Seaspun Magic

by Christine Hella Cott

  "Still, the day's coming when books will be obsolete," the officer insisted. "Terrible shame."

  "Mmm, isn't it." Leo nodded, not appearing too worried about the disaster poised to befall his book-store. "That's one thing you don't have to worry about," he taunted silkily, "becoming obsolete."

  Arianne felt like giggling, while Larry apparently took the remark seriously. Arianne knew Leo was implying that everything became obsolete, given time. Larry took the remark confidently as a compliment.

  "Marvelous brandy." He rose, finishing his snifter. "You don't see that kind every day of the week! Since you aren't free tonight, Arianne, I might as well go back to work for an hour or two. When you've got a job like mine, the work never quits." He looked pointedly toward Leo, reclining on the couch.

  "I don't mind baby-sitting for a little while," Leo inserted helpfully.

  "No, no!" Arianne hurried to sway the direction this conversation was taking. "Not tonight, Larry. But, thanks. And thanks for the freesias."

  "And thank you for dinner! Absolutely fantastic. Jill didn't mention what a good cook you are. I never enjoyed a dinner more." He chuckled softly. "Especially seeing as I didn't have to pay for it," he tacked on slyly, shooting Leo a lightning glance.

  Taken aback by his crust, Arianne was lost for words. Larry wasn't. He continued breezily, "Come see me out to the door."

  The purpose of this ploy, she surmised, was for her to get a good look at his car, parked out front, a new red Corvette, bright and beautiful beside Leo's somewhat shabby vehicle.

  She was standing at the open door, waving Larry off as he kept adding more rhetoric to his goodbyes, when Leo appeared beside her. With a curt nod in the officer's direction, he began to close the door, drawing her back into the warmth of the house at the same time. The door shut, and for a moment longer his hand stayed on her arm, holding her quite close to him.

  "Arianne," he murmured with a faint hint of a smile on his beautiful male mouth, "come join me by the fire... you mustn't catch cold!"

  CHAPTER FIVE

  "Or anything else?" she quipped tartly, disengaging her arm and heading down the hall toward the kitchen.

  Leo fell into step behind her however. "I don't like him, Arianne."

  Now this man's nerve took her breath away. "So I noticed!"

  "Is he your boyfriend?"

  "I got the general impression he was trying to be," she said, and began to swing the kitchen door shut in his face. "Excuse me, Leo, I'm doing the dishes now." The door clicked shut; that was what he got for being so nosy.

  When Arianne had finished the monumental pile of dishes, tidied the kitchen and prepared for breakfast, she was tired out. Thank heavens the next day was Sunday! All she had to do tomorrow after breakfast was drive to Seattle to spend Thanksgiving Sunday and Monday with her mother. Grandma and the baby would happily entertain each other while she had some blessed time off! Her mother would be thrilled that Rae had the sight....

  Leo was still in the living room. He was reading the newspaper, delivered daily from Seattle. Arianne hesitated in the doorway. "Good night, Leo," she said evenly.

  The newspaper tipped to one side. "Good night," he returned, sounding cheerful.

  Sighing wearily on her way up the stairs, Arianne felt a little of Jill's depression weighing her down. For some reason she didn't feel quite herself. She was jittery, and all her senses seemed acutely receptive, even wary.

  She looked in on the children, bedded down in Rae's room across the hall from hers. After smoothing a blanket here and tucking in an arm there, she went to her bed, yawning prodigiously.

  Some three hours later she was almost instantly awake to the cries of one of the children. It was Erin. She hastened out of bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, used to these nocturnal missions. She had to stop those whimpers from spreading!

  But by the time she'd turned on the dim night-light in Rae's room, another sob had joined the first, and then they were all up and all very discontented.

  Jill had warned her about Erin's nightmares. He'd been having them ever since his bout with appendicitis. Now his body was wracked with sobs, the baby was screaming angrily and Rae was howling at her feet.

  Since Erin was the most frightened, she scooped him up first, comforting the poor little boy, whose arms clinched around her neck. Rae wasn't keen on another child having his place when he needed it, so he started to howl even louder. And the baby wailed from the crib.

