Page 15 of The Sixth Wedding
“Everyone reads thePost,” Fray says. “But only the brave admit it.”
Coop is passed out on the sofa and Jake is nowhere to be found, so Fray jots a note saying he and Leland are taking the Jeep to breakfast. He drives to the big mid-island grocery store and leaves Leland in the car as he runs in to get the newspaper. Page Six? Isheon Page Six?Talk about a HYPOCRITE.What doesthatmean?
Leland had asked about Anna the night before, but Fray dodged the question; his divorce was the last thing he wanted to talk about. He imagined that getting divorced as a regular person—an accountant in Cheyenne or a florist in Shreveport—would be painful and difficult enough, but as a very wealthy, semi-famous person, it was a whole other circle of hell. Fray and Anna’s story, although not unique, was a source of endless tabloid fascination. Anna had cheated on Fray with Tyler Toledo, the manager of her former band, Drank. They had been spotted out to dinner at L’Oursin by one of Fray’s vice presidents while Fray was down in South America on business and while Cassie was home with a sitter. When Fray asked Anna about it, she broke down in tears and said that yes, she and Tyler had been seeing each other for nine months and it was all Fray’s fault because he had robbed Anna of any identity except for that of “Frazier Dooley’s wife” and “Cassie Dooley’s mother.” She used to be interesting, she said. She used to be cool. Now, she was just another Botoxed Seattle socialite with a private Pilates instructor and a twelve-thousand-square-foot glass house on Puget Sound.
Fray had asked Anna if she was in love with Tyler and Anna had said she was, though it was clear from both her facial expression and her tone that she was lying. She didn’t love Tyler Toledo; sleeping with him was an act of rebellion, a cry for attention. Fray did a little investigative work and found out that Tyler’s best days had been when he was managing Drank. Since then, he had couch-surfed his way around Queen Anne and Capitol Hill; he’d even been homeless for a while. Certainly reuniting with Anna, Drank’s former bassist, had been a huge boost to him, especially since she was married to the eighth richest man in Seattle. Fray thought maybe he could pay Tyler off to make him go away but when this was intimated, Tyler doubled down and leaked the scandal of his affair with Anna to Google News, and in a nanosecond, it was everywhere. It was news of the scandal rather than the scandal itself that led to the divorce. Fray could have forgiven the infidelity. What he could not forgive was Anna on TMZ both disparaging him and shamelessly promoting old songs by Drank. (It worked: Their song “Back It Up” had a surge on iTunes.) The tabloids gobbled up the seedy aspects of the story, which was bad for everyone involved, but especially for Cassie. Ten was such a tricky age. Cassie was old enough to understand what was going on but not old enough to understand why, and Anna had broken every single rule in the Evolved Parenting Handbook. She thought nothing of badmouthing Fray in front of Cassie any chance she could get.
Fray agreed to a 280-million-dollar settlement only because he wanted the whole thing to be over.
He grabs the last copy of thePostat the Stop and Shop and somehow resists looking at the paper in line. When he gets back to the car, Leland has the radio cranked to the rock station playing the top 500 songs of all time and she’s singing along to “Heaven,” by Bryan Adams.
“‘You’re all that I want! You’re all that I need!’” She turns down the music and grins at him. “This song has always reminded me of the Calvert Hall junior prom. Remember my lavender dress?”
Fray shakes his head but he can’t stop his smile. “I need coffee,” he says.
Frazier Dooley loves nothing more than a good breakfast place and as soon as he sees Island Kitchen, he knows he’s found one. It’s mid-island, right across the street from the Stop and Shop, as it turns out, so it doesn’t have a water view but the place is loaded with character. The post-and-beam construction is charming, there are lush pink impatiens in the window boxes, it feels rustic and homey—like the island’s kitchen.
Fray and Leland are seated at a two-top inside where Fray immediately detects the scent of Frayed Edge Classic Black. This comes as no surprise because it was his New England sales manager who gave him the name of this place.
A server with a dark ponytail and freckles—her name tag saysSARAH—comes over, holding the signature Frayed Edge silver pot, and says, “Coffee?”
“Please,” Fray says, nudging the chunky ceramic mug forward.
“I’ll have tea,” Leland says. “Herbal, if you have it.”
“Right away,” Sarah says. She pours Fray’s coffee and, despite the steam, Fray can’t get it to his mouth fast enough. He looks at Leland. “You’re on a date with me and you’re orderingtea?Herbaltea?”
Leland laughs. “I did it just for that reaction.”
“Excuse me!” Fray calls out. “My beautiful friend here will have coffee as well. This is Frayed Edge, right?”
“That’s all we serve,” Sarah says. She takes a second look at Fray and he watches recognition cross her face. “Oh my God, you’re…”
Leland hoots. “Do you get recognized everywhere you go?”
Sarah pours Leland’s coffee and lowers her voice. “Someone called us yesterday to say you might be coming in. They wanted to make sure we had the signature pots and all the signage.”
“It looks great,” Fray says.
Sarah turns her attention to Leland. “Oh!” she says. “You’re the woman from theNew York Post!”
“I don’t work at thePost,” Leland says. “I’m Leland Gladstone ofLeland’s Letter?”
Fray gets a sinking feeling. ThePostis folded in half on the bench next to him. “We’ll be ready to order in just a minute,” he says.
Fray finishes his first cup of coffee and decides to distract Leland with another topic they’ve been avoiding—their parents. Twenty-five years earlier, Steve Gladstone and Fray’s mother, Sloane, had an affair. Steve ended up leaving Geri Gladstone and marrying Sloane. Fray speaks to his mother sporadically but he hasn’t seen her and Steve in a few years. He gathers that Leland keeps contact to a minimum as well; she aligned herself staunchly with Geri.
He reaches for Leland’s hand. “How funny would it be if we called Steve and Sloane on the way home and told them we’re back together?”
“I’m trying to forget the unfortunate fact that we’re actually step-siblings,” Leland says. At that instant, Leland’s phone pings and she checks the text. “It’s my mother. She…I kid you not, justlookat this…she says, ‘Are you with Frazier Dooley?’” Leland holds up the screen of her phone. “Tell me that’s not spooky.”
Sarah shows up with the silver pot and refills both their cups. Fray is starting to sweat.
“We’re ready to order,” he says. “I’ll have the panko eggs Benedict.”
“And I’ll have the bananas Foster French toast,” Leland says.
Sarah leaves and Fray feels his phone buzz again.DEAD TO ME.He declines the call and sighs. “I got thePostfor a reason. I think there might be something about me on Page Six.”
