Constance looked like her face would crack if she smiled, and Peter wasn’t much warmer. Constance was practically sitting in his lap, cuddling up to him, and trying to hold his complete attention. The sight of the two of them together gave Kelly an ache in the pit of her stomach. Peter’s eyes glittered in the firelight, and his mouth had a hard edge to it.
Jerry returned and plopped down beside her on the sand. He handed her a glass of wine and raised his glass in a toast. “Here is to new and interesting people.” Jerry raised his eyebrows smiling.
“Cheers.” Kelly felt very self-conscious with Peter sitting so close.
She took a sip of wine and met Peter’s disapproving stare over the rim. Her cheeks flushed, and she defiantly raised her glass to him. He gave her a tight smile, and turned to Constance, who brightened visibly under the attention.
“So, how come I’ve never met you before?”
The sound of Jerry’s voice made Kelly jump. She’d almost forgotten he was there. “I’m not sure.” Kelly smiled politely.
Jerry seemed nice enough, but not really her type. He was more of a surfer dude. Kelly felt pretty stuffy in comparison. Jerry didn’t seem to mind the difference, and first chance he got he pulled her back out on the dance floor. After three more fast numbers, Kelly excused herself and decided the only way to rest was to go for a walk down the beach, alone. She waited until Jerry was distracted, and then she slipped away quickly into the night.
There was a full moon, so it was very easy to see where she was going. She walked quickly down the beach, the waves rolling in beside her. A quick glance back assured her she was not being followed by Jerry the mad dancer, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
So much for avoiding Peter tonight, she thought to herself. What were the odds that they both would have shown up here? Probably one in a million?
“Just shows what terrific luck I have lately,” she grumbled.
She walked towards a set of rocks at the end of the beach, sitting down on one of the cold rough stones. She didn’t feel like dancing anymore. She didn’t feel like talking to anyone. She didn’t understand why she felt so depressed after watching Peter and Constance snuggling together. It made her unreasonably angry. But maybe that was because Constance had been the catalyst in breaking her and Stephen up. That was probably it.
There were muffled footsteps close to her, and when she looked up, she found Constance standing a few feet away. The sight of the woman startled her. Had she followed Kelly?
“Well, well, not feeling terribly social tonight?” Constance’s voice was heavy with sarcasm.
“Not particularly,” Kelly answered, trying to stifle her irritation at the woman interrupting her solitude.
“Maybe you were hoping someone else would follow you out here? Like maybe Peter?”
Kelly’s face flushed. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
“I went for a walk so I wouldn’t have to dance every single dance tonight.”
“Oh, please. Give up the innocent act.”
Kelly scowled. “What’s your problem with me exactly?”
“Peter told me about your little crush on him.” Constance brushed at an imaginary spec on her suit.
“My what?” Kelly felt the blood draining from her face.
“Your crush, darling. It really is rather pathetic. He’s most definitely out of your league.” Constance gave her a frozen smile. “He isn’t quite sure what to do. You’re becoming quite a nuisance.”
“He told you that?” Kelly’s voice was shaky. Peter thought she was a nuisance? This didn’t make any sense. Kelly lifted her chin and looked directly at the other woman. “Did he tell you he tried to sleep with me?”
Constance’s face stiffened, but then she smiled coldly. “Of course he did. But apparently you wanted it to be more than a one night stand, and Peter… didn’t.” She took in Kelly’s pale face. “You see, Peter and I are adults. I understand a man has an appetite for variety, he understands that in me as well. But we both always come back to each other.”
Kelly couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This was disgusting. But if Constance and Peter’s relationship was so rock solid, why was the woman going out of her way to warn Kelly off? Pride came to Kelly’s rescue.
“Was there some reason why you’re working so hard at keeping me away from Peter?”
“What are you talking about?” Constance hesitated.
“Well, for a woman so sure of her man, you seem to be going to a lot of trouble to warn me off, don’t you think?” Kelly kept the proud tilt of her head.
“I’m very sure of Peter, but he sometimes needs a little help in the untangling department. Especially from naïve, schoolgirl types like you.” She sneered.
“Wow, you’re so pretty on the outside and so revolting on the inside. I can’t imagine what Peter or Stephen sees in you.” Kelly’s voice trembled, and she pushed past Constance, making her way back to the group of partygoers.
As she neared the party Peter appeared out of the night coming toward her. He took one look at her face, and reached for her, concerned.
“Kelly, are you alright? What happened?” His voice was husky.
“Don’t touch me.” She jerked away.
“I’m just concerned about you,” he said, exasperatedly. “Where did you disappear too?”
“Oh I had a nice little chat with Constance. She wanted to set me straight on your sick little rules.” Her voice held contempt.
“Constance followed you out there? What rules are you talking about?”
“Don’t worry. This school girl hasn’t set her sights on you. I want no part of your strange little world.” She brushed past him. To her dismay tears were brimming in her eye, but she couldn’t let him see that.
