Beauty & the Beasts Read Free Page B

evening, hoping Garth would be in bed so that Noreen could talk without an audience.
    She answered right away, but when he asked if his son had gone to bed, she said wryly, “Bed? I doubt it. But he is in his room. Probably with earphones on.”
    “He’s, uh, seemed a little different lately whenwe’ve talked. Anything going on I should know about?”
    “Nothing serious,” she said immediately. “Otherwise I’d have told you. He’s been in trouble at school a couple of times—a fight with another boy, talking back to a teacher—normal things for a boy his age. But his grades are still decent, and I figure it’s just a stage.” She was silent for a moment and he sensed she wasn’t done. Her voice changed. “Eric, I’m remarrying.”
    Remarrying. He waited for a reaction more profound than mere surprise. They’d been divorced for—what?—six years now. No, five-and-a-half. But before that she’d been his wife for ten years. Shouldn’t he be jealous? Resentful, because she’d moved on so completely?
    “Congratulations,” Eric said automatically.
    “Thank you.”
    “Garth hasn’t mentioned anyone. Who is he?”
    Either he was numb, Eric thought, or he really didn’t care. He felt mild curiosity at most.
    Until it occurred to him that the advent of a new stepfather probably had something to do with Garth’s desire to stay home this summer.
    There’s all kinds of stuff happening here this summer.
    Like a new father.
    Noreen was telling him about the man she loved. Chuck Morrison was a corporate type, something to do with plastics. He was kind, civilized, supportive of her career, tolerant of Garth’s occasional sullenness.
    Eric felt a burst of rage. Who the hell was Chuck Morrison to be with Eric’s son more than he, Eric, was? And “tolerant” sounded goddamned condescending.
    It was hard to make his tone civilized. “How does Garth like him?”
    “Well…” Noreen sounded doubtful. “He seemed to like Chuck fine as long as we were just dating. Since we’ve become engaged, he’s been a brat. I figure he’ll get over it. It’s normal for him to be scared about such a big change, right?”
    “Yeah, I imagine so.”
    “In fact,” she spoke faster, with more animation, “we’ve planned the wedding for early June so that Garth can be there, but then he leaves immediately to stay with you. That way, we can have a leisurely honeymoon and some time on our own before Chuck and Garth butt heads.”
    “I see,” Eric said mechanically. For once he knew something about their son she didn’t. Garth didn’t want her to have a leisurely honeymoon and some time alone with her new husband.
    But Eric didn’t tell her. He wished her well, they discussed the airline tickets he’d be sending for Garth and said good-night.
    His resolve hardened. He couldn’t do a damn thing about Chuck Morrison, corporate executive, playing father to his son from September through May, but he wasn’t going to give up his own time and his last chance to remind Garth that he already had a father.

CHAPTER TWO
    “L ILY, WILL YOU SEE if Mrs. Peterson needs a different size? She’s in room three. I’ll get the phone.” Madeline paused only a moment; Lily, although just twenty-two, was a dream with the customers. When she smilingly complied, Madeline moved behind the mahogany counter to answer the telephone. “Madeline’s. May I help you?”
    The caller was her mother. “Madeline, did I get you at a bad time?”
    Aware of a customer browsing a rack of suits only a few feet away, Madeline didn’t allow herself to. frown. Her mother, who lived in Southern California, often chose to call her at the store rather than waiting for evening. “No,” she said, “although I do need to leave in five or ten minutes.” She wondered how prompt Dr. Eric Bergstrom would prove to be.
    “Oh.” Her mother dropped the single word forlornly. Given their usually distant relationship, that was out of character for Gloria Howard.