A Moment in Time (32 page)

"I'm on call at the clinic," Valerie said,
"so I—"

"Damn that clinic!" Marguerite exclaimed
angrily. "I think you can spare the time for breakfast with your
mother and your cousin. Some sick dog will simply have to wait.
Nine o'clock!"

Before Valerie could respond, there was a
loud and resounding bang in her ear as her mother hung up on her.
She looked at the receiver in her hand for a moment, then put it
down. She sighed, wondering what on earth had brought this on. Then
suddenly she began to laugh aloud.

Elvis, who was spread out on the floor at the
foot of the bed, began to wag his tail furiously, excited by the
sound of her laughter. She looked down at him, the laughter still
rising in her throat, shaking her body and lifting her spirits.
"Oh, Elvis," she said when she could finally speak, "she is not
going to make me upset today. Nothing could upset me today." She
hugged herself with her arms, thrilled with the memory of last
night. Of Wyn Conrad.

Elvis looked up at her with what she was
certain was a bright smile on his face, his tail still thumping
against the floor.

She slid her legs over the side of the bed
and rose to her feet, stretching her arms and back and shoulders,
lifting herself up on her toes, reaching toward the ceiling. "No,
siree, Elvis," she said. "Marguerite de la Rochelle is not going to
get my goat today, no matter what."

She dashed into the bathroom, performed her
morning ablutions, and padded into the kitchen on bare feet, still
in the huge T-shirt she had worn in place of pajamas, Elvis
trailing along behind her. She quickly filled his water bowl and
fed him his breakfast—the usual dry food with a little of the tuna
fish he loved mixed in—then she ground beans and got the
coffeemaker going. She let Elvis out when he was finished, then
rushed back into the bathroom and quickly showered. Afterward,
wrapped in a bathrobe, she poured herself a mug of coffee and
wandered out onto the screened-in porch to drink it.

The morning promised to be a beautiful one,
and she regretted that she wouldn't be spending it out in the
garden, puttering around, prettifying here and there.

She sipped her coffee, wishing that Colette
would come tiptoeing into the garden with Hayden so that they could
have a good gossip. She could hardly wait to tell her what had
happened last night, but she would have to put it off until later
in the day. It was too early to call Colette now. She finished her
coffee and went back inside. She peered at the kitchen clock.
Nearly eight o'clock already. She'd better start getting ready to
face breakfast with Jamie and her mother.

She went back into the bathroom and put on a
touch of mascara and eyeliner, then daubed lightly at her cheeks
with the merest hint of blusher. Next, she carefully applied a
little lipstick, a gingery color that she liked with her strawberry
blond hair and green eyes. Finally, she brushed at her hair
vigorously and then let it fall naturally into place. She stood
back and examined herself in the mirror.

Not half bad, she thought, even though she
knew that no matter what she did it wouldn't be enough to satisfy
her mother.
No
, she thought,
Mother will manage to find
fault somehow or other, and she'll let me know about it
. She
smiled at her reflection.

Well, this morning, Marguerite, your
criticism will fall on deaf ears
, she told herself.
Because
nothing, absolutely nothing, is going to take the shine off my
day
. Then she remembered perfume and quickly spritzed herself
with some of the Femme on the vanity.

Rushing back into her bedroom, she shrugged
out of her bathrobe, slipped on her bra and panties, and rummaged
in her closet.
Where the devil is my green silk tee?
she
wondered. She liked it because it was a close match to her eyes.
She opened and closed several dresser drawers, thinking that she'd
folded it and put it in one of them. No luck.

She went back to the closet and rummaged some
more. Still no luck.
Oh, well
, she thought,
just find
something and put it on
. She grabbed a navy blue short-sleeved
tee, silk like the green one, and quickly put it on, then donned a
pair of cream clam-diggers almost identical to the ones she'd worn
last night. She slipped into her cream thong sandals and went back
out to the kitchen, where she grabbed her shoulder bag.
Ready,
she thought.
All except for Elvis.

