Wellesley Wives (New England Trilogy) (29 page)

You win some, you lose some . . .
She knew he was being flippant, and it annoyed her.

When she came back into the apartment, Jack was tearing the place apart.

“Lily, where in the hell have you put all the papers I had on this table?” he barked. “They were very important. You have no idea.” He didn’t look at her but instead lifted the vase as if they were somehow hidden underneath it.

Silently, she went over to where she’d left the neat pile of paperwork.

He looked at her with annoyance. “You put them away? Lily, you can’t just go moving my stuff around.”

Lily glared at him.

“Look, just don’t touch my stuff. Okay? It’s very important that you don’t go near any of it.”

“This is my home, Jack. You can’t speak to me like that.”

“Are you sure?” he said, a sharp edge to his tone.

“What do you mean
am I sure
?”

“We talked about this. Have you double-checked you’re on the deeds? Is this place in your name or in your father’s?”

Lily had forgotten to check. Since her father’s death, she hadn’t been thinking straight. She thought she might cry again.

“And what the hell have you done to your face? Is that talcum powder? You have a big smudge down your cheek,” he said with impatience.

Lily went into her bedroom to look in the mirror. The powder had looked vaguely convincing when she’d patted it on, but some must have rubbed off when she sniffed the flowers. Her cover was so blown with Matt. What a fool she was. Lily wandered back out in hopes of getting solace from Jack, but he was already poring over some documents.

“I think I’ll go back to bed.”

“It’s lunchtime. What are you doing going to bed?”

“I told you I was feeling sick,” she snapped.

“And I told you that you were simply faking it and it was time to get up and move on.”

Lily didn’t want a fight, so she didn’t argue. “Okay then,” she said. “Whatever you say, Jack.” Then she went to bed.

Chapter 24 

Rosie Says Good-bye

It was impossible for Rosie to sleep. She woke early on Saturday, and the moment her mind cleared, her first thought was of was her fateful vacation. It was now only a day away. She couldn’t believe she was actually going through with it. Marcus was so excited. She was terrified.

    Just as she did every morning now, she headed out for her run. She used to have to leave Natasha with Marcus, but he often objected, claiming jetlag or arguing that he was due some downtime, but now she had Matilda.

It had been Sandra’s suggestion, and what a wonderful idea it was. Poor Matilda was gutted after her dad’s death. Back then she’d spent her days vacillating between hopeful prayers and destitute tears. Occupational therapy played a part, too, because she cleaned more than ever. It was unfortunate that the house she was cleaning was already so spotless. That left Matilda with nothing to do. A couple of days after the funeral, when they were having lunch at her mom’s house, Sandra put the suggestion out there.

“If Matilda is going to be taking care of Natasha while we’re in Ireland, why doesn’t she move into Rosie’s house a week or so before, just to get to know the ropes? That way she could bond with the child. It will make the transition all the easier on little Natasha,” Sandra had said.

Why hadn’t that occurred to Rosie? It was inspired. She was thrilled to have some free time before her vacation. There was so much to do. Matilda was happy to have a child to play with again, and Natasha adored Tilly. The old housekeeper indulged the five-year-old completely. As a result Natasha had regressed back to her childish ways. She was becoming more spoiled by the day with Matilda fawning over her so much. In all honesty, it was driving Rosie crazy, but she was so relieved to have a little time to herself, she chose to ignore it.

In the last few days, Rosie had gotten her hair trimmed and highlighted, and everything else buffed, bleached, or blasted. Between that and the running, she knew she looked every bit as good as she did on her honeymoon—maybe even better. She would give those stupid swingers a run for their money. She still had no intention of actually doing anything with a strange man, but she was going to look the part anyway.

Marcus, meanwhile, had done nothing. Most nights he still drank his ice-cold beer and watched a game. He laughed at her, telling her she worried too much. That it was supposed to be a fun vacation, and she should treat it that way, but she couldn’t. Rosie still saw it as a challenge to her marriage. A threat. She was determined to be just as sexy as any woman there. Then maybe when it got to be crunch time, Marcus would see that she was as good as those other women, and he would choose her.

