Proposition (13 page)

Thomas shuffled his hand into the pockets of his loose slacks. “I’ m worried for the boy.”

“Was there a time you weren’t, Daddy?” she asked softly.

Thomas nodded curtly. “True enough.”

Amy placed a gentle hand on her father’s back. “Daddy, I think he’s all right,” she said, even though she didn’t entirely believe that herself. But there was no reason to worry her father more, now when he was doing so well. “I think he’s just ashamed because of all that happened. But he’s fine. Peter is like a cat, always landing on all four feet.”

Thomas smiled weakly, and then changed the subject. “What about you, Amy?”

She shrugged and focused her eyes on the waves. “I’m fine.”

Thomas turned her to him and looked into her eyes seriously.

“Does he treat you well?” he asked with quiet intensity. “Does he care about you as you deserve?”

“Yes, Daddy, he’s very good to me.” Amy spoke with honesty.” And I’m not saying this just because I don’t want to worry you,” she stressed. “He’s really good to me.”

Thomas’s face visibly relaxed. “I thought so. I was sure he would be. Otherwise I would never have supported the idea of this marriage.”

Amy forced herself to smile before her face went somber. “I must say I still don’t understand why you were so happy about this marriage.” She glanced at him, hesitant to form the next question. “Was it just because of the company?” she asked unsurely.

“Amy, how can you even believe that?” Thomas looked hurt by the assumption. “I wanted you to be happy first of all. I don’t give a damn about company when it comes to your well-being. It’s been a long time since I thought that Jake would be perfect for you; someone you could really respect and care for. I was afraid that you were unhappy being alone, and for some reason, you didn’t let anyone close to you. Sweetie, sometimes you are too stubborn for your own good.”

“Dad, I’m not a child...” she tried to protest his reasoning, but he interrupted her.

“You’ll always be my little girl, no matter what, even when you have your own kids. And Amy,” he leaned into her, “I’m at peace now that you’ll be safe and protected with Jake.”

Amy frowned in confusion.

“Jake!” her father called and waved.

She glanced up and saw her husband walking toward them from the direction of the hotel. He wore khaki pants, and a navy blue sweater, looking tall, broody, and somehow troubled.

On reaching them, he greeted Thomas cordially, but his eyes focused on her all the time.

“I should be going back. Claire has surely woken up by now,” Thomas said quickly, as he glanced from his daughter to his son in law. “We’ll see each other at breakfast, right?” he asked, already walking away.

“Sure, Dad,” Amy replied with a smile.

When they were alone, Amy produced a small, awkward smile.

Jake stepped to her, and zipped her jacket up, his hands rested heavily on her shoulders. “I don’t like waking up without you by my side.”

“I was surprised myself to wake up so early because last evening I had very serious intentions of sleeping in today,” she babbled, suddenly unable to conquer her nervousness. “Shall we go down to the beach for a while?” she asked and without waiting for his answer started walking.

They’d been walking for some time silently when he caught her hand. “You’re different since yesterday,” he said, eyeing her carefully, “distant.”

“No, it’s just the ocean.” She took a deep breath, smiling at him, “Makes me dreamy and melancholic.”

She closed her eyes and inhaled the breeze.

“It’s about this guy, this lawyer? Right?” the question cut into the sound of waves clashing against the seashore.

Her eyes flipped open and she caught Jake’s intense eyes.

“You had a relationship with him, didn’t you?” he asked quietly, “Slept with him?”

Her eyes widened at his straightforwardness.

“What?” she mouthed.

“You heard me,” he said curtly.

“Yes, I heard you,” she managed calmly. “But you haven’t the right to ask me such questions.” She started walking quickly past him.

“The hell I haven’t.” He caught her arm not so gently, grounding her in place. “You’re my wife.”

“I’m not asking you about your past lovers,” she snapped.

“He was your lover,” he whispered, his voice listless, but his eyes burning.

“It’s my personal matter,” she said only.

Amy observed as he turned and walked away from her. After a few moments of hesitation, she ran after him and wrapped her arms around him from behind. He was that much taller than she was, that her chin barely reached his shoulder blades.

“You really don’t have to worry about it,” she whispered.

He turned abruptly. “You loved him.” It sounded like accusation.

“Well, you could say that,” she admitted reluctantly. “I mean, I thought I was in love with him, but it turned out to be only infatuation. I thought I loved him, but now I see how immature it all was.” She stared at the ocean and let out a sigh. “When I met him he was already engaged to someone his family approved. My father had money, but certainly not that kind of money and what’s more important, not the social position his family and the family of the girl he was engaged to had. I think he was amused with my feelings for him. He was flattered, perhaps he even liked me, but eventually he married his fiancée.” She bit her lower lip and stared at her shoes. “The end of the tale,” she managed a small smile.

