Chapter 11
“So what’s up between you and your father?” Cassie asked while she started the car.
Frank sighed. Was he going to trust her with this or not? He remembered the quote from Matthew: ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ While they had not yet consummated their marriage, in the eyes of the world and in his heart they were one. He sighed a second time and said, “I suppose you need to know.”
Cassie waited while he organized his thoughts.
“I told you how I’d become a Christian, right?”
“You said there was a woman involved.”
“Tiffany Bruton. She was a great actress and a favourite of my father’s although I didn’t know it at the time. He promised her that she would get a really good payoff if she could steal me from my first serious girlfriend but I didn’t find out about that until long after it happened. I was just on the verge of proposing to Andrea when Tiffany came into my life and dazzled me so much that Andrea dumped me.”
“Your Dad paid Tiffany to make Andrea dump you?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t find out about that until I saw Tiffany again at a New Year’s Eve party a year and a half ago. She was plastered and admitted that she should have stuck with me because her now ex-husband was broke. When I said I wasn’t interested in ever getting back together she told me that Dad had covered her student loans and her wardrobe as a favour to her father so she could tempt me away from Andrea.” Frank shook his head sadly. “That was the first big bit of interference in my life from Dad that I know of but I didn’t find out about it until after he’d already lost my trust.”
Frank paused to gather his thoughts. “A few years ago, Dad asked my advice on how to hide some windfall income from the tax man. I looked it over and came up with a strategy that would defer the tax for as long as it needed to be. He said that it wasn’t good enough because the government didn’t deserve to have any of his money, ever. I told him that I wouldn’t help him break the law so, in effect, he asked me to choose between the good of the family and my principles. I told him that he wasn’t the only judge of what was good for the family and he threw me out of the house.”
“Mother brokered a truce between us that worked well enough with the occasional hiccough until Tiffany told me her story. So New Year’s Day I showed up for dinner, as expected, but I wasn’t in a particularly charitable mood. Bonnie and her family were there and so were Dale and Supriya. I think Robert and Melissa were at her folks. Lita may have been there, but I don’t really remember because I didn’t stay long. Anyway, I was willing to let bygones be bygones because other than needing to track Andrea down and properly apologize to her, I knew that the incident with Tiffany was done and buried. But Dad cornered me and broke the truce. He asked if I’d come to my senses about putting the family first because he needed help with another tax planning question.”
“So instead of answering his question, I asked him how much he’d paid Tiffany to get between Andrea and me. He looked like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar and said, ‘It was worth every penny. Andrea’s family has no connections or money. She didn’t deserve you.’
“So I asked him again how much he’d paid and he said that it had cost him about fifty thousand and that it was worth every penny. I almost slugged him but instead I walked over to Mother and wished her a Happy New Year. Then I turned to Dad and said, ‘I do my best to get every legal advantage I can for any client, but I won’t lie for them and I won’t help them cheat. And I won’t do it for you either. So don’t bother coming to me for help.’ Mother came with me to the door and begged me to apologize and I told her that the only one I needed to apologize to was Andrea. So I went home to some leftovers and did some online research with the alumni association website and found Andrea’s married name and then an address. I wrote her a long letter of apology explaining what had happened, taking full responsibility for behaving like the jerk I was and asking if she could forgive me.”
Cassie reached for Frank’s hand and asked, “Did she? Forgive you?”
Frank smiled. “She did. We’ve corresponded a few times since. She’s married to a mechanic who works with his uncle in a garage near Woodstock, New Brunswick. I dropped in for lunch on the drive here. Her boys are six and three and she’s expecting another child in October. I’m really happy that she found a good man. Her house is filled with love.”
“And what about your Dad?”
“He apologized, sort of, which I accepted, sort of. He still talks to me although I try to spend as little time with him as I can. I don’t talk business with him, though. If he brings it up I change the subject and if he doesn’t follow along I hang up or I leave. But Mother has been doing a pretty good job as a referee.”
Cassie asked the question she really wanted the answer to. “How will he react to me, do you think?”
Frank pondered that for a second. “He won’t like you because you don’t come from the right family. It wouldn’t surprise me if he asked if you were pregnant then offered you a pile of money to divorce me when he finds out you aren’t.”
“I didn’t marry you for your money, you know.” Then she giggled. “Well, maybe I did but I didn’t think you were, like, really rich, only rich in comparison to me. I figured that as long as you could afford to keep the fridge full and give me a warm dry bed it would be good enough.”
