picked up my lipstick. “I’m happy. I don’t want him back, Dad.”
“You’re not happy; not like you were. Michael will never replace David. As far as the rest of it is concerned, I don’t care what he almost did to me. I forgave him all of his crimes the moment I saw he was in love with you.”
I could feel the anger welling up inside of me. I put my lipstick and spun around to my father. “I wish I could forgive him that easily. He used me. David tricked both of us. I’ll never forgive him.”
“Nicci, I learned a long time ago that it is healthier to forgive, rather than to spend the rest of your life with ulcers.”
“He left such a hole in me, Dad. What do I do about that?” The heaviness was still there when I thought about David, sinking me like a weight to the bottom of the dark ocean floor.
“You go on,” he returned. “Every day it gets a little better. Some days, it seems like it will never be over and then some days you think, maybe you can make it. Loss never goes away, we just work around it.” He came up to my chair and put his hand on my shoulder. “I just want to make sure you’re not burying yourself in someone else to forget about him. It never works that way. Sooner or later, you’ll find that you have only managed to avoid the inevitable confrontation with your soul, and in the process, hurt someone else.”
I patted his hand on my shoulder. “You’ve been down this road before?”
“More than you know.” He kissed my forehead. “I hear his car driving up. I’ll go get the door.”
Michael was nervously pulling at his bow tie when I descended the stairs. My father was standing next to him, watching him fidget. The moment Michael saw me, a glint of disappointment flashed in his eyes.
“You look very nice,” he said, without smiling.
Dad winked at me. “Popular word this evening.”
I ignored my father and eyed Michaels’ tuxedo. “You look…well you look like a waiter.”
“Yeah, that’s the first thing I thought when I looked in the mirror.”
My father was shaking his head when we walked out the front door. It was cold and raining when we stepped outside. I raised my head to the starless sky above.
“That dress is just a bit too revealing, don’t you think?” Michael hinted, as he opened his umbrella.
I fretted over my dress, gliding my hand over the fabric. “I thought it was all right for the party. Do you want me to go change?”
“No, we don’t have time. I just don’t want all the men ogling you.”
Looking over Michael’s outfit, as we hurried to his car beneath his wide umbrella, I couldn’t help but remember David’s tuxedo that night at Val’s party. It made him look like a prince, not a waiter. I guess that was the difference between Armani and Sal’s Tuxedo Rental.
“I had a real hectic week at the office,” he began on the drive to the hotel. “The holidays must bring all the crazy people out.”
Michael seemed awkward behind the wheel of his Porsche. He was one of those safe and courteous drivers. The kind I usually liked to run off the road. He drove too slow to own such a fast car. David would have put this car through its paces.
“I had this one patient at the hospital who thought she was Sa
nta Claus and kept trying to eat everybody else’s food so she could gain weight for next Christmas. And that was not the worst of it….”
I didn’t pay attention to the rest of his story. I stared out of my window while the rainy streets passed by. Michael was not the same engaging man he had been on the phone all week. Our conversation felt strained and was mired, once again, with his usual inane chatter about his job or himself. I would turn and see him continually staring at his gold watch or pulling at his tie as we headed down St. Charles Avenue.
“Is there a problem?” I finally asked, fed up with his nervous behavior.
He looked at me, crinkling his brow. “What?”
“You’ve been fidgeting since you picked me up at the house. Why?”
His eyes nervously darted about the console in front of him while his hands clenched on the steering wheel. “I have to tell you something,” he eventually got out. “You know I have many clients who will probably be among the guests at the party tonight. One in particular—”
“Sammy Fallon,” I interrupted.
“Yeah. She might be a bit surprised to see us together.” He appeared somewhat relieved. “Will it be a problem? If it’s going to be a problem, we don’t have to go.”
I grinned at the idea of seeing Sammy’s face when I arrived at the party with Michael. “No, it’s not a problem. Sammy and I have traveled down this road before.”
His blue eyes narrowed on me. “You’re kidding? When was this? What happened?”
“It’s part of that stuff I carry around inside of me. I’ll have to tell you about it one day.” I patted his leg. “Sammy won’t cause any trouble for us tonight. I promise.”
My mood brightened as we drove along the wet streets. Sammy was going to be there, and I had a date with the man she had hoped to land for herself. It might not be a bad evening, after all. Instantly, I felt instantly invigorated at the prospect of ruining Sammy Fallon’s New Year.
The Nicci Beauvoir Collection: The Complete Nicci Beauvoir Series Page 22