Possessions

by Judith Michael

  "Board members are expected to make donations to set an example. Besides, I want to be able to see people enjoying them."

  Katherine looked up from a picture of a bull and a young woman that would have been called obscene if anyone but Picasso had drawn it. "Why are you doing this now?" she asked.

  "Because I'm getting old and the years vanish and there's so much I still want to do. I've promised our nineteenth-century collection to the Palace of the Legion of Honor and the rest to the Museum of Modem Art and I want to space it out so I can see them all mounted, and hear experts pontificate about the Hayward collection and my generosity."

  "I mean, why do you talk about dying? It makes me think I'm about to lose you."

  "Dear Katherine, I'm shockingly healthy; I don't intend to die for years. Although worrying about you and Ross makes me feel very old."

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  *That's blackmail," Katherine said.

  "The older you get, my dear, the more weapons you are willing to use to get what you want."

  "Actually," Tobias put in. "We are most worried right now about Ross. Mournfully, he quoted, "'. . . the shriveled, ho{>-ping, loud and troublesome insects of the hour.' Certain injured workmen, that is, and their lawyers."

  "The ones in the Macklin Building?" Katherine asked. **What about them?"

  "They are suing Ross," said Victoria bitterly. "For five million dollars."

  Katherine drew a sharp breath. "Has he said how heTl fight it?"

  Tobias gave Katherine a keen look. "If it goes to court, which it may not, he'll say the support beams were strong enough and anchored properly, and the damage was caused by the earthquake. Is there any other explanation?"

  Five million dollars, Katherine thought. And no one to help him. She put the portfolio of lithographs on the table and stared into the fire. What do I do now? Ross wants to protect Victoria . . . but I want to protect Ross. Or at least do whatever I can to help him.

  Which means telling Victoria and Tobias, because they're the ones who can do something for him.

  And, after all, why shouldn't they know? Victoria is a pretty tough lady. Ross told me that himself, in France. It's not accurate to think of her as a helpless little old lady who lies like a crumpled piece of tissue paper while the busy world passes her by. But still he thinks she needs to be shielded.

  He thought I did, too, when he found Elissa.

  But he underestimated us. We're stronger than he thinks. And families should be told, when one of them is threatened; they shouldn't be prevented from helping each other.

  But who am I, to make that decision? Maybe Ross had other reasons for keeping quiet; how do I know what I might be starting? For the first time in months Katherine felt uncomfortable, almost like an outsider again, involved in events she shouldn't know about, telling a story she had no right to tell, violating a confidence without any idea what train of events she might be setting in motion.

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  I don't know what to do!

  "Well, my dear," said Tobias mildly. "Is there a way we can help you solve whatever dilemma keeps you in silent dialogue with yourself?"

  Katherine started. "I'm sorry. I was being rude."

  "No, no. Something is troubling you and you are not sure whether you should tell us. Of course we think you should, because we love you. But you must do whatever you think best for all of us. Your whole family."

  The weight of the dilemma slipped from Katherine; she began to smile. Your whole family. She wasn't an outsider; she hadn't been for a long time. I'm sorry, Ross. I hope you'll understand. I love you; I want to help you; and I want Victoria and Tobias to be able to help you, too.

  "There is another defense," she said at last. "But Ross won't use it."

  "Yes?" Tobias was alert.

  "And that is—?" Victoria demanded.

  "The building was weak," Katherine said, choosing her words carefully. "The support columns, or the footings under them, weren't as strong or as deep as they should have been. Ross suspected it and when he had the building checked in July he found he was right. But the repair work kept being delayed, and then the earthquake came. TTie problem wasn't the design of the temporary beams; it was in the building itself."

  "That's why he bought it!" exclaimed Tobias. "He suspected — '*

  "Just one moment!" Victoria raised a peremptory hand. "Katherine, are you suggesting the Macklin Building is substandard? It was built by the Hay ward Corporation!"

  "I know. The specifications were altered to cut costs."

  "But the building inspectors . . . ?" Tobias asked.

