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VIDAR
I had my driver drop me off at the home of Rick Boudreaux on Swiss Avenue and instructed him to return in an hour. I wanted to honor my friendship with Rick by attending his wedding reception, but I did not want to stay long.
Rick’s mother was greeting guests and the bride and groom were in the backyard in front of a large canopy. There were white pillars decorated with thousands of pink roses, a small live band, and ten round tables with white tablecloths where guests could sit. Rick was the owner of Aunt Mimi’s, a successful nationwide bakery and he rented office space in Nilsson Tower. I had known him for years.
I didn’t know his wife Amanda, but I knew they had been engaged the year before and something had gone wrong. But judging from the smiles on their faces, everything was good now.
I wished them well. Marriage was a risky proposition at best, particularly when large amounts of money were involved.
As I walked through the crowd, I saw various Dallas celebrities and entrepreneurs. I nodded briefly at Louisa Brannigan and her husband. I did not know her personally, but my grandfather had been friends with hers. Back then, Dallas high society had been much smaller, and as Grandfather Nilsson liked to say, “We millionaires need to stick together.”
Many of the old millionaires were billionaires now. As my grandfather also used to say, “Money makes money, but you have to be patient.”
I approached Rick and shook his hand. “Congratulations,” I said.
“Vidar!” He kept my hand in his and pulled me forward for a half hug. “Great to see you,” he said as he slapped my back. He then turned to his bride. “Amanda,” he said happily. “This is Vidar Nilsson.”
Amanda was a natural blonde, a beautiful young woman. She wore a white dress with touches of pink. She smiled at me. “Rick has told me about you.”
I never know what to say to that because the common joke response of “good, I hope” seems disingenuous.
I smiled at her and said, “I hope you will be very happy together.”
She said, “I must thank you for investing in my ex-husband’s business. I hope it goes well for you.”
It took me a moment to remember what she was referring to. Then I remembered that Rick had told me about her ex-husband and how he needed investors to avoid some thug loan sharks. I had been happy to help because it was a reasonable investment. “That’s right. PSL Enterprises. The data collection software.” I had delegated the matter to someone else and did not know how it was progressing. So, I said only, “We’ll see how it goes. In IT, you never know what software will take off.”
Rick said, “I was sorry to hear about Gareth and his wife.”
He’d sent a card at the time. “Thank you.” I didn’t want to talk about Gareth.
“And I understand you’ve got his child?”
“Yes, Chloe.”
“How old is she?”
“She’s six months old. Seven months now.”
Rick beamed. “That’s great. I’m a father, too, now.” He pointed to a boy, about age five, who was sitting underneath stairs that lead to an apartment over a separate garage. The boy was dressed in a miniature tuxedo, but he had removed the bow tie.
“Good for you,” I said and repeated my good wishes for him and his wife. I then walked over to the refreshment tables where there were four wedding cakes – different flavors, I assumed – and one of them was labeled ‘gluten free.’
I certainly didn’t want that one.
I took a slice of white cake with lemon filling and walked over to the furthermost table, where no one else was sitting.
A young man came by offering drinks. I asked for plain water.
I glanced at my watch to see how long I had been there and how soon my driver would return.
The noise from the band and the press of the crowd was giving me a headache.
* * *
NICOLE
I WAS VERY SURPRISED when Amanda Jones invited me to her wedding reception. She left an invitation for me at the employee’s area with a sticky note that said, “It’s for real this time. Rick and I married in Vegas and this is just a celebration. I’d love to see you. Give me a call sometime.”
Wow. Amanda and Rick Boudreaux, together at last. I remembered when Amanda first started working with me, cleaning on the night shift, and Rick used to come by with his incredible sweet rolls.
The invitation said I could bring a guest, but there wasn’t anyone I wanted to invite, so I came by myself, driving my beautiful new Toyota.
And since I was feeling less worried about money, I did splurge and buy a pretty summer dress. I rationalized my expenditure because my only other dress was black and that didn’t seem appropriate for a wedding reception.
I parked several houses away and walked up to Rick’s house, which was in the Swiss Avenue Historic District. The beautiful brick homes on this street had been built in the 1920’s, and they had a vintage charm. Rick’s home was a lovely red brick with white windows.
I walked up the neatly trimmed walk and then around one side of the house to the backyard. There were about two hundred people present, and I noticed that there were several men in suits standing in the periphery – possibly armed security guards.
For a moment, I held my breath, looking at all the well-dressed guests – at Rick’s extended family. I could do this. I could be happy for Amanda and not think about my own sad little wedding day.
I’d gotten married the minute I was eighteen with no special dress, no party, and no cake to a young man that I mistakenly thought was the love of my life.
Gran had not been pleased. “Oh, sweetie,” she said. “What were you thinking? You’re so young. I’m afraid you’re going to regret this, but at least it’s not a bad tattoo. You can walk away from this if it doesn’t work out.”
My mother had laughed. “Good riddance. Don’t come crawling back to me when he leaves you. You’re on your own now.”
But that was all in my past, I told myself firmly. I refused to be a prisoner of my prior mistakes. I was on my own now, and doing better, thanks in part to Vidar Nilsson. I had a new car, a pretty apartment, and I was going to school. I was going to be okay.
