The Sins of the Mother (11 page)

“Wow! Grandma! This is some boat,” Alex said with a look of awe.

“Wait till I show you around!” Olivia promised, and put an arm around his shoulders. “They have lots and lots of water toys. We can take them out tomorrow.”

She had asked the chef to set out a buffet for them, and he had done a masterful job. There was sushi of all kinds, which she knew they loved, hot meats and cold ones, sliced chicken, many salads, assorted pastas, and an entire table of elegant desserts. It was a feast! The stewardess poured them champagne, and a few minutes after they had arrived, they were dining and talking, and totally revived after the trip. Even Sarah was more at ease once she started eating, and Alex had taken the chair next to his grandmother, and was telling her all the things he wanted to do. It all sounded like fun to her.

The newcomers stayed on deck until almost midnight, and then both couples went to their cabins. She saw a conspiratorial look pass between John and Sarah, and smiled to herself, knowing what it meant. The two of them could never keep their hands off each other, and it pleased her to see them so happy and their marriage solid. She and Joe had felt that way about each other for all their years together too. In fact, they had gotten closer over the years, and more in love. Their children and the business they had built together, and their profound respect for each other had been a powerful bond. In John and Sarah’s case, they were still like two college kids deeply in love. Olivia noticed Alex watching them as they went downstairs. He stayed to chat with his grandmother, and helped himself to some more dessert. The pastries were delicious, and there were a dozen flavors of sorbet. He had slept on the flight and said he wasn’t tired. It was six hours earlier for him, and he was in no hurry to go to bed. Olivia asked him what he’d been doing recently, and he told her about all the sports he was involved in, and he was hoping for early admission to Stanford in the coming months. She promised to visit him whenever she was on the West Coast, if he got in, and she went out there often to check their stores. Visiting their stores personally was a practice she had started thirty years before, and her travel schedule had never slowed.

When Alex finished eating, she took him to see the movie theater, which he loved, and the gym, and she had a crew member show them the rafts, floats, small sailboats, speedboats, and jet skis. They checked out the inflatable toys that they could ride on, which were all full of air and ready. There was one that looked like a giant banana and half a dozen people could ride it at the same time, if they could stay on it, as a crew member explained. That was the trick! There were three lovely small sailboats, half a dozen jet skis, and several speedboats. The family that owned the boat had everything they could have wanted. Alex could hardly wait to try it all. His eyes were huge as he took it all in, and then she laughed and asked him if he would take her on a jet ski with him.

“I’d love that, Grandma,” he said, grinning at her. “Tomorrow,” he promised. They both laughed, and he hugged her to seal the deal.

“I’m going to hold you to it,” she warned him. “I’ve always wanted to do that, and I’m scared to go by myself.”

“You’ve got it, Grandma.”

They went back on deck afterward, and at two o’clock Alex finally left to find his cabin. Olivia went with him and saw that his bags had been unpacked. There was an enormous TV screen in his room and a whole library of movies.

“Now don’t stay up all night. You don’t want to be exhausted tomorrow. You can sleep in, in the morning, but we’re going to leave at lunchtime, as soon as Liz and the girls get here. We’ll stop somewhere to swim and have lunch on the way to Portofino.”

“I want to try the banana thing with the girls. I saw that in a movie once, and it was really funny. Everyone kept falling off.”

“I don’t think I’ll volunteer for that one,” Olivia said, laughing with him, and a few minutes later, after hugging and kissing him again, Olivia left him in his cabin. He was already turning on the TV, to put in a movie, and she walked back to her own cabin with a happy smile. This was the perfect trip and boat for them, especially for Alex, who loved water sports so much. She didn’t know why, but she thought he looked worried while she was talking to him, or lonely. Something felt off to her, or maybe she had imagined it, and he was just nervous about applying to college. She felt sorry for him. Kids today had so much pressure to deal with. She had never talked to him about it, but she wondered if one day he would want to come into the business. At seventeen, it was too soon for him to know, and for her to ask. Sophie, on the other hand, at twenty-three, was dying to come to work for her, and had talked about it since she was a child. And Olivia was excited to have that happen. Her dream was that one day all of her grandchildren would work there, but she knew Carole never would. She wanted either to be an artist, or to work for her father and stepmother in film production. She had no interest whatsoever in business, unlike her sister, Sophie. And Alex was too young to know. She felt fortunate as it was to have her sons in the business. She and Joe had always wanted that to happen, and it had. She was happy that he had seen their dream come true before he died. Both boys had already been working for them when their father passed away. It had made them even more responsible at an early age, and she counted on them a great deal now, even though she still ran the show, and hoped to for a long time. But the three of them worked well together. It had brought them closer to her now as adults. They had The Factory in common.

