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"Not everyone is so fascinated with this place. Whitney, I think too many people who live here are under that illusion. I mean, we don't exactly have the world's most fascinating natural scenery, and you can look at the homes of the rich and famous in dozens of places nowadays, as well as on television and in magazines."
"If you think so little. of Palm Beach, why did you decide to make it your home?" she snapped.
"I didn't say I thought so little of it. I'm simply realistic about it. and I'm here because it's my mother's and my brother's home-- and, now, the home of my future husband as well," I told her.
The waiter brought her champagne split.
"Do you want to wait to order?" he asked.
"No. I'll have my usual," she said with a flip of her long hand. I glanced at the menu, and ordered a shrimp salad,
"That's my usual," Whitney remarked as if I had won a contest.
"Lucky for me," I quipped.
"I thought you would sound a bit more grateful concerning your shower. Willow."
"I'm not asking you to do anything for me. Whitney," I said I leaned across the table to return one of her intense stares and lock eyes. "I know how hard you tried to prevent Thatcher and me from becoming engaged and married. I know all about the Kirby Scott fabrication."
"I didn't know it was a fabrication," she replied. "But I'm not making any excuses for my mother or myself. For a long time now, I have had to look after Thatcher when it came to his involvement with women."
"Excuse me?"
She sipped her champagne and then leaned forward, too.
"I have to look out for my brother. When it comes to women. Thatcher loses his superior intelligence. His hormones overcome his reason. He thinks with his penis," she said.
"And what makes you so superior that you know who is best for him and what is best for him?"
Whitney smiled coldly.
"I know him better than he knows himself. Who do you think mothered him when he needed it the most? Bunny? Hardly. It was left to me, only a few years older chronologically, but years older mentally and physically.
"I can't tell you how many times I've gotten him out of trouble with the wrong woman." she bragged. 'little does anyone know, but I was the one who saved him from Mai Stone. I told her things that kept her from closing her grimy hand
s around him."
"You're lying, He would have hated you." She laughed.
"Hated? In the end, he came to thank me. Perhaps you don't know my brother as well as you think you do. Willow. Maybe my mother is right: The two of you are rushing into this too quickly."
Could she be telling the truth? I wondered. She was so sure of herself, so arrogant and confident. Maybe there was a part of Thatcher I didn't know or would never know.
I sat back. silent.
"I will say this for you," she continued. "my brother never moved so determinedly and so quickly before. You have him hypnotized."
"I think of it as love, not manipulation. V67hitney."
"Whatever," she said, "The point now is, we have to learn to like each other for the good of the family. I asked you to lunch so we could get to know each other better and, also, to advise you not to try to pry Thatcher away from his family."
"I have no intention of doing that. Thatcher's unhappiness with things you and Bunny have done appears to have a history that predates me. Whitney."
Again, those eyebrows rose.
The waiter brought our salads.
"I imagine you're planning on setting up house at Joya del Mar."
