Jason couldn’t help himself, but he picked up the woman’s hand and kissed the back of it, then looked at her with what he’d been told were very seductive eyes. Since the woman looked as though she were going to melt and run down into her shoes, he felt good.
“This is Mr. Wilding and he’s gay,” Amy said in a cold voice.
“But I’m thinking of changing,” Jason practically purred.
“You can practice on me,” the woman said, and looked at Jason with hot eyes.
“Is Max all right?” Amy said sharply. “Mr. Wilding is Max’s nanny. Gay men are good at that sort of thing, you know.”
“I’ve been thinking of having a baby,” Sally said, never taking her eyes off Jason, “and I think I’m going to need a nanny.”
“How about a maternity nurse as well?” Jason said in a low voice.
“Honey, I need a donor.”
“Sally, could you disentwine yourself from my nanny so we could go get something to drink? You can manage Max by yourself for a while, can’t you?” she asked Jason, her lips a tight line as she glared up at him.
“I might be able to handle him,” Jason said, his eyes still on Sally, as though she were the woman of his dreams. “You two go on. Max and I will take these packages to the car, then I have some, ah, personal shopping to do.” He made the last sound as though he meant to buy something sexy and silky.
Before her friend could reply, Amy firmly took Sally’s arm and led her to a nearby fake English pub and sat down heavily in the nearest empty booth.
“I want to know everything there is to know about him,” Sally said eagerly.
“So what brings you to Abernathy over Christmas and why didn’t you tell me you were going to be here?”
“I’m in a mall, not in Abernathy, and I’m here because I live six miles away,” Sally said slowly. “You want to tell me what’s going on? Are you having an affair with him? Or do you just look at him like he’s a work of art?”
“Do you have to come on to every man you meet?” Amy snapped as she grabbed a menu and looked at it. “Are you hungry?” When Sally didn’t answer, she looked up.
“Out with it,” Sally said. “I want to know everything.”
“I’ve already told you everything. He’s gay; he has no interest in me as a female, and we talk like two old hens. That’s the end of it.”
“I want details,” Sally said as she ordered two cups of coffee from the waitress.
“No, give me a large orange juice. Milk production, you know.”
Sally gave a slight shudder. “No, I don’t know and don’t want to know. Now, get on with it. Are you sure that hunk is gay?”
It didn’t take Amy but a moment to get over her unusual reticence with her friend, and she was quite annoyed with herself for feeling what could almost be described as jealousy at Sally’s reaction to “her” Mr. Wilding. And his to her, she thought with a grimace.
“I think his ex-lover came to the house this morning,” she said, then described Jason’s encounter with Charles. “There was lots of eye rolling while Charles was kissing my hand. There was definitely something going on between them. And the day before, Mr. Wilding kept glaring at two men at Baby Heaven. He paid no attention to the saleswoman, who was a knockout, but gave a hundred percent of his interest to the two men.”
“Okay, so where did you find him?”
“He found me. I just opened the door and there he was. David brought him over and gave him to me.”
“You mean like an early Christmas present?”
“Sort of, but don’t get any ideas. He really is gay.”
“He doesn’t seem gay.”
“And what stereotype do you have in mind for a person to appear gay?” Amy asked defensively.
“Hey! Don’t jump down my throat. I was just asking, that’s all. Gay or not, he’s divine, and I want to know all there is to know about him.”
“I don’t know much, really. David insisted that his cousin needed a place to stay and to recover from a broken heart, so I let him stay.”
“He could mend his broken heart in my bed any day he wanted to.”
“You’ve been reading too many romantic novels. There is nothing between us, and there never will be. I told you: he’s gay. Besides, he’s very elegant, isn’t he? When I first saw him, he had on a suit that probably cost more than my house.”
“Amy, this cup of coffee is worth more than that rat trap of a house of yours. If you set it on fire, the fire would put itself out out of pity.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“It’s worse. Tell me more about him.”
