A New Kind of Bliss (5 page)

“W
ell, that was fun,” I remarked to Wayne as he backed out of the driveway. I watched as Aaron climbed into a light-colored Jaguar and I couldn’t help thinking how good I’d look riding beside him.

“Yeah. Tanis really looks good, doesn’t she?”

“Fabulous,” I said, feeling generous. Hell, I could afford to. Aaron had resisted Tanis’s efforts to drum up sympathy and instead asked
me
out. She’d lost, and she knew it. She came up to him as we were saying good night and told him rather flatly that he had her blocked in, which prompted us to wrap it up. “Too bad about her and her husband.” I had forced myself to sound compassionate, but in truth I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my mother the scoop. It was a cinch this would come as news to her. I was sure Mavis Montgomery would much prefer to brag about all of Tanis’s successes than mention anything less than sterling, like that nose job. I imagined Mavis would hold out for a reconciliation right up until the time the final decree came through…and then she wouldn’t tell a soul about the divorce until she absolutely had to—like if Tanis married again.

“It looked like you and your dinner partner got on pretty well.”

“He seemed nice,” I said, proud of the blasé way it came out. I knew damn well that if I was alone and not in the confines of Wayne’s car I’d be doing cartwheels.

“Gonna see him again?”

“Yes, when I come back to town. At least if he hasn’t met anyone else by then.” I decided to make a joke. “What about you? Will you be seeing
Tanis
again?”

“I’d love to.”

That’s the last thing I expected to hear him say. I looked at him sharply, but his eyes were focused on the road, his expression unrevealing. “Wayne, are you serious?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? She’s a good-looking girl. Always has been. And she’s about to be single again.” He took his eyes off the road for an instant to look at me. “Or do you think it’s a bad idea because she’s a big-time actress and I’m just a working stiff?”

I tried to come up with a response quickly but found my thoughts couldn’t get past his description of Tanis as a “big-time actress.” Did he really believe she was in the same league as Angela Bassett or Halle Berry? You wouldn’t see either of
them
doing deodorant commercials. “It’s not that. I seem a little shocked because you caught me off guard. But in the end it’s what
Tanis
thinks that counts.” I felt quite satisfied with my diplomatic reply, but his next words burst my bubble.

“It’s dark in this car, Emily, but I can see doubt all over your face.”

I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t say I thought it was a good idea, because I didn’t. Of course, Tanis wouldn’t look twice at someone like Wayne. Was he so blind he hadn’t noticed how she had practically thrown herself at Aaron? Not only did Wayne not hold a distinguished position, but he wasn’t even particularly good-looking. Money without looks was okay, and looks without money might work, but neither looks nor money wouldn’t stand a chance, at least not with a woman like Tanis.
I
didn’t feel that way, of course. The fact that Aaron Merritt had both looks
and
money was…well, purely coincidental.

“Did you ask her out?” I asked.

“No. I just told her it was good to see her, and to call if I could do anything to help her.”

I kept quiet. If Tanis ever called Wayne it would be to ask him to wire her attic, not to light her pilot.

“Emmie, you have a phone call.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I yawned as I buttered an English muffin, then picked up the kitchen extension. “Hello.”

“Hi, it’s Rosalind.”

“Well, good morning,” I said cheerfully. “I was about to call you; you beat me to it. Nice party last night. Wayne and I both enjoyed ourselves.” I considered sharing with her just how much Wayne enjoyed Tanis’s company, then decided that wouldn’t be right. Just because Wayne hadn’t added a “just between us” clause didn’t give me carte blanche to blab his private feelings to anyone.

“Glad to hear it. Now, I want to hear all about you and Aaron.”

I bit into my muffin. “There’s not a lot to tell. He asked if he could see me again, and I said yes. We’ll get together when I come back from Indy.” I gasped as I realized an oversight. “Oh, no! I’m just remembering that I never gave him my number, Rosalind.” Then it occurred to me that maybe the oversight had been deliberate. “Damn. I hope that wasn’t just a line he fed me about wanting to go out with me.”

“It wasn’t. He just called me and asked for your number. He said he’d forgotten to get it from you last night. If you ask me, he sounded a little panicked. I gave it to him. That’s why I called, to tell you. Hope you don’t mind.”

“No, of course—” the beep of call waiting interrupted our conversation. “Oh, my. Someone’s calling. Give me a minute to get rid of them.” I depressed the flash button on the receiver. “Hello?”

“Hello, Emily. Aaron Merritt here.”

I’d expected to hear the voice of one of Mom’s friends. That he’d called so quickly showed real promise. “Well, hi! This is a surprise.”

