Fall from Grace by Richard North Patterson

Author:Richard North Patterson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3, pdf
Publisher: Quercus Books PLC
Published: 2012-07-13T12:00:00+00:00

Eleven

When Adam entered Atria restaurant, pausing on the screened porch surrounding the main dining room, Carla Pacelli was already there. At first she did not notice him; seated by a window, she looked out at the side garden with a reflective smile, watching a small boy and girl play on a swinging chair suspended from a willow tree. She wore little makeup, Adam noticed, and a loose, flowing dress that concealed, rather than accented, what he knew to be a remarkable figure. He paused, hands in his pockets, until she noticed him. The instant of wariness in her eyes was succeeded by another smile, this one suggesting curiosity and a hint of welcome. Then she stood, extending a warm, dry hand.

“You surprised me,” she said.

“By being early?”

“By inviting me here at all,” she said as he sat across from her. “Being early is ingrained in me. I went to UCLA on a scholarship, with no money or margin for error. So I never missed a class. When I entered the business, I was determined to make every audition on time, or be on the set at whatever ungodly hour they wanted.” She gave a fleeting ironic smile. “I was the most reliable, least temperamental actress in Los Angeles. Until I wasn’t.”

As before, her voice, familiar from television, underscored for Adam the strangeness of encountering her. But she seemed bent on reducing their awkwardness; from what he understood of celebrities, including his father, one technique was offering up small pieces of themselves, self-flattering but not deeply revealing. Then their waitress, a young woman in her twenties, reminded Adam of the detriments of being, as Ben had put it, “face famous.” “I just have to tell you,” she told Carla, “how much I loved your show.”

Carla smiled. “I’m glad you did.”

The young woman hesitated, encouraged. “You’re so much more beautiful in person. Do people tell you that?”

A hint of amusement danced in Carla’s brown eyes. “That’s nice of you,” she said pleasantly, and then ordered a mineral water before Adam requested scotch. When the waitress left, Carla remarked, “I’ve never known how to take that particular compliment. On the one hand, she could be saying I look surprisingly good for a drugged-out has-been. On the other hand, she could mean that every Monday night I looked like hell—which, by the end, was true. I guess I can take my pick.”

“What would my father have said? I wonder.”

The light in Carla’s eyes dimmed. “I’m not brain-dead,” she said bluntly. “I understand that you’re her son. But you’re also the son of a man I cared for deeply. Whatever your motives, and however you must feel about me, I’d never have refused to see you. So let’s make the best of this.”

“You weren’t afraid to come?”

Carla shook her head. “I’m not afraid of you, if that’s what you’re asking. And the truth about Ben and me won’t change, whether I’m in court or we’re having dinner.” Carla hesitated, looking directly into his eyes. “Besides, you’re the only member of your family I can be certain didn’t murder him.

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