She went out to the screened-in porch and
called to him, and he came prancing toward her from somewhere down
near the pond. She opened the door and let him in. "Elvis," she
said, "I'm going out to see Mother so I'm leaving you here." She
leaned down and gave him several strokes. "I'm sorry to do this to
you, but you and Mother both will like it a lot better this
way."

She locked the porch door and left the
kitchen one open for him. That way he could enjoy the porch or stay
in the house, whichever he wanted. She glanced out toward the
garden longingly, then turned and headed to the front door.
I
really don't want to do this, but nothing can wipe the smile off my
face today.

Twenty minutes later, she pulled into the
parking area behind her mother's house, and her face immediately
fell.

Teddy's silver Jaguar.

Oh, no
, she thought.
Why didn't she
tell me? And what is he doing here this morning anyway?
But it
didn't take an Einstein to figure out exactly why Teddy was here.
Marguerite had asked him, of course, and most likely she'd arranged
this breakfast after Teddy and her mother had had a little talk
last night about her unwillingness to cancel her plans to be with
him.

It would be just like Teddy to have called
Mother
, she thought.
Trying to get her help to keep me in
line. Well, it's not going to work, folks.

She stepped into the screened-in porch, where
she noticed the table had been set for breakfast, then went on into
the kitchen. Effie was bent over the oven door, sliding out a pan
of croissants. When she heard Valerie, she turned around and smiled
widely.

"I'm so glad to see you," she said, putting
the pan down on the center island.

Valerie gave her a kiss and a hug. "You look
great, Effie."

"You don't have to flatter me," the old woman
replied, "but I'm glad you do." She stared at Valerie for a moment,
then her eyes narrowed into slits. "You!" she said, pointing a
finger at her. "You're the one who looks great, Val. You're glowing
from head to toe."

Valerie smiled. "Do you really think so?"

"You know you are," Effie said. She looked at
Valerie with an expression of curiosity. "Tell Effie what you've
been up to," she said. "Because I know that look, and it means
something awful good's going on."

"Oh, Effie," Valerie replied, "I don't know
what you're talking about."

"Come on," the old woman said, cajoling her.
"You can tell me, young lady."

Valerie leaned down and kissed her cheek
again. "I'll tell you all about it later on," she said. "When you
and I can have some privacy."

"Promise?" Effie said, looking at her with
widened eyes.

"Promise," Valerie answered.

Effie beamed. "I knew it!" she said. "I just
knew it!"

"Where's Mother?" Valerie asked.

"She and the boys are out at the old swimming
pool," she said. "I'm surprised you didn't see them."

"The swimming pool?" Valerie said. "What in
the world are they doing out there?"

Effie shrugged. "Who knows?" she replied.
"Since that cousin of yours has been here, he and your mother've
been whispering around like a couple of conspirators. Like they
were planning a murder. And they don't tell me anything."

Valerie frowned, then relaxed her features.
"Well, it's probably nothing, Effie," she said. "They're probably
just talking about old family secrets or something. Skeletons in
the ancestral closet, that sort of thing."

"Humpf!" Effie said. "That wouldn't be
anything new to me."

They heard the sound of approaching voices
and turned toward the door. "We'll talk later," Valerie said, then
walked out to the porch to greet everyone.

Her mother looked at her, her features set in
a mask of amiability that didn't fool Valerie for a second. "Good
morning, dear," she said, holding her cheek up for a kiss.

"Good morning," Valerie said, kissing the
proffered cheek. "And Jamie! It's so good to see you."

Jamie hugged her and air-kissed each cheek in
the European fashion. "You look great," he said.

"You look terrific yourself," she replied. "I
see you've been working out a lot. I think the South of France
agrees with you."

She felt Teddy's arm slide across her
shoulder. "Good morning," he said, kissing her cheek.

"Good morning, Teddy," she said without
looking at him.

Effie appeared from the kitchen, laden with a
tray on which sat a pot of fresh coffee, surrounded by baskets and
platters of food.

