Tuesday morning, the sound of water drumming in the shower accompanied my breakfast of frosted mini-wheats and yogurt. I was peeling a banana when Abby finally finished. Our schedules meshed well. She had to be at work by 8 am sharp and my start time was 10, so no fighting over bathroom time. Abby wasn’t a morning person, mainly communicating in grunts and gestures, which meant I could enjoy my breakfast in peaceful silence. As I washed my bowl and spoon, Abby dashed through the kitchen, snagging a lunch bag from the fridge, and sped out to her car.
I liked my new place. The hot water heater was old, very large and very hot. The kitchen and my bedroom caught the southeastern sun in the morning. The patio would be nice in clement weather. I stood at the kitchen window sipping my coffee. I’d have to get a birdfeeder. And an outdoor table and some chairs… I finished my coffee and got ready for work.
I was surprised to see James coming into the toy shop just before 6.
“What can I do for you?” I asked. “Need any more adult toys?”
He squeezed me in a quick hug. “No, I forgot it was my nephew’s birthday party tonight. What should I get him?”
“How old is he? What is he interested in?”
“DJ is seven and going through the dinosaur stage.”
We had a display of nothing but dinosaur toys, and I helped James choose a colorful book and a box of assorted plastic dinosaurs. I led the way to the counter and rang up his purchases.
“I also wanted to ask you something,” James said as I bagged his items. “Would you like to come to my parents’ 29th anniversary party this weekend?”
That meant formally meeting the family. When I hesitated, he went on, “It’s just the immediate family, not a big to-do.” That sounded even scarier, being holed up with his family the entire night. What if they didn’t like me? I’d be stuck in close quarters with them. I was flattered he wanted to introduce me to his family, though. I couldn’t say no.
“Sure, I’d like to go. Do I need to bring a gift? It’s not a formal event, is it?”
“No gift necessary. It’s going to be a low key affair. Saturday night, at seven.”
I came around the cash register and hugged him. He gave me a kiss on the cheek, but that wasn’t enough for me. I tightened my hold on him and gave him a real kiss.
“Karen? It’s closing time, can you lock the door?” Heidi called from the stock room.
I escorted James out, locked the door, and flipped the sign to “Closed.”
Abby was already home from work when I arrived at 6:20, her feet propped up on the arm of the couch, watching TV and looking at her laptop. I dumped my bag and work things on the side table by the door.
“Hey, Abby.”
“Hey good looking, how was work?” she called as I headed for the kitchen.
“You know, just work. James came in. How was your first day?”
I rummaged the fridge for some leftovers.
“My first day? It was a mess. It took them three weeks to hire me and the guy I’m replacing hadn’t done anything for weeks before he was fired. I spent the whole day making up for his slack a*s. Men!”
“Where’s the mac and cheese?”
“It’s in there, somewhere.” Abby had filled the refrigerator with a load of groceries from Whole Earth Foods. “Have some of that kale salad with it. You need to eat right.”
When my dinner was ready, I bumped Abby’s feet with my hip. “C’mon, sit up, make room for me.”
I settled in next to her and found the remote. “What’s this?” I asked her.
“Some cop show. Let’s go out Saturday night. Fleetwood’s has karaoke at nine,” Abby said.
“I can’t. How do you already know where to find karaoke in Milton? You just moved here.”
“A handy little thing called the internet. Why can’t you go?”
“James invited me to his parents’ wedding anniversary party.”
“Blech, meeting the family. You’d have more fun with me. Are you going to be there all night? Maybe you could meet me at Fleetwood’s.”
I wanted to say Yes, but I had no idea what else James had in mind, nor how long the party might go on. Leaving Abby alone her first weekend in Milton felt heartless, though.
“We’ll see. I’ll ask James.”
“Jeez, do you have to check in with him for every second of your day?”
“No, but I agreed to this party first, for however long it takes. I think we can meet you, though. It shouldn’t go on too long.”
When I called him later that night, James had other plans for us.
“I thought we could have a couple of pints at Molly’s, afterwards. I’m not real crazy about karaoke.”
“Could Abby meet us at Molly’s?” The idea of her home alone was depressing. Abby was a social being, she hated being alone.
“Sure, I never really got to talk to her the day we helped you move.”
James picked me up on time and we headed off for our party. As we drove further into his parents' neighborhood, my nervous anticipation turned into apprehension. This was more than a nice neighborhood, it was a bastion of wealth. This was not what I had expected. James pulled into a semicircular drive in front of a gray stone house. There were several cars parked there already, two BMWs and a vintage Mercedes. In the façade, the elaborate portico was flanked by generous bow windows. This place was huge. James and I ascended shallow steps up to the beveled glass door. When James opened it for me and I entered the house, I found it was furnished with antiques and Persian rugs. I suspected many of the finest pieces had been in the family for generations.
James had never mentioned his family had money. But I guess, to James, it wasn't important or noteworthy. Which said good things about him, but left me a bit wrong-footed. I was glad I had already wanted to make the best impression I could. Well, of course I did. And what did money really matter? If James didn't care, why should I? I still felt intimidated.
