Paradise Wild (13 page)

The storm abated Monday morning, and by midday all traces of it were gone except for a few puddles here and there. The sky was bright. Boston was pleasantly warm for October. The city sparkled. But in the Back Bay section of Boston, on Beacon Street, the mood was not so cheerful.

Corinne came home alone at noon. Spending the entire morning sitting in Jared’s empty hotel suite had made her more confused than angry. She waited hours before going down to the lobby to inquire if he had left a message. That was how she found out that Jared had checked out of the hotel in the middle of the night, without explanation.

At home, she learned that her father had locked himself in his study ever since Mr. Burk had called in the middle of the night. What was going on?

She found Samuel slumped over his desk, his head resting on his folded arms. There was an empty liquor bottle beside him.

“Father?”

Samuel raised his head groggily. Corinne gasped at the sight of his haggard face. She had never seen him look so old.

“Are you ill, Father?”

“Just tired, Cori,” he answered, running a shaky hand through his hair. “I have been waiting for you. I rather expected you would be here sooner.”

“Then you know I woke up alone this morning. Where is he, Father?”

“He’s gone, Corinne. You won’t be seeing your husband again—if he is your husband. Christ, the marriage may not even be legal!”

“Are you drunk?” Corinne demanded.

“I wish I were drunk, but unfortunately I’m not. I went through a whole bottle, but it didn’t help at all. Nothing is going to drown the truth.”

“What truth? What do you mean ‘if he is’ my husband?” She held out her purse. “I have the certificate right here.”

“Have you looked at it?”

Corinne frowned and quickly took the document from her purse. When she saw the name written next to hers, she drew in her breath sharply.

“Burkett? He used a false name for this!”

“No,” Samuel sighed, having hoped that the name Burk would appear on the document. “It looks as though your marriage is legal after all. Jared Burkett is his real name.”

“What is this all about, Father? Who the devil have I married?”

“A young man so full of hate that he came here just to destroy me. He thought he had failed, but he didn’t. God help me—he didn’t.”

Her father was near tears and it tore at her heart. “What happened? What did he do to you when he was here last night?”

“He didn’t do anything except tell me the truth, the truth of which I had been mercifully ignorant for nineteen years.”

Samuel pushed the worn letter across his desk. “Here. That explains most of it. You have a right to know why he used you to hurt me.”

Corinne read the letter, her back becoming stiffer as she did so. “He says you killed his mother,” she gasped, her green eyes wide. “What does he mean?”

“My beautiful Ranelle took her own life. My God, if I had only known what my going to Hawaii would do to her!”

“You loved her?” Corinne asked quietly.

“She was my first love, and I hers. We expected to be married. There was no question in our minds. But then the damn shipyard was near ruin, and my family urged me to marry for money, in order to save it. God, if only I hadn’t felt it was my responsibility to do it. But I did, and I married your mother instead. Ranelle ran away to Hawaii before I could ask her to wait for me. Many years passed before I found out where she had gone. Your mother and I had never got along well together, and we had no children. I felt the time was right to go to Ranelle and beg her to come back to me.”

“You would have divorced mother?” Corinne asked in surprise.

“Yes. Ranelle and I belonged together—we were meant for each other. But I never dreamed she would also have married, and that she might have a child.”

“Jared?”

Samuel nodded. “But even after I knew this, I still begged her to leave with me. I should never have let her know how much I still wanted her. It was that knowledge that she couldn’t bear to live with once I had left Hawaii. She was never a strong woman.”

“But she didn’t go away with you
—she
made that decision,” Corinne reminded him.

“Could you tear your seven-year-old son away from
the father he adored, or desert that son? Could you so easily break the heart of a man who adored you and thought you loved him as much? Ranelle couldn’t. But she regretted that decision. And then I disappointed her again. Before Ranelle could write to me, I wrote her to tell her I would stay with my wife, since she had given me a daughter. I told her it was just as well that she had made the choice she did. That destroyed Ranelle completely, though I never knew it until now.”

“I am to blame,” Corinne said sadly. “If I hadn’t been born—”

“No! It had nothing to do with you. I was fool enough to think I could finally have what I wanted most, the one love of my life. But life had gone on, we were not the same people anymore. It was too late for us. If only I had realized that before I tried to recapture the past—I shouldn’t have gone to Hawaii.”

