Danielle Steel - Changes

And things didn't improve much in the next two weeks despite the clambake on the beach for seventy-five kids for Jessie and Val's sixteenth birthday. It was a wonderful party and everyone had a great time, which made them even more resentful that they had to leave the following week. And by then, Mel was sick to death of hearing them complain about it.

“What about you, love?” She lay on her bed talking to Peter one night. They were still talking to each other twice a day, and dying to see each other, in spite of the children.

“I haven't told them yet. There's time.”

“Are you kidding? We're meeting you next week.” She sounded aghast. She had taken two weeks of abuse from the twins, and he hadn't even started dealing with it at his end.

“You have to be casual about these things.” He sounded extremely nonchalant and Mel thought he was crazy.

“Peter, you've got to give them time to adjust to the idea that we're meeting you there, or else they're going to be awfully surprised and probably very angry.”

“They'll be fine. Now tell me about you.” She told him about what she'd been doing, and he reported on the technique he had tried in surgery that morning. Marie was doing extremely well, despite a minor setback and she was due to leave the hospital in a few days, later than expected but in high spirits.

“I can't wait to see you, love.”

“Me too.” He smiled at the thought, and they chatted on for a little while. But he wasn't smiling when he faced Pam four days later.

“What do you mean we've invited friends to Aspen this year?” She looked livid as she faced him across the dinner table. He had told Mark the night before, just casually, as he was going out, and Mark had looked surprised but he hadn't had time to discuss it. And he was going to tell Matthew after he told Pam. But Pam looked as though she were about to go through the roof as she looked at her father. “What friends?”

“A family I thought you'd enjoy.” He could feel sweat drip slowly down his sides, and was annoyed with himself for it. Why did he let her make him so nervous? “There are two girls almost your age.” He was stalling, and they both knew it but he was terrified to tell her it was Mel. What if she went off the deep end again?

“How old?”

“Sixteen.” He looked hopeful, but his hopes were quickly dashed.

“They're probably creeps and they'll snub me because I'm younger than they are.”

“I doubt that.”

“I won't go.”

“Pam … for heaven's sake …”

“I'll stay here with Mrs. Hahn.” She seemed as movable as granite.

“She's taking her vacation.”

“Then I'll go with her. I won't go to Aspen with you unless you get rid of these people. Who are they anyway?”

“Mel Adams and her twins.” It had to be said, and Pain's eyes opened wide.

“Her? I won't go!” Something about the way she said it finally got to him, and before he could stop himself, he slammed a fist into the dining table.

“You'll do what I tell you, do you understand? And if I say you're going to Aspen, that's exactly what you'll do! Is that clear?” But she said not a single word in answer; she took her empty plate and threw it against the wall, and it shattered in a dozen pieces on the floor, while she flew from the room and he watched her. If Anne had been alive, she would have forced her to come back and clean up the mess, but he didn't have the heart to do that to her. She was a child without a mother. Instead, he sat in the dining room, staring at his plate, and then a few moments later, he left the room and closed himself in his den. It took him half an hour to get up the courage to call Mel. He just needed to hear her voice, but he didn't tell her anything of what had happened.

The next morning, Pam did not come down to breakfast and Matthew quizzed him with a look of interest. He had returned from his grandmother's house the night before after dinner.

“Who's coming to Aspen with us, Dad?”

With a belligerent air, Peter looked him straight in the eye. “Miss Adams. The lady who had dinner with us here one night, and her two daughters.” He sat braced for war since that was what he'd met in the first round, but Matthew's face exploded with joy at the news.

“She is! Wow! When is she coming?”

Peter relaxed in his chair with a smile and looked at his youngest child in relief. Thank God one of them was decent about it. He still hadn't heard from Mark, but maybe he would behave as strangely as Pam, although that was unlikely. Mark was too involved in his own life these days to be much trouble. “She's meeting us in Aspen, Matt. All three of them are.”

“Wow! Why doesn't she come here and we can fly there together?”

“Fly where?” Mark entered the room with a sleepy scowl. He had been out late the night before and had to get to work in a hurry now, but he was starving. He had already asked Mrs. Hahn for fried eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice, and coffee.

“We were talking about Aspen.” Peter looked defensively at Mark, and waited for the now-expected explosion. “He was thinking that Mel Adams and her daughters should meet us here.” There was no immediate reaction and he turned back to Matt. “But they're coming from the East and it's easier for them to fly to Denver and then Aspen.”

“Are they cute?”

“Who?” Peter looked blank. He couldn't keep up with them all these days and he was still unnerved by Pam's reaction the night before. She had yet to emerge from her room, and the door had been locked when he tried it the night before and there had been no answer when he called her name. He decided to leave her alone to cool off for a day. He'd talk to her tonight after he came home from the office.

“Are her daughters cute?” Mark looked at his father as though he were extremely stupid, and Peter sat back in his chair and laughed, just as Mark's gargantuan repast arrived.

“Good God, who's all that for?”

“Me. Well, are they?”

“Are they what? Oh … oh … sorry … I don't know. I assume so. She's a good-looking woman, her daughters must be too.”

“Hmmm …” Mark was torn between attending to his breakfast and discussing the prospects of Mel's daughters. “I hope they're not dogs.”

“You're a jerk.” Matt looked at him in disgust. “They're probably gorgeous.”

And with that, Peter stood up with a grin. “And on that note, gentlemen, I bid you good morning. If you see your sister, give her my love. I'll see you all tonight. Mark, will you be home?”

He nodded, gobbling half a piece of toast, one eye on the clock, worried about being even later for work. “I think so, Dad.”

“Don't forget to tell Mrs. Hahn your plans.”

“I won't.” With that, Peter left them and went to the hospital to do rounds. They weren't doing any surgeries that morning. Another special meeting had been called to discuss techniques, among them Peter's newest which he explained in great detail to Mel later that afternoon when he called her. And when he had finished, he decided to be honest with her about Pam's reaction.

“She'll be all right. I think it's just very threatening to her.”

“Do you still want us to come?”

“Are you kidding?” He sounded horrified that she would even ask. “I wouldn't even consider going without you. What about your brood? Are they adjusting?”

“Grudgingly.”

The “casual” reception he had hoped for had vanished into thin air. Mel had been right, about Pam at least. “Matt is thrilled. And I'm afraid that Mark is already contemplating the twins with a somewhat eager eye. But he's harmless.”

“Don't tell me that!” Mel laughed. “Wait till you see Val!”

“She can't be as exotic as all that.” Mel was always talking about the girl's voluptuous figure and sex-kitten allure. But she was probably viewing the child with a far-from-objective eye, as the girl's mother.