Web of Dreams (Casteel 5)

"Yes, Daddy."

"Well, happy birthday, Princess. think of you all day tomorrow and send you postcards. Good night."

"Good night, Daddy," I said. 1 heard him hang up, the click traveling thousands of miles and falling on my ear like a teardrop made of lead.

I felt the warm trickle of my own tears and brought nay finger to my cheeks. The tip glistened. I brought it to Angel's face and touched her cheek.

Surely, she wanted to share my tears, too.

sixteen AT THE COTTAGE

. Momma went overboard with my birthday party. She was determined to do all she could to impress all my friends from Winterhaven, not that they needed anything special to excite them. Once they were driven through the great arches and approached Farthy, they were already sufficiently impressed. Jennifer and I decided I should invite Wendy and Carla, since they had remained friendly even after Marie and the others excluded us. Of course, that hardened the distance and heightened the wall between us and the others, but neither Jennifer nor I cared anymore.

It was a beautiful October Sunday, a little warmer than usual. The grass was still quite green and plush, as were the hedges. With the fall colors in the background, the sky crystal blue and spotted here and there with cotton-candy clouds, the day promised to be wonderful. I had no idea how elaborate my party was going to be. Late that morning a five-piece band arrived and set up in the ballroom. The staff brought out long serving tables and tables for the guests. With caviar as one of the appetizers, solid silver bowls of punch, decorations designed by a Boston decorator, professional musicians, memento presents for all my guests, waiters and waitresses everywhere, and a movie, to be shown in the small theater, my party was truly overwhelming and quite unlike any birthday party I had ever had when we were all together and living in Boston. Even Tony was taken by surprise.

Troy was so excited he tried hard to get out of taking his morning nap. Under the threat of not being able to attend the party, he finally agreed to rest. Momma dressed up as if it were a party for adults. She put on her expensive diamonds and one of her most expensive designer black dresses, and spent most of the morning preparing her hair and makeup. She took a position in the great entry hall to greet my guests as they arrived. After they met her, either Troy or I escorted them into the great ballroom.

When Joshua arrived, I took his hand to make a big thing of introducing him to my mother. y heart hardened when she didn't even notice I was treating him as someone special, and I realized she had never listened to me when had spoken about him before.

"This is Joshua Bennington," I repeated when she had greeted him quickly and turned to give one of the maids an order.

"Do I know your family, Joshua?"

"I don't think so, Mrs. Tatterton," Joshua

replied politely. I groaned with disappointment and took Joshua through the big house, showing him the music room with the murals, the grand piano, the gigantic fireplaces, and then snuck him away for a quick look at my suite.

"It's beautiful," Jo

shua said. "I've never been in a house quite like this. It's a . . a castle."

"Much too big to be a home," I said. He nodded and then his eyes fell on Angel. I had her propped up against a pillow on my bed.

"What's that?"

"That's Angel. Angel, meet Joshua Bennington. You remember him. I've been talking about him enough," I said. Joshua's eyes widened and then he laughed. He stepped closer to the doll.

"It looks just like you."

"It is me," I explained. "It's the newest Tatterton Toy, a portrait doll. I modeled for the very first one."

"It's beautiful. Just like you, Leigh," he said and blushed after his own words. How wonderful to have someone besides Tony or my father tell me that, I thought.

"Thank you, Joshua. Afterward, if you like, you and I will sneak away from the others and I'll show you the English maze and the cottage where I modeled."

"Yes, I'd like that," he said.

I took his hand and led him back downstairs where my party was just getting underway.

The band was very good because it played upto-date songs. There was so much food and everyone thought the memento Momma had designed was very clever. She had a globe put in a glass cube and on the cube she had inscribed, "Leigh, we think the world of her." I was embarrassed by all this extravagance, but Momma went about, relishing the role of hostess, questioning everyone about his or her family, introducing Tony and bragging about Tatterton Toys. She wanted to be sure they all took home good stories about Farthy and Jillian Tatterton. In some ways she reminded me of how she used to be when we had first started going on Daddy's cruises and she would mingle with the passengers.

Finally, she announced the showing of the movie in "our private movie theater." My friends couldn't believe their ears. She had somehow gotten one of the newest movies before it even reached the movie theaters.

"Oh, Leigh," Jennifer said rushing over with William, "I'll never forget this birthday party."

"Neither will I!" William exclaimed.

Momma had Tony direct everyone to the theater. I squeezed Joshua's hand and indicated that he and I should remain behind to take seats in the rear.