a deep laugh from both women, they disconnected.
Chapter
3
The next two weeks were given over to moving. It took Tay a while to go through all her stuff. As she told Lissa during one of their long phone calls, she had both an apartment sale and a throwing-away party and she’d gotten rid of tons of junk. At last her hoard was whittled down to just a few things, and eventually the final boxes were stowed, filling the backseat and trunk of Lissa’s Toyota, the one that Tay would be using while she was living on Maple Court. Tay was behind the wheel so she could get her driving legs, as Lissa had put it. Living in New York City, Tay had had little need for a car, so although she’d driven in high school and early in college, she’d done little since.
As they drove up the Saw Mill River Parkway, Tay inhaled deeply. Yes, spring was imminent and she became aware of it more here than she had ever been in the city. It was the beginning of April, and although the forsythia was a little behind that in Brooklyn Heights, what bright yellow there was stood out among the still-bare trees. “I love this time of year,” Tay said, cracking open the driver’s side window so she could try to smell the country. Although she thought of herself as a city girl, having grown up in Jersey she found that she really missed the open spaces, too.
“Me too,” Lissa said. “The forsythia is almost there. Three-cythia, my dad calls it. You’ll love watching things bloom. The backyard will delight you with something different every day.”
“You can stop selling now,” Tay said with a chuckle. “I’m here, with all my stuff in the car. I’m not going to go back on you now.”
Lissa grinned. “I’m just so happy the way this has all worked out that I’m afraid something will go wrong.”
“Nothing can go wrong.”
“Can go wrong, can go wrong, can go wrong,” Lissa said, chuckling at the punch line of the old joke.
“So has your dad set the date for the embarkation?”
“Next Tuesday.”
Tay felt herself start to panic. “So soon? I have so much to learn about taking care of your house.”
“Nonsense. Marta will come in every Tuesday and clean. She’ll even change the sheets and do your laundry.”
Tay didn’t like the thought of someone going through her dirty clothes. “Not my laundry, she won’t.”
“Okay, we’ll tell her to leave your stuff alone. The pool guy comes on Wednesday and he’ll take care of both the pool and the spas. The garden guys come every Thursday to do the lawn and they know what’s to be done with the flowers and all that. Payments have already been arranged, but if you have any trouble or questions you can always e-mail.”
“Sounds like it takes an army to keep the house running.”
“I guess it does.” Lissa sat back in the passenger seat and let out a long breath. “I couldn’t have done this without you, Tay, and it means everything to me.”
Tay reached out and patted her friend’s thigh. “No sweat, hon. It will be my pleasure.”
“I know it will, but sometimes I think it’s a big imposition.”
Tay glanced over and raised an eyebrow. “Now she tells me.” Then she burst out laughing, soon joined by Lissa.
They turned off the Parkway and made the few turns onto Maple Court. The first time Tay had visited she’d been awed by the affluence of the neighborhood, and she found that now that she was going to be living there, she was even more overwhelmed. What would a girl from a middle-class neighborhood in New Jersey do every weekend in this palatial house?
The cul-de-sac contained six houses, although most could not be seen from the road. Tay knew that the builder had had to create some oddly shaped parcels to conform to the local zoning laws and wetlands ordinances, so although each house had a narrow frontage on the court, the driveways were long and the houses sat far back among the carefully arranged landscaping.
The Bonner house was the second on the right. Tay drove up the long driveway and pulled to a stop in front of the doors to the four-car garage. “We’re leaving the Mercedes and Daddy’s Corvette. You can keep the Toyota on this side,” Lissa said, using the remote button to open the leftmost of the two double doors.
Tay gazed again at the huge house. She was going to be house-sitting in this mansion, she thought. Amazing. The grass in the front yard was as slick as a putting green and several flowering trees were getting ready to bloom. The foundation of the house was concealed with azaleas, rhododendrons and mountain laurels, with several trellises covered with vining roses, none of it yet blooming. Tay knew that the backyard was as carefully manicured as the front and the area around the pool would be a riot of color from now until late into the fall, with flowers blooming everywhere.
“You might not meet any of the neighbors,” Lissa said, pulling Tay back to reality. “Everyone around here pretty much sticks to his or her own business, but as the weather gets warmer and dogs need to be walked, occasionally you’ll see some of the folks.”
Tay climbed out of the car and stared down the long driveway, then back at the house.
“You’re getting that deer-in-the-headlights look,” Lissa said.
Tay did feel like someone totally out of her element. Was she really sure she wanted to do this? Yes, she told herself. Lissa needs me and it’s only for six months. And there’s always the pool.
She’d arranged to telecommute every Tuesday and Thursday, starting in a week or two when she could get organized, but the other three days, and when her job needed her, she’d take the train into Grand Central. But what was she going to do on the weekends? Well, she’d have a train ticket and a car and she could go into the city on Saturday or Sunday and do what she always had. Movies, museums, visits with her few friends; she’d find things. And the Internet got her anywhere and everywhere.
She stared up at the three-story, white clapboard house with black shutters. “I guess I had forgotten how big this thing is.”
“It’s nothing so special,” Lissa said lightly, gazing at her friend.
“You’ve lived here since your dad bought this thing in 2004. I can remember back that far and I seem to recall you being very impressed at the time.”
Lissa smiled ruefully. “I guess you’re right. I had forgotten.” She took Tay’s hand and squeezed. “It really is just a house.” She giggled. “A big motherfucker, but a house nonetheless.”
Tension broken, the two women laughed easily as they began to lift cardboard boxes from the trunk. “That’s Pam DePalma,” Lissa said as a Lexus pulled into the cul-de-sac. “She lives in that one.” Lissa pointed to the driveway at the end of the circle. From her vantage point, Tay could just make out a cream-colored convertible as it pulled into the driveway. “She’s a delightful woman who throws parties for a living. I’ve seen a few famous faces coming and going, and when she’s entertaining, the street is full of limos. My father went to a few of her galas. A good-looking man with a worldwide reputation like Daddy is always welcome at any function.”
Dave Bonner certainly
