You’re nothing but a whore!
Who’s the whore calling me a whore? You’re the whore!
He married you only because you were pregnant!
At least I gave him a son! You gave him a brat!
Don’t you dare call my child a brat!
As soon as he knocks up the nanny, he’s going to dump you!
He will not! We’re a family!
No! You stole my husband and you’re a home-wrecking cow!
“Ladies! Ladies! Please!”
“Mom! Stop!”
Bob rushed over and grabbed Maritza’s arms from behind, concealing her nakedness. Daniel rushed over and grabbed Colette, holding her back. Bob’s footing was unsteady as he held a wildly gyrating Maritza away from his ex-wife. She tried with all her might to break Bob’s hold. All she wanted to do was punch Colette in the face.
“Now, let’s calm down, ladies. This is a wedding, not a gutter . . .”
The word gutter so infuriated Maritza that she broke free, fell backward, and toppled the table with the cake and fell into it. Everyone froze. The music stopped.
“Oh my God!” Kitty screamed. “Oh my God! You wrecked my fucking wedding cake!”
“Yeah! You crazy bitch! And you attacked my mother!” Daniel said.
Kitty’s uncle Ernest stared as if he had never heard that kind of language until then. He stumbled over to a chair, clutching his chest, and collapsed. Betty hurried over and fanned him with the handkerchief tucked in the bosom of her dress.
The crew scrambled to clean up the cake. Bob struggled to help Maritza up and save her dignity at the same time. She pulled her dress around her to cover that which was hanging out that the sun seldom sees. Her entire body, including her hair, was splotched with cake and icing.
“It’s okay,” Betty said in between reviving her brother and wiping her own brow. “Kitty! It’s okay. It’s just a cake. It’s just a cake.” Boy, these rich people are truly not like us, she thought.
Kitty inhaled and exhaled quickly, starting to hyperventilate, and then she centered herself and found a moment of Zen that calmed her right down. She resumed normal breathing and looked at her mother.
“You’re right, Mom. It’s just a cake. And guess what? I have extra layers in the kitchen and more buttercream too. Maybe someone could frost them?”
“Of course! Right away!” The chef who was slicing the ham dropped his knife and sprinted toward the kitchen.
“That’s my girl!” Betty said. “Ernest? Ernest? Shall I get a doctor?”
“I’m okay,” he mumbled and seemed to come around. “Maybe a little shot of O Be Joyful might bring me to my senses.”
“Get the music going!” Bob said.
The musicians began to play again.
Olivia and Nick finally made it to Maritza’s side and said, “Are you okay?”
“I’m very disappointed in you, Maritza,” Bob said. “Very.”
“She started it,” Maritza said and began to cry.
“Oh God. Here come the famous waterworks!” Bob said and walked away.
Maritza looked around to see if the world was staring at her. They were not. The others had turned away as if her distress was not important, except for Colette, who stood there smirking.
“You’re a nothing,” Colette said. “Bob regrets the day he met you.”
“Excuse me,” Maritza said. “I’m going to change.”
Olivia said, touching her shoulder, “I’ll come with you.”
“I’m fine,” Maritza said, pushing her hand away and left.
Olivia froze. Her instincts were correct.
She went to Nick and said, “Maritza’s upset that I’m working on Colette’s new house.”
“Come on, now. That’s ridiculous. It’s just business. Besides, Maritza loves you to pieces.”
“Yes, but I think she sees this as fraternizing with the enemy.”
“Let’s not worry about that now. And if you need me to talk to her, you know I will.”
“Oh, Nick. Thank you,” she said, thinking, No man is getting into my business. Not even Nick. “You are so wonderful. Do you know that?”
“That’s true,” he said and kissed her hand.
“I’m worried. We need the business, Nick. You know we do.”
“Olivia, my precious pet, if I walked away from a university every time I was made to work on a committee with a disagreeable, jealous, or politically competitive colleague, I could not have kept a position for more than a year. She’s not walking away from you.”
