Consequently, every time she felt the silken undergarments caressing her flesh beneath her clothing, she was reminded of the way Jake had loved her that afternoon. Not that she needed reminding, of course. For how could one forget a trip to paradise?
So blissful was Hallie in her new life that she had playfully renamed Parrish House “Eden,” a change which had prompted Jake to suggest some sinfully wicked uses for apples. Unfortunately, like Eve in the biblical garden paradise, Hallie, too, was plagued with a serpent who sought to expel her from her heaven on earth.
That serpent was named Penelope.
Heaving a frustrated sigh, Hallie turned away from the mirror. After numerous sharp rebukes and stern lectures from Jake, Penelope no longer openly expressed her hostility toward her new sister-in-law. In fact, unless she was spoken to directly, she didn’t speak at all. And in those instances when she was obligated to reply, she would likely as not answer in monosyllables. As for the girl’s relationship with her brother, it had become cool almost to the point of alienation.
It was that change in relationship that concerned Hallie the most. Though Jake never discussed the troubling situation, she could tell that his sister’s withdrawal hurt him.
Hallie bristled defensively at the thought of Penelope’s spiteful behavior. Well, she’d be damned before she would allow the spoiled brat to cause Jake any more pain. He deserved his sister’s love and respect, and she intended to see that he got it. That decision made, she squared her shoulders and tightened her lips into a determined line. There would be peace in the Parrish household. Now. Before it was too late and irreparable damage had been done to the Parrish siblings’ relationship.
Steeling herself for what was bound to prove an unpleasant encounter, Hallie marched down the hall toward the music room. Penelope’s great love in life was her music, and the girl spent most of her afternoons at the piano practicing her singing.
But this afternoon the music room was empty.
“Hop!” Hallie hollered, spying the houseboy at the far end of the hall.
Quick as a speeding cannonball, the little man was by her side. Sketching a deferential bow, he inquired, “Missee Parrish need Hop?”
Hallie nodded. “Have you seen Penelope?”
The mere mention of Penelope’s name was enough to make Hop assume an expression of long-suffering martyrdom. He grumbled something in Chinese, and rolled his eyes toward the heavens. “Missee Penlop in room. She say she sick.” He made a derogatory noise. “Hop say she mean-headed only. Been mean-headed all week. She always mean-headed.”
Though Hallie was too discreet to voice her thoughts, she secretly agreed that Penelope had been acting more “mean-headed” than usual. Why, the girl had done so much scowling during the past few days that she’d be lucky if her face wasn’t permanently frozen into lines of discontent.
After thanking the houseboy, Hallie headed toward Penelope’s room, formulating a plan of action as she went. If Penelope was truly ill, it wouldn’t hurt to look in on her. If not, if the girl was indeed sulking, as Hop suspected, then they would have their long overdue talk. With that agenda in mind, Hallie knocked at her sister-in-law’s bedroom door.
“What?” was the muffled response.
“Hop said you were feeling ill,” Hallie half shouted through the door. “I thought I might be able to help.”
There was a long silence before Penelope finally replied, “I’m fine. Go away and leave me alone.” Even through two inches of solid wood the annoyance in the girl’s voice was unmistakable.
Hallie smiled to herself. Aha! So Hop had been right. Penelope was indulging in one of her sulks again. That being the case …
“No. I won’t go away. It’s time we had a talk.”
Hallie thought she detected the sound of a snort, but given the thickness of the door, she couldn’t be certain. However, Penelope’s next words were audible enough.
“I don’t have anything to say to you … now or ever!”
“Well, I have plenty to say to you, and whether you like it or not, you’re going to listen. You have five seconds to prepare yourself before I come in. One.”
In a loud voice, Hallie announced each number. On the count of five, she pushed the door open.
