He steeled himself and said, “I wonder if you could take care of Tate for me for a few days.”
There was that little pause of surprised silence. Then she said, “Yes, of course.”
“I’d like to bring him in tonight if I may.”
After a bit she said, “I don't think there will be any problem. I'll get the bed in Michele's old room ready. I can take him to school in the morning when I go to work and pick him up in the afternoon.”
“Good. I’ll see you later on this evening, then.”
All day, she felt it, the tenseness, the waiting, the uneasy anticipation. Jade had evidently taken her words to heart about being able to share Tate with her, or he would never have asked her to take care of him. But where was Jade going in the dead of winter?
It was snowing again when Jade's pickup pulled up in front of Julia's house. Raine met them at the door, the tall lean man and the young boy with flushed cheeks and bright eyes who was excited about staying with Aunt Raine and Grandma Julia.
“I'll take the suitcase,” she said, reaching for it, brushing his knuckles with her soft fingers.
He relinquished the case and watched her as she went up the stairs. She wore a dress, a fine wool one, in a soft beige color that brought out the gold in her hair. As she ascended the stairs, he could see the shapely curves of calf and thigh encased in nylon stockings.
Tate tugged impatiently at his hand. “Put the sled out on the porch, Daddy.”
Julia insisted that Jade stay for supper. After supper, at the table surrounded by enough .plants to fill a greenhouse, Jade sent Tate into the other room to play while they had their coffee. He drew a piece of paper out of his pocket. “There's the address and phone number of the hotel where I’ll be in New York City.'” Raine's reaction was a sudden dark flare of color in her cheeks. Seeing her body betray her made his stomach tighten.
Julia recovered first “You're going to see Michele?”
“Yes. Is there anything…”
Julia shook her head. “We hear from her occasionally. I don't need you to carry my messages." Julia's normally soft voice had a crisp edge. “Be careful, won't you, Jade? New York City is a big place.”
“I'll be careful,” he promised, unable to take his eyes off Raine. She sat very still and said nothing to him…not even goodbye.
He hated the city; he always had. Once before he had come East and then he had carefully put away his Western clothes and purchased a suit and a pair of tight-fitting shoes. This time, he said to hell with it, and when he checked in to the Roosevelt Hotel, he wore his sheepskin jacket and his comfortable old boots. No one batted an eye at his clothes, except a couple of women who gave him admiring glances. Did they think he was a Texas rancher with oil wells to support his cattle operation? He sure as hell wished he was.
Installed in his room, he looked around. From the window he could see only a concrete well created by the walls of the buildings surrounding the hotel. Vertical lines all of them, and to a man accustomed to scanning the wide expanse of the prairie, it was like being locked in a prison.
He turned away, a soft growl of disgust escaping him and reached for the phone…then stopped. He'd be a fool to give Michele advance notice. He knew where she was rehearsing. She hadn't hesitated to tell him during one of their brief telephone calls. She'd called to ask about Tate and had given him the address and telephone number where she could be reached. He suspected that it was Costelino's apartment. He no longer cared.
He looked at his watch. Two o'clock. He'd wait until later in the afternoon, toward suppertime. He flung himself down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. He wondered what Tate was doing. At least he didn't have to worry about his boy. Raine would take care of him. Raine loved the boy as much as he did. Raine…images poured through his mind. Raine at sixteen, staring up at him indignantly, her denims torn from the barbed wire fence she had followed him through. Raine on the back of a horse, looking like a graceful young animal with her incredible hair flowing out behind her. Raine, an adult woman with Tate sleeping against her breast.
