The Happiest Day (10 page)

“What the hell do
you think you’re doing?” he asked between clenched teeth.

“I don’t know what
you’re talking about,” Peter said blandly.

“Bullshit.  Giving
my wife jewelry—do you think that’s appropriate?”

“I gave my friend
a bracelet in memory of her dead child.  I don’t see what’s wrong with that.”

“What game are you
playing?  You know she has feelings for you!”

“Have you thought
that I might have feelings for her?”

Norris pulled
back, stunned.  “Don’t do this, Peter.  This can have no good end.  You’re
married, she’s married.  To me, in case you’ve forgotten.”

Peter laughed
bitterly.  “It would be hard to forget that, Norris.  I want you to divorce
her.”

“I told you that
day at the hospital that I won’t divorce her.  I can best protect her if we’re
married.”

“I’ll protect
her.”

“What about
Blanche?” Norris countered.

“She’s
inconsequential.”

“She doesn’t think
so.”

“We don’t have a
marriage.  I could divorce her tomorrow and she wouldn’t care as long as I kept
her in the style to which she’s become accustomed.”

“Well, you may not
value your marriage, but I do value mine.”

“How can you call
this a marriage?” Peter demanded.  “She thinks that you’re not touching her
because she’s not desirable.  You’re damaging her, Norris!”

“And I suppose you
want to undo that damage?” Norris hissed.  “What was happening in this room
before I got home?”

“None of your
god-damned business,” Peter shot back.  “Now let go of me before I lose my
temper.”

Norris released
him but the look in his eyes was vicious.  “Don’t hurt her,” he said with
deadly calm.

Rachel sensed the
tension in the dining room and tried to lead the conversation.  She talked
about Geoff and Laurie coming home for the Christmas holiday and when they
would cut down a tree.  Norris’ answers were monosyllabic and Peter didn’t add
much to the conversation.  Finally, Norris excused himself to do some work in
his study and Peter announced that he should head home.  Rachel followed him to
the front hallway and waited until Smythe helped him on with his coat before
whispering, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”  He ran
the back of his fingers over her cheek.  “I’ll try to come tomorrow, but if the
hearing resumes I may not be back out for a while.”

“The boys will be home
next weekend.  Will you try to come then, even if you’re busy?”

“If I can.”

“Thank you again
for the bracelet.”

“My pleasure. 
Listen, about what happened earlier-”

“It’s all right,”
she interrupted him.  “Things were kind of crazy, I know.”

“It wasn’t crazy
for me,” he said.  “I’ve wanted to do that for a really long time.  I dream
about it.”

Her eyes lit.  “Do
you?”

He leaned his
forehead against hers and whispered against her lips, “Every night. We don’t
stop at kissing, though.”

She blushed
delicately.  “Me, too,” she said in a barely there whisper.

He kissed her
suddenly and ravenously, his hands framing her face.  “We need to talk,” he
said.  “Not here, though.  We’ll find a time, I promise.”  He pulled away.  “I
have to go before the roads become impassable.  Make me a promise, though.”

“Anything,” she
promised.

“Don’t let Norris
touch you.”

She looked
surprised.  “I told you that he’s not interested in me like that anymore.”

“He’s
unpredictable.  If he asks you to sleep with him, tell him no.”

“I…I don’t know if
I can do that,” she said.  “He’s my husband.”

Peter grasped her
by the arms and drew her up on her toes.  “Jesus, Rachel, trust me on this. 
Don’t sleep with him.”

“Peter.”

They both turned
and saw Norris standing at the edge of the foyer, his hands clenched in fists.

“The snow is
getting heavy.  You should go.  We wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to
you.”

Frustration roared
through Peter.  He wanted to grab Rachel and take her with him.  He wanted to
tell her that Norris might be her father and she had possibly been an innocent
victim in an incestuous relationship.  He wanted to smash his step-father in
the face for all the horrible things he had done.

Smythe opened the
door upon Norris’ slight nod.

“Good night,”
Peter said and disappeared into the swirling snow.

Rachel turned and
faced her husband as the butler soundlessly disappeared.  “Are you angry with
me about something?”

“Never.  I want you
to be careful, though.”

“Of what?”

“Peter has been
involved in many affairs, did you know that?”  He stepped closer to her, his
fists relaxing.

“I guess I’ve
never thought about it.  It’s not really any of my business.”

“He’s slept with
just about every woman in our circle and he doesn’t care if they’re married or
not.  He’s a sexual hound, Rachel.  He’s left many broken hearts behind him.”

Hurt twisted in
her stomach.  “I didn’t know that.”

“There’s no reason
you should.  It’s a seedy side of his life that I’ve tried to keep from you. 
He’s charming but he’s very one-minded.  He is after one thing, Rachel. 
Always.  Don’t forget that.”

