The Lovely Chocolate Mob - By Richard J. Bennett Page 0,16
to hear. Not as good as “Randall, it’s so good to hug you,” or “Randall, your cologne is so strong and your breath is especially minty,” or “Randall, you’re a total hunk, and truly a man among men,” but still, it’s a good start.
“Mom, are you going to introduce me?” I was startled by another female voice; I hoped I hadn’t looked too grabby. I put my hands behind my back and turned around to see a miniature Helen, a younger black-haired beauty.
Helen said, “Yes, sorry. Mindy, this is Mr. Owen. Randall, the friend I was telling you about. Randall, this is my oldest daughter, Mindy Burke. She followed me here.” I was completely caught off guard, but managed a handshake, and said, “It’s good to meet you.”
I suddenly felt hungry again. We went inside and got a table.
Helen Speaks
We had a nice supper at a nice restaurant for a nice price. I picked up the tab for the three of us, for both the meal and the tip, even though it was Helen who initially wanted to speak with me. We talked small talk during the meal, speaking of classmates and townsfolk we had both known, while Mindy sat silently through most of it. I tried to include her in the conversation, but we older types didn’t have much in common with this college-aged girl.
After the meal was over, then it was time to “get down to business.” The restaurant wasn’t eager to chase anybody out, so we had plenty of time to burn. Mindy had excused herself to visit the little girl’s room, and so I figured I would cut to the chase.
“What kind of reunion party are you planning? High school or college?” I asked, trying to be matter-of-fact.
“I’m sorry for misleading you, but I’m not here about a reunion,” she said, speaking in a serious tone.
I locked onto her eyes to look for any deceit; I didn’t see any. “Okay, then, why are we here?”
Helen took a breath, and said, “I needed a sounding board, Randall. I’ve recently had some developments in the family, and I needed to discuss them with somebody on the outside.”
On the outside. On the outside? Yeah, that’s me, all right. I could have been your husband, but oh, no, here you are speaking to someone on the “outside.”
“Well, what kind of developments has the family been experiencing?”
She hesitated, then said, “I believe my husband is having an affair.”
I leaned back in my chair and looked around. “Do you think you want to be discussing this with your daughter so close by?”
“Mindy knows,” she said. “I told her to disappear after we ate. I needed the time to speak freely.”
This was a little bit too much for me to take in all at once, so I asked, “You’re talking about your husband, Mindy’s father… Franklin Burke, the medical doctor?”
“Yes.” Helen averted her eyes from my gaze.
“Do you have any idea who he’s having an affair with?”
“I do. Her name is Susan Lovely. She’s heir to the Lovely family fortune, and Franklin is the family doctor.”
“Susan Lovely,” I said, remembering her from the local interview. “I’ve seen her on television. Do you know anything else about her?”
“I know a little about her,” said Helen, “from what I can pick up through the grapevine, and read in the newspaper, mostly the society column. She’s 37 years old, a former model, single, never-married with no children, went to college for a little while but dropped out to further her modeling career. I suspect she quit college because she was bored with it and then later quit modeling for the same reason, plus…” Helen stopped short.
“Plus? Plus what?” I pushed.
“I’m sure she had some kind of trust fund to live on, and her grandfather recently passed away, and she’s about to come into a lot of money. Her family was already among the wealthy, but now she’s about to become one of the super-rich.” I could see Helen was becoming frustrated, even though she knew how to hide her emotions.
Here was competition she couldn’t compete with. Helen had the beauty of a model, but the youth and riches part were giving her some trouble.
“You’re saying that your husband, Franklin, the M.D., has gotten involved with a rich socialite, even though he’s been married to you for 25 years?”
“Yes. It would seem so. This is what I believe, anyway,” she said.
“What makes you believe this?”
“He’s her family doctor. He helped take care of Cornelius Lovely.”