Suzanne frowned as she looked through the peephole. Why did the most boring people always have to be the first to arrive? Even Brad’s family members from out of state, all of whom were staying at the same hotel, hadn’t gotten here yet. Flo and Ernie Hickman must have gotten in their car at the stroke of eight to drive over. And she’d be stuck entertaining them until someone else arrived and freed her. Brad flatly refused to have anything to do with them. He’d had it with Ernie’s endless comments about their possessions, always followed by something along the lines of, “Well, I’ve been looking for one of those myself. Do you mind if I ask how much you paid?”
The Hickmans lived in Villa St. John, the subdivision around the corner. Suzanne hadn’t seen much of them in the last few years. From Kenya, who dated their son Gregory off and on, she’d learned they’d had some hard times, although they tried hard to mask it. Brad encouraged her to leave well enough alone. Ernie could be awfully crude, and they were both nosy. Suzanne had spent a fair amount of time in Flo’s company before Flo’s spare time suddenly dried up—Suzanne believed she couldn’t afford to hang with her anymore. Suzanne had enjoyed Flo’s open admiration of their home, furnishings, and cars, and she also found Flo’s attempts to keep up with them amusing. The Hickmans didn’t want to keep up with the Joneses, they believed they were the Joneses and everyone had to scramble to keep up with them.
Because of Brad’s feelings and the Hickmans’ annoying ways, Suzanne had considered not even inviting them, but in the end didn’t see how she could make the exclusion. She’d invited friends of Lisa and Darrell’s who also lived in Villa St. John, couples whom they saw whenever the Canfields entertained. She hadn’t wanted to invite them—both the women were friends of Lisa’s, and Suzanne suspected they talked about her behind her back—but Brad asked her to and she had no choice. It wouldn’t be right to invite them and not the Hickmans. Then there was Kenya’s relationship with Gregory Hickman to consider as well—hardly a boyfriend / girlfriend setup, but a relationship all the same. The sporadic nature of their dating pattern suggested Gregory simply did not share Kenya’s devotion, and Suzanne knew from her mother that they were on the outs again. Kenya hadn’t even gone to Gregory’s recent graduation ceremony from the University of North Florida, but Suzanne felt that regardless, her sister would probably invite him to be her date.
Actually, Suzanne hoped she would, and that he would accept. Brad’s daughter Paige, as well as Paige’s stepsister and best friend Devon Canfield, were coming tonight. Both girls had crushes on Gregory when they were teenagers. Suzanne and her mother had both been thrilled when Gregory chose her sister over the other two.
The thought of both girls, now completing their junior year, showing up dateless while Kenya had Gregory at her side brought an unabashed smile to Suzanne’s face.
“Ernie, Flo, how nice to see you,” she said graciously. “It’s been much too long.” She gave herself credit for mastering the art of bullshit. Ernie looked fine in a high-collared light gray shirt and dark gray suit, but Flo looked like she was ready for New Year’s Eve in a gold sequined dress with a scoop neckline in both the front and back. She must have been wearing every piece of jewelry she owned, including a huge pair of gold earrings that had to be clip-ons; if they were pierced, her earlobes would be sagging like the jowls of a centenarian.
Flo glanced around at the empty family room and the large patio beyond, which connected to each other by the opening of a series of long panel patio doors. The six doors, set on a diagonal angle with three on each side, had been pulled back into the outer walls of the house. This feature made for a transition between the indoor family room and the screened-in patio with its outdoor kitchen, lagoon-style pool, and views of downtown Jacksonville across the St. Johns River that was both seamless and spectacular. “See, Ernie, I told you we were too early.” To Suzanne she said, “We’ll be all right here if you need to finish getting ready, Suzanne.”
She considered taking Flo up on her offer, but wanted to hold out until at least one other guest or couple arrived. She knew that if they were left alone, Ernie and Flo would proceed to go through every knickknack and piece of furniture they had, trying to determine what had been added since their last visit and, of course, how much it cost. Brad would have a fit if she left them to snoop around.
“Oh, I’m all ready. It’s Brad who’s running late. Why don’t we sit outside?” Suzanne led the way to the connected family room and patio at the rear of the house, the feature she loved the most and that always got them the most compliments.
Mother Nature had smiled on them tonight. The stars sparkled in the night sky, and the city’s skyline looked lovely in the darkness across the river.
“You’ve got some real fancy touches tonight,” Ernie said before they even had a chance to sit down. “I’m glad Flo remembered to bring the ticket, or else we wouldn’t have gotten in.”
Suzanne wished Flo had forgotten. They would have gone home to retrieve the admission pass, which would have given her a few more minutes of peace. She explained, “The man collecting invites has a list to check as a backup in case anyone forgets. He just would have asked for ID.” She’d asked Paula to let one of her wait staff man the door; the temporary maid from the agency simply didn’t move fast enough to do it efficiently.
“And the valet parking,” Ernie continued. “Pretty fancy.”
“Yes, well, we’re expecting a fair number of people. It seemed easier that way.” Suzanne had taken the unusual step of inviting everyone on the block to head off any resentment at having the block crammed with cars, but why was she explaining anything to this oaf?
“Your house looks great, Suzanne,” Flo said. “I love the floating candles in the pool.”
“Well, thank you.”
“And I see you got new patio furniture.”
“Yes, we replaced everything last year. We do a lot of entertaining out here.” Oops. Wrong thing to say. She’d practically invited Ernie to say something like, Be sure to invite us.
“Besides, the old stuff was going on five years old, so it was time to replace it,” she quickly added, then looked toward the door for the second time in a minute. She was desperate for someone else to show up, but who was silly enough to show up at five minutes after eight? No one would be here for another fifteen or twenty minutes, at least. And she was stuck here with people she’d invited simply to spare their feelings.
Paula, wearing a sleeveless pale green silk sheath, emerged from the kitchen with a bowl of fruit, which she placed strategically on a cloth-covered rectangular table that would eventually hold hot and cold hors d’oeuvres.
“Who’s that?” Ernie asked loudly, following Paula’s moves with his eyes.
Suzanne rolled her eyes. How did Flo stand being married to him?
The next ones to arrive were Frank Nelson, Brad’s new partner in the diagnostic center, and his wife Jean. The two business partners socialized fairly often in the three years since Frank bought out Brad’s original partner, and Suzanne looked at the Nelsons as a slightly older—they were both in their mid fifties—version of herself and Brad. Suzanne had thought the Nelsons had a perfect marriage when she’d first met them, the model for herself and Brad in the future. She’d been shocked when Brad casually mentioned that Frank had a girlfriend out on the west side of town. Ever since then Suzanne felt a little uncomfortable around Jean because of what she knew. Whenever they had a few minutes alone for girl talk, Jean usually said something about how happy and contented she was with her life. Suzanne would never forget her saying, “You know, Suzanne, all I ever wanted was a husband, children, and a house of my own. And I got all three. Sometimes I think I’m the luckiest woman on earth.”
Suzanne didn’t see how Jean could possibly be unaware of her husband’s multiple indiscretions; she’d heard other wives gossip about it with her own ears. Did an intact family unit and a large house in an exclusive neighborhood mean so much that she could gladly look the other way?
Like Suzanne, Jean didn’t work outside the