Page 15 of A Mother’s Love

“You’re going to wind up an old maid,” Valerie warned her, as Peter arrived on the upper deck in a bathing suit with dolphins on it, ready to sunbathe, with the business sections of The New York Times, the London Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal, and Olivia closed her eyes, lay in the sun, and ignored them both.

Seth joined them a few minutes later, to make sure everyone was happy.

Peter asked him if there was a disco to go dancing in St. Bart’s, and Seth said he’d look into it, and a few minutes later, he went back downstairs to check on the other guests, and Olivia pretended to be asleep.

She didn’t want to make chitchat with Peter and didn’t care about the disco, and he was engrossed in his newspapers anyway.

Valerie left a little while later to find Seth, and by then Olivia really was asleep in the warm sun, and snoring softly.

She woke up with a start an hour later, and Peter was lying on the sunbed next to her, and smiled.

“You snore,” Peter said with a look of amusement. Olivia rolled over onto her side and gave him an irritated look.

“Thank you for telling me.”

“I do too. A lot of people do. Do you like to dance? I never got to dance with you at the wedding.”

“You were busy.”

“Jeanie and I used to date when we were in college. It was fun seeing her again,” he said easily. “We both got incredibly drunk that night,” he added with a grin. There was no artifice about him. He was like a big teddy bear, or a big kid. Olivia laughed sheepishly.

“I did too. I had an unbelievable hangover the next day. It was a beautiful wedding, though,” she said, thinking about it. “They lead a charmed life, your brother and my sister.”

“He can afford it, so why not. And he’s crazy in love with your sister. He’ll be good to her.” He looked at Olivia intently then. “It must be weird having someone who looks exactly like you, like looking in the mirror.” She smiled when he said it. “I never know which one of you I’m talking to.”

“I’ll give you a clue,” she said, grinning. “She always looks perfect. I forget to comb my hair. Or actually, I don’t bother to when I’m painting, and I always have paint all over me, somewhere.”

“Good to know,” he said, as they lay side-by-side on their sunbeds, chatting. “What do you paint?”

“Abstracts. Big ones.”

“Do you enjoy it?”

“I love it.” He rolled over on one elbow then, and took a good look at her, and looked like he was going to share something important with her.

“I usually date actresses and models. It’s kind of what you do in L.A. if you’re single. Most of them are looking for a husband or a boyfriend to support them so they can stop working. It’s nice to meet someone who enjoys what they do.”

“I take it seriously. I have a fine arts degree from Yale, and I’m not looking for a husband or a boyfriend.”

He nodded. “I figured. That’s probably a good thing.”

“Why?” She was curious.

“The snoring, and the uncombed hair. You know, you can get special strips to wear over your nose for the snoring. My ex-wife made me wear them. They didn’t work, apparently I’m a serious case, Level Three.

But they give the other person the impression that you’re trying to do something about it.

I actually used to take them off when she went to sleep, and pretended they fell off in the night.

That’s probably why the marriage failed.

I wasn’t serious enough about the snoring.

It can be a real deal-breaker. She also had me wearing glasses with little lights on them to change my sleeping patterns. ”

“Did they work?” Olivia asked, amused.

“Not really. I put them in the recycling bin. She told our couples counselor about it. Apparently, it showed a bad attitude on my part. Our kids are great, though, so it was all worth it. Do you want to see a picture of them?” he offered enthusiastically, reaching for his phone.

“You showed me at the wedding. They’re adorable.”

“Thank you. I didn’t remember, sorry. I must have already been drunk by then. It was a great wedding. You never answered when I asked if you like to dance.”

“It depends what, when, and with whom,” she said, smiling at him. He was funny, and a little awkward.

“Well, we’re related now, and I figure we’re going to be at a lot of weddings over the years—my kids, Seth and Valerie’s kids—and we can always dance with each other if the weddings are boring.

Most weddings are a lot of people thrown together who don’t know each other, all dressed up.

And no one introduces them to each other, so they stand around, bored.

