Master of the Game

"He came out here from New York to sell me a bill of goods, and I said, ‘You’re wastin’ your time, mister. No good oil deal gets east of Houston…’"

"You gotta watch out for the smooth talkers. They’re all hat and no cattle…"

Lucy appeared at Tony’s side. "You’re not eating." She was watching him intently. "Is anything wrong, Tony?"

"No, everything’s fine. It’s quite a party."

She grinned. "You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, pardner. Wait until you see the fireworks display."

"The fireworks display?"

"Uh-huh." She touched Tony’s arm. "Sorry about the mob scene. It’s not always like this. Daddy wanted to impress your mother." She smiled. "Tomorrow they’ll all be gone."

So will I, Tony thought grimly. It had been a mistake for him to come here. If his mother wanted the Wyatt Oil & Tool Company so badly, she would have to figure out some other way to get it. His eyes searched the crowd for his mother, and he saw her in the middle of an admiring group. She was beautiful. She was almost sixty years old, but she looked ten years younger. Her face was unlined, and her body was firm and trim, thanks to exercise and daily massage. She was as disciplined with herself as with everyone around her, and in a perverse way, Tony admired her. To a casual onlooker, Kate Blackwell seemed to be having a marvelous time. She was chatting with the guests, beaming, laughing. She’s loathing every moment of this, Tony thought. There isn’t anything she won’t suffer to get what she wants. He thought of Marianne and of how much she would have hated this kind of senseless orgy. The thought of her was a sudden ache in him.

I’m marrying a doctor. I’ve known him all my life.

Half an hour later when Lucy came looking for Tony, he was on his way back to New York.

He called Marianne from a telephone booth at the airport. "I want to see you."

There was no hesitation. "Yes."

Tony had not been able to get Marianne Hoffman out of his thoughts. He had been alone for a long time, but he had not felt lonely. Being away from Marianne was a loneliness, a feeling that a part of him was missing. Being with her was a warmth, a celebration of life, a chasing away of the ugly dark shadows that had been haunting him. He had the terrifying feeling that if he let Marianne go, he would be lost. He needed her as he had never needed anyone in his life.

Marianne met him at his apartment, and as she walked in the door, there was a hunger in Tony that he had thought forever dead. And looking at her, he knew the hunger was hers, too, and there were no words for the miracle of it.

She went into his arms, and their emotion was an irresistible riptide that caught them both up and swept them away in a glorious explosion, an eruption, and a contentment beyond words. They were floating together in a velvety softness that knew no time or place, lost in the wondrous glory and magic of each other. Later they lay spent, holding each other, her hair soft against his face.

"I’m going to marry you, Marianne."

She took his face in her hands and looked searchingly into his eyes. "Are you sure, Tony?" Her voice was gentle. "There’s a problem, darling."

"Your engagement?"

"No. I’ll break it off. I’m concerned about your mother."

"She has nothing to do with – "

"No. Let me finish, Tony. She’s planning for you to marry Lucy Wyatt."

"That’s her plan." He took her in his arms again. "My plans are right here."

"She’ll hate me, Tony. I don’t want that."

"Do you know what I want?" Tony whispered.

And the miracle started all over again.

It was another forty-eight hours before Kate Blackwell heard from Tony. He had disappeared from the Wyatt Ranch without an explanation or good-bye and had flown back to New York. Charlie Wyatt was baffled, and Lucy Wyatt was furious. Kate had made awkward apologies and had taken the company plane back to New York that night. When she reached home, she telephoned Tony at his apartment. There was no answer. Nor was there any answer the following day.

Kate was in her office when the private phone on her desk rang. She knew who it was before she picked it up.

"Tony, are you all right?"

"I’m f-fine, Mother."

"Where are you?"

"On my h-honeymoon. Marianne Hoffman and I were m-married yesterday." There was a long, long silence. "Are you there, M-mother?"

"Yes. I’m here."

"You might s-say congratulations, or m-much happiness or one of those c-customary phrases." There was a mocking bitterness in his voice.

Kate said, "Yes. Yes, of course, I wish you much happiness, Son."

"Thank you, M-mother." And the line went dead.

Kate replaced the receiver and pressed down an intercom button. "Would you please come in, Brad?"

When Brad Rogers walked into the office, Kate said, "Tony just called."

Brad took one look at Kate’s face and said, "Jesus! Don’t tell me you did it!"

"Tony did it," Kate smiled. "We’ve got the Hoffman empire in our lap."

Brad Rogers sank into a chair. "I can’t believe it! I know how stubborn Tony can be. How did you ever get him to marry Marianne Hoffman?"

"It was really very simple," Kate sighed. "I pushed him in the wrong direction."

But she knew it was really the right direction. Marianne would be a wonderful wife for Tony. She would dispel the darkness in him.

Lucy had had a hysterectomy.

Marianne would give him a son.

Chapter 21

Six months from the day Tony and Marianne were married, the Hoffman company was absorbed into Kruger-Brent, Ltd. The formal signing of the contracts took place in Munich as a gesture to Frederick Hoffman, who would run the subsidiary from Germany. Tony had been surprised by the meekness with which his mother accepted his marriage. It was not like her to lose gracefully, yet she had been cordial to Marianne when Tony and his bride returned from their honeymoon in the Bahamas, and had told Tony how pleased she was with the marriage. What puzzled Tony was that her sentiments seemed genuine. It was too quick a turnaround, out of character for her. Perhaps, Tony decided, he did not understand his mother as well as he thought he did.