Richard Patterson - Fall from Grace

Without glancing at his father, Adam took the 3 wood from his bag.

Addressing the ball, he felt Ben watch intently, grasping the choice his son had made. Then Adam cleared his mind of any thought but the mechanics of a flawless swing, any image but the red flag that flapped above his target. As he raised his club in one fluid motion, twisting sideways as his father had taught him, Adam’s eyes remained fixed on the white ball.

His downward swing was vicious yet smooth. The club head as it struck the ball produced the hollow sound of a perfect shot, and the follow-through raised Adam to the tips of his toes without throwing him off-balance. Only then did he watch the ball in flight.

It rose like a laser, becoming a dot against the horizon of grass and sky as it strained to cross the pond. Taut, Adam watched it descend, drawing slightly, unsure of whether it could reach the other side. A matter of feet or inches.

No splash. The ball bounced just clear of the water, kicking in the air, then dribbled onto the green. Adam watched it die ten feet from the pin.

Neither man said anything.

After a moment, Ben took out a 3 wood. Closely, Adam watched him, like a cat eyeing its quarry. His father’s first practice swing was too savage for total accuracy; his second, smoother and more confident, bespoke his self-control, the mental toughness of a born competitor. As Ben stood over the ball, Adam watched him marshal his strength of mind and body. His downward swing was much like Adam imagined his own, a smooth but strong uncoiling.

But not quite.

The ball rose a little higher, and its downward arc began a hair sooner. The fateful splash, perhaps a foot from the bank, marked Ben Blaine’s defeat.

He stood there, motionless, his face without expression.

After a moment, Adam approached him, then placed a consoling hand on Ben’s shoulder. “You’re fifty-five,” he said in a solicitous tone. “You’re supposed to lose strength, and gain wisdom. A wise man would have played it safe.”

Ben barely smiled. In his eyes Adam read the awareness of time, the first faint shadow of mortality. “A wise man,” he answered coolly, “knows the grace of silence. Too bad you don’t have your own boat. We could see how you’d do on the water.”

Glazer listened intently. Without smiling, he said, “Beware of what you wish for. He forgot buying Jack that Herreshoff.”

Lost in memory, Adam stared out at the windy sweep of Menemsha Pond, saying nothing.

“Why don’t you stick around,” Glazer suggested after a moment. “Rose and I have enough salmon for three.”

Adam glanced at his watch. “Thanks,” he said. “But I’ve already got dinner plans, with someone I’ve been avoiding. Seems like it’s time.”

When Adam entered Atria restaurant, pausing on the screened porch surrounding the main dining room, Carla Pacelli was already there. At first she did not notice him; seated by a window, she looked out at the side garden with a reflective smile, watching a small boy and girl play on a swinging chair suspended from a willow tree. She wore little makeup, Adam noticed, and a loose, flowing dress that concealed, rather than accented, what he knew to be a remarkable figure. He paused, hands in his pockets, until she noticed him. The instant of wariness in her eyes was succeeded by another smile, this one suggesting curiosity and a hint of welcome. Then she stood, extending a warm, dry hand.

“You surprised me,” she said.

“By being early?”

“By inviting me here at all,” she said as he sat across from her. “Being early is ingrained in me. I went to UCLA on a scholarship, with no money or margin for error. So I never missed a class. When I entered the business, I was determined to make every audition on time, or be on the set at whatever ungodly hour they wanted.” She gave a fleeting ironic smile. “I was the most reliable, least temperamental actress in Los Angeles. Until I wasn’t.”

As before, her voice, familiar from television, underscored for Adam the strangeness of encountering her. But she seemed bent on reducing their awkwardness; from what he understood of celebrities, including his father, one technique was offering up small pieces of themselves, self-flattering but not deeply revealing. Then their waitress, a young woman in her twenties, reminded Adam of the detriments of being, as Ben had put it, “face famous.” “I just have to tell you,” she told Carla, “how much I loved your show.”

Carla smiled. “I’m glad you did.”

The young woman hesitated, encouraged. “You’re so much more beautiful in person. Do people tell you that?”

A hint of amusement danced in Carla’s brown eyes. “That’s nice of you,” she said pleasantly, and then ordered a mineral water before Adam requested scotch. When the waitress left, Carla remarked, “I’ve never known how to take that particular compliment. On the one hand, she could be saying I look surprisingly good for a drugged-out has-been. On the other hand, she could mean that every Monday night I looked like hell-which, by the end, was true. I guess I can take my pick.”

“What would my father have said? I wonder.”

The light in Carla’s eyes dimmed. “I’m not brain-dead,” she said bluntly. “I understand that you’re her son. But you’re also the son of a man I cared for deeply. Whatever your motives, and however you must feel about me, I’d never have refused to see you. So let’s make the best of this.”

“You weren’t afraid to come?”

Carla shook her head. “I’m not afraid of you, if that’s what you’re asking. And the truth about Ben and me won’t change, whether I’m in court or we’re having dinner.” Carla hesitated, looking directly into his eyes. “Besides, you’re the only member of your family I can be certain didn’t murder him. That gives us more in common.”

This remarkable statement left Adam without words: if this woman knew how Ben had died, she was not simply a gifted actress, but utterly without nerves. “My other reason,” she continued in the same level tone, “concerns your mother. As I already told you, Ben’s bequest was a complete surprise to me. But just this morning I found out about the postnuptial agreement, and that she has no money of her own. All along, I thought she was born into wealth. I never dreamed Ben would leave her with nothing.”

Adam gave her a sharp, skeptical look. “No? Then that’s something else we have in common. Though I feel much more strongly about it than you do.”

“I’m sure you do,” Carla said calmly. “But this morning I felt sick to my stomach. I don’t like being in this position, and didn’t need for Ben to put me here.”

“So give up the money,” Adam rejoined.

Carla met his eyes. “That’s for the lawyers, and it’s not as simple as you think. For now, let’s leave it there, all right?”

He could not shake her self-possession, Adam saw. But beneath this he sensed a watchfulness. Part of her agenda, he felt sure, involved assessing the man who might stand between her and ten million dollars. Abruptly, she asked, “So what is it you want from me? Other than to renounce Ben’s gift and vanish from this island forever.”

It was best to keep her talking, Adam judged. “Maybe you can satisfy my curiosity. Beyond money, what did you see in him?”

Carla sipped her mineral water. “A different man than you saw, I’d imagine.”

“Maybe we just have different standards. Or different needs.”

A corner of her mouth upturned in a puzzled smile that did not change the coolness in her eyes. “You really did hate him, didn’t you? Would you mind telling me why?”

“I would, actually.”

Carla seemed to inhale. “Then I’ll tell you why I was so drawn to him and what, by the end, Ben meant to me. Assuming you can stand to listen.”