“He’s odd, really. He doesn’t say much, but he . . .” She looked up at her friend. “He brings me luck. Isn’t that an odd thing to think about someone? But it’s true; he brings luck to Max and me. Since he arrived, some lovely things have happened.”
“Such as his going on one knee and telling you he can’t live without you, and—”
“Stop daydreaming. First of all, Max adores him.”
“Hmm . . . What else?”
“I don’t know how to explain him. The truth is that I don’t think I understand him myself. It’s as though he’s a . . .” Her head came up. “He’s a bit of a turtle really. Or maybe an armadillo. He has a hard outer covering, but I think that inside he’s really quite soft. I don’t think he realizes it, but he adores Max just as much as my son adores him.”
For a long moment, Sally leaned back in the booth and stared at her friend. “Are you in love with him?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s a nice man and we have fun together, but he really is effeminate. He likes to shop and cook and do all the things that men don’t.”
“You mean, all the things that Billy didn’t like, don’t you? Look, Amy, I know you were the only girl in school who graduated a virgin, and I know you were saving yourself for your husband. I also know that you gave yourself to a drunken dope addict—Don’t give me that look. I know Billy had his good points, but I’m a realist. You’ve been to bed with one man, lived with one man, and all you know is the kind of man who doesn’t know how to open a refrigerator. There are other kinds of men, you know.”
“Why are you always trying to make a romance out of everything? I didn’t guess that the man is gay; I was told so. By David.”
“Dr. David? Now, there’s a hunk. You know, your Mr. Wilding reminds me of him.”
“They’re cousins.”
“Ah, I see. So what happens next? Do you keep living with this gorgeous hunk who you can’t have or do you have to return him after Christmas?”
“I have no idea.”
At that Sally laughed. “Amy, you haven’t changed. Only you would be living with a man and have no idea why he’s there or how long he means to stay.”
Amy didn’t answer that, but looked down at her empty glass.
“Okay, I’ll lay off. What about the other men in your life? What happened to that beautiful used car salesman?”
“Oh. Ian. He owns the Cadillac dealership. He’s very rich, I suppose.” Amy gave a sigh.
“I can see how you’d consider him tedious. Poor guy is only handsome and rich, so of what interest could he possibly be to you?”
“He’s of more interest to himself than to anyone else. He seemed to think he was doing me a great favor by showing up every night. He kept calling me ‘Billy Thompkins’s Widow’ as though he were saying that I was an untouchable.”
“Welcome to small town life. Why don’t you get out of here and go somewhere where no one has ever heard of Billy and his problems?”
But before Amy could reply, Sally looked as though someone had stuck a pin in her. “What time is it?”
Amy looked around to find a clock but didn’t see one.
“I have to go,” Sally said urgently as she gathered her things and started sliding out of the booth; then she saw Amy’s face. “Don’t tell me you don’t know?”
When Amy shook her head, Sally gave a grimace.
“Didn’t you see the signs? They’re all over the mall. You know Candlelight Gowns? That shop in Carlton that’s about to go out of business?”
“Out of my league,” Amy said, finishing her orange juice and sliding out to stand by Sally. “I could never afford to even window shop there.”
“Nobody could afford that place. I don’t know how they expected to sell those ritzy dresses in eastern Kentucky, but they did. Anyway, everyone knew they were about to go under, but it seems that some mysterious buyer from New York, no less, has bought the place and to launch the new shop, they’re giving away a Dior dress.”
When Amy said nothing, just kept walking beside her friend, Sally said, “Hello! Dior. Doesn’t that do anything to you?”
“No, I’m more into Pampers and Huggies. Why would anyone want a Dior dress?”
“You poor baby,” Sally said. “You know, I have a theory that having a baby takes away about fifty points on a woman’s IQ. I think she gets them back when the kid goes off to school, but until then she’s an idiot.”
Amy laughed. “You just think it’s true, but I know it is. So what do you want with a Dior dress?”
