Page 62 of The Playboy and the Widow
Joan smothered a laugh, which only proved to embarrass Katie more.
“How was I supposed to know these things?” Katie demanded.
Joan opened her mouth to explain it all to her younger sibling, but Diana interceded with a scalding look that instantly silenced her oldest daughter.
Cliff set his menu aside when the waitress appeared, and after everyone had made their selection, he ordered champagne cocktails for the adults and Shirley Temples for the girls. While waiting for their drinks to arrive, Cliff placed his arm around Diana, cupping her shoulder. She raised her hand and linked her fingers with his. His touch was light, almost impersonal, but Diana wasn’t fooled. Cliff was as nervous about this evening as she was. So much rested on how Joan and Katie reacted to their news.
“Cliff and I have something we’d like to tell you,” Diana said softly after the waitress had placed a drink in front of each one of them. She knew how much the girls liked Cliff, but she wasn’t sure how they’d feel about him becoming a major part of their lives. It had been just the three of them for a long time.
Joan took a long sip of her Shirley Temple. Her eyes were raised, but her head was lowered. She looked like a crocodile peering at them from just above the waterline. For her part, Katie was busy spreading out the linen napkin across her lap.
Diana resisted the urge to shout at them both that this was important and they should pay attention.
“Cliff and I are trying to tell you something,” Diana said forcefully, gritting her teeth with impatience.
“What?”
The fact that they’d decided to get married wasn’t something to be blurted out without preamble. Diana had hoped to start off by explaining to her daughters how she’d come to love Cliff and how her love would affect Joan’s and Katie’s life.
“Cliff and I have discovered that we love each other very much.” Diana’s fingers tightened around his. Just being able to say the words and not having to hide them in her heart produced a special kind of joy.
“So?” Katie murmured, lifting the tiny, plastic sword from her drink and shoving both maraschino cherries into her mouth at once.
“I already knew that,” Joan said knowingly.
“So,” Diana said slowly, and expelled her breath, “Cliff and I were thinking about getting married.”
“And we wanted to know your feelings on the matter,” he inserted, studying both Joan and Katie. He was as uptight about this evening as Diana. But the girls seemed more concerned about sucking ice cubes than listening to what their mother had to say.
Joan shrugged. “Sure, if you want to get married, I don’t care.”
“Me, either,” Katie agreed, and juice from the two cherries slid down the side of her chin.
“Oh, gross,” Joan cried, and pointedly looked in the opposite direction.
Diana’s patience was quickly wearing thin. “Girls, please, we’re not talking about what we’re going to have for breakfast tomorrow morning. If Cliff and I do get married, it’s going to be a major change in all our lives.” She was about to relay that the marriage would mean they’d be moving and the girls would be changing schools, but Joan interrupted her.
“Will I get a bigger allowance?”
“Can I have a new bike?” Katie asked on the tail end of her sister’s question.
“Can I tell people we’re going to be rich?” Joan asked without guile.
“If we’re going to be rich, then I should be able to get a new bike, shouldn’t I?”
“We are not going to be wealthy because I’m marrying Cliff,” Diana cried, raising her voice and doing a poor job of hiding her disappointment in her daughters. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected from Joan and Katie but it certainly hadn’t been indifference and greed.
“Gee, Mom, why are you so mad?” Joan asked, studying her mother with a quizzical frown. “Katie and I already knew you were in love with Cliff. We couldn’t help but know from the way you’ve been acting all summer.”
Both girls seemed to want an answer.
“I see,” Diana answered softly, briefly regaining a grip on her emotions.
“Then neither of you has any objection to our getting married?” Cliff asked.
Diana was as tense as a newly strung guitar. What upset her most was the way the girls were behaving; the entire dinner was about to be ruined.
Joan and Katie shared a look and answered his question with a short shake of their heads.
