The Daughter-in-Law by Diana Diamond

he’s a frightened child with a death wish. That isn’t a description of the ideal husband.”
    Nicole was speechless. Her eyes blinked and her lips moved, but there was no sound.
    “Jack Donner is a dreadnought,” Alexandra said in a tone that was flatly factual. “He leaves a wake that swamps all the other boats in the harbor. Jonathan has been sunk so many times he’s waterlogged.”
    “At times he seems a bit. . . resentful,” Nicole agreed.
    “He’s been castrated! He doesn’t have the balls to stand up and fight. Not even with me. I’ve been propping him up against his father for so long that now he waits for instructions from me.”
    “How can you talk about him like that? Your own son—”
    “Because I love him. And I don’t want to see him marry a woman who will caress him and console him, and make his decisions forhim. He has me to do that. What he needs is a woman who will pour some steel into his spine.”
    “He seems strong to me ...”
    “If he was strong he would have told his father off years ago. And he would have put me in my place as well. He would be out on his own, not sniffing around the table for the scraps that Jack throws him to keep him from barking.”
    “Mrs. Donner, I’ve seen none of this in Jonathan. He thinks for himself.”
    “Thinks, maybe, but does nothing about it. Because he’s afraid that if he stands up Jack will kick him out. He’s too content on the family dole to risk a confrontation. So he stays in a job he hates and puts up with the ridicule. And he jumps out of airplanes because in his case dying can’t be much worse than living.”
    They were walking up the steps from the garden to the house when Alexandra said, “I guess that’s what I’m asking you. Are you the woman who will get him up on his feet even though it will cost him—and you—the family fortune? Do you love him? Or do you love his lifestyle? Some young women have thought they went together. But they don’t. His lifestyle is what his father pays to keep him on a leash.”
    “I want a husband I can respect,” Nicole answered after digesting the question.
    “Good,” Alexandra said, “because that means you’ll be giving me a son I can respect.”
    Jonathan was waiting at the top of he steps. “Talk about smelling the roses. I thought you two would never come back.”
    “There’s a lot to talk about in a garden,” his mother answered. “But now I have to spend some time with my other guests.”
    The two boats had already sailed, so they wandered down to the cabana building, ordered drinks, and then sat and enjoyed the illusion that the pool was pouring out into the Sound.
    “So, you survived the third degree. Hopefully Mother didn’t resort to the rubber hose. What did she ask? Insanity in the family? Any sexually transmitted diseases?”
    “She asked if I loved you.”
    “Oh!” They looked at each other for a moment before he continued, “And did you tell her?”
    “Yes, as a matter of fact.”
    Another pause. “So tell me. I’d like to be the second one to know.”
    “I told her I did. Very much.”
    “Did she believe you?”
    “Is that important to you?”
    Now it was Jonathan who recognized the mine waiting to be stepped on. “I suppose it is. I’d like to have Alexandra on my side.”
    “And if she isn’t? If she decides I’m not right for you?”
    “Don’t be silly. She’s already bragging about you.”
    “Jonathan, if it came down to me or your mother, or me or your father, would I stand a chance?”
    His eyes darted off into space. “That isn’t a fair question, Nicole. I’d like to think that we’d all get along. It doesn’t have to be one or the other, does it?”
    She set down her drink. “Do you know that’s the toughest question I’ve been asked all day?”
    Neither of them answered the other, and they let the conversation drift off into other areas. When the sun began to fall in the west they went back to the gatehouse and gathered up their