Night Mares in the Hamptons (31 page)

When Louisa asked why I was interested in that particular family, I explained about their daughter wanting to take the class. “The parents won't let her. I got the idea they were obsessively overprotective. Maybe it's understandable with a handicapped kid, but I think she hardly leaves the property. She's homeschooled, so I thought she'd like to meet the other kids. Make friends. Express her creativity. Get out of the house. I thought if you knew the parents, you could convince them she'd be safe enough. I know she'd benefit from the experience.”

“I'm sorry,” Louisa said. “I'm not on close enough terms. They're more the cocktail party circle than the spaghetti supper at the firehouse crowd, and with the kids and all, we don't get to many of those affairs any more. I know Alice Froeler plays tennis at a club in Amagansett, but she's not on any committees here or active in any volunteer groups.”

I could hear the disapproval in Louisa's voice. She was an indefatigable do-gooder and firmly believed in putting back into your community. Now she volunteered to call Mrs. Froeler in her capacity as administrator of the summer program, but she doubted her call would have any effect.

“For that matter, I don't recall ever seeing the girl in town, just in the car with the live-in gorilla who drives the family around and does errands. They say he's the girl's physical therapist and Alice Froeler's personal trainer. He's certainly muscular enough and grim enough for a workout drill sergeant, but he still reminds me of a bodyguard. Or a prison guard. All I've ever heard him called is Lewis, so I don't know if that's his first or last name, but he takes Alice everywhere when Willem Froeler goes back to work during the week.”

Dante agreed the man was big and tough looking. But Lewis knew his way around a yacht, as if that mattered more. It did to Dante, who used to live on one of his own boats. “Froeler takes him as first mate when he goes fishing or over to Block Island. The boat's too big for one man to handle, especially if he's trolling for blues or trying to dock in a high wind.”

Somewhere between my dreams and my book, I'd started to feel protective about Letitia, Letty. “That man Lewis is not rough with the girl, is he?”

Louisa had no idea. “As I said, I never see the child to speak to. The parents attend the exhibit openings and the concerts here in the summer, so I bump into them occasionally, but they never bring her. I understand there's a live-in housekeeper, too, now that the girl doesn't need a nanny or a nurse, so it's not like she's left alone with him all the time. For that matter, you know this town. I would have heard if anyone suspected Lewis was abusing the child. Or bedding the wife. I haven't heard anything like that.”

“Okay, thanks for the information. I'll see what I can do about getting Letty to the arts center.” I had my sunglasses on and was ready to leave, again.

“You better let me call, Willy. You'll never succeed if Mr. Froeler is there. He and your mother had a run-in a while back.”

“Because they killed the pony?”

“She already despised him for that”—Ty gave his similar opinion of that action with a grunt—“but they argued afterward.”

It seemed my mother, with her usual attitude of letting no stone go unhammered, wanted information on the pharmaceutical company Froeler owned somewhere in Nassau County to find out whether they conducted experiments on animals there. He told her, in effect, that it was none of her business. So she told him, in the exact words, to go screw himself. At the funeral parlor, during the wake for Rick Stamfield's mother.

“Oh, no.”

“At least it wasn't at the funeral,” Louisa said, as if that would make me feel better about Mother and her missions.

Dante laughed and commented on the Tate women's history of dramatics.

But Ty said, “I am going to love your mother, darlin'.”

I didn't like the look on Louisa's face, as if she were planning her matron of honor outfit. I took a step farther away from Ty. “Don't call me that!” Then I asked if Mom ever found out about the animal testing.

Louisa shook her head. “I have no idea.”

“What does the company make?”

“Money, as far as I know, from the way they live. Or Alice's first husband was really loaded. Froeler's generous enough, likes his name on the letterhead and the donor list. The hospital left him off the roster by mistake one year and he never contributed again. He's not here a lot midweek, so maybe we'll get lucky and be able to work on the mother without him.”

“The kid really wants to write. Someone should encourage her.”

“That'd be you. Let me call and see what I can accomplish.”

“With all you have to do? I'll try by myself, to start. And I think a personal visit is best, so they can see I'm not threatening. Letty will be there, and I know she is on my side.”

“Well, good luck with that. I'm sure you'll have enough kids to work with either way.”

I wanted that one.

Ty squeezed my hand when we were back outside. “I like your friends and I like your town. You've got good people here, people who care. But you're the best, Willow Tate.”

So I kissed him, right there in the front of the arts center. Someone beeped their horn and a kid on a bicycle whistled. Ty laughed. Then he asked me to go to dinner with him.

“You mean like on a date? A real date?” We'd already had wild, passionate lovemaking, and now he wanted to play the singles bit? Talk about putting the cart before the horse.

“A real date, you and me.”

“What about the mares?”

“We can't do anything until after dark, either way. So let's enjoy ourselves. Maybe go out of town where not everyone knows you. I'll be busy the rest of the day talking to my show manager and PR staff about the show. What does Louisa want to call it? The Ride for the Ranch. And then phoning the lawyers about the property. I don't want to go too far with this if the town won't approve it. By five o'clock, the suits'll all be done for the day, and I'll need a drink and dinner and a beautiful woman by my side.”

“I don't think Dante will let Louisa go out with you.”

Now he kissed me. “Luckily that's not who I want.”

I could feel his want right through our clothes. It must be contagious, because I didn't want to wait till after dinner. “You don't have to wine and dine me just to get into my bed. Save your money. You'll need it to build your ranch.”

