Chapter 59

6 p.m. Saturday

Andy stood off to the side with Regan as the first guests came into the banquet room.

"Told you!" Regan said. "That's another bet you've lost."

"I didn't bet you anything," Andy replied. He watched as Rita Riley and his mother exchanged hugs. "Ever! How can I lose if I didn't bet?"

"It's an implied bet," Regan said, taking his arm and clutching it tightly. "I said I bet Mom would greet Camille like an old friend. You asked why I would think that. That meant you disagreed with the premise, hence the bet I offered. I won the bet. You don't hug strangers."

"I still don't know how you'd know that," Andy admitted, still watching his parents and Regan's parents laughing and chatting.

"They had breakfast together this morning," Regan confided.

"Your parents were at the suite this morning?" Andy wondered. Breakfast had been delivered every morning that he'd stayed there. He wasn't awake in time this morning to enjoy it.

"In the restaurant," Regan told him. "Mom told me when she got home. I guess you and your grandmother were asleep so Camille and Evan came down here. Mom and Dad stayed here last night, too."

"Why?" Andy inquired.

"I think they wanted to get their freak on," Regan answered with a grimace.

Andy simply shook his head. He didn't like the picture in his head that the thought of old people fucking brought about.

"What other bet did I lose?" he asked to move the conversation somewhere else.

"On the mini golf course," Regan answered.

"I did not make a bet there!" Andy stated.

"It's a golf course," Regan answered as if the implication were obvious. The only thing obvious was that Andy was clueless. "You always have side bets on the golf course. It's another implied bet. We were playing against each other. I won by at least 15 strokes."

"Uh, yeah," Andy said. "That's why I wouldn't bet with you even if you'd told me you wanted to. I knew I was going to suck at the game."

"You still owe me ... I'll think of something," she said, reaching around to pinch his butt through his cotton slacks – completely forgetting that his grandmother was entertaining Ruth and Joy directly behind them.

She jerked her hand away when she heard laughter and gave the group an abashed look. Her parents stood in front of her when she turned back around.

"Andy, I understand I can thank you for the fact I'm not wearing a tie right now," Richard said, extending his hand and patting Andy on the shoulder.

It had been the lone bone of contention in the frantic planning of the event. Evan had thought it appropriate to have the dinner be a sit-down affair with the men it coats and ties and the women in fancy dresses. Andy had adamantly refused.

"Why would I change my clothes four times in one day?" he had asked incredulously. "I'm not wearing a tie all freakin' day. That's for sure. You want me to change out of the clothes I put on in the morning and into a suit. Then out of that suit and into a tux. Then out of the tux and into whatever I'm going to wear to the after party. That's just not going to happen."

In the end, both sides compromised. Andy was wearing a pair of blue cotton slacks and a tan Polo shirt. He'd put them on when he'd gotten out of the shower that morning – and he'd probably wear them to the after party, too.

"If figured if casual was good enough for last weekend, it was good enough for this weekend," Andy told him. Richard gave his usual hearty laugh.

"I, too, am grateful," Rita said, hugging Andy tightly. "I could put on a nice, comfortable dress and not have to worry about hose or high heels."

"Or apparently a bra," Regan noted, looking at Rita's erect nipples that were obvious through her thin cotton dress. Rita looked down and shrugged.

"That, too," she said, putting her arm around Regan's waist. "Don't worry. They were that way before I hugged your boyfriend."

"Mom!" Regan exclaimed.

"Let me introduce you to my grandmother," Andy offered, trying to save Regan some embarrassment. Already, the Dowager Countess Smithfield was approaching, her faithful companions, Joy and Ruth, tagging behind.

"Mr. and Mrs. Riley, you have a lovely daughter," Anne said.

"I don't think that's the lyric," Richard cut in. "But since you're British and so are they, I guess we'll let it slide."

"Oh, you!" Anne said, smiling widely. Regan had warned her parents not to treat Anne and Evan any different than they did Camille. They appeared to be taking the information to heart.

"I will leave you to my grandmother's tender care," Andy said. "There are people arriving that I should greet."

"It's just my mom and dad," Joy said. "Make Dad come to you. If you really want to see something fun, you, Anne, Evan and Rita should station yourselves at the four corners. Dad won't know which way to pucker first."