Gayle hurried up to her as she neared the fire. “Where were you? Jerry’s looking all over for you.” She took in Kelly’s bedraggled expression and pulled her aside.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I… I just had a heart to heart with Constance. She warned me off Peter. She implied he’d said I was a nuisance with a school girl crush.” Her face was hot.
“Do you have a crush?” Gayle asked softly.
“Gayle, you’re supposed to be on my side.”
“That’s exactly why I am asking. Come on, Kelly, I see a certain look when you talk about him,” Gayle smiled.
“I do… did… find him attractive, but after what I heard tonight, I don’t ever want to look him in the face again.”
“First of all, you can’t believe anything that woman said, she has a conflict of interest.”
“She certainly is convincing.” Kelly felt fatigued. “I think I’ve had as much fun as I can stand tonight.”
Gayle frowned. “You’re going home now?”
Kelly nodded and gave Gayle a quick hug. “I’m going to try to make a quick exit, before the dancing fiend Jerry finds me.”
Unfortunately, Jerry corralled her as she was trying to sneak away.
“Kelly, come on, the night is young. You can’t be leaving?” Jerry asked in disbelief.
“Oddly enough, I am. I am extremely tired suddenly, Jerry.”
“Well at least give me your number?” he asked persuasively.
“I… ah…” She had no desire to give him her number, but when she saw Peter watching her talking to Jerry, she couldn’t control the urge to make a point to him. “Let me write it down for you.” She smiled sweetly at Jerry while pulling out a pen and paper from her purse.
Jerry was ecstatic and waved goodbye before returning to the party. Kelly marched silently across the sand to her car rejecting Jerry’s offer to escort her.
She arrived home, and stripped off her dress, falling exhausted into bed. She lay there thinking over the night’s events. Constance may be beautiful, but her personality left something to be desired. At least, she certainly was unpleasant to Kelly. Were the things she’d said true? Did she and Peter have some sort of open rel
ationship? Had Peter actually said Kelly was a nuisance? Thinking about it now, she thought Gayle was probably correct. Constance was probably lying. Peter would have no reason to say those things. He’d tried to seduce her.
She heard his car drive up, and her heart started pounding. The door to the cottage opened quietly. She could hear his soft footsteps passing her bedroom door. Then they paused. For a split second Kelly thought he was going to open her door, but then the footsteps continued and she heard him close his door. For a moment she had thought he was going to come into her room, and she was horrified with herself because a part of her had wanted him too.
She groaned and rolled over onto her stomach. Punching her pillow she buried her face, hoping desperately for some solace in sleep.
Chapter Seven
Kelly woke to the sound of the phone ringing in the Kitchen. She lay there for a moment wondering if Peter would get it, but after about the twelfth ring, it didn’t seem likely. She rolled out of bed and padded out to the phone picking it up only to hear a dial tone.
“Figures,” she grumbled.
She replaced the receiver and turned to pour a cup of coffee and saw a note taped to the coffeemaker.
Kelly. Can we talk tonight? Peter
Her pulse quickened. What did he want to talk about? She felt depressed at the idea, and excited at the same time. Maybe they should talk. They still had a couple of months to go before Peter would be leaving. It was going to be pretty awkward around here if they didn’t at least try to clear the air.
She spent the morning, and early afternoon doing some puttering outside in her flower box near the back door. She pulled the weeds and tilled the dark soil. The Iris’ inside the box had been pretty neglected lately. The bright blue lobelia that lie around the bottom of the box was getting long and stringy, spilling over the edges of the container. She trimmed it, and watered the flowers, sprinkling in a few packets of new seeds just for good measure.
Sitting back on her heels, she peeled off her gardening gloves, and perused her work.
“Much better. It actually looks like someone lives here now.” She smiled.
The phone rang from inside, and she brushed dirt off her hands and went in.
“Yes?”
“Is this Kelly Martin?” A male voice asked.
“Yes it is.”
“Kelly. It’s me, Jerry,” said a jovial voice.
“Jerry?” Kelly sounded confused
“From the barbecue last night, you know, Jerry.”
Kelly slapped a hand over her mouth. She had completely forgotten she’d given him her number. That’s what she got for acting in spite.
“Jerry, yes of course. My feet still hurt from all the dancing.”
“Yeah that’s me. Hey, I was wondering if you had plans tonight?”
Kelly was relieved to say she did. “Actually Jerry I do, sorry.”
“No problem, how about tomorrow night?” he asked, not at all deterred.
“Ah… well.” His phone call had caught her off guard. “I… I guess.”
“Great. I’ll pick you up about seven, how’s that?”
“Well, I guess.” She was a woman of few words.
“Great. What’s the address?”
Kelly gave him directions to her house and set down the receiver. Now she was stuck going out with someone she was not interested in simply because of her pride. What had she been trying to prove by giving him her number, just because Peter was watching? She had to be sure to not mislead Jerry. He had no idea what her motivation had been and she couldn’t let the deception continue.
Kelly spent a little time painting and then she decided to set about making some dinner. She poured a little lemon oil in a pan, browned a chicken breast in it and set it aside. She then filled a pot with water and boiled a large bright green artichoke. After about forty five minutes, when the artichoke was done, Kelly sat down at the table and devoured her feast.
