Chapter 39
Thirty-Nine
On the ninth, Ted caught an early-morning train to Boston where he met his parents and grandfather at South Station. Tish and Steven had been invited to the party but had chosen to stay home with baby Lilly.
The foursome boarded a second train to New York’s Penn Station.
During the long ride through Connecticut, his mother tried to engage Ted in conversation, but he preferred to stare out the window.
He couldn’t imagine what Smitty was up to and wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or nervous about the night to come.
Either way, he couldn’t wait to see his friends again, even if they ignored him.
His father had sprung for adjoining rooms at The Plaza, and his grandfather joked about being Ted’s roommate. The old man seemed to be holding up pretty well without his wife, and Ted was happy to be the butt of his jokes if it kept his grandfather smiling.
Mitzi took off to do some shopping, and Ted went for a long run in the frigid cold through Central Park.
He allowed his mind to wander to all the weekends he had spent in the city since Chip and Smitty had moved there after graduate school.
They’d had so many good times in so many different places that it was hard to be anywhere and not think of one or all of them.
And it was impossible to be back in New York City without thinking about his middle-of-the-night sprint to get to Caroline and their first two magical days together.
That night, Ted dressed in a dark suit and tie and checked his appearance in the mirror at least three times before he went into his parents’ room for a shot of the whiskey his father had brought.
At seven fifteen, they took a cab to the 21 Club and were the first to arrive in the private room Smitty had reserved.
Ted realized this was going to be no ordinary evening when he saw the place card next to his on the large square table that read, “Mrs. Caroline Duffy.” His heart was suddenly in his throat.
It hadn’t occurred to him that she would be there, but with hindsight, he should’ve expected it since Smitty had unfinished business with her as well.
A waiter came around to take drink orders, and Ted asked for a beer even though he wanted more whiskey.
The door opened, and Parker came in with Gina and two young boys in dark suits and ties.
He greeted Ted’s parents and grandfather with warm hugs and introduced them to Gina and the boys.
Ted noticed a huge diamond on Gina’s left hand and was thrilled to know his friend now had everything he’d ever wanted.
Parker shook hands with Ted and introduced him to Gina’s sons, Anthony and Dominic.
They politely shook hands with Ted even as the younger one tugged at his tie and fidgeted in his stiff suit.
Parker put a hand on Anthony’s shoulder and whispered something in his ear.
The boy looked up at him, smiled, and nodded.
Every time the door opened, Ted’s heart hammered as he waited for Caroline. Parker’s father, James King, was the next to arrive with a buxom blond on his arm, followed by Chip and Elise.
Elise launched herself into Ted’s arms. “So good to see you, Duff,” she whispered. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“Me, too.” He kissed her cheek and hugged her again. “How was the wedding?”
“Almost perfect. We missed you and Smitty terribly.”
“I’m sorry, Elise. I really wanted to go, but . . .”
“I know. Where’s Caroline?”
He shook his head and held up his left hand where his ring used to be.
Her face fell. “No.” She looked at him with disbelief. “No. Not after everything you sacrificed, not after everything we all sacrificed . . .”
With a grim expression, Ted shrugged. “Doomed from the start.”
“Duff . . .”
Chip came up to her and put his arm around her. Like Parker, Chip shook Ted’s hand but had nothing much to say to him.
The next time the door opened, Caroline came in wearing a black dress that offset her pale beauty.
Her hair was swept up, her green eyes were big with nerves, and to Ted she had never been more lovely.
He was surprised when his mother went over to Caroline like she had been expecting her and embraced her warmly.
What the hell? Mitzi took her daughter-in-law’s hand and led her into the room.
Before Ted had time to contemplate the obvious change in his mother’s relationship with Caroline, Smitty came in holding hands with two women, one who looked young enough to be his daughter and the other, well, she looked just like him.
“Hello, everyone,” he said in that big booming voice that was all Smitty. “I want to thank you for coming tonight and introduce you to my wife, Marjorie. Her friends call her Margo, and I know she’d be thrilled if you were to call her that.”
Marjorie gave him an adoring look and nodded.
