Part Four
“What did we miss?”
Steve looked up from his cards, only now noticing that his much younger brother Dominic – accompanied by young Johnny – had approached the table at some point, he was uncertain when, only that they were not there a few minutes ago. “Where did you two come from?”
“And can’t you see we’re in the middle of something important?” East muttered under his breath, then loudly announced, “I’ll...take...three.”
“Two,” came Colin’s response to the dealer’s inquiry.
“We just got home a little while ago,” Johnny explained, then nudging Dom he whispered, “I told you that we shouldn’t have bothered their game.”
“Well, we’re bothered now,” East told them, trying to prevent one corner of his mouth from going into a grin. He loved teasing the younger ones.
“Anything we can help you with, mates?” That came from Terry, who was also dealing.
“And are either of you playing?” Alex asked. “We’re always happy to part you with your cash, you know.”
Dom shook his head, but Johnny appeared quite eager. “Count me in – next hand,” and to show his interest, he flipped one chair around before straddling it, sitting so that he faced the back of it.
“One,” Steve said, continuing the game.
“Where have youse two been?” Terry asked.
“We went walkabout, remember?” Dom told them, but most of the men at the table shook their heads. “You didn’t even know we were gone? You see that, Johnny? They didn’t miss us at all.” He was disappointed.
“Makes a bloke feel unwanted, don’t it?” Johnny admitted. “Just for that, I’m going to take you guys for all you’re worth.”
Most of those at the table deeply chuckled, but Terry shushed them, hoping they realized that simply because the other two were among the youngest of the Creator’s incarnations, they should be respected. “I heard you were gone,” he told Johnny and Dom. “Did you have a good time?”
“Are we playing poker or what?” East demanded. “I’m in.”
“All right, all right – I won’t say another thing,” Johnny told them, but those words were barely out of his mouth when he asked, “We did have a good time, thanks for asking, Terry...but Dom’s right though – what did we miss?”
“Oh for the love of...” Steve started to say, nearly throwing down his cards in disgust, but instead, decided to throw some chips towards the middle of the table while he chomped on a cigar. “I’m in too if we’re still playing poker.”
Alex was shaking his head, having a little trouble concentrating on his cards with all the interruptions. “What do you mean, Johnny: ‘what did we miss’? I’ll see your twenty...and raise...you...ten.” His fellow players whistled in disbelief.
Johnny shrugged, intent on responding to the question. “Well, when we first walked in and were going to head upstairs to stow our backpacks and gear and shower, Tina was finishing up some announcement.” He strained a little to see what cards East held – he was sitting directly behind the horseman – which earned him a quick stare-down from Driscoll on sensing that someone was watching him.
Dominic nodded. “Then when we got back everything was over. We just wondered...”
“We were only wondering what had happened,” Johnny finished, “‘cause everyone had disappeared...well...all but you blokes.”
“Figured – I’m in – figured we’d get a few hands of poker in while the Tavern was quiet,” Colin explained.
“It’s midweek. Not a big crowd,” Terry said in clipped sentences.
“But Tina had something to say?” Johnny asked, his curiosity at a high.
Terry smiled, figuring that a quick response would bring all the questioning to an end so they could return to poker...before either East or Steve got so disgusted that the game went bust. He couldn’t have that, not when he was down $50.00 Australian and needed to at least break even so Kaz wouldn’t kill him. “She wanted to introduce our new chef to everyone.”
Dom’s eyes lit up. “We finally got a new chef? Who is he?”
“Can we finish this hand for God’s sake?!” Steve demanded. “Or I’m going home!”
“Not with all my money you’re not,” East softly told him.
“I hope he knows how to fix something other than all that fancy stuff for the Hotel restaurants,” Johnny said.
“I’m sure he does...oh and he’s a she anyway,” Terry replied.
“We have another female chef?” Johnny glanced over at Dominic, who was grinning from ear-to-ear. “Thank you, God! I do love the ladies ‘round here. What’s she like?”
“Is she pretty?” That came from Dom.
“How old is she?”
“Is she married? Engaged? Connected already? Please tell me she’s not connected!”
Steve banged his head on the tabletop and pretended to whimper, a reaction that seemed to melt all the ‘poker tension.’
Johnny looked perplexed. “Why’s Steve crying? He and Donna didn’t break up while we were gone, did they?”
“He wants...to finish...the hand,” Colin explained, rolling his eyes and shuffling his own cards. “We all do...before ANZAC Day anyway.”
