Shall We Dance?

by Lynn Patrick

  Amazed, Anita simply nodded. Price remained silent at her side. The redhead came closer to peer at them, her friend following close behind.

  “I knew it, I knew it! How awesome! I spotted you at the Castle. I watch all your old movies every year when they show them at New Year’s.”

  “Really?” said Anita. She had never before imagined they might have fans this young.

  “White Tie and Tails is my absolute favorite.”

  “Mine, too,” Anita admitted.

  The girl grinned and rummaged in her shoulder bag. “Can I have your autographs? Please? Nobody else has ever danced like you two.”

  “Certainly.” Anita was happy to comply. Actually, if she let herself, she’d be teary-eyed. She signed the young lady’s matchbook and handed it to Price. “Here.” If he so much as objected, she’d kick him.

  Price added his signature.

  “Thanks so much,” the redhead enthused, stuffing the matchbook into a zippered compartment of her purse. “Wow, if I’d recognized you sooner, Mr. Garfield, I would have asked you for a dance.”

  “And I would have been flattered,” Price said, not sounding the least bit sarcastic.

  The car arrived and he smiled at both young women before opening the door for Anita. Then he got inside and turned the car onto Vine Street.

  “You really were flattered?” Anita asked before they’d gone a block. “You used to hate it when strangers wanted to dance with you.”

  “A man my age would be stupid not to be grateful for any woman’s attention.”

  Anita snorted. “Woman? That redhead was a girl, barely twenty-one.” She couldn’t help teasing him. “I noticed the way you ogled her legs.”

  Price laughed. “Do I detect a bit of jealousy? You can relax. You’re the only woman who holds the key to my heart. That hasn’t changed in more than half a century.”

  Then why hadn’t he had enough patience to wait until she was ready to marry him? Anita wondered for the zillionth time. Not willing to ask him, she gazed out the window at the passing lights.

  On the way back to Beverly Hills Price asked her about Robert, how they’d met and what he’d been like. Uncomfortable, she made short work of the explanation and soon steered the conversation away from the man who had always felt second best when compared with Price. Instead, she told him about her children.

  “Jeanne is my oldest—she and her husband are both professors at New York University. Natalie lives in New Hampshire and my son in Boston. Max is a doctor, like his father. Between them they have six children.” Anita chuckled. “I’m a grandmother several times over.”

  “Lucky you.” Price sounded envious. “I wish Kit would get married and have some children. Not that he would encourage them to hang around with their grandfather.”

  “Is there a problem between you two?”

  “We’re not exactly close.”

  “Why not?” Unreasonably Anita wanted to know everything about Price, even though she’d been unwilling to divulge all about her own life.

  “I’m not sure. Kit resented the problems Lana and I had, our divorce. She got custody…. I just haven’t seen much of my son over the years.”

  “You could have made an effort to see him and hash things out.”

  Price sighed. “I did try to talk to him when he was younger, but he seemed to withdraw even more. And he was doubly resentful when I married again. I figured maybe he just didn’t like me and never would.”

  “Nonsense. You gave up too easily.” Anita was concerned about the real depth of sadness she heard in Price’s voice. Price always seemed to give up on people too easily—including her. “Did you feel guilty about the divorce from Lana? Is that why you let Kit go without raising a fuss?”

  He looked pained. “Of course I felt guilty. Who wouldn’t, failing at marriage over and over?” He glanced at Anita. “Not that I ever ran around on my wives or anything like that.”

  “I didn’t think you were the type who would.”

  “There always seemed to be outside conflicts, lack of communication, something. And I believe my first two wives married me purely for career advancement.”

  Anita nodded and swallowed. “Betty Masters.”

  Even now it was hard to think about the starlet, one of many whom Sol had set up with Price for publicity purposes. Anita had cried herself to sleep every night for a year after Price eloped with Betty.

  “I suppose my disenchantment with marriage made it easier for me to slough off my relationship with Kit. After enough failure you kind of back away.”

