by Gordon, Lucy
“I don’t know what’s gotten into me. All this analytical talk! Usually I’d rather do anything than pick thoughts to pieces, especially my own. It’s something to do with you. Those beautiful eyes of yours see too much.”
Before she could recover from her pleasure enough to answer, a man came dancing up to their table with a tray loaded with cheap souvenirs.
“Oh, please, Jack, would you get me one?” Kaye asked eagerly. “As a memento of—of this restaurant.”
The trinkets were made of carved wood. She chose a little wooden horse dangling on a chain, just small enough to fit into her pocket.
“Wait,” she cried impulsively as the seller prepared to go. When he turned back she took an identical horse from the tray and paid for it.
“It’s for you,” she said to Jack. “It could be a key ring.”
As she said the words she recalled his solid gold key ring and could have wept for her own clumsiness. But he smiled and took her gift warmly. “You don’t have to give me anything, Kaye. But I’m glad you did.”
They strolled back together along the beach. Jack slipped his arm about her shoulders and this time she dared to put her own arm around his waist. The brilliant moon covered the world with silver, and everything was quiet, save for the soft plashing of the tiny waves. Kaye tried to pretend that they were the only people in the whole world, and wished it could be so. She loved him with her whole heart.
“What are you looking at?” Jack asked, following her upward gaze.
“The stars. They all seem so strange.”
“That’s because we’re seeing them from much farther south than usual.”
They stopped and gazed up together. Kaye had worn her hair up, but the movement of his arm loosened the pins, and it all tumbled down. She turned her head and found him looking at her, and her heart beat wildly as she saw the sudden response in his face. How she’d longed to see it there, and now at last it had happened. He saw her as a woman. She felt him draw her closer, and the next moment she was in his arms.
“Kaye...” His murmur was half a protest, as though he’d sworn not to let this happen. But if so, he was possessed by a desire stronger than his will, for almost at once he began to kiss her with hungry urgency.
He was a man used to indulging every demand of his senses. When he drew her down to the sand he was following a well-worn path that would end in pleasure and satiety.
To Kaye they were making love. In her innocence she had no idea that he was doing something entirely different. She felt the rough hairs of Jack’s chest against her bare breasts and gasped with the unfamiliar pleasure. She’d lived this moment before in her fevered dreams, but not once had it been as poignantly sweet as this. Everything she’d longed for was happening, and in another moment she would know the joy of complete union.
“Kaye—” Jack said hoarsely, with something like alarm in his voice.
“Yes—yes—” She kissed him repeatedly, too consumed by happiness to heed the doubting note in his voice. “Oh, my love, my love...”
“Kaye—don’t...” he begged
“But I love you—I love you—”
It was as though her words had touched a spring. With a groan Jack pulled back sharply. “No!” he shouted. “I’m not going to do this!”
He wrenched himself out of her arms. In one terrible moment Kaye became aware of everything: Jack’s face, distraught, eyes wide with horror, her own breasts in the moonlight. She had exposed more than her body. Her own terrible words, I love you—I love you—seemed to hang in the air.
“Oh, God,” she wept. Turning away, she hurriedly covered herself and scrambled to her feet.
“Kaye, wait!” She felt Jack’s hand on her arm, but shook him off and fled. She wanted to die before she ever had to look him in the face again. Tears poured down her face as she raced along the beach, frantically trying to outrun the sound of Jack’s voice and the searing knowledge of her own shame.
She felt his hand on her arm. “Let me go!” she screamed, struggling, but he held her.
“Kaye, please,” he begged, managing to get both arms around her. “Please hear me out.”
“I don’t want to listen,” she cried. “I know—”
“But you don’t know,” he said frantically. “Oh, please, darling, don’t cry. I didn’t want to hurt you. That’s why I—don’t you see that I couldn’t—? Hush, hush!” He pulled her head against his shoulder. “I couldn’t treat you like the others. They’re all the same—easy come, easy go. But you’re different. You’re special, precious.”
She couldn’t answer. His words seemed to her only commonplace reassurance. She’d made herself and her love cheap for a man who cared nothing for her. She had no more strength to struggle. She could only yield to her grief and sob bitterly on his shoulder, while he hushed her gently.
“I should never have let things get so far,” he murmured. “I don’t know what I was thinking of, but you’re so sweet and delightful. I should have been more careful of you—try to forgive me, darling.”
“Don’t call me darling,” she sobbed. “It’s not true. It’ll never be true.”
“It’ll be true one day, with a man more worthy of you than me. I’m a selfish devil, or this wouldn’t have happened. But you’ll find a man who knows how to treat you, and you’ll love him.”
“I’ll never love anyone but you,” she whispered.
He drew back a little and took her face between his hands. “Yes, you will,” he said. “And he’ll be the luckiest man alive. I envy him already. When you find him, remember I said that.”
He kissed her softly on the eyes and on the lips, and dried her face with his own clean handkerchief. There was nothing more to be said, so Kaye let him take her hand and lead her back along the beach. He talked as they went, lightly, trying to calm her. And when they came in sight of the hotel she managed to hold her head up high.
