Seer (19 page)

“I do, but mostly that means invest carefully and leave it alone. I’m not interested in get rich quick schemes.”

“You’re already rich.”

“Still, you know what I mean.”

“Yeah. Even if you offered to keep me, I’d still want to work.”

“Your job is convenient,” she said. “You have to negotiate with your clients, but if we want to go somewhere, we probably can.”

“Slow down on that thought,” I said.

“What’s the fun of that?” she asked. We looked at each other and she was grinning. “Relax. Live in the moment for a few days. It’s good for you.”

* * * *

Aubree drove separately, and Solange indicated she thought it was her turn to drive. We pulled up in front of Dolores’ house, and Aubree was already there. I got out of the car, but Solange sat where she was. I looked down and across to her. “Nervous?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t be.”

“This woman is important to you. What if she hates lawyers?’

“She’s going to love you, just like everyone else does,” I said.

“I feel like I’m going home to meet your parents.”

“I’ll take you to the cemetery sometime.” It was said lightly, but Solange flinched. “Hey, okay, maybe that was in poor taste.” I closed my door and walked around the car to her side, opening her door for her. I had to nearly drag her out. “What’s the matter with you?”

She looked at me. “You know, I don’t know. It’s been a long ti
me since someone I was dating introduced me to anyone, I guess.”

I grabbed her arm, pulling her to the door.

Dolores and I had stopped knocking when we were expected. Instead it was knock, open the door, then holler out. This time I said, “Ding-dong. Avon calling.”

“Kitchen!” I heard Dolores say. That’s what I expected, anyway. I led a
clearly-nervous Solange through the house.

Like me, Dolores had a pretty good kitchen. There was no peninsula counter, but we both had a large island with a cooktop and a hood over it. Mine was glass and stainless; hers was hidden within beautiful oak. We both had stools lined up on the other side of the island, and that’s where we found Aubree, sipping from an iced tea and nibbling on some sort of snack.

“Stir this,” she ordered, handing a whisk to Aubree. Then she came around the island and pulled me into a hug and, as was her habit, kissing me briefly. I think Solange was surprised, but she didn’t say anything.

Then Dolores broke the hug and turned to Solange, noticing the glower. She didn’t wait. “Solange! I’m so happy to meet you.” She hugged the woman and gave her a quick kiss, too. I was really sure Solange didn’t know what to do about that.

“She kissed me, too, Solange,” Aubree said. “Don’t get all worked up.”

“Oh. Um.” Dolores looked flustered. “Should I apologize?”

“No,” Solange said. “I was just surprised. I thought perhaps there was something in this relationship I didn’t know. I’m pleased to meet you, Dolores.”

Dolores retreated behind the stove and took the stirring duties back from Aubree. “You know where everything is, Sidney.”

I retrieved drinks for Solange and me, and we took stools. “Do you need help?”

“Almost done,” she said. She put a cover over the skillet on the stove, checked a pot of water, and said, “We’ll let that simmer for a bit then throw the pasta in. Dinner is simple tonight, but it’s a good thing Aubree arrived when she did and reminded me that garlic breath might not be a good idea this early in your relationship.”

“Thank you, Aubree,” Solange said. “You’re right.” She leered at me.

“So,” Dolores said. “Your first date was last night, but you already taught her to ride a bike, and she taught you to water ski. Now you’re introducing her to one of your friends and we’re teaching her to play cards. A busy twenty-four hours.”

“Yeah,” I said. I reached over and took Solange’s hand. “It’s been a whirlwind.”

“What can I say?” Solange asked. “I’m just that entrancing.”

Aubree scoffed.

“What?” she said. “I am. I have it on good authority.”

“I have no doubt,” Aubree said. “No doubt at all. Dolores was telling me about your card parties and was just getting to something about booby prizes.”

“Do you know about the booby prizes, Solange?” Dolores asked.

“She does,” I said, “but we’re not doing that tonight. It wouldn’t be fair to the newbies.”

Dolores mock-pouted for a moment. “Oh, all right,” she said. “But next time…”

“Next time,” Solange agreed. Then she switched to French and began talking quietly to Aubree for a moment or two.

And damned if Dolores didn’t chime in, in French.
I have no clue what she said, but I stared at her, and when she was done, I asked, “Just how many languages do you speak?”

“Only four,” she replied. “English, German, French, Italian. I started learning Spanish, which wasn’t that hard, but I haven’t visited Spain to practice yet.”

“Mexico isn’t far,” I pointed out.

“True.”

“Well, maybe three of us speak French in this house tonight, but four of us speak English.”

Solange said, “I only told Aubree that if we intend to play this game more than tonight, then in self defense, we were going to need to find a chance to practice before we are subject to your booby prizes. I do not care to wear a tee s
hirt that proclaims me to be bi-curious.”

“She told you about that?” Dolores asked. “Hang on. I have to show you something.” She pulled out her
phone, punched some buttons, and I began to groan, hiding my face. A moment later, she was holding her phone out to Solange. I tried to snatch it before Solange could take it, but she was faster, and then she turned her back, keeping me from taking it from her.

“Is that Sidney?” Solange asked.

“Uh huh. There are more.”

“Sidney, darling,” Solange said. “You look lovely. When will you model it for me?”

“Shut up,” I said. “Give me that.”

I tried to take the phone from her, but instead she fended me off and handed it to Aubree. Then she ran interference, pulling me into her arms so I couldn’t take the phone away.

Aubree saw it and laughed. She returned the phone to Dolores and turned to me. She spoke in very slow, careful French.