“But women think differently,” Olivia said. “Decorating your home is so personal.”
“I imagine there is a strong element of that in your work, but still, I wouldn’t panic quite yet. Let’s not let a little spat ruin the night for us! Come dance with me. They’re playing our song!”
“What song is that?” Olivia didn’t recognize the melody.
“The one they’re playing.” Nick laughed at pulled her into him. “All the music is ours.”
“You are an incurable romantic.”
“Guilty. God, you smell good!”
Everyone went back to dancing and eating, and the new cake was brought up frosted and ready to cut. Daniel and Kitty took the first slice and fed each other. The photographer took some shots and everyone applauded. Minutes later, the crew was passing trays of cake and forks.
“She might look like a freak, but she can sure make a cake,” Dorothy said.
“Yes, she can,” Sam said.
“I don’t think she looks like a freak,” Olivia said. “Her mother’s gown is retro Grace Kelly’s wedding in Monaco.”
“Oh, now you’re a fashion maven too?” Dorothy arched an eyebrow and had another bite of cake.
“I watched that wedding a hundred times,” Olivia said.
“I’m sure,” Dorothy said.
Later as the party continued, Olivia and Nick began to realize they had not seen Maritza in quite a long while. Dorothy said she saw her come back on deck in another gown. Sam was less sure about that. Colette claimed complete ignorance. No one seemed to know anything for sure.
The crew, even those on duty, enjoying champagne along with the wedding party made for a crowded deck, and with all the alcohol that was consumed, everyone seemed hard pressed to be certain of anything. By midnight the newlyweds said good night and Betty was going to bunk with her brother in the stateroom that (of course) had twin beds. The musicians and the photographer were long gone.
At first there was no sense of alarm or serious concern but as the night grew later, Bob finally checked their room. Nick and Olivia went with him. There was no sign of Maritza, only the frosted remains of her Bob Mackie gown on the bathroom floor. This was not a good omen.
“How could this be?” Nick said.
“I feel terrible!” Olivia said.
Bob called the captain, who got the crew going on a search. Nick and Olivia looked everywhere too. Two hours later, after every square inch of the yacht had been thoroughly gone over, it was decided that Maritza had somehow simply vanished.
“She’ll turn up,” Bob said. “She’s just being dramatic.”
“She’s probably hiding in the crew quarters,” Michelle said.
“Why would she do that?” Buddy asked.
“Because that’s where she came from and that’s where she belongs,” Colette said. “Only on someone else’s husband’s yacht.”
Chapter 13
Gone
Bob walked the circumference of his yacht with Captain Jack, as did other crew members, shining hurricane-strength flashlights into the water, slowly and painstakingly looking for any kind of clue, any trace of clothing, anything. Nothing.
“I can’t believe she jumped ship,” Bob said. “Why would she do that? It doesn’t make any sense!”
“I don’t know, sir. It seems very out of character for Mrs. Vasile.”
The night was as still as death itself. The only sound was the gentle lapping of the wa
ter against the hull. It was around two in the morning, and those not dead asleep in their beds were suddenly very sobered by the terrible news. They were anchored at a place in the harbor where the water was quite deep. It was too far to swim to shore unless you were a gold-medal-winning Olympian. If Maritza had jumped overboard, she could never have made it to dry land.
Some of Bob’s family and guests had gone to bed before it was generally understood that Maritza was actually missing. Betty and Ernest would have recoiled in horror, thinking that she was captured by pirates or that she’d jumped in despair, given what happened with the cake and her dress and the terrible things Colette said. And if Maritza didn’t turn up, Ellen would be delighted to hear the news in the morning. Michelle and Colette announced that there was nothing they could do, so they might as well turn in. Colette was so smug, Olivia wanted to give her the good noisy smack she deserved.
Finally, after all the walking and peering into the water produced nothing but a fear of the worst, the chef made a pot of strong coffee and the remaining guests gathered in the living room, including Olivia, who was pacing the floors, blaming herself for a least a part of what could have put Maritza into a state of mind to do something rash.