  “But a child is different from a spouse,” Anita insisted. “And you can still talk to Kit. It’s never too late.”

  “That’s what Lucille keeps telling me.” Price turned the car onto a wide street with tall palm trees lining the grassy center section…and turned the conversation back in her direction. “I’m happy to see you have a good relationship with Gabrielle. You seem to be the best of friends.”

  Anita realized he was done discussing his son. “I’m beginning to wonder if Gabby and I are too close.”

  “How could any parent and child be too close?” he asked, sounding envious.

  “I think she believes she has to take care of me.” Gabby had certainly been riding herd on Anita since she’d started seeing Price. “Maybe that’s why she’s reluctant to marry. She was engaged two times in New York, you know, then decided to break up with the men.”

  “Hmm. And perhaps Kit is wary of marriage because he witnessed the mess Lana and I made of our relationship.” He glanced at his watch. “But then again, we’re only making suppositions. And time is flying. Let’s talk about us. Instead of taking you back to Lucille’s, why don’t we stop by my place? It’s closer and you haven’t been there yet.”

  Anita had seen pictures of his mansion through the years, though she wasn’t about to tell him so. That would be admitting her interest even when she’d been married to another man, and she would never be disloyal to Robert.

  She glanced at her own watch, amazed to see it was almost 2:00 a.m. “It’s late,” she said.

  “Not that late.”

  Price laid an arm across the back of the seat. “When two people love each other—”

  “I never said I loved you!”

  “Not in a long time.” Price smiled. “But a man can tell when his girl is crazy about him.”

  Her pulse pounding wildly, Anita drew herself up with dignity. “Price Garfield, be the gentleman I know you are!”

  But even in her indignation Anita realized that the very thought of being held in Price’s arms had stirred something inside her that she’d long thought dead. But she wouldn’t—couldn’t—let him know how much he still affected her. Not until she felt vindicated, and she didn’t even know what that would entail.

  “You should take advantage of the time you have,” Price was saying in his most coaxing manner.

  Anita shot him an annoyed look. “You’re the only one trying to take advantage.”

  “Anita, you’re impossible.”

  Not impossible, she thought. But she wasn’t a pushover, either. Fifty-five years of estrangement could hardly be breached in a week or two.

  ONLY HALF ASLEEP when her mother sneaked into the suite, Gabby raised her head from the pillow she’d plopped against the arm of the couch.

  “Mom. Finally.” She turned and stretched to switch the table lamp from low to bright.

  Anita seemed confused and blinked in the glare. “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing’s the matter with me. But where have you been until—” Gabby glanced at her watch and was genuinely shocked to note the time “—two-forty-three in the morning? I’ve been worried.”

  She’d waited and waited, and had finally slipped a robe over her nightgown, then bedded herself down in the sitting room so that she could intercept her mother. She hadn’t thought the hour would be this late, though.

  Anita looked annoyed. “I told you I have the right to come and
go as I please.”

  “With Price Garfield,” Gabby said accusingly, sitting upright on the couch and swinging her legs to the floor. Her mother’s expression told her she was dead right. “Why do you insist on seeing that jerk?”

  Instead of jumping down her daughter’s throat as Gabby had expected, Anita seemed to agree. “I don’t know.” The older woman sighed and slumped down onto a chair. “He’s such an old goat—a lecherous old goat.”

  Gabby scowled. “He made a pass at you?”

  “Not exactly a pass.” Anita slipped off the satiny wrap that matched her elegant teal-colored cocktail dress and laid it nearby. “More like a suggestion.”

  Gabby’s outrage grew. “That creep! How dare he! You have to stay away from him, Mom.”

  “I should.” But Anita sounded far from convinced. She took off her shoes, pumps with low, narrow heels. “Whew, my feet hurt. Dancing can be painful. We went to the Castle,” she explained.

