Once in a Lifetime (13 page)

“Hmm. That the way it looks to you? I was thinking what a hard time you were having trying to keep up with me. You’re pretty good.” It was probably just as well that she wasn’t looking at him when she said it.

His hand gripped her shoulder. “Liar. You weren’t thinking any such thing. Step out of this pool, lady, and I’ll prove it to you.”

“I don’t take dares.”

“Who said anything about a dare? You’re still thinking about me. About
us
. I’ll prove it. If I’m wrong, you name the penalty.”

It might seem like a penalty to him, but it certainly wouldn’t feel that way to me.
She told herself to use some sense. She
was already in deeper than was wise. He was asking her to goad him, to give him an excuse to do what he wanted to do but didn’t consider prudent. Deciding to move on while she was ahead, she raised herself to her full height, braced both hands on the edge of the pool and flung herself out of it.

“You dived into the water to cool off,” she told him. “Stay that way. I have as many concerns right now as I care to deal with.”

“And I’m just one more complication. Is that what you’re saying?”

She picked up the white skirt that she’d dropped on the lawn earlier, turned around and looked at him. And she saw him then as never before. Covered by water up to his waist, he loomed there as a powerful figure, a modern Poseidon. Her gaze settled on his thick biceps, strong, corded neck, broad chest with water-slicked black hair that revealed prominent pectorals—a dangerous man whose magnetism diluted her willpower. She stared into the hazel-brown eyes that seduced her in the glittering moonlight, although he remained half a dozen feet from her.

“If you were nothing more than a complication, it wouldn’t be worth discussing. See you in the morning.”

With a pounding heart, she rushed into her room, closed the door, locked it and collapsed against the wall. How many more narrow escapes before she stepped into that bottomless future from which there was no turning back, before they locked together in an irrevocable giving of themselves? She wanted it. Lord, how she needed it! But even if she’d leveled with him when she took the job, if she were able to push aside the still painful memories of her existence as Jack Stevenson’s wife and link her life again with that of a man, she couldn’t risk the scorn this one would heap on her when he discovered her connection to Melanie Krenner.

The phone rang, and she looked at the clock on her dresser. Nine-forty. She answered, expecting to hear Telford’s voice.

“Girl, I’ve been ringing you for the past hour. What do you
and those brothers do out there for entertainment this time of night? Where were you?”

“Velma!” She didn’t know whether she was disappointed or relieved. “How’d it go in Oakland?”

“I’m still in Oakland. Got a minute?”

“Sure. What’s happening?”

“I’m setting up a banquet for a writers’ convention. Some of the organizers want a purple-and-green color scheme and some others are insisting on purple and lavender. Neither is my favorite combination of colors. Which group should I ignore?”

“Try purple and mauve-pink.”

“Good idea. Anything going on with you and what’s-his-name?”

“Velma, for the nth time, would you please forget about Telford Harrington? He’s my employer. Period.”

“Yeah. And Michael Jackson sings opera. How’d you know who I was talking about?”

“Easy. You’ve got a one-track mind. Let me know how the reception comes off and…and, Velma…honey, it’s time you found someone. You…you’re so alone.”

She listened to the silence, hoping her sister’s next words would be that she wasn’t alone. Instead, Velma commented with the precision of a champion archer releasing his arrow.

“In other words, you aren’t alone. You have a man, and you want the same for me.”

Alexis opened her mouth but no words escaped.

“Don’t throw away your opportunity, sis,” Velma went on. “Not every man is like Jack Stevenson. Indeed, men like him are probably rare. Think about it. Talk to you soon.”

Alexis listened to the dial tone. Very little changed with Velma. She said what was on her mind and didn’t hang around to argue. Neither of them did. As children, they’d heard too much of it from their parents. Telford was like that, too. Telford. Always Telford. The man occupied too much of her thinking. She showered and went to bed.

She walked into the breakfast room the next morning just
as Telford left the table. “I hope you slept well,” he said. “You probably won’t see much of me during the next few days, maybe weeks. Allen called a few minutes ago. We’ve got a general strike on our hands.”

“I’m so sorry, Telford.”

With his briefcase in his left hand, he brushed her left cheek with the fingers of his right one. “Believe me, so am I. Sparkman will pay for this.”