“Okay, okay. Let’s think this through,” Bob said. “Someone said they say her on deck in a different gown.”
“Dorothy. She thinks she did, but lemme tell ya, she also drank enough champagne to float this boat,” Sam said. “And she told me I saw her too, but I don’t really remember seeing her for sure. But let’s be honest, she’s always telling me what to think. I couldn’t swear I did see Maritza, at least not with any certainty.”
Bob said, “Do you remember what time that might have been?”
“No. I’m sorry. Maybe ten o’clock? Ten-thirty?”
“I never saw her come back,” Olivia said. “But then, I didn’t expect to see her again last night.”
“Why not?” Bob said.
“Good grief! Bob! You’re not serious, are you?”
“Yes, I am,” Bob said. “Do you think she was so embarrassed she would just chuck the wedding and stay in her room?”
“I would have!” Olivia said. “I wouldn’t have trusted myself not to give Colette a good slap!”
“No, you wouldn’t. Besides, she had plenty of other clothes to wear. About what time was it when the band stopped playing?” Bob asked.
“Midnight, I think,” Nick said. “I remember looking at my watch.”
“Captain Jack? Did you or any of the crew see any other boats approach besides the ones bringing the musicians and the photographer?”
“No, sir. I can tell you absolutely no other boats came within twenty meters of us. We were on alert for paparazzi with those horrible long-lens cameras they all have these days. And I ordered our own launch and the Zodiac to patrol the area all night, just for that reason.”
“That’s just what you want, a tabloid wedding,” Olivia said.
The chef passed a tray of steaming mugs and everyone took one, hoping the caffeine might jar a memory.
“Thanks,” Buddy said.
“And you searched every hold on the boat? Every closet? Anywhere that she might have been able to hide in?” Bob said.
This remark was so ludicrous it sent Nick up the wall. He could stay quiet no longer. “Bob? Sit down.” Bob did as he was told. A first.
“Why would Maritza hide herself? She’s not a child,” Nick said quietly. “Unless, God forbid, she came to some great personal harm.”
“She is as healthy as a horse, so even if some maniac from the band attacked her, she could defend herself. Besides, there’s no sign of a struggle anywhere,” Bob said, throwing any notion of foul play out of the window. “I could never believe someone would actually hurt her.”
Olivia could think of more than one person who would’ve liked Maritza gone. Why wasn’t Bob asking that question? And Olivia was racked with guilt. And feeling terrible. After all, she considered Maritza to be more than a client—the daughter she’d never had. If she had done anything that would contribute to Maritza’s doing something rash, she would never be able to forgive herself.
The conversation went on for another hour, and every plausible explanation for where Maritza might be found led to a dead end.
“Jack? At daylight send a couple of our guys ashore with pictures of Maritza to ask around if anyone saw a woman who looks like her getting off a boat between ten-thirty and midnight. Let’s try to keep this quiet, okay?”
“Sure thing,” Jack said.
“This is a little bit unbelievable,” Buddy said. “I mean, I keep asking myself if wrecking a cake and a catfight with an ex-wife is enough to make somebody commit suicide, and I just don’t think it is.”
“Yeah, but we’re men, and if we knocked over a cake we’d say we were sorry and that would be the end of it. I mean, ruining someone’s wedding cake is pretty awful, but it’s not the end of the world,” Sam said. “Maybe she slipped?”
“That’s not exactly what happened,” Olivia said. “I was standing right there.”
“So,” Bob said, “walk us through it.”
“Okay. So, Colette walked up to Maritza and Kitty and me and made the announcement that I was going to totally renovate an historic home in Charleston that she just bought.”
“I didn’t even know she had one,” Bob said.
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Sam said. “Why would you know?”
“Yeah, you’ve got a few things going on in your life,” Buddy said.
“Anyway, I think that upset Maritza.”
“Why would that upset her?” Bob said. “Why should she care?”
“To be honest?” Olivia said. “Maritza is a very sensitive woman, and perhaps she thought I was betraying her in some way.”
