Sandy threw her arms around me and then around David. “Oh, yes, let’s do it.”
To my surprise David seemed to give the idea serious consideration. “It would be kind of quaint.”
“It’s more than quaint. It’s what I want, it’s perfect, it’s great, it’s wonderful. It’s so generous of you, Laura.”
David nodded his agreement and the three of us talked wedding plans for the next hour until we were interrupted by the sound of Guy’s bike coming down the road and pulling into my drive.
“Someone’s coming,” David said, “a biker, Hell’s Angels type.” David looked concerned and then puzzled as I arose to greet the man with a kiss.
I made introductions and offered everyone coffee and a piece of cheesecake I bought especially for the occasion. Sandy sprang out of her chair to shake hands with Guy, while David nodded his hello from behind his Gucci shades. Guy ignored my son’s slight and offered to show him and Sandy the bike. To my surprise, David agreed to take a ride on it with Guy. Part of David’s cooperation had to be the outcome of Sandy’s contagious enthusiasm over it and her interest in riding too. David gamely clapped the helmet on his head, and they roared out of sight down the road.
“We sure have a couple of great guys.”
I nodded my agreement, but was puzzled at her comment. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I don’t think Guy and David have a lot in common except they both were anxious to see the two of us have some time alone together for girl talk.”
I thought that was pretty perceptive of her and told her so. I also told her I thought David seemed different this visit.
“How so?” She settled back into her deck chair.
“He seems more relaxed, more outgoing, less judgmental. Frankly, Sandy, I must admit to you I have no illusions about my son. He used to be all name brand this and that, money is all, work obsessed. He appears to be far less so now, more…” I searched for a word to describe David’s change.
“Human?” Sandy laughed.
“I guess that says it all.”
“Well. It hasn’t been easy, but when I met David I found him just as you described, but I also had a sense there was more to him than met the eye. He was searching for something more, so I just began urging, cajoling and goading him into other things. He always acted as if he hated doing anything out of character.” She squirmed forward on her chair and leaned toward me. “Like, he came over to my place one Saturday around noon. I had nothing on hand except peanut butter and jelly. I thought he would go hungry instead of condescending to have a sandwich that didn’t come from a gourmet deli, but when he made his way through one, he actually ate another. He said it made him feel kind of good inside. I know he never had them in his father’s house, so I assumed the sandwich must have stirred an earlier memory, perhaps when he was with you?”
I chuckled remembering his weekends visiting me when my salary wouldn’t support much more than peanut butter and jelly and an occasional movie on a Saturday afternoon.
“He seemed to hate being with me, but, on the other hand, he always ate with a hearty appetite all the while telling me how much better the food was with his dad and his stepmother.”
“Well, I think those times had a staying effect on him. They were a welcome counterbalance to the materialistic life he was leading in the city. Oh, I know he’s not perfect, and he slips back into his snobbish routine when he’s around his father, but he’s really a nice guy a lot of the time. I figure he’s worth taking a chance on. Especially now I’ve met you.”
I was so moved by her statement I got teary-eyed, but tried to hide my emotions. “And how about you, Sandy? What’s your family like?”
She told me her father was a doctor, her mother a teacher. They were comfortably well off, but a very down-to-earth, no nonsense kind of family.
“I got loans and worked my way through the state university, and my brother went to a university in California. He also worked his way through school. My parents would have footed the bills for us, but they instilled in us a drive for self-sufficiency and independence, so we did it on our own.”
“Do you like your work?”
“I do, but I don’t have the feeling I’m making any real difference in the world. I just make certain rich people’s books balance.” A sad look settled on her face. “What I really want to do is to teach at the elementary level. David and I have talked about this, and he thinks I should go back to school to get my teaching certificate.”
Sandy continued talking about her plans. As she did so, her face began to light up. She leaned forward with her arms on her knees and spoke about her interest in young children and her desire to become an educator. I listened carefully, overjoyed that my son was going to marry this engaging, lively and dedicated young woman.
David and Guy’s return interrupted our conversation. I was worried about how David fared on a motorcycle, but I shouldn’t have concerned myself. He appeared exhilarated by the ride and was talking with Guy about horsepower, options and cost. They seemed comfortable with one another and were sticking their heads in the fridge looking for “some cold ones” as Sandy and I carried the cups in from the outside deck.
As the afternoon wore on, I found myself relaxing as I hadn’t done for a long time. The ringing of the telephone brought me out of this pleasant world.
Guy told me to stay put. “I’ll get it.”
After a brief exchange he called out to us. “David, it’s your dad.”
David’s demeanor seemed to change before our eyes. He scowled and walked into the kitchen like an old, arthritic man, taking the receiver out of Guy’s hand.
“Hello, Father.”
After a few yeses and nos, David proclaimed in a firm voice, “Look, Dad. We’re having a really nice visit with Mom and her boyfriend. Yes, she had a boyfriend. And he’s got a motorcycle. No, he’s not a Hell’s Angel. Just a minute.”