He grimaced, feeling the tension in his shoulders, his back, his thighs. He had to relax, get control of himself. He would need all his wits to bargain with Michele. How could he have been so wrong about her? Ironically, it was that wild, restless quality that had attracted him to her in the first place. She'd seemed so alive, so vibrant. When she told him she loved him, he'd thought his life was complete. But the first winter they were married the weather was severe even for South Dakota. They'd had two weeks of bitter cold, and almost five feet of snow fell. The blizzard confined them to the ranch house. He had tried to console her. He'd carried in wood for the fireplace, gone into the stock of wine, wooed her on the dreary winter nights when the wind howled around the house. At first, she'd enjoyed the lovemaking. But as the days went on and their isolation continued, she became irritable and petulant. When she discovered she was pregnant, she was livid with rage. It was then that he’d begun to love her less. By the time she left, he felt nothing for her. She had borne his child, but she didn't love Tate. She was incapable of loving anyone…and she had damn near robbed him of the ability to love anyone as well. In his pain and rage, he'd lashed out at Raine…his body tensed. Hell! This was getting him nowhere. He had to get out of this room, away from his thoughts, his thousand regrets. He'd go out and find a coffee shop and stay there until it was time to go to the theater.
He'd expected a theater, not a church, except that it was unlike any church he’d ever seen. There were boards where the stained glass windows should have been. He squinted at the old sprawling building tucked in between two high-rises. The steeple was painted a bright, robin's egg blue. “Are you sure this is the right place?”
The cabdriver bristled. “This is the address you gave me, buddy. Either pay the fare and get out or I start the meter going again.”
Jade handed him the money and got out.
Inside, the floor creaked under his booted feet. The entryway was a sort of pinky-lavender that smote the eye. He followed the path of a plastic runner over the dark blue carpeting and came around the corner to what must have once been the sanctuary of the church. The altar area had been expanded and converted into a stage. Michele was on it, saying lines that made no sense to him.
A burly man, obviously the watchdog, rose out of the wooden seats. “Sorry, buddy. Nobody's allowed to watch rehearsals.” He took a step toward Jade. He was Jade's height and forty pounds heavier.
Jade stood his ground. “I came to talk to my wife.” He nodded in Michele's direction, his cold tone matching his adversary's.
Michele stopped and looked out from the stage. He could see her straining, trying to see from the lighted stage into the darkened hall. From a seat about a third of the way back, Tony Costelino rose.
Jade stood, meeting Michele’s gaze, his hands clenched. It was a danger signal and Michele knew it.
After a long, loaded silence, she said in a casual tone, “Let him stay, Matt. He won't bother me.”
From his place in the empty row of seats, Tony shook his head. “We'll take a break. It's time, anyway.”
The other actor on the stage shrugged his shoulders and moved away from Michele. She turned and disappeared in the wings. A second later, she appeared at a doorway on the side of the stage. She walked gracefully up the aisle, stopping beside Costelino and linking her arm in his. Even with all her bravado, she needs his support. Jade was amazed at his own ability to coolly analyze the actions of a woman he had once loved.
“You're a long way from home, cowboy.” Her voice had changed. She'd only been gone a matter of months, and she was like a creature from another planet.
“So are you,” he drawled.
She smiled at him, a feline, amused smile. “No. I'm more at home here than I ever was in South Dakota. I belong here.”
He thought that was probably true. “I'm glad you finally found your niche.” At her arched eyebrow, he said, “I'm only here beca
use you left a few ends dangling.”
“Did I? What ends?”
Jade's eyes moved over Costelino. “Is there any place where we could talk? Alone?”
Costelino took Michele's arm and unwrapped it from his. “Go on and talk to him. I'll see if I can figure out what's wrong with your microphone.”
“Sit down.” She gestured toward an aisle seat. He looked at hard chair and said, “Isn’t there a place where we could get a cup of coffee?”
“Across the street. Are you paying?”
“I always do,” he growled.
The coffee shop was clean. It had highly varnished table tops and glass pastry cases that reflected his own grim face back to him. Michele slid into a booth and looked expectantly at him. He strolled to the counter and got coffee in plastic cups and handed one to her.
She lifted the cup to her lips. “I assume there's nothing wrong or you would have called.”
