fifty-nine years old, divorced, with a bitter ex-wife and four grown children. He wasn’t interested in marriage either. He would have liked to see more of Kate, but they were both busy. He came up from Washington to see her once or twice a month, which she said was enough for her. They went out to dinner, to the theater or ballet, and spent quiet evenings together at her apartment. He was a familiar figure in her building now, the other tenants recognized him and smiled at him discreetly in the elevator, but no one made a fuss about it. Her mother felt sorry for her. She would have liked to see Kate fall in love again, or have real passion in her life, but Kate liked the arrangement she and Bart had, even though her mother thought it inadequate. Kate was satisfied with it just as it was. They were currently planning to spend two weeks at Shelter Island that summer, in a house he rented every year. Margaret thought they should go to Italy or Spain or somewhere more romantic. Kate didn’t want passion at this point. She’d been burned by it before. The men she went out with were always less exciting than Tom had been. He’d been thrilling for her but she didn’t want that again. A nice tame relationship based on companionship, like the one with Bart, suited her perfectly. Kate always stayed at a safe distance from the men she went out with.
“We’re crazy busy with mergers and acquisitions, and a couple of big lawsuits.” Kate filled her in about work. “We’ve got a nasty one heating up right now.” Her eyes lit up as she described it, and took a sip of the wine she had poured for herself. “It looks like I’ll finally get back to court again. I don’t think my client is going to settle. We’re ready for a good fight. I suspect we’ll win, so I’m not pushing him to settle.” Margaret smiled.
“Who knew you’d turn out to be a killer in the courtroom,” Margaret said, looking amused, as they wandered into the kitchen. The housekeeper had left them a roast chicken, vegetables, and a salad, and had set the table for them.
“I had lunch with Claire today,” Kate said with a sigh, as they helped themselves to the simple meal, which was all either of them wanted. “She’s in love again, this time with a client. I told her that’s not a smart thing to do. She seems to have caught a big fish with this one. He’s a well-known venture capitalist and a huge deal on Wall Street. She says he’s ‘the one,’ and he wants her to be the mother of his children.” She glanced at Margaret. Kate trusted her mother’s instincts and reactions, most of the time anyway. “Should I be worried?”
“No, I don’t think so. She dropped by on Sunday, and told me all about it. She always sounds like that in the beginning, and then she loses interest, although I’m not sure she will this time. He sounds very seductive and very exciting. And he’s way more sophisticated than any of the boys she’s gone out with.” They both knew that was a double-edged sword, and fraught with risk.
“Now I am worried.” Kate put down her fork and looked at her mother.
“I don’t think she’s interested in marriage and won’t be for a long time. She says she doesn’t believe in it. She’ll change her mind about that, of course. At least I hope so. Maybe she’ll get her heart broken this time, if he gets tired of her first, and if she does, she’ll survive it. It doesn’t sound like it’s heading in that direction, for now anyway. He sees her every night. He sounds infatuated.”
“She wants to move in with him. She’s only known him for two months. That’s not reasonable. I don’t care if she sleeps with him every night, I don’t want her to give up her apartment. She needs her own place in case this falls apart like all the others. And two months is nothing. She needs a year, at least, to get to know him.” Everything Kate said made sense.
“I told her that too. She won’t listen to either of us, and that’s not such a bad thing. You can’t expect her to do the right thing all the time. You know what I think? You set the bar too high for your children.