“I forgot to get your number, so I called Rosalind and asked her for it. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No. I’m glad to hear from you. Oh, there’s the call waiting.” There hadn’t been any beep, but I didn’t want to tell him I had Rosalind on the other line. “Can you hold just a minute?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Be right back.” I clicked back over to Rosalind. “It’s Aaron. I’ll call you back.”

“I want to know what hap—,” I could hear Rosalind saying as I clicked again.

“I’m sorry,” I said to Aaron. “I know how annoying that can be.”

“No problem. I enjoyed talking with you last night, Emily. I hate the idea of having to wait nearly two weeks to see you again.” He’d asked about the timeline of my move as we said goodnight last night. “Would you consider having dinner with me tonight if you have no plans?”

“I’d love to.” I gave him directions to Mom’s apartment, and we agreed on seven-thirty.

Maybe coming back to Euliss wouldn’t be so bad after all.

After I hung up I went to sit with Mom on the living room couch, where she sat perusing the newspaper with a cup of coffee and her morning roll. In this day and age when mugs had such popularity I didn’t think I knew anyone who still drank coffee with a cup and saucer. She looked so lonely. She used to have breakfast at the small dinette table, but I think sitting there alone overwhelmed her with memories of Pop.

She smiled at me expectantly. “How was the party?”

“Very nice. Tanis was there. Did you know she and her husband are divorcing?”

“No! That Mavis never said a word. Not that I would expect her to bring it up at your daddy’s funeral, but it’s not like I haven’t seen her lately.”

After years of playing bid whist, all of Mom’s old social circle now participated in bingo at the church on Thursday and Saturday nights, with only an occasional card party at someone’s home. Increased crime and somewhat decreased mobility made the group of seventy-something-year-old women reluctant to visit each other’s homes at night.

“Maybe she’s waiting until it becomes final,” I said.

“Maybe she just doesn’t want to admit that her perfect daughter’s marriage went down the tubes.”

I choked on my orange juice and quickly took another sip to clear my throat. “That’s a possibility.” I never thought I’d hear Mom be critical of Tanis when she’d praised her for as long as I could remember. I rather liked it.

“Well, she does tend to brag, Emily. Helen Brown and I were talking about it a couple of weeks ago. We were all having lunch in Atlantic City when Helen told us her granddaughter is expecting. She’s only seventeen and still in high school. We all tried to tell her that these things happen in this day and age, and that grandparents can’t be responsible for their grandchildren, and Mavis made a comment along the lines that none of
her
grandkids had better get pregnant before they were married. I’m sure all of us privately had the same thought about our own grandkids, but Mavis actually said it. First of all, we grandmothers can talk all we want, but we have no control over what our grandchildren do. Second, her sounding so snooty didn’t make poor Helen feel any better, that’s for sure.”

“Ah, so Mrs. Brown’s going to be a great-grandmother, huh?”

“She already is. Her granddaughter had the baby last week. The pregnancy was pretty far along when Helen told us.” She shrugged. “You know how it is.”

“I understand. Did Winnie say anything about Valerie’s daughter being pregnant?”

“No. But that doesn’t mean it’s not true. She probably feels that since Valerie lives on City Island no one will find out. The only reason any of us go down there is to eat, and those restaurants are expensive. The only reason Bea was there was because her son took her for her birthday. Besides, Winnie and Mavis are cut from the same sneaky cloth. They’re sisters, you know.”

I remembered. Tanis made a big deal of both Wendy and Valerie being her cousins from the time we were in grade school, probably because they were both so cute while she’d been saddled with her father’s large nose.

I always thought it odd that both Winifred and Mavis Vincent married men whose last names started with the same letter as their own first names. That was a heck of a coincidence. I wondered if they’d planned it that way. That would explain why they both married relatively late, at least for that time, both of them in their late twenties. Mom always said that if Mavis had married younger she might have had more children. She’d suffered three miscarriages before finally giving birth to Tanis, her only child. I tried to tell her that was nonsense, that Mavis had been young enough for her fertility problems not to be age-related, but like I said, Mom gave the same credence to those old wives’ tales as she would to something she’d read in the World Book encyclopedia.

But I had my own love life to worry about. “Mom, will you be home tonight?”

“Well…I was thinking about going to bingo. But I can stay home with you, dear.”

I wolfed down the last of my English muffin, most of which I’d consumed while still on the phone. “No, no,” I said too quickly. I hadn’t even swallowed yet. Part of me expected Mom to admonish me fot talking with my mouth full.

She smiled. “You must have plans.”

“I’ve got a date.”

“With the doctor you met last night?”