“I’ll bring her around to meet each of you shortly. And this,” he said with a glance at the other woman he had brought, “is my mother, Sarah Beth Smith.”
The room fell completely silent.
Smitty helped both women into chairs at the head of the table. “I know you have a lot of questions,” he said with a gracious smile. “And I’m going to answer them all. But for now, please take your seats, and let’s have dinner.”
Ted stood behind his chair and waited as Caroline crossed the room to him. When she lifted her eyes to meet his, his heart staggered in his chest.
He kissed her cheek. “Hi, honey.”
“Hi, Ted. You look well.”
He held her chair for her. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“Happy birthday.”
“You remembered,” she said with a sigh.
“Yes.”
Ted and Caroline whispered about Smitty’s mother and made polite small talk as they were presented with a staggering array of appetizers and numerous entrée choices. He wanted to reach for her hand under the table to help calm the nerves he felt coming from her. But he didn’t.
“You’re not wearing your ring anymore,” she said sadly.
“No, but you are.”
She shrugged. “Foolish hope, I guess.”
“Caroline . . .”
She put her hand over his on the table. “Let’s just get through this because we owe it to Smitty.”
They were between courses when Smitty brought Marjorie around to meet their guests. He introduced her to each of his friends as if nothing had ever happened between them.
Ted found her accent charming and her obvious love for Smitty a big relief. As Ted talked to her, he realized she was much older than she looked, which was also a relief.
“So after John came back to Sydney to finish the review of my father’s company,” she was saying, “he said to me one night, ‘Marjorie, I think I could do something great with this place. What would you think of taking it off the market and giving me a year?’”
“Were your partners mad?” Ted asked.
Smitty shrugged. “I found another Australian company that was a good fit for them, so we parted on good terms. I decided I have all the money I need. I want to build on what Marjorie’s father started. It’s a lot more satisfying than playing the market every day.”
“Sounds like it,” Ted said.
“I’m still taking care of James, though,” Smitty said with a smile as he shook hands with Parker’s father. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Smitty and Marjorie moved on to talk to James and his date before dinner was served.
The waiters had finished serving dessert and more champagne when Smitty stood up.
“I’d like to propose a toast to my wife, Marjorie.
The day I landed in Sydney was the luckiest day of my life, and I’ll be forever grateful to her for seeing the real me, the real John.
She’s the only person in the world who really knows me, and she loves me anyway. To you, sweetheart.”
Ted was touched by Smitty’s toast, but confused, too. The only person who really knew him? What’s that supposed to mean? He exchanged glances with Caroline, who shrugged.
“To you, John.” Marjorie looked up at him. “My sweet, gentle giant, the most generous man I’ve ever known. I love you.”
Smitty touched his glass to hers and leaned down to kiss her as his guests applauded.
Ted watched his mother wipe tears from her face before she accepted his father’s handkerchief.
“Next I want to propose a toast to my best friend, Ted Duffy, and his beautiful wife, Caroline.”
Ted felt his stomach drop. Oh, please. Please don’t let him ruin this for his wife by being an asshole. In an unconscious gesture, Ted reached for Caroline’s hand under the table.
She held on for dear life.
“Duff, Caroline, we’ve had a tough year.
” Smitty used his eyes to include Parker, Chip, and Elise.
“In fact, this has been the best and the worst year of my life during which I lost something I thought would last forever and found something I’d given up on ever finding.
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m having a hell of a time enjoying one without the other. ”
Ted felt his throat close and tears sting his eyes. He looked down in a desperate effort to control them.
“There’s an old saying that everything happens for a reason,” Smitty continued in a low, soft voice filled with emotion. “I’ve come to see I owe the two of you a debt of gratitude.”
Ted and Caroline looked up at him with surprise.
“I had no plans to go to Sydney.” He paused to let that settle. “If things hadn’t happened the way they did, I would’ve sent someone else. I’d never have met Marjorie and maybe never have found true love and with it, the courage to face all my demons head on.”
Smitty walked around the table as he spoke. “Lillian called me home to ask me to forgive you, Duff. She said if I didn’t, I’d never find room in my heart for love because the bitterness would be taking up all the space.”
By then, all the women and most of the men were frantically dealing with tears.