Our Father by Marilyn French

Author:Marilyn French [French, Marilyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
ISBN: 9780241131626
Publisher: Ballantine
Published: 1994-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

14

FLORENCE KEPT STEPHEN’S DOOR open except when she was tending to his bodily needs, so Mary lightly tapped on the open door at six o’clock. Her sisters hovered behind her in the doorway. Florence, straightening his bed for the last time before she left, looked up at the knock.

“Well, here are your daughters, Mr. Upton! Up for a visit are you? Isn’t that nice? Your lovely daughters, come to visit you!”

Mary stepped forward lightly. “We usually have cocktails at this hour, Father, and we decided it would be fun to have them with you.”

“Yes, I noticed that,” Florence scowled. “A bar in his room? I don’t know about that. What does the doctor say about that, now.”

“He says a drink will probably be good for him, Florence. Just one. And he’ll enjoy it. Father always enjoyed a drink after dinner.”

“I guess that’ll be all right, then.” She gathered up her sweater and knitting bag, took her coat from Stephen’s closet. “I’ll be going now. He’s fine. Ate his dinner like a good boy, ate it all up! Vegetable soup, roast beef and baked potato and string beans and ice cream. He’s got a wonderful appetite, I’ll say that. Ate it all up!” She got as far as the door, then turned.

“Miss Upton? May I have a word?” she whispered to Elizabeth, who went outside with her.

“Miss Upton!” Florence whispered urgently, “you know that if he has a drink, he may need to … void. Someone will have to get him the bedpan and empty it. You do realize that?”

Elizabeth smiled. “I don’t think we had, Florence, but it will be taken care of.”

Florence sighed. “Well, that’s all right, then,” she smiled and started for the stairs.

Stephen glared at her back as she left. Mary smiled at him, and when they heard Florence’s footsteps on the wooden floor of the downstairs foyer, she whispered, “She must drive you crazy!”

Stephen looked up at her in surprise. His scowl softened. She smiled. “I’m afraid they’re all like that, Father. She means well, and she takes good care of you, doesn’t she?”

He nodded reluctantly.

“We don’t want to keep you up if you want to sleep. I expect that the hospital settles people in right after dinner, but it’s awfully early. But maybe you’d rather go to sleep?”

He stared at her warily for a moment, then relaxed. He shook his head no.

“Do you think you’d like a drink?”

He nodded.

Ronnie stood by the bar, ready. “What’ll it be, sir?” she asked, his to command.

He looked up surprised then relaxed further.

World returned to its proper order, Ronnie thought.

He wrote on the tablet. Mary bent over to read his nearly illegible, ill-spelled scrawl. “Brandy,” she interpreted for Ronnie. “Remy Martin,” she directed. “Put it in one of those big bubble glasses.” She glanced flirtatiously at Stephen. “Ronnie isn’t used to the high life.”

His eyes darted quickly to her face, examining it. He took the glass from Ronnie with his left hand.

“Women?” Ronnie turned to them. “The usual?”

“No. Brandy for me too,” Mary said.

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