9.11 - 25. Chapter 25

August 3, 2001

“A divorce?” I asked her, completely stunned. We had been married to each other since 1963, a marriage of convenience to be sure, but one that we had consummated, and one that had been solid all these years. Even during our most intense moments, around the time that Billy died, we had managed to survive as a couple. Our marriage was at this point a formality, but it had remained a stalwart part of my being, one of my keystones, so to have it suddenly pulled away like this was a bit unsettling.

Isidore sensed my mood, and my distress, which must have been obvious, and moved forward so she could reach toward me and take my hands. “JP, it is not that I do not love you. I do love you. But I would like to marry Frank, and as polygamy is still illegal, that requires that we sever our marital bonds.”

“I am wondering what has brought on this sudden need for you and Frank to marry?” I asked, and then realized that may have sounded brusque. “Please do not construe that to mean I am not happy for you. I am. But you have been companions since 1985. Something must have caused this sudden change.”

“You used the word ‘companion’ and it sounds a bit glib, do you not think?” she asked. “Frank is so much more to me than that, and it is reasonable that I recognize him as such.”

“I am assuming you talked to him about this,” I said with a smile. “It would be incredibly unfortunate to go through with this divorce only to find he wasn’t willing to marry you.” We laughed at that, together.

“We have talked about it,” she said. “This has been on our minds for a long time, but with the events over the past month or so, I have realized that I need to be more independent, my own person.” In other words, she was still mad at me for banning her from the party, and this was her way to make sure I would have no such power over her in the future.

“I can fully understand how you might feel that way,” I said. She had known she would not get a firestorm from me, but even then, my calmness surprised her.

“I was worried that you would think I was doing this to be petulant, to throw a tantrum, as it were,” she said.

“That is not your way,” I said with a gentle smile. “You must have been pondering this for some time.”

“We have been. The thing that has held us back the most has been our happiness with the situation, and with our lives here. When things are good, there is really no need to rock the boat,” she said.

“I enjoy having both of you around. When you are gone, this house seems empty,” I told her.

She smiled, even as she wiped away a tear. “It is my home.”

“So how will this change things?” I asked.

“You are worried about how we will divide things up?” she asked caustically.

Our assets were all in separate name and in trust for the most part, so any legal battle over money would be extensive and ugly, since we’d purposely structured our things to clearly be separate in the first place. Isidore knew that, so her annoyance was merely a sign that this was not easy for her. When we’d had a big blow-up over Brian a few years back, she had threatened me with Escorial, implying that half of it was hers under the community property laws. I had not made an issue out of it then, because that was not the key factor in the conflict, but ownership of this sprawling estate was not in question. In addition, with the sale of her profitable construction company, her net worth was certainly not insignificant. There was nothing to be gained from a fight over money or possessions. “I think that things are divided already, as we have been quite good at keeping our assets separate,” I told her. “I was not worried about that, I was thinking more of what it means for you and Frank. Where will you live? What will you do?”

“I have not thought that far ahead,” she admitted.

“I would certainly not want to interfere in your plans, but it would sadden me greatly to have you leave. To the degree that it is possible, and that it is consistent with your plans, I would like it if you would still treat this as your home,” I told her.

“Thank you, JP. I was hoping you would feel that way, but I did not want to presume.”

“I am used to having you around. If you left, it would be as if someone took away my favorite chair,” I teased.

She gave me a theatrical frown, and then smiled. “As your house is constantly being redecorated, I would submit that it would be difficult for you to maintain a favorite chair for any length of time.” That was funny, and made us both laugh. Stef was constantly redoing things around here, and she was right in that it would be unfortunate for me to become attached to a piece of furniture.

“Unless it is in my study, I fear it would soon be gone,” I joked.

“Or the Great Hall. I want you to know, JP, that if some ill should befall you and should we lose you, it is highly likely that room will be redecorated before we are done mourning you.”

“I think that when I am gone, you will see the beauty of the room, and the tradition that it helps ground,” I said. She gave me a skeptical look.

“I would like to address a more unpleasant topic,” she said.

“What could possibly be more unpleasant than divorcing me?” I asked.

She smiled, but then continued. “I am wondering when you planned to return their signet rings to JJ, Will, and Marie.”

I nodded, to indicate I was thinking. “For JJ, I will return his the next time I see him, assuming that he still wants it. I was quite proud of the way he stood up for his brother, and for doing what he thought was right.”

I had expected an argument, but did not get one. “He has come a long way since Christmas,” she agreed. “I did not think he would recover so well from that trauma.”

