Sorry about the missed week, readers.
Life started happening rather quickly and unexpectedly. Hopefully, I
can keep on track with my weekly Friday updates now.
The chapter opens with Marine and Eva
walking into the dining room where Conrad and Helena the Hunter are
already standing. They've got drinks, but no one offers some to
Marine or Eva. Rude. Anyway, there's some description of how
everyone looks, Conrad is handsome-r than before, Helena the Hunter
is gorgeous in a shiny gold dress, and Marine feels inadequate, then
chides herself for thinking that she's in the running to get Conrad.
I guess she doesn't know she's the main character of this novel.
Eva's hair looks awesome, and Conrad notices. Whoo! I guess he
gives half a damn about her.
Anyway, they start dinner. Marine is
watching Helena the Hunter and Flora to see if they act familiar with
each other; they do not. Conrad is watching Marine, which takes her
a moment to realize and when she does, she thinks its because he
thinks she is envious of Helena the Hunter. I have no idea what he's
really thinking, but I don't think this book is complicated enough to
have an unreliable narrator like that. So, Marine stares into her
soup to try to brush off the embarrassment and a bit later, she
notices that all conversation has stopped.
Oh. They're finally talking about Eva
and Marine going to Marine's aunt for Christmas. Apparently, it's a
Wright tradition to stay at home for Christmas. Although, as Eva
points out, this hasn't been the case recently. Conrad angrily
demands that they restart it. Awkward silence. What a control
freak. I know it's because he can't bear to be apart from Marine for
even that long, or some other excuse, but seriously. Way to make
your grandma sad and kill the mood at the table.
Marine feels that Conrad thinks she's
responsible. Also, she feels responsible, so she starts talking
about how great Christmas is and asks what the Wrights do for trees
and roasting a turkey and whatnot. Marine goes on for a bit before
anyone says anything. Helena the Hunter votes to try to get Marine,
and incidentally Eva, out of the house to avoid having to chase down
Christmas trees and turkeys and such. Eva says, clearly unsatisfied,
that they have BBQs now instead of a turkey. Helena the Hunter snaps
back that it's more sensible because roasting a turkey for hours
heats up the whole house.
Then Conrad verbally bitch-slaps
everyone. Here, I'll give you the quote: “'Enough!' Conrad's voice
seemed to boom around the table, even though he had spoken in a
deathly quiet tone.” Marine apologizes, saying that she didn't
mean to upset anyone. Helena the Hunter takes the opportunity to run
around the table and offer comfort to Eva, who is now crying. Of
course she blames it on Marine. Helena the Hunter tries to maneuver
to get Marine fired, but Conrad doesn't take the bait. It's because
he wants to bang her and if he fires her, she'll be too far away. I
mean, yes she does a good job with actually caring for and about Eva,
but let's be real.
Conrad finally says that he likes the
idea of a tree and turkey and such and asks Marine to take care of
the details. Marine replies that she'd be happy to and that she and
Eva will have a lovely time picking out things and... Oh, Helena the
Hunter, you're still trying to start something? She goes off her nut
about Marine calling Mrs. Wright by her first name. Conrad replies
that he likes it and that if Eva wants Marine to do so, he's not
going to stop her.
Finally, during dessert, Helena the
Hunter offers to take care of the details about Christmas. After
all, Marine will want to spend Christmas with her family. Conrad
agrees, but Marine feels like he wants her to stay. Therefore,
Marine replies that her parents are on safari in Africa (Oh yeah. I
forgot about them.) and that her aunt wasn't truly expecting her
anyway. It's the truth, but of course she wants to be close to
Conrad because she wants to bang him. Or, kiss him a lot, anyway.
Then Conrad passes the buck of
Christmas stuff back to Marine and that Helena the Hunter will be too
busy with their guests. Helena the Hunter replies that she was only
trying to help Marine. Yeah, right. Marine manages to, somewhat
genuinely, tell Helena the Hunter that she'll be fine and to enjoy
her guests. This pisses Helena the Hunter off to no end. Good. She
manages a barb about how the guests will be for her and
Conrad. Because they're a couple, you see. I truly don't understand
why they're dating. Honestly. Well, I know Helena the Hunter is in
it for the money, and I guess Conrad is in it for her looks, and
possibly the sex, but they've both such unpleasant people.
Conrad,
conveniently expecting an important phone call that'll take all
night, takes that moment to leave the room. Once he's gone, Helena
the Hunter replies that this leaves her with nothing to do for the
rest of the night. Seriously? You didn't bring a book,
or...something to do? Then she snaps at Eva that she should have
stayed put in her room for meals. Eva explains that Marine thought
she was spending too much time alone, and Helena the Hunter replies
that Marine just wants to be able to share a dinner table with Conrad
to make goo-goo eyes at him. I wish she'd phrased it that way, but
my way is better. Then Helena the Hunter continues to talk smack by
telling Marine, “But I think Conrad has shown you just what he
thinks of you. He sees you as a maid...a cook!” Well, that was
kind of the job description. Helena the Hunter further rubs it in by
telling Marine that she and Conrad will be flouncing around the pool
with their guests while Marine works in the kitchen. Then she slaps
them once more verbally and announces that she's going to her room to
do her hair and nails. Why do your hair at this time of night?