  "Ross thinks they must have been bribed."

  "Rubbish," declared Victoria. "Curt or Jason would have known about it."

  Katherine nodded.

  **Curt," Victoria said, her voice blank.

  Katherine nodded again.

  They were silent, locked in their own thoughts. The butler appeared in the doorway and announced dinner. Victoria roused

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  herself and as they moved into the dining room, she put her hand on Katherine's ann. "This has been difficult for you. Ross told you he thought he could keep it a secret?"

  "He was going to have the building repaired as part of the renovation. He didn't want you to face a scandal—"

  "—in my declining years," Victoria finished, scoffing. "Of course I am not nearly as delicate as my grandson thinks; how fortunate that you knew that. But my dear Katherine, what a dilemma—keeping Ross's secret or telling me! Thank you, my dear, for choosing me. I promise you will not be sorry. But of course now that you know I will not faint upon the spot, you must tell us everything, wherever it leads. We want to know it all."

  As Katherine smiled gratefully, Tobias asked, "How long has he known, or suspected?"

  There was a pause before Katherine replied, "He's suspected, for sixteen years."

  "Sixteen—!" Victoria exclaimed. "And told none of us! He should be ashamed of himself!"

  "No, that's not fair. He couldn't tell you then, because—"

  "The sailing accident," Tobias broke in. 'That's when he began to suspect? You told me Craig and Derek quarreled about the Macklin Building."

  "Good God in Heaven!" Victoria burst out. She whipped open her napkin and laid it across her lap. "Was I the only one who knew nothing?"

  "I know no more than that," soothed Tobias. "Katherine. Please."

  "Craig accused Derek of altering the specifications on the footings in the Macklin Building; Derek came back and said Craig had done it, and bribed an inspector to approve the work."

  "But more likely it was Derek." Spearing a wedge of mango, Tobias had a gleam of discovery in his eye. "Always was impatient—and thinks he's above the law."

  Victoria toyed with her food. "And of course Cort knew about it. He and Derek always worked closely in those days; I remember how confident I felt; Hugh was dead but my son and my grandson were there . . . My son and my grandson!" she repeated contemptuously.

  Her face was drawn, her eyes looking to the distance. "Hugh 470

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  always insisted on safety. Our reputation, he said; the lives of the people who trusted our buildings ... He never violated that trust. He was scrupulous in following city regulations, earthquake safety codes—he even helped write some of them! And now . . . my son and my grandson . . . cutting corners . . . bribery . . . Dishonorable! Despicable! Playing on the desperation or greed of others . . . Damnation!" she burst out. "An old woman should be able to relax; she should be able to trust her heirs to protect her name and the company she and her husband built from nothing and made famous and respected . . . !"

  *This old woman," Tobias said pointedly, "insists on being chairman of the board of the Hayward Corporation."

  She looked at him imperiously. "I am the majority stockholder in the corporation."

  *Then perhaps you are not ready to relax."

  "Ah." She gave a small laugh. "You have a point." The butler off
ered a silver platter of veal and tiny potato puffs to each of them. Serving herself, Victoria frowned thoughtfully, then said, "Of course the suit against Ross cannot go to trial. It is intolerable to contemplate others poking through our affairs. So we must settle it out of court, which will require . . . Tobias, Ross said the workmen were injured but not crippled. What is a realistic sum their lawyer would be likely to accept?"

  "Perhaps a quarter of a million."

  "And it is Derek's responsibility. Do we agree on that? Katherine? Didn't you bring us this information so we could bring pressure to bear on Derek?"

  "Not only to settle the suit," said Tobias quickly, "but also to pay for the repair of the building."

  Uncomfortably, Katherine said, "I'm not sure what I expected. I just thought you should know, so Ross wouldn't be alone."

  "Ah." Victoria sighed with satisfaction. 'Then we must decide what to do. Obviously Derek must assume the responsibility for various expenditures. Can he be blackmailed?"

  "Good heavens!" Tobias exclaimed. "After seventy-five years, to find I still do not know my own sister ..."

