“What was what about?”
David gave her a look that told her she knew exactly what he was talking about.
“I don’t know. Mr. Wilding and I have gotten along beautifully, but ever since the hairdressers arrived this morning, he’s been insufferable. He stomped around like a bear and made the whole staff, who were so nice to me, run and hide in the kitchen. Charles says the most devastating things about him, and—”
“Like what? What does Charles say?”
“That Mr. Wilding once walked past a cow and immediately turned it into frozen steaks. But he also says that Mr. Wilding can boil a kettle of water by looking at it. And, oh, other things. I don’t understand why Mr. Wilding’s been so nice these last days, but today he’s so awful. If the people who came today are gay, shouldn’t Mr. Wilding be nice to them since he’s gay too?”
“It doesn’t always work that way,” David said, but he could hardly speak because of the effort it took not to laugh. “Ah, what else did Charles have to say?”
Amy looked at David, blinking for a moment. “Oh, you mean, like that Mr. Wilding doesn’t sweat, doesn’t excrete anything, if you know what I mean.” She turned away for a moment to hide her red face. “That Charles really does have a wicked tongue.”
David was about to burst with laughter. “And what about women? Surely Charles must have said something about Jason’s women.”
“You mean his men, don’t you?”
“Yeah, sure. Whatever. What did Charles say?”
“Marble goddesses. Charles said that if a woman, ah, burped around him, Mr. Wilding would die of apoplexy. But, David, that’s not true. Last night Mr. Wilding helped me get rid of a migraine. He stayed with me for a very long time, rubbing my temples until I fell asleep.”
“He did what? I think you should tell me everything.”
When Amy finished, David was looking at her in astonishment. “I’ve never heard of Jason doing anything like that. He’s . . .”
“He’s a very unusual man, is what he is,” Amy said, “and I can’t figure him out at all. I just trust Max’s judgment and Max adores him. And I think Mr. Wilding adores Max too.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“YOU REALLY ARE THE MOST WICKED MAN,” AMY SAID, laughing. They were in Jason’s damaged car, driving back to the old, drafty place they called home. “I can’t believe you managed to get a date and tickets to an event like that on such short notice. And what a date! Although I can’t say that she seemed to like you very much.”
“Parker? I mean Miss Parker? She likes me fine. And I got a date because I’m a damned good-looking guy, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Mmm. Well, you’re passable, when you aren’t scowling, that is. So tell me everything.”
“My hair is natural, my teeth are all mine—”
“No, idiot,” she said, laughing more. “Tell me about Miss Parker. Whatever did you say to make her laugh like that?”
“Laugh? I don’t remember her laughing,” Jason said seriously.
“She is a bit solemn, isn’t she? But you danced with her and she laughed. I heard her. I saw her and it was a real belly laugh.”
He gave a one-sided grin. “Jealous, are you?”
“So help me, if you don’t tell me, I’ll . . .”
“You’ll what?”
“Tell Charles to stop sending food over and I’ll cook for you.”
“You are a cruel woman. Okay, I’ll tell you, but all I did was ask her if she was one of those women who falls in love with her boss.” When Amy looked at him in puzzlement, he continued. “You know how some women pine away for their handsome, rich, powerful boss, so they never marry, never have a family of their own?”
“I’ve seen that in movies but never in real life,” Amy said. “But I don’t understand. Who is the owner of Baby Heaven?”
“Some guy I know.”
“Ahhh, I see.”
“See what?”
“That you’re not going to tell me. Is her boss gorgeous?”
“Makes that Gibson guy look like a troll.”
“Somehow, I doubt that. But, anyway, Miss Parker found the idea of being in love with her boss hilarious?”
Jason frowned. “Actually, she did.”
“So why does that bother you?”
“Who said it bothers me?”
Amy threw up her hands in helplessness. “I can’t imagine why I thought it bothered you. But then maybe it was just because when she laughed and walked off the dance floor, you stood there for a full two minutes glaring at her back. I was afraid her hair was going to catch on fire.”
