Page 39 of One Last Night

Victoria mutters something through her sobs, and Julian says, “Don’t blame Mary for this. She’s trying to protect Nathan and Luann. If she wasn’t here, Robert might have caught her with Kevin and taken his anger out on her instead of me. Think about that for a bit, Mom. Think about Robert catching Luann with Kevin and deciding to punish her for the fact that you used him.”

“He usedme, Julian! He usedme! We were going to…”

She cuts herself off, but not in time. “Going to what, Mom? Run away together? Abandon your marriages and your businesses and sail away across the sea where you could live in bed forever?”

“It wasn’t just the sex, Julian. Stop fixating on that. I loved him. He was… You don’t understand.”

“So help me understand. What was it? Was he more handsome? Was he going to tell everyone how much smarter you were than he was? Was he going to let you run the business while he—”

“He was a man, Julian. He was aman. Parker was sweet, and he was kind, and he was tender, but he wasn’t strong. If I hadn’t stood with him, this company would have folded forty years ago. Robert is strong. He built his business, and he ran itwith authority and assertiveness. Parker would have wilted if a secretary yelled at him.”

“Is that why the Cartwrights are a failing winery, and we’re the most successful wine business in New England?”

“I’mthe reason we're successful! Me! I ran the fucking company, not your father. And you should know that because you worked for me for twenty years before you took over."

“Well, great job, Mom. Thank you for sacrificing the love of your life to help my poor dad. Or is he my dad? We’ll never know. Actually, we will know. I’m going to find out for sure. And if I find out that Roger Cartwright is my father, the children and I are going to leave. We’ll never see you again. Honestly, I should get a restraining order against you anyway after you assaulted Luann last night.”

“She… I didn’t… The vineyard is destroyed because of her!”

“The vineyard is destroyed because of you, Mom. You and your asshole boyfriend. And for God’s sake, Mom, it’s a forty-acre plot in your backyard. It’s a foolish vanity project that I allowed you to have because you’re my mother.”

“It’s our legacy!”

“It’syourlegacy, Mom. Except it isn’t. Your legacy is betrayal and selfishness.”

The door to the great room slams open. Julian’s footsteps echo through the house as he storms up the stairs. I take a deep breath and grip Sean’s hand. A moment later, the door to the living room opens. Victoria Cartwright stands in the doorway and looks at me with naked hate. It reminds me disturbingly of the hate in Luann Cartwright’s eyes last night.

“You’re fired,” she hisses. “Get out of my house.”

"No, she's not!" Julian calls down the stairs. "I don't want you alone with the children."

Victoria grabs two fistfuls of her hair and releases a sob of frustration. “Goddamnit, Julian, I…” She throws her hands inthe air. “Fine. Do whatever you want. My feelings don’t matter at all.”

“Not anymore,” Julian calls down.

“No, you’re right. Forget about me. I’m just an old whore.”

She slams the door behind her. A moment later, I heard the front door slam shut, too. Sean and I remain where we are for a long while. Eventually, Sean says, "I should go."

“Please don’t,” I whisper. “I don’t want to be alone here.”

“Weshould go,” he corrects. “We’ll get a room in town, and we’ll cooperate with the police until this investigation is over. Then we’ll go back to Boston. I know you tried, but this is out of our hands now.”

The door opens before I can reply. Julian stands where his mother stood a few minutes ago. He looks miserable.

“Mary, I understand if this situation is too uncomfortable for you, but I would really appreciate it if you and Sean could stay for a few more days. I’ll pay double your salary, but I don’t want the children to be alone with my mother right now, and I don’t have anywhere else I can take them. I don’t want them alone in a hotel room, and I can’t stay because I have to keep this from becoming yet another media clusterfuck, pardon my language, and I have to handle it. Once things calm down, I’ll take the children with me to the mainland, and my mother can deal with her own problems, but right now… just for their sake, can you stay.”

I nod. “Yes. Of course I will.”

Sean doesn’t look pleased to hear that, but he also nods. “We’ll keep them company, sir.”

"Thank you. I'll pay you as well, Sean. I just can't deal with all of the bullshit at once." He turns to leave but pauses at the doorway. "How long have you known, Mary?"

“Known what?”

“About Robert Cartwright and my mother? How long?”

I swallow. “I… I read the diary a couple of weeks ago.”

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