“Oh...sorry,” Johnny apologized, then leaning over to Steve he whispered, “Glad it’s nothing about you and Donna, mate.”
“ ‘s okay,” Steve replied, banging his head again for good measure. He knew he should have stayed home.
“And we don’t know what she’s like ‘cause we’ve never really met her longer than a few minutes,” Terry continued, “but yes, she’s pretty....She looks young and as far as I know, she’s not married, engaged or connected to any of us ‘round the Point.” The two younger men gave one another a high five.
“Thank you God!” Johnny repeated.
“What’s her name?” Dominic asked, moving closer to the table.
“Can we finish this hand...please?” East seemed to be on the verge of tears too.
Although eager for more information, Johnny and Dom nodded in unison and permitted their brothers to complete the action in play. A few moments later, once Alex was dragging all the winnings into his pile and saying something about ‘coming to papa,’ several stood to stretch their legs and Terry found a moment to continue what he was saying.
“Her name is Adalia Rabinovich.”
The mouths on both boys dropped, astonished. They were already conjuring in their imaginations what a woman with that name might be like.
“Adalia?” Dom started, and Johnny finished with “Rabinovich? What is she? Where’s she from?”
“What is she?” Everyone turned at the sound of Kim’s voice, only now realizing that he had returned to the Tavern. The last time he was seen, he had been lurking over in a corner of the room, listening as Tina formally introduced the chef to everyone and then invited everyone to a housewarming party in two nights’ time. “Only a couple of children would be asking questions like that. You’d think she was the new schoolteacher or nanny instead of an incredibly beautiful, exquisitely tasteful woman bringing more class to this...place.”
“Oooooooo,” the remaining brothers teased and Alex asked, “Kim...you don’t honestly think you’re going to have a chance with her, do you?”
“My opportunities are as good as yours. Perhaps more. After all, I understand that she’s a friend of Annabella’s and you know how women talk. She’s probably heard enough about you to...” But he didn’t complete the sentence as Alex jumped to his feet, fists beginning to clinch. “See? Like that....I simply want to give all of you a word of warning,” he declared in his clearest voice. “Having seen Ms. Rabinovich first...”
“When did he meet her?” Johnny eagerly asked Terry, but the latter held up a finger to silence him. They were all enjoying Kim’s performance too much to have it disturbed.
Kim continued: “...it is my intention not to be left behind this time to wallow in the wake of any of the better known ones...or you little babies either, who think you’re cute enough to attract attention. No! Not by Sid and certainly not by the likes of any of you. For once in my existence in this suffocating little world, Kim Barrett is going to get what is due him.”
“Getting his arse whipped?” East mumbled, but the question was loud enough to be heard by everyone.
“Ha ha, East. You’re a bloody comedian, did you know that? I’m just wanting all of you unattached ones to know this in advance,” and he pointed his finger. “I intend to leave my mark!” and on that note, he left the room and hurried up the staircase to his room.
Only when the door slammed did the others look at each other, but it was for Steve to say, “Okay....Who rammed the stick up his ass?”
“Where does he get off telling me to step back?” Johnny demanded.
“And who’s a baby?” Dom shouted. “Why don’t I have as much a chance with her as Kim does?”
“He’s just trying to get you boys rankled,” Steve told them in-between chewing on his cigar. “And sounds like he’s done a fucking good job of it, too.”
“I just wonder where he comes off with talk like that....Dirty mongrel,” Johnny said, annoyed. It was bad enough that he always felt as if he was nonexistent – many of the younger, lesser known ones were that way – but to have a prick like Kim give him orders....
“I don’t know why anyone thinks they have a chance with her,” East commented, stretching his arms over his head. “For all we know she’s gay.”
Johnny and Dom chose to ignore that and the older of the two said, “Now Terry...Adalia....Adalia Rabinovich. That’s not American is it?”
“She’s American mate.”
Dom shook his head. “But her surname’s Russian right?”
Andy – who was trying to clean up the bar and had remained amazingly silent during all the conversations – finally spoke up as he removed several mugs and plates off one now empty table. “I heard her tell somebody that her first name was Spanish or Russian or something, and her family’s Russian from way, way, way back.”
Johnny smiled. He was already beginning to romanticize about her and he never even saw her in the small crowd that gathered about her and Tina. “Russian. I wonder how far back. I mean...back before or around the Great War...”