“And well it should!” Jason snapped. “Her boss has been good to her, paid her well for years.”
“Oh.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Just that money is no substitute for personal feeling.”
“Maybe he didn’t want personal feeling; maybe he just wanted a competent assistant!”
“What are you getting so angry about? How long did she work for him?”
“Several years. And what do you mean, ‘did’ work for him? She still does as far as I know.”
“Well, it won’t be for long.”
“And what does that mean?” he asked as he swung into the driveway and parked beside Mildred’s Oldsmobile. He knew he was being irrational and short-tempered, but he couldn’t help it. The evening hadn’t gone as he’d hoped. Now that the ball was over, he didn’t know what he’d been hoping for, but maybe he’d wanted, even expected, Amy to . . . What? he asked himself. Declare undying love for him?
Over the course of the evening he’d tried to keep his attention on Parker, and the others at the party, but he’d only had eyes for Amy. But she had seemed oblivious. But David had noticed.
“What were you and David arguing about?” Amy asked as he helped her out of the car, taking care that her satin dress didn’t touch the gravel of the drive. She’d looked divine tonight. Pearls and white satin suited her. He gave a little smile at her back as he thought of the engagement ring burning a hole in his pocket. Maybe tonight he’d give it to her.
Inside the house, Mildred was holding a fretful Max, and when the baby saw Amy, he leaped into her arms, and for a while the two of them held on to each other as though they’d been separated for years.
“So how did it go?” Mildred whispered as she and Jason stood by the front door.
“All right,” Jason answered. “Nothing special.” He wasn’t going to tell the town gossip anything.
“If nothing unusual happened, how come you’re bringing Amy home when she left with your brother?”
“Sssh,” Jason warned. “Amy thinks David and I are cousins.”
Mildred turned her head sideways to look up at him. The weight of her hair moved to one side, and for a moment Jason thought she must have astonishingly strong neck muscles to hold something like that up.
“Have you thought about what Amy’s going to say when she’s told that you’ve played her for a fool?”
“It’s not quite like that,” Jason said stiffly.
“Oh? You don’t think buying a baby store, then telling her all that furniture cost two hundred and fifty dollars isn’t assuming she’s an idiot?”
“She believed it, and that’s all that counts.”
Amy had taken Max into his bedroom, so he and Mildred were alone in the room. “Look, I’m planning to tell her tomorrow.”
Mildred gave a low whistle. “Merry Christmas, Amy.”
“Don’t you think you should go home?”
“I think you should go home,” Mildred retorted. “I think Amy should be given a fair chance at a man and not be involved in this sick game you and David are playing.”
“Sick?” he asked, one eyebrow raised. “Isn’t that a bit strong?”
“So, Jason, how are the men in your life?”
At that, he opened the front door. “Thanks for taking care of Max.”
Mildred gave such a g
reat sigh that Jason almost thought he saw the curtains by the door move, but the older woman’s hair stayed perfectly in place. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“I consider myself warned.” The second he closed the door, Amy stuck her head around the bedroom door.
“Clear?” she whispered.
“Yes,” Jason answered, grinning. “You can come out now.”
She was wearing her old bathrobe, and Jason thought of the new one wrapped and placed under the tree. “How’s Max?”
“Asleep and snoring. He was exhausted, poor baby.”
“I know how he feels,” Jason said.
“Oh,” Amy said flatly. “You want to go to bed?”
He couldn’t help teasing her as he yawned. “Yeah. I’m bushed.” He pulled the tie to his tux open and gave a greater yawn.
“Me too,” she said, but she didn’t sound tired.
“On the other hand,” Jason said slowly, “we could build a fire—if we can get the damper open—make some popcorn and you can tell me what you enjoyed most about the evening.”
“You fire. Me pop,” she said before she hurried off to the kitchen.