“I am impressed with his recovery as well, but I worry that he has withdrawn into his shell too much. Before, he was dependent on either Jeanine or Robbie, while now he seems to be almost completely self-reliant.”

“I think that relinquishing his signet ring was not as painful for him because he does not require the support of his family, at least to the degree that Will and Marie do,” Isidore noted.

“I think you are right. I often wonder whether that is a good or a bad thing.”

“Maybe it is not good or bad. Maybe it is just the way things are,” she mused.

“You know that since I am a member of the academic community, that answer is wholly unsatisfactory to me,” I joked. “There must always be a reason.”

“Must there?” she asked, raising her eyebrow. “What about Will and Marie?”

“For Will, he must apologize to you and Claire for treating you so rudely,” I said. “I suspect it is not a function of whether he will do that or not, but more an issue of when he will do it, and I suspect that will happen as soon as he returns.”

“He is coming back here for school this fall, is he not?” she asked.

“Are you hopeful or apprehensive about that?”

She gave me a truly sour look. “Will challenges my patience at times, but I love him. I would hope that he will be back.”

“I am wondering how we thought it would be possible to have children and grandchildren who did not challenge our patience?” That made her chuckle, and restored our good mood. “He has told me that he plans to return. He sent me an e-mail to let me know he’d be back on the 18^th.”

“That is very good,” she said. “And Marie?”

“Marie must apologize to Will,” I said simply. “Of all three of them, she worries me the most.”

I really expected that to raise her ire, but it did not. “I am worried as well. She is being quite stubborn about this, so much that it is greatly concerning to both Claire and Jack.”

“Our children and grandchildren are the lucky beneficiaries of a life devoid of many of the stresses others face, due to our wealth and our position in society,” I noted. “You have always exhibited a great deal of humility, and a willingness to help those less fortunate, something that I have found quite admirable.”

“Thank you, JP,” she said.

“Claire has done the same thing. She and Jack have made a point of trying to help those less fortunate,” I added, putting aside my annoyance at my daughter for not attending the opening of the amphitheater in Claremont.

“I am proud of both of them,” Isidore said.

“When Marie fails to see her own flaws, and is unwilling to accept that she is fallible, she simultaneously fails to see the obligations that come with her position as a member of our family. She cannot take all the benefits as if they are hers by right, and ignore the obligations that come with them. And she cannot pretend that because of her brains, her beauty, and her birth, that she is god-like.”

“You will probably be surprised to find that all of us but Marie agree with you,” Isidore said.

“Then there is hope for her,” I noted. “I did not think that was the case, that everyone shared my perspective or my concern.”

“You expect people to grasp concepts as quickly as you? That must make you a horrible teacher,” she joked.

“My teaching evaluations say otherwise, although they are full of complaints about the difficulty level of my classes.”

“No one ever said you were easy, JP, unless it was a handsome male trying to bed you.” She laughed as I blushed at that statement. “You require some effort to deal with, but you are worth it.”

“I might have said the same thing about you,” I told her lovingly. We paused for a second, and then got back on track. “We should have our lawyers work up the papers, and make sure that our divorce is finalized as soon as possible.”

“I think that is an excellent idea,” she said. “When and how do you think we should tell everyone?”

“I am assuming that Frank knows?” I asked.

“As you said, I am hedging my bets, making sure that he was amenable before I dumped you,” she said.

I laughed. “I will tell Stefan directly, and then perhaps we can tell everyone else after the 18^th? Will should be back, and I will ensure that Darius, JJ, Brad, and Robbie are here as well. Perhaps you can contact Ace and Cass?”

“I will. And Stefan will keep it a secret until then?” she asked. Evidently his reputation for having a big mouth had done some damage to his credibility.

“I am training him to do better,” I said. “He will say nothing. I hope.”

She stood up and we hugged, a very warm and meaningful embrace. “I love you, JP. I think I always have, and I know I always will.”

“I love you too,” I said, and I meant it.

I finished up a few of my projects, e-mailed my letter of resignation as department chair to my dean, and strolled out of my study on a quest to find Stef. I found him in the kitchen, pouting. “How is it that someone who spends so much time in the kitchen is so incredibly thin and attractive?” I asked.

He smiled, because he was a sucker for praise about his body. Stef still looked young and fit. It was only the skin around his neck and on his hands which gave away that he was not. “I eat very little, but I eat constantly,” he said.

“I thought that perhaps you had started working out,” I said, giving him shit, because he hated exercise.

“I find exercise to be incredibly unpleasant, but I am told that the gym is not, so there is an allure there that may ultimately suck me in,” he said vapidly.

