#45 (Ada confronts Barbara as Alison prepares for the future…)
“Barbara, ya got a minute?”
Barbara Wilkes spun around in the staff room in the bowels of the Montgomery Estate to find Ada Burke glaring at her. She forced a tight smile onto her face as she said, “Sure. How are you, Ada?”
Ada hated it when Barbara put on that fake-nice voice. Ever since Barbara had gone upstairs to work for Mrs. Montgomery, she’d become a little faker. “Oh, I’m just fine. Ya know, things are still the same down here. Washin’, foldin’, runnin’ meals and whatnot…”
“I remember. Well, if you don’t mind, I should get back to sorting Mrs. Montgomery’s mail. My break is almost over.”
“Before you do,” said Ada, quickly. “Mind if I ask you somethin’?”
“Of course not,” replied Barbara, carefully.
Ada sat across from Barbara, her mind racing a thousand miles a minute. “Seems that a friend of mine lives in your building.”
“So?”
“Said there’s some man stayin’ with you.”
Barbara could feel her throat tighten as her stomach began to churn. She knew she’d been careful about keeping her private life to herself, so how in the world did the likes of Ada Burke know that someone was living with her. Thinking as quickly as she could, Barbara replied, “Ada, I really don’t like to discuss my private life…”
“Just thought we were friends…at least friendly, ya know? Didn’t you know had a fella.”
“Ada, I think…this conversation is really inappropriate. If you’ll excuse me…”
“It’s all right. Just thought I’d ask. Makin’ sure you’re all right and all that.”
Barbara forced a half-hearted smile on her face which hid the frantic fury inside of her. “Well, I don’t make inquiries into your home life and I would appreciate it if you didn’t into mine!”
Before Barbara knew it, she was out of the staff room and into the corridors beneath the Montgomery Estate. She couldn’t believe that someone in Kingsport knew about Kenny. Barbara had given him crushed enough pills in his food to keep him lethargic until she figured out how to get rid of him. And now, that nosey busybody, Ada Burke, knew about that man. She wanted nothing more than to scream, but Barbara gathered her composure. No, she thought, quietly, she had to keep playing the long game. In time, Barbara knew she would move upstairs forever. Once that happened, she would get rid of all of the people who knew anything about her past…and that included one Ada Burke.
“Yes, Steven. That’ll be fine. Call every single white shoe law firm in Connecticut, New York, Paris, and London. I want cut Charles off at the knees should he decide to divorce me,” said Alison Farrell Montgomery in a hushed voice. “Thank you. Set up the calls and we’ll take it from there.” Alison placed the phone on the receiver just as her youngest child, Will, wandered into her private sitting room. “Please tell me that you and Connor have made up, Billy.”
He let out a soft sigh before saying, “We have. The wedding will go ahead as planned.”
“Thank goodness,” said Alison, lightly. “After the story in the Kingsport Press…”
“Mom, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“If India was behind it…”
“India is always behind everything bad that happens in my life. She’s hated me since the minute I was born.”
Alison kept quiet because she, of all people, knew that her son was right. “Then onto brighter news: My fittings for my wedding outfits went off without a hitch. Oh, I meant to tell you that I’m re-opening my homes in Paris and Cannes once I return to Europe after your wedding.”
“You’re leaving?” asked Will, his voice quivering with sadness.
“Yes,” replied, Alison flippantly. “Billy, my life is in France. I can’t sit around Kingsport for months on end. I’ll lose my mind.”
Will sullenly bit his bottom lip. “I’ve enjoyed having you in town. I wish you would stay.”
“You have access to the Montgomery jets. If you ever feel lonely, book one and come see me. It’s not as if we don’t have the time and the resources to see each other on a whim!”
“I know, but… Mom, I do think Connor has a problem with our lifestyle…our money.”
“He’ll get used to it,” sniffed Alison. “Besides, he should be happy that he doesn’t have to support you on a surgeon’s salary. Sorry, Billy. I didn’t mean it the way it sounds.” Alison walked over to her son and touched his face. “Billy, Connor will adapt. If he loves you for who you are, then the rest of it doesn’t matter.”
“But what if the rest of it does matter…to him…?”
“That’s what divorce lawyers are for,” said Alison, honestly. “If this marriage doesn’t work out, it doesn’t mean the next one won’t.”
“I love Connor,” said Will, plainly.
“Oh, Billy, you’ve loved a lot of men.”
“Mom!”
“There was Lord Sam Duncaster, Brian Hepworth-Walton, and, let’s not forget the very first one, Nicholas Davenport. Actually,” said Alison in a low, private tone, “I thought you got together with Connor to get back at India.”
Will met his mother’s eye with shock and contempt. “That’s something she would do to me! I’d never do that to India…or anyone else!”
“I know that now, Billy.” Alison’s checked her phone which emitted an alert before saying, “I don’t want you to feel obligated to stay married to Connor, especially if it doesn’t work. There are other men out there who will love you for who you are, not for who they want you to be. A cliché, yes, but it’s true. Now, off with you. I have to change for lunch at the country club.”
As Will left his mother’s suite and considered her words, he knew then and there he was going to marry Connor and they would stay married forever. He couldn’t prove his mother right. He just couldn’t…
In our next installment, the Montgomery family celebrates Alison’s birthday…
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