“Or think about it, Johnny,” Dom added. “Maybe her family came over during the Russian Revolution. Maybe they were – you know – White Russians.” He imagined her ancestors as aristocrats, fleeing the old empire and emigrating to America when their society collapsed forever underneath the Bolshevik takeover. Such historic things would never have come into his young mind had he and a few others not drooled over the beautiful Natasha Richardson in The White Countess! Who the hell said that older women could not be the most alluring in the world?!
Terry rubbed the back of his head. “I don’t know about that lads.” He didn’t know much about her either, but one glimpse of her had made him smile. He might love Kaz with all his life, but no red-blooded man could deny that the new chef wasn’t a damn attractive woman. “I mean...White Russians? Sounds like something out of Dr. Zhivago.”
East, now resting his head in his arms, asked, “Is that another of those long chick flicks?”
“I think so,” Steve replied. “Never saw it though.”
“Tina said she can’t stand it – she much preferred The Bridge on the River Kwai.” Everyone looked over at Andy after he spoke. He stared back as if surprised they would wonder where or how he received that information. “I played movie Trivial Pursuitwith her once and Dr. Zhivago was one of the answers. She said it made her want to ram her head in an oven.”
All of the men laughed.
“Never thought Tina would dislike a romance,” Steve joked.
“You guys want another round before I finish up? I don’t want to spend all night cleaning. And I’d like to join in the next hand if I can. The next time you want something, you’ll have to get it yourself.”
Everyone said that they would and Andy gathered up the old glasses, but the action did not stop him from musing, “I was wondering...Did anybody else notice? I mean...she reminds me of somebody.”
Terry looked puzzled. “Who? You mean the new chef?”
“She reminds me of somebody. Did anyone else notice that?”
“Somebody like who?” Dom queried. “Like a movie star or a singer or TV star or something?”
Andy shrugged and began to fill another mug with beer. “She just seemed...familiar...I don’t know. Like I’ve seen her somewhere before.”
Yawning as he grinned, Steve opined, “J-Lo familiar? Madonna familiar?” He chuckled on seeing Alex hold his nose at the last name mentioned. “Keira Knightly familiar?”
“What about the one that stripped for Clive Owen? You know – she played Luke and Leia’s mom,” Johnny said.
Steve could not resist answering with “Luke and Leia’s mother did a striptease for Clive Owen?” He knew better, but he loved watching young Ryan mouth ‘Fuck off’ in reply.
All this time though, Andy was shaking his head. “No, no, no. Not any of them.”
“Kate Winslet!”
It was Alex’s turn to grin when Colin said the Oscar nominee’s name. “Andy’s right. She looks familiar, but it’s not Kate Winslet although...damn, she’s...I wouldn’t turn her out of my...”
“It’s Grace Kelly.”
The room grew quiet at Arthur’s pronouncement. The Welshman was simply passing through on his way to his room, and had remained completely unnoticed until he heard the chatter about Adalia’s resemblance.
When he first saw her – really saw her – the afternoon before, he kept thinking she seemed familiar, but figured it was from seeing her at a distance during the job competition. Now, having had a few hours to mull it over as Adalia Rabinovich’s face returned to his memory over and over, it finally hit him, and the image of the actress turned real-life princess came to him. He envisioned her in High Noon and High Society; Mogambo, To Catch a Thief and Rear Window and each occurrence left him comparing her to Adalia, so that in the end, he knew where their differences lay. She was not Princess Grace of Monaco. She was not Grace Kelly the movie star. She was this seemingly sweet-natured, strong woman who loved college basketball, had a passion for cooking and wine, and was willing to give up her life in Indiana for a new start at the Point. On top of that, she possessed a classic beauty that was uncommon and regrettably ignored in a world of anorexic runway models, and boring leading ladies with little talent and not quite stunning appearances.
But now he was sharing that knowledge with his siblings, for having that little secret made him feel as if he was somehow protecting Adalia. The talk – what little he heard – was driving him crazy and before he realized it, he had blurted out the words without actually meaning to. It was just too much! Some of those names were not even in the same category with someone like Grace Kelly. It was insulting.
“Good God!” Alex exclaimed. “You’re right! Arthur’s right! It is Grace Kelly, isn’t it? I mean think about it....She has those Grace Kelly features, doesn’t she?”
Johnny flopped back down on his chair. “Crikey! I always did love her. I don’t know a man who didn’t.”
