Rome she had gone totally wild, and rumors were beginning to reach Faye that she didn't like at all, mostly about the people Val ran around with. But she knew herself that it was almost impossible to control Val. Now she turned her mind to Vanessa again, and this mysterious friend she wanted to bring out, knowing that Vanessa's taste in men was far more sedate than Val's. She didn't even know what Ward would say, although the place he had rented was certainly big enough. There were a dozen bedrooms, and it was right on the lake. Actually, it sounded like a nice idea to her too, and it would be wonderful to have them all around again. “Who is this boy again? Is he at Columbia?” She didn't want to nag, but she knew it probably sounded like it to her child.
“Not anymore. He's just finishing up his Ph.D.”
“How old is this boy?” Now Faye was really upset.
“Sixty-five.” She couldn't resist teasing her but Faye was not laughing with her. “Come on, Mom. Relax. He's only twenty-five. Why?”
“Isn't that a little too old for you?” She was fighting to keep her voice relaxed, but without much success.
“Not that I've noticed. He still walks pretty well. He can dance … ride a bike …”
“Stop being cute. Is it serious? Why do you want to bring him home with you? How involved are you with this man?” The questions came faster than she could answer them, and she was glad she had called when Jason was out.
“No, it's not serious. He's just a good friend.” … I live with him, Mom…. She would really have been thrilled at that. “Why don't you ask Val questions like that and get off my back?” Why did she always have to take the brunt of it? They had always done that to her. They let the boys do what they wanted, they couldn't control Val, and Anne wouldn't talk to them, although she suspected that all of them had deeper secrets than hers. Greg had been banging everything in skirts for the past three years, God only knew what Val was into now, and Anne had had that secret look … but the heat wasn't on them, it was on her, because she was decent to them. It wasn't fair. But the gentleness of her mother's voice touched her heart with the next question.
“Are you in love with him, sweetheart?”
Vanessa hesitated. “I don't know. I just like him very much, and I thought he'd get along with everyone.”
“Is he your steady beau?”
Vanessa smiled at the term and they were friends again. “More or less, I guess.”
“Well, I'll speak to your father about it, and see what he says.” But after asking fewer questions than Faye, of course, he said yes, and told Faye to relax, which was easy for him to say. She had five children to think about, and to her that's what they still were.
CHAPTER 35
They all arrived at Lake Tahoe separately. Ward wanted a few days alone with Faye, and the house they had rented was even better than they'd hoped. There was a small tower at each end, a huge living room downstairs, a dining table that seated eighteen in a paneled dining room with an enormous fireplace. And upstairs there were twelve bedrooms, which was more than enough for all of them. The decor was rustic and cozy, with quilts and antlers and pewter plates everywhere. There were Indian baskets and bearskins on the floor, and it was exactly what Ward had had in mind he noted as he arrived with Faye. They took over what was obviously the master suite, with a huge old-fashioned bathroom and a dressing room. And they sat looking out over the lake the next day, holding hands and remembering their vacation more than a year before in Switzerland.
Faye looked wistful thinking of it, and then turned to him. “I'd like to retire to a place like this one day.”
“My God, you?” He smiled. He couldn't imagine anything more incongruous than his beautiful, worldly, elegant wife, winner of three Academy Awards, most important female director in the world, and trend-setter of sorts, giving it all up to sit staring at a lake for the next forty years. She was only forty-eight years old after all and he just couldn't imagine it “You'd go stark staring mad in three days, if not two.”
“That's not true, sweetheart. One of these days I'm going to surprise