Heart in the Field (12 page)

           
“I’m not so sure about that.” Serena
felt worried. Pat seemed to be going after the wrong woman. “Her parents are
well heeled. She had a private education. I can’t see her driving a mini-van
full of kids to hockey practice.”

           
“I love her. She loves me. I’m sure
of it. She merely got cold feet when I asked her to marry me.”

           
They were on the other side of the
rectangular swimming pool now. Nick and Juliette were still nowhere to be seen.
Serena tried not to imagine Juliette being the recipient of one of Nick’s hot,
urgent kisses.

           
“Serena,” a voice said behind her,
and she turned around to see Paul
Kryker
. On his arm
was a thin, angular woman with upswept brown hair. She was dressed in a print
suit and conservative stubby heels, the sort of clothes that made her look as
if she’d recently stepped out of a downtown office block.

           
Paul introduced her as Elaine
Marcotti
, his
fiancé
, and Serena
wondered why everyone seemed so mismatched.
Don and Barbara.
Juliette and Pat.
Now Paul and
Elaine.

           
Elaine put out her hand in slow
motion, as if she were in awe of Serena. “I’ve seen you on TV. I was really
excited when Paul told me who he was going to work with.”

           
Serena shook the woman’s limp hand.
“That’s wonderful.” Then she introduced Pat, who Elaine had also seen on TV.
Serena could tell Pat was only interested in finding Juliette, and this
introduction was a mere irritation.

           
“I’m finding this so thrilling,”
Elaine told Serena. “What’s it like starring on TV?”

           
“It’s a job.” Serena wondered what
Paul had got
himself
into. This woman was weird. “What
do you do, Elaine?”

           
“I work in a bank. It’s
soooooo
boring. But since I met Paul I’ve been really
fortunate in being able to live more of an exciting life.”

           
Pat spotted Nick and Juliette. “Come
on, Serena. Nice meeting you Elaine. Paul. See you around.”

           
Serena didn’t want to interrupt Nick
with Juliette. “I’m going to rest for a while,” she told Pat. “You go see her
by yourself.”

           
Serena walked across the lawn,
wondering what she could do next. She’d just about talked to everyone she
wanted to talk to. Nick and Juliette were surrounded by a crowd now, and Pat
was on the prowl around the outskirts of the group. Well, good luck to him.

           
She sat down on a bench that circled
a tree, drained the rest of her wine and put the empty glass on the seat beside
her. She felt like plunging her head into her hands in despair. Some part of
her wanted to cry.

           
If she had any guts she’d go up to
Nick, grab his hand and drag him away from Juliette. She’d take him to an empty
room and she’d tell him she wanted what she had shown him she wanted in the
kitchen. If she did that she might get her sexual frustration over and then
she’d feel fine again. She was sure that was the answer. But she didn’t have
the guts. She couldn’t face the fact that she would have to interact with his
body and his mind. Relationships, she decided, picking up her empty glass, were
far too complex. What she needed was a lot more wine. Then she could cope with
the rest of what was already a long evening.

           
Serena met her mother at the bar.

           
“There you are,”
Reeva
said. “We were just talking about choosing a table to sit at for dinner.
Doesn’t the barbecue smell good?”

           
Serena had been so twisted into her
own thoughts that she hadn’t noticed the food was almost ready to be served.
“Yes. It does smell good. Shall I sit with you?”

           
“Of course.
Gerry’s found a spot.”

           
The spot was a redwood picnic table.

           
“Shall we dump our purses and go and
get something to eat?”
Reeva
said.

           
Serena agreed and followed Gerry and
Reeva
to the barbecue. Don’s oldest son, Len, who was
already a giant like his father, and was sometimes seen around Steel TV doing
odd jobs, had cooked lean chicken breasts and hamburgers to complement the
table full of vegetables and salads. As they filled their plates she felt Nick
beside her.

           
“Hi,” he said. “Do you have a family
table?”

           
“Yes. We do.”

           
“Mind if I join you?”

           
“What about Juliette?”

           
“She’s been snagged by a guy named
Patrick
McHaney
, who seems to have the
hots
for her.”

           
“So you might as well slum it with
Serena?” She shouldn’t sound so jealous but she was.

           
He grinned. “Believe me, you are not
slumming it. And you don’t have to get so upset. I’ll be with you this evening,
if you want me to be.”

           
“I didn’t mean that.”

           
“Yes. You did.”

           
Serena wished he wouldn’t keep
prodding her for the truth. “Come with me. I’ll lead you to the table.”

           
“Nick.
How nice.”
Reeva
waved when she saw him. “Let’s cozy up and eat.
What do you think of the party so far? Meeting lots of interesting people?”

           
Serena had to admit that Nick had a
certain charm.
Reeva
usually did all the talking, but
with Nick she actually stopped and listened for once. Even Gerry seemed amused
by this.

           
When they’d finished their first
course Gerry and Nick went to get coffee and dessert, and a maid served glasses
of after-dinner brandy.