Soon they were among the other guests. Jack gave her hand a squeeze before letting her go, and she didn’t see him again that evening. That night she went to sleep holding the little wooden horse he’d given her.
Next day he was gone. Mrs. Harris explained that he’d taken Georgy on an expedition to the other side of the island, and wouldn’t be back until the evening. She knew he’d gone to escape her. She had embarrassed him.
Sam, too, was away, and Bertie moped without his boon companion. He seemed tired and out of sorts, and at dinner he ate very little.
Then just as the meal finished he collapsed with a massive heart attack.
The hotel staff acted smartly and in a few minutes Bertie was in an ambulance on his way to the hospital. It was an excellent place but small, serving a tiny population. The kindly staff stabilized Bertie’s condition, while Kaye frantically explained that this wasn’t Bertie’s first attack.
“He was supposed to be careful, but he wouldn’t—”
“He should be flown to the mainland as soon as possible,” Dr. Bukin said. “We can provide a flying ambulance, but I’m afraid there’s a big charge.”
“We’ve got insurance,” Kaye said at once.
Dr. Bukin called the insurance company, and her heart sank as she saw his face become tense.
“I’m afraid there’s a problem,” he said when he’d hung up. “Your grandfather never told them he’d had a heart attack before. It’s given them the excuse to invalidate his insurance. They won’t pay.”
“Then I will,” Kaye said frantically. “I’ll pay anything.”
He told her the amount and she paled. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll work all my life to pay it off—”
“I’m sorry, but we need the money up front. Look, talk to them yourself.”
She tried, but the insurers were adamant. Dr. Bukin took the phone from her. “I want you to realize that your attitude is condemning this man to death,” he snapped.
Kaye could hear the tinny voice mouthing something about “company policy.” Unable to bear any more, she ran out of the room,
down the corridor and into the hospital grounds. Hysterical sobs tore at her, and she ran blindly until she felt two strong arms seize her, and a comforting voice say, “Kaye! It’s all right, it’s me.”
“Jack—oh. Jack—” She was shaking too much to speak.
“I just got back and heard about Bertie. Is he—?”
“He’s going to die,” she cried in despair. “He needs a flying ambulance, but the insurers won’t pay.”
“All right, calm down. C’mon now, don’t cry. I’m going to make it all right.”
“You can’t do anything,” she wept. “He’s dying.”
“Hey, nobody tells Jack Masefield that he can’t do something,” he said gently. “Let’s go inside.”
The insurance company hadn’t budged, but Jack immediately took charge. “Get the ambulance out,” he told Dr. Bukin. “It’s all taken care of. Do you have a phone I can use?”
Kaye raced back to see Bertie. He was lying still, an oxygen mask on his face and tubes attached to his arms. She leaned down as close as she could and whispered, “It’s going to be all right. Jack’s taking care of us. Just hang in there. Oh, don’t give up now, darling.”
Jack was waiting for her downstairs.
“The ambulance will be ready in half an hour,” he said. “I’ll drive you to the hotel to pack your things, and bring you back here. You’re going to Florida. They’ve got one of the best hospitals in the world.”
“But Jack, it’ll be a private hospital and we’ve no insurance now.”
“Kaye, stop fretting. It’s all arranged.”
She was silenced, awed by his generosity.
At the hotel she packed Bertie’s things, then her own, and tucked the little wooden horse into her pocket.
They reached the hospital to find the ambulance plane there, and Bertie already being taken on board. “Now you,” Jack said.
Suddenly it dawned on her that this was a final goodbye. “Jack,” she said hurriedly, seizing his hands, “I know I can never really pay you back, but I will.”
“Kaye, forget it, please.”
“I don’t mean money. I mean, one day I’ll do something that’s as important to you as this is to me. Anything you want, whenever you want. It doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing at the time.”
“All right. It’s a deal.”
“I mean it, Jack. Anything, any time, any place. For you I’ll drop everything, at a moment’s notice. Remember that.”
“I’ll remember.” His warm eyes met hers for a moment, then he kissed her cheek kindly. “Take care of yourself, Kaye.”
“You too. And don’t forget...”
“Anything, any time, any place,” he repeated. “I’ll count on it.”
He helped her aboard. The door slammed and the next moment they were moving. The last thing she saw was Jack waving, with a movement that was big and bold, like the man himself.
In Florida an ambulance was waiting at the airport, and they were whisked away to a gleaming white hospital with all the latest equipment. There was even a room for Kaye, so that she could be with Bertie constantly. He’d stood the journey well, and by next morning his condition was looking more hopeful. In two weeks he’d recovered enough to return to England.
Jack called the hospital every day to check Bertie’s progress, but only once did he speak to Kaye. She tried to thank him again, but he wouldn’t let her finish.
“I’m in your debt about Georgy,” he said quickly. “As long as Bertie is improving.”
She could tell he was eager to end the call, so she said something polite and hung up. Jack was being kind and conscientious, but for him it was all over.
That had been six years ago, and since then she’d had no contact with him. To her disappointment she hadn’t even grown into the kind of voluptuous beauty he liked. Her figure had filled out a little, but her charms would never be ample. Her face was lovely in a delicate, understated way, but she scorned her own looks because they weren’t the kind that pleased Jack.