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” I said. “Would you care to join me on the patio?”

He raised an eyebrow, wondering what I wanted to talk to him about in private, away from the staff. He was probably worried that I would make him feel even more guilty. “Of course,” he said, and followed me out to the patio. One of the staff members brought us drinks, and then left us alone.

“I had a talk with Isidore,” I said.

“Indeed?”

“I am authorized to share the details of our discussion with you, provided that you keep them confidential,” I said.

“So now you do not trust me?” he asked.

“Your reputation precedes you,” I said, being a little too snarky. “I trust you. Isidore is less confident.”

“Then perhaps you should not tell me,” he said, getting into a snit.

“That’s fine,” I said. “I just wanted to give you the choice.”

He glared at me for a bit, and then his visage slowly softened. “I am trying to do better. Let us make this the first experiment,” he said.

“Isidore has asked me for a divorce.”

“What?” he asked, shocked. “She is that mad at you?”

“She is not mad at me,” I said.

“I am so sorry, JP,” he said sympathetically.

“I am not. It is a good thing,” I told him.

“I do not understand.” He was truly confused by this.

“She and Frank want to marry, and obviously cannot do that until she divorces me. She did not say this directly, but I think it is starting to bother her that she must refer to him as her companion, her partner, or her friend, but not as her husband.”

“Then she has seen, in a microcosm, how life is for gay couples, who cannot do that either,” he snipped.

“That is true, but I am not going to try and change the world with every decision I make. I am simply going to be happy for her.”

“So will they move out? What will happen?”

I shook my head. “You know our property and assets are already divided, so that is not a problem, and should create no major headaches.” Stef was as aware of how my assets were structured, and how my estate was set up, as I was of his plans. “I have told her that she is welcome to stay here, and that I would like it if she would. That seemed to be her preferred course of action as well.”

“That is good,” Stef said. He and Isidore had been close in the past. It was only recently where they’d become annoyed with each other, primarily over these issues with Will and Marie. “You do not seem bothered by this, and I am worried that you are indeed upset, but you are hiding it.”

“You know me well enough to see through my façade,” I said.

“I usually do, but sometimes your shields are stronger than even I can see,” he noted.

“I think it is a good thing for Isidore and for Frank. The thing that would have concerned me the most is if they would have decided to move out. It really would be quite empty around here without them,” I mused.

I wondered if Stef would feel the same way, but his expression suggested that he did, and his words confirmed that. “I agree.”

“Perhaps if you do not piss her off, and keep her secret, she will let you help plan her wedding,” I teased.

“I said I would say nothing, and I will not,” he said petulantly. I raised an eyebrow at him to non-verbally chide him for being bitchy. “When will you two tell everyone about this?”

“Will is coming back on August 18, so I think we will do it at dinner, on Sunday the 19^th,” I said.

“That should make for an interesting dinner,” he said.

“And to test your resolve, I will send out formal invitations to dinner. I think I will do that this week, so Bradley has ample time to hound you about it.”

He frowned at me. “He is already in a bad mood. Will threw him out of his new house.”

“Indeed?” I asked, trying not to laugh. “That must have been interesting.”

“He and Robbie opted to just come home, while Jeanine, Hank, and Maddy are staying on for four days,” Stef noted. “It seems that Bradley chose to share Will’s plans for his pleasure room with Jeanine.”

My eyebrows shot up in alarm before I could control them, a gesture Stef caught. “No wonder Will is so angry.”

“It makes my revelation to Brad just that much worse,” he said morosely. And then I relaxed, because Stef now understood what I was saying to him, and why Will was angry at him. “Robbie is quite annoyed with both of us.”

“He is another one who has come a long way in a short period of time,” I said. I was impressed with how well Robbie was dealing with everyone in the family.

“You are proud of him for being annoyed with me?”

“I am,” I said, unwilling to back down on this point. “So we will invite them all to dinner on the 19^th, and hopefully they will understand that this is a good thing, and not a bad thing.”

“Hopefully,” Stef said dubiously.

August 7, 2001

Hank and I sat at the table by the pool, eating the big breakfast that she’d just made for us. She was a good cook, and had insisted on making dinner for us on Sunday night as well. “I’m impressed that you were able to pull this all together with such a crappy kitchen,” I told her. The cooking facilities in the guesthouse weren’t exactly top notch. “This is fantastic.”

“Why thank you,” she said. “You get to do the dishes.”

“Not a problem,” I said, smiling at her. “You’ll have to come back when this place is done.”

