Private Pleasures (12 page)

The girl quickly held out her hand. "Your dad speaks highly of you, J. J.," she said.
To Nora's relief, J. J. shook the young woman's hand. "Thank you," was all he said.
"Nora, Heidi Millar," Jeff said.
"You'll come back to the house, of course," Nora responded. "We're having a small celebration before J. J. goes off with his friends." She quickly turned away, as did the others.
"Of course," he said jovially.
"I can't believe you asked him to come here with his . . . his woman!" Jill raged at Nora in the car.
"I had no choice, Jill. Now behave yourself," Nora snapped.
"Grandma!" Jill turned to Margo.
"No, Jill, your mother did exactly the right thing. Your father isn't divorcing you, darling. He's divorcing your mother. Now behave. Taylor and I can only spend another hour with you before we leave, and I want to have nice memories of my grandson's high school graduation."
Jill slouched down in the car, scowling. "I'll speak to Daddy, but I absolutely will not talk with that woman," she said.
Nora's hands clutched the wheel of the car. If Jill started a brouhaha, she was going to kill her. She angled her way from the parking lot and headed off home. She had to get there before Jeff, and in her rearview mirror she could see the limo making its attempt to leave. She pressed down on the gas pedal and stared ahead.
Rina and Joanne were at the house ahead of her. They were already putting the sandwiches out on the silver trays. Tiffany was putting the finishing touches on the sheet cake. She was their cake decorator. No one else ever bothered to do a cake once they learned how clever Tiff was. The rectangular pastry was bedecked with a soccer field design complete with goal, and a figure kicking a ball between the posts. Tiffany was just finishing up the writing. "Congratulations, Jeff" was emblazoned across the cake.
The women hurried out to the brick terrace off the den, where a table had been set up, covered with a lovely white linen cloth edged in delicate lace. There were heavy paper plates with a graduation motif, cups, and silverware on the table. The cake was set in the center with plates of small sandwiches surrounding it. Nora had used a mix of her good china, her silver, and paper goods. Margo and Taylor came from the kitchen, each carrying two pitchers of lemonade mixed with iced tea. Nora liked the way Taylor Bradford seemed to fit right in with them. Trust Margo to have found the right man whether she married him or not.
Then Jeff arrived with Heidi, behaving very much like the lord of the manor. He seated his companion by the pool, and hurried over to the table to fetch her refreshment.
"Where are the glasses?" he wanted to know.
"We're using paper cups," Nora replied quietly.
"You know I don't like paper," he said irritably. "Go and get me two glasses."
"You haven't been gone so long that you've forgotten where the glasses are, Jeff," Nora said dryly. "If you want glasses, go and get them yourself. My days of servitude are over. Please try and be pleasant for J. J. sake."
"What the hell has gotten into you, Nora?" he demanded.
She smiled brightly at him. "I have guests to attend to, Jeff." And she walked away. Inside she was shaking with her anger. How dare he bring her replacement into her house, and behave as if everything in it, including Nora, were at his pleasure.
It was a brief party, because J. J. desperately wanted to join his friends. Maureen would be having the big party tonight, but Nora knew there were other parties going on even now that the two kids wanted to go to. She got J. J. to come and make a ceremonial cut of his cake. Tiffany came then to slice up the cake for the guests.
"The girls and I want to go now," J. J. said to his mother.
"Go on, but say good-bye to your father first," Nora advised her son.
Reluctantly J. J. walked over to where his father sat with his girlfriend. "I'm going now, Dad," he said.
"Sit down for a minute and visit with us," Jeff said.
"Mo and Lily are waiting for me, Dad," J. J. said.
"Sit down!" Jeff snapped. "You haven't said a word to Heidi."
"What do you want me to say, Dad? You're dumping my mother. You've taken away my college funds. What am I supposed to say? Thank you?"
"Heidi is going to be your stepmother, J. J.," Jeff said.
"So?"
"I want you to know her, and like her," his father responded.
"Look, Dad, I don't want to know her, and I'll never like her. Got it?" J. J. told his father. "I'm eighteen now. I won't have to come to you every other weekend like some of my friends do with their parents. It's over between us. You gave me life, but not much more. You never came to my games, or the plays I was in, or the mountain house." He turned to Heidi Millar. "I hope you aren't planning on kids, ma'am. He's a lousy father."