  "Hush, hush, hush," Arianne begged, praying Leo slept like a log. "Sh-sh-sh! Please don't wake him up! Please! Shh!"

  "What the bloody hell!"

  Arianne spun around to see her guest leaning in the doorway. All he had on was a loosely tied pair of pajama bottoms.

  If she was surprised by him, so was everyone else. Rae and Erin both gulped their misery into sudden silence to stare, openmouthed, and one-year-old Lucy hiccuped and started to cry again, but more quietly.

  Coming into the room, Leo swept Rae up. "What happened?" he exclaimed in an undertone.

  "I think Erin had a nightmare, maybe set off by not being in his own bed. He might have thought he was back in the hospital. Or maybe the wind..." It was sounding rather eerie, sifting along the eaves of the house, whistling and moaning in the chimneys.

  Leo sat down on a bed, put Rae on one knee and held out his arm for Erin. As soon as the somewhat difficult transfer was complete and Arianne's arms were free, she went to pick up the baby.

  "She's wet," she said to no one in particular.

  "Aren't they always?" Leo returned, arranging the surprisingly quiet twosome sharing his lap more comfortably.

  For a number of minutes there were diapers to be changed and related chores to be done. Arianne worked swiftly, never thinking for a second that she should have put her robe on before coming across the hall. At last each child had been attended to and returned to a more peaceful frame of mind. Erin and Rae were back in Leo's lap; he was reading them a fairy tale, while Arianne cradled Lucy, feeding her a bottle of warm milk.

  The little boys' heads were drooping and Rae's eyes had already shut. To the soft deep cadence of Leo's voice reading from the book, Arianne paced up and down with the baby, quieting her and cuddling her and in general trying to replace her mother for the night.

  In the dim lamplight Leo's face was partly shaded, but his broad cheekbones and slightly crooked nose were emphasized. His honey-colored hair was a deep bronze sheen. She wondered how she could have told her mother he wasn't handsome, for he looked divine. His velvety tone was almost putting her to sleep, as well as the children; it was insinuating itself into her bloodstream and easing out all kinds of little knots throughout her body. The deep huskiness seemed to be sliding up and down her spine just as if—she blinked rapidly, giving her head a little shake.

  How nice of him to stay up and help! She was amazed and grateful, for without him it would have taken a great deal longer to settle the children. Lucy was ready to go back in her crib, finally, and Arianne tucked the blanket around the small chubby shape. As she stroked the baby's head for a moment more, to be sure she stayed asleep, Leo's voice trailed away.

  Arianne looked over at him. Then her hps parted in shock, for he was gazing raptly at her, and for the first time she became fully conscious of just how little she really had on. Her short nightgown didn't conceal much, and the skimpy panties below were more provocative than practical.

  Instantly Leo veiled his expression. The heat in his green eyes became a shimmer of ice again, but that split second had left an indelible effect. She couldn't have been more vitally aware of her curvaceous figure or of the fact that he was practically undressed, too. The breadth of bare shoulders, the blond mat smoothed over a tanned expanse of sleek muscled power.. .she couldn't stop staring.

  A band of excitement tightened around her chest, shortening her breath and making her feel light-headed. Her throat felt dry, and her tongue edged out to moisten her lips. It was the hardest thing imaginable to pret
end nothing had happened, and it was almost impossible to keep from dashing in a panic for her robe.

  But that would be admitting to her madly thudding heart, and there was no way she was going to do that. It was the first time in what seemed like years and years that she had felt like a woman, not just a mother. A beautiful, endlessly desirable woman, too; how intoxicating to think he felt that way about her! What a delicious surprise! She knew her body was what Jill liked to call "luscious" and that her schedule, diet and exercise program made it easy to keep that way, but she had no idea Leo felt such a deep attraction to her. Her discipline had paid off! And she'd always thought she did those push-ups only for herself....

  While she tucked Erin into one bed, he put Rae in the other. And when they both straightened up they found themselves hemmed in in the aisle between the two beds and much too close together.

