Cloudburst (24 page)

I didn't want to say it because I could see she would take it wrong, but I thought that the more I made of his parents' fame, the more annoyed Ryder would be with me. Probably all of his former friends, including prospective girlfriends, were gaga over them, which I'm sure made him uncomfortable. Anyone in his place would have to wonder if his friends were friends with him solely because of who his parents were.

Instead of saying all of that, I said, “Whenever we saw movie stars in the street, my mother would say they put their underwear on one leg at a time, just like us.”

Lately, I hadn't been mentioning my mother or our lives in the street, but it just seemed to fit.

“Oh, she was right. Of course. We're too celebrity-crazy in this country.”

I glanced at the miniature grandfather clock on the fireplace mantel.

“I'd better get a start on my homework,” I said.

“You didn't do any schoolwork there? I thought you shared classes.”

“I wasn't there that long. Maybe we would have if I had stayed for dinner.”

“Are you going to see him again?” she asked before I could turn to leave. “I mean, like on a date or something?”

“I think so. We didn't have a chance to talk about doing anything this weekend. I know we're going to dinner Friday night.”

“That's right.”

“I might invite him here next Tuesday. We have a day off because of teacher conferences. As long as it's all right with you, I mean.”

“Oh. Yes. Fine, fine. I'd rather know whom you were seeing and when than see you sneaking off like Kiera used to do. However, I do hope he has a more pleasant demeanor next time,” she added, and rose.

I didn't respond. I headed out and up to my room really to start my homework. A little more than an hour later, Mrs. Duval told me that Mr. March was home and dinner would be served in about an hour. He sent her up also to tell me that I should wear something more formal than my regular school outfits. That request puzzled me. Unless we had guests, he never asked me to dress for dinner these days.

Immediately, I went to the closet to find something. While I was looking, my phone rang. I was hoping it might be Ryder, but it was Kiera.

“I followed your advice,” she said, “and called my father today.”

“Oh, good.”

“It wasn't good. He barely spoke to me. He said he was in the middle of a meeting.”

“Oh, I'm sorry.”

“He was supposed to call me back after the meeting, but he hasn't.”

“Maybe he will now?”

“Why? Is he home?”

“Just got home. I know he's going to be here for dinner.”

She was quiet. “He told me he was going to a dinner meeting.”

“Maybe it was canceled. I'll make sure he calls you.”

“Don't do me any favors,” she shot back. “If he has to be reminded to call me, I don't want him to bother. Besides, I'm going out with Richard in a little while, and I'm turning off my cell phone.”

“I'm sure he'll call you tomorrow, then,” I said.

“Are you? You're so sure of what my father will and won't do these days?”

I was silent a moment. Her tone was annoying, but then I had to consider that Donald was not being very nice to her.
Now he decides to try tough love?
I thought.
Where was he when it could have made a difference in her life?

“Actually, no,” I said. “He's been somewhat unpredictable. There is one thing that I can tell you about him for sure, however.”

“Oh, and what's that?”

“He's not very fond of Ryder Garfield.”

“Really? Tell me about that.”

I described their first meeting and their verbal fencing. “Your father seemed quite irritated almost from the start. Your mother says he was like that with some of your boyfriends when you brought them home,” I added.

“Most of the time, he seemed not to have any interest in them at all. Anyway, he was never critical of anyone to the extent you're describing. I wouldn't have let him,” she said.

“There wasn't much I could do about it.”

“I would have raised hell.”

“I'm not you.”

She was quiet a moment and then said something that really took me aback. “Maybe that's something you should tell my father. I'll talk to you later,” she said, and hung up before I could respond.

I changed my clothes, fixed my hair, put on a little lipstick, and went down to the dining room. I was surprised to see Jordan sitting there alone. She was staring out the window and looked lost in thought. She didn't hear me enter until I pulled my chair back.

“Oh, how beautiful you look tonight, Sasha. What a good idea to dress for dinner.”