“I’m pretty sure that I can do a bit better than that.”
“Like a trip to Norway?”
Frank waggled his eyebrows at her. “A honeymoon trip to Norway.”
Cassie blushed but squeezed Frank’s hand.
———
“That’s wonderful, Frank. Now I’m sorry I didn’t return your call yesterday evening.” Anne sounded very pleased. “I’ll get Charles to give you a call at the hotel or perhaps he could meet you at Trevor’s office.”
“Either is good. Maybe I could just buy into his practice and he could keep his hand in when he feels like it. He’d have to sign everything until I got my license straightened away, but it would simplify things for me and I’ve got some spare cash to invest at the moment.”
Anne said, “I hadn’t considered that option. He said he’s working a bit less than half time right now. With his client base and the work you’ll get from Trevor that would keep you pretty well occupied while you start up.”
Frank said, “Okay. I’ll look forward to his call.”
“How is Cassie doing?”
“Pretty well, all things considered. We both feel like reality is going to catch up with us soon. But as we get to know each other better I’m even more thankful for her. She’s made me realize how much I was missing out on and how much I have in my life to thank God for, especially her. We’re going house hunting again this morning with a new agent.”
“Oh?”
“The shrew that showed us the two houses yesterday morning treated Cassie like a child the whole time and wouldn’t answer her questions unless I repeated them. Cassie’s pretty bright but she’s never done anything like this before. For that matter, I’ve never bought a house before and I had lots of questions, too. But because Cassie’s more extroverted than me, she was asking the questions first.” Frank sighed. “At least the shrew won’t get a commission from us.”
“Did Cassie say anything to her?”
Frank laughed. “Actually, she did, after we were shown the second house. It was something like, ‘Do you treat all first time home buyers this way? Because if you do, I’m surprised that you’re able to earn a living.’ Then she flounced to the car and got in.”
Anne laughed in return. “And as soon as you were out of sight she collapsed into a quivering mass of insecurity.”
“Actually, no. She’s used to dealing with snotty oncologists and nurses. I told her that her comment was less rude than the way she’d been treated all morning and that I was impressed that she’d kept it that polite. Cassie said that she tried to
imagine what Dorothy Parker would say in the same situation but she couldn’t be quite that rude.”
Anne laughed. “Where are you looking?”
“Yesterday morning was Rockcliffe Park but the neighbourhood didn’t feel right for me and it’s a bit too close to Vanier for Cassie’s comfort. I suggested the Glebe or the Island Park area but she thought we should see what was in Manotick.”
Cassie had her ultra book in her hand as she emerged from her bedroom. “Frank?”
Frank said, “Hold on. I’ll put the speakerphone on. I have Anne Menzies on the line.”
Anne’s voice came from the speaker. “Hi Cassie.”
“Hi, Mrs. Menzies.”
They heard Anne sigh. “As weird as feels, Cassie, you need to call me Anne. At the very least we will be colleagues working together to support various charities around town but I hope we can become friends, too. So, unless you want me to call you Mrs. Ellis you should call me Anne.”
Cassie gave Frank a nervous smile and said, “Okay… Anne. Sorry if I interrupted you and Frank.”
Anne said, “It’s no bother. We were just chatting. I’m very happy that Frank will be handling our charity trust for us. How are you feeling about it?”
“I’m pretty nervous about the whole hostess thing to be honest.”
Anne said, “I still get nervous when new people are coming over. I remember the first time Henry had a major investor over. It went very well but I fussed for a week over it. You will, too. On the other hand, you can practice on us and Fiona’s family and the Sokolovs. We won’t care if everything is perfect so you can let yourself make a few mistakes.”
Frank stroked Cassie’s hand to comfort her. “I think what she really needs to know is how many people we’ll be entertaining, Anne. It makes a difference to the size of house we purchase.”
Anne hummed while she thought. “I’m afraid the answer is ‘it depends.’ We can seat eighteen people around our dining table and Charles can host a barbeque for fifty, not that they do it regularly. What about your family, Frank? Surely your parents entertain frequently?”
Frank said, “Mother is very active in the arts community in Halifax. She can host sixty for a cocktail party or twenty-four for dinner. Is that typical for your events?”