She’d settled into her run and was enjoying the beauty of the fresh snowfall all around her. As usual, the plows had cleared both the roads and the sidewalks, but the gardens were covered in pristine white, untouched layers of fresh snow. It hurt to look at it without sunglasses, but Rosie was armed with hers. Now, with the sun shining, the landscape looked glorious. It should have raised her spirits, but it didn’t.

She was too worried about her vacation. Of course, she tried her best to cancel the trip after her father’s death, but everybody ganged up against her. Lily said that Dad wouldn’t want that. Mom said she would be happy to have Natasha as a distraction. So did Matilda. Marcus said in the strongest possible terms that not going would just make a bad situation worse. Not going wouldn’t bring her dad back, and they should go to celebrate that they were very much alive.

As she ran, she thought about her dad.

Can you see me now? If you can, I guess you know what we’re up to.

Mentally, she squirmed. Her dad would not approve. He was loyal to her mom all his life. The idea of going on a vacation where the entire plan was to have sex with other peoples’ partners would’ve appalled him. It made her run faster.

Please don’t be angry, Dad. I’m doing what Marcus wants. I’m trying to keep him, and looking the other way is the only way I see it happening.

His death had been a crushing blow. Rosie loved her dad to distraction. Everybody always said that she was his double, only in female form, while Lily was Mom’s. Rosie liked that. He’d been a good role model. He worked hard and played harder. It was incredibly sad that his business failed just before he died, because he’d worked so very hard all his life.

He didn’t deserve to fail, but sometimes that’s just what happened. This horrible economic downturn had caught a lot of decent, hardworking businessmen and women by the throat. Luck was so fickle. Things had been so incredibly good for so long. The biggest tragedy in Rosie’s mind was that he didn’t have much put aside for emergency. Didn’t every successful businessman know to take some of the profits away and lodge them in a savings account? The ironic thing is that he’d told her to do it. He’d lectured Rosie about not “betting the farm,” as he put it. Why hadn’t he taken his own advice? Could it have been Jack’s influence?

Screw Jack Hoffman. If only it was he who’d had the heart attack.

Rosie and Lily had reached a kind of truce, but she still had enormous difficulty talking to Jack. She found it revolting to think of him as Lily’s boyfriend.

On the day her dad died, when Jack had walked into the kitchen, she’d almost let go of the plate she was holding. Then he dropped the bombshell. It was the last thing Rosie had expected. Sure, her father had a heart attack, but lots of people did, especially men. Even one of Marcus’s friends had one a while back. But almost everybody recovered. When she’d heard that her father was missing, her thoughts were about her mom and keeping her calm. It never even crossed her mind to worry about him. She thought he would live forever. He was a force of nature, like a tornado, and not somebody to fall over with a heart attack. How wrong she had been.

Even Natasha took it badly. She’d picked up on how upset her mother, aunt, and grandma were, but when Rosie tried to explain that grandpa had gone to heaven, she’d cried inconsolably. Rosie hadn’t been able to cheer her up, but amazingly, Matilda could. She’d sit with Natasha for hours and fold her into her soft, warm embrace, all the time rocking her gently back and forth. She whispered mysterious, lilting Spanish words, none of which Natasha could translate, but she got the message loud and clear: Tilly loved her.

Matilda was so good for her little girl. Natasha had fallen for her new nanny and Rosie got to keep up with her running. The situation was a win-win. She wondered what the chances were of keeping Matilda forever. She sure had the space, and she needed the help. Matilda was a consummate professional when it came to cleaning, but even better, she was an amazing nanny. Her mom wouldn’t want to lose Matilda, but now that Rosie was used to her around the house, she really wanted her to stay. She resolved to discuss it with her mother first, and then with Matilda, but all of that could wait until she returned from the Caribbean.

Her mind turned to her husband. When her father had died, Marcus was, as usual, a tower of strength. He let her cry and rage against the injustice of it all. He’d held her when she woke in the middle of the night, suddenly remembering that he was gone. They’d even managed to make love the night he died. He’d been so tender with her, so gentle. He really did love her, and she him. It’s just that he seemed to need a little extramarital fun, so she would just have to accept that.