  “The club?” What in the world were two elderly people doing at a place like that? Gabby leaned forward to plead with her mother. “Please stay away from Price, Mom. He’s a bad influence in more ways than one. If he wants to give himself a heart attack, let him, but don’t risk your own health.”

  Now it was Anita’s turn to frown. “Who says I’m risking my health?”

  Gabby ran her fingers through her tousled hair. “It’s almost 3:00 a.m. and…and you’ve been out at a club.”

  “So?” Anita shrugged. “I’ll get up later tomorrow. And I was never in danger of dancing myself into a stupor.”

  Gabby was ready to grasp at anything she could think of to discourage her mother’s interest. “But you admit Price isn’t exactly a gentleman. He’ll get you all upset like he did when we first arrived.”

  “Not upset enough to have a heart attack.”

  Annoyed her mother wouldn’t make any promises, Gabby complained, “Why won’t you listen?”

  Anita shook her head. “You’re too protective of me, darling. You should pay more attention to your own life. I believe what I told Price is correct—you definitely are too dependent on our relationship.”

  Too dependent? Where had that come from? Now Gabby was hurt as well as angry.

  “You discussed our private relationship with Price Garfield?”

  “Only a bit. We also talked about Kit.”

  “Really?” Gabby said sarcastically. “I’m amazed Price was the least bit interested. He’s never paid any attention to his son.”

  “Is that what Kit told you? Communication goes two ways, you know. It sounds like Kit can be as stubborn as his father. And, believe me, Price isn’t particularly happy about the situation.”

  Gabby rose from the couch and folded her arms. “Well, I don’t care about Price Garfield. And I don’t want to be talked about behind my back. I thought you and I were close and we both liked it that way,” she said, still smarting from her mother’s earlier remark.

  “We are close, dear,” Anita said gently, “but I don’t think we should be so close that our relationship is unhealthy.”

  “Unhealthy?” Gabby swallowed the lump in her throat. “Am I supposed to be completely alone? You were the only parent I ever had to talk to. Dad didn’t care about my goals in life. He ignored me.”

  Her mother frowned. “Your father loved you, Gabby. You have nothing to complain about in that respect.”

  “I do have a right to complain.” Feelings Gabby had been holding in for years came pouring out. “Dad was always at his office or the hospital. He never had time for me, never made my dance recitals. He didn’t even see me graduate from high school or college.”

  “Because of medical emergencies,” Anita said defensively.

  “There were other doctors who could have attended to his emergencies,” Gabby insisted. “He was looking for an excuse to stay away. Even when I was in grade school, he came home late and didn’t bother to stop by my bedroom to give me a hug before I went to sleep.”

  “Oh, sweetheart.” Anita seemed agitated. “I know Robert loved you. He told me so.”

  “Then why did he act so distant?”

  “You really do feel that way, don’t you?”

  Gabby stared at her mother. Had Anita really had a blind spot when it came to her relationship with her father? Or had she chosen to fool herself?

  “When I was a little girl,” she said softly, “I was afraid the problem was my own fault, but I never knew what I’d done.”

  Anita looked away and took a deep breath. “I guess I’ll have to think about this. We can discuss it later.”

  At least they would discuss it, Gabby thought, relaxing a bit. Again she glanced at her watch. Three o’clock. “Okay, let’s talk about it another time,” she said, letting Anita off the hook. “I have a full day tomorrow with a final costume fitting in the morning and rehearsal the whole afternoon.”

  “Goodness, yes, you have to get to bed.” Anita got up and embraced her. “I’m sorry if I hurt you with the dependence issue. I didn’t mean to.”

  Gabby hugged her mother in return. “That’s all right.” She just wished Anita would quit reminding her of what Gabby hadn’t considered a problem.

  “I only want the best for you, you know.” Anita stared up at her daughter intently. “I’m sure we’ll always remain close, but I don’t think you should make me the center of your life. You need broader horizons, perhaps marriage and children along with your career.”

  Career? Would she really have another chance at one? Gabby wondered.

