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Authors: Victoria Houston
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wanted as a friend, Alicia was more guarded.
She let outsiders into her circle slowly, carefully. Only those women whose husbands had a certain kind of professional status, only those women who clearly demonstrated that they had taste and the means to afford it, were chosen by Alicia. Osborne had found it curious to discover that Mary Lee admired this kind of discretion. It was something he hadn’t expected in his wife. But she found Alicia classy and sophisticated. She described her once to Osborne as “ ‘old’ Loon Lake, you know,” as if a community founded in 1885 and boasting a total population of 2657 could pretend to an aristocracy.
One day, Alicia chose to elect Mary Lee as a regular in the Wednesday bridge group. This meant excluding someone else, so it was an occasion of note among young Loon Lake matrons.
Then, months later, came the golden dinner invitation. From that time on, the two women were the best of friends. Only much later, years later, did Osborne understand why.
In the early days of their marriage and their life in Loon Lake, he was too busy building his dental practice and developing his own network of hunting and fishing buddies to pay much attention to the woman Mary Lee was becoming. So it wasn’t until a number of years into their life together that he became aware of traits his wife shared with her friend that he really didn’t like.
The first was an insatiable drive to acquire. They devoured the women’s magazines, constantly lobbying their husbands for the latest in everything from wallpaper to curio cabinets to six-burner stoves. The friendship between Osborne and Peter initially grew out of their mutual frustration with the many ways their wives could find to spend hard-earned dollars and the women’s ability to make their husbands feel bad for not being able to afford it all.
The second trait was an equally intense need for their children to be the first and the best in everything. Fortunately, Alicia’s only child was male and one year older than his elder daughter, Mallory, so the two never competed. Osborne did not even want to consider the consequences if they had. As it was, he had often felt left out and not a little resentful of the attention showered on his firstborn.
But he knew none of this thirty years ago. Instead, that first dinner party was great fun. Osborne was more than a little bowled over by Alicia. He found her lovely to look at, smoothly charming and, at times, a wonderfully witty woman. She had a magnetism that took over the room. And when she wanted, she could make you feel like you were just as fascinating. Alicia was the first and only woman Osborne ever had a crush on during his marriage, news he was wise enough not to share with Mary Lee. Over time, he learned that he wasn’t the only man in Loon Lake to fall under Alicia’s spell.
Peter seemed content to play back-up, to provide the stage setting for his vivacious wife. Older than Alicia by thirteen years and quite well off financially, due to his success as a manufacturer’s rep for an industrial lighting company out of Chicago, he adored and indulged her.
Osborne pressed the doorbell again. As they waited, he thought of Ray’s description of Peter Roderick earlier. The man was as homely as his wife was lovely. He was built low to the ground, thickset, with a head that was truly unusual: from the cheekbones up, it was egg-shaped and almost totally bald, while the bottom half was pulled earthward by cheeks that swung loose and low, just like the ponderous ears of a dachshund. Darn Ray, now he would never be able to think of Peter without that image in mind.
Not that that influenced Peter’s own taste in dogs. He was the proud owner of two undisciplined, hyperactive springer spaniels who went everywhere with him—in the fishing boat, bird hunting. When one dog would die, he would rush to replace it with another. Osborne and his early morning coffee buddies would often grouse over how Peter
She let outsiders into her circle slowly, carefully. Only those women whose husbands had a certain kind of professional status, only those women who clearly demonstrated that they had taste and the means to afford it, were chosen by Alicia. Osborne had found it curious to discover that Mary Lee admired this kind of discretion. It was something he hadn’t expected in his wife. But she found Alicia classy and sophisticated. She described her once to Osborne as “ ‘old’ Loon Lake, you know,” as if a community founded in 1885 and boasting a total population of 2657 could pretend to an aristocracy.
One day, Alicia chose to elect Mary Lee as a regular in the Wednesday bridge group. This meant excluding someone else, so it was an occasion of note among young Loon Lake matrons.
Then, months later, came the golden dinner invitation. From that time on, the two women were the best of friends. Only much later, years later, did Osborne understand why.
In the early days of their marriage and their life in Loon Lake, he was too busy building his dental practice and developing his own network of hunting and fishing buddies to pay much attention to the woman Mary Lee was becoming. So it wasn’t until a number of years into their life together that he became aware of traits his wife shared with her friend that he really didn’t like.
The first was an insatiable drive to acquire. They devoured the women’s magazines, constantly lobbying their husbands for the latest in everything from wallpaper to curio cabinets to six-burner stoves. The friendship between Osborne and Peter initially grew out of their mutual frustration with the many ways their wives could find to spend hard-earned dollars and the women’s ability to make their husbands feel bad for not being able to afford it all.
The second trait was an equally intense need for their children to be the first and the best in everything. Fortunately, Alicia’s only child was male and one year older than his elder daughter, Mallory, so the two never competed. Osborne did not even want to consider the consequences if they had. As it was, he had often felt left out and not a little resentful of the attention showered on his firstborn.
But he knew none of this thirty years ago. Instead, that first dinner party was great fun. Osborne was more than a little bowled over by Alicia. He found her lovely to look at, smoothly charming and, at times, a wonderfully witty woman. She had a magnetism that took over the room. And when she wanted, she could make you feel like you were just as fascinating. Alicia was the first and only woman Osborne ever had a crush on during his marriage, news he was wise enough not to share with Mary Lee. Over time, he learned that he wasn’t the only man in Loon Lake to fall under Alicia’s spell.
Peter seemed content to play back-up, to provide the stage setting for his vivacious wife. Older than Alicia by thirteen years and quite well off financially, due to his success as a manufacturer’s rep for an industrial lighting company out of Chicago, he adored and indulged her.
Osborne pressed the doorbell again. As they waited, he thought of Ray’s description of Peter Roderick earlier. The man was as homely as his wife was lovely. He was built low to the ground, thickset, with a head that was truly unusual: from the cheekbones up, it was egg-shaped and almost totally bald, while the bottom half was pulled earthward by cheeks that swung loose and low, just like the ponderous ears of a dachshund. Darn Ray, now he would never be able to think of Peter without that image in mind.
Not that that influenced Peter’s own taste in dogs. He was the proud owner of two undisciplined, hyperactive springer spaniels who went everywhere with him—in the fishing boat, bird hunting. When one dog would die, he would rush to replace it with another. Osborne and his early morning coffee buddies would often grouse over how Peter
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