David yelled out to us, “Guy, Dad wants to know if you have any tattoos and if you’re on welfare. What? Why was that rude, Dad? You asked, didn’t you? Okay, bye for now. Oh, wait, Dad. We won’t be able to attend that Sunday brunch tomorrow. Sandy and I are camping tonight at the state park not far from Mom’s house, and we’re going to go somewhere for breakfast here tomorrow. That is, if we can find a restaurant that will let Guy in without a shirt. No, Dad, he never wears a shirt, and he’s missing several teeth in front. Bye now.”
David returned from the kitchen. He tried to keep a serious expression on his face, but the twinkle in his eyes finally got the better of his mouth. We all joined him in his glee. I tried to reprimand him for putting on his father in such a way, but couldn’t get the words out without erupting into gales of laughter once more.
Wiping tears from his eyes, David said, “I hope you don’t mind, Mom, but we’ll be taking Guy and you out for breakfast.”
“Maybe I’d better cook breakfast here so that Guy won’t be embarrassed eating in public with those missing teeth.”
We again erupted into laughter.
Chapter 19
“He called me ‘Mom.’”
Guy and I waved David and Sandy off to the state park to camp for the night. “And he hugged me and said he loved me.” My eyes were wet with tears as they drove off. Guy put his arms around me and laughed.
“What’s so funny?” I wiped my eyes on his shirtsleeve.
“Didn’t you notice how much like you Sandy looks?”
“Whaaaat?”
“She’s a little shorter than you, it’s true, but she’s blonde with blue eyes. David couldn’t have picked someone closer to you in appearance unless, of course, he had you cloned.”
“I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”
“Well, considering how alienated David and you have been all these years, I’d say it’s a sign that he finds a lot about you attractive without really knowing or saying it.”
“It’s the Oedipal Complex blooming late. I hate it. Freud was right.” I slapped my foreh
ead in frustration.
“Don’t be goofy. It’s not Oedipal. It’s merely an indication he’s admired you all along, but was in an environment that wouldn’t allow him to express his feelings.”
“Don’t be so dismissive of the idea, Guy. He could marry her and then one day wake up to find he’s married his mother.”
I bit into a cuticle, a habit I gave up once I completed graduate school. All this tension over David’s new life, my relationship with Guy and the murder was getting to me. Funny, though, I wasn’t eating as much, unless my thumb was a substitution for a chocolate donut.
“Guess what he said to me?” Guy said.
I continued to nibble on my thumb, not really caring what Guy said at this point so involved was I in worrying about my son’s damaged psyche.
“He said to me, ‘isn’t it funny how much Sandy looks like my mom, but then, I always thought mom was a knockout anyway.’ I think he’s about two steps ahead of you in self-analysis. I don’t think you need to worry. He’s a nice young man who’s coming into his own and has found a great gal to share his life with. Try not to make a psychological case study out of it.”
He was right. David seemed just fine, better than ever. I was crazy about Sandy. I let go my cuticle nibbling and threw my arms around Guy.
“Thanks.” I transferred my nibbling needs to his earlobe.
“I think we should continue this in the house before your neighbors and any passers-by get too curious.
“Frank’s not home now, my other neighbors aren’t close enough to see without binoculars, and few people pass by here.”
“Regardless, I’m a little shy.”
That extracted a guffaw from me. “Okay, into the house and upstairs to a nice private…”
“Nope.” Guy shook his head. “Food first, then dessert, then a ride in the moonlight, then brandy on the dock, and then we’ll see.”
It didn’t turn out as we expected. The only food left in the house was bread. All the lunch meat was gone. We didn’t feel like going out, so we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, polished off the cheesecake from lunch and were preparing to take the bike out for a ride when it began to thunder.
The wind blew in a rainstorm fierce enough to make me worry about the kids camping out in their tent. I wanted to go up to the state park to see if we should rescue them, but Guy convinced me that was hardly the thing David needed right now.
“How do you think he’ll feel if his mom comes charging in to take care of him? If he’s having a hard time getting through this camping thing, he certainly doesn’t need you to witness his embarrassment in front of Sandy. He’s an adult. Let him be one.”
The phone rang, and Guy went to answer it.
“That was David. He figured you’d be worried so he called and told me to let you know they were safe and snug in a motel up the road. Their tent blew down so they thought they’d retire to safer and drier territory. And before you say anything, I told him they should have come here, but he informed me man-to-man that he thought the two of us could use some privacy.”
Guy went to the kitchen cupboard and pulled out the bottle of brandy that was the gift from Der. Pouring a healthy couple of shots into two snifters, he raised one eyebrow at me inquisitively. “Is it okay to take these up to the bedroom?”
I was about to reply in the affirmative when the lights went off.
“This is going to be better than I thought,” Guy said. “Bring along some candles.”
I found the candles and joined him in the bedroom. For a long while we lay on my bed watching the light show through the skylight. Then amid the crashes and booms of the thunder and the flashes of lighting illuminating the bedroom, we made love. It seemed awkward at first, but our bodies began to remember each other, and we found ourselves caught up in the chemistry that first drew us together. We were friends as well as lovers now.
Afterwards, we lit the candles and sipped our brandy, talking long into the night about our lives and our families. I must have fallen asleep before he did. When I awoke later the candles were snuffed out, and Guy had covered my naked body with the comforter. His head lay beside mine on the pillow and his breathing tickled the hair on my forehead.