That doesn’t always make for a good party.

But at least we’ll have each other to talk to and dance with.

We should practice tonight so we’re ready, if Seth finds somewhere where we can dance.

Or maybe we can just play music on the boat.

This is amazing, isn’t it?” She nodded. She had never seen anything as luxurious and couldn’t begin to guess what it had cost Valerie’s husband to charter.

“My brother has always been incredibly generous,” he said.

“I didn’t think he’d ever get married again, until he met your sister.

Does she snore too, since you’re identical?

” Olivia laughed out loud when he said it.

“No, actually, she doesn’t. But I have allergies.”

“Then you’re not identical,” he said confidently, and then he was curious again. “Do you like being a twin?”

“We love it. We had a lot of fun with it when we were younger. And I think we’re closer than most sisters. We shared an apartment and a bedroom all our life until she and Seth got married.”

“I’m close to Seth, but I wouldn’t want to share a bedroom with him. I need my space. But we’ve gone on a lot of trips together. He’s the best guy I know. He’s someone you can always count on. Our parents were pretty unreliable, and he was always there for me.”

“Valerie and I are like that,” Olivia said. “Except that our mother is super reliable. We could always count on her.”

“I guess that’s why you’re both such nice, solid, normal people, and I mean that as a compliment.

And I don’t think it’s a mystery why Seth and I both failed in our marriages.

Our mother’s a nice person, and our father is a character.

But they were terrible role models for relationships.

They made poor choices, and so did we, and then they screwed it up every time, after marrying the wrong person.

Seth and I learned from our mistakes, but we did it the hard way.

I think my mom is okay now, and her current husband is a good guy, although pretty boring.

But she seems to like him, and I don’t think she has the energy to get divorced again, which is a good thing.

We had a revolving door on our homes while we were growing up.

And you never knew who would come through them. ”

“Our father wasn’t the best choice either,” Olivia said quietly, “but our mother managed fine on her own, and was kind of mother and father to us. We had everything we needed from her emotionally. He was just a cameo appearance occasionally.”

“Our whole family were guest stars who changed every season. The only constants were the two of us,” Peter said, as Valerie and Seth appeared on the sundeck to check on them.

“What are you two up to?” Seth inquired, and sat down on a sunbed next to them, as Valerie slathered sunblock on him so he didn’t burn, since he was so fair. Peter had brown hair and dark brown eyes, and they looked nothing alike.

“We’re just covering the basics,” Peter said, and turned to Valerie. “You didn’t tell me that your sister snores,” he said seriously, and Valerie looked mortified.

“She does not, ” she said, glancing at Olivia, who was laughing.

“Oh yes, she does. Don’t lie. I heard her and she admitted it. She needs to get those little strips that Barbara made me wear, if she ever wants to find a husband.” Seth started to laugh, Olivia was grinning, and Valerie wasn’t sure how to react.

“Peter says I’m going to wind up an old maid if I snore,” Olivia volunteered. “I want to be a spinster aunt one day.”

“So are we going dancing tonight?” Peter asked his brother.

“Apparently there’s a very good disco, if you’re serious. The crew will drive us there.”

“I think it would be good for Mom,” Peter said, and Seth laughed again.

“If you pour enough champagne before we go, she might enjoy it,” he said.

“Lunch is in ten minutes. We came up to get you.” Valerie had been nervous that Peter and Olivia would be at each other’s throats by then, but they seemed very much at ease, almost like a real brother and sister, taking friendly potshots at each other, and there had been a few serious moments before their respective siblings joined them.

“We’ll be down in a minute,” Peter said, as Seth and Valerie disappeared down the staircase to the lower deck, where lunch was being served.

“Shall we?” he asked Olivia, and she got up and wrapped a turquoise pareo around her.

She was wearing a black bikini and had the same spectacular body as her twin.

Peter made no comment about it, but followed her down the staircase, watching the natural sway of her hips.

He was looking forward to dancing with her at the disco, and planned to make sure they went.