At that, Sally rolled her eyes to let Amy know that she was hopeless. “Come on, the drawing’s about to begin, and you have to enter the contest.”
“Me?”
“Yes, and if you win, you have to give me the dress.”
“All right,” Amy said, “that’s a deal.”
But first Amy had to find Jason and Max, and an hour later, the three of them were standing in front of the fountain in the center of the mall and waiting for the drawing to be held. And when they drew Amy’s name, somehow, she wasn’t surprised. In the last few days it was as though nothing but good luck came her way.
“Sally is going to be so happy,” Amy said as the crowd turned around to look to see if the winner was in the audience.
“Why?” Jason asked, smiling down at her, Max in his arms.
“Because I promised her that if I won, I’d give her the dress.”
Jason grabbed her arm as she turned away. “You did what?”
“I have no need for a dress like that. Where would I wear it?”
“Oh. I forgot to tell you. David got tickets to the Bellringers’ Ball for tomorrow and he wants you to go with him.”
For a moment Amy just blinked at him, as though she didn’t understand what he was saying. Then she grinned and said, “I hope Sally doesn’t mind having a dress that’s been worn once,” and the next moment she went up to the podium to accept her prize. She wasn’t surprised when she found out that the dress was in her size and that the prize included a free hair and makeup makeover by Mr. Alexander from New York on the night of her choice. When she told them she wanted it tomorrow night, she wasn’t shocked to hear that Mr. Alexander was going to be in the Kentucky area tomorrow.
When she said all this to Jason, he said, “That’s because Mr. Alexander is probably Joe from the local beauty shop. He went to New York once, so he now bills himself as being from there.”
“Still . . .” Amy said, “a great many odd things have happened to me since . . .” She looked up at him.
“Since David started courting you?”
“David? Courting me? Are you out of your mind?”
“I think you’re missing something if you can’t see what everyone else can. Dr. David is in love with you and wants—”
“Oh, you are ridiculous. Look, it’s nearly time for lunch and I have to feed Max, so we better go home.”
Jason didn’t answer her, but put his hand on the small of her back and half pushed her into a very nice Italian restaurant. They were first served bread with a dish of oil from a bottle filled with garlic cloves. The oil was much too spicy for either of the adults, but Max sucked the oil off three pieces of bread.
After lunch they went to three toy stores, and amid Amy’s protests that grew weaker by the minute, Jason bought Max sackfuls of toys. In the car on the way home, she wailed, “How am I going to repay you? You must return all those clothes and you have to take back those toys. There is nothing you own that’s dirty enough for me to make the kind of money that I’d need to repay—”
“David’s going to pick you up in an hour, so you’d better hustle to get ready.”
“Hustle?” Amy asked, sounding as though she’d never heard the word before.
“Mmmm,” was all Jason said as he swung the car into the driveway. “You have to nurse Max before you go or you’ll be in pain all night, and—”
“Would you mind!” she said, annoyed. “I think I know my own milking needs better than you do.”
She had meant to put him in his place, but instead, she’d made herself sound like a cow. When he didn’t say anything, she looked at him sideways and said, “Maybe I should apply for a job at the local dairy,” and they both burst into laughter.
But as she got out of the car, she said, “I can’t go. I have nothing decent to wear out with a doctor,” and Jason thrust a heavy dark green bag into her hands. Amy opened it only enough to see that something gorgeous was inside. “How did you know that I love lavender?” she asked softly.
“Intuition. Now go and feed Max and get out of here.”
“Mr. Wilding, you are my fairy godmother,” she said, smiling up at him; then she put her hand over mouth at the use of the word fairy. “Oh, I didn’t mean . . .”
“Go!” he ordered. “Now.”
Grabbing Max from him, she ran into the house, and all three of them were smiling.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
AS SOON AS AMY LEFT WITH DAVID, JASON PICKED UP HIS telephone and called his father’s house. When his father answered, he was startled at the noise in the background. “What’s going on?” Jason half shouted into the phone.
