The Silent Bride (21 page)

She splashed cold water on her face.
Hello.
She was back in the world, about to be Mrs. Thomas Fenton. Never mind that that her head hurt like hell, and she somedmes had a niggling worry. Life was great. It would all work out. She knew it would. She threw on jeans and a T-shirt and padded into the dining room, where Wendy sat with a mountain of opened blue Tiffany boxes.

"Okay, I'm ready," Prudence said brightly, smiling and happy again. "Bring it on."

Twenty-three

W
endy's life fell apart when she was ten, after a jolt of pure terror forged together a jumble of images. War was on the news, and though science was on her mind, war was in her heart, too. That day she'd killed the gardener's pet rabbit to feed the shark.

Feeding the shark had not been her smart idea. Her brother Randy wanted to see if a shark would eat a rabbit. But Randy was with Daddy on a hunting trip in Alaska and she'd been left alone for many days, so she'd decided to do some hunting herself. She killed the big tame white rabbit that was a prize from a local magic show, then put it in a garbage bag and hid it under the dock.

Later, she saw stunned little bundles on the news— children with missing hands or legs wrapped in rags. Maybe land mines. Maybe civil war. Wendy didn't know what it was. Little faces bobbed over the shoulders of grown-ups who were walking in a long line away from the popping-corn sound of bullets. Some of the bundles were on the ground, not moving, wrapped up tightly so that nothing showed. It scared her. She thought she was next.

When it was dark, she took the spear gun and underwater light from the rack of scuba gear in the mudroom. Outside, the sky was a light show with a three-quarter moon so bright she didn't need the flashlight to make her way down to the saltwater pond. She walked across the wet grass of the broad lawn that sloped down to the water, then through the trees following the path through the sea grass down to the dock, trying to be brave without her brothers. She hated being left behind.

The ocean crept in here at high dde, rising to meet the dock at the farthest end, more than a mile from the cut that made it a suitable breeding ground for clams and mussels and scallops. That night was so quiet and windless that the water barely lapped at the wedge of rocky sand on the shoreline where the biggest clams dug in deep; the crabs scuttled along, pincers ready to grab at anything that crossed their path; and the razor clams were as sharp and lethal as their name.

From here, the mainland lights joined together as a soft glow against black land. The few pale white halos that could be seen around the pond marked the nearest summer houses, far down unconnected dirt roads. The Lotte farm was a lonely spot.

When Wendy finally turned on the light and shone it on the inky water, right away she saw the dark shape of the dog shark that came in with the tide at night. It circled in the shallows near the dock, possibly looking for lobster bait, or a place to spawn. She dumped the rabbit into the water. It hit with a splash and sank quickly into the black, then bobbed up in the shallows. The shark swam in, close to the shore, almost close enough for her to reach out and touch with the tip of her spear gun. It circled and circled but would not strike the dead rabbit. Wendy was scared.

If the tide didn't draw the rabbit out to deeper water by morning, everyone would know what she had done. She crept back to her room, certain she'd be caught and punished. She was sorry, really. When she heard the
chop chop chop
of a bird in the sky, she thought the helicopter was war coming to her from far away. Her punishment. A strobe flashed into her room, lighting it brighter than ten flashes of lightning on a nor'easter night.

"Mummy!" She wanted to hide in the attic. Instead, she ran down the hall calling for her mother.

"Ssshh, it's just the Coast Guard. There must have been a boating accident. Go to bed, sweetheart, everything's all right."

But Wendy didn't want to go to bed. She could see someone in there. Daddy was back; her brothers were back. They'd know it wasn't a boating accident. The strobe lit the room again, and she realized the man with her mother was not her daddy. After that night, she knew the divorce that ruined everything was all her fault.

Twenty-four

What happened to it? I don't understand." Prudence had lost her good spirits. She was getting weepy. Her wedding gown was too tight. It wouldn't zip up, an impossible situation. She stamped her foot. "What are we going to do?" she demanded. "I want to talk to Tang."

"Oh, no, that's not necessary." Wendy was eager to prevent her from making a scene. "Don't worry so much, dear. We can get this fixed."

Wendy sounded cheery, but she was seething inside. This should have taken five minutes, should have been a nothing visit. Instead, Prudence was flipping out. Wendy didn't need this. She glanced at her watch, then looked up in time to see Tang herself sweep down the stairs to the second-floor showroom from her private office on the floor above. Her ice blue spring suit was a stunner.

"Prudence, I heard you were here," she said with a smile.

Her assistant, Tessa, a tall, blond girl wearing a sober suit, followed Tang, carrying an alligator briefcase and matching purse. Tessa was briefing her boss in a fully audible whisper.

"You have four minutes right now. Remember, you have to leave the leadership luncheon in an hour. You have to be at CBS for your taping at two. I booked makeup for one-thirty. Ben doesn't have a lot of time for you today; he's doing Hillary.... Don't worry about leaving the dais. They know you can't stay for dessert. After your taping, your husband will pick you up at the studio. His plane leaves at eight. You only have dme for a quick drink, but he insists—"

"That's enough." Tang raised her hand, and Tessa shut her mouth. Wendy knew Tang needed constant reminders about her schedule and clearly enjoyed the running monologue. She raged at her own Lori for taking such an inconvenient vacation.

"Tang, how are you?" Wendy said, rising quickly to her feet.

