Native Affairs (79 page)

“Not that part of it. Listen, you’re my wife. I have the ability to handle this and you don’t.” He grinned. “When I need a grammatically phrased letter I’ll let you take charge. Now, get out of my way and go and pick out an outfit for later. This will all be settled in two hours, I promise you.” He picked up his jacket and slung it over his shoulder, then kissed her on the cheek.

Ann stared after him as he left the bedroom, and she heard him speaking to Daniela in the hall. Then she dressed quickly and went out to the kitchen herself.

Daniela was washing dishes in the sink. The debris of the party was still visible, but reduced; Daniela had been busy clearing it away all day.

“Still at it, Daniela?” Ann said, walking over to the terrace doors and glancing outside. The furniture was stacked to one side and Victor was standing on a garden chair, taking down a string of colored lights.

“There’s a lot to do,” Daniela said, glancing at her and smiling. “You look so relaxed this evening.”

Ann smiled back at her. It was true. Despite Tim’s latest crisis Heath’s changed attitude was like a balm to her soul, giving her hope for the future and their life together.

“I guess it must be a relief to have the party out of the way,” Daniela said.

Ann nodded.

“Do you want something to eat?” Daniela asked.

Ann shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m having a late dinner with Heath.”

“You’re too skinny,
Senora
Bodine. Have a snack now. Mr. Bodine, he is always telling me to cook for you, fatten you up.”

“Always?” Ann said.

“Yes, since you got married.”

So while Heath was giving Ann a hard time to her face, he was sneaking around behind her back and telling the housekeeper to prepare special meals for her. Typical.

“Okay, I’ll have some toast,” Ann said, sitting down in the breakfast nook. Daniela went to get the bread, saying, “The party was a big success,
senora
?”

“Yes, thank you,” Ann replied, thinking about its lurid aftermath with Ben Rowell in the bedroom. “You and Victor were such a big help, Heath and I appreciate it. When are you leaving?”

“We were through at noon,” Daniela replied, “but I didn’t want this mess to greet me day after tomorrow, so we’ve stayed to get some of it out of the way.”

“You don’t have to stay any longer.”

“But,
senora
, the tables from the caterers have to go back, and the rest of the decorations—”

“Can all wait until after Christmas. Heath said that your daughter is coming to visit tonight and that should take precedence. Did Heath give you your bonus?”

Daniela nodded as she buttered toast and then put the plate in front of Ann.

“Then get lost,” Ann said, laughing.

Daniela was obviously pleased. “I hope the new year is a very happy one for you,
senora
,” she said, patting Ann’s arm and then walking out of the room.

That gave Ann pause. So Daniela and her husband had not been insensitive to the undercurrents of tension in the house. And Ann had tried so hard to pretend that everything was fine.

After Daniela and Victor left, a holiday hush settled over the evening, leaving Ann with nothing to do. She was too jittery to work and everybody she knew to call or visit was sure to be busy. Finally she could wait no longer and dialed Harold Caldwell’s office. She got a voice message saying that the office was closed.

If Heath and the lawyer were there, they weren’t answering the phone.

Ann tried to read and to watch television. She was just about to call again when Heath came through the door, carrying several wrapped packages and wearing a red felt Santa Claus hat with white faux fur trim.

“Ho, ho, ho,” he said, encircling her with his free arm. “Oh dear, my Mrs. Claus looks somewhat worried. Where’s my joyous Christmas face?”

“How is Tim? What’s happening? Is he in jail?”

“Take it easy, he’s not in jail,” Heath replied, dumping his packages on the entry-hall table. “Harold Caldwell pulled some rabbits out of a hat and the bench warrant has now been rescinded. Curfew will not ring tonight.”

Ann sighed and closed her eyes. “I tried to call Caldwell’s office,” she said.

Heath grinned. “I kept him busy—he wasn’t taking any outside calls.”

Ann flung her arms around his neck. “Thank you. I seem to be saying that a lot lately.”

“
De nada
. Hey, you haven’t commented on my holiday accessory.” He swept off the hat and bowed.

“Very fetching. Where did you get it?”

“I bought it at the liquor store.”

“Liquor store? Have the proprietors branched out into haberdashery?”

“Nah, they had a counter display of them when I went in there to send a bottle to Ben Rowell. I couldn’t resist.”

“I hope you got him something nice.”

“A fifth of Glenlivet.”

“Good.” Ann kissed him tenderly on the cheek.

“Don’t you want to open your presents?” he asked, picking up the smallest one and shaking it suggestively.

“Isn’t that supposed to wait until tomorrow?”

“There are no rules for a Bodine Christmas. Come on, just this one package. I want to see what you think of it.”

“I thought we were going to go shopping together, ” Ann said, accepting it.

“We will, we will. Everything is open late tonight. Tear into that one now.”

Ann went into the living room and sat on the sofa, ripping off the gold paper and red bow. Inside was a jeweler’s box.

“Heath, what did you do?” Ann asked, lifting the lid.

“I made a start on the rest of our lives, I hope,” he replied, watching her face.

Against a bed of deep blue velvet lay a gold chain with a large charm attached. Ann lifted it to look at it more closely; it was an old-fashioned quill and inkstand made of heavy gold and studded with diamonds.

“Heath, its beautiful. But why the charm?”

“Because you’re a writer. And a pretty good one too, I might add.”

She looked at him. “How do you know?”

“I’ve been reading your next book.”

