1. That's What Friends Are For (14 page)

"
H
ello." the young secretary said with a smile. "May I help you?"

"I would like to see Mr. Duncan, if possible."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't."

The secretary nodded. "I'll see if he has time to see you. Your name, please?"

"Penny Crawford," she said quietly.

While the young woman spoke on the phone, Penny looked around the office. Not much had changed since the last time she'd been there. Everything had a stately, polished look that induced a sense of reassurance and stability.

She heard a door open behind her and she turned around. Gregory Duncan stood in the doorway, staring at her. "Penny! I thought she must have misunderstood—Come in," he said, stepping aside and motioning her into his office.

Penny walked past him, noticing the changes in him since she'd seen him last. He looked older, which she had expected, but much older than his years. Lines furrowed his brow and face. Up close she could see the gray in his blond hair. He looked just what he was—a successful, harried businessman. She wondered what she'd ever seen in him that she'd found attractive. The physical resemblance between Gregory and Brad was barely discernible.

"This is a surprise," he said from behind her. "Won't you have a seat? "

"I hope you don't mind my dropping in like this," she said, taking a seat and watching him as he walked behind his desk and sat down.

"Why, no. It's a pleasure to see you again. It's been awhile."

Her eyes met his. "Yes, it has," she agreed quietly.

They sat there in silence, just looking at each other. Finally Gregory roused himself enough to say, "You're looking wonderful."

She nodded her head. "Thank you."

"Are you in town for long?"

"Just a few days, I'm afraid. We don't get much free time these days."

He smiled. "I suppose not. How does it feel to be working with your husband on stage?"

"It's been quite an experience. Surprisingly enough. Brad enjoys it. I was afraid television had spoiled him for the theater."

"Your reviews have been very good."

"Yes." She paused, searching for the right words. "I wanted to thank you for the beautiful bouquet you had delivered to me on opening night." Once more her eyes met his. "I was touched that you remembered me.

"I will always remember you, Penny," he said in a matter-of-fact tone. "As a matter of fact, I was in New York and caught your opening night."

"You were there?"

He nodded.

"Then why didn't you come backstage?"

"I had intended to. But somehow, when the time came, it seemed inappropriate." He smiled again. "However, I thought you did an outstanding job, for what it's worth. I had no idea you were so talented."

"There was a lot of luck involved there. A case of being in the right place at the right time." She shrugged. "I wish you'd let me know you were there."

"There was no need. Let's say I was appeasing my curiosity." He nodded slightly. "You and Brad work very well together, you know. You seem to be so in tune with each other that the audience can almost see the link."

"I know. We've often remarked on it ourselves."

Gregory picked up a letter opener and began to turn it over, end to end, in his hands. "I suppose your families are pleased to see you," he said.

"Yes. Brad's mother hasn't been well. We thought she might enjoy seeing Stacye, but to be on the safe side, we decided to stay at Mother's. Stacye's energy can wear anyone out. We didn't think Brad's mom needed the extra strain. This way we can let her visit in small doses."

"Do you have any pictures of her?" he asked casually.

Penny laughed. "Of course. I'm a typical doting mother." She dug around in her purse, then pulled out a folder and handed it to him.

Gregory studied the little girl carefully, noting the blond hair and the blue eyes. The smile was very familiar, as was the impish expression. It was her mother's smile, although he had never been exposed to the impish part of her personality.

"She looks a great deal like you, Penny," he said, handing the folder back to her.

"I suppose so. But she has her father's teasing temperament. Those two are a pair." She stopped suddenly, realizing what she was saying, and to whom.

"I don't need to ask if you're happy, Penny. It shows."

"I know, Gregory. That's why I came by to see you." His eyebrow lifted slightly in inquiry. "It took me a while," she went on to say, "but I finally understood what you did and why you did it."

He looked puzzled. "I'm afraid I don't follow you."

"I couldn't understand why you'd refuse to marry me without offering me any explanation, and yet present us with a honeymoon already paid for. On the one hand, one action was brutal, the other sensitive. The two actions didn't fit."

"I'm afraid you're being too generous in ascribing such kind motives to me. Penny," he said. "The truth is that when it came right down to it, I realized I'd been single too long, was too set in my ways to ever accommodate another person in my life. And you were right. I chose a brutal, cowardly way out." He looked down at the letter opener in his hand, as though wondering where it had come from. "As for the honeymoon, I had paid for everything several weeks in advance and would not have gotten the full amount back, even if I'd canceled." His smile was a little forced. "I'm afraid the tickets were a sop to my conscience. Nothing more."