“I can see why Jared might blame you, but he’s wrong. And you can’t blame yourself, either. You couldn’t have known what would happen. He blames me so much that he came here to destroy me. I’ve never met anyone so filled with hate.”

“So he used me to get at you.” She shrugged as if it didn’t matter to her any longer. “But he gave me what I wanted, and if he thinks I will divorce him because he has deserted me, he’s wrong. We will just have to hide the fact that he’s gone, at least for a while. And then, to explain his continued absence, we can say he had to leave on business. Eventually I will say he died.”

“Corinne,” Samuel sighed. “Jared Burkett was after revenge. Though he failed to ruin me financially, he still got his revenge. Jared struck a final blow before he left. Here.” He pushed the morning paper at her.

Corinne took the paper warily, a gnawing apprehen
sion growing. In the lower right hand corner of page ten was a notice in bold black letters. It seemed to jump off the page at her.

DECLARATION OF DESERTION

Jared Burk hereby acknowledges
that his new bride, formerly
Corinne Barrows of Beacon Street,
has proved an unsatisfactory
wife. On these grounds
he has deserted her.

The numbness lasted only a moment. Then she stood up and began ripping the paper.

“How dare he!” she shouted, her temper unleashed fully. “And how dare that paper print such a crude notice? I will take them to court!”

“That would be even more embarrassing for you, Cori,” Samuel said softly. “And the damage is already done. We’ll just have to weather this.”

“He’s going to pay for this! My God, he made it sound as if I—I—” Tears sprang to her eyes. “It’s a lie! I wasn’t unsatisfactory—I wasn’t!”

“Corinne, honey, no one is going to think otherwise.”

“Won’t they? He’s gone—that much is true—and he made sure everyone would know that he left me!”

“If it’s any consolation, Cori, Jared told me before he left that he was sorry for having to use you to get to me. I think he really regretted that.”

“Sorry?” she said furiously. “How can I face people? I won’t be able to leave this house without dying of shame.”

“It won’t last forever, Cori. Gossip only runs its course so long, and then it is forgotten. It might be better if you went away for a while. I can start the divorce proceedings while you are away.”

“Divorce? And bring further scandal on this family?” she glared at him. “No! There will be no divorce.”

“But surely—”

“No! That’s what Jared wants. I will die before I give that despicable cur what he wants. Let him wonder why he doesn’t receive divorce papers. I hope it drives him crazy wondering. I hope he finds someone he loves and wants to marry. He won’t be able to because I won’t release him. Believe me, Jared Burk will pay for this—one way or another.”

Corinne’s anger had been a show, a disguise to keep private the terrible hurt she really felt. From that morning, she refused even to think about her wedding night. She would not allow herself to remember anything of Jared except the unpleasant elements in the man. She hid herself, refusing to go outside at all and receiving no one.

Florence was the first to see the changes taking place in Corinne, and Samuel also became disturbed. She was pale, she had none of her old humor, and she took no interest in anything. What distressed her father the most was her uncharacteristic quiet. She never argued, didn’t join in conversations at meals, and offered no more than a perfunctory “good night” or “good morning.” Samuel began to worry. This wasn’t Corinne!

He forgot his own sorrow in his anxiety for his daughter. Nothing he did or said helped her. He had not expected her to bury her head in shame for so long. He kept urging her to travel, but she wouldn’t hear of it.

“Cowards run away,” Corinne would say and refuse to discuss it further.

Samuel prayed for something to jolt his daughter out of her lethargy. His prayers were soon answered.

“I am going to Hawaii, Father,” Corinne announced a month after her wedding.

They were just sitting down to lunch, but Samuel’s appetite was instantly spoiled.

“I won’t allow it.”

“Don’t be unreasonable,” Corinne said calmly. Her voice was unusually matter-of-fact. “You know you can’t stop me from going. And you were the one who suggested I go away for a while.”

“Not to Hawaii!”

“Why not?”

“Jared Burkett has already proved how ruthless he can be,” Samuel reminded her sternly. “I don’t want you crossing paths with him again.”

