Ronnie worked her way down the stairs, still enchanted by the miracle performed on her living room. “It’s perfect,” she said when she reached the young woman’s side.
“I saw the box of old ornaments and thought it might be nice to put them out where everyone could see and remember them. I hope that was all right. It gave color to the entire room instead of just the corner with the tree.”
“It was a wonderful idea and I love it.” She gave a smile reserved for Rose alone. The grandfather clock chimed. “Mother’s going to be here any minute.” Ronnie knelt down next to the chair. “Sometimes my mother can be a bit…harsh. I’ll try to keep her away from you. Don’t forget what I said about Susan being a gossip. I have to walk around and speak with everyone but I’ll try to spend as much time as I can near you.” The sound of a limousine pulling up in the driveway filtered through to them. “That’s probably her and Aunt Elaine now.”
As expected, Beatrice Cartwright arrived with her younger sister Elaine. Beatrice took her role as matriarch seriously, feeling it outranked everything else, including the president of Cartwright Corporation. She was no sooner in the door than she was ordering the decorators around and scrutinizing the caterer’s work. While Ronnie was busy listening to her mother’s demands about the party, Elaine wandered into the living room and spotted Rose.
“Hello there.”
“Hello.”
“Elaine McCarthy, Ronnie’s aunt.” She held out her well-manicured hand.
“Rose Grayson. I’m…a friend of Ronnie’s.” She returned the gesture. Elaine removed her red scarf to reveal dyed brown hair.
“Well…” the older woman said, looking around, “Seems like Ronnie did a halfway-decent job.” She reached into her overstuffed pocketbook and pulled out a silver cigarette case. “I’m surprised the party is here this year. She’s managed to worm her way out of the last two family gettogethers.” A press of the button on the silver lighter and the cigarette glowed to life. “You know where the ashtrays are?”
“Um, no I don’t,” Rose replied, hoping the woman would take her foul-smelling vice somewhere else.
“Well, I don’t need it right this instant. So tell me, what happened?”
“I was hit by a car.” She shifted in her chair, uncomfortable with the memory.
“That’s a shame. But that’s what insurance is for, I guess. I hope you have a good lawyer.” Elaine exhaled, sending a stream of smoke into Rose’s face. “My plane was over twenty minutes late getting into Albany. I can drive through snow with no problem, I don’t understand why pilots whine so much about it. It’s not like they have to come to any sudden stops or anything.” The smoke hung in the air, forcing Rose to blink rapidly to keep from tearing up. “I guess people always needto complain about.”
Rose thought briefly about pointing out the fallacy in the wealthy woman’s thinking but decided against it. “I guess so,” she said, craning her head around to look for Ronnie.
“Exactly!” Elaine said enthusiastically, her movements causing ashes to fall on the carpet.
“Oh, let me go find you an ashtray.” Rose gripped the wheels of her chair and prepared to make her exit.
“Now why bother doing that?” Elaine caught the attention of a passing waiter. “Excuse me, I don’t see any ashtrays around here.” Her condescending tone was not missed by either Rose or the young man.
“I’ll get you one right away, Madam,” he replied.
“And I don’t think it would hurt anything for someone to start tending bar.” She turned her attention back to the blonde woman. “Really, you’d think we paid them to stand around.” Another ash fell onto the carpet. “When my husband Richard was alive, the workers never even thought about striking. They knew where their paychecks came from, then the damn unions came along…” Elaine paused long enough to pull a chair over, effectively cutting off any thought of escape Rose might have had.
Ronnie was not faring any better in the kitchen. “Mother…”
“Now there’s nothing wrong with speaking the truth, Veronica.” She cast a disdainful look around the room. “The refrigerator should be opposite the stove, not next to it. That is why we had it on the other side of the room.”
“It’s easier for Maria to work with it over here.” Ronnie had forgotten her mother had not been over since the remodeling last summer.
Beatrice stepped away from her daughter. “Heaven forbid Maria should walk a few steps to get the butter. It didn’t bother her mother when she worked for us.” She shook her head dismissively.
“Coddling, Veronica. I’ve warned you about coddling.”
“I don’t think moving the fridge ten feet constitutes coddling, Mother.”
“Of course you wouldn’t, dear.” The hairs on the back of Ronnie’s neck bristled at the tone. “And what did you get for rearranging the kitchen? Did Maria still ask for her annual raise? Of course she did. I’m sure most of this…” She pointed at the cook’s island and the dishwasher. “…was her idea.”
“Why don’t we go see the tree? They did a very nice job decorating it.”
“We’ll see.” Ronnie reluctantly followed her mother out of the kitchen.
Rose watched the two of them enter the living room, Ronnie pointing out the various decorations. “See how the ornaments from when Susan, Tommy, and I were kids are out? Isn’t that nice?”
“Very nice, Veronica.” For the first time since she entered the house, Beatrice actually smiled. “I remember, every year you would give me an ornament. I guess some family traditions are destined to fall by the wayside.” She turned and noticed her sister and the woman in a wheelchair. “Ah, there you are, Elaine. And who do we have here?”
“Mother, this is Rose Grayson. Rose, my mother, Beatrice Cartwright.” Ronnie’s voice remained pleasant but her eyes narrowed at the wisps of smoke rising from the crystal plate being used as an ashtray.
“Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Cartwright,” the young woman said.
“Grayson…Grayson…” The wrinkled brow furrowed with thought. “I don’t recall any Graysons. What happened to your face? And the rest of you?”
“I was in an accident.”
“Oh,” she tsked. “You poor thing. Such a pretty face ruined like that.” Beatrice moved to get a better look at Rose’s right cheek. “Well, don’t give up hope, dear. It is amazing what they can do with plastic surgery these days.”
Rose looked down at her lap, wishing she were keeping Tabitha company at the moment instead of being subjected to this torture. She did not see the empathetic gaze being cast on her by Ronnie. “I’m just happy to be alive.”