Tang tapped at her diamond watch. She didn't have time to comment for Wendy.

"How does your mother like her jacket?" she asked Prudence, all smiles for
her.

Prudence, however, could barely respond. She was that close to tears. "I don't know. I think it's all right. But Tang, this gown is a complete mess. My underwear shouldn't show. I expected better than this from you."

Tang frowned. "Let me see. Oh, my goodness, you're right. Have you been partying a little too much, Prudence?" she teased.

"Two minutes. The car is waiting," Tessa reminded.

Wendy glared at her. Tang made the silence signal with the back of her hand, then pushed the fitter out of the way so she could poke at the back seam of

Pru's gown, with its long zipper and two hundred tiny buttons that wouldn't close.

"Oh, this is not a problem. Kim can fix this in a second." She turned to Kim, her honey voice turning to acid. "Fix it in a second, Kim."

He nodded. "No problem."

"It's a problem for Miss Hay Don't disappoint her," Tang said coldly. Then the honey voice again. "You'll have it tomorrow. Say hello to your mother for me." Tang turned to the open elevator and got in,
^p
followed by Tessa, already talking again.

Wendy smiled until the elevator doors closed and Prudence disappeared into a dressing room. Then she let loose.

"What's wrong with you? I wanted that dress done today!" she fumed, so furious at Kim she could barely control the tremor in her voice. "The gown was way too tight. The bustier showed. You upset Prudence and Tang."

"Don't yell at me, Wendy." Kim couldn't take it when people were upset with him.

"You did it on purpose," she ranted. "Why?"

"She got fatter," he protested.

"She did not get fatter. You fucked up her dress. Are you crazy? Don't you understand we can't afford having anyone suspicious now?"

Suspicious? He looked as her sideways. "Why you mad at me, Wendy? I don't understand. No one's suspicious."

"Don't give me that shit. The cops are all over me. You understand perfectly what's at stake. What do you think you're doing messing with that dress?"

"Clio so mad with me I'm scared she'll kill me in my sleep," he said. He was holding the heavy dress and long train in a plasdc bag. It dipped to the carpet when Wendy took him by his two shoulders and shook him hard.

"You messed up Tovah's dress. You shouldn't have fucking been there. Don't you understand!" she hissed at him. "Now Prudence's. What are you thinking! Do you want us all in trouble?"

"Don't be mad with me, Wendy." Kim's teeth clacked with her shaking.

Wendy stopped shaking and dug her fingernails into his upper arms. "Yes, I'm mad at you."

"You're hurting me," he said.

She let him go. "What's Clio's problem?"

"Clio hates Tang. She don't pay me. I do extra work. She don't pay me."

"Oh, please. You make extra work on purpose. You want a tip, isn't that it?"

"Clio hate those rich girls." He swiped at his nose. "She hates them. She's not happy with me," he added sadly.

"Well, hello. Surprise, what did she expect?"

"Every day more mad. The police ask so many questions. Help me, Wendy. Tell Clio don't be mad."

"The police ask questions, doesn't mean they know what they're doing. Remember poor Andrea? God knows that was bad enough. ..." Wendy let him go, her heart racing at the threat of Kim messing up those dresses just so he could do more work and get a tip. "What did you tell them?" she demanded.

"Oh, police?" Kim lifted his shoulders with the meek smile that was his trademark. "I don't understand English," he said softly. "Hardly a word."

"What did Clio tell them?" Wendy demanded.

"Clio crazy," he said. "She told me she'll kill me in my sleep."

Wendy blew air out of her mouth to stop herself from laughing at Clio's dilemma. She'd married a gay seamstress, hoping he'd become a heterosexual waiter. It wasn't going to happen.

"Look, keep me out of your troubles, Kim. Just keep my name out of it. And get that dress finished tomorrow the latest, you hear me? Make it perfect."

"Wendy, I gave Tang the plant you suggested. She's not mad with me, is she?"

"How should I know?"

Prudence came out of the dressing room, wearing her street clothes.

"There you are." Wendy smiled.

At three-thirty, after Prudence and Lucinda left the shop, Louis collapsed at his conference table, surrounded by the sketches for Pru's wedding. He was creating Hawaii again with real blooming passionflower vines, and a water wall studded with birds-of-paradise. A hundred and fifty Hawaiian Sunset cattleyas would bloom in real seashell centerpieces on the tables, and even the band members would be dressed in leis and tropical shirts.

"What's the matter with you?" Wendy demanded as soon as they were alone. Everybody was in a funk today.

"Why bother asking? I thought you hated me." Louis's stormy gray eyes raked her over.

"What are you talking about?" Wendy tossed her head at the ridiculous idea.

"You stormed out on Monday, shrieking that you hate me, don't you remember?"

Wendy laughed. "Getting paranoid again, are we? Forgetting to take our medicine?"

"Oh, very funny." Louis made an irritated face and patted his hair uneasily.

"We're in this together, so don't freak on me. Prudence is having her prewedding jitters."

"Not exactly my problem. You're the Hay manager," Louis said.

"Uh-uh-uh. It's all our problem. Kim made her dress too dght. Her bustier showed. Lucinda is freaking out because of what happened to Tovah. We can't afford anyone acting out now."

"Well, I don't like her, either," Louis said sullenly.

"Who?"