"Well, that's exactly what it is, Celeste, a war. Haven't you ever heard that expression, All's fair in love and war?"
"Yes," I said, but I thought to myself that if there were so many little battles going on between a husband and a wife in their home, what made it a family? What made it warm and wonderful? What kind of a garden did it provide for love to flourish and grow stronger? I often thought of places and people in terms of a garden. In the world Ami was describing, the children would be growing in turmoil.
"Don't look so pensive and serious, Celeste. Men hate that. You know why?" she asked. I shook my head. "Because they're afraid you're smarter, and you can see through them. As I told you, they are very in-secure. You'll discover quickly that I'm right, I'm sure. You'll see for yourself that Wade's father isn't really as confident as he makes himself out to be. Selfish, yes, but secure, no. As I said," she repeated, as though it was the most important lesson of life, "that's why he is such a womanizer. He has to prove himself to himself all the time. Men," she said, and shook her head. "They never grow up.
"Not that I want us to behave like two mature and responsible women all the time. Heaven forbid the thought." She looked at her watch. "I'll start dressing. Don't rush, but if you're getting antsy, come to my room. Wade's already dressed and downstairs in the office with his father, discussing boring business things. Not that you'll see much difference in what he wears.
"Oh, this is so wonderful," she said, gazing about the room and then at me. "I have someone I can whisper secrets to in my own home. There is nothing as sad as a secret dying on the vine, wilting away unspoken. I read that in a romance novel once and never forgot it."
She paused, pressed her hand to her heart, and looked up as if she was on a stage.
"She was filled with unspoken secrets, dead and gone, shaking about like ashes in the chambers of her lonely heart," she recited, laughed, and hurried out.
It was as if I had shut a window and stopped the wind from blowing everything around the room.
Less than a minute passed, however, before she was back.
"I realized you definitely need some jewelry. Here," she said. "Let's get this necklace on you, and you can have one of my dress watches." Before I could say anything, she looped the string of pearls over my head and fastened them. She held her hands over them for a moment and sighed.
"We'll be such a hit," she declared, and left again.
I stood there staring at the door, holding my breath and waiting to see if there was something more she had forgotten, but this time she didn't return. After I put on the dress she had chosen for me and the match-ng thongs, fixed my hair, and put on the beautiful dress watch, I stood before the full-length mirror and gazed at myself. With the makeup, the jewelry, and the clothes, it was truly as though I were looking at a different person.
And then suddenly, I thought I saw Noble standing just behind me. He looked devastated, about to cry. He didn't look any different, any older, but obviously I looked very different to him.
"Noble?"
I spun around, but the moment I did so, he was gone. Was he there, or had I imagined it? I had no doubts about what Dr. Sackett would say. "You're just unsure of yourself and a little nervous and frightened. Get stronger. Close your eyes and get stronger."
"Yes," I whispered. "I will."
Before I could think any more about it, my door opened, and Ami burst in once more. She was wearing a buttercup yellow dress with a pair of see-through shoes. She turned to show me the low-cut back.
"I just bought this," she said. "It's a charmeuse gown with embroidered mesh and, as you see, a sheer chiffon kick pleat in the back. Makes it sexier, don't you think? Look," she said, raising her right foot, "I'm wearing Cinderella's glass slipper. Only I'm not going to turn into a poor young woman at twelve," she added. "Well?" She spun and looked at me. "What do you think?"
"It's beautiful, Ami. What's charmeuse mean?"
"It just means a see-through shiny fabric. Oh, I have so much to teach you, but it will be so much fun for me. You look beautiful, too. Come on. We're properly late," she said, hooking her arm through mine.
We went to the stairway, where she stopped, corrected her posture, and then started us down. I heard the sound of a man's laughter reverberate down the hallway below.
"Basil must've told Wade one of his off-color jokes. Wade doesn't laugh at them, so Basil always laughs loudly himself to make up for it," Ami explained.
As we approached the bottom of the stairway, Wade and his father appeared in the hallway, coming out of the den-office. Basil looked a good two inches or so taller. He obviously had dyed his hair. There wasn't a gray strand in the dark brown, which was styled more for a much younger man. He was handsome, with a firm mouth, hazel eyes, and a nearly perfect nose. However, there was nothing pretty-boy about him. The lines in his face were what people called character lines. I thought he looked like an older movie star.
He had twice the shoulders Wade had, and a thicker neck. His dark blue sports jacket and slacks looked tailored to his athletic body. He wore a matching blue tie and black shoes. I saw the diamonds twinkling on his gold watch. He stared up at us with a slight wry smile on his lips.
"Well, now, who is this budding beauty next to our own princess?" he asked.
"This is Celeste," Ami said. "Celeste, meet my father-in-law, Basil Emerson."
"Hello," I said.
He widened his smile and stepped forward, reaching out to take my hand to guide me down the remaining steps. Then he turned to Wade.
"You made her sound like some poor, sadfaced, lost orphan girl."
Wade's face filled with blood so fast, it looked as if the top of his head might lift off. "I did not," he protested.