“No kidding. That kitchen will be a dream,” she said, gesturing at the main house. “So did you lie to your mom about that sex room you’re planning to put in?”

I frowned at her. “It was just a thought. I’m not sure what I’ll do, but I’m really annoyed that she was told about it.”

“Why? Don’t you think you should be honest with her?” Hank asked me candidly.

“Up to a point,” I said, surprising her. “She doesn’t need to deal with stuff like that, things that will upset her. It’s like the same pattern that happened before she got sick. JJ would get her all riled up about something, and shoot her at me like a missile.”

“She’s a lot stronger now than she used to be,” Hank said. She was right. My mother seemed like she was back on an even keel now.

“I think a lot of that has to do with you,” I said to her affectionately. “I agree with you. I guess that’s why this bugs me so much. I don’t want to see her derailed.”

“She wasn’t happy about it, but it didn’t freak her out too bad,” Hank said. “I think your father was pleasantly surprised.”

“Or disappointed. He was probably trying to stir up shit, and was bummed when it didn’t work,” I grumbled.

“He seemed ready for a firestorm, and happy that he didn’t get one,” she corrected.

“Well, all he’s done is convince me that I need to keep my life, and what I’m doing, insulated from him. He’ll be lucky to know more than my address,” I said. “How’s your house?” I asked, changing the subject.

“It’s fantastic! You have to come see it!”

“You’re right. I’ll have to do just that,” I said.

“I was kind of nervous about living in Manhattan. I’ve always been a Jersey girl, and things are a little fancy in the Big Apple,” she said. “But I’m fitting in just fine. We have some really nice neighbors. You were right about that, about the neighborhood.”

“That Park Avenue place was way too snooty,” I said, cracking her up.

“I’m glad I got a chance to see you surf. You really are good. I had no idea.”

“Thanks,” I said, and I knew I was blushing.

“And I really like Kai. I hope you guys can stay friends.”

“I hope so too,” I said, but that kind of depressed me. Our time together here was ticking down, and I knew that leaving him would be agonizing for both of us. But in the back of my mind, I heard Scott Slater’s words about vacation romances. After the wheels on the plane leave the pavement, it’s really over.

My mother and Maddy came out to join us, and since I’d finished eating, I held Maddy and played with her while my mom had breakfast. “I like your house, Will,” Mom said.

“Thanks. I like it too. It’s a nice place to relax and get rid of the stress,” I said.

I heard footsteps and smiled as I saw Kai walking out on the deck, carrying a FedEx envelope. “Morning,” he said. He was comfortable with Mom and Hank now, so he leaned in and gave me a nice kiss, kissed Maddy on the forehead, and greeted Hank and my mother more formally. “This was on the front porch.”

He took Maddy from me and handed me the Fed Ex envelope, which I tore open. Inside, there were two smaller envelopes made of very expensive stationary, one addressed to me, and one addressed to Hank and my mother. “They’re from Grand,” I said, since I recognized his handwriting. I handed my mother’s envelope to her, and opened mine more gently than I had the FedEx envelope. “Dr. and Mrs. John Paul Crampton request your presence at dinner on Sunday, August 19, 2001, at Escorial, Palo Alto, California. Dinner will be served promptly at Seven O’clock PM,” I read.

“A dinner at Escorial,” my mother said with a smile. “Should be interesting.”

“What’s it mean?” Hank asked.

“It means that Grand has some big news he wants to share with us,” I said apprehensively. The last formal dinner like this was held so we could tell everyone that JJ had been molested by his coach.

“So is it good news or bad news?” Kai asked.

“That’s the thing about these dinners,” my mother said. “You just never know.”

“So you’ll be there?” I asked her.

“It would be rude to turn down a formal invitation,” she said. “Can you get the 19^th off?” she asked Hank.

“Probably,” Hank said. “I have vacation time left. Maybe we can stay a little longer. There’s room, right?”

“There’s room,” I said, laughing. “Escorial is huge.”

Mom looked at her watch and got task oriented. “We need to get going.” The limo was waiting out front for them, with their bags inside. “It was good to see you, Will.”

“It was good to see you too,” I told her, and gave her a nice hug, one that was nicer than we’d shared in quite a while. Hank was much more demonstrative, hugging me like a bear, but I liked it. She was genuine. Kai and I walked them out front and I gave them one final hug, said goodbye to Maddy, and then they were gone.

“That was more fun than I thought it would be, but I’m still glad to have the place to ourselves,” he said.

“I agree,” I told him. The construction guys were just arriving. “I need to talk to these guys.”