When Olivia got back to her cabin, and went to bed, she lay thinking about her children and grandchildren for a long time. She was looking forward to spending time with them, and pleased that they had this fabulous vacation to look forward to.

In the morning, Olivia went on deck. Amanda was already presiding at the breakfast table. She was wearing pale blue silk shorts with a matching blouse, and a very pretty pale blue hat to match. Olivia was wearing white cotton slacks and a starched white blouse, her white hair was impeccably done, and she had had a manicure in the salon on the boat the day before. Amanda looked ready for anything. Sarah looked sleepy and disheveled when she came up. She said she had slept like a baby, and all three of the men in the family were still asleep. Olivia suspected that Alex had stayed up late watching movies in his room.

“I thought you might like to go shopping this morning,” Olivia said pleasantly to Amanda. “The stores are pretty fabulous in Monte Carlo. Liz won’t be here till about one o’clock, we’ll leave then, so you have all morning.”

“I’d love it.” Amanda beamed from ear to ear.

“I think I’ll stay here. I have some reading I want to do,” Sarah said quietly, which was no surprise either. Sarah had no interest in shopping, and it showed.

“Maybe you’d like a massage in the spa,” Olivia suggested. She was an excellent cruise director, and her whole goal was for each of them to have fun, in the way they wanted to. There were no forced activities here. She wanted it to be paradise for them, not boot camp.

“Maybe I will,” Sarah said with a dreamy look, as she ordered an omelet for breakfast. There was something sinfully luxurious about being waited on hand and foot. She felt guilty about it, and had been genuinely upset by the first-class air tickets Olivia had bought for them, but sooner or later the pampering was very seductive. Olivia was enjoying it herself, although she rarely took time for self-indulgence in real life. But this was sheer heaven, even for her.

Olivia organized a driver and crew member to take Amanda shopping, and half an hour later both of her sons appeared, looking sleepy and relaxed. They were already talking about fishing, as they ordered eggs Benedict, and the steward handed each of them a copy of the
Herald Tribune
. Amanda was just leaving. Gold sandals and a gold beach bag had appeared to complete her outfit, and she was wearing small diamond earrings. She looked absolutely perfect leaving the yacht.

Alex was the last to join them, and admitted that he had watched two movies back to back and fallen asleep at five
A.M.
before the second one was over, but he was in good spirits. He could hardly wait for his cousins to arrive, and he and Olivia played gin rummy after breakfast. He beat her fair and square three times.

When Amanda came back from her shopping trip, she was carrying four shopping bags and wore a blissful expression. Phillip was waiting for her on deck, since John and Sarah had gone back to their room for a nap after breakfast. No one ever commented on their frequent disappearances, although Olivia always found them secretly amusing. Alex had glanced at her for a moment when they left, and said nothing. And Phillip was happy to see his wife—he’d been bored without her.

As they sat chatting, a car pulled up with a luggage van following it. And out stepped three spectacular-looking young women, as Alex gave a whoop of delight. It was Liz, Sophie, and Carole. The girls looked pretty and fresh, and as Liz joined them on deck, she was laughing. Her hair was a tangled mess, and she looked as though someone had been murdered in her lap.

“What happened to you?” Olivia looked at her in amazement and then kissed her. She was happy to see her.