Decorated in shades of pale blue and salmon pink, Penelope’s bedroom was a young lady’s dream come true. On the floor lay a rug loomed in a fanciful pattern of vines, flowers, and fruit. The walls were papered in blue, pink, and white stripes. Against one wall stood a mirrored armoire, its doors slightly ajar to reveal the girl’s opulent wardrobe. Opposite the armoire was a marble-topped dressing table, the surface cluttered with perfume bottles and silver-handled brushes.
In the center of the room stood a mahogany canopied bed daintily carved in a rococo design and accented with gold leaf. Huddled into a ball beneath the embroidered brocade coverlet was Penelope. Hallie paused a few feet from the bed, taken aback by her sister-in-law’s haggard appearance.
Half-hidden beneath her sweat-dampened tangle of ebony hair, the girl’s face was pasty white and pinched with pain. Faint grayish-purple shadows ringed her glittering green eyes, and her lips, normally tinted a dusky pink and curled downward into a pout, were drawn into a tight, colorless line.
If this was Penelope’s idea of “fine,” Hallie thought, she would hate to see what the girl considered “ill.” As to what was wrong? Hallie sighed inwardly and advanced toward the bed. The trick was going to be getting the patient to confide in her.
At Hallie’s approach, the trembling figure on the bed shrank further beneath the coverlet. Fixing her unwelcome guest with a belligerent glower, she hissed, “What do you want?”
Assuming her most reassuring manner, Hallie replied, “You’re obviously ill, and I’d like to help you if you’ll let me.”
Emitting a classic Parrish family snort, Penelope flopped over onto her side and presented her would-be savior with her back. Here she was, suffering from the worse case of monthly cramps she’d had in ages, and her brother’s gold-digging wife insisted on playing nursemaid.
She groaned softly and flinched as a sudden pain radiated through her belly and down her thighs. Why couldn’t this Dr. Gardiner person mind her own business and just leave her to suffer in peace? It wasn’t as if the blasted woman really cared anything about her … or Jake. Curling back into a ball, she miserably pressed her thighs against her throbbing abdomen. Perhaps if she ignored the woman, she would give up her pretense of being a good Samaritan and go away.
But Hallie wasn’t about to go anywhere. She hadn’t missed Penelope’s stifled moan, nor had she missed the way the girl had flinched with pain. Concerned, she sat on the edge of the bed and studied the tense form beneath the covers. After a moment’s hesitation, she gently laid her hand on Penelope’s shoulder. “If you’re ill—”
“I told you, I’m fine!” Penelope snapped, jerking away from Hallie’s touch. “I just want to be left alone.”
Hallie almost smiled at the girl’s response. How often had she heard Jake utter those very words? Stubbornness was definitely a Parrish family trait.
Using the same no-nonsense tone she had often used with Jake early in their acquaintance, she said, “As a doctor, I’ve taken an oath to help those in need. To leave you alone when you’re obviously in need of care would be to break that oath. And since I never break my word, I guess I’ll just have to stay by your side until you allow me to help you.”
Penelope’s only response was another snort.
This time Hallie did smile. The girl was a Parrish through and through. That being the case, it could be a long while before she finally unbent enough to accept help. With that possibility in mind, Hallie leaned back against the headboard and made herself comfortable.
The two women remained like that for a quarter of an hour: Penelope alternately feeling sorry for herself and wishing all sorts of h
ideous fates to befall Hallie, and Hallie grappling for the best way to break through Penelope’s defensive wall.
It was Penelope who finally broke the deadlock of silence. Rolling over onto her stomach and propping her head up on her hands she glared at Hallie through the veil of her hair. “Why are you doing this?” she demanded in an accusatory tone.
Hallie let her serene gaze meet Penelope’s hostile one. “I already told you why. It’s because I’m a doctor, and it’s a doctor’s job to tend sick people.”
“Is it also a doctor’s job to force attention on people who don’t want help?”
Hallie shrugged. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“On the identity of the patient. If the patient refusing my aid is a complete stranger, then I’m obligated to honor her wishes and pray for the best. However, when the patient happens to be the sister of the man I love, well, then it’s my duty to render aid … no matter how stubborn or unwilling that sister might be.”