Now that the vacation was actually happening, she had a certain fatalistic approach. Whether she liked it or not, it was going to happen, so she may as well get happy about it. Besides, sex wasn’t everything. There would be exquisite white, sandy beaches, scrumptious cocktails, and wonderful shopping. This was her first real break since Natasha was born, and she was determined to enjoy it, no matter what the sleeping arrangements were.

When she got home, she had a nice lunch with her daughter and Matilda. Marcus was away with work. He was flying in that evening, and they would fly out very early together the next day. She had agreed with her mom and Matilda that they’d move Natasha to Cliff Road today because Sunday would be too hectic. Her mom was due back from Ireland on Monday afternoon, so it would actually be two nights alone for Matilda and Natasha. Matilda was comfortable with that, and Natasha was ecstatic to be going on “a vacation” to grandma’s house.

“Can I bring all my dolls?” she asked as they threw a few things in the suitcase that afternoon.

“Of course.”

“And my duck coat and boots?”

“Yes. You might need your winter coat, too. It’s February and it’s very cold.”

“Tilly says I can stay up late and we’ll have a party tonight, just her and me.”

Rosie listened to her darling little daughter ramble on about her big plans for her time alone with Matilda. She was very happy with the situation. And she wondered again why she hadn’t done this before. Her mother and Matilda were a terrific support. She toyed with the idea of getting a summer vacation break with Marcus, maybe to Europe. How cool would that be?

Her mom had phoned from Dublin the previous night, and it was the first time Rosie had heard her sound happy since before the funeral. She wasn’t laugh-out-loud-happy, but she was able to hold a normal conversation. It was only their first day, and they’d spent the afternoon sightseeing. Her mom was genuinely engaged when she told Rosie all about the old roads and buildings she recognized. Sandra had been so wise to take her away. A change of air and scenery did the soul good.

Rosie drove Matilda and Natasha to her mother’s house. It had already been agreed that Nat would take over Rosie’s old room, and Matilda would sleep in the guestroom next door. She usually lived in the guesthouse out by the pool so she could have her own space, but that wouldn’t work if she was looking after Natasha.

They entered the house and there was a beeping noise. “Matilda, what’s the alarm code? I don’t remember it ever being on before.”

Matilda bustled ahead and tapped the numbers into the keypad.

“Times change, Rosita,” she said, using Rosie’s old pet name. “Usually there’s always somebody here, so we have no need.”

Tiger, the cat, arrived to welcome them.

“Tiger,” Rosie and Natasha chorused together. Rosie scooped her up into her arms. “Were you locked in here all this time?”

“Your mother only left yesterday. She’s fine for just one night alone. She has litter box in the bathroom.”

The idea of kitty litter was enough to make Rosie put the cat down again.

They unloaded the car and then Rosie headed up to her old room with her daughter. She put all the little dresses in the closet and filled the chest of drawers with everything else.

It was only then, as she settled Natasha in, that she felt her first real rush of anguish about leaving her precious little angel.

Rosie had been so focused on the resort that she hadn’t given any thought to the suddenness of leaving her daughter. Before Matilda entered their lives, it was perhaps true that Rosie spent too much time with Natasha, but suddenly to go cold turkey? How would she cope? It was one thing to head out for a run or a manicure, but to get on a plane and fly to another country? That was different. They weren’t even leaving until the next day. Whose crazy idea was it to leave them at Cliff Road—alone? She could stay. True, their flight was early in the morning, but Rosie was okay with early starts, being married to a pilot. They got up at all hours.

She was sitting on the bed with all of these last-minute panicky thoughts running through her head when Matilda walked in and sat down on the bed next to her. She put her arm around Rosie’s waist.

“Oy, you are running too much,
chica
. You have become too thin.”

“Oh, Tilly, I think I don’t want to go. How can I leave my baby?” she whispered, because she didn’t want to upset Natasha. Fortunately, her daughter was far too busy deciding where each doll should go.

“I know. I can see it in your eyes.” Matilda sighed. “I had this very same conversation with your mother about twenty-five years ago, maybe more.”