She reached for his hand and held it. “You’re a kind, generous man. A loving man. Please don’t let your hatred of Sparkman destroy this…this good in you.”

For a long time, he gazed into her eyes, his own unreadable. Then he spun around and left her.

H
e didn’t go to the warehouse, though it was close to Harrington House, and he knew the men were gathered there waiting to hear what he had to say. Instead, he headed for the school construction site at Mountain Avenue and Edgecomb Street in Eagle Park. He couldn’t fail, because it might be his last opportunity to vindicate his father. He parked beside the trailer that housed this temporary office, went inside and phoned Allen.

“This is Telford. I’m at the school. I want you to tell the men I know they’re loyal and I understand they have to obey union rules, so I’m not looking for strike-breakers. I just want them to show up ready for work the minute that strike is over, prepared for some heavy-duty overtime.”

“Don’t worry, Telford. They’re with you, to the last man. I’m going to Delaware to see what I can find out about Melanie. I haven’t been to that university since the week she was reported missing. I—”

“Why don’t you leave it to the private investigator we hired? He’ll come up with something. What do you say we take half
the men from the warehouse and put them to work here at the school when the strike’s over?”

“Why not all of them? Anything there I can help you with?”

“Plenty.”

“Be over there shortly.”

He worked with Allen, driving himself until the muscles of his arms and shoulders tightened in a painful spasm, dust from bricks and concrete interfered with his breathing and the stench of dank rubbish settled on his stomach, but he couldn’t stop. Until today, victory had been so close, and he would not be defeated.

“Telford, if you don’t ease up, you’re going to have a problem. What’s driving you, man?”

“This building will be ready when school resumes September seventh if I have to finish it single-handedly.”

“If you continue at this rate, you may not be alive to see it. I’ll work as long as you do, but I don’t want to see you wreck your health in this hundred-degree heat.”

He appreciated Allen’s loyalty; the man would never desert him, but Allen was years older than he and could get sunstroke. He couldn’t have that on his conscience if the school was never finished. “You’re right. If we work like this every day for the next three months, we can’t finish it in time. Let’s knock off.”

He hadn’t expected Alexis to meet him at the door when he got home, nor did he welcome the sensation he got seeing her there, the feeling that he’d come home to his woman. And when she took his hand, stared into his eyes for a moment and then opened her arms to him, he knew she’d read in him the hopelessness he felt.

“I was listening to the radio,” she said as her hands stroked his damp back, “and I heard that the union doesn’t expect the strike to last more than a week or two. You’ll make it; I know you will. Want some lemonade?”

That and more, but he didn’t feel like moving out of her
arms in order to get it. “I’m a mess. Thanks for…for letting me know you’re here for me. I’ll get a shower. Where’s Tara?”

“She and Biscuit went with Henry to his cottage so Biscuit can see his brothers and sisters, as she put it.”

What he needed, he realized, was the healing power of the child’s smiles and her hugs and kisses. The knowledge that he needed both of them hit him with the force of a sledgehammer, stunning him.

More attuned to him than he’d imagined, Alexis caressed his jaw. “What is it? What’s the matter? You’re doing what you can to minimize the effect of this crisis. You can’t do more. Have faith, Telford.”

She’d misinterpreted his reaction, and a good thing, too; he wasn’t ready to reveal the power of what he felt for her and for Tara. Perhaps one day. Perhaps never.

After showering, he got a glass of lemonade from the refrigerator. “I’m thinking of going to Barbados,” he told her. “I want to see the place where we’re suppose to build Frenchman’s Village. I can’t do anything here till the strike’s over.”

“How long will you stay there?”

“Three or four days. A week at the most. But the minute that strike’s settled, I’ll head back here.”

He needed a swim. “I’m going to the pool. Feel free.”

A grin flashed across her face. “I’d better finish my work. When you come out, I’d love to see some of your wire sculptures.”

“Who told you about that?”

“Russ.”

“Really? I’ve known him for thirty-two years, and sometimes he’s an enigma to me. Solid as a rock, though, and loyal as a homing pigeon.”

“His telling me that surprises you?”

“Actually, no. He doesn’t want a liaison between you and me, mainly because you inconvenience him, but he knows what’s going on, and he cares about me. I guess he wants you to see me in the best light. Sure you don’t want a swim?”