“Was he the reason why you dropped out of law school?”

She averted her eyes. “Look, I don’t want to talk about this,” she murmured.

He didn’t protest but pulled her into a tight embrace. “That guy was an utter fool to let you go,” he whispered before he bent to kiss her softly.

“Come,” he tucked her under his arm. “It looks as if it is going to start raining at any moment.”

“What about your previous girlfriends?” she asked cheekily, when they starting walking back to the hotel

He shrugged. “Not much to brag about.”

“Oh, come on,” she gave him a doubtful look, stopping in place. “You can’t tell me you didn’t have at least two or three serious girlfriends during all these years.”

Jake glanced at the heavy clouds hanging low in the sky. He took her hand in his and accelerated his pace, pulling her after himself.

“I had, mainly in my early twenties.” He began to run as it started to rain. “Later, when I started working for your father, things changed. I was dissatisfied with my life. I felt I was standing in place with no hope for a better future. Your father helped me to prove to myself that I could do something with my life. He encouraged me to return to college and start my own company. Those were busy years, and I barely slept as I juggled it all. There was no time for women.”

Amy frowned, and slowed down. They were already on the path leading directly to the hotel. “But you asked me out back then. Was it because you wanted to get closer to my father?”

He stopped as well. “You really believe that?”

She hesitated. “To tell the truth it was the only convincing reason I can think of at that time.”

He shook his head at her. “Haven’t you thought that I was simply attracted to you?”

“And you still are? Right?” she asked shyly.

“Amy, are you blind?” He sounded impatient. “I involved you in this marriage. I can barely stop myself from touching you every time when you’re near me. How can you doubt it after what happened last evening in our room before we came down for dinner? You think I could fake all this, especially my physical reaction to you? I’m very attracted to you.”

She looked up at him. “I’m attracted to you as well,” she admitted quietly. “I think I’ve always been, even years ago you unsettled me. I guess I just couldn’t read my reaction to you properly. I was too young for that.”

The rain started in earnest, but they stood unmoving, getting wet.

“Are you willing to give our marriage a chance?” Jake breathed, the puffs of air coming out of his mouth.

“Yes,” she whispered very quietly. But clearly loud enough for him to hear. In the next moment she was in his arms, her face pressed into his chest.

“Come, your hands are like ice,” Jake murmured, kissing her wet face tenderly. He took her hand again and they ran back to the hotel.

Chapter Twelve

Jake checked his watch. It was few minutes after four, and he’d just finished talking with a new site manager. The man seemed to be responsible and his previous experience said that he was actually good at his work. Hopefully he wouldn’t turn out like the previous one.

“We’ll resume work Monday, Mr. Barry,” he assured. “I’ll hire all the people we need tomorrow.”

“Good.” Jake shook the other man’s proffered hand. “I’ll drop in on Monday to check how everything’s going.”

Getting into his car, he flipped his phone open, and chose Amy’s number.

After a few long seconds, his wife’s sleepy voice answered. “Yes,” she mumbled.

“Did I wake you up, sweetheart?” he asked with concern.

“Mm-hm...” she murmured.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He started the car. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” He heard her yawn. “Are you on your way home now?” she wanted to know.

“Yes.” He pulled out of the building site onto the road. “But I need to drop by the office yet. I’ll be home in about an hour at the soonest. Do you need anything?”

There was a moment a silence before she spoke. “Vogue.”

“What?”

“The newest issue of Vogue,” she elaborated. “It’s a fashion magazine.”

“Sure,” he smiled to himself. If she wanted him to bring her a fashion magazine, it meant she definitely felt better. “Now go back to sleep,” he ordered gently, soon hearing a soft sigh after which she switched off.

The last days had been rough. Clearly, that chilly Saturday when they’d talked in the rain on the beach, she’d managed to catch a cold. Undoubtedly, he’d been more than happy with the result of their conversation that morning, especially with the fact that she’d admitted to having some feelings for him, and agreed to give their marriage a chance. At the same time he cursed himself for staying on the beach for so long in such nasty weather.

She’d begun to sneeze when they returned home on Sunday afternoon, but she’d dismissed his concern when he’d asked if she’d felt ok. She said it was nothing serious. On Monday, she’d gone to work as usual, even though she looked pale to him. But she again said she was fine. At night from Monday to Tuesday, she began breathing heavily in a strange raspy way, resembling a wheezing of sorts, but on Tuesday morning, she again announced she was fine. He shouldn’t have let her go to work then, despite her assurance of feeling well. When he’d come home the same day, he got a phone call from the library from Laura. She informed him that Amy had a dizzy spell at work, and developed what seemed to be a high fever. He’d been there in less than half an hour.

