“She has friends.”
“She’s losing them right and left. Give her too much to drink, and she gets bold. I won’t repeat what she told Bobo Dietz last week. I wasn’t even there, but word filtered back. It was downright offensive. You can be sure that she won’t get any more invitations from the Dietzs’, and, to be perfectly honest, I don’t blame Bobo in the least.”
“Bobo Dietz happens to be one of the most obnoxious women in Newport. If Susan told her so, good for Susan.”
Oliver Smith wasn’t thrilled with his daughter’s stand. “Bobo Dietz happens to be one of the wealthiest women in Newport—”
“Which isn’t saying much. The only people in Newport who aren’t wealthy are the people who service the wealthy, and most of those can’t afford to live in Newport. Come on, Dad, Bobo Dietz isn’t worth arguing over.”
“And that, young lady, is why you had to run away to Providence.”
“I didn’t run—”
“You never could learn what was important and what wasn’t. You never understood that there were certain rules to be followed in certain circles. Susan understood it. Why couldn’t you?”
“Because I’m not Susan.”
“Obviously. Susan has the makings to succeed here. It would have been better if she hadn’t split with Dirk, but she can still pull it off. She has the looks and the charm, and she does even better in Palm Beach. She was only down there for a month this winter. I don’t know why she didn’t stay longer. But that doesn’t matter now. Most everyone is back or coming soon. And Susan will do fine, as long as she stays sober.” He barely paused before yelling, “Where the hell is she?”
It was Savannah who took the breath. “She’s at Megan’s.”
“Ah. Megan. Megan. The only redeemable quality inthatchild is her husband. The Vandermeer name is solid.”
Savannah didn’t know whether to laugh or scream. In lieu of either, she pressed her fingers harder to her forehead and prayed for strength. “Megan happens to be a good friend. We go back a long way together. She’s been very loyal, which is more than I can say about some of the others I grew up with.”
“That’s your problem, Savannah. You took off to become a lawyer, and suddenly you didn’t have time for those friends. What did you expect them to do—wait with bated breath until you deigned to give them a call?”
“I didn’t—”
“You’ve distanced yourself. So don’t blame it on them. You’ve distanced yourself from all of us. What does that say aboutyoursense of loyalty?”
“I’m loyal—”
“I call to take you to lunch and you’re busy. Alex Porter calls to take you to a party in Manhattan and you’re busy. Muffy Adams calls to invite you for a weekend in Westport and you’re busy.”
“Iambusy—”
“Working. Always working. You’re a very boring person.”
“Dad, please—”
“I’m serious. Your work always comes first.”
“This isn’t the time—”
“There’s never a time. That’s the problem.”
She didn’t attempt to say another word, but sat with the phone to her ear and her fingertips to her forehead, and waited. Her father would eventually quiet down. Until then, nothing she tried to say would register.
“Actually,” he ranted on, “the problem is that I never had a son. I wanted someone to pass the business on to, so what did I get? Two daughters. The odds were that one of you would be a boy. But no, I got two daughters. Not much to found a dynasty on.” He paused, listened, demanded, “Are you there, Savannah?”
“I’m here.”
“Well, listen good. I want to know what your sister’s doing. Are you going to call her, or should I?”
“I’ll do it, by all means.”
“I’d appreciate that,” he said, somewhat mollified. “You can tell her to call me by three. I’m playing tennis at four, and after that I’ll be leaving for Stowe. Jack’s boy is flying us up for the weekend. The skiing is just fine, they say. So, you’ll keep an eye on Susan while I’m gone?”
