Chapter 12
The occasion of Mary Kilbourne's eighteenth birthday was well attended. Nelson had set up two tables :n the terrace, and Sarah had laden them heavily. Mitch presided over the smaller of the two tables, with Fern on his right hand and Mary on his left. Next to Fern sat Mr. Nestor, the family attorney, and next to Mary sat Robert. Lucy sat at one end of the larger table, with Nelson at its other end to help her keep a semblance of order among the dozen or so children who lined its sides. Jeff and Jimmy sat at each of Lucy's sides. She was wearing a see-through blouse and no bra, and although Fern disapproved of this, and the way the two boys at her sides were frankly ogling her; she made no mention of it. Lucy's table was a little too rowdy for Fern's tastes as well, with one child after another dropping silverware and having to climb under the table to retrieve it. Still, she said nothing, having learned of late that it was best to defer to the judgment of her husband.
Sarah had served a nice luncheon. A Caesar salad, cold poached salmon, and asparagus with Hollandaise sauce for the table where the grown-ups sat, and potato salad and hot dogs for the other. The children's table had pitchers of root beer on it, and the adult's table had a bottle of chilled French champagne. Lucy and Nelson, however, were drinking champagne, and Mary and Fern had glasses of root beer before them.
Mr. Nestor was speaking:
"This is a momentous birthday for you, Mary, for it not only marks the start of your adult life, it also begins your life as an extremely wealthy young woman. I've been working with your probate attorneys in Indiana as well as with Mitch and Fern Greaves, and ... by the way, Mitch, the papers came through this morning. Fern now legally bears your name.''
"Good," said the handsome young man at the head of the table, and reached for his glass of champagne. Fern reached for her root beer, smiling radiantly at him. Stealthily, her hand went past the mug and closed about the stem of Mr. Nestor's wine glass. She'd almost succeeded in bringing it to her lips when Sarah leaned over her shoulder, her big, soft breasts pressed against her mistress's back.
She took the glass away, saying, "Now, now, Fern. Root beer for you. We know what's best for you."
Fern smiled over her shoulder at the cook and reached down to fondle her plump leg. She sighed and said, "Yes. You're right, dear." She picked up the root beer and touched glasses with her husband before they drank. Mr. Nestor went on:
"Your parents' farm has been sold and we got a good price for it, Mary. And ..."
"The farm? Sold?"
"Oh, yes. It's no place for a young girl like you," said Mitch. "You need an education, and New York is the place to get it."
"But I'm already planning on enrolling with Robert in the fall semester. The farm is sold?"
"Yes," said the attorney, waving an envelope. "And we got a good price for it. Four hundred thousand dollars." She sat back in her chair, flabbergasted, as he handed her the envelope. He said, "After inheritance taxes, the amount was reduced to a hundred eighty thousand and some odd dollars. But through the kindnes and wisdom of your aunt and uncle, this was reinvested in a real estate loan, so that check in your hand is for a nice, round quarter of a million dollars."
**A quarter of a million!" she exclaimed, looking from Mitch to Fern to Robert. "Oh, Aunt Fern! Mitch, how can I ever thank you?"
"Don't thank me," Fern muttered through clenched leeth, and tried again for Mr. Nestor's wine glass.
This time it was Mitch who stopped her. He reached down and pinched her ass, then gave it a loving pat. Her eyes softened as she looked at him, and her smile was as sweet as Mary's as she said to her niece, "You're more than welcome, dear. It was a pleasure, all the way."
"And here's another birthday present for you," said
Mitch, tossing her a ring of keys. "The Rolls is yours now, Mary. I've finally convinced Fern that we need a Ferrari."
As she was thanking him, Sarah returned with two brightly-wrapped packages and placed them before her. She whispered in Mary's ear, "The long skinny one is from me. Maybe you shouldn't open it in front of Mr. Nestor. It's one of them vibrators, for when you get lonely."
The blushing girl thanked her and opened Nelson's present. It was a pair of binoculars. She called her thanks across the terrace to him. With a hot dog in hand, he waved back at her, and in doing so, dropped his fork and bent under the table to retrieve it.
From the other end of the table, a flushed and smiling Lucy said. "I'm sorry, Mary. I've been so busy with the children's summer recreation thing I'm setting up that I didn't have a chance to get you anything for your birthday." Jeff and Jimmy were gone from her side, and the table was moving slightly, as if it was being used for a seance. "All I've got to offer you is some advice on all that money you've got now. The advice is spend, spend, SPEND!" she cried, holding her glass on high, then slumping down halfway under the table.
Robert took a small, beribboned package from his pocket, cleared his throat, and said, "I got this for you, dear. I hope it fits."
She opened it and beheld half a carat of flawless diamond, set in platinum. She slipped it on her fourth finger, left hand, and as she admired it through dewy eyes, her right hand went to his lap. She said, "Robert, darling, everything you have for me always fits just perfectly?"