When he got there, breaking all possible speed limits allowed in town, Laura led him to a small staff room. Amy lay on the couch, breathed heavily, and coughing. On seeing him, she started talking the same bullshit of feeling well, but he wouldn’t listen. He helped her into her coat and carried her quickly to the car.

The whole way to the doctor’s, he blamed himself in the first place that he hadn’t noticed earlier how serious her state had been. After the examination, it turned out she had a heavy cold, plus the beginning of bronchitis and a possible ear infection. The doctor had stressed that she needed to stay in bed for a week, at least, unless she wanted to get pneumonia.

He’d put her into bed that very evening. She mumbled something that he should sleep on the couch because he’d catch her cold. He ignored her of course and stayed in bed with her. Still he hadn’t been able to sleep much, as she’d been coughing heavily the entire night, waking herself and him in the process.

In the morning, her breathing seemed to get easier, and he hoped that the medicine the doctor had prescribed started working. She’d fallen asleep around eight am, and he’d left her to do some quick shopping for healthy stuff, plus something to ease her sore throat.

Amy was still sleeping when he returned and woke up several hours later, in the early afternoon. She was surprised to find him at home and not at work. She scolded him and said she’d be fine at home, and that he should be at work. He’d lost his temper then. He informed her that he didn’t want to hear that ‘she was fine’ any more. She started murmuring some protest, but he’d simply ignored her. She fell asleep promptly after he’d forced some chicken soup into her that he’d ordered at the restaurant down the street.

Later that day, Thomas phoned him, concerned that Amy wasn’t answering her phone, Jake had found out some very interesting things about Amy from his father-in-law. After Jake told Thomas about Amy’s condition, Thomas got worried. Amy had been especially prone to all kinds of lung infections since early childhood, due to asthma she developed as an infant. In the past, she’d gone through a series of bronchitis attacks as well as contracting pneumonia twice, once even being hospitalized. Jake had done his best to assure Thomas that she’d had all the best care. Still, the fact that she’d hidden her health problems from him, and that she’d tried to ignore the seriousness of her state and possible consequences had made him positively angry.

From Wednesday to Thursday she’d got worse again, her fever high, matched with prolonged coughing. He’d decided to call the doctor again, as clearly she wasn’t getting any better. But on Thursday evening the antibiotic seemed to kick in at last, and last night she’d slept the whole night without interruption.

Amy’s unexpected illness put his thoughts away from the matter that had bothered him since the morning on the beach. The man from her past. Though he would have wished otherwise, he knew that Amy had some boyfriends in the past, perhaps not that many, because he hadn’t remembered her dating at all when she’d been in high school. However, this Michael Cummings sounded serious to him.

Her embarrassment and discomposure when Thomas and Claire had mentioned him, her behavior on the beach, the fact that she’d literally admitted to have loved the man once. Jake was sure that his wife was not the type of woman to forget quickly once she’d fallen in love. For his own peace of mind, he decided to hire a detective agency to collect more information about this guy. Perhaps it wasn’t a very elegant move, but he didn’t care. The guy had been gone from her life for the last several years, but still she’d seemed to have a soft spot for him, and he wanted to make sure that he was really and truly out of the picture. Not that he had the slightest intention of letting her go anywhere.

It was nearly six when he managed to get home. The sound of TV brought him to the living room. She was curled on the couch, under the warm woolen blanket, as she watched what he decided had to be a historical British show, judging by the maternity-style dresses the actresses wore.

Her face brightened when she saw him. “Hi.”

He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “Hi, yourself.”

She lifted herself against the armrest, caught his hand, and pulled him to sit next to her.

“I’ve got your magazine in the briefcase,” he said.

He took in her pale features and placed his hand on her forehead. She looked definitely better, and she wasn’t feverish.

“Thank you. And how was your day?” she asked softly.

“Fine, I hired a new site manager. He seems responsible enough. I hope he’ll do a good job. He’s starting on Monday.”

Her worried eyes lifted to him. “I feel guilty, because I’ve driven you away from your responsibilities for the last several days.”

“Amy, what are you talking about?” he scolded her gently, as his hand stroked her cheek. “You’re the most important. It’s only a job.”

She stared at him for a long moment, her expression confused before she started again, her tone still with a guilty quality to it. “But you look tired, and I know you haven’t been able to sleep lately because of my night coughing.”

“Tomorrow’s Saturday, I’ll sleep longer,” he promised. He gave her a searching look before he asked. “There’s something more, right?”