“We hit turbulence and I spilled my Bloody Mary.” Amanda looked at her with obvious disapproval, and Olivia laughed. The mishap was so typical of her daughter. As a child, she always had something spilled all over her, and if anyone knocked over a glass at dinner, it was Liz. She was absentminded and clumsy, but lovable nonetheless.

“This is some boat, Mom!” Liz said, looking at the extraordinary elegance all around them.

“They have wristbands for you to wear, so you don’t get seasick,” her mother told her. “Apparently, they’re very effective. I asked them.” And with that, a stewardess handed some to Liz, and offered them to the others. No one else wanted them, but Liz put them on. “Why don’t you let them show you and the girls to your cabins, and then you can come back on deck? We’re going to leave in a few minutes. We’re going to have lunch somewhere where we can swim.” Olivia had worked it all out with the captain that morning. And a few minutes later Liz and the girls went downstairs. Alex offered to show them around. Olivia could hear the motor come on, and the deckhands were untying the ropes from the dock, and adjusting the fenders. Everyone was busy, as John and Sarah came back on deck, looking relaxed, with an arm around each other.

As they pulled out of port, everyone was on deck. Liz had changed her shorts and put a clean pair on, with a white T-shirt. The girls were talking excitedly with Alex, who was telling them about the inflatable banana they could ride on, and Amanda was telling Phillip how great the shops in Monaco were, and about the pretty things she’d bought. Olivia listened to the chatter all around her, and smiled to herself. This was precisely what she had wanted. They were all having a good time.

The captain gave them a brief safety demonstration in case of fire, or “man overboard.” He told them where the life jackets were in their cabins, and where the lifeboats were. And after that, they were ready to leave.

They all went to sit on the sundeck at the bow of the boat as the
Lady Luck
slipped gracefully out of port and headed toward Italy. They cruised for an hour, then they stopped and set anchor. The crew took the water toys out so anyone who wanted to could swim. And Olivia quietly reminded her grandson of his promise.

“Don’t forget my ride with you on the jet ski,” she said in a whisper, and he giggled like a little kid.

“Of course not, Grandma.”

Olivia went below to put on a bathing suit, and by the time she came back, the toys were ready, and there were crew members standing by in tenders to help them, or follow them on the jet skis. Someone had put on music, and her granddaughters were wearing the bottoms of their bikinis and nothing else and seemed completely unconcerned. Liz was wearing the top of hers, and her body looked spectacular as she dove into the water, and moments later everyone else followed suit. And by then Alex was sitting firmly astride the jet ski and held out a hand to his grandmother. She got on behind him with ease, as both her sons looked at her in horror. By then Liz and the girls were swimming toward a narrow beach, Sarah was sitting on the platform behind the boat, dangling her feet, and Amanda was debating about whether to get in.

“What are you doing?” Phillip called to his mother, as Alex started the engine of the jet ski.

“Taking a ride with Alex,” Olivia said with a broad grin as they took off at full speed, with a tender and a crew member following them. They kept a close watch on charter guests to make sure no one got hurt, and Alex had had to show a jet ski license to use the jet ski. Fortunately, he had had one since he was sixteen. He flew through the water with his grandmother behind him, holding tightly with her arms around his waist. She was loving every minute of it, and so was he, as Phillip and John looked at each other and shook their heads.

“If anyone had told me I’d see that one day, I wouldn’t have believed it. Why didn’t she do things like that with us when we were kids?” Phillip sounded wistful as he said it. This was not the mother he knew and remembered. This was someone else entirely.

“She was too busy,” John said simply, and then he went to convince Sarah to get in the water with him, while she took photographs of the scene. She and John were the family photographers, and the results were terrific. It was always fun looking at the pictures after the trip. She was a little overwhelmed by his family at first. They were a fairly overpowering group and this was a far cry from their familiar life in Princeton. But she was happy to see Alex having so much fun. And it helped her relax to take photographs of everyone. They were all in a great mood.

When Liz and the girls swam back from the beach, the three young people tried riding on the banana, pulled by one of the tenders, and they all fell off immediately, amid squeals of delighted laughter. The adults watched them from the deck, laughing too. It looked like fun to all of them. The three kids had all the exuberance and resilience of youth.