With a shout of approval, the twins moved with their mother toward the kitchen while Phil employed the silver letter opener that Aggie had given him to discover how much this month’s American Express bill would prove to be. The opener reminded him of Aggie and he shouted to his wife, “Better call over to Aggie’s and tell Gabbie we’ll need her to watch the boys tonight.” He shook his head. Without fanfare, Gabbie had begun spending nights over there and for the last few days had hardly been seen by the Hastings household, except in the barn. No matter how much in love with Jack she might be, she’d never neglect the horses. Then Phil glanced at the last letter in the stack; he looked at it again, staring at the return address as if for a moment he couldn’t believe his senses. Then he shouted, “And tell her she’s got a letter here. From her mother.”
12
Gabbie’s face was an unreadable mask as she finished the letter. Folding it slowly, she looked at her father and began to laugh. “Mom got married.”
Phil blinked and said, “She’s married?”
Gloria watched the reaction with interest. The only subject in Phil’s past that had been off limits had been Corinne. Phil had given Gloria the barest facts and refused to discuss his first marriage further. When they had begun dating, Gloria had worried that Phil carried a torch for his first wife. She quickly learned that was as far from the truth as anything could be. Gloria knew there was a lot of hostility and anger still dormant within Phil, but there were also other feelings, feelings not shared. It was the only thing Gloria felt left out of where Phil was concerned.
Gabbie continued her laughing, a deeply amused sound tinged with a note of bitterness. “She married Jacques Jeneau.”
Gloria’s eyes widened. “The French millionaire?”
Phil’s mouth turned up at the corners, and his eyes brimmed. For a moment Gloria feared he was on the verge of crying, but suddenly he threw back his head and laughed. He was nearly convulsing, laughing so hard he fell back over the arm of the small couch opposite his desk, landing with a thud. He lay back, laughing. “Jeneau!” he croaked.
Gabbie’s laughter echoed her father’s and she had to wipe a tear away as she became caught up in her father’s hilarity. Their laughter bounced back and forth, feeding off itself, until Gabbie had to sit down and hold her breath to stop.
Jack, who had been quietly standing by the hall door, said to Gloria, “What’s so funny?” She shrugged, indicating ignorance.
Phil lay back, arm over his eyes, for a moment, his laughter diminishing to a continuous chuckle. At last he took a deep breath and then sighed. Gabbie covered her face with her hand, wiping away the wetness on her cheeks. Jack politely asked, “Who’s Jacques Jeneau?”
Phil sat up, also wiping tears from his face, as he said, “Ah, therein lies a tale.”
He got up and went to kneel beside his daughter. He put his arms around her shoulders, hugging her tight, a rare display of physical affection between them. “You all right, kiddo?”
Gabbie’s laughter had halted and she looked at her father, her eyes red from tearing. She sniffed and nodded. “Yup.” She kissed him on the cheek, then said, “Some joke, huh?”
Gloria said, “If it’s not a bother, what’s so damn funny?”
Phil continued to kneel beside Gabbie. “Jacques Jeneau is a French playboy who spends his time with slow boats and fast women. His hobbies are losing yacht races and divorce suits.” He sat on the floor, his arm resting across Gabbie’s knees. “We met him at a reception in New York, in ’66, I think. It was some charity thing. Anyway, Corinne got a fair share of invitations to those affairs because of her family, even though we were poor and just getting by. And we went to a number of them—the ones we didn’t have to contribute to get into, anyway. There were always plenty of free drinks and pretty good buffets. At this one Jeneau made a pass at Corinne.” He smiled in remembrance. “This was before she got radical, but even then she called him a parasite. We saw him a half-dozen times after that, and every time he came on to her. We treated it like a joke. He’s been chasing her on and off for twenty years. Look’s like he finally caught her. Some joke.”
Gabbie said, “The joke is this letter.” She sighed and looked at Jack. “So much for the grande dame of the Left. Will you look at that engraved stationery! It must have come from some designer shop in Paris, for Christ’s sake.”
