The Sea Star (19 page)

     
Susanna’s heart soared. Had all her fears been foolish? She asked in a rush, “How was Jay? What did he say about me? Did he tell you when he’s coming back here?”

     
Augusta regarded her keenly, as if the spate of Susanna’s questions had been an answer to one of her own. “He’s looking as handsome as ever,” she said. “It’s hard to believe that such an attractive man has remained unmarried all these years. Ah, well, he
is
wrapped up in those hotels of his. By the way....” Her tone changed, alerting Susanna. “Do you know about Alan Devlin, Jay’s manager in Baltimore?”

     
“Yes,” Susanna said warily. Now what was Augusta up to? “Jay told me the entire story.”

     
Augusta appeared confused. “But he doesn’t know the entire story.”

     
“What are you talking about, Mother?”

     
“Mr. Devlin is dead. His body was discovered floating in Chesapeake Bay.”

     
“Oh, good heavens!” Susanna exclaimed.

     
“He was severely beaten, the police say. When Jay heard the news, he and Ford went to Baltimore to speak to the authorities.”

     
Susanna was staggered. “Do the police have any clues?”

     
“Not that I know of. Mr. Devlin had no kin in Baltimore. He’s originally from New York. Ford said he was one of Jay’s most capable men.”

     
“Who could have done such a horrible thing?” Susanna asked.

     
Augusta
shook her head. “I’m sorry I brought up the subject. I thought you knew about it. Let’s not talk about it anymore. Tell me about your wedding. Have you set a date?”

     
Susanna was glad of the change of subject, but she couldn’t suppress one last shudder at the thought of the murder. With an effort, she said, “Mother, if you dined with Jay and talked with him, you know very well I haven’t seen him since the holidays.”

     
“But surely you correspond with each other?”

     
“Of course we do, but we’re not going to discuss something as important as marriage in a letter.”

     
“I see,”
Augusta
said, and it appeared she saw a great deal more than Susanna had imparted.

     
“Knowing you, though,” Susanna said, “I’ll wager you plagued Jay to name a wedding date.”

     
Augusta
’s laugh was a confession. “I may have mentioned it in passing.”

     
“And what did he say?” Susanna held her breath.

     
“He said he couldn’t do that because it was your place, not his, to tell me such important news. I assumed from the way he spoke that you had decided on a date, but I see I was wrong. Well, no matter, darling. When Jay returns to
Atlantic City
, you can begin making definite plans. I could tell just by talking to him that he’s as anxious to be married as you are.”

     
As anxious to be married as you are
. Augusta, who was most skeptical of Jay’s intentions, was convinced that a marriage would take place! Susanna was so elated by this unexpected turn of events that she completely forgot about Alan Devlin’s mysterious death. For the next few weeks, she performed her daily duties on wings of joy. Jay was coming back to her. She had no doubt of that now. Before long, perhaps in autumn, she’d be his wife, and by autumn of next year, she might be mother to his son. What a glorious, heavenly, exhilarating prospect! Surely no one in the world was as fortunate as she.

     
Her letters to him now rang with a lighthearted optimism.

     
“The Sea Star is prospering,” she wrote in mid-March. “Teddy is a wonder! I admire him so much. And to think, when I first met him I was so rude to him.”

     
Susanna sang Teddy’s praises in all her letters to Jay. She so much regretted her conduct on first meeting him that she went out of her way to assure Jay she now accepted him. The truth was, she more than accepted him. She liked him. Teddy was a first-rate hotelier, personally trained by Jay, and to work with him was both an experience and an education.

     
Little by little, he and Susanna were updating every last inch of the Sea Star. As more and more changes took place, Susanna was astonished that she hadn’t noticed how much the hotel had deteriorated. Now, new tables and chairs replaced the scarred ones in the restaurant, and there were new pink tablecloths to match the menus. The guest rooms were spruced up with fresh coats of paint and new draperies and bedspreads. Best of all, there were guests galore to fill the cheery rooms!

     
“I’m tired out!” Susanna said to Teddy one day as they ate a hasty lunch in her office. “We’ve never been so busy in the winter, nor have we ever redecorated this extensively.”

     
A pleased grin accentuated the sharpness of Teddy’s fox-clever features. His russet hair and alert dark eyes added to the look of quick-witted energy. “Work generates work,” he said, “which generates business. Jay taught me that, Susanna. There’s not a smarter operator than Jay in the whole United States.”

     
Susanna glowed with pride for Jay and with a warm rush of gratitude toward Teddy. How loyal he was to his employer, unlike that perfidious—and unfortunate—wretch who had stolen Jay’s money. She’d never mentioned that incident to Teddy. Their present friendly intimacy prompted her to do so now.

     
“Teddy, did you know Jay’s manager in
Baltimore
who embezzled from him?”

     
Teddy looked up from his dish with a puzzled frown. “Alan Devlin? You say he embezzled from Jay? When?”

     
“I’m not sure when he started doing it, but Jay learned of it around the holidays. Devlin had gotten the hotel so deeply in debt that Jay almost lost it. Didn’t he tell you about it?”

     
“No, he didn’t. How very curious.”

