Her Name Will Be Faith (10 page)

Jo giggled, and signaled the
waitress to bring another coffee. "Okay,
so what's it all about?"

"It's so fabulous I don't know where to
start."

"Try the beginning, sweetie."

"Well... you remember I told you that Benny's
mother owned an apartment building?"

"Yes." Jo wrinkled her
nose. She hadn't seen the house, but knew it
was in Greenwich Village and in rather a run-down state.

"Well, the two guys who were renting the basement
have moved out, owing two months' rent, so Annamarie has repossessed it. Now
she says we can have it."

"Oh, how super." Not quite as exciting as Jo
had expected.

Marcia saw her expression and grinned. "But
that's not all. The lease on the first floor ends in two months, and the old
darling says she won't renew it, so we can have that, too."

Jo frowned. "What are you going to do with two
apartments?"

"Steady, girl, steady; that's not all, either.
The old chap on the second floor is in hospital. His wife says he has terminal cancer,
and so she is
leaving to keep house for her
brother. Isn't it fantastic, all that happening
at once? So Benny's
mother says we can have the whole house."

"Gee, Marcia, that's fabulous. But the rent..."

"No, no, she's not renting
it to us. She's giving it! We thought she
meant
selling it, and we didn't think we could raise that kind of money,
but she says she has enough income from her other
houses; seems Benny's
father left her three. So she's making the deeds
of the house over to us.
And," she went
on as Jo made to congratulate her, "there's more yet."
She opened her purse and produced a sapphire and
diamond engagement
ring. "Benny says that if we want to be
respectable home owners, we'll have to get married and have children. Look what
he bought me with the
money he got from the
sale of that purple and red sea scene." She slipped
the ring on to
her finger and held it up to the light. "We are now officially
engaged."

"Marcia! How absolutely
marvelous." Jo leaned across the table to
give her sister-in-law a kiss. "Congratulations, Babe,
congratulations. Have you told your folks?"

"Not yet. I telephoned Babs
and told her we'd like to come out
tomorrow
night. Can you and Michael come?"

"Sure we can."

"Because Belle and Lawson are flying up from
Nassau, and Dale has promised to be there too. We'll surprise them."

"Big Mike will blow his mind."

"I guess he will. We're
taking Benny's mother, too. We'll have a
surprise
family party."

"And I'll prepare the
food," Jo said excitedly. "Over at the cottage
where Babs won't see it."

To think that only a few days ago she had been the
most miserable woman in New York.

"Run, woman, run! Move your
fat ass," Big Mike shouted, then threw
his
racket into the air. "Christ! She's missed it. Would you believe it?"

"Will you shut up, you big
turkey? If you hadn't played the ball right
on to Neal's racket when you had an open court..."
Babs laughed as
she went up to the net to
shake Meg's hand. "Anyway, you'd have beaten us in the end. You were just
too good for us today. Thanks for a lovely game."

There was applause from the gallery. Jo and Michael,
who had arrived
with the children and sat
watching the final set, rose to greet the players
as they came off the court.

"Lovely of you to call round." Babs kissed
her eldest son. "Let's all go inside for a drink." The court had been
leveled out of the gentle slope
behind
Pinewoods, and the sun had begun to dip towards the surrounding
trees. "Were you thinking of staying for
supper?" Babs asked Jo as
they walked down the gravel path
together. "I haven't anything very interesting in the house, as Mike and I
had thought of going out. Could you come with us?"

"Bit difficult with the
children," Jo hedged. "But I've quite a nice
lasagna ready at the cottage. I
can pop back and fetch it, later. Won't
take me more than five minutes," she lied, picturing
the vast feast she, and Marcia had prepared and which the latter was looking
after, while
she and Michael paved the
way for the big surprise. They had to be sure Babs and Big Mike were at home
when Marcia and Benny walked in.

When the Robsons had left, still
anxious to talk about their new
purchase
– they were leaving for the Bahamas at the end of the month –
Babs and Big Mike went up to change while Jo and
Michael went home's
to fetch the 'lasagna'. The older couple suspected
nothing, despite the children's conspiratorial glances – they had been
sworn to secrecy.

Half an hour later, Babs squealed
with delight as Marcia dashed into
the house and hugged her parents. "Sweetie! Don't
you look lovely. What
a beautiful
dress. And Benny! Wow!" She did a double take. "Don't you
look smart. I don't think I've ever seen you in a
suit before. You guys
going to a party?"

Benny was looking distinctly
uncomfortable – but Marcia had insisted.

Jo, Michael, Owen Michael, Tamsin and Dale crowded the
doorway
behind Marcia and Benny, and Babs
stared at them too. "You're
all
dressed up as well. What is this?" She looked
from face to face in suspicion.

Jo prodded the shy and nervous Benny in the back,
prompting him to
speak. "Er... well..."
he coughed and looked pleadingly at his beloved,
who didn't attempt to help – but smiled encouragement. "Well,
Marcia
and
I-have-decided-we-want-to-get-married, and we've brought my Mom
too."
Words spilled out in a rush, and an equally shy, short, plump, middle-aged
woman in an obviously new, smart, two-piece, was dragged into the room from the
hallway.

Big Mike leapt up to join the whirl of excited hugs,
kisses and handshakes, beaming from ear to ear, while Babs' eyes filled and she
kept
repeating, "I'm so happy I could
cry," while her husband made a grab
for the car keys, saying,
"I'm shooting down to the store for some champagne."

"Not necessary, Dad." Michael produced a
huge cool-box from behind him. "Here we are, all chilled and ready."