Gloria couldn’t stand it any longer and took the letter from Gabbie’s hand. She read it, then said, “So she’s sorry for the lost years and wants you to come visit?”
Gabbie stood. “It’s a little late.” She went to stand next to Jack, who put his arms around her.
“Don’t be too hard, Gabbie,” said Phil as he stood up. “Maybe she’s mellowed in her old age.”
“If she married Jeneau, she didn’t mellow; she moldered.” She made a face. “I met him at a rich people’s reception at Grandmother’s. He made a pass at me! And I was all of fifteen!”
Jack grinned. “So? You were probably pretty hot stuff for a fifteen-year-old, or is he just a dirty-old-man type?”
“Old?” Gabbie sighed in resignation. “No, in fact he’s gorgeous. Like a Robert Redford with big brown eyes and ginger hair, with perfect grey at the temples. And a body like a gymnast’s. All dripping with Gallic suavity. It’s just he’s so damn obvious. He’s used to having women throw themselves at him. I think he was halfway shocked and amused when I walked away from him.”
“Like mother, like daughter,” said Phil. “He’s been intrigued with Corinne for years. I guess he just couldn’t stand being turned down.”
Gloria tapped her chin with the folded letter. “As the Chinese say, ‘May you live in interesting times.’ Well, it’s been yucks, kids, but if you’re going to have any dinner, I still better check on the roast. Mark and Gary should be here soon.” Passing Gabbie, she handed back the letter.
Phil headed toward the doorway, saying, “It might not be too bad a honeymoon, kids. The South of France isn’t hard to take.”
Gabbie looked at Jack. “What do you think?”
“I think we’ll do what you want. We could always work it so we pass through Nice for a day. Cocktails on the yacht; that sort of thing. Then we could split if it gets too uncomfortable.”
Gabbie sighed. “I’ll think about it. Maybe we should see Mom, at least once.”
Phil said softly, “Ah, now you know where she is, maybe you should invite her to the wedding?”
“I’ll think about that, too.” With a small hint of anger, she said, “She didn’t invite me to hers.”
Phil put his hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “I understand. Whatever you want, okay?” The sound of a car approaching the house intruded. “That’ll be Mark and Gary. We’ll be back after midnight.”
Gabbie nodded. “Have a good time.”
Gloria appeared and took her coat from the closet as Mark knocked on the door. Quickly Gloria gave last-minute instructions about dinner and stuck her head into the parlor to say good night to the boys. Soon Mark’s car was heading out of the driveway and Gabbie and Jack were alone in the study.
Jack studied Gabbie’s face in the soft glow of the porch light coming in the window and wondered what was going on in that complex head of hers. He knew she was enduring mixed emotions where her mother was concerned, but he also knew she’d decide to do what was right for her, with no bullshit or apology. It was one of the qualities that made him crazy about her. She sighed and put her head on his shoulder, without words, and they fell into that warm glow simply being together gave them, while from the parlor the sound of gunfire informed them the twins had discovered something diverting among the hundred-plus channels Phil’s dish could pull in. For a quiet time nothing was spoken, then Gabbie kissed Jack lightly on the cheek and said, “Come on, lover. Let’s feed the monsters.” With a mock groan at being forced to quit the comfort of the couch, Jack rose and followed Gabbie to the kitchen.
PART 5
OCTOBER
1
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Gabbie rushed down the hall as the phone rang for the fifth time. She was dripping wet and furious as she attempted to keep the towel wrapped around her. As she sped past the twins’ room, she said, “Thanks, brats!”
Sean and Patrick looked up from where they were reading comic books and exchanged questioning glances. They had no idea what she was talking about. They had both been off in a four-color world populated by costumed superheroes and space adventures, and something as mundane as a phone ringing was not going to break their concentration. Patrick looked out the window, heavily streaked by rain, and silently wondered, Is it ever going to stop?
“Sure,” said Sean. “Just in time for school on Monday.” Neither thought it odd they shared that silent communication from time to time. They had been doing it since birth.
