Page 32 of Private Pleasures

To Nora’s relief, J. J. shook the young woman’s hand. “Thank you,” was all he said.

“Nora, Heidi Millar,” Jeff said.

“You’ll come back to the house, of course,” Nora responded. “We’re having a small celebration before J. J. goes off with his friends.” She quickly turned away, as did the others.

“Of course,” he said jovially.

“I can’t believe you asked him to come here with his … his woman!” Jill raged at Nora in the car.

“I had no choice, Jill. Now behave yourself,” Nora snapped.

“Grandma!” Jill turned to Margo.

“No, Jill, your mother did exactly the right thing. Your father isn’t divorcing you, darling. He’s divorcing your mother. Now behave. Taylor and I can only spend another hour with you before we leave, and I want to have nice memories of my grandson’s high school graduation.”

Jill slouched down in the car, scowling. “I’ll speak to Daddy, but I absolutely will not talk with that woman,” she said.

Nora’s hands clutched the wheel of the car. If Jill started a brouhaha, she was going to kill her. She angled her way from the parking lot and headed off home. She had to get there before Jeff, and in her rearview mirror she could see the limo making its attempt to leave. She pressed down on the gas pedal and stared ahead.

Rina and Joanne were at the house ahead of her. They were already putting the sandwiches out on the silver trays. Tiffany was putting the finishing touches on the sheet cake. She was their cake decorator. No one else ever bothered to do a cake once they learned how clever Tiff was. The rectangular pastry was bedecked with a soccer field design complete with goal, and a figure kicking a ball between the posts. Tiffany was just finishing up the writing. “Congratulations, Jeff” was emblazoned across the cake.

The women hurried out to the brick terrace off the den, where a table had been set up, covered with a lovely white linen cloth edged in delicate lace. There were heavy paper plates with a graduation motif, cups, and silverware on the table. The cake was set in the center with plates of small sandwiches surrounding it. Nora had used a mix of her good china, her silver, and paper goods. Margo and Taylor came from the kitchen, each carrying two pitchers of lemonade mixed with iced tea. Nora liked the way Taylor Bradford seemed to fit right in with them. Trust Margo to have found the right man whether she married him or not.

Then Jeff arrived with Heidi, behaving very much like the lord of the manor. He seated his companion by the pool, and hurried over to the table to fetch her refreshment.

“Where are the glasses?” he wanted to know.

“We’re using paper cups,” Nora replied quietly.

“You know I don’t like paper,” he said irritably. “Go and get me two glasses.”

“You haven’t been gone so long that you’ve forgotten where the glasses are, Jeff,” Nora said dryly. “If you want glasses, go and get them yourself. My days of servitude are over. Please try and be pleasant for J. J.’s sake.”

“What the hell has gotten into you, Nora?” he demanded.

She smiled brightly at him. “I have guests to attend to, Jeff.” And she walked away. Inside she was shaking with her anger. How dare he bring her replacement into her house, and behave as if everything in it, including Nora, were at his pleasure.

It was a brief party, because J. J. desperately wanted to join his friends. Maureen would be having the big party tonight, but Nora knew there were other parties going on even now that the two kids wanted to go to. She got J. J. to come and make a ceremonial cut of his cake. Tiffany came then to slice up the cake for the guests.

“The girls and I want to go now,” J. J. said to his mother.

“Go on, but say good-bye to your father first,” Nora advised her son.

Reluctantly J. J. walked over to where his father sat with his girlfriend. “I’m going now, Dad,” he said.

“Sit down for a minute and visit with us,” Jeff said.

“Mo and Lily are waiting for me, Dad,” J. J. said.

“Sit down!” Jeff snapped. “You haven’t said a word to Heidi.”

“What do you want me to say, Dad? You’re dumping my mother. You’ve taken away my college funds. What am I supposed to say? Thank you?”

“Heidi is going to be your stepmother, J. J.,” Jeff said.

“So?”

“I want you to know her, and like her,” his father responded.