Anything, Any Time, Any Place

by Gordon, Lucy

  “Jack,” Paul pleaded, “you wouldn’t do this to me?”

  Jack shrugged. “We’ve both had our orders,” he said. “When Kaye’s in this mood it’s best to do as she says.”

  He spoke lightly, but it was clear that something had changed. Kaye had found her voice. Paul’s shocked face as he heard her pronounce his sentence proved that he knew it, too. The sister who’d protected him all his life had finally slammed the door, and nothing would ever be the same again.

  There was silence on the way home. Kaye and Jack were both too wrung out to talk, and Georgy was in a furious temper. Kaye dreaded the scene when they reached home to find Elsie waiting to make the most of it. As they turned into the drive she could see Elsie on the front step, flanked by Rhoda, and the two old men.

  But Jack nipped a scene in the bud. As soon as Georgy got out of the car he said in a voice that brooked no refusal, “Say good-night to your mother and get to bed.”

  Elsie looked as if she’d like to embark on a speech, but a glance from Jack silenced her. She looked daggers at him, but all she said was, “Leave it to me, darling. You’re going to be back living with your mom very soon.”

  Georgy didn’t answer at first. She seemed to be having trouble recognizing her mother. “What’s that getup?” she muttered, as if talking about her fancy dress.

  “Where’s Paul?” Rhoda demanded.

  Jack made a gesture that referred her to Kaye. He was still looking at his wife in a new way, as though tonight he’d seen her for the first time.

  “Paul’s on his way home,” Kaye said. “I told him not to come back here.”

  “She made him walk,” Georgy cried. “She wouldn’t even let him drive home in her car. And she said dreadful things to him.”

  “Walk?” Rhoda demanded, aghast. “You did a thing like that to your brother? You should be ashamed.”

  “The only thing I’m ashamed of is that I covered up for him so long,” Kaye said. “It’s over, Mom. It’s time he stopped relying on me.”

  “You,” Rhoda sneered. “What did you ever do for him?”

  “Far too much,” Kaye said quietly. “And most of it was the wrong thing. I see that now. I’ve saved him from the consequences of his own actions, and I shouldn’t have. This is where I stop. I’m sorry, Mom, but tomorrow I’d like you to leave, too.”

  “I’ll leave right now,” Rhoda raged. “I won’t stay in a house where my boy isn’t welcome.”

  “In that case I’ll call a taxi for you,” Kaye said without hesitation.

  Rhoda’s jaw dropped. She was about to begin a furious tirade when she met Kaye’s eyes and the words died on her lips. Caught in her own trap, she had no choice but to flounce off to start throwing her things together.

  “Good riddance to bad rubbish,” Elsie called after her.

  “You can go in the same taxi,” Kaye said calmly as she dialed the number. “Say goodbye to Georgy now, and next time you want to see her, call me first.”

  Like Rhoda, Elsie found that no words would come. Kaye’s chilly assurance with its undertone of anger had astounded her. Perhaps she was even a little afraid of the unknown.

  “Go and wash that muck off your face,” Jack told his daughter in an iron voice, “and don’t let me see you again tonight.”

  “Do as he says, darling,” Elsie said, slipping back into her role as virtuous mother. “And leave it to me to have you out of here.”

  When Georgy had gone she turned on Jack. “Don’t think you’ve won. After tonight’s little shindig I’ll have no trouble getting the law on my side. And it’s her you’ll have to thank.” She jabbed a finger at Kaye.

  “Leave, Elsie,” Jack told her coldly. “Just leave.”

  The cab arrived as Rhoda came downstairs. She flung Kaye a glance of loathing and stalked out. Elsie, in response to a jerk of Jack’s head, followed her. The two women sat in freezing silence, as far away as possible from each other.

  When they were gone Bertie let out an exultant roar. “That’s my girl!” he cried, seizing Kaye in a bear hug. “I always knew you’d stand up to her one day.”

  “I should have done it years ago,” she agreed. “I’ve seen a lot of things clearly tonight. A lot of things,” she repeated in a low voice.