  "Surprise keeps us young," Victoria said. "It's the glue that holds people together." She smiled at him with such tenderness

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  that Katherine felt a spurt of envy. After years of separate lives, how lucky they were, she thought, to find companionship and love.

  " 'He is as deaf to angels as an oak,'" Tobias quoted. "How do you reach a man who loves no one, who has more money than anyone needs, and who finds morality boring? His only enduring passion is power. Might we threaten that?'

  "Derek runs the Hay ward Corporation admirably," Victoria said. "He makes a great deal of money for all of us."

  "Yes, yes, very practical. But—"

  "In fact," she declared suddenly, "if I'd paid more attention to what he and Curt were doing, all along, none of this might have happened. I've been complacent; quite satisfied to let them run the company—"

  "Come, come!" Tobias exclaimed. "You cannot blame yourself. We all are responsible; none of the board members, myself included, asked enough questions. Now we will. Derek's leadership has threatened us with a scandal, possibly a large cash outlay, serious damage to our name, perhaps the ruin of Ross's reputation. I must say, when Derek does something, the repercussions are not small. And I have another thought. How do we know where else Derek has taken it upon himself to cut costs? What other surprises might be in store for us? Perhaps our Derek needs his wings clipped."

  "Perhaps he needs an overseer," suggested Victoria.

  "Ah." Tobias cogitated. "It would be better if we had proof. Katherine says he accused Craig, and Craig is not here to refute that."

  Katherine had been watching the two of them. Now, hesitantly, she said, "Wouldn't building inspectors have forms to sign, approving the jobs they inspect?"

  "Indeed!" Tobias tipped back his chair, his beard wagging vigorously. "On file at City Hall. Indeed." Then he frowned. "Why wouldn't Ross have dug them up to convince Derek to pay?"

  "He wasn't going to ask him," Katherine said. "He didn't want to stir anything up, since he thought the repair would be part of the renovation."

  Tobias shook his head. "Stubborn."

  "We shall deal with that," Victoria said calmly. "Tobias, dear, would you call Claude and Ross and arrange a confer-

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  ence? The time has come for the chairman of the board to make some decisions."

  Leslie called on the weekend. "I have no problems left. Tell me yours. Unless you've solved each and every one—?"

  "Hardly," laughed Katherine. "But I have no new ones to offer."

  "Then we'll share glad tidings instead. I got your grandma's Halloween invite today; it sounds like one of those parties people will talk about for years. What are you wearing?"

  "I don't know. I don't much like costume parties."

  "It's not costume and you'll like it. Claude says she and Hugh used to give one every year and those who weren't invited committed suicide, went into mourning, or slunk away in humiliation. Since we are among the favored throng, all we have to do is look magnificent."

  "Leslie, where can I get a magnificent dress at a less than magnificent price?"

  "Have you tried Val's?"

  "Not lately. Their prices have tripled."

  "Well, I have some hot information. The prices were tripled by a new manager who took one look at those designer seconds and went gung ho for profits. He has been booted. His replacement is at this very moment marking everything down. Get there early Monday, before the mob scene. I'm off^ dinner with Claude. Oh. No word from Craig, I take it."

  "No. You'd be one of the first to know."

  "I hope so. See you soon."

  No word from Craig, Katherine had been so sure he would call within a few days of her trip to Calgary that she had sat by the telephone, jumping every time it rang, just as she had a year and a half earlier, in Vancouver. But the silence was unbroken. Back where we started, she thought.

  No, not the start, she corrected herself. Because she knew, from Ross, that Craig wanted to come back. Whether he stole the money or was framed, he wanted to come back and make amends for leaving her.

  Well, jibed an inner voice; isn't that nice of him?

  Her thoughts argued with each other: all the voices of those who had urged her to make up her mind, to do something, to divorce Craig, to cut herself off from the past. So what if parts

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  of it were still dangling; so what if her marriage was unfinished; so what if—?

  What's the hurry?

  Why were they all rushing her? Craig had been gone a little over a year. She and Ross had been together less than four months—and for the last three weeks they'd been apart.