At first the memory of the night on the beach had devastated her. She relived it again and again, the bittersweet joy of being with him, the agony of his rejection. It took time and acquaintance with other men for her to see it in its true light.
She had boyfriends, too many, Bertie said, for she was searching for something she would never find again. Her relationships fizzled out quickly, since no man was allowed too close to the heart of her, and none ignited her senses as Jack had done. And when they discovered her physical coldness they reacted in ways she found illuminating. Mostly they behaved selfishly, and by contrast she came to see Jack’s action in its true light, as a generous man’s most completely generous act.
She followed his exploits in the papers avidly, and couldn’t help her heart beating faster at the sight of him with a curvaceous brunette on his arm.
The last time had been a month ago, when he’d crashed his speedboat at sea and ended up in the hospital for a stay that was expected to be two weeks but had actually been two days. He’d emerged determined to take the speedboat back to sea at the first chance. The newspaper had shown him with his arm about a young woman with long hair, who was looking up at him. Kaye couldn’t see her face, but she could see Jack’s. His eyes, as he gazed down at his companion, had been filled with a warmth that hadn’t been there before.
Kaye understood that look. This was no longer a man playing the field, but a man who’d found someone special. She knew she had no right to feel pain. But she did, nonetheless.
She could never be anything to Jack, but one day he might call in her promise. If only he would come back for her, she thought wistfully.
And then, on her wedding day, he did....
Chapter Two
“How could you do that?” Kaye gasped as they sped away from the church. “How could you—?”
“He just did it, sweetheart,” the driver boomed over his shoulder. “Simple as that.”
“Sam!” she cried, and he turned his head to grin. “Watch the road!” He turned back just in time to avoid a collision.
“You’re mad, both of you,” she cried.
“That’s right, we haven’t changed a bit,” Jack assured her.
His smile was as wide and heart stopping as she remembered, and a tremor went through her as though the past six years had never been.
“Anything, any time, any place,” he reminded her. “That was your promise, and I’m calling it in. I need you, Kaye. I’ve got Georgy with me full-time now. Elsie was into booze and toyboys in a big way, and it was just no life for a fourteen-year-old girl. Trouble is, Georgy was having a good time, so she wasn’t happy when I whisked her away.
“Then I remembered you and how well you got on with Georgy. If you’re looking after her, I can have an easy mind.”
She gaped, barely able to believe her ears. “And you kidnapped me from my wedding for that?”
“Well, you didn’t want to get married.”
“How did you know that?”
For a moment he seemed awkward. “Er—I surveyed the territory first,” he said hastily. “Never mind that. You’re well out of it.”
“But I have to marry Lewis,” Kaye said urgently. “My brother, Paul, worked for him, and Lewis caught him stealing. He threatened to prosecute, but if I marry him, Paul will be safe.”
“Will he? Or will he be used as a weapon to bully you with whenever Vane feels in the mood? Never mind. The wedding’s off. Step on it, Sam.”
“There’s no sign of them,” Kaye said, glancing out of the rear window.
“Your groom knows where I live.”
“You know Lewis Vane?”
But of course, Jack knew everyone. She looked at him in a daze. He was so big and handsome, so confident that the world would dance to his tune. And perhaps he was right. It was like a miracle to find herself with him again.
Six years had hardly changed him. There were a few more laughter lines, but they only made his face more attractive. He
still had the lean, hard figure of an athlete, still radiated a charisma so strong that it was almost like an aura.
He grinned and took her hands in his. “Don’t fret,” he advised her. “It’s all going to be taken care of. Give me a kiss for old times’ sake!”
Still holding her hands, he kissed her lightly on the mouth, then smiled directly into her eyes. “Trust me?”
“Yes,” she said breathlessly.
“Good.” He turned back to the front, keeping one of her hands tucked between the two of his. She left it there contentedly. She didn’t understand anything, but it didn’t matter. Jack Masefield had come storming back into her life, and she didn’t want to wake up, ever.
“Where are we going?” she asked at last.
“Maple Lodge. It’s my home when I’m in London. It’s a nice little place. I’ve got a good school for Georgy nearby. Except that she doesn’t want to go. Elsie let her do as she liked.”
He called forward to Sam, “Did you pass my instructions on to Mary?”
“Every last one. You’ll find it all done.”
The car was slowing to turn into a drive, and Kaye got her first glimpse of Jack’s “nice little place.” It was a mansion set in extensive grounds. Through some maple trees she glimpsed a swimming pool, then the trees cleared, revealing a large solid building with a roof of red tiles.
A beautiful young woman with long hair stood in the porch waiting, and Kaye’s heart sank as she realized that this must be Jack’s girlfriend, the one he’d been hugging in the newspaper picture. Then the young woman waved, and Kaye stared in recognition.
“Georgy?” she breathed.
“Georgy,” Jack confirmed.
“Then you haven’t—” She checked herself before she could blurt out haven’t got a girlfriend.
“Haven’t what?”
“Nothing,” Kaye said hastily. “I’m just amazed. Georgy was only eight when I knew her—”
“And she’s fourteen now, but she could pass for twenty. So she thinks she is twenty.”