Patrick returned to his comic, grumbling inaudibly. School was more than a month old and the rain had seemed constant since the second day. Either it was pouring, or the ground at the park was too muddy to play ball. Now another Saturday was almost shot. They hadn’t played an inning in three weeks and both were feeling deprived. The kids at school didn’t want to play baseball much anymore, anyway. It was football season, and while both twins liked touch football, it wasn’t the same as a good baseball game. It was a sure sign the summer was long gone, the next an impossibly distant time away. Besides, next year was Little League, and while excited at the prospect of organized play, the boys also sensed that some element of freedom was slipping from their young lives.
Sean studied his brother. His own sense of gloom was reflected back by Patrick’s, but with that reflection came a darker shadow. Sean knew Patrick still seethed inside to get back at the Bad Thing, but hoped that with school occupying his energies Patrick would become content to wait through the last two weeks of October, until November 1, when all the Good People left. But deep within he knew it was unlikely. Patrick was an open book for Sean. Sometime soon Patrick would act.
Gabbie stormed back in the other direction, halting long enough to say, “Damn salesman! If the phone rings again while Pm in the bath, one of you monsters better pick it up or I’ll.…” She let the sentence go unfinished as her little brothers showed nothing resembling concern over the vague threat; she hadn’t the faintest notion of what she’d do if they didn’t. And the towel was small enough that it didn’t quite cover most of what Gabbie wanted covered. The comic struggle with the towel undermined her attempt at looking menacing. She gave up and left.
Patrick observed, “She takes a lot of showers and baths.”
Sean nodded. “Girls do that. They don’t like dirt.” With that sage insight they returned to their comics.
After a while the phone rang again. Sean looked up and saw that Patrick was lost in the latest adventures of Wonder Woman. He listened and heard Gabbie’s voice echo down the hall: “Get the phone, damnit!”
Sean rose and hurried to the phone, picked up the receiver, and said, “Hello.”
“Patrick? Sean?” said the voice on the phone, made scratchy by long distance.
“Sean.”
“This is Mark. Is your father home?”
“No. Mom and Dad are shopping. They’ll be back for dinner.”
“Is Jack or Gabbie there?”
“Jack’s coming over, Gabbie’s in the bath. You’ve been gone a long time. When you coming back?”
“Soon. I’m in Germany. Now listen carefully, Sean. I want you to give your dad a message. It’s important. I don’t know when I’ll be back.…” A squeal of static erupted, then Mark said, “… but regardless of when, tell your dad to leave the stuff in the basement alone until I get back, no matter what he finds. And if he finds anything else, anywhere on your property, tell him.…” Again static obscured his words. “It’s very important that he doesn’t touch anything. You got that?”
“Sure. You’re in Germany and Dad’s not to mess with the stuff in the basement.”
“Okay. Now, tell your father I’ve got some of the translation of the parchment and some other new information—” A sudden loud burst of static sounded as lightning flashed outside; the phone went dead at the other end. Sean listened for a moment as series of clicks sounded, followed, after a long silence, by the dial tone. Something in the tone of Mark’s voice and the sudden silence on the phone disturbed Sean. He held the phone until it began a recording telling him to hang up. He did so and headed back toward his room.
Gabbie opened the bathroom door, allowing a cloud of steam to escape, and said, “Who was that?”
“Mark. He’s in Germany.”
Gabbie emerged from the bathroom wearing a white terry-cloth bathrobe, a puzzled expression on her face. “He called from Germany?”
Sean nodded. “Yeah, he’s in Germany. He said to tell Dad that he shouldn’t do anything in the basement until he got back.”
Gabbie toweled her hair. “I wonder what that’s supposed to mean. Germany? I thought he was in New York all this time. Was there anything else?”
“Yes.…” Sean thought a long moment. “But I forget.”
“Great. Well, you better remember before Dad gets back. When’s Mark coming here?”
“He said he didn’t know.” Without further comment he entered his room and returned to the latest adventures of the Batman. For a long time Sean scanned the brightly colored pages, but he couldn’t shake the odd quality in Mark’s voice. Sean couldn’t judge such things, but he thought Mark had sounded scared.