I was introduced around... I met Doug, the eldest, and his wife Sarah; Ian, the middle son, with his wife Janine; and all five of James' nephews. And finally, his parents: his mother, Aileen and his father, Douglas Sr.
The siblings were polite and his nephews passed in a blur, but I really warmed to his mother. She greeted me with both hands and said she'd been wanting to meet me for quite a while; I was flattered.
Over dinner, I saw not all were so pleased with me. Sarah and Janine were quite warm and friendly. Ian was much like James, cheerful and good company. But Doug was distant and frowned when he looked my way.
After dinner I found out why. We raised the usual toasts and then adjourned to the drawing room. The eldest nephew, DJ, was seven. He came to stand next to me, looked up with awe and said, "You work at a toy store?" I said I did and his eyes widened. "And you can play with toys all day?"
"Well, no, I have to work when I'm there." He looked disappointed. "But you could come visit me and I'll show you the trains."
He perked up. "And you have a lot of gold?"
"Gold?" I was puzzled.
"Daddy says you're a gold-digger." I identified DJ... Douglas James the third, Doug's son.
"No, honey, I don't have a lot of gold. Your father was just kidding."
“But I can come see the trains?”
I was stunned. I must have said something positive because DJ ran off to tug at his mother’s hand excitedly. I looked around, trying to find James. He was talking to Doug, the last person on earth I wanted to speak to. So he thought I was a gold-digger? My spine stiffened with fury, but I had no idea what to do. I just wanted to get out of there. Then my phone buzzed. It was anonymous again. More craziness. Just what I needed. I rejected the call. As I did so, even more anger was bubbling up. I changed my mind, I would speak to Doug. I crossed the room, took James by the arm and gave Doug a big smile.
“You know Doug, James is very secretive. He’s never mentioned his family has money. I thought he was a penniless grad student driving a 15 year old car and working at Denny’s. It’s a bit crass to talk of money, but I must say your conclusions about me are even worse. I am not a gold-digger. I had no idea there was gold to be dug. I’m indebted to your son for this information. Little pitchers have big ears.”
Doug and James both looked at me in silence. James turned to Doug, looking confused and hurt. Doug’s mouth was open. Finally he shut it. I tugged on James’ arm.
“Let’s go. I don’t want to intrude any further on such reluctant hospitality.”
James allowed me to pull him away from Doug and towards the door. I marched us across the drawing room and through the hallway, ready to propel James out the door and down to his car. But he disengaged himself and muttered, “Be right back.” He left me in the foyer. I couldn’t stand the idea of being in this house one moment longer, so I stepped out into the cold night. Just two minutes later, James emerged and brought me my coat and scarf, which I had forgotten in my haste. I put on the coat and stuffed the scarf into the coat pocket.
James tried to put his arm around me, but I shrugged it off.
“Karen, I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah yeah, I’m sure you are, but I’d like to hear that from Doug. But I won’t. Will I?”
“I don’t know. I just chewed him out and he didn’t believe me. He’s always been this way. He thinks he knows more than his little brother. He’s trying to protect me from you and doesn’t believe me or you at all. He thinks I’m stupid, and you’re mercenary. I told him don’t bother staying in touch if he wants to persist with this crazy idea. I don’t even want to talk to him as long as he carries on this way.”
James put his arm around me again and I let him. “I’m really sorry, Karen.”
I leaned against him. “I know you are. You can’t control your brother. But he better stay away from me. He’s lucky I didn’t punch him.”
My phone buzzed as James held the car door for me and I got in. It was anonymous again. God damn it, I didn’t need this right now. I rejected the call and turned off my phone this time.
“I could use a drink,” James said. “I bet you could, too. Want to stop off at Molly’s?”
“Yes.” Bypassing the idea of a beer, I thought a shot of whiskey would go down well. Oh, but there was Abby. She was probably waiting to hear from me. I wasn’t really in the mood for company aside from James, but I couldn’t let her down. I promised. “Can we swing by and pick up Abby?”
James nodded. I got out my phone again and texted her that we were on the way.
“You don’t believe Doug, do you?”
“Absolutely not! No, it’s a crazy idea. I know you. And I know you had no idea my family has money. I don’t talk about it because it’s really not important to me, but also because my father cut me off when I went into grad school for history. They have money, not me.”
We had grabbed Abby from the house and James drove us downtown, to Molly’s.
Abby was unimpressed. “What is this music?” she asked rather rudely.
I had no idea, except that it sounded vaguely Irish. I hadn’t noticed the music on Christmas day.
“It’s Flogging Molly,” James replied.
“I’ll see if I can do something about this.” She stalked off to the jukebox.
“I guess she doesn’t like Irish music?” James asked me.
I shrugged. Abby always liked American Idol, but that was years ago. We had listened to whatever pop music happened to be on the radio when we hung out at her house.
Abby came back looking less annoyed. “They have a couple of good songs.” She tipped back a shot of whiskey and reached for her beer. The Irish song came to an end and a familiar song started. “Beautiful Day, by U2,” Abby explained. “Let’s play some pool, since that’s all there is to do here.”