Anne said, “Pretty close. Most of the people we hit up for donations are older and prefer quiet dinners to barbeques or galas. But you’d build up to it over time. It might be November before you would be expected to host anything. Maybe longer if the older women don’t take to Cassie right away.” Anne continued hurriedly before Cassie could object, “It isn’t about your age, Cassie. It’s more about whether they’ve spent enough time with you to decide whether they like you or not. Several of the old dears who knew my parents still think I’m too young to be a grandmother.”
Frank said, “I think Cassie is very charming.”
Cassie could almost hear Anne’s smile. “And so do I. Cassie, was Frank right about your question?”
“No, actually, although I appreciate the advice. I was wondering if you’d heard anything about the high schools out by Manotick.”
“I haven’t heard anything one way or the other and my information would be at least six years out of date anyway.”
“Thanks, anyway.” Cassie looked at the clock. “We need to be on our way, Frank. There are three houses I’d like to look at and you’re due at Trevor’s office by two.”
Anne said goodbye and Frank disconnected. “You aren’t balking at the price again are you?”
Cassie said, “No. I read that tax lady’s blog about why you invest so heavily in a principal dwelling and I looked up some other advice columns. It makes sense but I don’t want a monster house, even if we can afford to hire a cleaning service and groundskeepers.”
“I don’t either but I think we’ll want to have somewhere we can have twenty people for dinner with a big patio for barbeques. And I’d really like to have a pool. That means a pretty big house.”
Cassie got a wistful look. “I always wanted to go to the parties that the nice kids went to.”
“Now we can host them, if you want to.”
Cassie frowned at Frank. “But as the woman of the house I’d be expected to chaperone people. It could be awkward.”
Frank put his arm around her waist. “It could be. But it might be more awkward for me.”
Cassie asked, “Do you think I should check out the Christian high school? I liked what I read about them on their web site.”
“They might be a good fit if they have a space for you.”
“Even if we don’t have a regular congregation?”
“I’m sure Henry or Anne will vouch for us. Speaking of congregations, I was thinking that we would leave the car here and fly to Halifax on Saturday.”
“How did you get from congregation to that?” Cassie gave Frank an amused glance.
“Simple. I have to let the people at my church in Halifax know I’m moving so they can recruit someone to replace me on the finance committee and I want to introduce you to some people there.”
“And your family?” Frank could feel Cassie’s tension.
Frank sighed. “I really should let my family know about us. We’ve been married for five days already and I’ve been avoiding it.” He checked his watch. “Do we have time for me call my mother and my sister now?”
Cassie checked the clock. “I guess.”
Frank opened a window on his laptop. “I’d like to email them these pictures, too.” He pointed at thumbnails of Cassie in her wedding dress, the two of them sharing a kiss at the restaurant, and Cassie with the nuthatch. “Is that okay?”
Cassie pointed at a picture of her and Frank she’d asked a Japanese tourist to take during a hike in the Gatineau Hills and said, “And this one, too.”
“Okay.” His fingers moved quickly over the keyboard and the four pictures were on their way to almost a dozen email addresses. Frank took a deep breath. “Now for my sister.”
Frank’s cell phone rang before he could pick up it up. He looked at the displayed number. “Bonnie must have been on line.” He touched the screen and said, “Hi Bonnie.”
A torrent of words came out of the earpiece. Frank said, “Let me put the speaker on so Cassie can hear you, sis.” He touched the screen again and they heard “… would have been nice, Frank.”
Frank said, “What would have been nice?”
“Well, some advance warning or an invitation to the wedding or something.”
“It was love at first sight, Bonnie. I couldn’t wait.”
Cassie said, “Hi Bonnie.”
Bonnie clued in that Frank wasn’t alone. “Hi. Cassandra is it?”
“Cassie, please.”
“Good morning, Cassie.” There was a sigh from the speaker. “Let me guess, Frank. You want me to hold off on the awkward questions until you get home. When are you back?”
“It depends. I’ve forgotten if this is a family dinner Saturday or not.”
“It was supposed to be but it isn’t. There’s a charity dance at the golf club so Mother cancelled. But you should be prepared for an invitation from Mother for Sunday.”
Frank said, “Then we’ll be flying in early Saturday afternoon.”
“Would you like to come over for supper?”
Cassie nodded nervously in response to Frank’s silent question. He indicated that Cassie should answer, so she said, in her sunniest voice, “Thank you, Bonnie. We’d love to.”
“Okay, then. We’ll see you at five?”