No one noticed Jo slip upstairs to the phone, and five
minutes later the excitement started all over again as Lawson and Belle walked
in.

Benny was left in no doubt as to the popularity of his
proposal. His natural reserve was swept away on the tide of Donnelly enthusiasm
and soon, with the added help of champagne, he was chatting freely, arm round
his mother, explaining her generosity and all they planned to do.

Jo was busy organizing food from the car to Babs’ oven,
but she had time to join in every few minutes. She loved watching people
– speculating on what made them tick. Big Mike, Babs and Michael all
relieved that Marcia was at last ‘going legit’, becoming respectable; Benny’s
mother, Annie as she liked to be called, swamped by the noisy and affectionate
welcome, trying to keep her end up with Benny’s encouragement; Belle, who
couldn’t give a damn about respectability, thrilled by her younger sister’s
happiness, and Lawson…but Lawson seemed to hang on the periphery of the fun,
obviously preoccupied.

Babs followed Jo into the kitchen. “If I’d only known
you were all coming I’d have gotten food in and ready, but I guess we’ll have
to send the boys out for some takeaway, to feed twelve of us… Your poor lasagna
can’t…?” She realized that Jo was grinning, and stopped. “What have you been up
to?” she sniffed. “That’s not lasagna … why, that’s one of your lovely baked
hams… and what’s under there?” She pointed to a large tray concealed under a
dish towel.

Jo whipped the cloth away to reveal twelve halves of
grapefruit, cut and piled with brown sugar steeped in sherry. “Those just need
to go under the grill for a few minutes, the vegetables on, and the sauce
heated.

Babs hugged her. "Jo, you are a doll. You've got
it all organized. Say, have I got time to go up and change? I feel awful in
these old pants."

Her daughter-in-law laughed.
"Babs, you make old pants look divine
– but if you want to put on your
mother-of-the-bride outfit, you go ahead.
Nothing's
going to spoil if you're quick."

Minutes later Big Mike came into the kitchen.
"Where's Babs?"

"Changing. You've time, if you want to," Jo
assured him.

It was not an assurance he wanted.
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?” 

Jo looked at the ancient sweater and cords. "Not
too much, I guess, providing you're not embarrassed."

"Embarrassed? Dammit, they're clean..." He
noticed a greasy mark over his stomach. "Well, nearly."

"Where's that beautiful jumper Marcia gave you
for Christmas?"

"Not that purple and yellow monstrosity?"

"Yeah, that's the one. She'd love to see you
wearing it. She's been so worried that you didn't like it," Jo coaxed.

"She's damn right... oh, okay." He grumbled
off towards the stairs.

The meal was a great success. The table wasn't built
for twelve people,
but they made it, Owen
Michael and Tamsin, in smart suit and party
dress, being allowed to stay up for the important occasion. After they
had
all held hands while Big Mike said grace, there were innumerable
toasts and gradually the noise level rose as the wine took effect and
everyone's voice grew louder in an effort to compete with the rest.

"I have an announcement to make too," Jo
said, when she could make herself heard. "You'll never guess who's
vacationing with us at Dolphin Point next month."

They looked at her, and Michael drank some more
champagne. "My husband," Jo said, smiling at him.

"Son of a gun," Big Mike
said. "I never thought we'd get you down
there again."

"Well..." Michael said.

"Won't that be during the Bermuda Race?"
Dale asked his brother. "Well..."

"I'm so glad you're coming down." Babs
squeezed Michael's hand.

"Yeah. Well..." Michael
looked at his father, and then at Lawson.
Big Mike understood the glance, as did Lawson. Big Mike
nodded,
motioning him to wait.

By 10.30 the children were
virtually asleep in their chairs, and Jo took
them up to bed. The others voted
to clear away before taking coffee in
the lounge; Benny and Dale collected glasses
while the women dealt with
dishes and leftovers.

"Cigar?" Big Mike asked Lawson.

"Love one."

"Come and take your pick. They're in my
study." Followed by Michael, he led Lawson across the hall into the small
room lined with loaded bookshelves, to the comfortable armchairs arranged
before his desk. "Sit down and help yourself." He pushed a big silver
box across the table, dropped into the swivel chair behind the desk, sat
waiting as they
all
sucked vigorously for a few seconds.
Then he said, "Well?"

"The ball's in your court, Big Mike," Lawson
said. "Dolphin Point is officially on the market as of now. So... we're
going to have to make a decision."

"Big interest?"

"Some, already."

"Local?"

Lawson shook his head. "A million US is a bit
steep for the average
Bahamian." He
grinned. "They'd hardly get foreign exchange for such
a purchase,
and if they don't apply, questions might be asked as to where they got the
money – like do they maintain an illegal American account?"

"I thought everyone down
there was as corrupt as hell," Michael
remarked.

"There's a lot of
corruption, sure. But you still can't be too blatant
about it. No, our main interest is coming from
Florida. The realtors over there are looking for some alternatives to those
millionaire ghettos they have up in Boca Raton and Palm Beach. Once they get in
the act..."

"So what d'you want from me?" Big Mike
asked. "I'm thinking about raising the money, but I need another few
weeks. And I want to have another look at the property."

"And you're not coming down
until mid-July? It'll be gone by then.
Can't
you make it sooner?"

"No way. We're up to our ears trying to float a
stock issue."

"Look," Lawson said. "All it needs is a
hundred thousand as a deposit. That'll tie it up, Big Mike."

"Which we lose if it doesn't work out,"
Michael commented.

"It has to work out,"
Lawson insisted. "Look, did Big Mike give you
the figures?"