     
“He’s dead, you know.”

     
“Alan’s dead?” Teddy put down his knife and fork. “I don’t believe it. What happened?”

     
Susanna told him what little she knew, but she regretted bringing up the subject. If Teddy didn’t know about the embezzlement, it might be because Jay had been too embarrassed to tell him. “I thought you knew,” she said sheepishly. “Please don’t tell Jay I told you.”

     
“I won’t if you say so, Susanna, but I’m bewildered about the embezzlement. Alan was one of Jay’s best men. Jay had so much trouble opening the Majestic that he wanted someone tough to manage it, someone he could trust to handle any difficulty.”

     
“Jay did trust him, which is why he’s so upset about what happened.”

     
“Yes,” Teddy said. “That would upset anyone. Still....”

     
“Yes?” Susanna urged when he fell silent.

     
“I can’t help wondering why Jay never told me about it. I’m also wondering who’s managing the Majestic now. You see, Alan and I both wanted the job. Jay gave it to Alan because he was older and had been with him longer than I had.”

     
Susanna was now doubly sorry she’d brought up the incident. Teddy must resent the fact that he was buried at a modest seaside guest house while another man, perhaps less qualified, had been given a challenging position at a metropolitan luxury hotel.

     
“Teddy,” she said encouragingly, “Jay may have installed a temporary manager at the Majestic, and now that the Sea Star has become so prosperous, he’s going to transfer you to Baltimore.”

     
“Yes, maybe,” he said, but he didn’t sound convinced.

     
Nor could Susanna think of a reason why he should be.

     
If Teddy harbored any bitterness toward Jay, it wasn’t evident in his work. At the end of March, he and Susanna launched a vigorous advertising campaign designed to attract vacationers from all over the country. Newspaper advertisements showed buxom beauties in clinging bathing costumes, urging readers to “Come to the Sea Star Where Neptune’s Daughters Frolic Daily.” Below this enticing headline, festivities were listed, including the Easter Parade in April, the dedication of the New Longport Speedway in June, and the floral parade in August, with Mayor Franklin P. Stoy judging the pageant of decorated rolling chairs.

     
“How sorry I am to be missing those grand affairs,”
Augusta
said to Susanna on the day of her departure from
Atlantic City
, “especially my favorite, the Easter Parade. I wish I could stay longer, darling, but Ford insists that I come home.”

     
They were at the depot with
Dallas
, waiting for the New York Limited. Susanna smiled at her mother amiably and sincerely.
Augusta
, on her good behavior, had been a pleasure to be with. Susanna was astonished to realize that she wished she weren’t leaving.

     
“We had a nice visit, didn’t we, Mother?” she said softly.

     
“Oh, my dear!”
Augusta
’s eyes behind her veil grew misty. “If you only knew how happy it makes me to hear you say that. This month with you has been an answer to my prayers. For the first time since I’ve come home, I truly feel I have my girl back.” She paused, then asked searchingly. “I do have my little girl back, don’t I?”

     
An emotion close to love stirred in Susanna, but she didn’t know how to answer. This past month with
Augusta
had been enjoyable and free of strife. Susanna no longer felt the deep anger and resentment toward her mother that had initially plagued her. But would the gash in their relationship ever be fully mended? She wasn’t sure, so she merely said lightly, “Mother, I’m not a little girl anymore.”

     
“No, you’re not.”
Augusta
cupped Susanna’s chin with a hand. “You’re a beautiful, intelligent, and purposeful young woman. I couldn’t be prouder of you, darling. You’re going to be a perfect wife for a man like Jay.”

     
Dallas
, leaning against an iron column with his hands in his trouser pockets, made a soft sound of derision.

     
“Don’t mind him, Mother,” Susanna said, irritated. “
Dallas
is convinced I’ve seen the last of Jay.”

     
“Why should he think that?”

     
Reluctantly, Susanna explained that she had transferred ownership of the Sea Star to Jay. She didn’t say why she had done so, nor did
Augusta
ask her reasons. Under ordinary circumstances, Susanna would have thought that odd, but now she was only grateful to be spared a merciless interrogation.

     
To her further relief,
Augusta
said sternly to
Dallas
, “You have nothing on which to base your assumption, young man. Why have you worried your sister? She has enough on her mind without fretting about her fiancé’s intentions.”

     
Dallas
straightened up and stared at her. Susanna stared at her, too. Not once since
Augusta
’s return had she ever spoken a harsh word to her son. But when Susanna looked at
Dallas
, she had the distinct impression that something other than
Augusta
’s scolding had stunned him. His look was hard and reproachful, and it was coldly incredulous, like Jay’s look when he told Susanna about the man who had played false with his trust.

     
She had no chance to try to interpret that puzzling impression. At that moment, the New York Limited roared into the station. A flurry of farewell kisses and embraces and loading
Augusta
’s baggage onto the train followed. Afterward, when the train had disappeared from sight and
Dallas
was escorting Susanna to her carriage, she found herself pulling a handkerchief from her purse and dabbing at her eyes.

     
“What’s this? Tears?” Dallas’s tone was openly mocking. “I would have thought you’d be dancing in the street to see her go.”