“It’s wonderful,“ Diana said quickly. “Some lucky woman is going to get a terrific husband. Imagine finding one who can cook.“
Instantly she realized she had made a terrible faux pas. If the silence had weighed heavily on the table before, it was now crushing everything in sight. Robyn stared at her plate, her lower lip trembling. Brandon’s expression was unaccountably grim. And Colby just sat at the head of the table taking savage chunks out of his taco.
Diana thought about getting up and leaving then and there. She wanted no part of a Savagar family quarrel. But something about Robyn Lambert’s wounded blue eyes made her decide to stay. It wouldn’t be fair to leave the poor girl alone here with Colby and his son if real trouble was brewing.
Without warning, Brandon set his glass of cola down hard on the table. “It’s funny you should mention marriage, Miss Prentice,“ he said tightly. “The main reason Robyn and I are here is because we wanted to tell Dad we’re thinking of getting married before going back to school in the fall.“
No wonder Colby was sitting there looking as though he were about to explode. “I see,“ Diana said brightly. “How, uh, interesting.“ She could not think of anything else to say next.
“Dad doesn’t think so,“ Brandon said.
Colby dropped the last of his unfinished taco onto his plate and fixed his son with a forbidding glare. “I think the idea is goddamned stupid, that’s what I think.“
Tears trembled in Robyn’s eyes. Brandon’s face hardened.
Diana winced. The gloves were off. She knew she and poor Robyn were about to witness a full-blown quarrel between the two men. “Excuse me,“ she said, rising swiftly. “I don’t think I want to hear this. Robyn, would you like to come with me? Neither one of us needs to listen to these two do battle.“
“Sit down,“ Colby said through his teeth.
“Give me one good reason,“ Diana invited.
Colby drew a deep breath, clearly making a superhuman effort to control himself. “Brandon and I will discuss the matter later. This isn’t the time or the place.“
“True.“ Diana sat down cautiously. “But I wasn’t sure you realized it.“
Brandon looked at her with respect. Apparently he wasn’t accustomed to hearing his father handled in that manner. He hesitated nervously for a moment and then came up with what he undoubtedly assumed would be a safe topic of conversation.
“Dad said you were just here for the summer, Miss Prentice. How did you happen to pick Fulbrook Corners? From what Dad’s told me and from what I’ve seen, this isn’t exactly the vacation spot of the western hemisphere.“
Diana took pity on him. She smiled slightly. “Tm not sure why I picked this little town. I took a leave of absence from my job in Portland, and I felt I had to get away from the city for a while. I wanted a complete change of scene. As I told Colby, I just got out a map and Fulbrook Corners caught my eye. It turned out there were a few cottages available, so I took one for the summer.“
Brandon nodded. “How come you took a leave from your job?“
“Well, it’s a complicated story. I was in line for a promotion at the manufacturing firm where I had been working for the past four years. I felt I deserved the promotion. I’d worked extremely hard for it and, to be honest, I thought it was in the bag.“
“What kind of work do you do?“ Brandon asked.
“I have a degree in accounting and one in business administration. I was working as second-in-command in the office of a division controller at Carruthers and Yale.“
“So you did financial forecasting and things like that?“
Diana nodded, delighted by his interest. “That’s right. I helped work up the forecasts and also did a lot of accounting administration work. It’s all computerized these days, you know.“
“So what happened to the big promotion?“
“As I said, I didn’t get it. When it didn’t come through, I was forced to reconsider my situation. It became apparent that women could advance to the ranks of middle management but no higher at Carruthers and Yale. The men at the top had drawn the line at the divisional level.“
Robyn looked up, showing faint interest in the conversation. “You think you were denied the job because of sexual discrimination?“
“I have to assume that was the reason. There was no one else as qualified for the job as I was and everyone knew it.“
“But that’s illegal,“ Robyn said with a puzzled frown.
“I’ve got news for you, Robyn. Just because there are now laws in place to protect women from discrimination on the job doesn’t mean it’s always easy to get employers to obey them. In my case, I could never prove discrimination and there was no real way to fight it.“
“So you took a leave to think things over.“ Brandon nodded understandingly. “Going to go back?“
“No. I’ve done a lot of thinking, and I’m sure I’ll end up resigning my position. You have to know when to cut your losses in the corporate world,“ Diana explained calmly.