Heidi Millar's cold gray eyes looked directly at J. J. "I don't think you have the right to speak to your father like that. You obviously have no idea what a wonderful and talented man he is. You're angry because he won't pay for your schooling. Why should he pay for a boy who obviously has no respect for him? You, your sister, and your mother have lived off of Jeff's hard work and generosity long enough. It's past time you took care of yourselves."
J. J. stood up. "So long, Dad," he said.
Jeff stood up too, holding out his hand to his son. J. J. looked at the hand, laughed, and then turned away. Jeff Buckley's face grew florid with his anger at the snub. "Your mother," he snarled, "is obviously working very hard to turn you against me. It won't help her to do it at all."
J. J. turned, his fists clenched, to glare at his father, and it was then that Taylor Bradford stepped into the fray. He put his arm about the boy, murmuring as he did, "The man ain't worth it, son. Go on with those two pretty girls waiting for you," and he gently pushed J. J. in the direction of Lily and Mo. Then he turned back to Jeff Buckley. "I think you've just about worn out your welcome here today, sir. Why don't you take the young lady and head back to town?"
"Who the hell are you?" Jeff demanded to know.
"Taylor Bradford of Bradford, South Carolina, sir. I'm planning on being Margo's husband one of these days real soon. So as the patriarch of this family, I'm telling you to git."
"Taylor Bradford of Bradford Industries?" Heidi said, and when he nodded she continued eagerly, smiling her best smile at him. "We've been trying to get your business, Mr. Bradford, for our agency, Buckley, Coutts and Wickham."
"I don't think I'd count on my business now, missy," the older man said. "Your driver's waiting."
"I haven't seen my daughter yet," Jeff said stubbornly.
"You can say your heys on the way out." Taylor Bradford smiled.
Heidi Millar stood up. "Come on, Jeff. This is already old, and I'm bored." She took his arm and they moved off, but Jeff guided them to Nora, determined to have his say before he left.
Nora was sitting with her mother and daughter when Jeff approached. She stood, smiling weakly. "Going so soon?"
"You're going to be sorry, Nora, for turning my son against me," he growled at her. "I'm not going to forget this, and come Monday you're going to wish you hadn't done it, you embittered bitch."
The look of surprise on Nora's face was instant. "I didn't turn J. J. against you. What happened?"
"He was rude to me, and Heidi," Jeff said angrily.
"He was incredibly awful to his father," Heidi Millar added. "He said the most terrible things. It's no wonder Jeff is washing his hands of him!"
"My brother is a good kid," Jill said, jumping up to defend her sibling. "He's hurt because of what's happened. You can't blame him."
"He's a nasty little brat," Heidi responded.
"Do you hate me, Jilly?" her father asked.
"Of course not, Daddy, and neither does J. J. I'm just upset that you are being so unfair to Mom. How is she supposed to live if you won't pay her alimony, at least for a little while? And where is she supposed to live if you sell our house?"
"Jill!" Nora put a hand on her daughter's arm, in a warning gesture.
"Your mother has a college degree. Let her get a job like everyone else these days," Jeff said, ignoring his daughter's query about the house.
"You just better be careful, Jill," Heidi said. "If your father hadn't already paid your tuition at Duke this year, you wouldn't be going. And it's the last time he's going to pay for you. I hope you understand that."
"Get out!" Nora said. Her eyes were filled with tears, which were beginning to spill down her cheeks. "Get out, Jeff, and please, don't come back. And take that girl with you. I wanted you to come to J. J.'s graduation today. You're his father. But you've spoiled the day for us all. I hope you're satisfied."
"You've gotten old and bitter, Nora," he said cruelly.
"Jeff, you wanted a divorce. I said you could have one. But just bear this in mind— I will not let you have my house. Do you understand me? You will never have this house! If you want to start again, then do it all the way. Take a mortgage like all young couples do," Nora sneered at him, the tears still pouring down her cheeks.
"You will get nothing from me, bitch! Nothing!" And then he spun about and dragged Heidi with him as he headed for the limo.
Nora was shaking with anger now, but she couldn't stop crying. Taylor Bradford pushed a paper cup into her hand. Nora drank, and then began to cough. "It's whiskey!" she gasped.
"Yep," he agreed. "Nothing like a little drink to calm the nerves, honey."
Nora began to laugh, and looking at her mother, she said, "If you don't marry him eventually, Ma, I will." Then she drank down the rest of the potent liquid in the paper cup. And she did feel better. "Nobody leaves here till those damned sandwiches are all eaten," she said. And the tension broken, her friends began to eat and talk again.
