worked. Maxine had been trying to get the four of them together for dinner for ages, but they hadn't been able to arrange it so far. They were all too busy.
“Charles seems very serious to me,” Thelma commented, and Maxine agreed.
“He is, but he has a sweet side to him too. He's very good with Sam.”
“And the others?”
“He's working on it.” Maxine smiled. “Daphne is tough.”
“God save me from teenage girls,” Thelma said, and rolled her eyes. “Jenna hates me this week. She has for two years actually. Sometimes I think she always will. I don't know what I do wrong most of the time, but as far as she's concerned, the minute I get up in the morning, I've fucked up. The only thing I do right is my shoes. She wears them all.” Maxine laughed at the description. She had the same problems with Daphne, although she was two years younger and not as angry yet. But she was getting there. It was going to be a long haul. “How's your nanny doing with her baby, by the way?”
“He's still screaming. Zellie says the pediatrician thinks he's doing well, but it's a tough adjustment. I bought Charles earplugs for when we go to Southampton. I wear them myself. It's the only thing that works. Zellie's going to have hearing loss from holding him if that kid doesn't stop soon.” Maxine smiled affectionately as she said it.
“Sounds like fun,” Thelma said, and they both laughed. It was nice to take some time off and relax over lunch. Maxine didn't do it often, and she was so busy in her office she felt guilty about it, but Thelma was a good friend. She was one of the few psychiatrists Maxine trusted with her practice.
As planned, Maxine turned her practice over to her on the first of August, and they all left for Southampton in a caravan of cars. Hers, Charles's, and Zellie drove a rented station wagon. The children rode with Zellie, since Maxine's car was piled high with things for the wedding. And Charles drove alone in his impeccably detailed BMW. He didn't say it, but Maxine knew he didn't want the children in it. And they were happy riding with Zellie since the only place Jimmy slept and finally stopped crying was in the car. It was a blessed relief. And more than once when he was howling his little lungs out in the apartment, she had suggested that Zellie get the car out and drive around the block. Several times she had, and it worked. Maxine was only sorry she couldn't do that all night. He was a cute little guy with a sweet face. It was hard to bond with him because he cried so much, but it had slowly started to get better in the last week. There was hope. With any luck at all, he would be over it by the time Charles moved in after the honeymoon. He had postponed moving his clothes into the apartment until then.
Charles put his things in her bedroom as soon as they arrived at the house in Southampton. She gave him a closet, and filled her own with the things she'd brought from town. She put her wedding gown, carefully concealed and covered up in a closet in one of the guest rooms, along with Daphne's pale lavender dress, which she had yet to try on. So far she had refused, and claimed she was going to skip the wedding and stay in her room. She liked Charles better after the boat trip, but not enough to want to see them get married. She still told her mother that she was making a mistake and he was too dull and too uptight.
“He's not dull, Daffy,” Maxine said quietly. “He's responsible and solid.”
“No, he's not,” her daughter insisted. “He's boring and you know it.” But Maxine was never bored with him. He was always interested in her work, and they talked medicine most of the time. She and Thelma never did. But it was what she and Charles enjoyed most.
For the first week, Maxine had a thousand details to take care of, meetings with the caterer and the wedding planner. She talked to the florist almost every day. They were doing white flowers everywhere, and bringing in hedges and topiary trees with sprays of orchids in them. It was going to be simple and elegant, and relatively formal. And exactly what Maxine wanted. Charles wasn't interested in the wedding details and trusted Maxine with them.
At night, she and Charles went out to dinner, or they took the children to the movies. And in the daytime, the kids hung out with their friends on the beach. Everything was going fine until Blake arrived the second week that they were there. Charles turned into an iceberg the moment he did.
Blake dropped by the house to see her and the kids, and she introduced Charles to him. She had never seen Charles so stiff or so unpleasant. He bristled every time Blake spoke, although Blake was very relaxed about it, and as charming as ever. Blake invited him to a game of tennis at the club, which Charles frostily declined, much to Maxine's chagrin. Blake chatted with him good-humoredly and took no offense. Charles couldn't handle being anywhere near him, and picked a fight with Maxine for no reason that night. Blake had rented a house nearby, for the week, right on the beach, with a pool, which Charles felt was outrageous. He felt encroached on, and said so to Maxine.
“I don't know what you're so upset about,” Maxine commented. “He was perfectly nice to you.” She thought Charles was being unreasonable. After all, he was the winner, and the groom.
“You act like you're still married to him,” he complained.
“I do not.” She looked shocked at what he had said. “That's a ridiculous thing to say.”
“You were draped around his neck and hugging him. And he can't keep his hands off you.” Charles was furious, and so was she. His accusations just weren't fair. She and Blake were affectionate with each other, but there was nothing more to it than that, and hadn't been in years.
“That's a disgusting thing to say.” She was incensed. “He treats me like a sister. And he made a huge effort to talk to you, and you hardly said two words to him. He's giving us the rehearsal dinner, you could at least be polite to him, and make an effort. Shit, we just spent two weeks on his boat.”
“That wasn't my idea!” Charles stormed at her. “You forced me to. And you know how I feel about the rehearsal dinner. I never wanted that either.”
“You had a great time on the boat,” she reminded him.
“Yes, I did,” he conceded, “but I wonder if it occurs to you what it's like to make love to your fiancee in the bed she used to sleep in with her husband. Your life is a little racy for me, Maxine.”
“Oh for chrissake, don't be so uptight. It's just a bed. He's not sleeping in it with us.”
“He might as well!” Charles said, and stormed out of the room. He packed that night, and in the morning he left for Vermont. He said he'd be back in time for the wedding. It was a great start. He didn't even answer his cell phone for two days, which hurt Maxine's feelings, and he never apologized to her for storming off, when they finally talked. He sounded stiff and cold. Maxine hadn't liked his accusations, and Charles didn't like having Blake around, dropping in and out of the house. Charles said Blake acted like it was still his, and she was angry about that too and said it wasn't true.
“So where's the groom?” Blake asked, looking around when he dropped by the next day.
“He went to Vermont,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Uh-oh. Do I smell pre-wedding jitters?” he teased her, and she growled.
“No, what you smell is me pissed off at him for acting like a jerk.” She never pulled any punches with Blake. She could be honest with him, even if she had to put a good face on it for the children. She had told them that Charles needed a little peace and quiet before the wedding, and Daphne had rolled her eyes. She was delighted he had left.
“What are you so pissed off about, Max? He seems like a nice guy.”
“I don't know how you can say that. He hardly said two words to you yesterday. I thought he was very rude, and I told him that in fact. The least he could do is speak to you. And he snapped at you when you invited him to play tennis.”
“It probably makes him uncomfortable to have your ex-husband around. Not everybody is as cool as we are,” he said, laughing, “or as crazy.”
“That's what he says.” She smiled at Blake. “He thinks we're all nuts. And Zellie's baby gets on his nerves.” She wanted to say “and so do our kids,” but she hesitated to tell him that. She didn't want Blake to worry about him. And she was still convinced that he and the children would get used to each other, and even like each other in time.
“I have to admit, Zellie's baby is a little loud.” He grinned at her. “Do you suppose she'll ever find the volume button on that kid? His mother must have taken a hell of a lot of crack.”
“Don't let her hear you say that. And he's getting better. It takes time.”
“I can't really blame Charles for that,” Blake said fairly. “What about you? Are you getting cold feet yet?” He was teasing her, and she shoved him, like two kids in the sandbox.
“Oh, shut up. I'm just pissed off. I don't have cold feet.”