She willed herself
to answer calmly.  “None of that means anything to me.  He’s my friend.  You’re
my husband.”

He slightly
relaxed.  “Thank you.  I know that our marriage could be better.  Maybe…maybe
we could try again to…be close.”

She remembered
Peter’s words.  “I…uh…what if I get pregnant?”

“I’m willing to
take the risk if it will make you happy.”  He stepped towards her.  “I don’t
want you to think that you’re not desirable.”

She crossed her
arms across her chest.  “It’s all right, Norris.  I know you don’t want me.” 
She looked down uncomfortably.  “I’m going to go upstairs.”

“Would you like me
to come to your room after I’m finished working?”

She shook her
head.  “No, thank you.  Good night, Norris.”  She headed up the stairs but was
temporarily halted by his parting words.

“I don’t want you
to be alone with Peter again.”

She felt short of
breath and dizzy.  “He’s my friend,” she said with her back still to him.

“You heard what I
said.”

It was an order. 
There was nothing she could say to him in response.  She continued up the steps
to her bedroom.  In the foyer, Norris closed his eyes and whispered, “
For
this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual
immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness
and honor.”
  He wanted to follow her; his body was burning for her but he
had to be in command of himself.  He couldn’t knowingly defile her with the
possibility he was her father.

A housemaid passed
by him, on her way to clean up the dishes in the dining room.  She nodded
silently but he reached out and grabbed her by the arm.  She turned to him,
startled.

“What’s your name?”
he rasped out.

“Mary, sir.”

“Do you believe in
God, Mary?”

“Yes, sir.”  Her
eyes were wide, frightened of his intensity.

“Will you come
with me to the chapel?”

“If that’s your
desire, sir,” she answered obediently.

“It is truly my
desire, my dear,” he responded, some of the tension leaving his body.  “Come
along, then.”

Laurie and Geoff
came home for Christmas and the days grew busy as the family prepared for the
holiday.  Rachel and Maryanne spent many hours together decorating each other’s
homes and shopping for presents.  Just a few days before Christmas, Maryanne
left the baby home with the nanny and she and Rachel spent the entire day
finishing their shopping.  By late afternoon, they were exhausted and famished.

“It’s going to be
so much fun this Christmas,” Maryanne said as they ate an early supper together
at a downtown restaurant.  “Especially with the baby…”  Her face fell.  “I’m
sorry.” 

“Don’t apologize,”
Rachel told her kindly.  “You should be happy.  I’m happy for you.”

“I just wish…oh
Rachel, I wish that things were different.”  She reached across the table and
squeezed Rachel’s hand.  “Oh, what’s this?”  She touched the bracelet that was
only partially visible beneath the white cuff of Rachel’s navy blue dress.

“It’s a bracelet. 
Peter gave it to me for Ruby.”

Maryanne raised
startled eyes to look at Rachel.  “That was very…sweet of him.”

“Don’t,” Rachel
murmured, taking a sip of her drink.  “Don’t read more into it than there is.”

Maryanne’s face
became thoughtful.  “Peter talks to Bert, you know.  Then Bert turns around and
tells me what he says.”

Rachel blushed a
little.  “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Bert thinks Peter
is in love with you.”

Rachel’s heart
jumped.  “Did Peter tell him that?”

“No, but that’s
what Bert believes and I trust his instincts.”  They were quiet for a few
minutes as the waiter arrived to serve their food.

After they were
left alone, Rachel continued the conversation.  “Norris doesn’t want Peter to
be alone with me.”

Maryanne’s
eyebrows raised and she shrugged her shoulders slightly.  “So Daddy sees it,
too.”

“He says that
Peter is a ‘sexual hound’ and is only out to seduce me.  Do you believe him?”

“No.  Peter is not
like that, I know it.  What if Bert is right, though?  What if he is in love
with you?”

They were
interrupted by a cool voice, “Good evening, ladies.  May I join you?”

They looked up to
see Blanche standing there, a cigarette held between her fingers, an expensive black
suit molding her curvy body.  She was not smiling.

“Hello, Blanche,”
Maryanne greeted her sister-in-law.  “Of course you may join us.”

Blanche sat,
crossing her legs and taking a deep drag on the cigarette.  “Out shopping for
Christmas?”

“Yes, we did our
damage in the stores,” Maryanne answered with a slight smile.  She was trying
her best to be polite to the unpleasant woman.  “And you?  What are you doing
downtown?”

“I’m supposed to
meet Peter in an hour.  We’re going to a party.”  Her eyes slid to Rachel,
reminding the younger woman of a cat.  “How are you, Rachel?”

“I’m fine, thank
you.”  Rachel attacked her meal with false gusto.  She felt young and gauche
around Blanche and wondered if Peter ever compared her unfavorably to his
sophisticated wife.