“You might ask how your son is,” he said through gritted teeth.
Over the top of the cup her eyes flashed. “What difference would my asking make?”
“To him, none.” He shrugged, his shoulders moving under the heavy jacket
“I can't be hypocritical, Jade.”
He stared at her. She had her own peculiar brand of honesty which was as much a part .of her as her creamy skin and her graceful way of moving. But it was an honesty that didn't appeal to him. She was a stranger, a beautiful stranger, with nothing to offer a man but the beauty of her body.
“Don't you think it's hypocritical to be married to one man and living with another?”
Her eyes flew to his and in a fleeting instant, he saw the quick, feline assessment of his mood. When he leaned back against the bench lazily, she laughed, a release of tension. “So you know.”
“What do you take me for, an idiot? I’ve known you were sleeping with him since the night you walked into the Outrigger.”
Her eyes flickered over him. “What are you going to do about it?”
His tone was dry. “I thought I’d do the decent thing and divorce you.”
She laughed again. “Be my guest. I want to be free of you just as much as you want to be free of me.”
“You agree?”
She leaned back, more at ease than she’d been a moment ago. “Of course. As long as you grant me visiting rights.”
A muscle in his jaw moved. “What kind of visiting rights?”
“Two months in the summer. That’s a slow time in the theater. I could take Tate around and show him things he’d never see in South Dakota, museums, art, and of course theater productions.”
The thought of Tate in the city with Michele curdled Jade’s blood. “No.”
“Those are my terms.” She shrugged. “If you're not willing to meet them…”
“Who's backing your play?”
He watched while she toyed with her spoon. “What do you know about backers?”
“In case you've forgotten, I’m a cattleman and one of the biggest gamblers around. I know about having to borrow upfront capital to realize money on a long shot.”
Dark eyes looked up at him from long lashes. “Are you saying you'd be willing to invest money in the play?”
He watched her sultry eyes rove over him. Once that blatant invitation had fired his blood. Now he felt nothing but distaste. “How does fifteen thousand dollars sound?”
“In return for relinquishing my visiting rights? Not enough.”
He gritted his teeth. They were bargaining over his son and his feeling of revulsion grew. “Twenty thousand?”
“Make it twenty-five,” she said smoothly, “and you've got yourself a deal.”
He didn't flicker an eyelash. “I want a signed statement from you before I hand over the money.”
“You'll have it. Tony has a friend who's a lawyer.” She stood up.
It was then he began to wonder if this had all been carefully orchestrated. He followed, angling his body out of the booth with a lithe easiness that concealed his tension. “I'll be faxing it to Walter Jensen so he can look it over as well,” he warned her.
“You won't have to,” she said sweetly. “I wouldn’t want visiting rights if you handed them to me on a platter, Jade. Do you think I want a son tagging after me who’d betray exactly how old I am? No way. I knew you'd come across if I held out long enough.”
His eyes burned over her. He was furious, not because she'd tricked him, but because she cared so little for their son. For a long moment, he gazed at her, his eyes traveling over her petite body. How could he have been so blind? Of course. She was an actress. Her love for him had been an act. “What makes you think I won’t rescind our 'agreement' now that I know the truth?”
“You won't,” she said airily. “You wouldn’t take the slightest chance of losing your son to me. Because that’s what might happen if I expose him to the culture of the city. He might decide South Dakota is the back of the beyond, like I did. Besides, you're a man of your word, Jade, one of the few left around. Maybe that's why I married you. After my parents died, I didn't have much stability in my life.” She slanted an eyebrow. “I thought it was what I wanted. And you were an incredible lover, I have to give you that. But after Tate was born, I kept seeing myself as your baby machine, turning out little Kincaids year after year to add to the family dynasty. That wasn’t the future I’d envisioned for myself. I’m not like Raine, all sweet and domestic and ready to do whatever it takes to be your wife. You haven’t…bedded her, have you? No, of course not. You would do the honorable thing and wait until you were free. Is that what this precipitous visit is all about? Freeing yourself for Raine?”