In record time a blazing—if smoky—fire was going and Amy and Jason were in front of it, a huge tub of buttered popcorn and glasses of ice water between them.
“So what were you and David fighting about?” Amy asked.
Jason groaned. “Not that again. What did you think of that blonde’s dress?”
“I think she’ll be a good mother.”
Jason looked at her in consternation.
“With a set like that she’ll be able to produce a lot of milk,” Amy said, deadpan, making Jason smile.
“All plastic.”
“And how would you know?” she asked.
“I danced with her, remember?”
Laughing, Amy said, “So what made David leave early so that you ended up taking me home? And don’t you dare tell me it was an emergency at the hospital.”
“Difference of opinion,” Jason said tightly.
For a moment Amy stared at the fire. “All night, I felt as though all of you knew something that I didn’t,” she said quietly.
“It’s Christmas and we all have secrets.”
“Right. Stupid little Amy can’t be told.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, nothing. What were you and my mother-in-law whispering about?”
“Are you going paranoid on me?” Jason asked, trying to distract her. “Did you have a good time?”
“Yes,” she said hesitantly.
“But?” he asked as he ate a mouthful of popcorn.
“Something was missing tonight.”
“And what could have been missing? You were the most beautiful woman there.”
“You’re sweet. No, it was something else. It was . . . Well, for one thing, there was the woman in the rest room.”
“What woman? She say something catty to you?”
“No, actually, she talked about you.”
Jason took a while before speaking. “Does she know me?”
“Would it be a crime if she did?”
“Depends on what she knows. What did she say?”
“That you’d break my heart.”
“Ah,” Jason said flatly. When he said no more, Amy looked at him in the firelight.
“Do you often break women’s hearts?” she added softly.
“Every day of the week. Twice on Sunday.”
Amy didn’t laugh. “What’s going on?”
“What do you mean, ‘what’s going on’?”
Suddenly, Amy put her face in her hands and began to cry. “Stop it! Just stop it! I know something is going on, but no one will let me in on the joke. Sometimes I think I am the joke.”
“The woman in the rest room upset you, didn’t she?”
At that, Amy got off the floor and started toward the bedroom. “I’m going to bed,” she said, and her voice was without emotion.
Jason caught her before she reached the door, his hand closing about her arm. “Why are you angry with me?”
“Because you’re part of it. Tonight . . . Oh, you’d never understand.”
“Try me.”
“It was all so beautiful. I know it’s a cliché, but I felt like Cinderella. Poor little Amy Thompkins with her leaky house at a real live ball. Everyone looked so beautiful. And the jewels! If they’d lit one candle in the middle of the room, the sparkle of the diamonds would have illuminated the whole place. It was all like a dream, a fantasy.”
Gently, Jason led her back to the living room to sit on the sofa. “But what was wrong?”
“I felt a sense of . . .” Looking up at him, there were tears in her eyes. “I felt a sense of doom. That’s it. I feel that something awful is about to happen and I have no way to stop it. Everything has been so wonderful lately and my mother warned me to be suspicious of good things. She said we were put on this earth to suffer and if something good happened, it was the work of the devil.”
“That isn’t always right,” Jason said softly, then he lifted her hand and kissed her fingers one by one.
“What are you doing?” she asked suspiciously.
“Making love to you.”
Angrily, she jerked her hands from his and tried to get up, but he blocked her way.
“Would you mind?!” she said, her voice full of steel.
“Yes, actually I do mind.” Again he lifted her hand and began to kiss the back of it.
“I changed Max’s dirty diaper with that hand and didn’t wash,” she said to the top of his head.
“You know how much I love the kid,” he said, but didn’t stop kissing. In spite of herself, Amy smiled; then she put both hands on his shoulders and pushed. When he was upright she glared into his eyes. “You’re gay, remember?”
“Actually, I’m not. David lied.” Jason went back to kissing her hand; Amy pushed him away, and her expression said it all.