“You really think the price of a dinner is going to make a difference? Willy, the price of a ticket to most of my shows is more than a little thing like you could eat. Even in New York.”

I made a mental note to ask Dante what he'd found out about Ty's finances. Just how rich was he, anyway? Football player rich? Movie star rich? Not that it mattered, of course. “I just don't want you thinking you have to, uh, buy my affections.”

“Didn't Grant take you out fancy?”

Grant who? I hadn't thought of the Department of Unexplained Events agent in days. Which was easily explained by the way earthshaking sex tended to affect a girl's memory.

“He did. But we didn't have a whole lot of time for plain entertainment before he left.”

“Well, that's what people do when they enjoy each other's company. They make time. And if we don't go out, we'll spend the whole night in bed and I'll be too drained by morning to do half what I need to.”

Did that mean he wasn't going to stay over? Maybe what I took as his interest was just my admittedly active imagination.

When I didn't say anything, Ty asked if I'd rather go to the movies or bowling.

I'd have to dig up the movie schedule, but the bowling alley was still closed, thank goodness.

“Of course, we could go skinny-dipping at that lake at the ranch and you could tell me what had you blushing fifteen years later.”

“Dinner sounds great.”

He laughed. “You pick the place, as long as your cousin isn't cooking, your family isn't sitting at the next table, and no one asks about the mares.”

“How about Montauk? You haven't seen it yet.”

We picked a time, then separated. I did my errands on the way back to where I'd left my car.

Walter at the drugstore added another batch of condoms to my bag when I bought mouthwash.

Joanne at the deli gave me a half a tuna wrap, warning I was going to have a big meal later.

And Bill at the hardware store set the metal blanks at the key-cutting machine to chiming out “We Need a Hero.”

Emil the jeweler was having one of his tools sharpened. “Bring your young man around to look at rings. The stones will tell if he's the right one this time.”

The mayor was buying a new flag for Town Hall. Mr. Applebaum worked part-time for free, and was overpaid at that. Mostly a figurehead, he missed meetings and lost papers, but no one seemed to remember that come election time. A board of councillors ran the local government anyway. And he was a nice man.

“Want me to make people forget you were engaged last month to that Englishman? Or how about forgetting they all saw you making out on the arts center steps?”

“No, thanks, but if you could make them forget about that old incident at the ranch, I'd be grateful.”

“No chance, Willow. It's too good a story to slip anyone's memory.”

 

Getting out of town for awhile would be lovely.

B
EFORE GOING HOME I DECIDED to get groceries at the bigger supermarket in Amagansett. With Ty and Connor around, we were going through supplies fast, and the cranky Findels did not deserve my business. Besides, there were a couple of little shops there where I might find something special to wear tonight.

On my way back I drove past Osprey Street.

I asked Mrs. Desmond if she could make another cup of alphabet soup for me, with an H, a T and an A.

“You're looking to see if your hat is alive or dead? Or do you mean if your love for the gentleman in the cowboy hat has a chance? I'm sorry, Willow. This doesn't work that way.”

“It's a horse. That colt we've all been looking for. I need to know if he is alive or not.”

“Oh, dear. I hoped we were done with that. Let's have a look.”

All the letters floated. H'tah lived. Somewhere.

 

Margaret assured me the braided bracelets usually worked. A person's finding wish came true if it were a worthy one, and if the wearer wished hard enough. “You didn't wish for a man riding a white horse, did you?”

“No, just a white colt. His name is H'tah.”

“I thought his mother found him at the ranch. That's how come things have settled down around the Harbor. We all figured that you found him and sent them to get him home.”

“We can't be sure.”

She bit her lip, but studied the bracelet she'd made for me. It still looked brand-new, despite showers and hand washings. “I guess you're still looking and wishing to find him. And you will. I'm not sure how or when, or if the village can survive it, but you'll have that bracelet until you do.”

Then she handed me a shawl made of some gossamer stuff, dyed in all the blues of the ocean. It weighed as much as a spiderweb.

“Until then, this will be perfect for dinner tonight.”

“You're not . . .?”

“Telepathic? Clairvoyant?” She laughed. “Of course not. I'm a weaver. But I got a phone call from my sister's friend who was buying potato salad at the deli.”

She wouldn't take money for the shawl, so I promised to drop off a signed book tomorrow.

“Just have a good time tonight, Willow. You deserve it.”

 

I did. That is, I deserved it, and I did have a good time.

We almost didn't make it out the door.

Either Ty was getting more good-looking every time I saw him or I was looking at him through love-colored glasses. Not that I was that deep into this relationship to give it the L word. Not yet. He was gorgeous in a sport coat and trousers with an open-collar blue shirt. They all looked like they'd been made for him, and I guess they had. Money, looks, class, and a soft southern drawl. Oh, my.

His smile when he saw me was even more stunning. I didn't find a blue blouse to match my new shawl, but I did spot a spaghetti-strap dress in green silk that worked. At first I had to ask the saleslady if it was meant for a nightgown or under something else, but she laughed and told me to try it on. The amount of fabric when I slid it off the hanger looked too small for a coat for Little Red. No bra was possible, but the saleslady said some women used Band-Aids if they didn't want their nipples pointing. I decided the shawl was good enough cover. And since the shawl was free, I went to the shoe store next door and bought high-heeled sandals with blue and green glass solitaires on the straps.