  She closed the front door and shot the bolts home. The gesture had the effect of drawing a line under the incident. The disastrous evening was over. There was no more to be said

  “I’m going to bed,” Kaye said.

  “I’ll be up later.” Jack sounded abstracted.

  When Kaye had gone Sam asked in a bewildered voice, “Who was that?”

  “I don’t know,” Jack said. “I think it was my wife, but I’m not sure anymore.”

  Kaye was ready for bed when Jack entered her room, in his robe. She went to him and gave him a hug. She wanted to take him to bed, not romping like last night, but tenderly, in comfort and reassurance. But although he returned her hug it was only faintly, as though his mind were elsewhere.

  “What is it?” she asked. “Are you sure you’re not angry with me?”

  “Of course not,” he said quickly. “Besides, that’s in the past. It’s just that so much has happened tonight—I can’t get my head together—”

  Kaye went to slip her arms about his neck, but backed off before the look in his eyes. It was the same distant look she’d seen there too often in the first month of their marriage, and it meant he was hiding from her.

  “What is it, Jack? There’s something you’re not telling me.”

  “It’s nothing. I’m just tired.”

  “No, it’s more than that.”

  “I just feel that—I’m sorry, I made a bit of a fool of myself. I thought a lot of stupid things. I should have known you better.”

  “You don’t know me at all,” she said lightly. “You’re always proving it.”

  “You’re right, or I’d never have believed—”

  “Oh, Jack.” She sighed. “What crime have I committed inside your head? Is it as bad as last time?”

  Her tolerant tone tempted him to an act that he afterward saw was madness. “Much worse,” he said. “I came home early yesterday and heard your mother in full flow.”

  “But you didn’t get here until late,” she said, puzzled and trying not to feel the cold hand gripping her stomach.

  “That was the second time. I had to go away and think.”

  “And what did you decide?” Kaye asked, letting her hands drop.

  “Nothing. I was confused, and you confused me still more. You’ve never been like that before, either in bed or out.”

  “And you remembered what you heard my mother say,” she said quietly.

  “Kaye, I went off my head. I’m only telling you this because I know I can trust you.”

  “Thanks for the compliment,” she flashed. “What a pity I can’t trust you to think the best of me.”

  “Kaye, please—”

  “That’s why you stayed away tonight, isn’t it? You wanted to work out what I’d really been doing last night. Was it genuine, or was I trying to make you ‘sit up and beg’? I believe that was my mother’s charming phrase. If Elsie hadn’t turned up you’d have stayed away all night, judging me by the lowest standards you can imagine. I think I’ve earned better than that from you, Jack.”

  “Kaye, please—I thought things I had no right to, but only briefly. I know I can trust you. That’s why I told Elsie I wasn’t afraid to come home without warning. I meant it. Don’t crucify me because I lost my head for a moment.”

  He looked so pale and wrung out that she couldn’t go on. “It doesn’t matter,” she said tiredly. “Too much has been said already tonight. We’ll pretend it didn’t happen.”

  She turned away. Jack came after her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Thank you,” he said. “I knew you’d understand.”

  “Oh, yes, I understand a lot,” she said with a little sigh. “I think I’ll go to bed now. I’m very tired. I’d rather yo
u didn’t stay. Good night, Jack.”

  “Good night,” he said after a long moment.

  Elsie made her move at once. Kaye was with Jack when the letter arrived, and saw him go pale as he read it. “What’s happened?” she asked urgently.

  “Elsie’s playing her ace,” he said in a harsh voice. “She’s started legal proceedings to get Georgy back.”

  “She hinted at that,” Kaye said, “but I hoped it was just big talk.”

  “I’m afraid she wasn’t bluffing. She’s hired Elroy Hamblin.”

  Kaye paled at the name of the famous lawyer. He’d made a career out of high-profile cases, and he was prepared to pull every dirty trick in the book to ensure his own success. He was widely despised, but he delivered.

  “How good is your lawyer?”

  “Andrew is brilliant at company law. That’s his speciality. But I don’t know who to go to for this.”

