Virginia Myers - The Dad Next Door

“Drive carefully,” she said, waving them off.

A peaceful silence settled over the little house. She used the time to call her sister, Jill, for a good gossip. Jill, the bright, bold, beautiful sister, had been the one who had got her and Ian together for the care of Raymond. And before Jill had given up her restaurant to become a stay-at-home mom, she had helped out financially from time to time after Claude had died. They covered all the family news, her plans to plunge into home teaching and were winding down when the doorbell rang.

“Is that your doorbell?” Jill asked. It had been a loud and prolonged ringing.

“Yes. I’d better run. It can’t be Ian and the kids back so soon. Probably someone selling something or offering to shovel snow.” They rang off.

The doorbell rang again insistently as she was opening the door. For a moment Kate didn’t recognize who it was. She had met Marsha only a few times, very briefly.

“Thank heavens you’re home. Ian isn’t. I rang over there a dozen times. And like an idiot I let my cab go.”

“Marsha!” Kate gasped.

“Yes, the infamous Marsha. Please invite me in. I’m freezing.” She was the same lovely, charming, impeccably groomed woman Kate had last glimpsed. Her exquisite cameo face, framed with near-black hair, her startling violet-blue eyes, her flawless skin. Today she looked like Little Red Riding Hood, enveloped in a capelike coat in vivid scarlet, with a hood trimmed in white fur. Her knee-high black boots were also trimmed in white fur.

“Yes, of course.” Kate stood back to let her in.

“Better get that, too,” Marsha said, coming in. “It has my jewel case in it. I dragged it clear over from next door.” It was then that Kate saw the large suitcase on the bottom step. Kate sighed, then darted out into the icy air to get it.

“Where’s my son? Is he home from school yet?”

“School is closed today,” Kate said, shivering as she shut the door, “because of the snow, but Raymond isn’t here. Ian took him—Ian has all the kids out. I expect them back any time.”

“That’s quite a snowman out there,” Marsha said, shaking out her dark mane of hair as she took off the hooded coat.

“Oh, the kids love it when it snows.”

“Yes, I saw some sliding on the hills when I was coming in from the airport. You did say Ian would be back. He’s not off on some business jaunt. I was rather hoping he would be. Sometimes he can be…a little hard to persuade.”

“No. He just came back from a business trip. Would you like some coffee or something? Have you had lunch?”

“Nothing, thanks. I’m okay. I had something or other on the plane. In one of those little plastic dishes. It wasn’t too bad, and I have to watch my weight.” She glanced over Kate, assuring herself, Kate felt sure, that she was the thinner of the two. “I suppose you’re wondering why I popped in like this.” Marsha sat down in the big chair by the fireplace.

“It did cross my mind,” Kate said, sitting down opposite. Marsha was really so lovely and so poised and confident. No wonder Ian had fallen in love with her. Was he still?

“I…don’t know if Ian has mentioned it or not, but I…” Marsha began.

“Ian mentioned that you planned to marry again,” Kate said. “Congratulations. I hope you will be very happy.”

“I will be. I am.” Marsha smiled her beautiful smile. She held out her elegant left hand. Marsha’s slim hands, always beautifully manicured, made Kate want to put hers in her pockets. “You see,” Marsha continued. “We didn’t wait until June, which was the original plan.”

“Oh? You’ve moved it up?”

“Very much so. We’ve already done it.” And Kate really looked at the hand, with its sparkling diamond solitaire and slender circlet of diamonds that was the wedding ring. “Chet, my husband, is down in Virginia now, explaining things to his family.”

“Wonderful,” Kate said, since that was obviously what Marsha expected her to say. At the same time her heart plummeted. Ian was now no longer liable for alimony payments. He could put Raymond in a boarding school immediately if he wanted to.

“What, er, made you speed it up?”

“Several things. It seemed foolish to wait for a June wedding when it’s a second time around for both of us. Did Ian tell you who I was going to marry?”

“No, he didn’t.” Kate thought it best not to mention that Ian had referred to him as Mr. Right.

“Chet Burgess. Chester Burgess.” Marsha paused, and Kate realized she was supposed to recognize the name.

“I’m afraid that doesn’t ring a bell,” she said apologetically.

“Well, perhaps it wouldn’t,” Marsha conceded. “Chet is with State. The State Department. You’ve probably seen him on TV. He sometimes makes statements, you know, about the nation’s position on this or that or the other thing. He’s an undersecretary. Not that he needs to work. The Burgess family is old money. But all the Burgess men serve the nation in some way—army, navy, government, whatever. I’ll love living in Washington. I mean D.C., of course. Chet and I have bought this perfect little gem of a house in Georgetown. It cost the earth. It’s going to be a wonderful life. I’ve finally got things right.” Her lovely face was glowing.

“Good,” Kate said woodenly. “I’m happy for you, Marsha. I think I should mention that Ian took Raymond to see the pediatrician. I’d better prepare you. He looks pretty awful. He got in a fight at school yesterday. He’s all bruised.”

“A fight. Good heavens. Well, I guess boys will be boys. Ian has him in a public school, hasn’t he?”

“He has been, yes,” Kate said, deciding not to mention the homeschooling plan.

“Well, I can take him off Ian’s hands now that I’m married again. Chet…” She paused, as if deciding how to phrase her next sentence. “Chet is very family. I mean he—he wants a family.” Her tone implied that she didn’t quite understand this but was willing to accept it.

“What do you mean, ‘take him off Ian’s hands’?” Kate asked, knowing the answer before it came.

“Why, I can take him back to D.C. with me, of course. Chet’s prepared to adopt him. Legally. He’ll inherit from Chet. When I explained to Chet how difficult it had been for me to be without my son, he understood immediately.”

Kate felt her mouth go dry. “I thought,” she said carefully, “that Raymond was placed in Ian’s custody at the divorce. Because you…didn’t want his care.”

“Yes, he was. But that’s all changed now. I want him back. He’s my child. I…have to get him back.” Suddenly she sat up very straight and looked squarely at Kate.

“Woman to woman, Kate. Wasn’t your time being pregnant the awfulest, most dreary time in your whole life?”

“No,” Kate gasped. “I loved being pregnant. It was…wonderful.” She just managed to keep from saying, “I wish I were pregnant now. I want Joy to have a sister, as I have.”

Marsha stared at her, confusion in her lovely eyes. “I…don’t understand that,” she murmured at last. “Well,” she added briskly, “it’s academic now. My parents are elated, of course, at my marriage. My father—he’s a retired army colonel, you know—wants Raymond in a good military school. Chet agrees. Chet is so hipped on family.” A shadow of worry came and went in her violet eyes.

“Of course, I promised Chet we would have our own children—child, but later. Not now. We deserve a bit of time together…without…” Her voice dwindled off.

Kate held her peace with an effort. She wanted to scream at the other woman, reprimanding her for her selfishness. Chet wanted a family and Marsha was willing to provide him with a ready-made son—Raymond, who would be warehoused in some cold, austere military school, to be brought out on occasion for display. No longer able to stay seated, Kate got up.