“It’s too bad that
you and Norris aren’t hosting any holiday parties.  There was at time that it
wasn’t Christmas without a party at the Thornton estate.”

“I know,” Rachel
answered steadily.  “I lived there from the time I was eight.”

“Oh, that’s
right.  You know, it’s difficult for me to connect that bedraggled small child
to who you are now.  Lady of the manor.”  She laughed meanly.  “I hear my
husband has been spending a lot of time at the estate.”

“Do you?” Rachel
retorted, refusing to be baited.  She was sure that she could not fight at the
same level as Blanche.  She raised her fork to take another bite.  If she could
just keep her mouth full maybe Blanche would leave her alone.

“Pretty bracelet,”
she commented, her laser sharp gaze picking up the movement on Rachel’s wrist. 
“You know, I was just at the jeweler’s window-shopping, and the owner asked me
if I had enjoyed the bracelet my husband had picked out for me.  He hadn’t
designed it; he had just seen the receipt for it.  I just assumed that Peter
had bought me a bracelet for Christmas.  Guess I was wrong.”  She grasped the
bracelet.  “A baby?  Good God, I didn’t know my husband has become so
sentimental.”

Rachel felt her
ire rise.  She may have lost her child, but she was still her mother.  She
looked up Blanche, her eyes steely.  “Since you’ve never had a child, you probably
wouldn’t understand.”

Blanche stared at
her for a long moment, trying to control her anger.  “Well, well, the little
kitty has grown claws.  I guess that’s what happens when you marry a man old
enough to be your father and sleep with his son.  You’re part of our sordid
world now, Mrs. Thornton.”

“Blanche,”
Maryanne said, her voice no longer gentle.  “I won’t have you speaking to my
best friend that way.  Maybe you should go.”

Blanche rose,
stubbing her cigarette out on the fine linen tablecloth.  “You might want to
watch out, Maryanne.  She might try to steal your husband next.”  She leaned
down so that her face was close to Rachel’s.  “Watch your back, bitch.  I don’t
give up what belongs to me.”  She turned and left the restaurant, leaving her
cloying scent behind.

“I’m sorry,
Rachel.”

“Don’t be,” Rachel
responded.  “That’s the first time I’ve ever stood up to her.  It felt pretty
good.”  Her face grew serious.  “Maryanne, I’m not sleeping with Peter.  For
that matter, I’m not sleeping with your father, either.  I’m living the life of
a blessed nun.”

Maryanne gave a
sharp bark of surprised laughter.  “I don’t even know what to say to that.”

“There’s not much
to say.  When your mother was murdered, things got so crazy.”

“You weren’t
sleeping with Daddy before Mother died, were you?”

“No.”

“It was just an
alibi, I know.”  She sighed.  “I know that there’s more to this than I understand,
and I’m all right with that.  I’m not sure if I want to know the truth.”

“It’s better that
you don’t know,” Rachel said with conviction.  “I just didn’t want there to be
any lies between us.”

“But you married
him.”

“It seemed the
only thing to do at the time.  It was fine for a while but after the baby, he
didn’t seem to want me anymore.”

“Daddy is a
complicated man.  I don’t think marriage sets well with him.”

“He was in love
with my mother.”

Maryanne drew back
in surprise.  “He…did he tell you that?”

“He didn’t have
to.  He would pretend I was her when we were intimate.”

“Oh, Rachel…” 
Maryanne laid trembling fingers on her lips.  “I’m so sorry.  You deserve
better than that.”

“I made my own
decisions.  I can’t change the path I’ve chosen.”

“I just keep
thinking that if we hadn’t all turned from you after the trial, that you would
have felt you had other choices.  I’m so sorry.”  She reached her hand out and
Rachel took it.  “Please say you forgive me.”

“I was never angry
at you.  Now, can we eat?  All that shopping and sparring with Blanche has left
me famished.”

Across town,
Blanche was meeting Peter at his office.  “Are you ready?  I don’t want to be
late to the Neville’s.”

Peter stood and
slipped into his suit coat.  “Just waiting for you.  I don’t want to stay
long.  I have to prepare for court tomorrow.”

“As I’ve said many
times, your job has nothing at all to do with my life.”  She primped in her
compact mirror.  “You can leave whenever you want.  I’m sure I can find someone
to take me home.”

Peter laughed
humorlessly.  “I’m sure you can.  A promise of a little action in the back seat
should entice any man there tonight.”

“Don’t be a
hypocrite, Peter.”

“What does that
mean?” he paused buttoning his overcoat.

“I ran into your
little whore this evening.  She was dining with your sister at Allegro’s.”

Peter felt his
blood pressure rising.  “What did you say to her?”

“I told her to
watch her back.” Blanche snapped the compact shut.  “I meant it.  I can ruin
her, Peter.  Not that there’s much left of her reputation, but I can ensure
that her every day is miserable.  She’ll never be able to show her face outside
of the estate.”