  If I want to take some time to think about all this — sort out who I am and where I'm going — what's wrong with that? Why is everyone rushing me?

  "Mom?" said Todd. "Could we get started? You said you'd help us, and all this stuff is due on Monday."

  "Right away," Katherine said. "Give me a minute to clean up."

  She found the two of them waiting for her at the kitchen table, surrounded by bits and pieces of clay models they had volunteered to make for a school diorama on space exploration.

  "Actually, we volunteered because we knew you'd help us," Jennifer confessed as they watched their mother's skillful fingers fashion a clay model of Voyager II. "We didn't think you'd mind too much."

  "I don't mind at all," Katherine said. "I'm having a wonderful time."

  "Really?" Jennifer asked. "How come I don't think it's so much fun?"

  "Because for you it's a school assignment. For me it's like going back to mud pies and childhood."

  "Oh." Jennifer thought about it. "I don't want to be a child again. Why do you?"

  Katherine kept herself from smiling. "I had less to worry about in those days."

  "We have a lot to worry about," said Todd. Lxx)king intently at his slightly deformed model of the Columbia space shuttle, he added, "Carrie and Jon brought Ross to the club yesterday; he went swimming with us and bought us lemonade."

  Katherine's heart skipped. "I hope you thanked him."

  "He asked how you are."

  "And what did you say?"

  'That you miss him.'*

  "Todd!"

  "He said he missed you, too," said Jennifer.

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  "So do Carrie and Jon," added Todd. "They wanted to know where you were. They like you."

  'They got used to all of us being together," Jennifer explained.

  **Tbe same way we did," said Todd.

  *T like Ross," Jennifer commented.

  "Me, too," Todd chimed in. "He's nice to be with."

  They were tossing the conversation back and forth like a beach ball. "Have you two rehearsed this?" Katherine asked.

  "We talked about it," Jennifer admitted. "We told Ross about the computer program we're writing." />
  Katherine pictured the three of them talking together and felt jealous of her children. "The one for math?" she asked.

  "No." Todd looked at Jennifer. 'The one to see if you'd marry Ross or get together with Dad again."

  The clay model slipped and she grabbed it. "What are you talking about?"

  "We made a formula. Dad equals X, and Ross equals Y, and the number of months Dad is away equals N, and the times you ask us about Carrie and Jon when you really want to hear about Ross, equals R, but we haven't got an answer yet— ^

  "I'm not surprised." Katherine went to the sink and rinsed off her hands. "Why don't you finish up? I guess I'm getting a little old for a whole afternoon of clay modeling."

  "You said you were having a wonderful time," Jennifer reminded her. "Mud pies and all that."

  "I was just reminded that I'm a long way from mud pies and all that." Standing at the sink Katherine studied them. "What do you think I should do?" she asked abruptly.

  Taken aback, they stared at her. "I'd like Dad home again," Todd said finally. "The way everything was."

  "I guess I would, too," said Jennifer slowly. "Except I don't think things would be the same. Ever again."

  "Sure they would," Todd said. "Oh, you mean our house? We'd build another one. That's easy."

  "No." Jennifer met her mother's eyes. "I don't think Mother and Daddy feel the same way about things anymore. Neither do we."

  "So?" Todd demanded. "We're older."

  Furiously, Jennifer dashed a piece of clay against the wall.

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  "I don't tnist him anymore!" she cried and burst into tears.

  Katherine swept her into her arms and held her tight. "Jennifer," she whispered. "Etear Jennifer—"

  "I'm sorry!" Jennifer sobbed. "I'm an awful person to say that! I shouldn't even think it—!"

  "You're not awful. If someone makes you unhappy, it's namral to worry that he might do it again. It doesn't mean you're awful. It just means you're worried about what's going to happen; you're not sure of the future. And once ufX)n a time you thought you were sure." Katherine pulled back from Jennifer and said seriously, "That's what childhood really is: a time when you think you're sure of tomorrow. And I guess, in that way, you aren't a child anymore."