Mistress for a Month

Imagining her customers lined up outside Vintage, Amy pressed the accelerator, speeding through the mountains and then along the rugged coastline where waves exploded against the rocks. The shop didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Life was short. She wanted Fletcher, her longtime boyfriend. She wanted his arms around her. That was why she was driving as fast as she could to his beach house on the North Shore.

Aunt Tate was gone. On a day like this there should be a rogue wave hurtling toward the Hawaiian Islands or an earthquake about to topple the hotels in Waikiki.

Despite the wind pounding the hood of her Toyota and streaming past her windows, the North Shore of Oahu with its lush, green mountains and wide, white beaches and ocean was beautiful.

Amy felt sad and restless and increasingly nostalgic about Aunt Tate as she kept redialing her mother. If only she could reach her.

I’ll never watch Aunt Tate put on one of her crazy getups again. I’ll never hear her throaty laugh as she bows extravagantly and jokes about being a countess.

The bright blue sky misted. Amy’s eyes burned.

No! She wasn’t crying!

She was driving too fast, and she never drove too fast. With a shaking hand she dialed her mother again, only this time she mashed her cell phone against her ear.

Sounding out of breath, her mother caught the phone on the eighth ring. “Hello!”

“Mom! Finally! The most awful thing has happened! I’ve been calling you and calling you. For hours.” The last was an exaggeration, but her mother deserved it.

“Do you need more money? Me to sign another mortgage paper on Vintage? Where are you, sweetie? You’re breaking up. Isn’t today your big day? How’s the sale going?”

“Mom, I’m not at Vintage. I’m on the North Shore.”

“Amelia, I thought we agreed you weren’t going to chase Fletcher any more!”

Do moms ever step out of the mom role? The last thing she needed was for her mom to start in on how irresponsible and indifferent Fletcher was. Why had she called her mom, of all people?

Because Carol, favorite daughter, her sister, had married well—an English lord, no less. Carol lived on an estate an hour out of London, and it was in the middle of the night over there. Because her best girl buddy, Liz, was in Molokai sitting cross-legged at a retreat. Because Fletcher’s phone was turned off as usual. Because Mom was Tate’s sister. Because she was her mom, for heaven’s sake. And if she had to go to France, who would take care of Vintage?

Shells crunched under Amy’s tires as she braked in front of Fletcher’s unpainted house. As always the house and neighborhood looked so shabby they creeped her out.

“Amelia! Tell me you didn’t drive out to Fletcher’s alone!”

Amy gritted her teeth.

“You could do so much better.”

“Mother, I’m grown.”

“Sometimes I wonder. Carol wouldn’t have wasted her precious time—”

“Don’t start on Carol, either!”

“This is all your father’s fault. He was a loser, but you were his favorite. And you couldn’t see through him. You feel comfortable with losers like him.”

“You married him.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Mother!”

“Not that I’m glad he left me or that’s he’s dead, God rest his soul.”

From her car Amy nervously scanned the broken-down cars and trucks in Fletcher’s front yard. Then she spotted Fletcher’s yellow longboard in the bed of his old blue pickup and felt a surge of relief.

Her mother sighed.

Amy had never liked the house he’d bought and rented out to surfers or the communal lifestyle that went with it, but real-estate prices were high on Oahu. She was hardly in a position to criticize. Here, people of ordinary means had to compromise. Since the value of her mother’s house had appreciated exponentially over the past two decades, Amy had had to move there to save on rent and to help her mom with the property taxes.

“Amelia, are you still there?”

Amy’s fingers traced the smooth leather of the steering wheel. “Mom, listen. This lawyer from France with a snotty accent and way too much attitude called me.”

“What did he want?”

“Aunt Tate died in her sleep last week.”

“I—I can’t believe this. I—I just talked to Tate. She said she’d been to all those parties in Paris.”

“Mom, they already had a memorial service. She’s been cremated and put in a niche or something at Château de Fournier.”

“What? And nobody called her only sister? They stuck her in Château de Fournier? She hated that place!”

“Apparently they just found Tate’s address book today.”

Her mother was silent, in shock, or more likely a sulk. Like a lot of sisters, she and Tate hadn’t always been the best of pals. Tate had done what the women in their family were supposed to do. She’d married up, way, way up, landing a French count the third time around. And she’d never let her family forget it. She’d sent newsy Christmas cards every year to brag about parties at châteaux after her glamorous stepson’s Formula One races, trips to Monaco and round-the-world cruises on friends’ yachts. Her step-children were all celebrities in their own fields. But the main headline grabber had been Remy de Fournier, the handsome, womanizing Grand Prix driver. Not that Tate had boasted much about him lately. Apparently he’d retired from the circuit rather suddenly last year.

After one of Tate’s bright cards or calls, her mother would sulk for days, blaming Amy’s deceased father for never having amounted to anything.

“You’re not going to believe this, Mom, but Aunt Tate left me everything. Château Serene, the vineyard, even the Matisse.”

“What? That painting alone is worth a fortune.”

“Aunt Tate intended to donate it to a museum.”

“You can’t afford to be so generous.”

“Mother! Your baby’s all grown-up. I’m afraid I need to go over there to settle Aunt Tate’s affairs, pack her personal belongings and inspect the property. I hate to impose, but could you possibly watch Vintage?”

“I suppose. If it fails, who’ll pay the mortgage? I’ll need a day, maybe two. After that, I’d be glad to. To tell you the truth, I’ve been a little bored lately.”

Which probably explained why her mother tried to run her life all the time.

“Mom, could you help Nan handle the sale today?” This question was met with silence. “Just for an hour or two? Please! Just to make sure Nan’s not overwhelmed.”

Her mother sighed.

Amy thanked her and hung up. Now all she needed was for Fletcher to hold her and make everything feel all right again.