“Why don’t you do that while I clean up the kitchen,” he volunteered.

“Dude, you do not have to do that,” I said.

“S’OK,” he said with a grin. “I can scarf down the leftovers.”

“I’ll talk to them, and then come find you,” I said. I walked into the main house and found the construction foreman. “I have a change I need you to make,” I told him.

“Have you talked about it with Mr. Glaser?” he asked me. Malcolm kept a pretty tight rein on these guys, even though he hadn’t been around for the last few days. I guessed that he was avoiding me after he probably talked to Stef and found out how pissed off I was at all of them.

“I haven’t, but I really don’t have to talk to him about changes to my plans,” I said firmly. This guy sometimes acted like this was Malcolm’s house, not mine.

“Of course not,” he said. “What do you want us to change?”

I led him to my room, to the closet where they had roughed out an opening for the door into my secret room, as I mentally coined it. “I want you to put a steel door right here, with a lock, the same kind you’d have on the outside of a house.”

“You want a deadbolt too?” he asked, even as he made notes.

“That’s a good idea,” I agreed.

“What about the inside?”

“Leave it unfinished,” I said. “Can you get that done today?”

“You want this door up today?” he asked.

“I do,” I said. “Tomorrow at the latest.”

He nodded. “You got it.”

“Thanks,” I said. I went down to help Kai with the dishes, and then we grabbed our boards and hit the beach. We spent the day in the waves, pausing for a quick lunch, so it was almost 3:30 by the time we made it back to the house.

I dragged Kai into the house to find the foreman. He led me to my room where the door had been installed. It was solid. No one was getting in there without the key, or without beating it down with a battering ram. “You did really well,” I said. “Thanks.”

“Here’s the key,” he said, handing it to me.

“Is this the only one?” I asked.

“It is,” he said, but he was lying. I was used to reading people who were much smarter and craftier than he was.

“That’s great. Thanks again,” I said.

“Mr. Glaser was by today,” he said. “He wasn’t happy about it.”

“Well, it’s not Mr. Glaser’s house, and he’s not the one writing the checks to pay for it,” I said caustically. “Thanks again,” I said, and walked back to the guesthouse. I pulled out my laptop, found a locksmith, and set up an appointment for him to change the locks at midnight. It would cost me an extra $50 for an after-hours call, but that was fine with me.

I walked out onto the deck to find Kai talking on his phone, looking very intent. I was about to ask him who he was talking to, when my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, but it had a Hawaiian prefix, so I answered it. “This call is for Mr. William Schluter,” a female voice said.

“This is William Schluter,” I said formally.

The person identified herself as an employee from the medical lab in Kahului. Kai had been nervous about us barebacking without getting tested so he’d suggested that we do that just a couple of days ago. I thought that was a really sweet thing to do, and it was a good idea for me to get checked out every once in a while anyway. “Your HIV test came back negative, and so did your test for other STDs,” she said formally.

“Thank you,” I said, smiling broadly. I hung up the phone and turned to find Kai smiling back at me. “That was the lab. I’m negative,” I told him.

“So am I,” he said.

“Let’s celebrate,” he said. We took a shower, washing each other sensually, until we were completely aroused, which for us took about a minute. Then using soap for lube, he worked his big dick inside me and took me on one amazing ride. It was really awesome, and I had an earth-shaking orgasm. We got dressed and hopped in the 4Runner, with smiles plastered on our faces. His smile was genuine, mine wasn’t as sincere. My smile hid something not a little disturbing, but fortunately he didn’t pick up on that.

As he drove down to Kahului, I let my mind explore the reason for my angst. I liked Kai a lot, and in a way, I probably loved him. I hadn’t felt this attached to someone for a long time. He was handsome, he was caring, he treated me like gold, and he made love to me with the skill of an accomplished lover. And when we had sex, it was satisfying, and it was really good. Only it wasn’t as good as sex with Tony. I’d thought that the reason Tony and I were so good together was because we had strong feelings for each other, but my feelings for Kai were just as strong, if not stronger, than my feelings for Tony. In fact, I wasn’t even sure that I liked Tony all that much. What was this spell Tony cast on me? What the fuck had he done to me? Would I ever find a guy who could get me off as good as he could?

My phone rang and I looked at the caller-ID, and then hit the end button to ignore the call. “Your father?” Kai asked.

“Yep,” I said.

“You going to answer his calls?”

“I’ll see him in a few weeks. I’ll talk to him then,” I said. It pissed him off to be ignored, so I was ignoring him, and that restored my mood, and let me shove thoughts of fucking Tony to the back of my mind.