“Why would she think that?” Bob said. “You’re the Vasile interior designer for all my wives! Always were and always will be. The bills all come to me anyway!”
“That may be true, but Colette was pretty aggressive. She tried to engage her in an argument by stating that she and Kitty were the only Mrs. Vasiles who mattered.”
“Aw, come on! That’s some high school horseshit,” Bob said. “And Maritza got her feelings hurt?”
“It was very rude, Bob.” Olivia said. “You have to give her that.”
“Okay, but she knows how Colette feels about her.” Bob said.
“Bob, just because she knows doesn’t mean it’s okay for Colette to tell her she was worthless and that you regretted the day you met her,” Olivia said. “I mean, I’m sorry to say all this, but you want the truth, so here it is.”
“God, she’s awful. Colette, I mean. How did her dress get torn?” Bob said.
“Colette stepped on the hem. I saw that much,” Nick said.
“She’s a crazy bitch. She always was,” Bob said.
“No comment,” Sam said.
“Nothing from me either,” Buddy said.
Olivia added, “And then you and Daniel stepped in and actually, Bob, it was you who lost your balance, throwing her off balance. You were able to recover, but Maritza was wearing very high heels, and then she got tangled up in her gown, so down she went.”
“That’s not how I remember the moment, but you might be right,” Bob said.
“There have been more than a few studies done on the difference in how things are perceived and how they are remembered,” Nick said. “If ten people had witnessed what happened between Maritza and Colette, you might get ten different responses.”
“I know that’s true, Nick, but Colette really is the meanest woman I ever married. Everyone would agree to that,” Bob said with a straight face. “Lucky I got out of that one.”
“Well, I don’t want to bite the hand that feeds me,” Olivia said. “And maybe you weren’t aware of this either, but Maritza and I achieved a level of friendship that I never enjoyed with your other wives, which is why I think she was probably upset that Colette could be so rude to her an
d then I’d go to work for Colette.”
“Maybe, but that’s so silly, Olivia,” Bob said. “You shouldn’t feel any guilt. You’ve got bills to pay like everyone else in the world.”
“True story,” Olivia said. “I sure do.”
Bob gave Olivia a glance, reminding himself that she lost a chance to renovate and redesign a twenty-six-million-dollar house on Nantucket. How many jobs had she passed on to make herself available for Bob? He would be extra generous with Colette, even though she was insufferably evil, and tell her to give Olivia a free hand to buy whatever she thought would dignify the house.
“So the question still remains, Where is Maritza?” Nick said. “What happened and where did she go? And why? Maybe she just couldn’t take it anymore.”
Bob dismissed that idea, looked at his watch, and said, “Well, I don’t know. But I do know we’re not going to solve this tonight. We need some answers. Maybe someone saw her. Maybe she’s just over on Ibiza in some hotel, cooling off. I certainly do not believe she attempted to commit suicide. I mean, I can understand why she might not want to deal with Colette anymore. She’s so vile she even gives me the willies. Anyway, my prediction is Maritza will turn up. Let’s try to get some sleep. There’s nothing more to be done for now.”
With that Bob got up and left the room.
When Olivia and Nick turned out the light in bed, Nick rolled over to Olivia and said, “Well, I have a theory.”
“Let’s hear.”
“Like you, I think Maritza has just plain had it with this entire cast of characters, including her obnoxious daughter,” Nick said.
“Well, you see that’s the thing that’s troubling me. Even though Gladdie is very overly indulged, Maritza really loves her. I don’t see her abandoning her only child. Can you?”
“No, on second thought, I think you’re definitely right about that.”
She rolled over toward Nick to see his face and he was already asleep, blowing little puffs of air through his lips.
How do men do that? she thought. They just lie down and go to sleep. Amazing.
They slept until eight o’clock and Olivia woke up, remembering what had happened the night before. She and Nick hurried to dress for breakfast and wanted nothing more than to go to the table to see that Maritza was there, safe and sound.