“Shit – Hitchcock sure did,” Steve told them and the group either leaned forward or moved closer to listen. “He did. He had a hard-on for those cool blondes: Grace Kelly, Janet Leigh, Kim Novak...Melanie Griffith’s mom...”
“Which one was Melanie Griffith’s mom?” Dominic asked.
“Tippi Hedron...Marnie...The Birds,” Steve explained, the comment earning him an “awwwwwwwww” from some of his amazed brothers.
Terry smiled. “Anyone game for a Hitchcock film festival this weekend?”
“I just want to finish this poker game...if any of you are still interested,” they all heard East mutter.
“Will Kaz let you have a Hitchcock film festival? Colin wondered.
“He can say we all got interested in Hitchcock for some reason or another,” Steve suggested. “Maybe we were sitting around discussing why anybody in their right mind would do a remake of Psycho when they didn’t have to.”
Johnny was shaking his head in disbelief. “I can’t imagine Alfred Hitchcock having a hard-on over anybody.”
“Arthur? Want to join us for the next hand?” Alex asked. “There’s always another chair.”
“You mean we’re actually going to start another hand before the Creator releases a new movie? Oh thanks mate!” Using a single hand, East happily accepted the beer Andy was offering him, nearly downing it in one gulp.
“No I...” Arthur felt himself growing red, not from anger with himself – although he should have felt the need – but that he had told his brothers something he never intended. I should have kept walking....No one even knew I was here...but no...no...I had to open my big.... “I think I’ll just...” He motioned upstairs. “It’s been a long day. I think I’ll get some hot chocolate and finish up the last of my paperwork before I turn in.”
“You work too hard, Arthur,” Dominic sympathetically called over to him, noticing that his sibling was still keeping a slight distance. “You always have. You need to relax more.”
“I do,” he smiled in return. “Thanks for worrying about me, Dom. I really...I really ought to turn in though. I have a ‘arvo.”
“Night then mate,” Terry told him and the others bid farewell also.
Arthur briefly hesitated, almost reconsidering, but on recalling that he was going to help out Adalia, he shook his head. “Night,” and before he said something else he might regret, he rushed up the steps. If he was going to get volunteers for assisting with the chef’s moving, he would go to them one-on-one...and he would make certain to contact only those currently ‘taken.’
That’s not a very Christian attitude, he thought as he placed his key in the lock to his apartment, but I’ll ask forgiveness later.
He never noticed Kim peep his head out from his own room and give Arthur a quick glance. There was nothing he had wanted particularly; he simply heard the footsteps and wanted to see who was in the hall, hoping perhaps to find one of his brothers coming home with a new lady friend. Had that been the case, he would have started some sort of annoyance, but no, it was just Baskin. Boring as usual he joked to himself, quietly retreating behind his door.
Downstairs at and around the poker table, Dom leaned against one of the beams and stifled a yawn as he watched his brothers take their seats and Terry started to deal. “Sorry...but Arthur may have had the right idea. I’m beat.”
“You heading to bed? Nice to see a young man take stock in how much sleep he gets,” Steve joked.
Ignoring him, Dom stepped behind Johnny and bent down to his right side. “You staying then?”
“Yep. Not sure how long though. I’ll catch you at breakkie in the morning.”
“Knowing you, you’ll still be here when I come down for breakkie!”
“Probably.”
“Where are you going in such a hurry, Dom?” Alex asked. “It’s still kind of early yet.”
“I know...but I was thinking that – in case she hasn’t found anybody yet – I might lend the new chef a hand in her moving.” The comment caused all of them to stop what they were doing, but it was Johnny and Alex that seemed the most interested, although they did their best at maintaining some sort of ‘poker face.’ “I know the workers got all her things put in the place, but I figured she might need a hand in moving stuff around. You know how ladies are. She’ll want a sofa moved three or four times before she’s happy with where it is.”
“That’s a fact,” Terry chuckled.
Johnny took Dominic’s words into consideration...and realized he was disappointed he had not thought of the idea first! “So you’re going to head over there in the morning then, Dom?”
“I thought so....I guess. Don’t you think she might need some help?”
Ryan gave a slight shrug. “Probably.” That was the way to do it – be nonchalant so no one would realize how excited he was at the prospect.
The youngest gave Johnny a slap on the shoulders. “Great! See you at breakkie then. I’ll let Arthur know.”
Johnny looked surprised. “Why are you telling Arthur?”
“Well, I’m sure he’s organizing everything...as usual. At least he can tell us where to go find her. Night mates!”
