Seduced by Moonlight (22 page)

Charlie couldn't believe his ears. Yale. His little girl had gotten into Yale. On a scholarship!

He went and picked Danielle up and spun her around in the middle of the kitchen.

Danielle squealed like a little girl. “Daddy, let me down!”

Charlie put her feet back on the floor and squeezed her tightly. “I'm so proud of you, baby girl, so proud! And your mother, she must have grinned from ear to ear when you told her.”

“I haven't told her yet,” Danielle said. “I'm waiting until she gets home so I can see her face when I tell her.”

“I've got to have my camera ready,” said Charlie. He glanced up at the kitchen clock.

Cherisse wouldn't be home for two and a half hours. He had plenty of time to get the digital camera prepared.

Then something troubling occurred to him. He frowned at Danielle. “Wait a minute. Didn't you tell me Echo was going to Yale?”

Danielle smiled widely. “I wondered when you'd remember that.”

“You mean you and he are going to be alone hundreds of miles from here?”

“Daddy, I'm nearly eighteen. Don't you trust me to do the right thing?”

“I trust you, but I don't trust him!” Charlie almost yelled.

Joann was laughing softly. Danielle was just like her mother. She hadn't been able to talk Cherisse out of marrying Charlie twenty years ago, either. Well, the chickens had come home to roost now. Charlie and Cherisse would get a taste of how frustrating it was being the parent of an obstinate child. Or should she say, in Danielle's case, a child who knows her own mind. Joann had complete faith in Danielle's ability to attend Yale without difficulty and to handle any advances from Echo.

Joann also believed that Echo was a fine boy. A little flaky, but then geniuses were often flaky. He and Danielle made a good couple. Danielle was so grounded she would be able to pull Echo back down to earth when he began to float into the stratosphere.

“Now, now, Charlie,” Joann said in placating tones. “You said you liked the boy when he came for dinner.”

“I do like the boy,” Charlie said. “I'm just against his and Danielle's going to the same college.” He regarded Danielle. “Haven't you applied to other colleges?”

“Yes,” Danielle said. “But Yale is my first choice. I'm not giving up my first choice, Daddy.”

Charlie went to the refrigerator to pour himself a glass of water. He suddenly felt warm. After drinking half the glass, he said, “All right, go to Yale. Go to Yale with Echo. I guess I was overreacting because I've just got you back in my life and now you're talking about leaving. But I have to get used to the notion of letting you go sometime. All fathers have to face that at one time or another, right?”

“I'm not leaving for months, Daddy,” Danielle said.

Charlie cheered up somewhat. A lot could happen between now and next fall. Echo could decide that the love he felt for Danielle was only infatuation. Danielle could decide that she liked the kid from D.C. better. What was his name? Dante, Dante Winters.

And Cherisse could break up with Harry Payne and when it came time to drive Danielle to college, she and Charlie would do it as a couple. Just a couple making sure their darling daughter was settled in at school. The way their lives were supposed to have turned out.

Charlie set his glass of water on the counter and went to start whittling down the pile of potatoes Miss Jo had earlier suggested he might enjoy peeling.

Things might work out his way.

 

On Christmas Eve cars lined the street where the Patterson house stood. Joann had gotten permission from her neighbors for the cars to park in their driveway and in front of their houses. They were amenable to the request because most of them would be attending the party, as well.

The early birds started arriving at seven. Jo knew how to handle people who came an hour too soon—she put them to work.

She, Danielle, Echo, Cherisse and Charlie were all dressed by seven and downstairs putting food on the tables. Dinner would be served buffet style and consisted of all the traditional Christmas fare that the African-American community in Five Points had come to expect from the Patterson Christmas Eve party—glazed ham, roasted turkey, roast beef, with various sides like collard greens, fresh acre peas, fried okra, butter beans, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, candied yams, corn bread, dinner rolls, fresh garden salad and, for dessert, ice-cream pound cake made with frozen vanilla ice cream instead of milk in the batter, sweet potato pies, egg custard pies and pecan pies. The potables were provided by guests who knew it was a “bring your own brown paper bag” affair. They generously provided cases of beer, liters of vodka, gin, brandy and whiskey. No one left with a clear head unless they were teetotalers. And Cherisse made sure that there were designated drivers aplenty. What's more, she had the local cab company on speed-dial.