You'll just have to redo it in the morning. Unless...Helena the
Hunter never sleeps. Perhaps, she's a vampire. One that can walk in
daylight. And has no fangs. No, wait. That'd be too ridiculous to
put in print. Never mind.
Once
Helena the Hunter leaves the room, Marine asks Eva if the gold digger
is always that rude. Eva replies that she's gotten used to her, but
she seems a bit more angry this time. Possibly she's upset that
Marine is there. Gee, I wonder why. Helena the Hunter can tell her
meal ticket is running out. This whole plot just really reminds me
of the Sound of Music, but with an old lady instead of kids. And no
singing.
Next
we get a long dramatic scene with Marine standing in her bedroom in
just a thin nighty, looking out at the waves, trying to forget what
Helena the Hunter said to her, and doing it all in very purple prose:
“Across the sweeping lawns flooded in moonlight she could see the
silvery stretch of beach flanked on one side with gracefully swaying
palms and on the other by the whispering foaming surge of the sea.
She placed her hands on the railing and leaned forward, hoping that
the thrusting sounds of the waves would drown out Helena [the
Hunter]'s hateful words. But the waves only seemed to pound them
further into her brain...” So, we all know what's coming next,
right? I was expecting it to happen in Marine's room, but she runs
to the beach first. Oh, but my favorite purple prose quote from this
section: “Her head was tilted back and her large blue eyes gazed up
at the sparkling diamonds splattered in organized fashion across the
velvet blackness of the clear, coastal sky.” Also, it bothers me
how the author (Rosemary Badger, by the way) refers to Marine's eyes
as both violet and blue.
Anyway,
Marine is restless and runs down to the beach to lose her stress.
Oh, hello, Conrad. What are you doing here? Wearing tiny sleeping
shorts and an open robe, I see. Good attire for the beach. They
talk a little, but the words don't matter. Conrad puts his hands on
her face, slides them down to her neck, and onto her shoulders. He
draws her into the “hard, lean length of his body”. Those words
are doing double duty, just so we're all aware. So, he crushes her
to him and his mouth apparently bruises her with his kisses. She
seems to be okay with this, so I suppose that force is fine. Oh,
also? Rosemary Badger uses the word “potent male virility”. Oh
my. Anyway, he kisses her neck and such, she's totally digging it.
He slips her nighty straps down and uncovers her boobs. Then
suddenly they're lying down and Conrad's playing with her nipple. I
guess in the 80's, you couldn't print the word “nipple” because
it's not in this book. Either that, or Ms. Badger liked being poetic
about nipples.
Anyway,
his mouth is on her boob and his hand is sliding up her leg. Marine
is digging this in general, but we get the info that she's saving
herself for marriage. I guess she didn't let any of her boyfriends
touch her crotch at all, or something. So, she's got a problem with
this. She starts trying to fight “against the magic of his touch”.
Conrad tells her not to fight him and this causes her to tell him to
stop. Good idea, Marine. Also, thankfully, it works. He does stop.
Good. He tears himself away from her and looks away. Marine
doesn't move. She realizes that she's lying on Conrad's robe.
Eventually, he looks back at her and covers her boobs and lowers the
skirt of her nightie. Interesting that she didn't cover herself
up...
Marine
sits up and pulls her knees up to her chest, pulling her nightie over
her legs. Eventually, Conrad asks her why she really came down to
the beach. No, she wasn't trying to dare you into making love at
midnight in the dunes of the cape. [Write to me and escape...] She
really couldn't sleep. Then they stare at each other's faces really
intently and Marine thinks about how she wants to trace Conrad's
features. Conrad asks if she were really worried about the Christmas
dinner. Marine smiles at herself, then remembers Helena the Hunter.
Oh yeah, that person who's, as far as I know, in a monogamous
relationship with Conrad. Or, she seems to think so, anyway.
So,
Marine remembers Helena the Hunter taunting her by saying that Conrad
only thought of our protagonist as a maid and cook. I think he added
onto your job description just now. Well, he tried to, anyway. Then
Marine starts crying. What they just did was a beautiful thing to
her, but she thinks that Conrad will see it as a “cheap fling in
the sand”. Conrad jumps up and wraps his robe around her
shoulders. She's glad to have the protection from his gaze. He
tells her not to worry, that Flora and Annie will have to deal with
the dinner. Marine tries to look comforted. Although, we get the
dilemma of just about every romance novel summed up at the end of
this chapter: “She had fallen hopelessly in love with a man she
knew she could never have.”
All
right, for abusive behaviors in this chapter we have.... 1)
Hypersensitivity when Conrad took it so very seriously that Eva and
Marine might leave for a few hours on Christmas 2) Quick involvement
they've only kissed once and now Conrad wants to have sex? Or
possibly finger her. It's hard to tell. However, on the flip side,
when she said no, he stopped. That is very good and possibly
balances this one out. Not too many in this chapter because we were
mostly focused on how Helena the Hunter is a bitch.
For
the next chapter, I predict... the focus will shift just a bit.
Marine's parents, in Africa, have stumbled upon something far bigger
than they expected to find on vacation, with deadly force protecting
it. It will take all of their knowledge of swordplay to unravel this
mystery, unfortunately, they both swore oaths never to take up a
sword again after the birth of their child. Now they must decide
between their honor and stopping a dangerous villain from unleashing
a force capable of destroying the cosmos.
I'm
really just done with these people.
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