I know I turned a shade brighter than crimson. My eyes darted from Daddy to Clayton to my mother who sat smiling like a Cheshire cat.
"Not a bad thought, eh Clayton?" Harrison Keiser followed quickly.
"No, sir."
"Well then," his father coaxed, nodding in my direction.
Clayton looked up from his plate at me as if he had just realized I was there, too. He dabbed his lips with his napkin and cleared his throat.
"Yes. How would you like to go to dinner and to the gallery opening, Olivia?" Clayton asked in front of the entire table. It might as well have been declared on the front pages of the local newspapers.
Nevertheless, for a moment I couldn't speak. It was as if my vocal cords had declared a mutiny. I saw Daddy staring at me, expectantly. Finally, I gathered enough air in my lungs to utter a response. Of course it was yes. What else could I do?
The conversation then turned to what was the best restaurant for us to go to before the opening. Clayton had no opinion and neither did I. In fact, our entire evening was planned by our parents as if we were pieces on a chess board. Clayton's father suggested he go to his men's shop to get a new suit and tie. His mother thought he should do something different with his hair. My mother talked about a dress she had just seen, a dress that she decided would be perfect for me for such an occasion.
The four of them continued their discussion of our arranged date without once turning to either Clayton or myself and asking us for an opinion or a reaction. Clayton glanced at me a few times, but for most of the dinner, he sat with his eyes directed downward, concentrating on eating as he lifted the spoon and the fork with his father's precision, blotting his lips with his napkin almost in synchronization with his father. They were so alike, it was frightening.
At the end of the evening, before the Keisers left, Clayton finally turned to me. Everyone stopped talking as though the prince was about to utter some royal edict.
"I'll come by at six-fifteen, if that's all right with you," he said. "It will take fifteen minutes to get to the restaurant, which will leave us an hour for dinner and then it's about twelve minutes from the restaurant to the gallery."
I felt as if I should synchronize my watch with his. I simply nodded. He pressed his lips together, which was his best effort at a smile, and then turned to join his parents at the door. Everyone said good night and they left.
Immediately, I spun on Daddy.
"Why did you do that? I felt like I was trapped and I had to say yes."
"He's a fine young man, distinguishing himself in his father's firm. Such young men are not so easily found these days, Olivia."
"I'd like to find my own young man," I said.
I could see the reply in Daddy's face: You're not making any attempt to do so.
"I'm just trying to help you, my dear. Surely, there's no harm in testing the waters. It will cost you nothing but your own time," he added, strongly reminding me I was doing nothing else with it. "And then there is this new showing at the gallery. You like that sort of thing, don't you? The bottom line is it's no big sacrifice."
"I know, Daddy, but . . ."
"Your father's right. You should go out more, dear," Mother said. "You should be seen socializing. Even if things don't work out between you and Clayton, other young men will see you dressed up and beautiful and think, there's someone I'd like to know. That's how wonderful things happen," she continued. "We'll have such fun fitting you for a dress, finding your shoes, getting you some new costume jewelry, going to the hairdresser."
I realized that this was something Mother wanted to do for herself as well as for me. With Belinda gone, there wasn't much talk about romance in the house.
"All right," I said, relenting, "but I can't imagine myself having a good time with Clayton Keiser."
"You never know about these things, dear," Mother said. "When I first went out with your father, I thought the same thing."
"You did not," Daddy remarked quickly.
"I never told you, Winston, but I was deathly afraid of you that first night."
"Really?" he said smiling as if that was something of which he could be proud.
"Everyone told me to be careful. Winston Gordon is a man who gets what he wants and he wants a great deal. He has insatiable appetites," Mother explained.
Daddy's eyes flitted from her to me and then to her for a quick smile.
"Well, maybe that was true then, but I've become somewhat more restrained in my maturity. I try to find balance, analyze everything carefully."
"Even this arranged date for me, Daddy?" I said with a bitter smile.