  Slowly she looked up, to find his gaze fastened on her shadowy cleavage disappearing beneath an edge of sheer peach fabric. He didn't hurry to meet her eyes but looked a little farther down before drifting up the white throat, pausing on her mouth. And at last, by which time she felt ready to faint, he met her eyes.

  The possibilities between them shot the air with sweet sparkling tension. In her filmy attire she shivered, stung by the intensity between them, striving to fight against the heat wave flushing her from the inside out.

  Rae's west windows rattled from a buffet off the ocean. Her eyes wandered there but soon sought Leo's again. As the wind soughed through the firs below and found sounding places in the old house, she realized she was yearning to feel a man's strong arms around her, and she wanted his. She was aching for this particular man who was smiling ever so faintly at her at three-thirty on a dark and stormy winter morning.

  But she merely raised an impudent eyebrow, and when, after a telling hesitation he stood aside, she sailed past him. "Good night, Leo," she said, sounding cheerful.

  She didn't stop until she closed her bedroom door behind her, and then she sagged against it, running a hand over her forehead. She had resisted the greatest temptation of her whole life. She hadn't been sure, but she thought she might have hated herself in the morning. After all, she didn't know how long he would be staying. What if his travelogue was finished, his convention center land found and the headaches suddenly and conveniently all gone? When he left, she didn't want him walking away with a part of her…

  Thank heavens they were both going away for a few days. They would both need the break to put things back in their proper perspective. Somehow or other, the situation had got out of hand. She should never have let him stay…

  ***

  The rest of the weekend in Seattle passed quickly. It was wonderful to be home. Her mother forced her to loaf while she cooked and cleaned and played with Rae. Friends and neighbors crowded the dining-room table for the turkey on Thanksgiving Monday. Her cousin, the cookie mogul, was there, and she had an entertaining time laughing with him over the latest episode in his rise to fame and fortune. Twenty-five, black-haired, blue-eyed and gorgeous, he was a favorite friend of hers.

  "You whip up better cookies than seances, Mikey. That's for sure!" she said, chuckling.

  "Arianne, Reggie came to see me last week."

  "Oh?" She was silent for a moment. The news sent only the faintest tremor through her. "What did he want?"

  "You, of course. He's started looking for you once more."

  "By now he's probably forgotten all about me again."

  "You should tell him about Rae."

  "Yeah." She sighed. "I guess I'd better...."

  "I told him you were still in New York."

  "And he believed you? You know, I never thought I'd be so happy he didn't get to know any of my friends!"

  "Hm. You know I don't agree with what you're doing. Going into hiding was the same thing as admitting you were guilty! You should have stayed in town. You should have reopened your business in back of the shop, just like before you married the, the—"

  "Don't say it, Mikey. Anyway, it's all past. There's nothing to worry about—" she thought instantly about Leo and her heart constricted in her breast"—and one of these days I'll surprise everybody and come out of my cocoon."

  "I'll be there, cheering. So tell me about your B and B..."

  "Come on, you two," her mother interrupted at what Arianne considered a timely moment. "The turkey's on the table, and you, Mikey, have the honor of carving it, since you're the only man in the family!" Rianna Sawyer, plump and dimpled, looked the furthest thing from a being of the spirit world as was possible. Rae hung from one of her hands and in the other she had a huge basket of piping-hot crusty buns.

  "Let's go, Mikey!" Arianne said enthusiastically, sniffing all the delicious aromas.

  "I wish you'd get married, Arianne," Mikey said grouchily but good-naturedly, waiting for the women-folk to go into the dining room where everybody else was already seated. "Then somebody else would carve the turkey for a change!''

  "That's a wonderful idea!" Rianna exclaimed. "If you two would only get married to each other all our problems would be over!"

  "How do you figure that?" Arianne laughed.

  "I'd still be carving the turkey!" Mikey pointed out.

  "Yes, and I know just how to solv? that difficulty, for Christmas I'm sending you to gourmet carving school! Now get at it, and try not to eat all of it in the process!"

  Rianna took her place at the head of the oval table. Mikey, at the foot, started doing his duty on the magnificent Thanksgiving bird, which was nestled in a bed of glistening California grapes and autumn leaves Arianne had cut from colored paper.