“Yes, Mom,” I said casually.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Is he white?”

I knew she asked this because she knew he was a friend of John Hunter. “No, Mom.”

She sipped her coffee. “You know, I always liked that Rosalind. I knew she was the one to introduce you to some nice people.”

Naturally, she didn’t compliment Rosalind until she’d determined that her husband’s doctor friend was black.

“Tell me about your new friend. What’s his name? And how old is he?”

“Aaron Merritt. He’s an oncologist at the Presbyterian Medical Center in the city. He’s about my age, maybe a few years older.”

“Has he ever been married?”

I picked up on a definite suspicious edge to her words, and I knew she was thinking that any man over forty who’d never been married had to have at least one foot in the closet.

“He’s a widower, Mom. His wife died last year.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.” Her tone held about as much sympathy as a pet rock. No doubt about it, my usually compassionate mother regarded Aaron’s wife’s premature death as an opportunity for me. At least she paused for decency before asking, “What does he look like?”

“Dreamy,” I said without hesitation. “Mom, he’s tall, slim, has beautiful skin and the sexiest bedroom eyes you’ve ever seen.”

“He sounds wonderful. Uh…you know, I can always stay home tonight. I can open the door for your date.”

I was glad to see Mom brighten, but the last thing I wanted was to have her gaping at Aaron. “I don’t think that’s necessary, Mom. I won’t have a problem opening the door. You go on and play bingo. I’ve got a feeling you might hit the jackpot.”

“No, dear,” Mom said with a big smile, “
you’re
the one who’s hit the jackpot.”

“Y
ou look lovely, Emily,” Aaron said.

“Thank you.” I wore the only other dress I’d brought with me, the black dress with the peplum. Something told me we wouldn’t be going to the Burger Shack, so I wanted to look nice. One look at him and I knew I’d made the right move. He wore a navy suit with a light blue shirt and geometric tie and actually looked more formal than he had at Rosalind’s last night. “Please have a seat.”

He sat on the sofa and glanced around Mom’s small but immaculate living room with its well-worn furniture that dated back twenty-five years. I guess I could understand the reluctance of people my parents’ age to invest in furniture that would probably outlive them. I knew the room looked a little raggedy and I cast a sly glance at him to study his reaction, but his impassive expression gave nothing away. It made me wonder if he came from a background as modest as mine.

“Would you like a drink?” I offered.

“I should probably wait until we get to the restaurant. I don’t think we have time now.” He looked around the room. “So this is your mother’s place?”

“Yes.”

“It’s very cozy.”

I shrugged, thinking about my lack of a bedroom. “A little on the small side, at least for a mother and a daughter. My mother’s out tonight. I’ve been encouraging her to start up her usual activities. She didn’t have a lot of free time while my father’s health was failing. She was afraid to leave him alone too long.”

“How’s she coping with the loss of your father?”

“Pretty good, actually. We were all worried about how she’d handle it, but Mom’s a lot stronger than she lets on. Actually, I think it’s easier on the family when there’s a gradual decline in health; a sudden death can be devastating.” I felt it would be immodest for me to add that I believed my presence helped her.

“I agree. There’s no time to get affairs in order, and survivors often have to scramble to locate an insurance policy or a will to pay funeral expenses.” Aaron fixated those sexy eyes on me. “Tell, me, Emily, do you plan on staying here with your mother permanently?”

Something in his voice suggested he hoped I’d reply affirmatively. As good as it felt to have him interested in me, I didn’t want to lie to him. “I have to say I’m not planning on it. I like Indianapolis. There’s so much going on there. It’s a whole other world from Euliss…unless you count the bad roads, which are about the same.”

“Do you have a room of your own here?”

“No. You’re, uh, sitting on my bed,” I said with a smile.

Instead of looking shocked or embarrassed, he patted the seat cushions with his palms. “It feels comfortable.”

He certainly seemed quick on the draw. I wondered if Aaron ever found himself in a situation where he virtually didn’t know what to say or do. “Actually, it pulls out to a bed. There is a two-bedroom apartment in this building, but I don’t know if it makes sense for Mom to move to a place where the rent is higher when she’d only need it for a few months. Besides, people in this area tend to hold on to apartments like they’re heirlooms. Sometimes they even arrange for family members to take over the leases when they die.”

“Yes, space is at a premium here in New York. There are so many co-op conversions that rentals have become scarce.” He glanced at his watch. “We should probably get going. We have an eight o’clock reservation.”

“Sure.” I reached for my shawl casually, as if I had dinner reservations every night.

In an instant he stood behind me. “Let me.”