“Aubree says, if you will dress like that, we should teach you French,” Solange said. Aubree continued to speak slowly. “She suggests we teach you the same way she learned, but I know how Aubree learned French, and if that is the method to be used, then I will be your only teacher.”

I turned around to look at Solange. “Oh?”

“Yes,” Aubree said
, reverting to English. “An old lover taught me. I would learn a phrase, and then the next day, I would be tested. If I did everything right, there was a reward. If I did anything wrong, then I was tormented until I spoke properly.”

“Tormented you?”

“Yes. My lover was very creative in these torments.”

“What kind of torments?”

“They would seem mean if I told you,” she said, “but they were in fun, even if they were very good incentive at the same time. I did not mind my language lessons, although I pretended otherwise.”

I looked back to Solange. “Does she speak with an accent?”

“I believe she speaks with an accent similar to her teacher’s,” Solange replied.

“An improper accent led to torment,” Aubree said. “By the time we were together for three months, I was only allowed to speak French, and I was tormented terribly for any slips.”

I cocked my head.

“Do not judge,” she said. “The lessons were my idea, and it was even my idea to offer rewards and punishments. But at the time, I did not know how creative my teacher could be.”

I noticed that Aubree had been careful to hide the gender of her teacher. I didn’t pry.

From behind me,
Solange wrapped her arms around me and said into my ear, “I would happily teach you this way, Sidney. You would enjoy the rewards.”

I laid my head
backwards against her shoulder and clasped her arm. “We’ll see,” I said. “But not if I am to be tormented for an accent.”

“If I can learn to speak English with three different accents, you can learn French in a single accent.”

“Three accents?”

“I believe,” she said, sounding quite different, “that I could pass as British.” And I thought she was right. The she changed her voice again. “Or even as American Southern.” She paused,
then spoke in what was clearly a French accent. “Speaking this way is actually the most difficult for me, as the others have become ingrained.”

Then she switched back to her
midwest American accent. “But when I speak French, it is only with my native accent. I cannot make myself sound like an American speaking French. It hurts my ears too much. And Sidney, it would hurt my ears to let you have a poor accent.”

“We’ll see,” I said. “Lets get through more than a weekend. I admit, I wouldn’t mind learning French.”

Solange smiled and nodded.

“What accent does Dolores have?”
I asked.

Solange turned to Dolores, and the two spoke back and forth for a minute. “She sounds like a well-traveled American,” Solange declared. She smiled at Dolores. “Aubree could cure your accent if you asked her, but you might not care for
all her methods.”

Dolores smiled. “Not this week.
I think I have a pretty good idea what those methods would entail.”

We teased each other back and forth for a while. Both Solange and Aubree were quite different when away from work, and I was having a very good time. From the laughter, so was everyone else.

Finally Dolores started shoving serving bowls of food at us and told us to carry them to the table. We sat down, two on a side, and Solange praised the food. Conversation remained light-hearted and fun, and I believe anyone who had been nervous had long begun to relax.

A half hour later found us in the living room. The card table was already set up and prepared, and we all had fresh drinks. “I haven’t made any decisions about partners,” Dolores said.

“Partners?” Solange asked. “If there are partners, then Sidney and I are together.”

“Not necessarily,” I said. I explained the rule for our monthly game. Solange frowned.

“I do not care for this rule.”

“Tough,” I said. “Several of the couples bicker if we let them partner together, but it is unkind to bluntly say so.
”

“None of those couples are here tonight,” Solange pointed out.

“Are you sure?” Dolores asked, looking between Solange and me. Aubree scoffed.

“Anyway,” I said. “We rotate every few games. I believe we should do that here, although it would be unfair to you if Dolores and I partner together.”
I turned back to Dolores. “Cut for first partners?”

“Sure,” she said. She shuffled the cards and spread them out. She and I each drew a card,
then we nudged Aubree and Solange to each draw one.

Aubree had a jack; Solange had an eight. Dolores and I both drew tens, so we discarded them and drew again. I got a king to her four.

“Aubree and I,” I said. Dolores and I took seats next to each other, and I pointed to the seat opposite me. “Aubree, you are there, and we are partners.”

Solange took the final seat, but said, “I do not understand what just happened. You let the cards pick Aubree for your partner instead of me?”

It was Aubree who explained. Solange looked frustrated, which I didn’t completely understand.

“Solange,” I said, “if we play as partners, then we test our combined wits against that of Dolores and Aubree.”

“As we should,” she declared.

“But if we play this way, then you are able to test your wits against mine.”
I smiled. “Besides, we will partner together in a few games.”

After that, Dolores and I took turns explaining the game. Sh
e had already written out scorecards for both of them, showing them the bidding point system. We played several hands open, our cards face up on the table for everyone to see and not keeping score. And then we played a few hands closed, but still didn’t keep score.

“I think they understand,” I said to Dolores.

“The mistake I’ve made in the past is not putting the bowers in the right place,” she replied. “We’ll remind them for a few hands.”

It was interesting to watch the play. Dolores and I played with confidence, of course. I’d been playing card games all my life, and I thought Dolores had as well. I didn’t think either Aubree or Solange could say the same, and I almost wondered if Solange had never played cards before. Aubree played tentatively, but she had fully caught on. Solange played slowly and deliberately, but she played well for a beginner. But she was very quiet, and it was clear she was concentrating quite hard.

At one point, I laid down a card and then turned to Solange, seated on my right and the last to play. “I’ll take that last trump you’re holding.”