  Arianne was wedged in beside her Aunt May, Mikey's mother, and one of the neighbors, Mrs. Edith Drew, a librarian at the nearby university. Mr. Drew was an architect. Arianne had known them practically all her life and had grown up with their youngest daughter, Judy. Judy sat across the table from her with her husband, Darwin. Beside them were two more of Arianne's friends. Completing the twelve were Mr. and Mrs. Tony Caravetti, who owned the Italian delicatessen right next door to the magic shop below. It was a noisy, jolly gathering, and Rae thoroughly enjoyed being the center of so much attention.

  "He's growing so fast!" Judy exclaimed.

  "Soon he'll be in school!" someone else added.

  "My, he certainly likes his turkey!" Mrs. Caravetti said with a chuckle. Rae was transferring chopped bits into his mouth with both small fists.

  "If he keeps stuffing himself like that," Mr. Drew observed, "He'll be bigger than you soon!"

  Arianne smiled. "I'm sure he weighs more already. I think it must be all that fresh country air."

  "I must say you sound very fond of your backwoods lair. I never would have thought you'd be happy in the country!" Darwin exclaimed. "I can't imagine you with time on your hands!"

  "I wish I had some extra time," and Arianne laughed. "Somehow or other I manage to be busy, even in Port Townsend. Just wait until Judy has your little bundle of joy, and I'll remind you of that remark!"

  "Just a month to go!" Judy beamed. "I want a boy, and of course Darwin wants a girl. What do you think it will be?"

  Arianne shook her head. "If your doctor won't tell you, do you think I should?"

  "You mean you know?" Judy squealed.

  "No!" Arianne lied hastily. "Of course I don't! Anyway, I knitted your baby a jumper to wear at Christmas. By then it'll be a month old already!''

  "So what color is the jumper?" Darwin queried, trying to be sly.

  "It's red, naturally!"

  "How does the little one get along with your B-and-B guest?" Judy's mother squeezed in.

  "A little too well, I'm afraid. He follows Leo around like a baby chick."

  "This Leo sounds nice, actually," Judy mused, studying Arianne's face.

  "Oh, he is... very nice," she supplied, trying hard to keep her face expressionless. Curiously enough, she felt a twinge of longing to have him present.

  "But not handsome..." her mother i
nformed the crowd, "and not tall, either, and he has blond hair and eyes like white jade—that's what I hear. You've been sharing your home with this stranger for weeks and weeks, and considering all that time, dear, your information is surprisingly scanty!"

  "I hardly see him!" Arianne justified. "You sense a romance under every rock, mother! And something tells me my Leo Donev is not the marrying kind!" And so the lively meal went…

  It was wonderful to get away, to be pampered at home, and terrific to see all her friends. Arianne especially enjoyed the talkathons with Mikey and her mother.

  "Now tell me all about Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome—the Larry you mentioned earlier," her mother encouraged, settling them both down with a drink much later after all their company had gone.

  "There's not much to tell. He's all three, and boring!''

  "Your B and B is nice—your new beau is boring. Arianne, dear, are you sure you're okay? You seem to have lost all interest in the opposite sex. I don't mean to pry, but it does seem a little.. .unhealthy. Are you really sure hiding out in the country is such a good idea?"

  "I'm not hiding out—at least not anymore! And do you think I want Larry to be boring? I'd simply adore it if he...he..."

  "If he what?"

  "If he made me feel like doing anything other than yawning!"

  Rianna laughed in amusement.1 'Why don't you move back to the city, darling, and take over the magic shop? You know how much work it is for one person, what with stocking the shelves and all the ordering. If you moved back to town, why, we could spell each other. Think of the fun we could have. It would be like the old days."

  "I'll think about it, mom," Arianne promised, knowing her vigorous parent could handle the work load just fine and that her generous offer was made out of concern. She smiled in heartfelt gratefulness for the caring. On the whole, she suddenly did feel better about almost everything.

  "I wish you'd explain just one thing," her mother went on. "What is white jade?"