He knew her well enough and he was sure there was something more on her mind, but she seemed hesitant to tell him..

“There’s one thing I must ask you to do. You have to get something for me,” she said, as she bit her lip, and twisted her slim fingers. “But I think it might be terribly awkward for you.”

Jake looked at her expectedly, having absolutely no clue what she needed so much.

“Just after your phone call,” she continued, “I went to the bathroom, and I noticed my period started, a few days earlier than usual. It’s because of the antibiotics, I think because most of the time I’m very regular. The thing is that I need tampons and sanitary pads. I ran out of them.”

Jake stared at her for a moment. “Sure,” he tried to sound his own confident self, but even to his own ears, he did poor job of it. “No problem,” he informed her in a much thicker voice. “But how would I know what to buy?”

Her face brightened and she started speaking animatedly. “I usually purchase this stuff in the drugstore around the corner. That’s really not very difficult, I’ll write you everything I need, the name of the brand and the size.” She reached for the notepad lying on the coffee table, opened it, and started scribbling quickly.

“Here.” She handed him the sheet of paper when she finished. “All you would have to do is to show it to the shop assistant. She’ll take care of the rest.”

He took the note and sent her a brave smile.

“I can imagine how awkward it must be for you,” she ventured. “I could go myself...”

“Get that out of your head,” he announced firmly and stood up. “The doctor said you are to stay in bed for two weeks, and you will, you have my word on that.”

“You’re sweet,” she whispered with a sweet smile, rising from the couch on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. “Aren’t you hungry? Perhaps you would like to eat something first? I can make something quickly,” she offered, her feet already looking for the slippers somewhere under the coffee table. However, the sudden, prolonged, sharp coughing stopped her.

Pushing her back on the couch, he covered her with the blanket. “You are to stay here, or in bed. You are allowed to go only to the bathroom.”

“Bully,” she murmured, but obediently laid down, the attack of coughing having exhausted her.

Jake walked to the bedroom to change from his suit into more comfortable clothes. Just before leaving, he checked on Amy. She’d fallen asleep again. He turned down the sound on the TV, and placed the magazine she’d asked for on the coffee table. On his way to the parking lot, he phoned the Italian restaurant situated a few blocks away and ordered the take out lasagna. It was a small place, run by a family, where he took Amy once after the cinema, and she’d enjoyed the food and the place itself very much. He decided that he would pick up the food on his way back home.

He had no problem with finding the drugstore, it was right around the corner as Amy described. As he looked around, he located the pharmacist, but she was clearly busy; she was explaining, to an elderly man, how to apply some medicine. Convinced that it couldn’t be that hard, he decided he would deal with finding what Amy needed by himself. After some time of aimless wandering between the shelves, he found the corner where women’s personal items were displayed. From his suit jacket, he retrieved the scrap of paper, which Amy had given him, studying it carefully.

With a heavy frown, he glanced from what Amy had written, to the whole range of small boxes and packages in front of him. He started examining one after another, but had problems with finding the kind Amy mentioned...
organic tampons, mini or regular with grooves,
he murmured to himself as he stared at the colorful boxes in front of him. He scratched his head; what grooves should those tampons have? Perhaps the pads should be easier... He moved a few steps to the left to the boxes of sanitary pads. But here the matter wasn’t any easier;
chlorine free maxi overnight with flexi-wings?
The note read. What the hell? He felt quite warm. Couldn’t the names be simpler, just tampons and pads?

“Can I help you?” a woman’s voice drew his attention.

Jake met the gaze of the pharmacist with a kind expression on her face. “No, I’m fine, just looking for something,” he said quickly and averted his eyes.

“Something for your wife?” she asked knowingly with a polite smile. She glanced meaningfully at his wedding band prominently displayed on his right hand. She was attractive and in her early fifties.

Jake looked miserably at the shelf tightly stocked with a variety of products. It would have taken him ages to figure out on his own what Amy wanted.

“I...” he started hesitantly, but the pharmacist’s expression was helpful and patient. “You see ,my wife has got a cold and she can’t get out of the house, and she asked me to...” He handed the woman the note from Amy. “We’ve been married for a short time and I don’t know...” He stopped and asked himself why he was saying all this to a complete stranger?

The pharmacist smiled with understanding as she skimmed the note. “That’s fine. I think I know what your wife needs. Perhaps you would like to wait by the cashier counter while I select everything from the list?”

“Thank you,” he said with relief, and he absolutely meant it.

As he walked away, he caught with the corner of his eye the pharmacist shaking her head and smiling to herself, while she packed some boxes into a paper bag. This was definitely not funny. He hoped it was the last time he was forced to provide Amy with such articles.