Peter moved so
quickly, Blanche gasped.  He shoved her up against the wall, his forearm coming
up to press against her neck.  “Don’t you threaten her, you filthy slut.”

Blanche struggled
a little bit to breathe.  “Get your hands off of me or I’ll have you arrested
for assault.”  She pushed at him and he released her.  Her lips turned up in a
sneer.  “It’s worse than I thought.  You’re in love with her.”

“I don’t want you
to talk to her, or about her.  Do you understand me?”

“As long as you
understand me,” she retorted.  “Do what you need to do.  Give her presents, court
her, fuck her brains out.  I don’t care.  Understand this, though, I will not
give you a divorce.”

“You can’t stop me
if I file.”

“I can’t stop you
from filing but I can fight you every step of the way and I can strip you of so
much—your time, your money, your pride.  If you think I won’t drag your little
girlfriend’s name through the mud, you’re delusional.”

“Since we’re
giving ultimatums, here’s one.  I don’t want you coming to any more family
events.  I don’t want you at the estate for Christmas or any other time.  If I
spend time with the family, you will not be there.  You threaten me with
mudslinging but I’ve got buckets of mud to throw back at you.”

He saw her mind
working, trying to figure out how to come out on top in this battle.  “Fine,”
she conceded.  “I won’t sully your precious sweetheart’s sensibilities.  Play with
her all you want, Peter, but don’t forget, we are married.  We both have a lot
to lose if you file for divorce.”

As it turned out,
Norris had arranged it so Peter was never alone with Rachel over the next few
months.  He felt his frustration grow as he was thwarted at every turn.  He started
to suspect Rachel was a willing participant in the plan to keep him at arm’s
length.  Finally, in early spring, he was tired of the game.  He employed
Maryanne’s help in inviting Rachel to her house for lunch.  When Rachel entered
the home, she found only Peter waiting for her.  She drew back in surprise.

“Peter, where’s
Maryanne?” Her eyes shifted nervously.

“She took the baby
for a walk.”  He stood from where he sat in the front parlor.  “We need to
talk.”

“We shouldn’t be
alone.”

“Why not?”

“Norris forbad me
from being alone with you.”

“That’s bullshit!”
Peter roared.  “He can’t tell you what you can and can’t do.”

“He can.  He’s my
husband and I have to respect his wishes.”

“Are you sleeping
with him again?”

“Don’t do this.”
She backed away from him.  “Peter, we are married and we have to honor our
vows.”

“Honor our vows?”
he asked disbelievingly.  “Do you even know what Norris does when he’s not with
you?”

“Stop,” she
whispered.

“Rachel, he and
Maggie, his secretary, have been involved for years.  She’s his mistress.”

“It doesn’t
matter.”

“It doesn’t
matter?  If you really believe that, then I don’t know you.”

Anger flashed in
her eyes.  “You’re wanting me to judge Norris for his infidelities yet you’re
offering the same thing from yourself, and wanting the same thing from me.”

Her words stopped
him cold.  “I don’t see us in the same light.  I’m sorry.”  He sat back down on
the couch.  “Jesus, Rachel.”

Remorse washed
over her.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I just
thought…for these past few months, I’ve been miserable, wanting to be closer to
you and I was foolish enough to believe that you were feeling the same way.” 
He looked up at her.  “I didn’t want to put you in a compromising position, I
just wanted to spend time with you.”

She hated to see
him hurt.  She had to tell him the truth.  “The last time we were alone, things
got…we were close.  Norris knew.  I don’t know how he knew, but he did.  He
told me that I couldn’t be alone with you anymore.  Peter, I’m sorry, but I
can’t disobey him.”

“
Disobey
him?” he looked at her incredulously.  “Do you hear yourself?  He’s not your…” 
He stopped himself from saying “father.”  “You’re acting like he’s your father,
not your husband.”

“I don’t know how
to say no to him.  I’m sorry.”

Peter sat back,
his mind working to find a way from losing her again.  “Can’t we just go back
to the way things were, before that night?”

“Can we?”

He knew they
couldn’t but he wasn’t about to admit to it.  “Of course we can.  If Norris
doesn’t want us to be alone, fine.  Just stop avoiding me.  It’s not what you
want, I’m sure of it.”

“Of course it’s not
what I want.”  She came closer to him.  “I love being with you.  You know
that.”

“You’ll stop
running like a scared rabbit every time I get near you?”

She looked at him
with serious eyes.  “You’ll not try to seduce me?”

“I swear to you,
I’ll not force you.  If you come to me, though, that’s a different story.”

She nodded.  “I
won’t come to you.  I can’t.”

He accepted her
proclamation with a solemn nod, but knew he had every intention of making her
come to him.