“Mom!” Steph said. “You and Larry?”
Once again there was a wordless nod. Steph’s mom had squeezed her eyes tightly shut, and her distress was palpable in her nonverbal communication.
“I’m sorry,” the woman squeaked now. “I’m so, so sorry, honey.”
“And your dad,” Robbie said, not having finished his speech, “is having an affair with Hazel. I just caught them going at it in the bedroom!”
Now all eyes turned to Ian, whose face had turned a nice shade of purple.
“Dad, you’re not serious,” said Steph. “How long has this been going on?”
Joe Smolski chose that exact moment to reappear with a bottle of the finest in hand, a pleasing smile on his visage and a willingness to serve and pour.
And that’s when I got it: young Joe was the spitting image of Ian Stewart!
I wasn’t the only one who noticed this remarkable likeness, for all eyes now turned to Joe, then to Ian, and once again, though slower this time, back to Joe.
The wine server became a little flustered by all this attention, for his eager-to-please smile faltered. Perhaps he thought that he’d brought along the wrong bottle, for he glanced at the object, and even checked how much was left in it.
“Dad—don’t tell me that Joe…” Steph’s unfinished sentence hung in the air, but I think we all knew that Joe was Ian’s son—conceived from his illicit extramarital affair with Mrs. Smolski.
The fact that Ian was staring intently at his shoes—nice Italian leather ones, but that’s neither here nor there—could be construed as an admission of guilt. And Steph interpreted it that way, for she threw up her hands. “So I have a brother. Nice. Wonderful, Dad. Way to go.” She now narrowed her eyes at Robbie. “Mom, is Robbie another addition to the family, like Joe is?”
But this was a bridge too far, as Raimunda and Larry both shook their heads in unison, then Larry said in a low voice,“Robbie is Wendy’s son, Steph, I swear.”
“Well, good for him,” said Steph, who wasn’t taking too well to this news.
Suddenly Robbie went down on one knee, and held up what looked like a ring from a gumball machine.“Stephanie Stewart,” he said. “Will you marry me?”
In response, Steph’s jaw dropped, then she screamed, “Have you completely lost your mind!”
“No, but I’ve lost my heart,” he said lamely. Then he seemed to realize his mistake. When it comes to wedding proposals, timing is everything, and this eager young man had got his timing catastrophically wrong. Though of course the cheap bauble didn’t help. “I just thought—I mean I figured… Steph, I didn’t think—”
“Well, that’s your problem, isn’t it, Robbie! You never think!”
I had kept my eye on David and Pauline, who hadn’t reacted in any meaningful way to this cavalcade of admittedly shocking news. Now Pauline leaned in to her husband and murmured, “It’s all very French, isn’t it?”
“It is,” David agreed. “Perhaps one of the Stewart ancestors was French?”
They shared a look of bemusement at the hullaballoo reaching a fever pitch. Ian was shouting something at Larry, who was giving his son a tongue-lashing for his lack of sensitivity, while the latter was accusing his dad of not giving a damn about his dearly departed wife. And in the midst of all this, Odelia and Chase quietly rose to their feet, dabbed their lips with a napkin, and excused themselves to their hostess Steph, who was yelling something at her mom about her utter selfishness to bring this up at a time when they should all be mourning Jeff.
Odelia directed a pointed look in our direction, and as one cat Dooley and I sprang up and toddled after them. And as we left the scene, the noise of quarreling family members followed us all the way to the driveway.
We actually met Kevin on our way out, like cars passing in the night—or in the daytime as was the case. He gave us a jolly wave—clearly in a good mood. And why not? He was getting married soon. And he didn’t know yet that he had an illegitimate half-brother named Joe and that his mom had been enjoying carnal relations with the foreman.
“Poor guy,” said Chase, shaking his head. “He won’t know what hit him.”
“It’s the alcohol,” said Dooley. “This is what alcohol does to people.”
CHAPTER 40
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That night, Steph sat in her room, unable to sleep. Zoe had long since fallen into a peaceful slumber, and she watched the baby as she lay in bed, a smile on her face.“At least I still have you,” said Steph softly. After the spirited discussion that afternoon, she had the feeling that deep wounds had been cut, and that her family might never be healed again. The whole business had made her feel betrayed. Though ever since Jeff’s death she was probably morevulnerable.
A knock sounded at the door, and she went to open it. It was Kevin.
“Can I come in?” he asked quietly.
She stepped back and gently closed the door. She didn’t think the others were sleeping—too much had happened, and she imagined they were all lying awake, just like her, probably talking about the things that had been revealed.