“Don’t be silly,” she replied casually. “He’s my husband, isn’t he?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake! He doesn’t give a damn about you, Cori.”

“I’m still going, Father.” There was a strong determination in her tone. “I think the trip will do me good. And Florence has already agreed to come with me.”

Samuel leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “Why won’t you let it be? Forget about Jared Burkett. I’m sure he’s forgotten about you.”

“It’s not finished,” Corinne said coldly. “Jared wanted revenge against you, but it was me he hurt. I had never done anything to him to deserve what he did to me.
He
believes in vengeance. Well, he has made a believer out of me, a wholehearted believer.”

“Corinne, you can’t cross swords with a man like that,” Samuel warned her. “There is no way you can win. He doesn’t fight fairly.”

“I don’t intend to fight fairly myself. And I’m not afraid of him.”

“Well, you should be.”

“Stop worrying,” she said to pacify him. “I’m not going to do anything foolish.”

“Just what
are
you planning to do?” Samuel asked. “You must have something in mind, or you wouldn’t be so determined.”

Corinne laughed, a wicked sound. It was a laugh her father had never heard before. “Yes, I do have something in mind. I’m going to give Jared Burkett a taste of his own medicine. We’ll see how he likes facing scandal in
his
domain.”

“What scandal?”

“The scandal of a promiscuous wife.”

“Corinne!”

“Oh, settle down, Father,” she grinned. “I’m not really going to have a multitude of lovers. I’m just going to give that impression. Jared’s friends will think I am a tramp and that Jared isn’t man enough to handle me. I don’t care what they think about me, but Jared will. I’m going to humiliate him the way he did me, in front of all his friends.”

“You think Jared will just sit back and let you make a fool of him? You think he won’t stop you?”

“He can’t,” Corinne replied confidently. “He can’t say a thing about what I do. I made sure of that before I married him.”

Later that day, in her new confident mood, she agreed to see Russell when he called.

“The bastard deserves to be horsewhipped!” Russell stated vehemently after Corinne had explained everything. “How dare he slander you!”

“You tried to warn me about him,” Corinne said magnanimously. “I should have listened to you.”

Corinne went on to explain her immediate plans with a great deal of relish. And Russell surprised her.

“I will go with you, Corinne,” he announced.

“Why would you want to do that?” Corinne asked, surprised. “I am not going on a pleasure cruise. I’m going to Hawaii with a definite purpose in mind.”

“I know. But you need an escort. You can’t face Burkett alone.”

“My father seemed to think the same thing.” Corinne was becoming annoyed. “I wish everyone would stop treating me like a child. I can take care of myself, and I intend to.”

“I didn’t think otherwise, Corinne,” Russell replied quickly.

“It wouldn’t hurt to have me along,” he continued. “I could help you with your plan.”

She quickly considered it. “Very well, Russell. As long as you understand that I don’t intend to take any real lovers for quite some time. It will all be an act.”

“I won’t push you, Corinne.”

“I want your promise on that,” she said adamantly.

“You have it.”

“One other condition,” she said in a lighter tone. “You let me pay your expenses.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Russell laughed, knowing full well that she would insist. And thank goodness for that, because he would hate to have to borrow even more money now that his debts were already so high. “I know you must be dying to spend all that money of yours, but I won’t hear of it. I’m not exactly from the poorhouse myself,” he lied unconvincingly.

“I know that, but I insist. It will be as though I were hiring you as my escort,” she explained.

“No!”

“I said I insist, Russell. I won’t be obligated to you for helping me. I don’t intend to ever feel obligated to anyone. That feeling destroys people.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Never mind,” she snapped. “Either I pay your way or you can forget about coming along.”

“All right, all right,” he sighed wearily. “If that’s the only way you’ll agree, then fine.”

“Good,” Corinne smiled, unaware of how well he had maneuvered her. “And just remember that I didn’t ask you to come along. You offered. Now you had best run along and get your affairs in order. We will be leaving the day after tomorrow.”

“So soon?”

“I see no reason to postpone it,” Corinne answered. “The sooner I get even with Jared Burkett, the sooner I can regain my pride.”