“Later, maybe. I have to finish next week’s menus and grocery list. Don’t forget those wire sculptures.”

He wouldn’t, because he wanted her to see them. He raced out to the pool, dived in and wished he hadn’t. His neck, arms and shoulders balked at the punishment he’d given them while working on the school. But he swam nevertheless, and soon found the water soothing. After half an hour, he left the pool and went to find Alexis.

“Last night, I said we ought to talk. Feel like it right now?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know how much good talking will do, and I don’t feel like digging into my psyche. I also don’t feel like making promises to myself that I’m not likely to keep.”

“I’m not talking about promises, neither to me nor to yourself. I got the impression that you’re an innocent, yet you were married and you have a child.”

Her lashes hooded her eyes in a display of diffidence. “I…uh… Like I said, I’d rather leave my psyche alone right now.”

“All right, but one day we’ll talk about this, and there’ll be no hedging then. I’ll be in the den half an hour before supper with some of my wire figures.”

“See you then.”

Intelligent, serene, elegant…and a real live wildfire. Yet…he snapped his fingers. Jack Stevenson had left her as he’d found her. Unawakened. “Well, I’ll be damned!”

He couldn’t wait to…
Down, boy! You’re just guessing.

He ran upstairs to his room and began to pack.

He didn’t kiss her good-bye, but he knew his worshiping eyes told her how he longed to hold her and love her. “Take good care,” he said in barely audible tones, “and don’t you and Tara stray away from the house. If you need anything that isn’t here, ask Russ to get it for you. Or Drake if he gets back before I do.”

“Does that mean I’m a prisoner?”

“No, but it’s easier to prevent a disaster than to repair one.” He turned to Tara. “Remember not to give Biscuit candies and other sweets.”

“I won’t,” she said in a teary voice.

He picked her up, hugged and kissed her. “I’ll be back in less than a week.” He hugged her again and set her on her feet. “Be sure and practice the piano every day.” She nodded, her sadness at his leaving painful to watch.

“We’d better go if we’re going to make that plane,” Allen said with the obvious reluctance of someone who’d observed the tender scene and hated to end it. Telford’s fingers squeezed her hand, and his gaze bore into hers. Then he picked up his briefcase, got in Allen’s car and left them.

Alexis made up her mind then to go back to Delaware State College in Dover and find out what she could about Melanie Krenner. Several of the professors there remained her friends, and she believed they would help her. She paced in her room until Tara asked her to stop. She needed the papers she’d locked up in her house in Philadelphia, but she didn’t think it proper to go there in Telford’s absence, as if in stealth. With her hands gripped tightly at her back, she walked the long hallway. Restless.

“He ain’t gonna be gone but a week,” Henry said, “and them few days ain’t gonna kill you.”

She swung around and glared at him, annoyed that he’d caught her out. “I can’t imagine what you’re talking about.”

“You can, too, and you might as well accept it. The two of you ain’t using a crumb of sense. What you feel for each other ain’t ordinary. You been married, so you oughta know that.”

Later, in the privacy of her room, she sat on the edge of her bed and made herself face the truth. She wanted Telford, and she had to do everything within her power to make it happen. Her phone call to State U netted her nothing. Most of the professors had left for summer vacation. But she’d made up her mind and, come September, she’d begin in earnest to find
out what happened to Allen Krenner’s daughter.
You don’t have to wait until September,
her conscience needled.

Alexis hadn’t tried to prevent Jack from visiting Tara; indeed, she wanted her daughter to know and respect her father. However, Jack hadn’t attempted to see Tara, nor had he asked about her since their separation, although he never skipped monthly child-support payments. So, something akin to fear streaked through her when, several days after Telford left for Barbados, she answered the phone and recognized her ex-husband’s voice.

“How are things, babe?” he asked, as if they spoke daily.

“Never better,” was her flippant reply. “What can I do for you?”

“I thought I’d come down for a visit. This phone’s listed to the Harrington brothers. What’re you doing for them?”

Her explanation that she was their housekeeper brought a long silence. At last, he said, “If you’re living with one of those guys, I don’t blame you for covering it up. But don’t expect me to believe you’re somebody’s housekeeper.”

