by Lynn Patrick
Gabby sucked in her breath. “You’re just as cruel and heartless and cold as your father!”
At the moment Kit indeed felt frozen. When Gabby flounced by, he didn’t try to stop her. But he had to have the last word.
“I assume this means you’re rejecting my proposal,” he gibed sarcastically.
She whirled around in the doorway. “You assume right. I think you need someone much more amenable. Why don’t you follow your father’s footsteps and find yourself a nice little empty-headed tart?”
“Maybe I will.”
“And make sure she can dance,” Gabby added. “I’m leaving for New York first thing in the morning. You’ll have to find another partner to dance with you at the club this coming week.”
“What?” That she was leaving him—and Lucille—in the lurch made him see red. “You’re being ridiculous!”
“And so are you, Kit!” she raged before stalking away. She grabbed the dress and the bag she’d left in the living room and slammed out the front door.
Kit smashed his fist against the side of the house, hardly registering the pain. What a mess! The club would be closed on Monday and Tuesday, so he had two days to find a new partner, teach her the choreography and get her costumed. Not that any other woman could partner him the way Gabby had.
Meanwhile, he also had to pull himself back together after taking such a big emotional risk.
That was the most difficult thing he had ever had to do in his life.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
INSTEAD OF ATTEMPTING to return to Lucille’s, Gabby called a taxi from a pay phone, waited almost an hour for the vehicle to arrive, then had the driver deliver her to Cheek to Cheek. She didn’t want her mother or anyone else to see the tearstains on her face and ask questions. The situation was bad enough without upsetting the others.
Forget Kit Garfield, anyway!
Forget Price!
Gabby wished she’d never come to California.
After letting go with a few tension-relieving screams in her dressing room closet—an old trick an acting coach had once taught her—Gabby stretched out on the chaise longue and tried to relax.
Fat chance.
Before she knew it she was weeping openly again. When she finally managed to get herself under control, she felt completely wrung out. And her eyes were certain to be puffy and red, her nose bulbous. She would have to do some wizardly makeup job on herself to look halfway presentable. At least she’d arrived early and would have plenty of time to spend on the task.
A brisk knock on the locked door made her jump. Was the dresser also early?
“Gabby? Gabby, are you in there?”
She rose at the sound of her mother’s voice. “Mom?”
“Let me in, sweetheart.” Anita knocked again.
Gabby quickly wiped her eyes with a tissue and blew her nose. She unlocked the door and opened it a crack. “What are you doing here?”
Anita didn’t answer. She took one look at her daughter’s face and exclaimed, “You’ve been crying! I knew it. I knew something was wrong.”
“Knew it how? Are you psychic?” Gabby asked, giving in and opening the door fully.
Anita rushed in, her rose-colored evening gown sweeping the floor. “Something awful has happened, hasn’t it?” She clucked over her daughter like a protective hen. “I had the most terrible feeling when I phoned Kit and found out you had left.”
“Why did you need to find me now?” she asked anxiously. “You knew we’d see each other after the show.”
Anita indicated the shopping bag in her hand. “Your bedroom door was open, and when I glanced in, I noticed your street shoes and your makeup kit.”
Gabby suddenly realized she hadn’t finished packing the carryall in her hurry to leave the house. No wonder the bag had felt so light.
“I scooped everything up and tried to phone you to tell you I was bringing your things to the club. I really got worried when Kit said he had no idea where you’d gone.”
Gabby’s jaw jutted at the mention of the man’s name. “And probably sounded like he didn’t care, either.”
“You two have had a fight, haven’t you?”
“A big one.”
“Oh, dear.”
Gabby shut and locked the door. “The clash was inevitable.”
“But you were doing so well.”
“Until I made the mistake of getting personally involved.”
“Oh, dear,” Anita murmured again.
“But I could have made an even bigger mistake if I’d let myself,” Gabby admitted. “I’m glad I found out what Kit was really like before it was too late. He wanted me to marry him.”
“Oh, dear!” Anita looked as if she was ready to faint.
Concerned, Gabby led her mother over to the chair and made her sit. Now why had she told Anita that?
“Calm down, Mom. We don’t have to stay here. I called the airport, and there are plenty of available seats on planes taking off for New York tonight. We can pack and head for the airport right after the show.”
“But you have another week of performances,” Anita pointed out, obviously stunned. “Lucille is counting on you.”
Gabby had already considered the problem of Lucille and her needy boarders. She felt guilty as all get-out, but she hadn’t asked for the responsibility that her mother’s old friend had heaped on her shoulders. Now she felt the weight more than ever. What if she walked and the club failed because of her? What would happen to Lucille then? And to Chester and the rest of them? Oh, what a mess!
“So what am I supposed to do?” Eyes stinging, Gabby felt like crying again. “I simply can’t stand being around Kit with things as they are. I’ll be doing well to make it through tonight without breaking. He can find another partner,” she said, as much for her own benefit as for her mother’s. “He knows plenty of people in show business.”
Anita shook her head sharply as if she was trying to clear it. “This is all my fault.”
