"I want to marry you. I want us to have a home and children."
"It can be arranged," she said. "You could take the Florida bar exam. You could do worse than live in a home on a Fort Lauderdale canal. We can work together, work it out. You don't need Jonas."
"He needs me," said Bat.
"Right," Toni sighed. "A thought like that can ruin everything."
28
1
JONAS CORD AND ANGELA WYATT WERE MARRIED WITH simple formalities at the ranch house on Christmas eve. A justice of the peace arrived about seven o'clock and performed the short ceremony in the presence of Bat and Toni, Jo-Ann and Ben, Sonja and Virgilio, Monica and Bill. Angie cut a wedding cake and fed the first slice to Jonas as was traditional. Afterward, the company did not sit down to a dinner but nibbled from a buffet. They mixed and talked.
Toni was touched to see how proud Jonas was of Angie — and how protective of her. He had changed still more. He was the picture of a man who had recovered from a heart attack but was alert for the signs of another one. He was thin. He was more economical in his movements, even with his words. But nothing diminished his force. He was, as always, the focus of the assembled group — no longer as the lion in winter; no, as the lion scarred but recovered from his wounds, fit and ready to do battle.
This was Angie's and Jonas's happy occasion, and Toni and Bat had agreed not to distract any attention from it by announcing their own plans to marry. They would keep that word for later. Bat had told his mother, and Toni had told her parents, but no one else knew.
Jonas saw Toni standing alone by the Christmas tree studying the ornaments — probably comparing them to the strings of popcorn Robair and Nevada used to put on a tree. He walked over, took her hand, and squeezed it warmly. "You're more beautiful every time I see you," he said.
"Why, thank you, Mr. Cord. You are more distinctively handsome every time I see you," she said.
Jonas grinned. "One of the things I most like about you," he said, "is that you're a first-rate bullshit artist. I wish Bat would learn something of that art from you. But I'm serious. You are an extraordinarily beautiful woman. And, for God's sake, quit calling me Mr. Cord. To be called that by the most beautiful woman in a party — with the possible exception of my Angie — is a complete put-down."
"Jonas ... Do you really think so? Most beautiful— "
"Absolutely. The dress is exquisite."
"Bat bought it for me, for tonight."
"The boy learns ... gradually."
In their bedroom before they came out for the ceremony, Bat had unpacked a peach-colored cocktail dress embroidered with silver thread. She was not so obsessed with modesty as to deny it was beautiful and she was beautiful in it.
Bat was as protective of Toni tonight as his father was of Angie, and seeing her in earnest conversation with Jonas, he broke away from Jo-Ann, Monica, and her friend Bill Toller, picked up two fresh Scotches, and crossed the room toward his father.
"I know where Chandler is," he said to Jonas, adding to Toni, "Sorry. A word about business."
"What about Chandler?" Jonas asked, not disguising that he didn't want to know this evening but was compelled to now, since his son had so insensitively mentioned it.
"He's in Rhode Island," said Bat. "Since gambling is not legal in Rhode Island, there's no such thing as a gaming license, and his felony record is no impediment to his managing a joint some people have there. It's quite a place. People come from Boston, even from as far away as Hartford to gamble and consort with the hookers."
"He landed on his feet," said Jonas.
"If you want to call becoming a big duck in a very little pond landing on your feet, I suppose he did."
Monica joined them. Toni renewed her judgment that Monica was a brittle bitch. "I love your dress," she said to Toni with the same condescending edge in her voice she had used when she said the same thing to Angie. She herself wore a black dress of undistinguished style — unless showing extraordinary cleavage was style. "Where's your bride, Jonas?"
Angie was at the bar pouring a small new drink of bourbon for Jonas. She came to Jonas and handed him the glass. She wore pink brocade and was easily the most beautiful woman in the house, Jonas's compliment to Toni notwithstanding. "I appreciate your all being here this evening," she said, directing the comment particularly toward Monica.
"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," said Monica.
"I'm taking Angie to London and Paris for a wedding trip," said Jonas.
"I haven't been to Paris in ages," said Monica.
Bat had noticed his mother standing near the buffet table, glancing around, apparently briefly at a loss to know who to talk to, though she had already clearly demonstrated she was not in the least discomfited by the company. He broke away from the group around his father and led Toni toward his mother. "Madre," he said opening his arms. She smiled and entered between his outstretched arms for a warm embrace.
"Boston," Sonja said to Toni.
"Yes, it's been a long time since we've seen each other," said Toni. "Too long."
"I'm very happy about your news," she said quietly. "You haven't told Jonas, though, have you?"
Toni shook her head. "Not yet."
Toni had met Sonja when she came to the States to visit Bat when he was at Harvard. She'd been in her forties then and was in her fifties now: a woman of presence and poise and possessed of a rare, almost unique beauty. With her form-fitting silver lamé cocktail dress she wore a massive turquoise-and-silver squash-blossom necklace. Toni had watched her talking with Jonas earlier. She yielded nothing to him but treated him as an old friend.
Jonas walked away from Monica and brought Angie to the buffet table. "I'm about to be made a grandfather," he said to Sonja. He nodded toward Jo-Ann.
"Congratulations to both of you," said Sonja.
During the flight to Nevada, Bat had told Toni that Jo-Ann was a defeated woman. She had married as an act of defiance, only to see her husband captured by the gravity of Jonas and now dutifully circling him like a satellite. He had said he wasn't sure she wanted to be pregnant, either. "The name is cursed," Bat had said bitterly.
2
Monica said something similar to Jo-Ann a little later, when they stood apart by the window, looking out over a bleak landscape where no snow lay.
The next thing she said was "He dotes on his bastard."
Jo-Ann shrugged. "A blessing from heaven."
"Remember something," said Monica. "More bastards may show up, especially when he dies. But you're the only legitimate child he has. He can't shut you out of your inheritance."
"Yes, he can," said Jo-Ann. "I've talked with lawyers about it. By will. If it's drafted right, and executed right, he can leave everything he's got to Angie, or to Bat, or to whoever he wants."
"You mean he can leave you to the tender mercies of his bastard?"
"You're not very observant," said Jo-Ann.
"Meaning what?"
"He doesn't like Bat as well as you think he does. Can't you see the tension between them? If it weren't for this wedding, this joyous occasion, they'd be at each other's throats. They may be heading toward a complete breakup."
Monica laughed. "We can always hope so."
Jo-Ann shook her head. "I'm not sure I hope so."
3
"A few minutes," Jonas said to Bat. "I want to talk to you alone for a few minutes."