The party was in full-swing when Harry arrived with his mother, Mildred, his sister, Susanne, her husband, Kendall and their four children: Kendall, Jr., sixteen; Kara, fourteen; Sandrene, thirteen; and Sage, ten.

Cherisse had already met them, having had dinner with them the night before. She met them at the door and invited them in, receiving hugs from Mildred and Susanne as they entered. The large foyer was as always elegant, but the rails on the stairs were now strung with holly vines and poinsettias lined the entrance. The hardwood floors gleamed and the air was redolent with good food smells. Christmas carols sung by soul singers like Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, Marvin Gaye and other Motown artists were on the CD player, which could be heard throughout the house thanks to the sound system Echo had hooked up.

When Harry and his family walked through the door, Otis Redding's rendition of “White Christmas” was playing. Tonight Cherisse was wearing a sleeveless, scoop-neck royal blue dress with a hem that fell two inches above her knees. She looked sophisticated with her hair in an upswept style that framed her heart-shaped face nicely and made her neck look long and graceful.

Mildred thought she looked like a young Dorothy Dandridge. Mildred was fond of old movies, especially those with Dorothy Dandridge and Sidney Poitier in them. She pictured Cherisse as Dorothy tonight in her pretty frock and Harry as Sidney Poitier in his dark blue suit.

Mildred herself was in a tailored black pantsuit. Susanne also wore basic black, but hers was a simple black dress that had a square neckline and a low-cut back, but not too low. Her husband Kendall wore a blue suit similar to Harry's. The boys were in dress shirts and slacks and the girls wore dresses, although Cherisse noticed that the youngest girl, Sage, looked very uncomfortable in her frilly dress. She guessed she was like Danielle had been at that age, a tomboy.

Cherisse made the introductions in the foyer. Jo, Danielle, Echo and Charlie were introduced in turn: Joann wearing a beautiful bronze-colored dress with bronze accessories that accentuated her gray hair. Danielle in a multicolored, diamond-design short shift trimmed in black with a pair of chunky-heeled black leather sandals. She looked both young and trendy. At her side, Echo was wearing his usual geeky dress-up ensemble of a white long-sleeve shirt, black dress slacks and black Adidas. But from the adoring expression in fourteen-year-old Kara's eyes, he was quite handsome. Danielle smiled when she saw the way the girl was looking at Echo. She didn't blame her one bit.

Kendall and Kendall, Jr. were duly impressed when Cherisse introduced Charlie. They were football fans and considered Charlie to be one of the best defensive backs in the history of the game.

Cherisse was gratified to see the three of them, along with Harry, launch into an enthusiastic conversation about football as soon as the introductions were over.

Danielle and Echo took it upon themselves to show Sandrene and Sage around and make sure they were supplied with food and ample entertainment. Joann and Mildred took one look at one another and saw kindred spirits. Joann took Mildred by the arm and took her across the room to introduce her to a couple of eligible bachelors of a certain age. One was a retired English professor and the other was Joann's minister, Reverend Alastair McLeod who bore a striking likeness to actor Billy Dee Williams.

Cherisse was happy to have some alone time with Susanne.

“You have a lovely home,” Susanne said as Cherisse directed her to the buffet tables laden with food in the corner of the large room. “I'm really fond of old houses. How old is it?”

Cherisse smiled up at the taller woman. Susanne was five-nine, wore her black hair in a pageboy cut that was shoulder-length, and had beautiful medium-brown skin and golden-brown eyes. She didn't look anything like her older brother, Harry. Cherisse had been told they had different fathers. Harry's father had died when he was a small boy, and Mildred had married Susanne's father.

