Page 40 of One Last Night

He chuckles bitterly. “Well, it’s not your shit to wade through. I guess I can’t blame you for not telling me. Do me a favor and don’t tell the kids yet, okay? I’ll handle that when the time comes.”

“I won’t,” I promise him. “I’m so sorry, Julian.”

“Doesn’t really matter.”

The door closes behind him, and I sink onto the couch cushion. Sean sits next to me, but he offers no words of comfort. There’s really nothing to say.

***

The family is together for dinner that night. I’m somewhat surprised by that, and not very happy with the choice. I suggest to Julian that Sean and I should take the children somewhere else for dinner, and he very firmly replies, “If my mother’s uncomfortable having dinner with her family, then she’s welcome to leave.”

Sean’s lips thin, but he refrains from speaking. Victoria sits primly in her chair, eating her salad with dignity that I’m sure she doesn’t feel. Nathan and Luann sit on the opposite end of the table, a gap of two chairs in between Julian and I. Sean sits in between me and Victoria.

Beatrice quietly serves the meal, a simple one of roast beef, peas and mashed potatoes. The men and Victoria eat in silence. I manage a few bites out of politeness, but my stomach turns too much for me to finish. The children don’t eat at all. Luann keeps her eyes on her plate. Tear tracks stain her cheeks, and her shoulders slump in dejection. Nathan, on the other hand, sits ramrod straight in his chair. He stares hatefully at his grandmother, who ignores his look and continues to eat her meal.

Beatrice brings dessert out a half hour later. She clears the empty plates and the nearly full ones without a word.

Dessert is ice cream sundaes. Once more, I manage a few bites out of politeness, and Victoria and the men finish theirs, more out of stubbornness than anything else, I believe. The children let theirs melt.

For a while, anyway. As Victoria finishes the last of her meal, she says cattily, "Hate me if you'd like Nathan. One day, you'll be a man. When you are, I suggest that you not treat your wife as property. Then you won't have to deal with her looking elsewhere."

Julian snaps his eyes up to her. “Mom, shut the—”

He doesn’t finish his sentence. Nathan lifts his ice cream dish and sends the dessert hurling across the table. It strikes Victoria’s face, splattering on her forehead and trickling down over her nose and cheeks. She doesn’t so much as flinch.

“I hope you die alone, you old bitch.”

“Nathan, that’s enough!” I snap. “Go to your room!”

Both of the children leave. Luann keeps her head on the floor, but I notice that she takes Nathan’s hand when they exit the room. I suppose it’s a silver lining that the two of them have each other to cling to.

Beatrice enters the dining room and gasps when she sees Victoria. Victoria wipes her face with her napkin, as dignified as before. Then she stands. “Thank you for the meal, Beatrice. It was lovely.”

She leaves the dining room then. The rest of us remain for a few more seconds before Sean nudges me. “We should go upstairs, Mary.”

Julian leaves with us. He doesn’t say a word to us as he stalks up the stairs and heads to his own room. Sean and I peek our heads into Nathan’s room and find Luann weeping on her brother’s shoulder. He glares at us until we close the door.

We head to my room and sit on the bed. I’m exhausted, but I don’t expect to sleep until Sean lays me gently down on the bed. Then, mercifully, the day is over.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The harvesters arrive early the following day and remain throughout the week. The Chardonnay must be harvested immediately, or they’ll be ruined by the overwatering. As it is, the Pinot and Riesling vines are lost. The vineyard will have to be cleared, drained, resodded and replanted for the following season. Were it not for the Riesling that’s already been harvested, the first growing season for the estate would be an entirely unmitigated disaster.

I don’t hear anything from Robert Cartwright, but I’m sure there’s a reckoning coming should Robert turn out to be innocent of this crime. For the time being, the police are watching him closely, and he’ll have to play nice during the investigation. I hope that Luann is right and Robert is responsible, if for no other reason than that it would put an end to that portion of the drama, at least.

As it is, the successful harvest of the Riesling and the partial success of the Chardonnay is a very thin silver lining. The Bellamy family is falling apart. Perhaps it’s already fallen apart.

The presence of the harvesters is a somewhat brighter silver lining. With their employees present, and the emergency harvest occupying most of their energy, Julian and Victoria don’t have time to fight with each other or with the children. Julian is also able to remain at the house rather than leaving as he feared he would have to, so Sean and I are not the only buffer between Victoria and her grandchildren.

However, things between me and the children have soured. They obey my instructions well enough, but they don’t talk to me at all. Luann looks at me with hurt and Nathan with anger. It’s clear that both of them feel that I betrayed Luann.

Sean has some more success. He carefully avoids mention of the drama and asks general questions about their interests. He receives curt, one-word answers in reply, but it’s far better than nothing and better than what I get. He truly is a godsend. The children need anything right now to take their mind off of things, and since they won’t allow me to help with that, Sean has stepped up.

And that leaves me alone, ashamed, and miserable. I've struggled with families in the past, but I've never failed so utterly. Even in New Orleans, when I nearly lost two children in the peak of Mardi Gras, I still managed to keep things together better than I have here. It's going to be a very long winter.

That thought comes to me as I eat a toasted cheese sandwich and drink a cup of Earl Grey tea for lunch. I chuckle bitterly and remark to myself, “I won’t be here through winter. The Bellamys will be glad to be rid of me just as soon as Julian can take his children somewhere else.”

“That might be for the best, Mary.”

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