I'll Get By (9 page)

‘Trust you to think of your stomach. You can be awfully mercenary at times.’

‘A man needs his nourishment in all matters, if you get my drift.’

‘So does a woman.’

He kissed the junction where her neck met her shoulder, making her skin quiver. ‘Tell me how can I nourish you then?’

‘There’s something I want rather badly, Leo.’

He propped himself up on one elbow and gazed into her eyes. ‘You only have to name it?’

‘A baby.’

The breath left his body in a rush and he gave a rueful smile. ‘I didn’t see that one coming. Have you thought this through?’

‘Yes, and I don’t want to leave it for much longer. You do want children don’t you?’

A smile touched his mouth and he reached up to turn off the lamp. ‘You bet I do. Place your order, my love. Would you prefer a boy or girl.’

‘Surprise me?’

He took her in his arms and nuzzled against her ear, ‘I love you, Esmé Thornton.’

Two days later a bicycle went along the road, pedalled by a man in a dark postal officer’s uniform. He stopped at number forty-three and rang the bell.

Touching his cap when a man answered his ring, he said, ‘Parcel for Thornton sir. Sign there if you please.’

Leo scribbled his signature on the paper the man held out, then took the parcel and gazed at the name on it. It was for Esmé.

Curious, he placed it against his ear and shook it. A faint rattle came from inside. There was no return address on it. He placed it on the hall table, looked at the clock and groaned. It was only six o’clock. What sort of hours did the post office keep?

Then he remembered that he and Es had managed to wangle a day off together. He got back in bed and snuggled up against her back, sliding his hands around her waist to her stomach.

She squirmed. ‘Your hands are cold.’

‘They’ll soon warm up.’

‘Who was that?’ she said, sleepy and receptive to his exploration, despite the coolness of his touch. She made little cooing noises and wriggled at exactly the right times to let him know his attention was definitely being encouraged.

‘It was a parcel delivery addressed to you,’ he said against her ear.

‘What was in it?’

‘How would I know? I tried my best, but I couldn’t see through the brown paper wrapping. It rattles though. Are you expecting a delivery?’

‘Not yet.’ She turned in his arms and laughed when he captured a firm buttock in each hand. ‘Not of the kind you’ve been talking about. Besides, it’s Saturday and I didn’t think the post office delivers parcels today.’

‘They just have. Perhaps they didn’t have time to deliver them yesterday. He had several packages in his tray.’

He drank her in, her cheeks flushed with sleep and her body relaxed. ‘You look gorgeous when you’re rumpled, and you have such a lovely bum.’

‘So do you.’ She moved against him in a sinuous stretch and gently blew a quivering breath into his ear.

‘For that alone, I’ll make you a cup of tea, fetch your parcel and kiss your feet . . . but not until after.’

‘After what?’ She placed her hand on him, and caressing his length with a light fingertip, she laughed. ‘Your little Joey wants to come out and play, I think.’

Her touch had him reacting instantly and he grunted. ‘He’s not so little now.’

‘I don’t know how you get yourself in such predicaments Leo.’

‘You don’t, hey? How about this for starters.’ He turned her on her back and kissed each swelling nub of her breasts.

Her initial grunt turned into a growl.

When Esmé finally found time to unwrap the parcel, she said, ‘Odd. It hasn’t got any post office stamps on. Her face paled as she gazed at the contents and she fell quiet.

Leo, who’d just decided to snatch an extra half-hour in bed after his exertions, felt the change in atmosphere and opened his eyes. ‘What is it, Es?’

She gazed at him, the expression on her face bewildered. ‘It’s the money and jewellery that was stolen from us. I don’t understand, Leo . . . This must be some idiot’s idea of an April Fools’ joke.’

Rennie had booked a table at a nightclub. Judging by the number of patrons it was a popular watering hole, crowded with a mass of people who seemed to be trying to fill every minute of their evening with enjoyment.

If anyone were looking in from the outside they wouldn’t have considered that Europe might be on the brink of war, but it didn’t escape Meggie’s notice that most of the dancing couples were of an age to kill – or be killed.

The laughter was just a little too forced, the drinking too hard and the dancing too frenetic. It was one of those instances when Meggie appreciated being a woman rather than a man. She wouldn’t like someone to place a gun in her hand and order her to go out and kill, especially if she was disinclined to do so.