“Why are you always blaming yourself?” Gabby asked. “You didn’t ask me to get involved with your old dancing partner’s son. You wanted me to take this job because you thought it might give me another chance at success. Risks sometimes fail.”
“What about that movie?”
“Kit didn’t even bother to read the script. He was too afraid that I’d be using him to further my career. He’s as much of a jerk as Price.”
“I don’t understand. On one hand, Kit loves you enough to marry you. On the other, he distrusts you and thinks you’d try to use him.”
“Well, he didn’t accuse me of attempting to use him until after I backed away from his proposal.”
“You said no?”
“I didn’t give him an answer. Personally I thought it came too soon. We’ve only known each other a few weeks.”
“Did you tell him that?”
“Of course. And he knows that making a movie would allow us to spend more time together.” Gabby plopped down on the edge of the chaise. “The least Kit could do is agree to give the movie deal half a chance.”
The older woman was silent for a moment. Then she sighed. “Things are finally becoming clearer. Kit wants a relationship and you want to make a movie.”
“It’s not that cut-and-dried.” Gabby swallowed. “I love Kit, Mom, and I told him so, but I’m not going to give up everything for him.”
“But you want him to give up his business for your career.”
“It’s not the same thing! The situation is so unfair. Kit loves performing, but he simply won’t work in show business because he has this hang-up about competing with his father.”
Anita smoothed her skirts, appearing thoughtful. “I’m sure this competitive thing has something to do with Kit’s resentment of Price.”
“But that’s not my problem.”
“No, but in a way it’s probably mine.” Before Gabby could question her about that odd statement, Anita inquired, “You’re sure you love Kit? It’s not just an infa
tuation?”
“I only wish. There’s a special bond between us—I could feel it from the first. We complement each other perfectly. I’ve never known another man who was as stimulating and challenging.”
Anita was nodding as if she understood. “He’s there to catch you when you come out of a turn or a lift. He feels the same rhythm you do. Intelligent, as well as a bit argumentative. Which can be very exciting. And then there’s all that warmth and caring hidden beneath his cool exterior just ready to be probed.” Anita smiled wistfully.
“I wasn’t aware you knew Kit so well,” Gabby said.
“I was talking about Price, not his son.” The older woman gazed thoughtfully at her daughter. “But let’s get back to you. What are you going to do about Kit?”
“I don’t know. When we go back to New York, I’ll have to get over him.”
“But you won’t.”
“Yes, I will. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say.”
“You’re wrong.”
Gabby flinched as if she’d been struck.
“I’m only warning you because I love you, darling.” Anita leaned forward, reaching across the space between them to take hold of her daughter’s hand. “Don’t let history repeat itself. I made the mistake of thinking I would get over Price Garfield when I left for New York, and I never did.”
Gabby refused to believe she was in for the same brand of heartbreak she’d recognized in her mother all these years. “Then you should have forced yourself to get over it. You two are poison together.”
“Wrong again. Price and I created a poisonous atmosphere because we listened to our fears instead of our hearts.”
“There you go blaming yourself again—”
“It is my fault,” Anita cut in. “I ran away instead of trying to deal with the situation like an adult. I gave up on the special man I loved as well as the work that excited me. I was afraid Price would overshadow or dominate me, and I was afraid I’d never make it in the movies alone.”
“You were still very young when you left.”
“I was very sophisticated for my age, Gabby. I hadn’t exactly led a sheltered life, and I’d been working for several years.”
“But Price did try to dominate you. I remember your stories.”
“I taught you well, didn’t I?” Anita said softly. “Price was so dominating because of his own fear. He thought he had to control me to keep me in his life. We both would have benefited if we’d controlled our tempers and tried to work things out. Instead, we jumped off the deep end—I ran away to New York to prove I could become a star without him, while he married someone else to prove he could love without me. We both failed.”
“But there’s also luck involved in trying to make it in show business,” Gabby reminded her mother.
“But since I didn’t follow my heart’s true desires, that made my failures seem even worse.” Anita’s gaze was sharp. “People fool themselves, thinking they’ll avoid pain by setting goals that are second best. You might as well reach for the highest and win or lose for real. Nothing else really matters.”
“That’s beautifully put, Mom, and very wise.”
“You helped me reach those conclusions. I kept thinking about what one should do if faced with the problem of choosing between work and love. The decision should never be made lightly, but I believe you have to listen to your heart rather than your fear. By allowing myself to be guided by my fear, I didn’t try for my first choice in either love or work…may Robert forgive me,” Anita whispered, a teardrop running down her cheek. “Oh, Mom.”
When Gabby started to rise, intending to embrace her mother, Anita motioned for her to stay seated.
“Don’t encourage me. I don’t want to get maudlin,” the older woman insisted. “I’ve done enough regretting through the years. I’m going to focus on the good parts of both the past and the present. And enjoy the time I have left with Price.”
“Price? I thought you wanted nothing more to do with him.”
“That was fear speaking again. I called him after you left this afternoon and he came by to talk things out. We’re finally going to do what we should have done more than fifty years ago—have a full-scale whirlwind romance—and marriage. We’re eloping, flying to Las Vegas after the show tonight.”