She was just finishing the dishes when Peter came in the door. He gave her a cautious smile.
“Hello, how are you?”
“I’m fine.” Her heart beat wildly in her chest.
He walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a coke, then plunked himself down at the table with a large sigh.
“I take it you got my note?”
“Couldn’t miss it. The coffee maker is my most treasured possession.” She tried to hide her anxiety by joking.
Peter’s eyes were down cast, and he cleared his throat to speak.
“First of all, I would like to apologize for my behavior the other evening.” He looked up and met her eyes. “I was way out of line. I’m sorry.”
She blushed and glanced down at her hands.
“Well, I accept your apology, of course. I just don’t see how we could go on with this arrangement if that sort of thing happened again.”
It was his turn to flush. “I wasn’t sure you wanted this situation to continue either way.” He gave her an enigmatic look. “Would you rather I move into a hotel in town?”
“No.” Kelly answered before she could stop herself. The idea of Peter moving out had given her an odd twinge of disappointment. But, she had lived here for years alone. She’d never had a problem being alone. She was confused by her own reaction.
He seemed pleased. He gave a grateful smile. “Thank goodness. I think I would have gone nuts if I had to go back into town permanently.”
Kelly took a deep breath and sat down at the table near him. “But, we have to lay down some ground rules here, or something. I… I don’t quite know what happened the other night.”
His eyes were gentle and contemplative. “What happened is, I find you extremely desirable.”
She colored fiercely.
“I’m sorry, was that a little too frank?” He gave a self-conscious laugh.
“Well, it is a little unsettling.”
“Kelly, I’m not going to lie to you. The first day I saw you, I found you very attractive.” He held up his hand placatingly. “But… I have no intention of ever forcing myself on you, rest assured.”
“Alright, fair enough,” She raised her eyes to see his filled with amusement. “What’s so funny?”
“Just your expression, you can’t be surprised that men find you beautiful?”
“Well, I know I am not hideous, but I don’t normally cause men to be overcome with passion.” She smiled.
“You seem to have that effect on me,” he said quietly. “But I promise to behave myself.”
“Alright, then I think we shall get along fine.” She had to fight from telling him she too found him overwhelmingly attractive. She was determined to keep that little tidbit to herself.
Since they were being so honest she wanted to ask him if he was hiding anything from her. She wasn’t sure she should. They were back on solid ground, did she dare shake anything up again?
Peter must have noticed her hesitation. “Is there something else on your mind?”
“Well…” She decided to risk it. “It’s just that I sometimes get the feeling that you are hiding something from me.”
“What would I be hiding?” His voice was guarded.
“I… I have no idea.” She laughed sheepishly, “Maybe something to do with Constance.”
“I’m actually glad you brought up Constance.” His voice had a rasp to it. “The other night you seemed very upset on the beach. What did she say to you?”
“It really seems pretty silly now, but she was basically warning me off from you.”
“Warning you off?” He seemed surprised. “In what way?”
She glanced away embarrassed. “Well, er… romantically. She implied you two had some sort of… open relationship… where you swap between people… something like that.”
Shock yielded quickly to anger. “She said what?”
Kelly wished she had kept her mouth shut. “I don’t know, something about variety.” She flushed miserably.
“I have no relationship with her, open o
r otherwise, besides a business one.”
She was surprised at the flush of pleasure this statement brought her. Constance had been lying. Her and Peter were not lovers.
An expression of satisfaction showed in her eyes. “That’s a relief.”
“Why is that a relief?” He sounded hopeful, and his eyes burned into her.
She hadn’t realized she had spoken out loud. He seemed to enjoy her struggle to recapture her composure. “I just mean because, for as beautiful as Constance is, she isn’t very nice.”
“Oh is that all you meant?” His tone was obviously disbelieving.
“Of course that’s all I meant.” She lifted her chin defiantly. “Believe me, I have had it with men.”
“Oh I see.” He was definitely humoring her now.
“Don’t use that tone, I am dead serious.” Unfortunately she was grinning wildly.
From the expression on his face Kelly knew he wanted to reach out and prove her wrong, but he stuck to his word, and behaved himself.
“You know, I’m hurt.” He changed his tactic suddenly. “There are lots and lots of women who would love the fact that I salivate every time they walked in the room.”
She laughed out loud. “Lots and lots, you mean other than Constance?”
“Ah, Constance can go to hell.” His lips thinned with irritation.
A thrill went through her at the obvious anger in his voice at the other woman. Why did it matter to her if he disliked Constance? She couldn’t explain it, it just did.
“I don’t know what game she is up to, but I don’t want it to ruin my relationship with you… our friendship.” He added almost as an afterthought.
“Well, I have to admit, against my man hating rules, that I do enjoy your company and I don’t want to fight, or avoid each other. You’re quite a pleasant roommate.”
“Gee… it gets better and better. Now she finds me ‘pleasant’.” His tone was grumpy.
“It’s more than I can say for most men.” She shot back, grinning.
The Art of Hiding Page 10