Marie rolls out of bed and walks across the room to get her robe which she had tossed hurriedly on the chair about an hour earlier. Cliff watches with great pleasure as she returns to the bed and runs her fingers through the fine hair on his chest. She kisses him lightly on the lips and says, “Ok, Tiger, now tell me all about the trip to New Jersey. Did you find a good attorney for the little bastard?”
“Please! That’s my family you’re talking about.”
“So, what happened?”
Cliff sits up and wraps the sheet around him. “Lew has a theater friend in New York who recommended an attorney in Atlantic City. We talked with him long enough to see that he knows his way around a courtroom. I think he has kept half the crooks in Jersey out of jail.”
“That sounds expensive.”
“Very. I called Jack’s father, Matt, and told him to get the next plane to Atlantic City, and to be sure to pack his checkbook. He’s still weak with worry over Jack and plans to take his brother Art with him. Which means he expects Art to share the expense, which gets Lew and me off the hook.”
“So that means you’ll have nothing more to do with young Jack?”
“Yes, now I can try to deal with the problem on the other front. Did Jane or Sally call while I was away?”
“Both called. Sally wanted you to come out to California last weekend. She was concerned about her mother’s drinking”
“That’s surprising. Jane never cared for liquor before--”
“Before me? Jane called yesterday, in her cups, to say how much she loves me.”
“Damn, I’m sorry about that, Sweetheart.” Cliff slides across the bed and tries to embrace Marie, but she gets up and goes to the chair.”
“The first thing she does is call me a bitch. Then she says, between sips of her drink, ‘I demand that you stop screwing my husband and send him home to his family.’”
“What next?”
“As usual, she tried to get to you through your daughter. She said that Judd had come out to ask Sally to marry him, and she said that Sally wanted you to be there so that the four of you could discuss it.”
“I guess Sally’s trip to Lexington was successful.”
“Not as I gathered from Jane, who said that Sally said the trip was a disaster and she hated Judd’s family. She said that Judd was sick about it, gave his mother and father a lot of hell, and said that Sally was the most important thing in his life.”
“More important than all that money?”
“Jane said Yes.”
“What did Sal say?”
“She said she wants to discuss it with you. Or so says Jane. I told Jane you would call her when you returned from New Jersey, and she said to tell you not to screw with her, or you’ll be damn sorry you did. I tried to reason with her, but she hung up. What are you going to do, Cliff?”
“I’m going to call Sal to see what she has to say about the situation. Depending on what she says, I may have to fly out there this weekend.”
“Want me to go with you?”
“No, Marie, you’ve already done way too much for me.”
“That’s what good friends do.”
“But there’s a limit.”
“Listen, Tiger, there’s absolutely no limit to my love for you.”
“Prove it.”
“How?”
“Come back to bed.”
“Only if you promise to take me with you to California.”
“How can I resist a body like that?”
Marie slips into bed and into Cliff’s open arms.
Sally and Judd are on the dock of the Sausalito harbor watching the luxury yachts maneuver around San Francisco Bay, then decide to walk to the north end of town to see the picturesque houseboat community.
Judd says, “I think I could live happily on one of those boats, don’t you?”
“No.”
“Why do you say that?”
“No place to keep your horse.”
Judd laughs. “We’ll teach him how to swim.”
“Be serious, Judd. How could you give up that Kentucky gentleman lifestyle and all that money?”
“If I get you in exchange, it’s a hell of a bargain. Without you, Sally, nothing else matters.”
“I’d be awful running a farm, but I think I’d be good as the wife of a university history professor, especially a published university history professor.”
Judd pulls Sally into his arms, and there standing in the center of the dock and surrounded by busy Sausalito sightseers, he kisses her.
“So, when do we get married?” says Judd.
“I’ll let you know after I’ve talked with Dad.”
“When will that be?
“He said he would fly out this weekend. I just wish that Mom were not a problem. I wish she’d stop drinking.”
“Especially martinis. They’re lethal.”
“Yes.”
“Ok, let’s go buy a houseboat.”
“I’d rather go eat some good seafood.” Sally takes Judd’s hand and leads him away from the dock to the Sausalito Inn.
On the third Saturday in February, Cliff arrives at Jane’s hillside house overlooking the town of Sausalito. It is three in the afternoon, and he is alone, having left Marie at the hotel in San Francisco. Jane greets him with a martini in her hand. Cliff takes away the martini, gives his wife a brief kiss on the lips, and embraces her. When he tries to back away, she pulls him closer.