2
Phil wasn’t pleased by the lack of agreement about what had happened. He said, “So he said not to do anything?” Sean nodded.
“Anything what, honey?” asked Gloria.
Sean struggled to remember. “He had something for you, I think. Anyway, he said he’d tell you when he got here.”
Gloria regarded the pouring rain outside. “But he didn’t say when that would be?”
Sean shrugged. “He just said soon.”
Gabbie ate silently. She had avoided responsibility for the lack of a complete message by insisting on her right to an uninterrupted bath. The boys were old enough to write down messages. Her father had agreed in principle, but he still looked irritated with his daughter. He had left her in charge.
A knock on the back door was followed by Jack’s entrance. He was dripping but smiling. “You ready?”
“Wait a minute,” Gabbie said, jumping up from the table. “We’re running late tonight.”
“We’ve got time. The movie doesn’t begin for another hour.”
“No, you leave now,” said Gloria. “With this rain I don’t want you rushing, and I know how Gabbie drives.” Gabbie ran from the room and up the stairs. Gloria regarded the dripping Jack. “Why in heaven didn’t you let her pick you up? Even with that slicker, you’re drenched.”
Jack winked. “Because if I’d stayed at Aggie’s, Gabbie’d have waited until the last minute to collect me, and I know how she drives, too.”
“I heard that!” came down the stairs. “Gabbie says you’re taking off for a few days,” said Gloria.
Jack unbuttoned his slicker. “First thing tomorrow. I’ve got an old friend at Fredonia who’s going to help me organize my material, then prep me for my second orals, week after next.”
“This is it, then?” said Phil.
Jack nodded, betraying a slight nervousness. “If I get past these orals, I advance to candidacy. My doctorate won’t be automatic, but it’ll be just a matter of doing the work right. But this is where they wash out the students they don’t think can cut it, the final culling of the herd.”
“You’ll do fine,” commented Phil.
Gloria changed the subject. “Mark Blackman called. He’s in Germany.”
“Germany?”
“If Sean heard right, he’s been in Germany for the last two weeks.”
Jack looked confused a moment. “This all has to do with the stuff in the basement, I guess. Germany? Fancy that.”
Phil said, “I guess.” He put down hi
s fork. “That still doesn’t clear up the mystery of what happened to Gary. I expected him back a few days ago.”
Patrick looked up from his plate, a guilty expression on his face. “He’s still in Seattle.”
Phil said, “How do you know that?”
“He called.”
“When?”
“Last week. I forgot to tell you. He said Mark had gone to Germany from New York and he was going to stay in Washington for a while.”
“I think tomorrow I buy an answering machine.” Phil was caught between anger and resigned amusement. “With five people living in this house, why isn’t it humanly possible to get messages…?”
3
Gabbie jumped up at the sound of a car coming up the drive. She let the book she’d been reading fall to the floor as she peered through the window. Jack was barely out of Aggie’s car when she was flying down the porch steps to leap upon him. He staggered back against the fender of the car, dropping the book bag he had been carrying. He held her up as she kissed him. When at last she broke away, he said, “Hey. I’ve barely been gone a week.”
She kissed him again, lingering and hungry. “It seemed like a month.” She said with a grin, “I’m so damn horny, I can’t believe it.”
Jack returned the grin. “We’ll have to do something about that.” She stuck her tongue in his ear, something she had discovered made him absolutely crazy, and he jumped and shivered. Quickly he disentangled himself from her. “But not until tonight, you shameless hussy.” Over her mock pout he said, “Aggie’s got some local matrons over for tea. She’s picking brains for her book again. Unless everyone here’s gone off somewhere?” he hopefully asked.
“No such luck. The twins will be home from school in an hour and Gloria’s doing kitchen stuff. Dad’s in playing a game on the computer, though we’re all supposed to think he’s hard at work.” She pinched Jack on the rear. “We could grab a blanket and sneak off to the barn.”