  “Love should be as important as work,” Anita went on.

  “I agree,” Gabby said, but at the moment she was thinking only about the importance of the performance coming up. She kissed her mother’s cheek. “Now let’s get some sleep.”

  Both women retired to their own bedrooms. Despite the late hour Gabby remained awake for a while, tossing and turning and blaming Price Garfield for her restlessness. Despite her mother’s disclaimers Gabby was certain the man was bad news. He had no business keeping a seventy-five-year-old woman out until all hours so that he could fill her head with nonsense.

  And who was Price Garfield to say anything about parenting? Every time Gabby thought about her mother confiding in the old jerk, she saw red.

  THE GARFIELD CORPORATION occupied several floors of one of the newer steel-and-glass high rises in downtown L.A. Kit was trying to catch up with his messages when, somehow having circumvented both the receptionist and his personal secretary, Gabby sailed into his office unannounced.

  “Gabby?” His hand was poised in midair over the phone. But after one look at her face, he forgot about the call he’d planned to make. “What’s the matter?”

  Kit knew that Gabby had had a costume fitting that morning. Had something gone wrong?

  “You’ve got to get your father under control. He’s a lecherous old goat.”

  Kit’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s why you’re here? He came on to you?”

  Gabby looked impatient. “Of course not.”

  Kit let out his breath in relief. Not that he’d ever heard of his father chasing younger women.

  “It’s my mother he’s after.”

  “Oh, her.”

  Gabby plopped down into the chair in front of the desk, crossing her long legs. Kit couldn’t help taking the time to admire them in spite of his partner’s obvious agitation.

  “Your father and my mother stayed out until the wee hours last night,” Gabby went on, leaning forward. “Tell him to leave her alone, will you? They’re no good for each other.”

  “I fully agree. But I’m not in the habit of telling my father anything. I’ve already explained that we lead completely separate lives.”

  “You shouldn’t. Maybe if Price had a halfway decent relationship with his son, someone to talk to, he wouldn’t be out doing things that he shouldn’t, like prancing around clubs and hitting on aging women who need their sleep.”

  Overlooking the too-personal comment about hims
elf, Kit focused on the idea of Price cavorting in a club with Anita Brooks Lacroix. Unable to decide whether or not he wanted to laugh, he passed a hand in front of his mouth.

  “From what Mom says, Price isn’t too happy with the estrangement between the two of you,” Gabby persisted.

  That made Kit frown. “He talked to your mother about me?”

  She nodded. “And since your father seems to be approachable, after all, you could take some responsibility and open up to him. After all, communication goes two ways.”

  “And obviously three and more. Pretty soon the whole town will know my business.” Kit stared at her in irritation. She was going too far. “Sounds like everybody’s getting into the act here. The relationship between my father and me is really none of Anita’s business…or yours.”

  “It is when my mother and I have to suffer because of your problems.”

  Couldn’t she understand that Price and he were totally separate entities? He was no more responsible for his father than his father was for him. “Who said my father held a gun to your mother’s head and made her suffer through an evening with him?” he asked caustically. “They’re both consenting adults.”

  “So you refuse to take a stand?”

  “Why should I interfere? It isn’t my place.” When the intercom beeped, he responded impatiently. “Yes?”

  As his secretary relayed a message about a meeting he’d had rescheduled for the following week, Kit watched Gabby drum her fingers on the arm of the chair. She certainly was in a fine snit.

  She went after him as soon as he turned back to her. “I’m sure Price would listen to you—”

  “Hey, if you don’t want your mother going out with my father, tell her to leave him alone!” Kit snapped.

  Gabby’s blue eyes widened. “She didn’t instigate this situation.”

  “Are you sure? Maybe Anita has been after my father from the first.” Maybe she’d always wanted Price along with a career boost, Kit thought, disgruntled as he always was when he thought about a woman he didn’t even know playing such an important part in his life.

  “How dare you say that about my mother!”

  “You declared open season on my father.”