  “Andrew will know,” Kaye pointed out practically. “Call him now.”

  He did so. Andrew Morgan promised to get him a name, and was as good as his word.

  “Charles Sedgeway,” Jack said, hanging up. “I’ve heard of him. He’s good. Whether he’s a match for Hamblin—I don’t know.” He sighed.

  “Don’t go to meet trouble,” Kaye said urgently. “This is where we fight back.”

  She squeezed his hand, but inwardly she was more concerned than she wanted him to know. A meeting with Sedgeway only increased her worries.

  “She’s playing it very, very cleverly,” he said, regarding Jack and Kaye sitting uneasily in his office. “She’s booked into a small, rather dull hotel and letting it be known, discreetly, that she can’t afford anything better.”

  “She can afford the Ritz on what I pay her,” Jack said angrily.

  “You’re still paying her alimony? What about her other ‘companions’?”

  “She never married any of them,” Jack pointed out. “And the money was really for Georgy.”

  “Maybe that’s why she’s fighting so hard,” Kaye said. “She’s afraid she’ll lose out financially.”

  “Let her know there’ll be no changes,” Jack said eagerly.

  They went home full of hope, but it was immediately dashed. Hamblin wrote by return of post expressing his client’s “deep distress” at the suggestion that her motives were in any way financial.

  “Why is she doing this?” Jack cried, tearing his hair. “Don’t tell me she loves Georgy. She’s incapable of love.”

  “She’s doing it because she hates you,” Bertie said shrewdly.

  “I’ve never given her any cause to hate me,” Jack protested.

  “She treated you badly, but it didn’t destroy you. It destroyed her. She did everything for money and now money is all she has left. She’s getting older and she’s alone, while you’re starting a new life with Kaye. She really hates you, Jack.”

  “Yes,” he said slowly. “I guess she does.”

  He didn’t respond to Bertie’s remark about Kaye. On the surface their life continued unchanged. The trouble seethed underneath, all the more dangerous for that. She’d discovered that she could actually be angry with Jack, something she’d once have thought impossible. Her memories of that magnificent night had been wonderful, and he’d spoiled them in retrospect.

  But she kept these thoughts to herself, for the moment. He had enough to worry him, and the time wasn’t right.

  When she found him one day setting down the telephone with a heavy look on his face she thought Elsie had come up with a new trick. “Jack, tell me what’s the matter, please,” she said quickly.

  He sighed. “I’d rather not have to, but there’s no way out. It’s Paul.”

  They’d heard nothing of Paul since the night Kaye had left him to walk home. Rhoda had telephoned her with a bitter tirade about coming across him, weary and footsore, as she went home in the taxi, but from Paul himself, not a word.

  Jack hadn’t, as Kaye half expected, ordered his dismissal from North’s, but now he said, “I’m afraid I can’t keep him in that job.”

  “What’s happened?”

  “He didn’t turn up for work last Monday. Apparently he took the car for a weekend jaunt with some friends, and allowed them to drive it. One of them smashed it against a tree. Nobody was hurt, but the car’s a write-off. And since this ‘friend’ of Paul’s was disqualified from driving, the insurers won’t pay out.

  “When Paul realized the trouble he was in, he simply ran away and hid. I had to discover the truth bit by bit.”

  Kaye gave a long sigh, and rested her forehead in her hands.

  “I’m sorry, Kaye,” he said gently. “I did my best.”

  “I know you did. Paul’s as he is, and I guess he isn’t going to change. Oh, Jack, what’s going to become of him?”

  “I dread to think, but you mustn’t go back on your resolution to be firm with him. He’s got to make the effort himself.”

  “I know, but you can’t stop loving people to order. I only wish you could.” She gave a sad little laugh. “Think how much easier life would be.”

  “Yes,” he agreed, half to himself.

  Kaye awoke in the early hours to find Jack sitting by her window, looking out through a crack between the curtains. He wore only his robe, and Kaye studied him in the shaft of light, wishing the hint of his nakedness didn’t affect her so powerfully. It was two weeks since their last lovemaking, the night of her ill-fated seduction, and this was the first time he’d been in her room since then. It was as though they were both waiting for something to happen, and neither knew what it was, or how to bring it about.