“You don’t know a damn thing about Raine…or me, either.” He threw a bill on the table and turned away, more than a little disturbed at her perspicacity.
At the bottom of the four steps that led out to the street, she caught his arm. “So now that you have what you want and I have what I want…” her fingers tightened on him, “we’re friends again, aren’t we? I hate to see you spend the night in New York alone. Why don't I…” she framed the words carefully, watching him, “go back to your hotel with you?” She smiled. “Just for old time's sake? I could show you some new things I’ve learned from Tony.”
He steeled himself to keep from showing the revulsion he felt. He wondered just how far she would go to prove she was a better woman than Raine. For that was what it was, it had to be. “What would Tony darling say to your…renewing your acquaintance with me?”
“He’s an understanding man. Seeing you again makes me remember what a wonderful lover you are, how good you are in bed. I…want you, Jade.”
“And that’s supposed to make me fall into your arms?”
She looked at him, her eyes pleading. “If you were anything but a rancher…” She linked her arm in his, just as she had Costelino’s a moment ago. “I’d never have let you go, darling.”
His stomach squeezed in revolt. “Go back to Costelino, Michele. He’s your best bet now. And you have all my money to enjoy with him.”
She pulled away and stared at him, her eyes blazing. “You’re glad to be rid of me, aren’t you?”
“Frankly, yes.”
“You can’t wait to go home and console yourself with my little sister.”
He shook off her hand, the tautness of his arm telling her she had hit exactly on target. “For the last time, leave her out of this.”
“But she’s very much in it, isn’t she?” Michele shot back.
Deliberately, Jade turned his back on her and walked into the wintery night, thinking that anything Michele said or did no longer mattered to him. If he’d been thinking clearly, he would have known better.
The next morning, in Tony Costelino’s apartment, the tiny alarm next to the bed went off. Irritable and not remembering, Michele mumbled a succinct word and reached for the clock. Why the hell had she set it so early? She came awake suddenly, remembering. She reached for the phone, moving carefully so she wouldn’t d
isturb Tony.
The phone seemed to ring for an interminable time. But she let the rings go on, knowing that Raine would have to get out of bed and walk down the stairs. Julia had never installed an upstairs telephone even though Michele had begged for one.
At last, the ringing stopped. “Hello?”
Raine sounded sleepy and vaguely muddled. Of course. It was two hours earlier there. Perfect. “Hello, Raine. I just wanted to call and tell you the good news. You’ve won, sister mine. Jade is free. He’s all yours. But if you think you’ll get him to say those three magic words to you, you’re wrong. He never, in all the time I was with him, told me he loved me.” She laughed huskily. “If you think you’ll break through that barrier of male pride when I couldn’t, you’ll be sadly disappointed.” Michele yawned noisily into the phone. “I wish you the joy of him.” Well, have a good day, Raine. Look for me in People magazine. We just did an article and some photos to publicize our play.” Another long silence. “Is anything wrong?”
“No. Was that all you wanted? My feet are getting cold.”
“That was all I wanted, to tell you Jade is a free man…for all the good it will do you.”
Michele hung up the phone and rolled over. She ran an experimental fingernail down Tony’s spine. He wasn’t sleeping, she knew that. Costelino rolled over and grasped her by the nape of her neck, slipping a hand between her head and the pillow. “What the hell have you been up to so early in the morning, you little cat? It can’t be good.”
“Just giving my little sister a nice dose of insecurity. That’s my specialty.”
“You little bitch,” he said, with a mild, mocking affection. “You’re almost too much for any man to handle.”
“Care to try?” she said softly.
“I’ll do more than try,” he growled and pulled her over on top of him.
“Yes, you will. Umm, I love the way you wake up, all ready for action.”
“Then let me show you some,” he said, and gave her earlobe a nice little bite.
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