3 Straight by the Rules (10 page)

My cheeks burned so hotly I thought I would combust.  Tommy kept his eyes steadfastly on his plate, but Ariel gaped at me.  Evelyn abruptly stood.  “Who’s ready for birthday cake?”

My father was furious.  “What did you get yourself into, Lilith?”

I wanted to bury myself in the backyard.  “Nothing.”

He jabbed a chopstick at me.  “You’re acting as irresponsibly as Carrie!  Don’t you care at all about your family?”

There was a moment of shocked silence.

“Daddy, that’s just mean,” Jasmine finally said.

Evelyn stared at her husband.  Although she’d hated my mother, Evelyn had never taken it out on me.  “Simon, why would you say such a terrible thing?”

My dad glared at his plate.  “It’s the truth.”

That pushed me over the edge.  I quickly left the table and ran to the bathroom, locking the door behind me.  I sat on the toilet and cried as silently as I could, pressing my face into a hand towel to muffle my sobs.  My dad had, once before, accused me of being like my own mother.  Carrie had been a succubus, too, and when she realized she couldn’t do Helen’s dirty work while raising a daughter, she’d found the kindest, most loving man she could to raise me.  Then she’d left us.  But now that my mother had died and I was fated to take her place, I was acting as outrageously as she had.

There was a gentle knock at the door.  “Lilith,” Evelyn called softly.  “Are you okay?”

I splashed some water on my face and opened the door.  Evelyn and I have never been close, but when she saw my red eyes and puffy face, she hugged me.  “Your father is going through a very rough time right now.  I have no idea what brought it on, but he’s been so angry lately.”  She sighed.  “He won’t talk to me.  You know how he can get.”

Stoic.  That word had been crafted for my father.  “I noticed he’s wearing his warrior’s face,” I said.

Evelyn nodded and ran her hand through her hair.  “He hasn’t been this way in a very long time.  Not since…”  She glanced at me and pressed her lips together.

“Since?”

She shook her head.  “Never mind.”

“Tell me,” I pressed.

Evelyn sighed.  “Well, not since Carrie was alive.”

She was right.  During those infrequent times when my mother visited me, my father always became moody and snappish.  Although he wouldn’t get too close to her, he’d hover in the doorway or pace circles in the next room.  The minute Carrie was gone, he would apologize for his bad behavior and return to his kind, patient self.  Yet, each time my mother came around, the cycle would repeat.  It was one of the reasons I used to dread my mother’s visits.

“My mother must have made things difficult between you and my dad,” I said.

“That’s ancient history, Lilith,” Evelyn said, but the strain in her features told me that some wounds never heal.

I returned to the dining room.  My father had left, but Jasmine and Tommy were still there.  Jas hugged me.  “You’re a good mother,” she said. “Don’t let Dad worry you.  Here,” she handed me an envelope.  “This is from me and Tommy.  Happy birthday.”

Although I didn’t feel celebratory, I opened the card and withdrew a folded piece of paper that had been printed from a computer website.  I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.  “X-treme Matching dot com?”

Jasmine was nearly jumping up and down.  “It’s an Internet dating site.  I paid for a two-month subscription.  “I’m getting you Mr. Right for your birthday!  Isn’t it great?  I’ve already posted your profile and everything, so all you have to do is wait for the right guy to find you.”

For a moment, I was speechless, then I managed a hollow ‘thank you.’  “Wow.  Jas, that’s wonderful.”  I hoped I sounded happier than I felt.

When they left, Jasmine wrapped her arm around Tommy’s waist.  Tommy also put his arm around Jas, but he continued to look doubtful.  Talk about mixed messages.

When Evelyn refused to let me clear the table or put away the leftovers, I went to my dad’s study.  He stood at the window watching a pair of goldfinches at the feeder outside.  He looked every one of his sixty-three years.

I started to tear up again.  “Dad?  I’m sorry about making you angry.”

He kept his eyes fixed on the birds.  “Sometimes, you remind me so much of your mother.”  He had loved her deeply, and she’d broken his heart.  Sadly, he never had understood why she’d left him.  “You used to have all of the good parts of her, but lately, those bad parts have been showing up as well.”  He finally turned away from the window.  Seeing me, his face softened.  “I don’t want you to go down the same path.”

“I know.”

“What’s going on with you?” he asked.

I wished I could tell him, but I didn’t dare.  He already thought I was halfway crazy.

My birthday present to him sat on the desk.  “Aren’t you going to open it?” I asked.

He accepted the gift when I placed it in his hands and pulled out the tissue paper.  His nostrils flared.  “Tea?  Is that what I smell?”

I nodded.

He hurriedly opened the package.  “Where did you find this?”

“I have my ways.”

He buried his nose in the bag.  “This is amazing!”  For the first time all afternoon, he smiled.  “It’s the same kind your mother used to bring me.  Thank you.”  He hugged me.  “I think I’ll make some right now.  Do you want a cup?”

As much as I loved the tea, it reminded me of Helen, and on top of everything else, I didn’t want to think of her right then.  “I should get Ariel home,” I said.

“All right.”  He closed his eyes and inhaled the tea again.  He looked as thrilled with the tea as Patrick used to be with a new Hermés pocket square.  Or, for that matter, as happy as Helen with the piece of the true cross.