Margo put an arm around her daughter. "That was hard," she said, "but you did just fine. I never thought I'd see the day when you stood up to Jeff Buckley."
"A lot of things are changing, Ma," Nora admitted.
"We're going to have to go soon," Margo said.
"I know. You've got a dance at the club," Nora answered. "I like Taylor. I wouldn't mind if you married him."
"We'll see," Margo replied.
"He's very rich, isn't he? I mean, you flew up in his private plane," Nora said.
"He flies the plane himself," Margo told her, "although at his age he has another pilot with us, and yes, dear, he's very rich."
"Wow! Mom, you really surprise me," Nora told her parent with a smile.
Margo laughed. "Thank you," she said. And then she grew serious. "I would have never thought you would be so good about what's happening, Nora. I'm proud of you, darling, and until you get on your feet I will help."
"I'll pay you back one day, Ma," Nora promised.
"Honey, you're going to inherit it anyway," Margo said. "You need it now, and frankly it gives me pleasure to see you make Jeff Buckley's life a little difficult."
"I want the house, Ma! I don't care about anything else, but I want the house," Nora told her mother.
"I'm sure Rick will do his best for you, darling," Margo assured her.
"Time to go, honeybunch." Taylor Bradford had come to where they were seated. "Car is here, and Hal has the plane ready. We got a nice tailwind, and should be home in no time at all so you can get yourself all gussied up for the dance tonight."
The two women stood up, and Nora put her arms about Taylor Bradford, giving him a big hug. "Thank you for bringing Mom, Taylor. You're welcome in my house anytime." Then she stood on her toes and kissed his ruddy cheek.
"I got two sons, girly," he said. "Wouldn't mind having a daughter like you at all. Even at this late date." And he kissed her cheek heartily.
"Good-bye, darling." Margo kissed Nora, and gave her a quick hug. "Tell J. J. to look in the graduation card I gave him." She turned and kissed Jill. "You did very well under the circumstances, darling. Grandma was proud."
"I wanted to smack him," Jill admitted.
"So did I," Margo replied.
"Then we both did very well," Jill chuckled.
The guests were gone at last. Carla stayed to help Nora clean up. Jill had gone upstairs to pack. She was taking an early-evening flight back to her college.
"The Channel tonight, you lucky girl." Carla grinned at Nora.
"I don't know," Nora said. "What if J. J. comes home? What does it look like to people on this side of reality when we're on the other?"
Carla shrugged. "I have no idea. But J. J. won't be home until dawn. Our party starts at nine, and when it finally ends they're all going up to the mountain house for a long weekend. No chaperones." She waggled her eyebrows at Nora.
"I had forgotten that they were going up," she said. "Yeah, maybe I could get The Channel tonight. I haven't been able to get there with Jill home."
"Call now," Carla encouraged her. "I'll finish the cleanup. Just a little cake to put away anyhow. I've packed two sandwiches for Jill to have on the plane."
"You are an angel," Nora said, picking up the telephone handset.
J. J. came home to change for Maureen Johnson's party. He had been at his girlfriend Lily's party. Jill was just going out the door to her waiting Cassandra cab. He hugged her. "So long, big sis. When will I see you again? Before I'm off to State?"
"Not till Christmas, kiddo," Jill told him. "I've got just enough time between finishing my course and orientation at Duke to pack up and get there."
"Where will you live?" he asked, walking with her to the cab.
"Duke hooked me up with two other girls, and we've rented a house," Jill said. "I've got the money from working and saving almost everything Daddy sent me. No more where that came from. Miss Icy Eyes is going to get it all." She gave him a quick kiss. "Don't screw up, J. J. It will be tempting to party, party, party, but that first semester is important. I've been there. Besides, the whole neighborhood helped get you there. You don't want to disappoint them." She got into the cab. "So long!" She blew him a kiss as the cab revved up and sped off.
"No pressure," J. J. mumbled to himself as he went into the house. "I'm home," he called to his mother.
"I'm upstairs," Nora said, and heard him taking the steps two at a time. He came into his room. "I packed a few things for you for the mountain house," she said. "Why don't you take them over and put them in Mo's car? Or are you riding in Lily's?"
"Lily," he answered, "but Mo'll take my stuff up, and if I toss it in her trunk now, I won't forget. Toothbrush, razor, etc.?"
"Yes," she said.
He sat down on the edge of the bed. "You don't mind being alone this weekend? We probably won't be back till sometime on Monday."