“But didn’t the whole situation make you mad?“ Brandon persisted.
Diana looked up from her taco and for an instant all the helpless fury she had experienced at the time was mirrored in her eyes. “Oh, yes,“ she whispered tightly, “it made me angry. More angry than I’ve ever been in my entire life. Nor have I ever felt so frustrated and helpless. I had worked hard for that promotion. I’d put in countless hours of unpaid overtime. I had put out one fire after another for my boss. When I first started to work in the division, it was losing a half a million a year. Within a year we were breaking even, and six months later we were clearing a profit. That division of Carruthers and Yale now makes a million and a half a year. And I had a lot to do with the turnaround, damn it.“
“Oh, wow,“ Brandon said, looking rather awed. Colby and Robyn were staring at her as if they hadn’t noticed her sitting there at the table until now.
“But where I really went wrong,“ Diana continued with barely suppressed violence, “was believing the upper management of Carruthers and Yale when it claimed it would treat women equally on the job. I put my faith in a bunch of male executives who lied through their teeth. They used me, but when it came time to promote me, they ignored me.
Yes, Brandon, it made me angry.“
Another taut silence descended on the table as the last of Diana’s fury evaporated. She had her temper in hand almost immediately, but Colby was still looking at her with a stunned expression.
“Christ, Diana, I hadn’t realized it had been like that for you,“ Colby said bluntly. “Why didn’t you tell me how bad it was?“
She shrugged. “You never asked.“
“No,“ he admitted slowly. “I didn’t, did I?“
Robyn looked genuinely puzzled. “But I thought it was different for women now.“
“Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn’t. Mostly it isn’t. Not at the higher corporate levels.“
Brandon spoke up. “How will you know if it’s going to be any better at your next job?“
“Good question,“ Diana said, trying to lighten her voice. “It’s one of the risks women face in the business world.
The only way to know for sure it might be better would be to start my own business, I suppose.“ She looked at Robyn.
“What type of career are you thinking of for yourself, Robyn?“
Robyn chewed her lip nervously and looked quickly at Brandon. “I’m not sure yet. I mean I haven’t thought too much about it. It’ll probably depend on what Brandon does. That is, I mean if we, uh – “ She broke off abruptly.
“Surely you’re not basing your career decisions on what Brandon does, or whether you get married,“ Diana said in genuine amazement. “Every woman has a responsibility to be able to take care of herself.“
“You sound like one of those hard-line feminists we have to study in college,“ Robyn muttered.
“No,“ Diana said easily. “I’m just practical. I’ve seen enough of life and the world to know that when the chips are down the only one you can really count on is yourself. Right, Colby?“
Colby studied her intently. “Yeah. Right. Do you want another taco, Diana?“
She laughed and got up. “No thanks, I’m stuffed. That was a delicious meal. Seeing as how you and Brandon fixed the dinner, I think Robyn and I can handle the dishes. Okay with you, Robyn?“
Robyn nodded reluctantly. Diana got the impression she didn’t want to be separated from Brandon by even a few feet. But she got up and began collecting dishes.
“This is a creepy old house, isn’t it?“ Robyn said as she followed Diana into the kitchen.
Diana looked around at the old two-story structure. The house was in decent repair, but there was an undeniable air of shabby gloom about it. The floorboards squeaked. The walls were bare. The appliances were old. The halls were dark. The furniture was ancient and worn-out, and the drapes were so faded that it was difficult to detect any sign of their original flower print.
There was something quietly, eerily sad about Aunt Jesse’s old house, as if the woman’s unfulfilled dreams still hovered there.
“Yes, it is a little creepy. Sort of fits the image of the kind of house a horror writer should live in, though,“ Diana said briskly.