When Leo disappeared on to the dance floor with her aunt, Rennie said, ‘You’re looking rather serious. What are you thinking about?’

‘I’m thinking there’s a reckless feeling in the air that’s driven by fear, and it’s likely my generation will lose its innocence too quickly if there’s a war.’

He took her hands in his. ‘I’m trying not to think about the war.’

‘Somebody has to, especially when we live on such a small island.’

‘Somebody does. It’s the government. No doubt they have it all organized, and the rest of us will do as we’re told. Buck up, Margaret my dear . . . we survived the last war.’

Not everyone, she wanted to say, remembering her father. But she shrugged off her instinct to argue because she remembered that Rennie would be one of the men called on to fight, and besides, it wasn’t his fault that her father had died. ‘I’m sorry if I’m being a bit of a drag. I won’t mention war again, I promise.’

He had quite a delightful smile, one with an endearing sense of shyness to it, so it came and went swiftly, like a mouse popping out of its den for a quick look round. ‘I must say I’d appreciate it if you didn’t, for tonight, at least. Come on, Margaret . . . let’s dance. I’ve been practising all week so I don’t tread all over your toes, and I feel as nimble as Fred Astaire. You look really lovely, by the way.’

‘That’s sweet of you to say so. It took me three hours to get ready. I tried everything on in my aunt’s wardrobe first and ended up in an old dress of my own. Not old as in
old
, you understand. I’ve only worn it once, but that was when I was sixteen. Fashion changes so quickly, doesn’t it?’

‘I suppose it does for women.’

‘Aunt Es always looks elegant. My maternal grandmother was a dress designer and my mother thinks that Aunt Es has inherited her flair for fashion. She took the frilly bits off this dress, said it looked more sophisticated without them. She gave me these butterfly clips to use, instead.’ When he chuckled she gazed at him. ‘You’re not really interested in my discarded frills are you?’

‘I can’t pretend that I am, but the butterflies are pretty. Are we going to dance, or not?’

‘As long as you’re not expecting a Ginger Rogers to partner your acute attack of Fred Astaireness.’

Still, she wasn’t too bad at dancing and neither was Rennie. He was light on his feet. They managed a foxtrot without mishap then tripped over each other’s feet and laughed when the music turned into a quickstep. Then they began to adjust their dancing styles as they got used to one another.

They gazed at each other, shaking their heads when an elimination tango was announced with a prize of five pounds. It wasn’t a dance that could be taken lightly. There was a rush of couples from the floor as the weaker dancers abandoned it, until there were only six left.

Leo and Es were among them.

Rennie raised an eyebrow. ‘A tango? They’re game. That couple with the woman wearing the black dress usually wins the prize. They go from club to club.’

The couple did look professional, and confident. ‘My aunt is a very good ballroom dancer, and so is Leo.’

Her aunt wore a figure-hugging dress of dark rose satin that flared from below the hip and had a scattering of gold sequins. Gold shoes with ankle straps completed her outfit. They stood, quite relaxed, Leo’s arm around her aunt’s waist, waiting to be issued with a number to be pinned to the back of Leo’s evening suit.

When her aunt turned towards him and murmured something, he smiled, and brushed a kiss against her hair.

The lights were lowered, leaving only the dancers illuminated.

Leo was a natural show-off so he didn’t mind being in the spotlight. Her aunt was used to it from her experience as a dancer on a cruise ship. She’d taught Leo the various dances in exchange for flying lessons, and both were a regular activity with them.

They were soon absorbed by the throbbing music, and glances joined they concentrated only on each other, while most of the other couples were eliminated, unnoticed by them. The professional couple started to do some fancy leg kicks, and although they were experts, there was something mechanical about them.

Leo handled Esmé as though she was a delicate twist of liquid crystal he was sculpting into an exquisite art form. It was a sensual dance, two lovers becoming familiar with each other’s bodies. Meggie’s cheeks heated slightly and she stole a glance at Rennie. There was so much she didn’t know about that sort of thing.

Neither Aunt Es nor Leo seemed to see the remaining couple beckoned from the floor. Es was completely in Leo’s hands as he twisted and turned her, moving her around as though he was stalking her. At the last turn she reclined backwards over his arm in surrender, ankles crossed. He brought her upright.

They smiled at each other, and then, loosening her hands Esmé hugged his leg and slid down it to the floor. Leo pulled her up, set her lightly on her feet and kissed her, to prolonged applause.