  “Has something happened that I don’t know about?” she asked, getting out of bed and going to him.

  “No, I’ve just been doing some thinking. None of this would have happened if I’d been a better father.”

  “It’s not your fault that you haven’t seen more of Georgy.”

  “Maybe it is. I should have done more, sooner. I’ve tried to be a good father. I love her. I’ve kept in touch, brought her presents, always remembered her birthday and listened when she wanted to talk. We spent hours on the phone, and I let myself think that was enough. But it takes more than a huge phone bill to make a good father.”

  “A lot of men don’t even bother to spend time talking to their teenage daughters,” she said lightly to encourage him.

  “Don’t let me off too easily. I have a lot to feel guilty about. I’ve always known the kind of woman Elsie is. I should have brought Georgy to live with me long ago, but I didn’t because—”

  “Because?”

  “Because I didn’t want to interrupt my pleasant, careless life to take responsibility for a growing girl,” he said heavily. “I should have given her a home, but I settled for being a father the easy way.”

  “But she’s a wonderful kid, and you brought her to live with you before any harm was done.”

  “Thanks to you,” he said, twining her fingers in his. “The best thing I ever did was to marry you. I’ve turned over a new leaf. With your help I’m going to. be a better father.”

  “You love Georgy. That’s the main thing.”

  “It’s not enough. I make mistakes, but you can show me the way.” He leaned his head against her. “I need you, Kaye,” he whispered. “I need your strength. Until recently I didn’t even know how strong you are, but I want you fighting on my side. Elsie’s making war, and you’re the only one who knows how to deal with her.”

  If Jack had been a subtle man he might have been able to voice the unease that had possessed him since he’d seen her assert herself against the selfish claims of others. He might even have found the words for his growing fear that his own claims were selfish, and his dread at the thought of the coming day when she would tell him, too, to take his possessive claws out of her life.

  But he wasn’t subtle. He was simply a greathearted, plain-dealing man who coped with things by charging at them headlong. “Like a bull at a gate,” Sam had once caust
ically complained, and certainly Sam would have groaned if he’d heard his son making a mess of things now.

  Kaye, listening closely for words of love, heard Georgy, mistakes, need and help. When she was sure Jack wasn’t going to say what her heart longed to hear she closed her eyes, fighting back the tears. At last she put her arms about him.

  “It’s all right, Jack. I’m always here for you. You know that.”

  Jack, listening closely for words of love, heard only the kindly tones Kaye used to people who sucked her dry, and from whom she was freeing herself. He put his own arms about her, and they sat together in silence, holding each other tightly, yet far apart in their fear.

  Chapter Eleven

  Kaye was dismayed, but not entirely surprised, to realize that Georgy now saw herself as the heroine of a tragic love story. “You’ve warned Paul off, haven’t you?” she demanded sulkily one day.

  “Certainly I did,” Kaye said briskly. “You heard me.”

  “No, I mean since then. You’ve told him to stay away from me. Or Dad has.”

  “Neither of us has.”

  “Then why hasn’t he called me?”

  “Because he has a shrewd sense of self-preservation. I wish you’d stop this, Georgy. You’re not Juliet to his Romeo, even if he does look the part.”

  “Has he called you?”

  “No.”

  Kaye had half expected Paul to call her when he lost his job, but there was no word, and she tried to persuade herself that this was a good sign. It meant he was learning to stand on his own feet. Secretly she felt the silence was ominous.

  But, however tempted, she refused to make the first move. Things had changed. She wasn’t a soft touch for Paul anymore, and it wouldn’t be kind to let him think otherwise.

  When she did see him it came as a surprise. Emerging from a stint at the nursery one afternoon, she found Paul leaning against her car. He gave a cheeky little wave when he saw her.

  “You got home safely, then?” she said, surveying him.

  “Much you care! You didn’t even call to ask.”