Trouble Down The Road. Bettye Griffin

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СКАЧАТЬ been pulled back into the outer walls of the house. This feature made for a transition between the indoor family room and the screened-in patio with its outdoor kitchen, lagoon-style pool, and views of downtown Jacksonville across the St. Johns River that was both seamless and spectacular. “See, Ernie, I told you we were too early.” To Suzanne she said, “We’ll be all right here if you need to finish getting ready, Suzanne.”

      She considered taking Flo up on her offer, but wanted to hold out until at least one other guest or couple arrived. She knew that if they were left alone, Ernie and Flo would proceed to go through every knickknack and piece of furniture they had, trying to determine what had been added since their last visit and, of course, how much it cost. Brad would have a fit if she left them to snoop around.

      “Oh, I’m all ready. It’s Brad who’s running late. Why don’t we sit outside?” Suzanne led the way to the connected family room and patio at the rear of the house, the feature she loved the most and that always got them the most compliments.

      Mother Nature had smiled on them tonight. The stars sparkled in the night sky, and the city’s skyline looked lovely in the darkness across the river.

      “You’ve got some real fancy touches tonight,” Ernie said before they even had a chance to sit down. “I’m glad Flo remembered to bring the ticket, or else we wouldn’t have gotten in.”

      Suzanne wished Flo had forgotten. They would have gone home to retrieve the admission pass, which would have given her a few more minutes of peace. She explained, “The man collecting invites has a list to check as a backup in case anyone forgets. He just would have asked for ID.” She’d asked Paula to let one of her wait staff man the door; the temporary maid from the agency simply didn’t move fast enough to do it efficiently.

      “And the valet parking,” Ernie continued. “Pretty fancy.”

      “Yes, well, we’re expecting a fair number of people. It seemed easier that way.” Suzanne had taken the unusual step of inviting everyone on the block to head off any resentment at having the block crammed with cars, but why was she explaining anything to this oaf?

      “Your house looks great, Suzanne,” Flo said. “I love the floating candles in the pool.”

      “Well, thank you.”

      “And I see you got new patio furniture.”

      “Yes, we replaced everything last year. We do a lot of entertaining out here.” Oops. Wrong thing to say. She’d practically invited Ernie to say something like, Be sure to invite us.

      “Besides, the old stuff was going on five years old, so it was time to replace it,” she quickly added, then looked toward the door for the second time in a minute. She was desperate for someone else to show up, but who was silly enough to show up at five minutes after eight? No one would be here for another fifteen or twenty minutes, at least. And she was stuck here with people she’d invited simply to spare their feelings.

      Paula, wearing a sleeveless pale green silk sheath, emerged from the kitchen with a bowl of fruit, which she placed strategically on a cloth-covered rectangular table that would eventually hold hot and cold hors d’oeuvres.

      “Who’s that?” Ernie asked loudly, following Paula’s moves with his eyes.

      Suzanne rolled her eyes. How did Flo stand being married to him?

      The next ones to arrive were Frank Nelson, Brad’s new partner in the diagnostic center, and his wife Jean. The two business partners socialized fairly often in the three years since Frank bought out Brad’s original partner, and Suzanne looked at the Nelsons as a slightly older—they were both in their mid fifties—version of herself and Brad. Suzanne had thought the Nelsons had a perfect marriage when she’d first met them, the model for herself and Brad in the future. She’d been shocked when Brad casually mentioned that Frank had a girlfriend out on the west side of town. Ever since then Suzanne felt a little uncomfortable around Jean because of what she knew. Whenever they had a few minutes alone for girl talk, Jean usually said something about how happy and contented she was with her life. Suzanne would never forget her saying, “You know, Suzanne, all I ever wanted was a husband, children, and a house of my own. And I got all three. Sometimes I think I’m the luckiest woman on earth.”

      Suzanne didn’t see how Jean could possibly be unaware of her husband’s multiple indiscretions; she’d heard other wives gossip about it with her own ears. Did an intact family unit and a large house in an exclusive neighborhood mean so much that she could gladly look the other way?

      Like Suzanne, Jean didn’t work outside the home, and hadn’t for years. She and Frank had married while he was still in medical school, and she supported them by working as a secretary. Or, as she liked to put it, an executive assistant. She hadn’t worked in probably twenty-five years. Perhaps that was why she tolerated Frank’s behavior. If she got fed up and walked out on him, what would she do?

      Suzanne liked Jean, but she regarded Jean’s attitude toward her husband’s cheating as pathetic. If Brad ever stepped out on her, she wouldn’t do like Jean did and carry on as usual. No way. She’d pack up and leave in a heartbeat. And she certainly wouldn’t move in with her mother. No, she’d go to the nicest hotel in town, and she’d charge her stay to him.

      No way would she ever put up with infidelity.

      Chapter 5

      By nine fifteen people were arriving every two or three minutes. The band had set up in a corner of the patio and was playing a mixture of jazz and dance music.

      Her mother, sister, and brothers were all here. Both Derrick and Matthew had brought dates, but Kenya was alone. Her sullen and scowling expression made Suzanne consider that perhaps she’d been telling the truth about not feeling well when she begged off from helping Paula with prep work. Then again, maybe it was heartburn of the emotional kind, for Suzanne saw no sign of Gregory Hickman. She knew from her mother that Kenya and Gregory had had some type of spat, but that had been weeks ago. She’d fully expected Gregory to accompany Kenya tonight. If the two of them were still on the outs, that suggested a serious rift between them. That could well be the reason behind Kenya’s sour mood.

      Suzanne spotted Lisa and Brad when they arrived, accompanied by two couples who were friends of theirs. She had grudgingly complied with Brad’s request to add them to the guest list, but now she enjoyed the impressed looks on their faces as they looked around at her showplace of a home, no doubt trying to figure out what had happened to the wall between the end of the house and the start of the patio area. Suzanne smiled triumphantly. As far as she was concerned, Kim Gillespie and Stacy Prince could talk about her all they wanted. It all stemmed from jealousy, because the looks of wonder on their faces told Suzanne that both women would gladly trade places with her if they could.

      The guests smoothly flowed between the two large areas of the family room and patio, mostly sitting in the former and standing in the latter. By now Paula’s staff had set up the buffet table, and at least two people circulated through the party area with trays, offering hors d’oeuvres to the guests. Suzanne was delighted to see how easily the house handled the larger than usual number of guests. The list had swelled to nearly a hundred people, nearly twice as many people as the number they usually hosted, because of the special occasion. Suzanne had recruited the teenagers on the block to serve as valets, and also invited all of the adults in the households on both sides of the street. She then obtained permission to use their driveways to park the excess vehicles.

      She kept glancing toward the door as she greeted her guests, eagerly anticipating the Trents’ arrival. СКАЧАТЬ