“If it isn’t my newly turned gay son,” Bertram Wilding said. “So how’s the gay scene?”
Jason looked toward heaven and again vowed to kill his brother. “Could you cut the jokes, Dad, and put my secretary on the line?”
“Cherry?”
“What? I can’t hear you. No, I don’t want a cherry pie; I want Parker.”
“Cherry Parker, old man.”
“Ah. Right. I knew that.” And he did, he told himself. Vaguely, he remembered thinking that Cherry was an odd name for an icy woman like Parker. “Would you put her on?”
“Sure thing. I think she’s in the kitchen with Charlie.”
At that, he put the phone down, and Jason could hear his steps on the wooden floor. “Cherry?” Jason whispered. “Charlie?”
“Yes, sir,” Parker said when she picked up the phone, and for the life of him, Jason couldn’t imagine a more inappropriate name for her than “Cherry.” “What can I do you for?” When Jason was silent, she said, “Sorry. I’ve spent too much time in Kentucky.”
“Yes, well,” Jason murmured, not knowing what to say in reply. “I need you to do something for me.”
“I assumed as much. I didn’t think it was a social call.”
For a moment Jason held the phone away from his face and looked at it. When this was over and he got back to New York, he was going to pummel his staff back into shape.
“I’m going to dictate a list of toys that I want you to buy; then I want you to wrap them up in white tissue paper and tie them with red or green ribbon. You are to put labels on the gifts saying they’re from Santa Claus. Got that?”
“Rather easily,” Parker said.
Again, Jason grimaced. His secretary was really being too insolent. “And I want you to deliver them into the house on Christmas Eve. Put them under the tree.”
“I see. And how do I get into the house?”
“I’ll leave a key under the back doormat.”
“Ah, the pleasures and safety of small town life. How I miss it.”
“Parker, when I want your personal comments, I’ll ask for them.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, but she didn’t sound contrite in the least. “Is there anything else?” r />
For a moment Jason felt a bit guilty for his outburst. It was just that too many things in his orderly world were coming apart. “Do you have your dress for tomorrow night?” he asked in an attempt to be less dictatorial.
“You bought me an Oscar de la Renta, quite expensive.”
“Good,” he said; then, not knowing what else to say, and hearing laughter in the background, he hung up without a farewell.
In the next moment, he made another call and issued an invitation.
“Well, well, well,” Mildred Thompkins said when Jason opened the door, Max on his arm. “So you’re the angel Amy keeps going on and on about. Don’t just stand there; let me in; it’s cold out here.”
“You’re not going to tell her, are you?” Jason asked, sounding like a little boy begging her not to tell his mother.
“Tell Amy that her gay guardian angel is really one of the richest men in the world?”
“Not quite. And, before you ask, I’m not a billionaire.”
“Come here, darlin’,” she said to her grandson, and the baby went to her. “So you want to tell me what’s going on here? Why are you masquerading as some gay man when I happen to know that you pursued every female in Abernathy all during high school, and how many homes do you have around the world?”
“I can see you haven’t changed,” Jason said, smiling and looking with fascination at the lacquered mass of hair on Mildred’s head. The strands wove in and out in an intricate pattern that wouldn’t have moved in a hurricane. “Still nosy as ever.”
“I’m interested in Amy,” Mildred said simply. “I want what’s best for her.”
“Since Billy isn’t here to give it to her?” Jason asked.
“That was a low blow and you know it. My son may have had his faults, but he did one good thing in his life: he married Amy and produced this child.” She gave Max a hug and a kiss, pulled his hands away from her glasses, then said, “No, that’s not true. He did another good thing. On the night he died Billy was drunk, very very drunk, and he was driving about sixty on the twisty old River Road. But he was sober enough—and kind enough—that he turned his car into a tree rather than hit a busload of kids coming back from a ball game.”