She could feel his embarrassment at being confronted by what he had done. Penny realized that she believed him. He hadn't particularly cared about her feelings, because emotions weren't very high on his list of desirable qualities in himself. He was a practical, pragmatic man. Had she married him, her own emotions would have eventually atrophied from lack of expression.

"Well," she said, coming to her feet, "I wanted to stop by and thank you for the flowers and your good wishes, and to let you know that, just in case you've wondered, you did the right thing when you refused to marry me."

He stood as well. "I've never had any doubts about that," he said with a small smile. He walked around the desk and escorted her to the door. "Thank you for coming in, Penny. I appreciate the gesture."

"Yes, I'm sure by this time tomorrow everyone in town will know I came to see you," she replied with a grin.

His smile was more natural when he said, "I don't know what story you and Brad put about, but I was inundated with unspoken sympathy for weeks after the wedding. Totally undeserved, of course. I felt like something of a fraud.''

She laughed. "Since Brad engineered the whole scenario, he was responsible for the story. I didn't know who I was marrying until midway through the ceremony.''

For once Gregory's face registered emotion. "You mean you didn't know that I wasn't..." He couldn't seem to find the words.

"That's right," she said matter-of-factly. "Brad was convinced I would never have married him any other way."

"I had no idea."

She shrugged. "Well, that's Brad. Always being dramatic about something or other. Only the three of us know what actually happened. There was no reason for anyone else to know."

He stood there looking down at her for a long time in silence. Penny didn't feel as if she could turn and walk away from such an intent look.

"Brad must have known the best way to handle you," he said finally, still a little bemused.

"Yes, I guess he does. He's had enough practice." On impulse Penny went up on her toes and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for seeing me, Gregory. I always felt that our relationship had been left hanging, somehow. I needed to tie it off in my mind—to let you know that I've forgiven you for what you did. You did us both a real favor."

Penny's last sight of Gregory was his turning back to his office and his work—his real wife.

❧

When Penny pulled into her parents' driveway, she saw Brad loping toward her from his parents' home. She got out and started toward him. He grabbed her around the waist, his momentum swinging her around.

"What are you doing, you crazy man?" she asked, laughing.

"I missed you. I was coming over to see if your Mother might have left a note that she had heard from you. Where have you been?"

They stood in the middle of the front lawn, their arms companionably wrapped around each other's waist. "I stopped in to see Gregory."

Brad's smile faded slowly. "Why?"

"It's hard to explain. Every once in a while I'd find myself thinking of him, what he was doing, if he'd ever married—that sort of thing."

"Wishing that things had turned out differently?" he asked with a smile. Penny was aware his eyes remained serious.

She went up on tiptoe and kissed him. "Hardly," she said with a grin, "I suppose I needed to see him again, in his own environment, to remind myself how close I came to making the biggest mistake of my life."

He held her close. "Was he surprised to see you?"

"Stunned is a better description. I don't think he ever thought he'd have to face me after what he did."

"So what did he say?"

"Not much. He saw the play the last time he was in New York. Seemed surprised that I could act."

Brad laughed. "He shouldn't have been surprised at all. You were giving him a great performance during your entire engagement."

Penny playfully poked him in the chest. "Not deliberately."

"I know, love," he said soothingly. Now his eyes were filled with mischief.

Brad turned toward the house and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He glanced down at her with a grin. "Mom asked if Stacye could spend the afternoon with her. They're busy making cookies, so I said I thought it would be okay."

"Are you sure your mom's up to having such a little chatterbox around?"

He opened the door for them, then guided her up the stairs.

"Oh, I think so. She said the doctor thinks she's well on the road to recovery and that having her one and only granddaughter here was better than anything he could have prescribed." They reached the door to Penny's old room and Brad eased her inside, closing the door unobtrusively.

"Your mom went to town for her art class," he explained. "Said since she'd be late getting home we'd go out for dinner tonight." Brad casually began to unbutton Penny's dress.

"What are you doing?" she asked, suddenly aware of his preoccupation with her clothing.

He pushed her dress off her shoulders and eased it away from her breasts and rounded hips. "I'm rehearsing for a new role," he said with a grin, lifting her and placing her on the bed. Brad quickly discarded his clothes and joined her.

"A new role?" she asked, a little breathless at the sudden turn of events.

"Umm. Isn't this the way to play doctor?"

"I certainly hope not!" she said, looking at his unclothed body with feigned indignation.

"Oh, well. Maybe I just need some tender, loving care, after an afternoon away from you."

She smiled, pulling him closer. "Well, my dear, you certainly came to the right place for that."

"I know," Brad said with a satisfied smile.