They were laughing as they walked back to the table, fiver in hand. Folding it, Leo pushed it through the slit in a wooden box that stood on the bar, designed to collect donations for the Red Cross.

Half an hour later Esmé stated their intention to leave. ‘We’ve both got work in the morning. But you stay and enjoy yourselves Meggie. We’ll take a taxi cab. You’ll see her safely home, won’t you, Rennie?’

‘Of course.’ Rennie extended a hand to Leo. ‘I enjoyed this evening and I hope we’ll meet again sometime. Thanks for the dance, Esmé. I hope I didn’t ruin your shoes.’

After her aunt and uncle had gone they ran into four of Rennie’s friends. They were older than her, more sophisticated – confident.

‘Ah, here you are, Rennie, we’ve been tracking you down,’ one of the women said, and threading her arm through his she kissed him gently on the mouth and whispered, ‘I’ve missed you.’

Meggie was out of her depth, and a little embarrassed by the smart talk of who was doing what and with whom.

So this is Pam, Meggie thought. The woman couldn’t tear her gaze away from Rennie, who avoided her self-consciously. Soon the close proximity of the quartet dominated the comfortable space she and Rennie had once occupied, and she felt like a fish out of water. Her head began to ache with the sound of loud laughter and cigarette smoke.

As the evening wore on Rennie lost his initial reticence and his face assumed an animation he didn’t bother to disguise. When he danced with Pam there was a barely disguised familiarity between them, and a lot of teasing. Even so, Meggie wondered if it were the done thing to ask an escort to take her home in the middle of a date.

‘What’s the girl drinking?’ Pamela said. ‘Give her a gin and tonic, Rennie darling, it might wake her up.’ She peered into her face and breathed, ‘My God, what perfect skin you have. You look as though you belong in the nursery wing, tucked into a cot. What did Rennie say your name was, darling?’

Meggie’s hackles began to rise. ‘It’s Margaret Elliot, and I’m already wide awake . . .
darling
.’

‘Good grief, it bites.’ The shrill giggle Pam gave was halted by an attack of hiccups. ‘So this is the reason why you lost interest in me, Rennie darling. You’ve taking up dating children.’

‘You know very well it’s not.’ He ruffled her carefully styled hair as if she were his pet dog. ‘Margaret happens to be a valued client.’

And she’d imagined she was his date. Meggie’s ears began to burn and her gaze went to him, her mind ticking over in a slow burning count. ‘It’s getting late, perhaps I’d better be going.’

‘Put her in a taxi cab then come back, Rennie . . . the night is young and we’re going over to Ernie’s place.’

He must have remembered his duty for he said, ‘Don’t bother waiting, Pam. Enjoy the rest of your evening.’ He pulled back Meggie’s chair, smiling apologetically down at her after she’d followed him through the patrons. When they reached the cloakroom and the attendant moved away to get their coats, he said, ‘Pam is perfectly all right when she’s sober.’

Even so, every pore of Meggie’s curiosity had its antenna up to catch any whisper of information he offered her. The words were practically wrenched from her gut. ‘You don’t have to make excuses for her, I could see she was tiddly.’

‘I will anyway. Pam and I were engaged to be married until recently.’

‘What happened?’

‘Nothing.’

‘I see.’

He chuckled. ‘Congratulations, not many people can see nothing.’

His irony was wounding. ‘I see why you told her I was a client. You didn’t want to hurt her feelings.’

‘You are a client, and Pam’s feelings are already hurt. She hit the nail on the head when she asked me if I was dating children. It made me feel as though taking someone of your age out was wrong.’

‘Do you think my feelings are untouched. I’ve been talked down to, or talked about considerably tonight, and forced to sit there like a stuffed dummy. Being patronized in such a way has diminished me in my own eyes. It never entered my head that I was a duty date. I thought you liked me.’

‘I do like you . . . and I didn’t intend for you to feel that way. The fact is, Margaret, you are a client, and it’s a conflict of interest for me to attempt any kind of relationship with you. Is there anything more you want to know?’

She winced at his biting anger. ‘Obviously not. I wouldn’t dare ask.’

‘Good.’ He took her coat from the attendant and placed it around her shoulders. It was gone midnight when she arrived home. Her aunt had left both the porch and hall lights on for her.