“We’ll be there. Love you, sis.”
“Love you too, baby brother. Don’t forget it’s Jan’s birthday. I’m looking forward to meeting you, Cassie.”
“Me, too.”
“Bye, sis.” Frank disconnected and blew out his held breath. “That went pretty well.” He opened his contact list. “Now for Mother.” He looked at Cassie. “I don’t think I’ll put you on the speaker phone this time, but I also don’t think it will tak
e very long.” He touched the entry to dial as he got up to fetch his shoes.
“Hello, Mother. Have you checked your email this morning? … I mailed you some pictures of your new daughter-in-law. … Yes. I got married on Friday. … Yes, it was sudden, but I didn’t want to wait. … Cassandra Marcussen. You wouldn’t know them. … We’ll be home on Saturday. … Yes. Bonnie told us. … Sunday lunch after church then, but we may not stay long. … That will depend entirely on Father. I won’t tolerate any disrespect towards my wife. … See you Sunday, Mother. Enjoy the dancing on Saturday. … I love you, too. Bye.”
Cassie slipped her ultra book into her backpack after ensuring that she could access the saved information about the houses she wanted to see without being connected to a network. “Thank you.”
Frank gave Cassie a lopsided grin. “For what.”
“For treating this like a real marriage.”
Frank kept the smile on his face as he stood up. With sincerity he said, “It is a real marriage, my lovely wife. What will it take to convince you?”
Cassie blinked and looked nervously at her feet. “I don’t know, Frank. Time, probably. Maybe some counselling. The help line web site says that I really should get some counselling. I want to trust you but …”
“But I’m a man and I’m still more stranger than friend?”
Cassie gave a jerky nod. “If it helps, I trust you more than anyone since Granny died.”
Frank said, “It does help.” He took a half step forward. “Do you need a hug?”
Mutely, Cassie stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist.
———
“So we made an offer on a sprawling bungalow in Manotick for September first. I liked the layout of the Cape Cod better but Frank swims for exercise and there was a big in-ground outdoor pool and an indoor infinity pool at the bungalow. So we’ll have to go shopping for lots of furniture when we move in.” Cassie looked around the cozy sitting room in the Sokolov’s house.
Meghan said, “It’s probably bigger than this place.”
Cassie shrugged. “At least five times as big. But with Frank’s new job we’re expected to host dinner parties and things so we need the space.”
“Will you be up for that?”
“Honestly? I have no clue. I like cooking for company and I like having people visit, other than Gord’s buddies. But Anne says that we won’t host anything work related until November at the earliest. And we can always use the excuse that we’re newlyweds to put it off longer if we have to.”
Meghan said, “We only invite close friends to the house but there are networking events and pub meets all the time.”
“Frank said that was normal for his business networking in Halifax. But here it will be different. Most of the the charities he’ll be working with are run by older widows and they don’t go to pubs very often. So we’ll have to invite them to our house.”
“Oh, then you’ll have to have a very nice tea service. Let me know the pattern you choose so that I can get you a housewarming gift.”
“Tea service?”
“Many of the donors to the mission that Anne and I work with are elderly. They prefer an afternoon visit with low tea to a dinner invitation, although two of the old dears have decided that Cassandra is worth spoiling and we’ve become close enough that they’ll come for a meal here.”
“Or that you’re worth spoiling?” Cassie smirked.
Meghan shrugged. “I suppose. You and I are the same ages as their grandchildren.”
Cassie heard some clinking noises and murmured conversation from the kitchen. “I’m a bit surprised that Gene is cooking.”
Meghan laughed. “Oh, you don’t want to eat anything I make. Toast and TV dinners are about the limit of my cooking skill. Gene is a great cook, you’ll see. And this way he can escape the small talk for a while.”
“He seems to get on well with Frank.”
“Gene is most comfortable with other Christians like Frank. He tries to avoid sharks like Frank’s father but it isn’t always possible. Most of the business community knows that Frank and Grant are not on good terms because of Frank’s conversion.”
“You know about that?”