Ann stared at him, stunned. “What? How?”

“At night, after you’re asleep, I’ve been going into the den and breaking into your computer.”

“How did you get into the file?”

He winked. “I’m a mechanical whiz, remember?”

She couldn’t get over it. “Heath, you are incorrigible.”

“Yes, I know. I also know more about the Italian Renaissance than I ever thought was possible.”

Ann laughed.

“How long were you in Italy?”

“Not long enough. I still have more research to do.”

“We’ll go together.” He held out his arms. “Don’t I get another kiss?” he asked.

Ann flew into his arms and he pressed her close, rocking her back and forth gently.

“I’m going to make it all up to you,” he said softly. “I know I’ve been a first-class jerk, but if I’m a very good boy, do you think you can forgive me?”

Ann held him tightly, too emotional to respond.

“I never wanted anyone but you,” he said. “I tried to tell myself otherwise, tried to have relationships with other women, but it never worked. The memory of you was always there in the background, and it’s like a miracle to have you here with me now. We can make a go of it, can’t we?”

Ann nodded against his shoulder.

He held her at arm’s length to look at her. “Annie, are you crying again?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Don’t you know that we’re supposed to be having a wonderful time?”

“I am having a wonderful time.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

“I’m glad to hear it. Now, are we going to hit those stores or not?”

“We are.”

“Let’s go.”

He took her by the hand and led her toward the door.

* * * *

By the time they reached Lusardi’s, the parking lot was packed despite the late hour and the weather, which had turned colder. Ann hugged her coat close about her as they walked inside, where Heath was greeted like a long-lost relative.

“Did you ever eat or sleep at home before we were married?” Ann asked dryly. They were being led to a secluded table near the Victorian Christmas tree that dominated the dining room.

“Not often,” he admitted. “As you so astutely pointed out, nobody was there.”

The maitre d’ seated them and had a little chat with Heath before handing them the menus. The London Philharmonic’s Christmas album played softly in the background and a gas log blazed in a fireplace in a corner behind them.

“It almost feels like a Christmas up north tonight, the temperature has dropped so much,” Ann said.

“That’s all right, it puts me in the mood,” Heath said. “I always associate Christmas with New England, anyway.”

Ann laughed. “What are you talking about? You’ve spent every Christmas in Florida with the palm trees.”

“Not when I was in the navy.”

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot. Where were you?”

“Mystic, Connecticut, for two years.”

Ann was silent.

“What?” he said, looking at her.

“There’s so much about your life since I left Florida that I don’t know,” she said quietly.

“What do you want to know?”

“Were you happy?”

“No,” he said.

“What? Making millions of dollars?”

“I was successful. I wasn’t happy.”

“Some might say there’s no difference.”

“There is. You can take my word for it, I’m an expert. Taking revenge on people is not the path to fulfillment.”

The wine steward appeared at Heath’s elbow and asked if they would like a drink.

Heath looked at Ann, then shook his head.

“Nothing for either one of us,” he said.

“Sworn off the stuff?” Ann asked, smiling.

“I don’t seem to need it anymore.” He covered her hand with his bigger one.

“Who else did you want to take revenge on besides me?” Ann asked.

“You know. You said it once. All the golfers in the pastel polo shirts, everybody who looked through me as if I were invisible when I was a kid.”

“What did you do?”

“Oh, I made sure they knew that I was in their league now. I used my money effectively to get the point across. I hired people like Joe to run my company to rub their blue noses in my prosperity. But of course I really wasn’t accepted by them, no matter what I did.”

Ann said nothing.

“Money doesn’t make those people respect you. It’s background and breeding that count. You’re one of them, Princess, and you always will be, even if you don’t have a dime.”

“They must respect your accomplishments.”

“My invention, you mean? A lucky accident. They have to deal with me now because of my business but you’ll notice I’m not getting invited to their homes.”

“Neither am I, now,” Ann informed him.

Heath shook his head. “You’re undergoing a temporary disgrace because of your brother. That’s different. You’re inside the fence and I’m outside it.”

“But I’m married to you!”

“So you married down.”

“Oh, Heath, you dwell too much on all of that.”

“You would, too, if you’d had my early life.”

“When we first got back together, I thought that’s why you wanted to marry me, to show everybody on Lime Island that you could snag Henry Talbot’s daughter.”

Heath looked at her across the table and said, “That may have been part of it when we first met as kids. You represented the world I never had access to, the better life that was always closed to me. But once I got to know you, you were so sweet and unlike what I had expected.”

“What did you expect?”

“A snob,” he said.

“I guess I did nothing to correct that impression initially, bitching at you when your repair job disturbed my nap.”

He laughed.“But you were so cute standing there, hands on hips, all angry and barefoot in your bikini. I was lost from the moment I saw you.”

Ann grinned. “You certainly didn’t act like it.”

“Oh, well, I was always very careful to cover myself in those days.”

“You still are, Heath. That’s what the past month has been about, right?”

He nodded thoughtfully. “I guess you’ve got my number, Princess.”

“Just remember that,” Ann said archly.

“Are you ready to order now, Mr. Bodine?” their waiter said to Heath.

They looked at each other. They hadn’t even glanced at the menus on the table.

“You come here a lot, Heath,” Ann said. “Just get whatever you want for both of us.”

Heath ordered for them and then lifted a muffin from the basket on the table. “Have one of these, they’re good. You are hereby ordered to gain ten pounds in the next two months.”