“Please hold me, Cliff. It’s been so long and I’ve been so lonely.” He’s still holding her when Sally and Judd enter the room.
“Hi, Sal,” says Cliff as he releases himself from Jane’s grip.” He kisses his daughter and exchanges greetings with Judd.
Jane picks up her martini and says, “It looks like there’s no room for me in this cozy gathering.”
“There’s always room for you, Mom. Why don’t you and Dad sit on the porch while Judd and I prepare Dad a scotch or something.” She looks around and asks, “Where’s your luggage, Dad?”
“At the hotel. With Judd here, I didn’t want to crowd you.”
“Don’t be silly, Dad. There’s lots of space. Right, Mom?”
“Yes, if he doesn’t mind bunking with me.”
“How about it, Dad?”
“I think I’d better go back to the hotel later tonight.”
Jane drains her martini and walks to the pitcher for a refill. Cliff takes her hand and pulls her toward the porch. She stumbles and Cliff catches her just before she hits the floor. “I guess I should have skipped that last martini,” she says.
“You never were much of a drinker,” says Cliff.
“I’m getting pretty good at it.” She laughs. “Aren’t you proud of me?”
“I’m worried about you, Jane.”
“No, Cliff. If you were, you’d forget Marie and come home.”
“It would never work, Jane.”
“It worked once.”
“That was a long time ago, and we were a lot younger.”
“You did love me?”
“Yes.”
“We can make it work again. Just the two of us.”
“What about Sally?”
“Oh, she’s going to marry Judd.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes--she promised.”
“What do you mean, she promised?”
Having more and more difficulty speaking, Jane says, “She said that as soon as you and I got together, she would marry Judd and go live in Kentucky or someplace.”
“I want to talk to her about that.”
“You talk to Sally and I’ll fix another martini.”
“Sal and I can talk later. Right now I want sit and talk with you.” Cliff takes Jane by the arm and tries to steady her as they walk to the porch.
“Whatever you say, darling. Like always, I’m yours to do with as you please. “
Not always, he thinks. There were all those times when I wanted to please you but you you always put me on hold. Then the time came that I couldn’t if I tried--and damn, I tried. But--God, I can’t allow that to happen again.
Jane falls into Cliff's lap and snuggles. "Now, this is the way it’s supposed to be, just you and me.” She lays her head on Cliff’s chest and soon falls asleep.
Sally walks on to the porch and says, “Oh, Dad. you don’t know how happy it makes me feel to see you holding Mom like that.”
“It’ll never work, Sal.”
“But look how happy she seems to be.”
“That’s not happiness, Sal, that’s martinis. Help me put her to bed.”
Sally follows Cliff as he carries his wife to her bed. “I’ll wait for you on the porch,” he says, “and we can talk about you and Judd.”
“I’d rather talk about Cousin Jack.”
It is nearly midnight when Cliff completes his report on Jack. Sally’s reaction throughout is, “Poor Jack.” Finally, she says, “I feel so bad about Jack. Isn’t there anything we can do for him?”
“Sal, Lew and I have done about all we can. Now it’s up to Matt and Art. I feel bad about the kid, but he’s no damn good.”
“I guess you’re right, but I wish it were different.”
“I feel that way about a lot of things, Sal, but I can’t re-do the world. So I’ve decided to do the best I can for me for a change.”
“What about Mom? What about me?
Cliff takes Sally into his arms. “I’ll always be there for you.”
“And Mom?”
“I’ll try, but don’t expect a happy reunion.”
“Ok, Dad, but please watch out for Mom.”
“What do you mean, Sal?”
“All I know is that she’s been acting awfully strange.”
“That’s because of the drinking,” says Cliff.
“Maybe, but I don’t think so.”
“We’ll keep a close eye on her, and hope we can stop the martinis.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
Cliff kisses Sally goodnight and returns to the hotel. Marie is waiting and allows her negligee to drop to the floor.
“Or would you rather have a scotch on the rocks?” she whispers.
“You’re intoxicating enough for me,” Cliff says as he cradles Marie in his arms and carries her to the bed.”
“Aren’t you happy I came with you to California?”
By now, Cliff has removed his clothes. “What do you think?” he says.
“Mmmmmm, you look happy to me,” says Marie.