The storm ceased, and the night was still. I stole out of bed and walked to the glass doors leading to the balcony off my bedroom. The lake was washed in moonlight. Guy’s hand touched my shoulder, and he kissed me on my ear.
“Come back to bed. I promised you we would make love in the moonlight.”
So we did.
*
Despite my lack of sleep I was up early the next morning. I was putting on the coffee when the phone rang. Without a moment’s hesitation, I picked it up, my fears of the other night vanishing in the clean morning air.
“Hi!” Sandy’s voice said into my ear. “We’re on our way to your place. A change of plans for breakfast. We bought eggs, muffins and bacon for the morning’s feast. We’re curious to see if Guy can chew without all his teeth so the bacon’s really tough!”
I laughed and told her the coffeepot was already on. Guy came into the kitchen as I was hanging up. He had my robe wrapped around him.
“That reminds me. We’re going to have to talk about your wardrobe.”
He looked at me puzzled.
“I mean, if you’re going to stay here, you’re going to have to move a few things in like a toothbrush at least. Or maybe you need to consider letting that cold water flat of yours go and simply relocate here for the rest of the summer.” I held my breath wondering if he would think this offer was another example of going too fast, but the words just seemed to jump out of my mouth.
“That’s fine with me, but I think we need to do some talking and planning before I make the move so that everything’s straight, don’t you think?” He moved back into the kitchen and put his arms around me. Sandy and David found us locked in this embrace when they opened the door to the kitchen.
“Wow!” David exclaimed, as he spied Guy in my robe, “I wish Dad could see you now. I thought I’d covered it with the lack of shirt and teeth story. But this. Well, this is too much.”
Guy retreated quickly upstairs and returned in his shirt and jeans from the day before. Sandy and I began to prepare breakfast while Guy and David took their coffee out to the deck. By the time we finished talking and eating, it was early afternoon and David and Sandy needed to get back to the city.
We promised to be in touch about planning the wedding ceremony and reception. I was as excited as Sandy about having the nuptials here. David expressed his enthusiasm also and decided to give the camping another try later this month, then he grabbed me in a bear hug and planted a large kiss on my face. I loved it so much, I clung to him.
“Gee, Mom. Let go. I’ll be back here in only two weeks. It’s not as if you won’t see me for years and years.”
“It seems as if I’m just seeing you clearly for the first time now.”
He gave me a lopsided smile. “Yeah, Mom, I know.”
Guy and I waved them off in the car and returned to the deck to clean up cups and dishes.
“Feel like a swim?” Guy said.
“As long as I keep my head out of the water, sure.” I ran upstairs and slipped on my suit while Guy went out to the bike to get his swim trunks. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the water. By the time early evening arrived we were both famished and decided to dine out at a local restaurant, thinking the weather looked good enough for a ride on his bike.
Last night would be hard to top, but we were convinced we could do it. As it turned out, we did. We ate a fine meal at a local restaurant. The wind blew the smells from the meadows and woods onto the country road we traveled on our way back to the lake. The moon rose full as we sat and sipped our brandies on the dock, then we slipped into the lake and let the warm water lap at our naked bodies as we swam through the gentle current. I thought life couldn’t get any better, and I shared this thought with Guy.
“So do you think
we should tempt fate by sharing lodging for the rest of the summer?” he asked.
Of course I said yes.
*
Monday dawned hot and humid, a continuation of the typical upstate summer. I knew better than to complain of the oppressive heat considering how soon it would be replaced by the colder days of autumn and winter’s blasts from the arctic. Summers were short here, and natives appreciated them regardless of how overwhelming the humidity or how frequent the thunderstorms that rolled through this river valley.
Guy left for work early, kissing me good bye while I was still in bed and informing me a pot of coffee awaited me. I was upstairs when Annie’s car pulled into my drive and the door slammed followed by her call of “pastries.” Frank stopped by also. Then I heard another car pull into the drive. I ran down the stairs and dialed Der’s cell phone number.
“Hi there. Why so late? I just finished the donut with your name on it, and there’s only one cup of coffee left in the pot. Better get in here on the double.” I was looking at his astonished face through my kitchen window. He put away his cell phone and walked through the kitchen door.
“You’re in a cheerful mood for a change.” He headed for the pastry box and breathed a sigh of relief to find it still full of donuts. As he reached for the coffee pot, Frank grabbed it out of his hands, poured cups for Der and him and reminded Annie and me we had paddling practice later in the morning.
“I’m off.” Frank took his cup with him and slammed out the door.
The three of us talked about the case, of course, dwelling mostly on what the papers could contain and the information revealed by Bunny that her husband was one of the principals in the development of the condos up the lake. We agreed that was a good set-up for blackmail, and Der decided to track down this possibility by checking the bank accounts of prime suspects in the murder of President Talbot.
“And who all would that include?” I pushed away my half-eaten donut.
“I wish I could say the list was limited, but it’s not. Certainly it would include his wife, anyone associated with the condos and people at the college closest to him and those in any way connected to the BFS.”
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