"Tell him not to take too long," Rina said acerbically. "So, what are you going to do while Rick is thinking?" she asked Nora.
Nora sighed. "I'll have to call my mother and tell her. Dad left her very well fixed. I think she'll help out until we get this straightened out. Of course I'll pay her back. She's not going to be happy to have her life disrupted, I'm afraid."
"Where does she live?" Rina said.
"In one of those elegant, perfectly manicured little retirement communities on the Carolina coast," Nora replied. "Dad moved them down before he died. It's a life-care community. He wanted her taken care of when he wasn't around to do it. I've been taking the kids down twice a year to visit. She never really liked Jeff. She'll be surprised, but not particularly devastated."
And Margo Edwards, Nora's mother, was indeed surprised by her daughter's news, but not because of the divorce. It was the timing that she found curious. "I thought he would have done this ten years ago," she said.
"What on earth would have made you think that?" Nora demanded of her parent.
"Well, other than the illusion that his marriage created for all to see, it was obvious he didn't love you anymore," Margo responded. "Didn't you realize what was going on, Nora? Of course I never told your father of Jeff's infidelities. It wasn't really necessary that he know unless, of course, he had divorced you while Dad was alive. Then I would have said something."
"I'm surprised you kept something from Daddy," Nora said. "He did rule the roost in our house."
Margo laughed. "There were a lot of things I didn't discuss with your father, Nora, and he only thought he was in charge, darling. A wise woman lets a man believe that, and she picks her battles carefully." Then she sighed. "At least the house is in your name. Is it paid off?"
There was a long pause. Nora swallowed hard, and then she said to her mother, "The house isn't in my name, Mom. Nothing is in my name."
"Jesus Jenny!" Margo Edwards swore volubly. "The lying SOB! When you bought your house Jeff had the ten percent for the down payment. Your father gave him an additional ten percent so the mortgage would be smaller. It was done on the proviso that Jeff put the house in your name. I put that idea in dad's head so you would always be safe. And I was there when your father brought it up to Jeff, and he agreed he would do it in exchange for the additional ten percent. You're sure the house is in his name?"
"Yes, Mom, I'm certain. But it is paid off," Nora said.
"How much money do you have in the bank?" Margo asked.
"It's the end of the month. Probably not more than fifty dollars," Nora replied.
"No, honey, not your household account. Your other accounts. CDs. You know."
"Mom, I've got a bank account for the house. Jeff puts money in it once a month, and I pay the bills. I don't have any other bank accounts, or CDs."
"Why not?" Margo's voice had suddenly hardened.
"Where would I get the money from?" Nora said helplessly.
"I used to take money out of my household account and squirrel it away," Margo said. "Why didn't you, Nora? I didn't think you were that stupid. A woman has to think of herself."
"Mom, Jeff gives me just enough money each month to pay the household bills. If I run over the previous month's amount by more than five percent, I have to show him the bills, and justify every expenditure. I am allowed one credit card, and before I use it I have to tell him what I'm buying and why. He's always been a bear where money is concerned. But he has always kept us comfortable. I have had no cause for complaint until now. I thought people got married till death did they part. My grandparents did. You and Dad did. Jeff's folks did."
"Why didn't you tell me this, Nora? Why didn't you tell me that your husband is a control freak? This borders on abuse, darling, and you have been standing there, and taking it. I don't understand it!" Margo was now sounding exasperated.
"I was only doing what you did, Mom," Nora said. "Jeff always said you had set me a wonderful example of how to be a good wife."
"Good grief!" Margo said. "Listen to me, Nora, although frankly it's a little late for me to tell you this, but I will anyway. Your father was raised by his grandparents, who had been raised in the Victorian era. He thought a wife should be meek and mild, and defer to her husband. That was the kind of wife he wanted, and I loved your father dearly. So I gave him that kind of a wife. But I was never that kind of a woman. Ever! Your father never controlled me the way Jeff has obviously been controlling you, darling. If I thought Dad was going in the wrong direction, I would cajole him into turning about. You know how he always wanted to invest in so many crazy schemes he was sure would make him rich, yet he never did. It was because I convinced him otherwise, and I did it in such a way that he always believed he had come to the conclusion all by himself. And when those schemes blew up, he would brag about how astute he had been to avoid it all. Don't you remember?"
"I do," Nora said slowly. "But Jeff is different than Daddy. Daddy had a sweet nature, Mom. Jeff has always been bound and determined to have his own way. Once I loved him dearly too."
"I never liked him," Margo said, "but then, you knew that, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"There was something about him, but I could see that nothing I would say was going to change your mind, and Daddy thought he was just the right man for you. I tried to show him otherwise over the term of your engagement," Margo said, "but that was the one thing in which I failed. I am sorry, darling."
"Oh, Mom, didn't you always say I had to learn the hard way?" Nora half laughed.
"Well," Margo responded, and her voice was brisk, "now the question is, what are we going to do? Do you have an attorney?"
"Carla's husband, Rick. Jeff has some big-city divorce guy," Nora told her mother.
"Who?" Margo was instantly alert to danger.
"Raoul Kramer, I think his name is," Nora answered.
"Certainly isn't stinting himself," Margo said dryly. This was not good. Raoul Kramer was a vicious divorce lawyer who always got his clients exactly what they wanted. He was ruthless, and was apt to make mincemeat of that nice Rick Johnson. Still, there was no need at this point to frighten Nora. "Tell Rick to call me tomorrow, darling, and I'll send him a retainer for you. I know he'd do it for free until it's settled, but no need for that. And give me your bank account number. I'll wire you ten thousand dollars to keep you going, Nora. And Nora, if you need more before a preliminary hearing, I want you to call me immediately."
"Mom…" Nora's voice cracked.
"Oh, shut up!" Margo said. "Now, darling, I have to run. There is a very delightful gentleman waiting to play tennis with me."
"You have a boyfriend?" Nora had never heard her mother speak of another man.
"I haven't decided yet, darling. One thing I do know. While I do enjoy sex, I am simply not of a mind to marry again, and break another man in," and she laughed at her daughter's small gasp. "Nora, I may be past seventy, but I do enjoy a good bang now and again. Gotta run, darling. Taylor is beginning to stamp his feet." And the phone went dead.
Nora put the portable down. She had learned more about her mother in this one phone conversation than she had in all her life. She was rethinking her parents' marriage, but then, no matter what Margo had said this afternoon, she had never said that she and her husband had been unhappy. Nor had Nora seen any evidence to the contrary. What a jerk I've been, she thought. Jeff was right. Dumb! She had been dumb, and now she had to live with the results of her stupidity. She stood up and, walking from the kitchen, went out the door and across her back lawn to the Johnsons' house. It was after five, and she knew that Rick would be home. "Hello!" she called as she walked into Carla's kitchen.
"We're in the family room," Carla called back.
Nora joined them, accepting the glass of wine Carla handed her. "I just talked with my mother," she began. "I'll give you her number, Rick. She wanted to send you a retainer. Says she knows you're a good guy, but you should get paid something. You can tell her anything you want. I've just discovered something I never knew."