Masters And Lovers 1-4
Chapter 20
I put the handset down in its cradle.
Oh, my God…
What am I going to tell him?
Best get it over with…
I pour two stiff whiskeys then go in search of James and find him on the terrace in a sheltered sunny spot, reading.
He glances up at my approach, reaching to accept the offered glass. “Thanks. A bit early isn’t it? Softening me up for something?”
Shuffling my feet, I take a sip from my own glass.
“You are softening me up for something.” His eyes narrow. “What is it?”
“Um… about that party…”
His eyes thin to slits. “Aha? What about it?”
“Well, I told Ben he could come so long as he was on best behavior, which he promised...”
“So you said. And?”
“… but then he went and told our mom, and the family… And… well, they’ve invited themselves along.”
“Who have? How many of them?”
“All of them, I think.”
His eyes register horror. “You mean… we’re going to have a re-run of the wedding? With all your aunts and grannies and the rest?”
“I think so, yes.”
“I thought we’d agreed on a small select group of friends?”
“What do I do, James? I can’t just tell them they can’t come…”
*****
Richard
“Didn’t you tell me this would be a small gathering?” I look over the thronging room. “I think I took the last space in the car park.”
James looks glum, brooding into his glass. “Michael invited Ben, and Ben invited the rest of the Summerford Hoard.”
I’m struggling not to laugh. “An Agony of Aunts?”
“Is that the collective noun for aunts?”
an Amalgamation of Aunties? Or a Condescension of
Both of
Grumbling of
in his eyes, “You think
is Marie here
mouthful. “We must be thankful for small
slap him between the shoulders and he glugs on his drink. “Great party, James. Nice and buzzy. Just the thing to make Mitch feel welcome. And she gets to meet all her
gaze travels the room. I follow it, over the swarm of Michael’s relations, settling on Ben, seated by the
going
him he’s on parole. If I see any sign of him causing trouble I’ll throw him out
suspect Michael will beat you
nose. “I’d say you’re right there.” He makes the smallest of gestures to where Michael, a little way along
*****
the scene unfold from across
Should I introduce myself?
is
in hand with her mother, Charlotte
The Three Graces…
hair, the
offers her hand, not in the way of a man, to shake, but
flash and play over tears streaming down Mitch’s cheeks. Then
And so is Charlotte.
isn’t it,” says a
find Chad
woman I’d ever seen or ever would see. Never thought
*****
her mother, both
Both happy.
Michelle…
Mitch?
Shelley?
similar. I’d gotten used to the weird similarities
What was it?
Second cousin…
Elizabeth than her own daughter; the way she holds herself, the way she moves. Gracefully, she sashays as she walks, her hips swaying. The movement is feminine and very
Courtesan…
big cat, beautiful but always with that sensation that at any moment, the game might turn to the
he casts around the room, sees me and heads across. “Red wine for you
glass remaining on his tray, he looks
Elizabeth’s
“I’ll go find her.”
strolling in her high heels and
very similar
on the eye with only
My sweet Elizabeth…