I glanced down at his long fingers as he arranged the shawl around my shoulders. Those very fingers extended patients’ lives by carefully removing cancerous tumors. It made me light-headed to think of what those fingers could do for me…and I wasn’t thinking about my health.

“What time is your flight tomorrow?” Aaron asked when we were in his car. I’d never ridden in a Jaguar before. That smooth ride was something I could get used to in a hurry.

I took a deep breath, not sure how he would react to my news. “Actually, this afternoon I decided to stay for at least another week.”

“You did!”

He sounded happy, and that made me feel good. “Yes. My mom suggested—and I had to agree with her—that it might be a good idea to check the Sunday papers and see if I can line up a job before I go back to Indy. My boss already knows I’m taking an extended leave, although they won’t be happy when I call them Monday morning and tell them I’m still in New York.”

“I’m sure that under the circumstances they’ll understand.”

“I hope so. I’ll need to use them as a reference.” I looked out through the windshield. I recognized the scenic road we took, lined with old-money mansions, and wondered where we were going.

Twenty minutes later we pulled up in front of a mansion that looked like it had been built by one of those megabucks families like the Rockefellers. The Hudson is lined with them—mansions, that is. I didn’t think this was the Rockefeller estate open to the public; I was pretty sure some stray members of that large, wealthy family were still in residence.

“Nice,” I said, feeling that I ought to give some kind of acknowledgment.

Aaron came around to the passenger side to help me out. “Believe this or not, this used to be someone’s home. Someone bought it a couple of years ago and converted it into a restaurant.”

I looked at the sizeable limestone building as I alighted. “It must be a hell of a large restaurant.”

“It has a couple of private banquet rooms and one large hall upstairs. I chose this particular place because I’m not sure what you like and they have a varied menu,” Aaron explained. “Beef, lamb, seafood, venison.”

“Venison,” I repeated. “Let’s see, that would be…ostrich?”

“It’s deer.”

“Oh, that’s right.” I cursed myself for making a wrong guess. So much for giving Aaron the impression that I ate in settings like this all the time.

The maitre d’ led us to a table by the window, which looked out over the Hudson River and the Palisades. The Palisades were nothing but tall cliffs on the New Jersey side of the river, but they were big in the world of real estate. Views of them commanded premium prices for homes, co-ops, and condos. You’d think they were the white cliffs of Dover from all the fuss, but I guess it was better to have a view of rock formations and the Hudson than another building.

Soft, piped-in violin music provided a perfect musical accompaniment to a room decorated in muted colors, with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and fleur-de-lis wallpaper. “This is lovely,” I said, seating myself in the cloth-upholstered chair the maitre d’ pulled out for me.

“I hoped you would like it. They’ve got a fabulous veal scallopini.”

“I’m afraid I’m not much for veal, but I’m sure I’ll find something else on the menu I’ll enjoy.”

I ordered the chicken parmagiana from a menu that had no prices listed. Wow. I’d heard places like this existed, where only the man’s menu listed the cost of each meal, but didn’t ever expect to dine in one.

Aaron smiled at me from across the table after he gave the waiter our orders, his hand closed around a highball glass containing scotch and water. “I guess this is the time we exchange life stories.”

“You already know most of mine. I’m from Euliss. I’ve been divorced about a dozen years. No kids. And I work as a P.A.”

“Do you like kids?”

“I love kids. I just never had any. Maybe I would have if my marriage had gone differently.” I left out the part about my miscarriage and how devastated I’d been to learn about my ex-husband’s philandering. No sad tales for me tonight. Instead I merely shrugged. “Since I’ll be forty-three in August, I think it’s safe to say I won’t be having any.” I flashed a sunny smile. “Maybe in my next life.”

“I’m glad to hear you like kids. I’ve got three. Two girls, twelve and fifteen, and a boy, eight.”

“They’re so young. It must have been—” I stopped abruptly. This wasn’t the direction I wanted to go in. We’d already talked about how Mom was dealing with Pop’s death. I didn’t want the evening to turn morose.

He nodded. “It’s all right; you can say it. It was very tough on them when their mother died. She had a brain tumor. It started with piercing headaches. She tried to treat them with over-the-counter migraine medication.”

“But she was married to a doctor! Why didn’t she just get medical attention instead of trying to treat herself?”

“I tried to get her to go, and she kept saying she would, but she didn’t. Not until her right leg stopped working—she had to drag it—did she finally consult a neurologist. It was all downhill from there. The tumor was very aggressive. Eight months later she was dead.”

“How do you manage taking care of three children?” Even as I spoke the words I felt confident that he had full-time household help, but I had to keep up my end of the conversation, didn’t I?

