The Good Life Read Online Free PDF Page B

Lisa, rankled Ann. Ann admired Lisa’s youthful chestnut-brown ringlets and her tiny runner’s body, but nothing interesting ever came out of her mouth, which was frozen in an omniscient grin. When Ann first met her, she thought she’d had a bad face-lift, but each and every time Ann had seen Lisa since, the smile was there. No matter what the occasion, from funeral to stockholders’ meeting to gala, she grinned like an amused toddler. John sat between them, but that didn’t stop Lisa from leaning forward every several minutes to share her perpetual amusement with Ann.
    When the key lime pie arrived at the table, Ann ordered another glass of champagne and then excused herself to go to the women’s room. She washed her hands to remove any trace of sturgeon scent and then fluffed her hair with her plum-colored fingertips. She reapplied her matching lipstick and checked her profile in the mirror. She was making her way toward the door when Joan Stanton, a Dilloway by marriage, breezed in. Joan was a former beauty pageant queen, having spent eight years on the state and national circuits and coming incredibly close to being crowned Miss America in the early nineties. She had a gorgeously thin but at the same time voluptuous body and thick, wavy blond hair that fell just past her shoulders. She was in an Oscar de la Renta gown that accented her sizable breasts, and Ann’s momentary jealousy heated her cheeks. It was gone in an instant, however, when Ann focused her attention on Joan’s prominent nose—her one flaw. A nose job, Ann thought every time she saw it, a plastic surgeon’s dream. “Ann,” said Joan, approaching her with a practiced smile on her face. “How are you?”
    “Wonderful,” said Ann, leaning forward to accept a shoulder touch and a midair kiss. “And you?”
    “Couldn’t be better,” said Joan. “We’ve just returned from the islands. The weather was spectacular.”
    It was always this way, whenever they chatted. It was always about money. Vacations, cars, clothes—money—and who had more. “Fabulous,” said Ann. “I hope we have the same for our cruise next spring.”
    Joan smiled at her reflection in the mirror. “Why wait until spring, darling? The best cruising weather is winter, when it’s so terribly terrible here.”
    “Too true,” said Ann.
    “Will I see you at the fund-raising meeting?” asked Joan, meeting Ann’s eyes in the mirror.
    “You know I wouldn’t miss it, dear.” Ann blew out the door and walked with a determined gait down the hallway and into the grand foyer of the hotel. She stopped in front of an immense arrangement of white lilies that sat on a central table in the most magnificent cut-crystal vase she had ever seen and took a deep breath. Intoxicated by the fragrance, she lingered a moment.
    “They are beautiful, aren’t they?”
    Ann whirled around and saw her friend, Jesse White, standing next to her. She smiled genuinely. “Where did you come from?”
    “A catfight in the lower level powder room,” said Jesse. “Two women just discovered they have the same dress.” Ann covered her smile with her hand. “It was ugly in there,” said Jesse. “I’m lucky to be alive.” Ann laughed. “And your dress,” said Jesse, reaching out to brush the back of her fingers against the fur trim at Ann’s shoulder, “is one of the prettiest I’ve ever seen. Good choice.”
    “Thank you,” said Ann. “And you look darling, too, my dear. Are you having fun?”
    “I am,” said Jesse. “Everyone at my table is drunk and uninhibitedly telling childhood stories. When Amy Claussen was seven, she caught her father and mother, pants and pantyhose around ankles, having sex in the laundry room one morning before breakfast.”
    Ann laughed again. “I want to be at your table. Mine’s boring.”
    “That’s because you’re with the boss,” said Jesse.
    “And I should be getting back,” said Ann. “Do you have time for lunch this week in your do-gooder