“Mom!” Gabby was appalled.
“Please be happy for me,” Anita pleaded.
Gabby wished she could. “You’re going to be hurt.”
“Then I’ll be hurt while trying to reach my highest goal. I love Price madly.”
“But you’re in your seventies. Don’t you think a romance at that age is a little…unrealistic?”
Anita gave her an appalled glare. “Gabrielle Brooks Lacroix, how can you say such a thing? There are no age limits to love. How can you be so prejudiced?”
“I’m not prejudiced.” But despite her denial Gabby squirmed under her mother’s intense gaze.
Then Anita quirked her brows. “Or is it something else that’s bothering you?”
“This news is so sudden. Marriage is so drastic.”
“And you’re feeling bereft?”
Gabby swallowed the lump in her throat. “I thought we’d always have each other, I guess….”
“Of course you’ll always have me, sweetheart.” Anita clasped her daughter’s hand again. “We’ll see each other no matter what you decide to do. You’re my daughter, and I’ll never stop loving you. I would be thrilled if you moved to California. And, if you start another school, I’ll happily advise you. But you don’t have to live in the same building or watch over me.”
“But I want to protect you.”
“You aren’t protecting me by keeping me away from the man I love. And you shouldn’t let me interfere with your personal life, either. Does your sense of responsibility to me have anything to do with the problems you’re having with Kit?”
“He doesn’t particularly like you,” Gabby mumbled, uncomfortable with that truth.
“I’m sure he heard plenty of horror stories from his father. I told you an equal number about Price.”
“They were only stories?”
“Exaggerations.” Anita went on, “How could you have even considered marrying Kit if you thought you had to go back to New York to take care of me?”
“That was a problem,” Gabby admitted.
“One you shouldn’t have had to face. I really think if you weren’t so dependent on me, you wouldn’t have broken off your two engagements.”
With a sigh of exasperation Gabby insisted, “I just feel close to you.”
“We’ve become too close if that stops us from seizing our hearts’ desires. And I’m afraid I fostered that dependence.” She held up a hand when Gabby tried to interrupt. “I didn’t have the career I wanted. I ran away from the love of my life. You were young and fresh and resembled me. I put aside my goals and tried to live them out through you instead.”
“But I always wanted to be a dancer,” Gabby objected, though she was beginning to see her mother’s point. “If dancing was wrong for me, I wouldn’t have gotten as far as I did.”
“I’m not saying you don’t have your own natural talent, but I focused on it and on you. I always wanted you to confide every single one of your hopes and doubts and secrets. You told me more than you told your friends.”
The reality of the situation sinking in at last, Gabby asked, “What did that hurt?”
“You’ve as much as admitted you wouldn’t marry a man you love because you feel you have to take care of me.”
Gabby knew it was time she faced the truth: she had been using her feelings for her mother to prevent her from forging new bonds with someone else. It had been her special brand of self-protection, because she had always known in her heart that her parents hadn’t really been happy together.
“And now that I think of it,” Anita went on, “our bond might have had some influence on your father. You and I talked about nothing but dance and ambition and the future. Perhaps R
obert felt left out.”
Anita’s eyes filled with tears. Gabby felt a bit misty herself. Now she wouldn’t have her mother…and she wouldn’t have Kit, either. Why had she been so stupid? She’d handled her relationship all wrong, had wrecked it with preconceived notions and with mistaken selflessness where her mother was concerned.
Noises from outside the dressing room told her the stage crew had arrived and was setting up.
“Don’t let my painful mistakes cause you pain, as well,” Anita urged her daughter. “Kit’s suffered because of Price’s divorces. A child’s ideal of love and marriage usually comes from their parents’.”
Gabby nodded. “I never thought you or Dad were happy.”
“In truth, Robert and I were happier than many couples and we loved our children. I was very thankful for what I had.” She wiped her eyes with a tissue. “It’s just that I’ve come to an old crossroads now and I’m going to turn in the direction I wanted to go in the first place.”
“You’re marrying Price,” Gabby said, surprised that she didn’t feel bitter.
“Price drove me here and is waiting outside. I hope you don’t mind that we’re eloping. I thought about notifying your sisters and brother first, but I decided I didn’t want to wait.” Anita rose and smoothed her long skirts. “I’ll call them tomorrow.”
Someone tapped on the door.
“Just a minute,” Gabby called.
“You need to get ready,” Anita said. She smiled tremulously. “Price and I are leaving right after the show. Please give me your blessing, Gabby. It will mean a lot to me.”
“You’ve got my blessing and more.” Gabby took hold of her mother’s shoulders and held her at arm’s length. “And you look beautiful.”
At seventy-five Anita was a few pounds heavier than she’d like but had managed to keep her curves. And time hadn’t dimmed the lovely face haloed by naturally wavy white hair. At the moment Gabby could swear her mother looked even younger than usual. Perhaps love and excitement had added the extra sparkle.
“I hope you’ll be happier than you’ve ever been in your life, Mom,” Gabby said, pulling her mother close for a hug.