“All right,” he said, leaning back against the old sofa. “David wanted me to stay with you and baby-sit Max so he could take you out. He’s in love with you.”
When Amy said nothing, he turned to look at her. She had the oddest expression on her face. “Go on,” she said.
“David didn’t want any hanky-panky between us, so he told you I was gay.”
“I see. Is that it?”
“More or less,” he answered, then bent down to get his glass of ice water and drank deeply.
“So you two have been fighting over me?” she asked softly.
Jason swallowed. “Well, actually . . . Well, yes, we have. I was just supposed to keep Ian Newsome away, but I . . .”
“You what?”
“I fell in love with you and Max,” he said, but he stared at the fire, not at her. He’d never before told a woman he loved her. He had a feeling that most of the women he’d known in New York would have responded by getting a calculator and figuring their cut of his wealth. When Amy said nothing, he turned to look at her. Her oval face was pale and she was staring straight ahead.
“What else have you lied to me about?” she asked softly.
“Nothing of any consequence,” he said quickly, his breath held. If she said she loved him now, when she had no idea of his wealth, he’d know forever after that she loved him for himself. Suddenly he knew his whole life could change in this moment and if he’d ever tried to sell anything, he’d better sell himself now.
“I love you, Amy. I love you and Max, and I want you to marry me. That’s what David’s so angry about. He wanted you for himself, so he conned me into staying with you, but Max . . . Max was a blessing from the beginning. He liked me, and you know how I adore him, and I want—”
“Oh, shut up and kiss me,” Amy said, and when Jason turned and saw that one side of her mouth was turned up into a smile, he felt as though he’d been freed from slavery.
Quickly, he swooped Amy into his arms and carried her into her bedroom. He didn’t need to be told
that she’d want to be where she could hear her son. Our son, Jason thought. His wife; his son; his family.
“I love you, Amy,” he said as he nuzzled her ear. “I love the way you make me feel. I love how you need me.”
There was something about what he was saying that bothered Amy, but she couldn’t pinpoint what it was, for at the moment she couldn’t think much of anything. He was kissing her neck, sliding the gown from her shoulders.
It had been so very, very long since she’d been touched by a man. And she’d die before she said anything to further sully her late husband’s memory, but, at the end, Billy was drunk most nights. But Jason was sober and clean and, oh, so beautiful. His long-fingered hands were moving over her body in a way she’d only dreamed of. Inch by inch he removed her robe, then her old gown, kissing as he removed her clothes. His warm hands ran up the sides of her breasts. How long it had been since her breasts had been anything but utilitarian!
“That’s nice,” she said, closing her eyes, letting sensation overtake her. His hands moved between her thighs, kissing and caressing.
“I like this,” she said dreamily. “Does it have a name?”
“Foreplay,” he said, smiling into her eyes. “Like it?”
“Oh, yes. May I have some more please?”
“I’ll give you all I have,” he said as he kissed her breasts.
When he entered her, Amy gasped, because, for the first time ever, she was ready for lovemaking.
“Oh, my goodness but that is nice,” she said, and the way she said it made Jason laugh as he rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him.
“Now you do the work.”
Obviously this was a novel experience to Amy, and Jason was pleased by her expression. “A virgin mother,” he murmured, his hands on her hips, guiding her.
“Don’t ever stop,” Amy murmured as her hips moved up and down. When she exploded against him, she collapsed, limp and sated.
“Yes,” was all she could say, and feeling as secure as Max must feel in her arms, she snuggled onto his chest and let him hold her. Jason pulled the sheet over both of them, and they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
A loud thud awoke Amy, and she sat bolt upright, immediately afraid that Max had fallen, but when she checked on him she saw that her son was fast asleep in his new crib. His knees were tucked up under him, his well-padded rear end stuck into the air, his head was turned toward her, drool running down the side of his mouth.