Robyn gnawed on her lip again. “Mr. Savagar hates me.“
“Don’t be silly. He can’t possibly hate you. He hardly knows you. It’s the idea of you and Brandon getting married that he doesn’t like. He feels you’re both too young.“
“Brandon said his father was married at nineteen.“
“Which is precisely why he’s bound to be opposed to Brandon marrying at the same age. He knows nineteen is too young to make that kind of commitment.“
“You’re on Mr. Savagar’s side, aren’t you?“
“Not exactly. I do have my own opinions on some things, though, and I’ll admit I don’t think a woman should consider marriage until she’s established a career of her own. It’s just too big a risk.“
“You sound just like my parents. They’re always telling me what I should do. Always trying to dictate my life.
They think I’m still a child and they treat me like one.“
“They probably just don’t want you to make any serious mistakes at your age,“ Diana said soothingly, thinking that she was highly unqualified to be lecturing a teenager on how to conduct her life. She’d had absolutely zero experience in child-rearing.
“Brandon and I are adults, you know. We can make our own decisions.“
“Part of being an adult is not feeling it’s necessary to tell other adults that you are one.“
“What’s that supposed to mean?“ Robyn appeared genuinely bewildered.
“Never mind.“
“It’s not as if the people who don’t want us to get married know what they’re talking about,“ Robyn continued earnestly. “Take yourself, for example. You’re a lot older than me, you’ve got a career and everything and you’ve never married. Do you think I want to end up like you? And look at Mr. Savagar. He’s not married either. My parents may be married, but they’re always yelling at each other. Always fighting. The fact is, none of you know what real love is.“
Diana saw the incipient tears in Robyn’s eyes. She gave her a wry smile. “You may have a point, Robyn.“
“Couldn’t wait to get out of there, could you?“ Colby demanded roughly as he followed Diana into her cottage an hour later. He tossed her car keys down on the hall table. He had insisted on driving her home and intended to walk back to his place. “Can’t blame you. I wish I could walk away from that mess myself.“
“It’s a common enough situation, Colby. Just a couple of young people in the throes of first love.“
“A couple of young fools, you mean. Easy enough for you to sound calm. You’re not the one who has to deal with it.“ He shoved his fingers through his hair. “Marriage. I can’t believe it. After all I taught that kid. After all the lectures I gave him on not tying himself down to the first pretty face who comes along. Damn it, Diana, what the hell am I going to do?“
“I don’t know,“ Diana said gently, pouring him a glass of brandy. Specter watched broodingly. She tossed him a dog biscuit.
“I can’t let him do it. He’ll ruin his whole life. He’s got a great future waiting for him. The last thing he needs is to be saddled with a wife and maybe a couple of kids. I’ve got to make him see that. I can’t let him make the same damned fool mistake I made.“
“Stop pacing, Colby, you’re making Specter nervous.“
Colby swore under his breath and swallowed half the brandy in his glass. He looked at Diana mutely for a long moment. “I hadn’t realized how upset you were about your situation at Carruthers and Yale.“
She sipped her own brandy reflectively. “Ill find another job. I’ve got contacts in the business world. I’ve got a good track record. Something will turn up.“
“You’re cool enough about it now, but when Brandon brought up the subject at dinner, it was clear you’d been through hell. It really got to you. It was a major career disaster for you, wasn’t it?“
“These things happen in business.“
“Did that boss of yours – Aaron Crown – did he go to bat for you?“
“Aaron said he did everything he could for me. Gave me the highest possible recommendation. Tried to talk the powers that be into making good on their promise to deal fairly with a woman in management. But upper management was inflexible.“
“And I’ll bet you were as cool as a cucumber right through it all. No tears. No rage. No big emotional scenes and no recriminations.“
“One of the first things a woman learns in business is that men do not respect, let alone understand, what they think of as typical female emotions. It’s very important for a woman’s business image that she never cry or lose her self-control around the men she works with or for.“
“Maybe the management at Carruthers and Yale would have a little respect for someone’s hands wrapped around their collective throats. I’d like to try it. Maybe I could convince them to be a little more flexible. They had no right to do that to you.“
Specter growled, responding to the trace of genuine savagery in Colby’s words.
“Thanks for the sympathy, guys,“ Diana said with a smile.