“It wasn't my idea. Mr. March asked Mrs. Duval to tell me to,” I said.

“Oh? He didn't say anything about that to me, but I've hardly spoken to him since he returned. He's been shut up in his office because of some problem with an account.”

I saw from the way she was folding and unfolding her linen napkin that something else was bothering her. Donald's obsessing about his work was nothing terribly new, even if he had promised to spend more time with us. She stopped playing with her napkin and looked up at me.

“I just found out that Kiera had an extended weekend holiday recently because of her school's schedule, and she didn't mention it or think of coming home. I didn't want
to say anything about it to Donald, but I suspect she went somewhere with this new boyfriend.” She waited for my reaction, hoping I would tell her something either to confirm or to deny it.

“I don't know anything about that,” I said. I wasn't going to get put in the middle here, I thought. It was like trying to put out a fire on both sides of you at once. “She hasn't mentioned it in her e-mails and phone calls. I never knew she had time off, either.”

“Just like her, and Donald thinks she might have changed, become more responsible. He's back to deluding himself when it comes to her, I'm afraid.”

“Who's back to deluding himself?” Donald asked, entering the dining room. He was in one of his velvet sports jackets, a dark blue, with a slightly lighter tie. I saw he had a small gift-wrapped box in his hand.

For a moment, Jordan was speechless. Then she looked from him to me and back to him. “Why didn't you tell me we were all getting dressed up for dinner tonight?”

“Well, you always do, Jordan. Sasha and I are the ones who usually look like poor relatives at dinner.”

“I hardly think so, Donald. What's special about this evening, anyway?”

“Aha. That's the real surprise. I happened to run into Dr. Steiner, the principal of Pacifica, after my lunch today,” he said as he sat. “She told me our Sasha has moved into a commanding lead for class valedictorian.”

Jordan turned to me. “Is that true? Why didn't you say anything, Sasha?”

“It's far too early for the school to determine that,” I said.

“Not according to Dr. Steiner. The boy running second isn't even close, and they decide on the basis of only two more grading periods. Wouldn't that be something?” he asked Jordan. “She'll be making the speech at graduation. Won't you be very proud?”

“Of course.”

“What a publicity campaign I could run for this school, taking a girl with her background and bringing her to the top of her class.” He paused and said, “If I were so inclined to do so. However, this is all too personal for us,” he quickly added. “Nevertheless, we are very proud of you, Sasha, and to show our pride, I bought you a little gift. It's time you had some of your own jewelry, anyway, and stopped being dependent on Jordan or Kiera.”

He handed me the box. I looked at Jordan.

She was as surprised as I was, only she didn't look happily surprised. She looked a little angry, in fact. “Why didn't you tell me you were going to do something like this, Donald?” she asked. “I think I might have helped choose something appropriate.”

“Oh, I think this will be appropriate.”

“And when did you have time to shop for such a thing, or did you assign it to one of your secretaries?”

“No, no, I did this myself. I told you I was going to devote more time to my girls, didn't I? Now you can think about the dress you're going to buy her this Saturday and how it would go with what's in the box. Of course, she can wear it at dinner tomorrow night as well.”

“Really? Well, what's in the box?” Jordan asked, and nodded at me to open it.

I looked toward the kitchen door. Either Donald had told Mrs. Duval and Mrs. Caro to hold dinner, or they were listening and waiting to give the three of us time alone. I began to tear away the gift wrapping. I opened the box and took out a beautiful black pearl necklace in a setting of diamonds with a white gold chain. It glittered in the light of the chandelier. Donald leaped out of his seat and came around behind me. Jordan had yet to speak.

“Let's just see how it looks on her now, huh?” Donald said, taking the necklace from my fingers and undoing the clasp. He put it around my neck and fastened it. It fell softly a few inches below the base of my throat. “Well?”

“That's the most beautiful piece of costume jewelry I've seen lately,” Jordan said. “I'll have to compliment you, Donald. Very nice.”

“It's not costume jewelry,” Donald replied.