Penelope’s beautiful green eyes narrowed with suspicion. “And when you decide that you no longer love Jake, will you still consider it your duty to tend me when I’m ill?” Restlessly she twisted a long strand of sable hair around her finger. “Or will you pretend that I no longer exist, like Serena did?”
Hallie stared down at Penelope, her eyes widening with sudden understanding. How could she have been so blind? Why hadn’t she guessed that like Jake, Penelope too had been scarred by Serena’s betrayal? Why hadn’t she realized that the girl’s wretched behavior was simply a ruse to hide her pain and fear?
Looking at her sister-in-law now, garbed in only a simple cotton nightgown, with her hair unbound, Hallie remembered something she often tended to forget: Penelope was little more than a child. She was only eighteen … barely out of the schoolroom. And yet, for all her youth, she had seen more tragedy than most people saw in a lifetime. No wonder the poor child was so unhappy and distrustful.
Suddenly overwhelmed with tenderness, Hallie sought to reassure the girl. Tilting her head to one side, her lips curved into a gentle smile, she replied, “I’ll never stop loving Jake. He’s more dear to me than life itself.”
Penelope shifted her gaze from Hallie’s face and stared at the sable-colored curl coiled around her index finger. “Serena claimed that she loved him, too. But she didn’t … not really. If she had truly loved him, she never would have treated him so horribly.”
Hallie shook her head. “I know it’s hard to understand why—”
But before she could finish her explanation, Penelope cut her off. “It’s her fault he went to war!” she accused wildly, her face contorting with sudden rage. “It’s her fault he was wounded! She drove him away with her hatefulness.”
Tears escaped the corners of Penelope’s eyes, and her voice faded until it was little more than a pain-filled whisper. When she glanced back up at Hallie, her eyes were brilliant from emotion. “How she laughed when she got Seth’s telegram informing her of Jake’s injuries. She said she hoped he would die. I hated her then.” With a soul-shattering sob, she began to weep in earnest.
Hallie’s heart went out to the girl. She knew from her own wretched childhood experience how devastating it was to live in a household torn apart by marital strife. She knew how examples set in the home molded and influenced a child’s perception of the world. Most important, she knew how those examples, good or bad, could affect the rest of a child’s life.
After years of watching her father wound her mother with his vicious insults and adulterous affairs, she herself had grown into womanhood distrusting men. Apparently Serena’s influence had been equally damaging to Penelope, instilling a distrust of other women.
Tentatively Hallie reached down and gently stroked the girl’s violently heaving back. Though Penelope stiffened beneath her touch, she didn’t pull away. It was a small concession, but a concession nonetheless.
As Hallie continued her soothing ministrations, she made a silent vow: through love and understanding Jake had proved to her that men could be trusted; she would use the same approach with Penelope and teach her that it was possible to trust another woman.
With that vow made, Hallie declared, “I’m not Serena, and I’d as soon kill myself as hurt Jake.”
Penelope made a disdainful noise between her sobs and raised her tear-ravaged face from her hands to shoot a wary glance in Hallie’s direction. “Why should I believe you?”
“I’m not asking you to believe my words, I’m asking you to judge my actions. I’m asking you to believe your own eyes and ears.”
Penelope’s only response to Hallie’s plea was a loud sniffle.
Without taking her gaze from Penelope’s face, Hallie reached into her pocket and pulled out a clean handkerchief. As she offered it to the girl, she asked, “Does your brother look miserable?”
Penelope eyed the lace-trimmed handkerchief thoughtfully. In truth, she couldn’t remember ever seeing Jake look quite so relaxed and happy as he’d been since marrying Hallie. Not even during the honeymoon period following his marriage to Serena. Reluctantly she shook her head and took the proffered handkerchief.
“Have you ever heard me raise my voice to him or say or do anything hurtful?” Hallie quizzed.