Amanda looked like an angel in a white lace dress decorated with pale pink embroidered flowers. She stood by Rick, who was the one of the most attractive men I’d ever met – before Vidar – as well as being the most charming.
They were happy to see me. We all hugged.
I knew that Amanda had a tough life, tougher than mine, especially with her autistic son, and I was glad she now had someone who would stand beside her and make life easier.
After talking with them, I wandered over to the refreshment tables. The food was fantastic, but I expected that from Rick. Everything at Aunt Mimi’s tasted divine. I stood for a moment with a little plate and a glass of punch, looking for a place to sit, and then I saw Vidar sitting by himself at a table in the corner of the yard. He rested his head in his hands and he looked tired. My heart was touched.
I walked over to cheer him up. “Hi.”
He looked up, frowning at the interruption, but then smiled when he recognized me. “Nicole,” he said brightly. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
I motioned towards the bride and groom. “I’ve known Amanda for a long time. We actually worked together cleaning at Nilsson Tower.”
“Small world,” Vidar said. “I guess that’s how Rick and Amanda met.”
“Yes. And of course, I knew Rick from meeting him in the elevators.”
Vidar said, “I sometimes think Rick has more friends than anyone I’ve ever met.”
“I think anyone who hands out free sweet rolls is going to make friends.” Everywhere he went, Rick carried a box of sweet rolls to hand out. Everyone who worked at Nilsson Tower liked him.
“True.” Vidar glanced at my plate. “That lemon cake is very good.”
I saw from the crumbs on his plate that he’d eaten all of his. “Thanks. I decided to take a tiny sliver of each one. Do you mind if I join you?”
“No. Sure,” he said quickly and then yawned and belatedly covered his mouth.
I sat in a chair opposite him. “You look tired. Is Chloe keeping you up?”
He shook his head. “No, actually she is doing much better. Even with teething, she’s been sleeping through the night. Miss Jessica has put her on a sleeping schedule that seems to be working.” I noticed that Vidar followed the Southern custom of calling women in caretaking positions ‘Miss.’
Sleeping schedule? For a baby? For some reason, that didn’t sound right to me, although I knew that some mothers had to train their babies to sleep during the night instead of during the day. Maybe it was just that I didn’t trust Jessica.
He said, “Chloe isn’t keeping me up. Nilsson Technologies is. I’m beginning to think that I should spend more time in California, but I hate California and don’t want to take Chloe there.”
“You’re CEO. What’s keeping you from moving headquarters to Dallas?”
Vidar looked at me, eyes narrowed as he considered my suggestion. “That’s not a bad idea. I should do some cost analyses. Gareth liked being in Silicon Valley, but with him gone, I need to do what is best for me and the company.”
“Absolutely. I agree.”
He said thoughtfully, “Dell is headquartered in Round Rock, Texas and Microsoft is in Washington State. There’s no reason why Nilsson Technologies can’t be in Texas.”
“None at all.”
He smiled as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He looked at me as if truly noticing me for the first time and said, “That’s a pretty dress. You look very nice today.”
I fingered my filmy skirt. I normally didn’t buy floral patterned clothes; I usually stuck with solid colors. I said, “Thanks, but it’s not surprising. This is the first time you’ve seen me out of my work uniform.” And with make-up. I’d even curled my hair.
He said, “And your hair’s down. I like it.”
I wasn’t used to compliments. I nervously tucked my hair behind my ears.
“Oh, and earrings, too,” he said. “Sweet little pearls.”
This was too weird to have him looking so closely at my ears. I felt myself blush at his attention. I said calmly, “You look nice, too.” And he did look good in a dark blue suit, crisp white shirt and a yellow tie.
“Much better than the last time you saw me.”
But not has good as the first time, I thought, briefly remembering him in his underwear. I hastily sipped some punch to clear my mind. If I wasn’t careful, I’d be the weird one, fixating on how great he looked in his underwear.
Ralph Lauren underwear. Red boxer briefs. Red had always been my favorite color.
I took too large a sip of the punch and choked, coughing and sputtering.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “Do you need me to slap your back?”
“No, thank you,” I gasped. “I’ll be fine.” I dried my eyes with a paper napkin and motioned to one of the caterers to bring me a glass of water.
“Yes, ma’am,” the young man said.
After that, we talked briefly about the band and the decorations. Vidar asked me if I was enjoying living in Nilsson Tower. I said honestly, “I’ve never lived in such an elegant place. I keep wanting to pinch myself to make certain it isn’t a dream.”
He smiled. “I’m glad you like it,”
Then we were silent, while I finished eating my food. I kept thinking about Jessica, though, thinking that something wasn’t right. Then it hit me – the facts that were making me uncomfortable. “Oh no,” I said out loud.
“What is it?”
“I may be wrong, but I think Jessica might be giving Chloe liquid Benadryl every night to make her sleep. I’ve seen several bottles in the trash lately. That’s too much to be a normal consumption.”
He frowned. “Is Benadryl safe for infants?”
“I don’t think so. But you should talk to Chloe’s pediatrician and watch the daily surveillance videos to see what Jessica has been doing.”
He was completely awake now. “I will,” he said solemnly. “Thank you.”