LITMIR.BIZ

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disease he was afraid his daughters might catch.

      “Uh, congrats, Sari. See you around,” Grace said, red-faced, and went back to her boyfriend.

      “Slut,” Darwin said, just loud enough for his voice to carry and Grace to look both ruffled and insulted. “Let’s go.” He took Sari by the arm and almost dragged her to the waiting limousine, with a flustered Merrie running to catch up.

      “I’ll have Paul watching,” Darwin said as Paul put the girls into the back of the limo and stood aside, holding the door, so that Darwin could slide into the seat facing them. The door closed. “I’ll expect you to associate with decent girls. Do you understand? That goes for you, too, Meredith!”

      “Yes, Daddy,” Sari said.

      “I understand,” Merrie added with a sigh.

      The sisters didn’t dare look at each other. It would have been fatal.

      * * *

      The dinner Darwin had referred to was obviously going to be prepared by Mandy and just for the two women. Darwin had Paul drive him to the airport, where his corporate jet was waiting. Sari and Merrie sat down to a lovely chicken casserole with homemade rolls and even a chocolate cake.

      “It’s delicious, Mandy,” Sari said halfway through the meal. “Thanks!”

      “Yes, it’s wonderful!” Merrie enthused.

      “Some graduation,” Mandy muttered. “Should have gone out with your classmates and had fun, not be stuck here with me and an empty house.”

      “You know how Daddy is,” Sari said quietly. “He doesn’t think…”

      “He doesn’t care,” Merrie interrupted coolly. “It’s the truth, Sari, you just don’t want to admit it. He doesn’t want us going out with men because we might get involved and tell somebody something he doesn’t want known. He doesn’t want us getting married because we’d be out from under his thumb! Besides, some of that money might go outside the family!”

      “I suppose you’re right,” Sari said, tasting her cake. “It’s just, you get used to a routine. You don’t even realize that it really is a routine.” Her eyes twinkled. “Honestly, I thought Daddy was going to have a coronary when Grace talked about moving in with her boyfriend!”

      Merrie chuckled. “I know! At least four of my classmates live with boys. They say it’s very exciting…”

      “Don’t you even think about it,” Mandy told them, waving a spoon in their direction. “There’s enough wild-eyed girls out there already. You two are going to get married and live happily ever after.”

      “You make it sound like a fairy tale,” Sari accused.

      “Maybe, but I want more for you than being some man’s temporary bed partner while he climbs the ladder to success,” Mandy murmured. “Your mother wanted that, too. She went to church every Sunday. She believed that people have a purpose, that life has a purpose. She was an idealist.”

      “Yes, well, she waited to get married and she found Daddy,” Sari said quietly. “So there goes your fairy-tale ending. I remember her more than Merrie does. She was unhappy. She tried not to let it show, but it did. Sometimes I found her crying when she thought nobody was looking. And she had bruises…”

      “Don’t ever speak of that where Mr. Darwin or even Mr. Paul could hear you,” Mandy cautioned, looking frightened.

      “I never would,” Sari assured her. She grimaced. “But it’s like living in prison,” she muttered.

      “A prison with silk hangings and Persian carpets,” Mandy said mischievously.

      “You know what she means, Mandy,” Merrie piped in as she finished the last of her cake. “We aren’t even allowed to date. One of my friends thinks our father is nuts.”

      “Merrie!”

      “It’s okay, he’s from Wyoming,” Merrie said, grinning. “He’s in private school up north somewhere, but he visits a cousin here during the summer. His name is Randall. He’s really nice.”

      “Don’t you dare,” Mandy began.

      “Oh, it’s not like that. We’re just friends.” She emphasized the word. “He goes through girls like some people go through candy. I’d never want somebody like that! But he’s very easy to talk to, and he listens to me. I like him a lot.”

      “As long as you don’t tell him things you shouldn’t,” Mandy replied.

      Merrie’s eyes fell. “I’d never do that.”

      Sari put down her fork with a sigh. “Well, it was a very nice lunch, even if it didn’t come with scores of well-wishers and dancing.” She frowned. “Come to think of it, I don’t know how to dance. I’ve never been anywhere that I could learn.”

      “We went to that Latin restaurant once, where they had the flamenco dancers,” Merrie said, tongue in cheek.

      “Oh, sure, and I could have gotten up on a table and practiced the steps,” came the sardonic reply.

      Suddenly a door slammed. Paul came into the dining room with his hands deep in his pockets. His thick, wavy black hair was damp and there were droplets on the shoulders of his suit coat. “Well, it’s raining,” he sighed. “At least it held off until after the graduation ceremony.”

      “At least,” Sari replied. “There’s plenty left.” She indicated the remnants of the lovely meal. “And lots of cake.”

      He chuckled. “I’m sorry.”

      “About what?” Sari asked.

      “You should have gone out with your friends for a real celebration,” he said, dropping into a chair. “With balloons and music and drinks…”

      “Drinks?” Sari asked with raised eyebrows. “What are those?”

      “I had balloons at my fifth birthday party, when Mama was still alive,” Merrie added.

      “Music. Hmm,” Mandy said, thinking. “I went to a concert in the park last week. They had tubas and saxophones…”

      Paul threw up his hands. “You people are hopeless!”

      “We live in hopeless times,” Sari said. She stood up and adopted a pose. “But someday, people will put aside their differences and raise balloons in tribute to those who have given their all so that we can have drinks and tubas…”

      The rest of them started laughing.

      She chuckled and sat back down. “Well, it was a nice thought. Daddy doesn’t like us being around normal people, Paul,” she added. “He thinks we’ll be corrupted.”

      “That would be a choice,” he replied. “I don’t think you get one if you live here.”

      “Shh!” Sari said at once. “Don’t say that out loud or they’ll find you floating down some river in an oil drum!”

      His eyes twinkled. “We found a guy like that once, back when I was a kid. Me and some other guys were goofing off near the river, in Jersey, and we saw this oil drum just floating, near the shore. One of the older boys was curious. He and a friend went and pried off the lid.” He made a horrible face. “We set new land speed records getting out of there! It was a body inside!”

      “Did you get the police?” Merrie asked curiously.

      He gave her a long look. “Honey, if we’d done that, we’d probably have ended up in matching oil drums ourselves! You don’t mess with the mob.”

      “Mob? You mean, real mob…mobsters?” Merrie asked, her eyes as big as saucers.

      “Yeah,” he replied, grinning. “I grew up in a rough neighborhood. Almost all of the kids I knew back then ended

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