Penelope blew her nose. The woman had a point. Even when the couple had one of their rare disagreements, Hallie never reviled her brother or wounded him with vicious recriminations. Nor did she snub him with stormy silence, like Serena always had. No, Hallie rationally stated her point and in turn listened to Jake’s. Regardless of who won the dispute, the couple always ended up in each other’s arms, nuzzling and cooing to each other like a pair of mating doves.
With that picture in mind, Penelope shook her head again.
“Nor will it ever happen,” Hallie promised. “Please believe me when I say that I love and respect Jake. There is nothing I want more than to spend the rest of my life showing him how much I care. I know you were both hurt by Serena, but Jake has chosen to allow his heart to heal. If you’ll let me, I would like to be your friend and help your heart do the same.” Hallie held her breath, waiting for the girl’s response.
“Serena promised to be my friend,” Penelope whispered, catching her breath as her lower abdomen was seized by a particularly nasty cramp. “I loved her at first. She was so beautiful and full of life. She was everything I wanted to be. When she discovered my love for music, she took me to the theater to see all the latest musical plays. And when I told her that I intended to sing on the stage someday, she didn’t laugh or look shocked.”
Hallie smiled and took Penelope’s hand in hers. “It’s important to have someone with whom you can share your dreams. My mother always believed in my dream of being a doctor, even though the rest of our family and friends were scandalized by the notion. Without her love and support, I never would have had the courage to attend medical school.”
“Serena used to make me believe that I could do anything … until she stopped loving Jake. Then she hated me too. I-I tried to make her like me again, but she pretended that I no longer existed.” Penelope’s voice wavered slightly. “It’s all my fault everything went wrong. If I had been able to make her happy, she never would have needed the opium. I thought—” Then her voice broke and she was unable to continue.
Hallie gave the hand in hers a reassuring squeeze and cupped Penelope’s cheek in her free hand. “What happened to Serena wasn’t your fault. Serena was an unhappy woman who had a weakness for opium. I can’t explain why such things happen, or why people behave as they do, but I do know that it’s never anyone’s fault.”
Meeting Penelope’s bleak gaze with her comforting one, she added, “As for her hating you? I know for a fact that she cared for you, even at the end.”
“She did?” Penelope managed a tremulous smile, her face awash with hope.
Hallie nodded and returned the girl’s smil
e. “During several of her more lucid moments, she spoke of your wonderful voice. She was so terribly proud of you. She used to say that her talented little sister was going to be the most celebrated singer of the century.”
“She said that?” Penelope’s smooth brow furrowed with bewilderment.
“More than once.”
“Why didn’t she ever say those things to me? Why did she let me think that I was a horrible person who was no longer worthy of her friendship?”
“Because she loved you and no longer thought herself worthy of your friendship.”
“But why?” Penelope looked flabbergasted. “I never said or did anything to indicate that I wanted to end the friendship.”
Hallie shook her head and trapped Penelope’s gaze with hers, wanting to make sure that the girl understood what she was about to tell her. “Serena pushed you away because she didn’t want to expose you to the depravity of her addiction. She knew how much you admired her and was afraid that you might suffer from her influence. She turned you away because she cared.”
“Truly?”
“Cross my heart and hope to die.”
Penelope drew in a shuddering breath and closed her eyes, as if absorbing Hallie’s words. Hallie simply sat by her side, still holding her hand and stroking her cheek.
The healing balm had been applied to the poor child’s lacerated soul and scarred heart. Given time, patience, and love, she would heal. And perhaps someday she would even learn to trust again.
After a long while, Hallie murmured, “Penelope?”
The girl opened her eyes and looked up at the woman by her side. For the first time since their acquaintance, her gaze was unclouded by wariness.
“I heard Jenny Lind sing. Her voice couldn’t hold a candle to yours.”
Penelope’s face flushed pink with pleasure. “Honestly?”
“I never he,” Hallie vowed solemnly. “And you know what else?”
Penelope shook her head.
“I intend to do everything in my power to help you realize your dream, just like my mother did for me.”
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