“Anyone else lending a hand? With the chef’s moving I mean,” East asked after Dominic had gone. “I’ll take...one,” he said, shuffling his cards.
“Hadn’t thought about it, but...I’ll see....You?” Alex asked, hoping the wince on seeing his hand had not been apparent to the others.
“Maximus, Jack, Cort and I already had something planned. Mannie’s coming down from the farm so we can’t put it off; not if he’s coming. You know how rare it is he gets down this way, but this is important. Anyway, Tina wants our opinion about some new horses for the Point...and possibly getting into some breeding.”
Terry’s head shot up. “Holy snappin’ arseholes! Are we doing the breeding or sending ours out?”
East smiled. “Maybe a little of both, mate. You know the plans she has for expanding life at the Point...making us even more self-reliant and all. She’s talking Keeneland Horse Sales in Kentucky come September....Oh...I call....She’s talking stud fees.” Terry whistled. “Anyway, if it wasn’t for that, I’d see if Kath wanted to go help the new chef out, but I have a feeling she and Savannah will probably be going whether I’m there or not.”
“Why do we keep calling the new chef the ‘new chef’ when she has a name? I’ll see your five and raise you five.” Johnny enjoyed hearing her name – it had a way of falling over his tongue with the ease of smooth whiskey on the throat. Hearing Adalia Rabinovich spoken aloud made her seem more real.
“I just want to give her time to settle in before I get to know her too well,” East teased. “The way we’ve been going here lately, she may not stay long.”
“We have been going through chefs like shit through a goose, ain’t we?”
“That’s a damn pretty picture, Steve,” Thorne snickered.
Johnny grunted, wanting them to return to the original subject. “Still...we ought to call her by her name. It’s not that hard to say: Adalia Rabinovich. Wonder what it means?” Once more he thought of Natasha Richardson and The White Countess.
Alex smiled. He could tell his younger brother seemed infatuated, and he had not even met the new resident. “You speak Russian don’t you, Terry. Any ideas?”
“Hmm...well...I know it’s ‘son of’. So it’s ‘son of’ something or other. Rabinowitz is the same. I think they both have the same etymology. Wish I could help you out but....Wait. I do know what it means. I knew a Rabinowitz years ago when I was in the service. It’s ‘son of a rabbi.’”
Alex heard Johnny give a loud sigh. “What’s wrong?”
“Guess mine and Dom’s imaginations got the best of us. I have a feeling her family probably weren’t Russian aristocracy, were they?” Images of the elegant Czarist court were now replaced with Fiddler on the Roof.
Terry shook his head. “Probably not, mate. They probably came to America after some pogrom...but...why don’t you ask her yourself when you meet her?”
Johnny’s face brightened. “I could, couldn’t I?”
Steve placed his cigar in an ashtray and analyzed his cards even more. “Hell of a way to start a romance. ‘You’re beautiful, Adalia...and did your family escape Russia after the Cossacks were turned loose?’”
“I wouldn’t put it to her that way, you arse!”
Everyone at the table laughed and the conversation finally returned to poker chips, flushes, aces and the like – the ‘important matters,’ as Steve referred to it once the comments about ‘the new chef’ were finally put aside. It did not mean that most of them ceased thinking about her, but at least the discussions about Adalia Rabinovich, her position at the Point, the meaning of her name and questions of her ancestry were no longer in the forefront.
But that was only after Johnny wondered how old she might be and whether she might enjoy the company of two ‘boys’ like him and Dominic.
And Andy mentioned briefly speaking to her following Tina’s introduction, then heard himself say that he hoped to find time to help her out and make her feel more at home.
And on being asked, Alex joked that he had sworn off dating cooks for the time being...but considered to himself that he realized – on meeting her – that she was really quite charming and sweet in her own way. She was not Annabella; he couldn’t have dealt had she been, but after his longtime relationship with the Point’s first chef....Taking a long swig of his beer, he examined his cards and decided that perhaps he ought to take a chance if he could: on both the hand and with his life.
And Colin – Colin who was still wondering what life and his future held, decided that this was still not his time. Not yet at any rate.
While upstairs in his apartment, Kim paced back and forth inside his walk-in closet, examined his wardrobe with the greatest of care, and began to put together the outfit that would set him apart from the rest.
And Arthur – in his flat – did what he did best: planned what he prayed would be a nice housewarming gift to make her first days at Crowe’s Point more convenient.