“The kids’ grandmother lives with us. She moved in when Diana was diagnosed. It’s worked out very well. She’s a real stabilizing influence on the kids.”

I made a mental note of his late wife’s name. Diana, like the late Princess of Wales. “How long has it been?”

“About eighteen months.”

I wondered how many dates he’d gone on since his wife had passed.

“This is the first date I’ve had since she died.”

I didn’t expect him to say that, and I couldn’t hide how much this startled me, first, because he said it just as I’d been wondering, and second, because I didn’t know how to respond. It made me feel pretty good to know that I was the first woman he wanted to go out with after losing his wife, but somehow I didn’t think telling him I felt honored would be appropriate.

Aaron looked a little embarrassed. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that. You look a little uncomfortable. I’m afraid I’m not very good at concealing my feelings. I’ve lived with one woman for fifteen years, and there was no need for game playing.”

I considered telling him how long it had been since I’d been on a date but decided against it. Instead, I gave him more points for being a no-bullshit type of guy and said, “I understand.”

“Let me try to make it easier for you by telling you this: I’m enjoying your company tonight.”

“Likewise.”

We smiled at each other, and I felt confident that the intent behind his was as genuine as my own. I started to give him more points for sincerity, but realized that his points were already off the chart, and to continue giving him more was, well, pointless.

“It’s your turn to tell me about you,” I prompted.

“Well, I’m from Riverhead, Long Island.”

“Suffolk County?”

He nodded. “It was just my mother, younger brother, and myself. I barely remember my father. Heck, if I saw him on the street I wouldn’t know who he was. He cut out when I was seven.”

“Sounds rough.” I’d always considered myself blessed to have had both my parents.

“We didn’t have much, but we managed. My mother worked for the phone company, plus she did extra work for the summer people. We all did, actually. As soon as my brother and I got our driver’s licenses, we made extra money parking cars at parties.”

“It sounds like you beat the odds when you became a doctor.”

“My mother was determined that I be considered for every scholarship there was. It wasn’t easy. A lot of these guidance counselors kind of dismiss single black mothers, but she persisted. She saw to it that my brother and I both got first-rate educations.”

“Is he a doctor, too?”

“No, he’s a chemical engineer. He works at DuPont. My mother lives near him in Delaware.”

Now I knew that his comfort at Mom’s simple apartment was more than good manners in play. Aaron hadn’t come from money; he’d just made it. Better still, it sounded like he was aware of the great debt he owed to his mother for looking out for his future. It had to be tough, working all day, longer than that during the summer season, and still having energy to stay on your kids to keep their grades up for college. “Do you like working in oncology?” I asked.

He shrugged. “It has its ups and downs. I’m elated when I can prolong a patient’s life, but it can be devastating when I can’t. It’s ultimately more interesting than being a general surgeon, which was what I originally considered. You know what they say: you’ve seen one appendix, you’ve seen them all.”

We laughed again, and I thought,
I can have a lot of fun with this man.

As our appetizers were delivered a thin, white-haired man wearing a tuxedo sat at the shiny black baby grand in the corner and began to play a series of standards, the type of music I heard in old black-and-white musicals. I almost expected to see the Nicholas Brothers come out from between the tables and do a tap dance routine. For a few minutes we sat in quiet companionship as we looked out at the twinkling lights of the George Washington Bridge in the distance, sipped wine poured from the bottle Aaron had ordered, and munched on breaded and fried vegetables, the background filled with piano music. I didn’t know what his thoughts were, but mine were that this felt awfully good. Could it be that my reward for being a dutiful, concerned daughter was to capture the attentions of a handsome doctor? It would certainly make my time in Euliss a lot more pleasant.

My chicken was so tender I didn’t need a knife to cut it, and it practically melted in my mouth. The restaurant’s quiet, unhurried atmosphere suited us perfectly. By the time we consumed our appetizers, salads, entrees, and a scrumptious napoleon, a good two and a half hours had passed. The mood would have been ruined by anxious glances or throat-clearing hints from the staff, but no one here seemed to be in a hurry, just eager to please.

When we arrived back at my mother’s apartment building, Aaron reached for my hand when he opened the car door for me, held on to it until I needed both hands to unlock the vestibule door. It seemed like such a natural thing to do, and Lord knew it felt good.

“I had a wonderful time, Aaron,” I said as I reached inside my purse for my keys.

“So did I. Right now I’m thinking that I’d like to ask you what you’re doing for dinner tomorrow night.”

I beamed, grateful for his no-bullshit stance. He wanted to see me again!