Free The Daughter-in-Law by Diana Diamond Page A

entrance foyer of Rockbottom looked like a museum, with armor displayed in the corners, and heraldry banners hanging from the surrounding balcony. A left turn brought them to the reception room that could have been the lobby of a Ritz-Carlton. There were a half dozen casual furniture groupings, any one of which would have sufficed for a typical family home. A portable bar had been rolled in with a dozen bottles on display. At the other end of the room was a coffee service with a three-foot-high silver urn.
    Jonathan got Nicole a coffee and left her with Ben’s abandoned date while he went to find the housekeeper. He returned with keys to the gatehouse where the two women were supposed to spend the night. Minutes later, a soaked-through Ben and his icy lady left for the city, which told Nicole that she and Jonathan would have the gatehouse to themselves.

NINE
    I T WAS a delicate situation. Obviously, she wasn’t going to lock him out, but just as obviously there were proprieties to be observed in his parents’ house.
    “Is this a good idea?” she asked an hour later when he closed the gatehouse door behind them, and turned on the light in the well-furnished parlor.
    “You mean I’m not up to it?”
    “I mean right in front of your family.”
    “They know we were together in Newport. Alexandra gets daily reports from the maintenance guy.”
    “They weren’t with us in Newport.”
    He had already kicked off his shoes and was lifting wineglasses and a bottle of sauterne from his suitcase. He had told the frontdoor porter exactly where to put them when he had stolen them from the cart.
    “Nicole, we’re not fooling anyone. Alexandra knew damn well that Ben wasn’t staying when she set this place up for you and his girlfriend. Ben and Pam are sort of a thing but neither of them want to announce it. The girl wasn’t staying, and if Ben were staying anywhere it would be out on one of the boats with Pam. All Alexandra wants is a bit of deniability and a way to get you out of the house while Jack is around.”
    “Your father?” She was startled at how casually the implication was presented.
    “Jack can be a bit of a lecher when temptation is thrown in his path. So Alexandra always hides the cookie jar.”
    He led her up the stairs to a huge bedroom that took up most of the second floor. “You’ll like this better than the cabana,” he said.
    “The cabana?”
    “That’s where you’d be sleeping if you were just one of the single ladies. But Pam did the room arrangements.”
    “Does everyone in your family know that I’m sleeping with you?”
    He slid the zipper down the back of her dress. “They will in the morning when they see the smile on my face.”
    She awoke to the sound of Jonathan’s voice as he whispered into the telephone. “Just getting us some coffee,” he said when he hung up. “I also asked for toast. They don’t stock doughnuts in the kitchen.” They showered separately, dressed quickly, and were downstairs when the porter, Raymond, arrived bearing the coffee on a covered silver tray.
    “What time did things finish up?” Jonathan asked. It was apparent that he and Raymond had long been coconspirators within the household.
    “The people inside were gone by two. Pam’s friends went on all night. There are two young men in wet clothes asleep on the lawn. There are also two evening dresses floating in the pool. God knows where the young ladies are or what they’re wearing.”
    “Is Pam okay?”
    “Asleep in her room,” Raymond answered, “although no one saw her come in.”
    “Sounds like her party was a great success.”
    “I think it will be talked about for some time.”
    Over coffee, Jonathan filled her in on the day’s schedule. Brunch at the cabana, which would start at ten and run until there were no more guests to feed. Boat rides for any that wanted to cruise the Sound. The pool was open, of course. For serious, adult conversation, Jack would be holding court in the