"Oh, I see Effie's got everything ready,"
Marguerite said. "Let's sit, shall we?"

Jamie held her chair for her, and Marguerite
took her place at the head of the table, while Teddy held Valerie's
chair for her. She sat down, feeling a slight sense of dread
despite pumping herself up before arriving here.

Effie set the tray down and put out the food,
then poured coffee for everyone. There were scrambled eggs, bacon
and sausage, croissants and biscuits, fruit, and various
condiments. Marguerite began helping herself, then passed the food
around, and everyone began eating with gusto.

"This is so good," Valerie enthused. "It's
been a while since I've had one of Effie's great breakfasts."

"You should try it more often, dear,"
Marguerite said, looking at her daughter pointedly. "Effie makes
breakfast every morning, as you know."

Teddy laughed. "I bet Val has more food in
the house for Elvis than she does for herself."

Valerie felt her face flush, but she decided
not to say anything.
Let them think what they will. Nothing
anybody can say or do today is going to hurt me
, she reminded
herself.

"Marguerite has always known how to do
everything perfectly," Jamie offered. "Whether for man or
beast."

Breakfast continued with small talk centered
primarily on the garden and then the swimming pool, which Valerie
discovered her mother had for some reason decided to completely
remodel. Even though she was curious about this turn of events, she
didn't ask any questions and contributed very little in the way of
talk, deciding to listen and then make as quick an exit as
possible. Suddenly, however, she became the center of
attention.

"Val, dear," her mother said in what Valerie
recognized as her most condescending tone of voice, "I'm so glad
you could come this morning. I think it's high time we discussed
your wedding. Your cousin Jamie and Teddy and I have discussed it
at length, and we've decided that it should be as soon as possible.
You won't have to do a thing. We'll take care of everything for
you."

Valerie listened to her mother with
disbelieving ears. Yet she knew that there was nothing wrong with
her hearing, and she also knew that her mother meant every single
word she was saying. She started to interrupt more than once, but
restrained herself, deciding to hear her out, for the time being at
least.

"You know," Marguerite went on, "you and
Teddy have been seeing each other for years now, living together
for all practical purposes, so we think it's time you finally made
it official. I'm certain that if your father were alive, he would
feel the same way. Neither of us ever really approved of young
people living together before marriage, but we always knew that you
and Teddy would eventually marry." She looked at Valerie
questioningly. She seemed genuinely surprised by her daughter's
continued silence.

"I see," Valerie finally offered in a neutral
voice, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Oh, good. I'm glad you do," Marguerite
continued. "We've also decided that a big church affair and
reception should be dispensed with at this point. A waste of time
and money, really, and you both have such busy lives. Teddy with
his career, and you with your little job. So unnecessary, don't you
agree?" She looked at her daughter with lifted brows.

"Absolutely," Valerie answered.

"Wonderful," Marguerite said, clapping her
hands together lightly. "We'll have an intimate family ceremony
here at home as soon as possible. Effie can make a nice wedding
luncheon or something. It's so fortunate that your cousin Jamie is
here for it. He can give you away, don't you think?"

Valerie knew that she couldn't listen to much
more of her mother's talk without exploding. Her mind was already
reeling with the appropriate obscenities, but she didn't really
want to use them. That these people would presume to plan her life
for her was enraging, but that it should all be done behind her
back was adding insult to injury.

Who or what do they think I am?
she
asked herself.
Some pawn in a chess game they're playing? Have I
always been so . . . so spineless to their demands that they think
they can actually railroad me into this marriage?

Marguerite was staring at her, her emerald
eyes glittering intensely, a smile on her lips, waiting for the
expected response from her daughter. After a moment, Valerie
noticed, she actually began to tap perfectly manicured fingernails
against the tablecloth in her impatience. Then she saw that both
Teddy and Jamie were watching her as well.

Like evil blond twins
, she thought.
Only
Jamie's more built-up and has shorter hair.