“Thanks,” Cherisse said, smiling. “It belonged to my mom's parents. Granddaddy Patterson was a Pullman porter with the railroad back in the twenties. He built this house for his much younger wife, I'm told she was twenty years his junior, in 1927. It's been renovated since then of course. More rooms have been added, modern plumbing, thank goodness!”

Susanne laughed. “Hey, I'm from Kentucky, I've heard of outhouses.” She was putting food on her plate as she talked. Around them, guests chatted, ate with gusto and some who had imbibed were dancing to and singing along with the music on the stereo.

“I have to tell you, Cherisse, I never thought my brother would actually settle down. For years I've been trying to talk him into finding someone special but he always put work first. I'm glad he's found you. Now, maybe, my kids will finally get some first cousins. I hope you two want a big family.”

Cherisse didn't know what to say. She and Harry were supposed to keep their engagement a secret until tonight. Had he confided in his sister? Or was Susanne fishing for information?

Cherisse wasn't even wearing her engagement ring so as not to tip anyone off about the announcement to come later in the evening.

“Well, I love kids and Harry loves kids,” she said hesitantly.

Susanne laughed softly. “I'm sorry,” she said. “I'm jumping the gun with all this talk about you and Harry having kids. You must not know Harry's history when it comes to women. He never introduces them to his family. That's why I assume that he's very serious about you. I mean, he invited us to Denver expressly to meet you. That says a lot.”

Cherisse breathed a silent sigh of relief. “No, I had no idea Harry kept his former girlfriends away from his family.” She smiled. “But I'm happy to have been the first one to meet you.” She felt a little deceitful talking to Harry's sister when in a few minutes Susanne would know they were soon to be sisters-in-law. But she was sure she would be forgiven.

Susanne speared a piece of ham with her fork and doused it in candied yam drippings then put it in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed. “Delicious. Good caterer.”

“Oh, we didn't hire anybody,” Cherisse said offhandedly. “Mom, Danielle and I did the cooking. I'm glad you like it.”

Susanne eyed the buffet tables. “You must have been cooking for days!”

“Three days,” said Cherisse. “But we had fun doing it. You know how it is when three women get in a kitchen, magic happens and before you know it, you're laughing and talking and it doesn't seem like work at all.”

Susanne was smiling and shaking her head in agreement, remembering the times she and her mother had been lost in the shared give-and-take of creating culinary delights in the kitchen. “Yeah, good times,” she said.

She suddenly grabbed Cherisse by the arm. “Oh, you've got to make Harry bring you to Kentucky in the summer. We have a family reunion every summer and this year I'm doing a cookbook of all the family recipes. You know, just a self-published softcover book with photographs of the finished recipes and the recipes along with homespun stories about the origins of the recipes.”

“That's a fabulous idea,” Cherisse said and meant it. “I don't know why I never thought of it. My mom has a box filled with hand-scribbled recipes from her mother, her grandmother and various aunts. That's something that should be preserved for future generations. Our daughters should know these things even though they're all going to have careers and won't be housewives.”

“Exactly,” said Susanne. “My girls are already turning their noses up at kitchen duties but I make them help me cook for their own good. One day they'll thank me.”

Cherisse thought of Danielle, who had always been underfoot whenever she was in the kitchen, and adored helping her grandmother cook. She supposed that was unusual for a teenage girl nowadays.

Speaking of their daughters, all three of them suddenly emerged from the crowd and Danielle said to her mother, “Ma, is it all right if Sandrene and Sage and I go upstairs for a while? They say they've never been skiing before and I wanted to show them my competition videos. We'll be back in a few minutes.”

“If it's all right with Susanne,” Cherisse said, turning to regard Susanne.

Susanne smiled. “Of course it is. I've never been able to interest them in skiing. Maybe you'll have some luck.”