"Joy!" Anne said. "That is no way to talk about your father."

"Wait until you meet him," Regan said in a soft voice. "She's not kidding. If I had to bet, his lips won't be more than an inch from someone's butt all night long."

Anne looked at Joy, who nodded.

"He's a lawyer," Joy said, as though that was all that needed to be said. The words apparently explained most of it because all the adults in the area nodded sagely.

Andy glanced back over his shoulder. William Dalrymple had a card in his hand but that wasn't what caught Andy's attention. It was the fact that Collette had one arm around Evan and the other around Camille in a double hug.

Andy looked at Joy but she looked as oblivious as he was. Joy saw her father grudgingly put his card back in the pocket of the suit he'd worn – despite the fact she'd told him that the evening was going to be a casual get-together of friends and family. He was staring at his wife who was having an animated conversation with Evan and Camille, a hand resting on each of their shoulders.

Evan motioned to Andy but everyone – including his grandmother and the Rileys made their way across the room.

"I figured out where I know you from!" Collette said, taking a hand off Evan's shoulder and putting it around Andy's.

"OK," Andy replied, looking to his parents for an explanation that wasn't forthcoming.

"It was from college!" Collette said. "And it wasn't you! It was Evan. I went to St. Mary's when your parents were there. I knew Evan. Well, I mean, I didn't know him but I knew who he was."

"Coley outed me on campus," Evan said, rolling his eyes.

"Outed?" Andy asked. To him, it meant someone had affirmed another person's homosexuality without their consent.

"I am a huge Anglophile," Collette said. "I'm a couple years older than Evan and I did my senior writing requirement on the changing face of British aristocracy. Parliament was debating sweeping changes to the House of Lords and I was interested in how it compared to our own legislative branch. I determined both were essentially set up as dynasties where power passed from father to child. Anyway, that isn't important. I found out there was an honest to God aristocrat on campus. I was also a writer for the campus paper and I wrote a story detailing Evan's family and his ties to the monarchy."

"Why?" Andy wondered. "I mean, it's America. Why would anyone care about that?"

"They didn't," Collette admitted glumly. "I was thinking front page above the fold. It ran on the campus lifestyle section. No one really cared."

"Oh, a few people cared, alright!" Camille said, laughing.

"Indeed," Evan agreed. "I believe Cami is still going from town to town beating up random women because of that story."

"Women seemed to care," Camille added, picking up the tale. "They ran a picture of Evan they found from somewhere. He swears he didn't pose for it but I think he's lying. He couldn't go out of his dorm room without some bimbo tossing her panties at him."

"It wasn't that bad," Evan said, blushing.

"The story also pointed out his family's vast holdings and net worth," Camille cut in. "It was exactly that bad. Every two-bit gold digger within 40 miles was camped out looking for a free pass."

Collette looked appalled.

"I didn't mean for it to cause trouble," she said, her eyes wide.

"I'm kidding," Camille said quickly. "I just like to give Evan a hard time about all the slutty girls that used to try to cut in front of me. I was the only slutty girl he needed in his life!"

"Oh," Collette said. It was obvious that neither she nor her husband were certain if Camille was joking. She did have a child out of wedlock, after all. Collette really didn't know Cami Drayton back then. Camille was a freshman when Collette was a senior. She only heard the name when trying to glean more information about Baron Stratford, the next Earl of Smithfield – or Evan Duffield as everyone knew him.

"Camille was always a perfect lady, I'm sure," Anne said. "She simply has a strange sense of humor. She was 'yanking your chain, ' Love. Now, if you and your daughter join me over here, I will give you the real dirt on the British Royal Family!"

Andy had refused to be part of the "receiving line" at the dinner. But he and Regan huddled nearby to greet guests. Regan had pointed out that it was his duty.

"Fuck that," Andy had replied. But he'd stayed by her side when she ambled close enough to be considered a hostess to the event. Andy had no idea who the next people to wander into the room were. He looked at Regan but she simply gave a small shake of her head.

It wasn't until he saw a teenage girl he'd seen around school along with a slightly younger boy that he figured it out.

"Paul said they weren't coming," he whispered.

"Paul was wrong," Regan whispered back. "Because here they are."