“Most everyone who’s anyone in corporate Canada knows about their fight. A couple of years ago Grant put a notice in the Globe and Mail welcoming Frank on board as chief financial officer of Ellis Holdings. The next Friday there was a retraction notice that Frank apparently paid for so the Financial Times sent a reporter to check it out.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Because Frank is one of ‘those’ Ellises. They aren’t quite on the Fortune 500 list but they have been in the past. It’s pretty well known that Grant’s older sons aren’t CEO material, although they’re both well respected in their fields. Dale writes a syndicated investment advice column that has a pretty big readership and Rob has co-authored some influential books on ways to try to reconcile environmental concerns with the needs of industry. The Times story quoted Frank as saying that his outlook on life and business don’t match his father’s since he became a practicing Christian.”
“You sound like you know the family pretty well.”
“We know Dale and Supriya well and we’ve met his parents a couple of times and we shared a table with Rob at an academic awards banquet last year. We hadn’t met Frank until the day of the wedding and I didn’t make the connection right away. Supriya was very worried that the stories about the fight between Grant and Frank would affect Dale’s credibility.
“Well, I’ll have to look up the stories.”
“Just remember that most of what they report is glorified gossip. Ask Frank for the real story.”
“He’s already told me his side of it. I just want to see how much they got right or if Frank missed any details.”
“Any details about what?” Frank walked into the living room and sat next to Cassie.
“Meghan was telling me the Financial Times did a piece on you and your father. Did your father speak to you afterwards?”
“He left a ten minute rant on my answering machine. I don’t think he repeated himself once. Suffice it to say he was disappointed in me. Dale and Supriya were okay with it after they realized it was good publicity for him. Rob and my sisters were pretty blasé about it but Mother was very angry with both of us.”
“Will I find out anything new if I read the stories?”
“It’s possible I left some details out when I told you about it. It was a pretty fair article. Some of the other ones weren’t quite so balanced. The Sun loves Dad and the Toronto Star hates him. I think Dad was upset by the media attention because he had several deals hiding in the shadows that fell through because of my comments about his lack of a social conscience. It took Mother a few months to convince us to be polite to each other again.”
Evgeni came down the stairs with a bleary eyed Cassandra. “There’s nothing quite like a family fight, is there? I hope our children will be able to avoid it but my side of the family can be very stubborn about admitting when they are wrong. My brother hasn’t spoken to me in fifteen years.” He gave a rueful grin. “I’m not even certain I remember why.”
Meghan adopted a regal air. “Well, then it’s a good thing you married me because you don’t need to worry about that. When we disagree I’m always right, right?”
Evgeni placed his daughter on Meghan’s lap and said, “As you say, my darling wife. But I don’t remember the last time we disagreed about anything so it’s a moot point, isn’t it?”
Meghan smiled overly sweetly and said, “Do you need to see the doctor about memory loss, my love?”
Evgeni sniffed in indignation then put his nose in the air and walked into the kitchen with a grin on his face.
Cassie looked at Frank, unsure if this was teasing or not. But he was grinning so it must be lighthearted. Meghan caught Cassie’s look and said, “It took me quite a while to get used to Gene’s sense of humour. We don’t always get it q
uite right. He’s still not sure when my brothers come over if they are angry with me or not. And the first time they insulted him like he was one of the family it took me almost a week to calm him down. Mind you, Colm and Dermot apologized immediately and looked so contrite that I laughed and managed to insult everyone in the process. But we worked it out and now Gene gives as good as he gets. After all, he’s much better read than they are so he’s got the better lines.”
At the questioning look on Cassie’s face, Meghan continued, “You and Frank will go through those sorts of problems, too. But Frank is much less formal when he’s with you so you’ll sort it out pretty quickly.”
Frank took Cassie’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Cassandra climbed down from her mother’s lap and toddled over to the sofa and said, “Caffie, up?”
Cassie reached down with her free arm to hoist Cassandra onto her lap and nuzzle her fine hair. Meghan noted the look of contentment on Cassie’s face and the tender speculative look on Frank’s and allowed a knowing smile to cross her face.
Cassie closed her eyes to enjoy the squirmy warmth of the little girl on her lap and allowed herself to dream of her own children being taught to swim by Frank at their new house. She opened her eyes to see Frank looking at them with a mix of contentment and longing. Their eyes met and Cassie began to blush at their mutual attraction and thoughts of babies. Then Frank broke the mood by tickling Cassandra.
Evgeni noticed his daughter playing with Cassie’s hair clip and paused to watch as Frank started to tickle Cassandra’s belly. He caught Meghan’s eye and nodded before giving an approving glace towards Frank and Cassie.
“Dinner’s ready, my friends,” said Evgeni as he led the parade to the dining room.