           
“I saw Seth yesterday,” Serena told
her mother, thinking she should fill
Reeva
in on
Seth’s career. “Don’s agreed to use his group as the music for my new show.”

           
“What an opportunity for him. That’s
wonderful. How is he?”

           
“He looked good.”

           
“He looks like your father, doesn’t
he?
More and more.”
Reeva
shook her head.

           
Serena nodded. “Yes. He does look
like him. Mom, he said something to me that I felt bad about. He said he felt
that we neglect him. He seems to want to have some family get-togethers.”

           
Reeva
looked surprised. “He said that?”

           
“Yes. He seems hurt that we don’t
see him more often.”

           
“I always thought he wanted to be
left alone to pursue his career. He left home young enough. He was a moody
young man.”

           
“Well, he’s not so young any more,
and I think he wants more of a family connection. I wouldn’t mind seeing more
of him either. I’m not going to have much spare time in the next few weeks, but
there is Thanksgiving. We could all go out to dinner.”

           
“Now that’s a great idea. Gerry and
I will arrange something. I’ll call Seth and invite him. Let’s hope he’s not on
a gig.”

           
“Even if he can’t come at least
he’ll have been invited.”

           
“That’s true. I’ve always felt so
out of my depth with him. He needed a father. It’s such a pity he died.”

           
“He didn’t have to do what he did.”

           
Reeva
pleated her wide sleeve. “Oh, yes, he did. Your father wouldn’t have been happy
any other way. You can’t stop people doing what they want to do. If he’d
stayed, it would have had to have been his choice.”

           
“That’s the point, Mom. He chose to
be away from us.”

           
Reeva
sighed. “I know. That’s what hurt. I wasn’t important enough, I suppose.” Her
glance moved to Gerry who was walking toward them with Nick. Both men were
carrying trays. “But I am important to Gerry. Your father was probably just the
wrong man.”

As Nick
would be the wrong man for her.

           
Serena didn’t really taste much of
the delicious vanilla and blueberry cheesecake. Neither did the coffee taste of
much more than bitter water. She really just wished this evening would be over,
and she gulped down the brandy so fast it made her brain spin.

           
Someone turned the music up, and she
saw that couples were dancing. Margie had snared Gene, and had pushed herself
really close to him. If Gene would see sense, then Serena did see a
well-matched couple in the two of them.

           
Reeva
and
Gerry rose from the table. “Are you two going to dance?”
Reeva
asked.

           
Nick moved closer to Serena.
“Interested?”

           
Serena shifted away from the V
formed by his spread thighs. He was like fire, closing in on a block of ice.
Ice he’d almost melted once tonight. “I’d like my food to be digested before I
begin jumping around.”

           
Reeva
had
her arm looped through her husband’s.
“All right.
Come
on Ger.”

           
When they were alone Nick smiled.
“Fine by me.
I’m not much of a dancer.”

           
They sat for a while in silence, the
music throbbing over them. Nick shifted closer. He wasn’t actually touching her
but his breath fluttered the wisps of hair on her cheek line. He made a mock
attempt to bite her earring, and she ducked her head.

           
“Nick, please don’t do that.” Serena
picked up her glass and finished off the brandy.

           
“Want mine as well?” Nick pushed his
glass toward her.

           
“Don’t you like brandy?”

           
“I don’t drink spirits. It’s sort
of—” He shrugged his shoulders. “Something I don’t do.”

           
That made him different from her
father, she thought, remembering the empty whiskey bottles on the kitchen
counter when he was around.

           
“I don’t really like it much
either.”

           
“But tonight you need a little extra
courage?”

           
“I’m not really a party person.”

           
He chuckled. “That’s because you
can’t let go of your inhibitions.
Like you did in your
kitchen with me.
Now that really disturbs you, doesn’t it?”

           
“Didn’t we say we were going to
forget it?”

           
“Yep.
But I
can’t.”

           
The vibrant emotion in his voice
rocked through her. It was emotion she would never have expected from Nick. She
turned her face and his mouth was close to hers. His lips touched her lips for
a moment.

           
Nick’s scar appeared vulnerable at
close range, and she remembered the video she had viewed in Don’s office. She
reached up and traced the scar with her forefinger. He kept his gaze on her.
She felt the pressure of one of his thighs against her lower back. She was
enveloped by his lean, hard body, and she knew how it would feel naked in the
dark. Deep needs trembled up through her to make her throat ache and her head
throb. She knew he could feel her trembling.

           
He swept back a wisp of her hair
with his fingers, very gently, but she could feel every moment, every movement.
“You don’t like people close, do you?”

           
Feeling as if all her muscles and
tendons were about to snap, she shook her head. “No.”

           
“I don’t like people in my face
either, but for some strange reason I don’t mind you. And I love it when you
touch me like that.”

           
She withdrew her fingers from his
face.

           
He stroked her lower back. “Want to
tell me why you’re so jumpy about being close? Is it me in particular?
Because it seems that way.
You seemed to have something
against me when I met you on Wednesday evening. And we’d never met before.”