Luck was with us, the pool table was unoccupied. James slotted in the necessary quarters and racked the balls. Abby was choosing a cue and powdering her hands. James started towards the cue rack and Abby announced, “It’s girls against guys. Who breaks?”
“Maybe I should watch,” I said to Abby. I turned to James as he came up to the table. “I’m terrible at pool. I could be your audience.”
“Nope,” Abby insisted. “It’s got to be you and me against the world.” To James she said, “Flip a quarter for us? I call heads.”
James looked a bit bemused by Abby’s imperious manner. She always had her own ideas. “Well, ok,” he said as he rummaged in his pocket for another quarter. He flipped it and it was heads.
Abby hit the cue ball with a practiced crack and set the balls rolling. James seemed to know what he was doing, too. He hit two balls into pockets, and then missed a shot. Abby handed me the cue. I looked at the table uncertainly. “Which are we, odds or evens?”
Abby rolled her eyes.
“I told you I’m terrible.”
“We’re stripes,” she said with exasperation.
“Really Abby, you’d do better without me. You know I have no idea what I’m doing.”
She sipped her beer and took the cue from me. Slowly and deliberately, she shot three balls into the pockets before missing. This went on, Abby using a bridge at one point.
“She’s really good,” James said to me as she lined up another shot.
“She’s a natural. It took her two games to figure out the basics and not much longer before she could give experienced players a run for their money.” I laughed. “She would bet, and usually won, which pissed off the guys she beat. They thought a little girl like her couldn’t possibly be good at pool.”
“I have no doubts. She’s going to cream me.”
James left my side to take his turn, and my attention wandered. I was surprised when a few minutes later, Abby slapped down her cue and turned to James, hand extended. She had won. It had taken all of 10 minutes. Some men had been hovering, watching the game. Now that it was over, they approached Abby, who took up their challenge.
“Do you want to watch?” I asked James.
“Yeah, it’s a pleasure to watch someone so good. She’s amazing.” We went over to lean against a shelf littered with pint glasses, next to the hand chalk. Abby approached to powder her hands.
“You want another beer?” James asked Abby. She nodded curtly and went to the table, sizing things up. He turned to me. “You?”
“Just a coke.” I detained him for a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, James.”
This game went more slowly, as the new man was quite a bit better than James. He returned with two pint glasses and a coke. Abby won, and another man came to challenge her.
I made it through half of that game before getting bored. I took James by the hand and led him to a vacant table. “She could do this all night,” I said. “I’ve told her she could compete professionally.”
“Yes, she could,” James agreed.
I took his hand in mine. “I hope this isn’t boring for you.”
“Nothing is boring with you here.” He kissed my hand. “Are you ok? With that Doug thing?”
“Yeah, I’m ok. Mainly surprised. I had no idea your family was some kind of wealthy clan.”
“Well, they’d like to hear you calling them a clan. You sure you’re not mad at me?”
“No,” I said. “I’m not mad at you. I’m livid with your brother, though. What a….” I broke off before calling James’ brother a stuck up, cynical a*****e.
“I could think of a few choice words for him, too.” James squeezed my hand. “You’re really not mad at me?”
“No. I know you can’t control anyone else’s behavior. I’m not mad at you.” I thought for a moment. “I hope the rest of your family doesn’t agree with Doug’s assessment.”
“I wish I could assure you they won’t. My mother really likes you, and Ian does, too. I can’t vouch for my father, though.”
In Green Hollow, everyone knew my mother was a most respectable southern lady. She might not have much money, but she had a good reputation among those who did. She was from an old family, and that counted for a lot. I thought I had escaped that snobbish atmosphere. I sighed.
“Let’s not think about this. There are more interesting things to occupy our minds.” I looked over at the pool table. A small knot of people were watching now. I saw some money discreetly changing hands. “Like how much money Abby is going to bring home with her.”
“Good lord,” James exclaimed. “Betting can get you banned at Molly’s. She’s not actually betting, is she?”
“I don’t know if she is, but those two guys over there are.”
“We’d better go, before there’s trouble.”
We waited for Abby to finish her game. In a low voice, I urged her to leave with us. She put down her cue and shook several men by the hand.
“Jesus, those guys were no competition,” Abby said when we emerged from the bar.
“Did you have money on any of those games?” I asked.
“Nah, they seemed like nice guys. It would have been heartless to fleece them.” She paused. “This time.”
I was relieved, and I could tell James shared my sentiment.
“Where to next?” she asked, cheerfully.
“Nowhere. I’m done for the night,” I said. I checked the time on my phone. “Everything will be closing down in an hour anyway.”
When we arrived at our house, Abby jumped out with a quick thanks to James. I turned towards James.
“She’s really something,” he said.
“You’re really something, for putting up with her. Pool sharking wasn’t your plan, I think.”
“Well, I’m glad the bouncer didn’t have to intervene.”
“I’m glad we got some time to ourselves.” I leaned into an ardent kiss that James returned. After doing a very thorough job of expressing his feelings nonverbally, James pulled away.
“I’ll give you a call when my new work schedule comes out. Maybe I could cook something for us at my place.”
“That sounds fantastic,” I said.
We said goodbye and I entered my new home.
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