Tuesday, 12 May
Ally’s plea to Christian to take Zoe to Lafayette Park for a fourth day in a row was met with an adamant NO.
“Sorry, doll,” he added sternly, “But you know that, eventually, you’re bound to run into your old posse. Might as well get used to smiling pretty at them even as you wave from afar.”
“It’s not me who gets upset. It’s Zoe,” Ally argued. “She puts up a fuss when she sees them. And she cries all the way home.”
“Lafayette may be the closest park, but it’s not the only one.”
“That’s just it. I’m just as likely to run into them at Moscone or Alta Plaza.”
“There’s always North Beach.”
She shook her head. “If I drive it’s hard to find parking. And it takes too long to walk to it, what with all the conference calls I’m on during the day.”
Christian raised a perfectly arched brow. “This Garrett person has turned out to be quite a taskmaster. I’ll bet you yearn for the good old days when you and your partners could hold board meetings while the children were in the sandbox, and all you had to do to get caught up on the company’s financials was nudge the guy in bed beside you.”
Angrily, Ally plucked Zoe from her playpen and plopped the toddler into her stroller. “Oh, never mind! I’ll take her myself.”
As she shoved the stroller through the threshold, Christian called out, “She misses the twins. Just sayin’.”
Ally slammed the door behind her.
The playground was fuller than Ally had expected. She scanned the crowd. Convinced that the coast was clear, she was about to lift Zoe out of the stroller when she heard Jade say, “Hi, stranger!”
Ally’s heart sank. Before turning around, she forced a smile onto her lips. “Oh—hi, yourself.” So that she didn’t have to look Jade in the eye, she took her time straightening Zoe’s sun hat. “We were just leaving—”
“No, you weren’t. You just got here,” Jade countered. “Oliver’s been on the lookout for Zoe. He misses her terribly.”
Ally could already see that—and hear it. The moment Oliver realized who his mother was speaking to, he wrestled to get out of Jade’s arms, screaming Zoe’s name at the top of his lungs.
Realizing she’d lost the battle, she let Zoe go, only to watch her run into Oliver’s arms. Their hug elicited laughs and adoring sighs from the other mothers around them.
Ally couldn’t help but tear up.
Jade pulled her down onto the bench. “Why are you avoiding my calls?”
Ally couldn’t believe her ears. “Haven’t you heard? Brady and I…we broke up.” She wiped the dampness from her cheeks. “Jillian and I aren’t speaking either.”
“I can’t believe it!” Jade shook her head, awed. “I’m so sorry, Ally. I guess the wedding planning has put me in a bubble.” She stared at her friend. “Granted, every time I asked after you, Brady changed the topic—to Oliver, or the wedding, or Reggie. Heck, I just thought he was being polite. I never dreamed it meant that you’d split up. Why? What happened?”
Ally fixed her gaze on a jet slicing through the sapphire blue sky. “Neither of them liked the terms that were offered to us by the VC who is financing Life of Pie. When they both refused to go along with it, I offered to buy them out.”
“But it was Jillian’s dream! And Brady and you are always in lockstep about your businesses. Even if you had a disagreement…” Jade paused when she noticed the flush crawling up Ally’s neck. “It isn’t about business, is it? Someone came between you.”
The knot in Ally’s throat made it hard for her to speak. Instead, she nodded.
“Will that son of a bitch ever learn to keep his pants zipped up? Why he’s—”
“No, Jade! It’s not what you think!” Ally found herself laughing and crying at the same time. Suddenly, remembering Bettina’s remarks at their final club meeting, she shrugged helplessly. How could she answer that?
Jade’s eyes narrowed. “You mean, it’s you who—?”
“No! Nothing like that!” Ally insisted. “Brady is jealous, yes—of the man offering the financing: Garrett Hartley. You see, he’s my—”
“Garrett Hartley?” Jade’s shock came out in a shout. Shuddering, she added, “No wonder! What a sleazeball!”
Ally frowned. “You know him?”
“I’ll say.” Jade looked skyward. “When I worked at the Condor, he was one of the regulars. A real whale—a big tipper. He’d always have a private room—with triplets.”
Noting Ally’s puzzled look, she explained, “Three girls at a time.”
Ally shook her head in dismay. “Even so, by law, the men aren’t supposed to touch—”
“Not at the club, anyway. But the girls looking for sugar daddies always found an excuse to call his private number. And because he refused to wear rubbers, he made them swear they were on the pill. If they lied and got knocked up, he’d have one of his people take them for an abortion. Of course, he paid for it. I’m sure he had an obstetrician on speed dial.”
“What if they refused?” Ally asked.
“He’d assume it was because they were after his money. They knew he’d never marry them, but I guess they hoped he’d pay child support.” She shook her head. “They were so wrong! He’d invite them over to his city penthouse apartment to talk about it. Somehow, they always woke up drugged—and no longer pregnant. Worse than that, they were sterile! If they threatened to say anything to the police, he’d wave a fat check under their noses, along with a consent agreement.”
Flabbergasted, Ally whispered, “Jade, do you think Brady knew about this too?”
“You bet he did—when I told him. It was the night we met at the Condor. He’d come in with Garrett. No matter how much he tipped, I wouldn’t have anything to do with either of them. Finally, he cornered me after my routine to find out why.” For a moment, the memory clouded her eyes. “His reaction was the same as yours: disbelief, then disgust. And like you, he wondered if I’d ever fallen for Garrett’s ploys.” She laughed sadly. “That earned him a month of radio silence from me. By the time I agreed to see him, he was already regretting getting into business with Garrett, but it was already too late.” She shrugged. “I’m glad I can never say the same.”
So, I was nothing more than one of his mistakes—
One he couldn’t get rid of.
Suddenly, Ally felt dirty.
And alone.
As if reading her mind, Jade gave her a hug. “I love you, sweet Ally. If it hadn’t been for you, I’d have been clinging to the wrong man, and I’d never have seen the right one when he came along. And while Brady is no longer my husband or the love of my life, he’s as dear to me as a brother.” She pulled back in order to look Ally in the eye. “Let me return the favor, here and now. Garrett is your wrong man. The sooner you realize this, the quicker you’ll be back in the arms of the man who deserves you.”
She scooped up Oliver. As she belted him into his stroller, she added. “I’ll see you, Barry, and Christian at the wedding.”
Ally knew better than to argue with Jade.