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Caitlin was beginning to feel more beleaguered by the minute. She wished she could use the phone. Perhaps there had been an accident on the way back from the lodge and her father was lying helpless and injured by the road. Like Dobbin this morning.
Caitlin shuddered at the thought. She had to find out what was happening.
Her mother came downstairs to supervise what was going on in the kitchen. After all, her reputation was at stake tonight and everything had to be done perfectly.
‘You look lovely, Mum,’ Caitlin quickly complimented her, desperate to avert a cross-examination.
Besides, her mother did look lovely. She wore a lilac silk dress, artfully draped to soften the heavier curves of her mature figure. She was still a very good-looking woman, no age pouches around her blue eyes, her skin relatively unwrinkled even on her neck. She wore several gold chains that emphasised her femininity. Her hair was dyed to a light golden blonde and fluffed around her face in a very becoming style. It took years off her actual age.
Unfortunately, Caitlin’s compliment did not bring forth a smile. Her mother was clearly far too tense to smile. ‘Where’s your father?’ she demanded to know. ‘He should have been back by now.’
‘He’s coming,’ Caitlin defended.
‘He probably doesn’t dare come back,’ her mother said broodingly. ‘Not even to deal with you, Caitlin.’
‘He’ll be here, Mum,’ Caitlin replied with far more confidence than she felt.
‘Why is Dad coming back to deal with Caitlin?’ Michelle asked.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ said Caitlin between clenched teeth. She picked up a tray. ‘You could take these hors d’oeuvres into the lounge-room now, Mum. I must dash upstairs and change into something decent, Michelle. Won’t be long.’
Caitlin bolted up the stairs and into her parents’ bedroom to use the phone there. She rang The Last Retreat. The only information she could elicit was that the two men had left the lodge and the unit was vacant.
She deliberated about ringing the two local hospitals. She suppressed the impulse. If either her mother or Michelle picked up the phone downstairs while she was speaking to a hospital, pandemonium might break out.
Besides, David had said he’d be back. Caitlin clung to the fact that David was rigid about keeping to a schedule. Even when he was almost bursting with desire, as he’d been this morning, he would not let anything delay him from doing what he was set on doing. Her father would have told him what time they had to be here for the party. David would surely get them both here. It was built into his character. For the first time in her four months with him, Caitlin found comfort in David’s rigid schedule-keeping.
She scooted into the bedroom set aside for her and hunted through the wardrobe for something to wear. The suitcase she had packed was still in her Mazda. At the rate time was passing, she couldn’t afford to wait any longer. Apart from that, she had to make good her excuse for coming upstairs.
The wardrobe mostly contained clothes that were years old and out of fashion, but occasionally useful during weekend visits to her parents. Caitlin sighed as she thought of the smart blue cocktail dress Michelle was wearing. She pulled out a black crêpe pantsuit that would have to do and found an old pair of bronze strappy sandals that could go with it.
There was no time for proper make-up. She didn’t have any anyway because of the missing suitcase. She found a tube of red lipstick in a drawer and dashed some on. It gave her a bit of colour.
She hurried back to the kitchen where she found her mother instructing Michelle that carrots could be added to the menu. There were quite enough of them. It sounded ominous.
Her mother swung around to target Caitlin. ‘You were gone a long time.’
‘Cramps in my stomach,’ Caitlin muttered.
‘Nerves,’ her mother diagnosed. ‘And no wonder with all the trouble you are causing, Caitlin.’
‘What trouble is that?’ asked Michelle.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Caitlin snapped. ‘Where’s your husband, Michelle? He’s supposed to be looking after the drinks.’
‘Trevor will be here as soon as he’s settled the children with the babysitter. I’ll say one thing for my husband against all others. He is totally dependable.’
‘So is...’ Caitlin bit down on her tongue. She didn’t want to mention David in front of her mother.
Eileen Ross muttered dark thoughts.
Trevor came in, making the most timely entrance he had ever made! He was a local solicitor and inclined to a sense of his own importance. He took the floor immediately, demanding to be shown what he had to do to please his mother-in-law. Obviously he would not have willingly done something so menial for anyone else.
Eileen led him to the lounge-room. Caitlin grabbed the dishes of nuts and olives and followed them. It was barely twenty minutes before the party was supposed to begin. Caitlin desperately hoped David hadn’t taken the concept of spontaneity too much to heart. Dependability was much more important right now.
Trevor took over the bar. He was dressed for the part in black trousers, white shirt, black bow-tie, red cummerbund. He exuded jovial confidence in carrying out his mother-in-law’s instructions. Caitlin placed the nuts and olives on top of the bar, and was glancing around to see what else needed to be done when she heard the thrum of a powerful engine coming up the driveway to the house.
‘David’s Ferrari!’ she cried in an ecstasy of relief.
