some food and we can watch TV in the conservatory!' ”I'd rather be making whoopee with you, Robyn.”
”You and me both.”Wow. A little white lie.
He hugged her. ”But it won't be long until we're alone again.”He gave her a loving squeeze. ”Mom and Dad will be playing tennis tomorrow morning. Come over then.”
Robyn scrunched her shoulders and smiled as if nothing could give her greater pleasure. The thing was, she felt a massive sense of relief that her mom was home.
”Back early, isn't she, Rob?”Noel frowned. ”I thought you said six. It isn't even four yet.”
”Change of plan, I guess.”She touched his chest. ”Don't forget these.
I'll go brush my hair'' She left him to fasten his shirt buttons. When she returned from her bedroom, she found her mother standing at the top of the stairs, blocking the way. She looked formidable, a guardian of the gate.
”Mom?”
”I've asked Noel to go home.”
”You've done what?”Robyn shook her head, bewildered. ”Why on earth have you-”
”Robyn… Robyn. Hear me out. Please.”Standing there in her business suit she wore the grimmest of expressions.
”But why send Noel home? What must he be thinking? I'm nineteen, I-”
”Robyn. Emerson's downstairs in the lounge. He has to make some telephone calls… a lot.”She managed to make ”a lot”sound so ominous that Robyn's words dried. ”You're right, Robyn. You're nineteen. You're not a child, so I'll tell you how we stand. The shareholders voted for Emerson's company to merge with JLZ.”
”That's what he wanted, isn't it?”
”Yes.”Her mother's eyes glittered. ”But they're ungrateful sons of bitches, Robyn. They also passed a vote of no-confidence in Emerson.
He's had to resign from the board.”
”They can't do that, surely”
”They can. The shareholders own a majority of Emerson Holdings' shares.”
Robyn's stomach muscles twitched. The spasms were returning. When her mother stopped speaking, Robyn whispered, ”He's going to be all right, isn't he?”
”We'll survive.”
”They'll have to buy out his interest in the company, won't they?”
Her mother took a steadying breath, so she could regain that glacial composure of old. ”Everything's in hock to the bank. He doesn't have one red cent that he can call his own.”Pale-faced, she let her eyes rove back down the stairs, taking in the walls and expensive rugs. ”Last year Emerson's company went through a bad patch. I mortgaged the house to get him on his feet again.” She turned around and walked swiftly downstairs with the words, ”Don't get sentimental about this place, Robyn. It belongs to the bank now.”
The muscles jerked so painfully in Robyn's stomach it came like a blow.
She turned away so her mother didn't notice. The pain doubled her.
Unable to straighten, she somehow managed to reach her bedroom where she folded in on herself, lying down on the floor, her knees up to her chest. Spasms tore through her body as if the muscles fought one another, trying to tear themselves free. The pain came with such a flaming intensity she couldn't think coherently When the pain subsided at last the one word that formed clearly in her mind was: Homeless.
Insanely, the second the word homeless formed in her mind, her stomach muscles fluttered again, threatening to spasm with that searing flash of agony. At that moment she knew a profound change had taken place inside of her. But what change? Why do I feel as if I've lost control of my body? In the distance she could hear Emerson shouting into the telephone. In another room her mother was weeping.
CHAPTER 5
Unless you plan suicide, or you've been nailed with a date for execution, you rarely know when tragedy is going to strike in your
”You and me both.”Wow. A little white lie.
He hugged her. ”But it won't be long until we're alone again.”He gave her a loving squeeze. ”Mom and Dad will be playing tennis tomorrow morning. Come over then.”
Robyn scrunched her shoulders and smiled as if nothing could give her greater pleasure. The thing was, she felt a massive sense of relief that her mom was home.
”Back early, isn't she, Rob?”Noel frowned. ”I thought you said six. It isn't even four yet.”
”Change of plan, I guess.”She touched his chest. ”Don't forget these.
I'll go brush my hair'' She left him to fasten his shirt buttons. When she returned from her bedroom, she found her mother standing at the top of the stairs, blocking the way. She looked formidable, a guardian of the gate.
”Mom?”
”I've asked Noel to go home.”
”You've done what?”Robyn shook her head, bewildered. ”Why on earth have you-”
”Robyn… Robyn. Hear me out. Please.”Standing there in her business suit she wore the grimmest of expressions.
”But why send Noel home? What must he be thinking? I'm nineteen, I-”
”Robyn. Emerson's downstairs in the lounge. He has to make some telephone calls… a lot.”She managed to make ”a lot”sound so ominous that Robyn's words dried. ”You're right, Robyn. You're nineteen. You're not a child, so I'll tell you how we stand. The shareholders voted for Emerson's company to merge with JLZ.”
”That's what he wanted, isn't it?”
”Yes.”Her mother's eyes glittered. ”But they're ungrateful sons of bitches, Robyn. They also passed a vote of no-confidence in Emerson.
He's had to resign from the board.”
”They can't do that, surely”
”They can. The shareholders own a majority of Emerson Holdings' shares.”
Robyn's stomach muscles twitched. The spasms were returning. When her mother stopped speaking, Robyn whispered, ”He's going to be all right, isn't he?”
”We'll survive.”
”They'll have to buy out his interest in the company, won't they?”
Her mother took a steadying breath, so she could regain that glacial composure of old. ”Everything's in hock to the bank. He doesn't have one red cent that he can call his own.”Pale-faced, she let her eyes rove back down the stairs, taking in the walls and expensive rugs. ”Last year Emerson's company went through a bad patch. I mortgaged the house to get him on his feet again.” She turned around and walked swiftly downstairs with the words, ”Don't get sentimental about this place, Robyn. It belongs to the bank now.”
The muscles jerked so painfully in Robyn's stomach it came like a blow.
She turned away so her mother didn't notice. The pain doubled her.
Unable to straighten, she somehow managed to reach her bedroom where she folded in on herself, lying down on the floor, her knees up to her chest. Spasms tore through her body as if the muscles fought one another, trying to tear themselves free. The pain came with such a flaming intensity she couldn't think coherently When the pain subsided at last the one word that formed clearly in her mind was: Homeless.
Insanely, the second the word homeless formed in her mind, her stomach muscles fluttered again, threatening to spasm with that searing flash of agony. At that moment she knew a profound change had taken place inside of her. But what change? Why do I feel as if I've lost control of my body? In the distance she could hear Emerson shouting into the telephone. In another room her mother was weeping.
CHAPTER 5
Unless you plan suicide, or you've been nailed with a date for execution, you rarely know when tragedy is going to strike in your
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