Before I left, I put my hand on his shoulder.  “Are you sure you’re okay?  You seem tense.”

His smile fled, and his body stiffened.  “I’m fine.  I think old age is creeping up on me, that’s all.”

His warrior face had returned: hard as a brick wall, and twice as difficult to get through.  I could only hope that whatever he was dealing with, he wouldn’t choose to face it alone.

On the way home, Ariel stared moodily out of the car window.  All afternoon, she’d hinted to Tommy that he should move back in with us.  Now, she was upset by his choice to return to Neil’s couch rather than to his bedroom in our flat.

“So what about your birthday?” I asked to cheer her up.

She shrugged.

“What would you like?”

She cocked her head, finally interested.  “Can I have anything I want?”

“Within reason.”

“Okay, then.  I want my ears pierced.”  She tugged on her lobes.  “And I want to get it done at Midtown Ink.”

Although I worried about encouraging Ari’s fascination with piercings, it was a reasonable request.  “Okay.  You’ve got it.”

“Can we go tomorrow?”

Her birthday was still three weeks away, but we could both use a pick-me-up.  “Sure, why not?”

She leaned back in her seat, smiling.  If only my own sadness could be cured by a couple of holes in the soft tissue of my body.

That night, after I’d tucked Ariel into bed, I smelled something burning.  The last time this had happened, my house had been on fire.  Terrified, I raced into the kitchen to find the source of the smoke.

Sitting on the countertop was a white-frosted cake with a single, lit candle in the middle, and a jewelry box in my favorite color: Tiffany blue.

William, you devil, I thought as I blew out the candle.  Before I opened the box, I swiped some frosting from the cake.  It tasted light and not overly sweet, and it melted slowly on my tongue.  I groaned with pleasure. 

I considered eating an entire slice, but the jewelry box beckoned.  Inside was a beautiful pair of silver-and-ruby earrings with a matching necklace.  I hurried to the bedroom to try them on in front of the mirror.  After twisting my hair into a knot and securing it with a clip, I slipped the earrings into my lobes.  As I struggled to fasten the necklace, I felt a delectable, otherworldly shimmer coming from the doorway near my bed.

“Shall l help you?”  William stood behind me.

I surrendered the necklace.  As he fastened the clasp, he kissed me lightly on the back of the neck, sending a thrill down my spine.  “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you so much!”  I admired myself in the mirror.  Even though ruby was my birthstone, I’d never been fond of it.  To me, most ruby jewelry appeared garish. But the stones in this necklace and earrings had been placed within simple, teardrop settings.  “They’re beautiful.”

“So are you.”  William wrapped his arms around my waist.  As I gazed at our reflections in the mirror, he nuzzled my neck again.  I closed my eyes as his kisses trailed down my shoulder.  This was the blissful ending I needed to make up for a truly awful weekend.

When he broke off his caresses, I said, “I’m sorry I had to cancel on you last night.”

“I was very disappointed,” he admitted.  “And I almost ran into your stepsister and that young man you’re all so fond of.”  His tone darkened.  “I thought you said he wouldn’t be around.”

“Don’t worry.  He moved out.  He said he couldn’t stand all the estrogen in the apartment.”

“Good.”  William slipped off his shoes and stretched out on my bed.  He patted the spot next to him and gave me a salacious smile.  “Come join me.”  When I refused, he made adorable puppy eyes.  “Please, Lil?  I’m lonely.”

“So get a cat,” I told him, but I relented and sat on the edge of the bed.

“What did you end up doing instead of making me dinner?” he asked.

“Ever hear of
nyotaimori
?”

“ Yes.” He started to laugh, but then stopped.  “Wait.  Is that what
you
were doing last night?”

“Yes.  Just me, several hundred pieces of sushi, and a roomful of strangers.”  I explained about Barb and Milo, the leg cramps, the sickening smell of fish, and the leers and double entendres.  As I talked, the angry blaze in William’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Wanting to calm him down, I finished by saying, “Don’t worry.  Nothing bad happened.”

“Nothing
bad
happened?” He grabbed a throw pillow and wrung it so hard that a seam popped.  “You were lying exposed in a roomful of strange men who propositioned you, and you’re telling me nothing
bad
happened?”

He was right, of course.  Even being held hostage by a pair of crazy men with guns had not made me feel as dirty.  “I guess it could have been worse,” I said.  “No one touched me.”

“They certainly wanted to.  And if you hadn’t left the party when you did, who knows what they might have tried?”  He flung the pillow aside and stood up.  “I’m going to talk to Helen.”

It wasn’t the first time he’d appointed himself as my protector.  But while I appreciated his concern, I needed him to be careful.  “Wait!’  I tugged on his hand to make him sit back down.  “If Helen thinks we’re ganging up on her, she’ll retaliate against me
. 
I don’t want her adding more clauses to my contract.”  That fear kept me awake most nights.

“She can’t do that,” William said.  “She’s as bound by those contracts as we are.”

That was a comfort, but a small one.

He took my hands.  “Listen to me very carefully.  I know you want to get out of your contract, but you have to stop being so openly combative.  Helen wants to prove that you’re still in her power.  If you don’t back down, she’ll destroy you!”