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be smart, but you’re guileless. This was the obvious move, and I was expecting it. So in advance of our little impromptu meeting tonight, I called your mother, who is very much alive. We had an excellent conversation.”
My mouth opened and closed a couple of times, but no sound came out at first. “What?” I asked. “What did you say?”
“I said I called your mother earlier this evening. She and I had a lovely talk. About your family, your brother, your wretched treatment of her. And of course, her desperate living situation and her myriad of financial needs.” She smiled at me. “I explained to her that you were being difficult about parting ways with James.”
“Did you explain that you have a nasty habit of killing the girls James loves? The ones you deem inappropriate?”
Celia gave me another unfazed smile. “First of all, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Second of all, we didn’t get that far. What we did cover, however, was the fact that you recently had your mother removed as a responsible party for your brother at his facility. I don’t think you had the legal right to do that, Audrey. So I told your mother I would have my attorney—who’s excellent, by the way—look into the situation. And that you could be removed as his guardian permanently, and your mother could go back to being solely responsible for making choices for him.”
She beamed at me while I tried to catch my breath. “I also told her I’d be happy to put her on salary in exchange for her silence about your profession, as well as the fact that you were ever anywhere near my son. She agreed with everything. She was very accommodating.”
My heart was frozen, and I couldn’t say a word.
I could feel James watching me from across the room; my face must be white, all the blood draining out of it. “You didn’t do that,” I finally said. It only came out as a mumble.
“Of course I did, dear. And that was just a warm-up. I can stop it all, of course, but you have to do everything that I ask. Including not telling my son a word that I just said.”
She smiled at me in triumph as James stalked over to our table, his mouth set in an angry line. “What’s the matter, Audrey?” he asked, looking at my face.
“Nothing,” I responded, too quick and too sharp.
He turned to his mother. “What did you say to her?”
“She’s quite capable of speaking for herself,” Celia said calmly.
“Nothing. We weren’t talking about anything,” I said immediately.
James reached out his hand and grabbed mine. “Let’s go.”
I looked back at Mrs. Preston as he pulled me away. She was looking at me with an expectant smile on her face. “I’m assuming we’re on the same page, dear,” she said.
All I could manage was a nod.
James
“Let’s stay and have another drink,” Audrey said. Her voice was jagged. All I wanted to do was wrap her in my arms and hold her, but she looked wary. I ordered us drinks, and we went and stood with Todd and Evie.
“What’s Celia’s problem?” Todd asked, watching our mother.
“Nothing,” Audrey said. She took a shaky sip of her martini. “She was just talking to me about graduate school.”
Todd raised his eyebrows at that. “She probably wasn’t that helpful,” he said. “Mother’s education consisted mainly of sorority rushes and mixers.”
“She had some insight,” Audrey said. I watched as she put her game face on, tight and intact. “But enough about that. How does it feel to be newlyweds, you two?” She reached down and twined her fingers through mine, holding on for dear life.
“It’s so great,” Evie said, linking her arms through Todd’s. “We are enjoying every minute this trip. And then it’s back to reality.”
“Are you going back to work after this?” I asked.
“Oh, no,” Evie said and laughed, her teeth a blinding white against her new tan. “We’re buying a townhouse, and I’m going to be managing the remodeling, the decorating… and then we’re going to try and start a family.” Evie turned and grinned at Todd, as he squeezed her tiny frame against his.
“That’s wonderful,” Audrey said. Only I would notice this, but I could hear sadness in her voice, maybe mixed with a little envy. “You two will be wonderful parents.”
“And you two will be a wonderful aunt and uncle,” Todd said, beaming at her. “We’re going to start our own family traditions. We can come out to California for Thanksgiving, you two can come to Boston for Christmas. Mother and father are being put on the back burner—they no longer get to boss us around. Evie’s going to organize everything.”
“As long as that’s okay with you, Audrey,” Evie said.
“I’ll happily defer to you, Evie. I’m sure you’re better at all that than me,” Audrey said, and I could still hear that undercurrent of sadness in her voice. Her hand held mine in a death grip, and she drained the rest of her martini in one gulp.