“It's not?”

“She's doing real things. Why not give her real things?”

Jordan was speechless again. She rose out of her chair slowly and came over to look more closely at the necklace. Then she looked at Donald. “You never bought anything this expensive for Kiera.”

“Kiera barely graduated, Jordan, and have you forgotten those diamond earrings of yours she lost? What were they, five thousand dollars?”

“You didn't make a big thing of it then, Donald. You claimed it on insurance.”

“Why make a point of it now?” he said sharply. “Doesn't this look beautiful on her? Make sure you get a dress for her
that shows the necklace well,” he added. “Do you like it, Sasha?”

“How could anyone not like it? It's very beautiful,” I said. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome. As I said, we're proud of your accomplishments and very impressed with all of the top schools that have accepted you, some offering scholarships. You know they want you very much, and why shouldn't they? It adds to their prestige to have students like you.”

He returned to his seat. Jordan stared at the necklace for a moment more and then returned to her seat. I looked at the necklace again. The first thought I had was, what was Kiera going to say when she heard about this? Her father didn't have time to talk to her, but he had time to go shopping for a necklace for me? Her last remark on the phone echoed. Any other girl in my position would probably be ecstatic to be given such a piece of jewelry, but I felt as numb as someone seeing an impending storm charging in from the horizon.

“Mrs. Duval,” Donald called, and the kitchen door opened. Mrs. Duval and Mrs. Caro paraded in carrying the dinner. All that was missing was a drumroll. Mrs. Caro had a dish with a silver cover, and Mrs. Duval had our salads and bread. Mrs. Caro placed the silver-covered dish in front of Donald.

“What are we having?” Jordan asked, which surprised me. She was always in charge of the dinners.

“Another surprise,” Donald said. He nodded at Mrs. Duval, who moved forward to lift off the silver cover. “Lobster fra diavolo,” he announced.

I looked at Jordan to see if she was as shocked as I was.

I had told her that was what the Garfields were having tonight. Had she told Donald, or was this all an amazing coincidence?

“It looks absolutely delicious, Mrs. Caro,” Donald said. “I'm sure it matches any other lobster fra diavolo anywhere,” he added, directing himself more to me than to her. “Mrs. Duval, let's pour the wine, and tonight, be sure to give our future class valedictorian a glass.”

Mrs. Duval looked surprised but did what he asked. Jordan squinted and stared at Donald. I was glad to see it wasn't only I who thought he was behaving strangely. When I first came here, he made a big show over my calligraphy, but his reactions to anything I did after that were always even-tempered, restrained. I thought he was as sensitive to Kiera's being jealous as I was.

He did most of the talking during dinner, describing this new account that he emphasized he wanted me to evaluate. I promised I would stop at his office tomorrow after school. I was hoping he had forgotten the comment Jordan had made just before he entered the dining room, but as if it had lingered there in midair, he suddenly turned to her and asked what she had meant when she said he had been deluding himself.

“Now, let's get back to what you said before I walked into the dining room, Jordan. Deluding myself about what?”

“Your daughter.”

“Kiera?” He shook his head, looked at me and then back at her. “Now what has she done?”

“Apparently, she had an extended weekend and could
have come home but didn't. I have no idea where she went, but I suspect neither of us will be pleased when and if we ever find out.”

“Maybe she never left the school,” he said. “Anyway, that's hardly a reason to say I'm deluding myself, Jordan. You're still thinking only the worst possible things about her.”

“Me? You're the one who just pointed out how she had lost my expensive earrings.”

“That was a few years ago.”

“Oh. Fine. I guess I should make nothing of the fact that she's avoiding us.”

“When I was in college, I wasn't crazy about rushing home all the time, either.”

“All the time? She hasn't been home once since she went this year. She wasn't home very much the year before, and she spent most of the summer with rich friends traveling through Europe. The girl is drifting farther and farther away from both of us, you included, Donald. I know it's easier to ignore it all, but I think it's time you had a good talk with her.”