“If you’d like, I’ll mail you a copy of my signed, two-year contract. It’s working out well. Tara’s happier than she’s ever been. Let me know when you’d like to visit. After all, this is the place where I work.” She hung up, stunned by the realization that he had neither inquired about his daughter nor asked to speak with her. She didn’t hold it against him, because he seemed unable to sustain relationships. His second marriage had lasted fourteen months, and she’d heard he’d taken wife number three. The thought of seeing him, even for a few minutes, didn’t sit well with her. He was a page she’d turned, and she wanted no more of the man who admitted cheating on her for four of the four and a half years of their marriage.

The loud banging on her bedroom door startled her, and she rushed to open it.

“Henry! What is it?”

“It’s the strike. It’s over. I don’t know where Russ and Drake are. You got a number for Telford in Barbados so’s you can call him?”

“I’ll call him.” She dialed the number Telford gave her with Henry standing close enough to hear anything Telford said.

“Harrington.” And proud of it, the tone of his voice implied.

“Telford, this is Alexis. Henry said the strike’s over.” She heard him suck in his breath.

“Who told him it’s over?”

“Allen just phoned,” Henry said, loudly enough for Telford to hear him.

“Whew! That’s great. Just great. Thanks for calling me. I’ll be there tomorrow.”

“I ought to give him cabbage stew when he gets here.”

“Why? What did he do?”

“It’s what he ain’t done. He could at least said somethin’ nice to make you anxious for him to get back. It must be all this grits he eats. I don’t know what else it could be, and I ain’t cooking no more of it neither.”

Laughter bubbled up in her throat and finally spilled out. Glad for the chance to release the tension she felt while she spoke with Telford, she gave the laugher full rein and patted Henry’s slight shoulder. “Please don’t do that. Telford loves grits, and if he doesn’t get them, he’ll be beside himself. Stop worrying. When he gets back here, he’ll take care of business. Trust me.”

The old man braced his right fist on his hip. “You ain’t foolin’ me? If you are, you’ll eat cabbage stew, too. Telford’s thirty-six, and it’s time he got down to brass tacks.” He turned to go and stopped, a smile covering his face. “Ain’t it a pretty sound? That little girl loves that piano.” He shook his head as if in amazement. “She’s learnin’ fast, too. I hear the difference every single day. Telford’s gonna be right pleased when he gets back.”

Alexis walked into the breakfast room the next morning and gasped. “When did… I thought you were coming back today.”

“Hello to you, too,” Telford said. “Glad to know you missed me. Where’s Tara?”

“Brushing her teeth. She likes to get away with not doing it properly. This morning, I caught her at it.”

“Mummy, I did it. I brushed them all over again. Want to… Eeee,” she screamed. “Mr. Telford!” She ran around the table to him. He stood, lifted her into his arms and hugged her.

The unfamiliar peace that settled over her at the sight of Telford Harrington loving her child turned her heart into a quivering mass and brought tears to her eyes.

“I’ll be right back,” she said, and rushed out of the room.

“What’s the matter with you?” Henry asked when she bumped into him, jarring him and nearly knocking the tray of sausages and eggs out of his hand.

“Er…something in my eye.” She continued walking down the hall.

“Surprised you, didn’t he?” Henry yelled after her. “You shoulda knowed he’d get back here on the first plane flying outta there.”

She didn’t answer him. In her room, she washed her face, drank a glass of water and struggled with her emotions. She didn’t want to love Telford Harrington and suffer the pain that was bound to come if she did. Her feelings for Jack Stevenson hadn’t amounted to peanuts compared to the powerful emotion her heart held for Telford.

The knock on her door, soft but insistent, told her he’d come after her and that he meant to be reckoned with. She opened the door, looked up at him and felt her lips part of their own volition. He stepped into her room with her tight in his arms.

“I wanted to do this when I left here.” His tongue plunged into her mouth, and she lost herself in him.

“What’s Tara doing?” she asked when he set her on her feet and she could catch her breath.

“She’s at the table where I told her to stay. We’re going to have to deal with this, Alexis, and it will be sooner than later. I hated every minute I was away from here. Away from you.”

“I know, but I…I’ll handle it when I get to it.”

“Hold on there. You know what you feel for me, and you know what you want to come of it.”