The Husband Campaign

by Barbara McMahon

  “And if not?” Amusement danced in his tone.

  “Just come quietly.” She opened the door and led him out. The receptionist covered her mouth to muffle her laughter as her eyes watched Kerry lead Jake to the elevator. Kerry looked around. There were not many people around, but those that were stopped and watched them, wide smiles on their faces.

  Fortunately there were only two businessmen in the elevator when they got on. Both looked stunned at the tall man wearing a suit blindfolded by a yellow scarf. One studied Kerry, looking almost wistful. But no one said a word when she raised her finger to her lips. Kerry gripped Jake’s hand tightly. She hoped he wouldn’t be mad. If he were, he could have removed the scarf by now. Maybe he would go along with this.

  “Come on,” she urged when the reached the ground floor. Trying to avoid all the stares and laughter, Kerry led her captive through the bustling crowd in the lobby and out to the sidewalk. Thank goodness she had been able to park close by. The few moments it took to get Jake into the car seemed endless. Flushed with embarrassment and triumph, she ran to the driver’s side. In seconds they were away.

  “Is it in order for me to inquire where we are going?” he asked relaxing in the seat.

  “You’ll see.”

  “Then at some point I do get to remove the scarf?”

  “I’ll do that.”

  “You forgot to disguise your voice,” he commented dryly.

  “Did you know it was me?”

  “From the first.”

  Well, at least he wasn’t kissing just anyone. If he’d known it was her, he’d meant to kiss her. Kerry licked her lips, tasting Jake again. Excitement still bubbled.

  “How?”

  “Next time, don’t wear honeysuckle perfume. It’s unique to you.”

  Kerry ignored him as she found her way to the park she had in mind. It was large, with a children’s play area at one end and several acres of grassy meadow. Parking, she lifted the picnic basket and blanket from the back and went to let Jake out. When he stood, she wrapped his hand around the handle.

  “You can carry this.” Taking his free hand, she led the way to a stretch of level grass.

  “Okay, you can take off the scarf,” she said.

  “I thought you would do that,” he replied.

  Eyeing him uncertainly, she reached up to loosen the material. He didn’t move and when the scarf came away, he blinked once and gazed down at her.

  “I thought we could have a picnic,” she said, gesturing around the park, watching him warily, trying to gauge how he felt by the gleam in his eye.

  “A simple invitation would have been too much, I suppose.”

  She shrugged, amusement dancing now that she knew he wasn’t angry. “Isn’t this more exciting?”

  Jake stared at her for a long moment, then slowly nodded. “I’ve never been kidnapped before. Do you make a habit of it?”

  Relieved, Kerry began to shake out the blanket. “No, my first venture. But if it turns out well, I might try again.”

  Jake placed the basket on the edge of the blanket and took off his suit jacket. Unfastening his cuffs, he rolled the sleeves back before sitting.

  Kerry sank to her knees, her dress billowing around her. Reaching for the basket, she quickly unpacked.

  Her aunt loved romantic things and the picnic basket was no exception. China plates, silver utensils and delicate wineglasses soon were in place. She removed the food containers and opened them all. Glancing around to make sure everything was as she wanted, she looked at Jake.

  “This is your idea of a picnic?” he asked, looking at the elegant setting.

  Kerry nodded, hoping he’d like it.

  “You’re full of surprises, Kerry Kincaid.”

  “And is that good?”

  “Today, it’s very good,” he said.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Study the man and understand him. He will not change. The woman who thinks she can change a man is forever doomed to failure.

  —Megan Madacy’s journal, Spring 1923

  JAKE STUDIED HER smiling face. For a moment he let go and just went with the moment. No one had ever kidnapped him. He was startled she’d even think of doing such a thing. Yet, wasn’t that part of Kerry’s past—doing outrageous things. Like the time she tried to get him to kiss her. She’d declared her love for him and he’d turned away.

  Had that been the end of her infatuation? Was that the reason she kept her distance this visit? He had been angry at the world at that time, still hurting over Selena. He’d wanted to ruthlessly end Kerry’s devotion—had he hurt her deeply that day? For a moment a pang of regret hit. He had not been kind to the young girl who had followed him so faithfully. He pushed thoughts of the past away. Today was a fresh day. They had a few hours to share and he would not let the past intrude.

  And this unexpected picnic was a great idea. Suddenly he had a thought.

  “How many people saw us come out of the building?” he asked, wondering why he hadn’t objected. Was it the novelty? Or had he just been unable to upset her plan?

  She grinned and heaped fresh potato salad on his plate. Using tongs, she grasped a piece of fried chicken and daintily set it on the china. “Lots. Will your reputation forever be tarnished?”

  He could feel her high spirits as he shook his head. “I’m in hopes the blindfold covered my face so no one knew.”

  “Everyone at your work knew,” she said gleefully. “And if it works out, your receptionist is going to try it with her boyfriend.” Suddenly she looked stricken.

  Was it the word boyfriend? Jake wondered if Kerry still harbored feelings for him. None had been evident since she’d returned. But maybe she was better at hiding how she felt these days.

  “The rolls may still be warm,” she said quickly. “I baked them just before I left and wrapped them well.” She offered the covered basket. “When was the last time you went on a picnic?” she asked.

  Jake paused in eating to try to remember. “It’s been a long time. And I’ve never been on one as elaborate as this.” His father had not been a man to indulge in tomfooleries such as a picnic. It was all he could do to get through the days after his wife left. He hadn’t spent time in doing many things with his boys.

  “Sally and I love picnics. We used to go on them all the time as kids. Remember that section in the stretch of woods just beyond the river? We found a clearing there when we were twelve. It was our favorite spot to eat and then lie on our backs and watch clouds drift by. It was partially shaded by the trees, so was cool even in the heat of summer. Wine? I know you have to work this afternoon, but one small glass can’t hurt, right?”

  “Are you coming to court today?”

  “Yes. I want to see Perry Mason in action.” Her smile made him catch his breath. Her eyes sparkled and Jake almost forgot about eating. He’d like to lean closer and—

  Slamming down on the thought, he nodded, sipped the wine and watched her as she ate her own lunch. What was going on, he wondered cynically. She’d done her best to ignore him ever since she’d arrived. Ignore him or drive him crazy. Now this. A romantic picnic for two. Did it mean anything, or was she just filling her days until she found a new job?

  “Any luck in the job hunting?” he asked.

  “I’ve got a dynamite resumé ready to go. But I’m not in a huge hurry to find something. Maybe in a week or two. In the meantime, I want to enjoy myself.” She took a sip of wine and glanced around the park. “I never did this in New York,” she said thoughtfully. “I think I’m going to make a major lifestyle change and opt for a slower pace of life. Why shouldn’t I enjoy things as I go along?”

  “I thought you liked your life in New York.”

  “I did, it was great. But now that things have changed, I have to consider whether I want to go back to something like that. I really threw myself into my job. Then in a single day it was gone.”

  Jake nodded, knowing he’d feel totally adrift if he couldn’t practice law. It was logica
l and orderly, yet challenging—and afforded him the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives. Finding new ways to influence decisions was exhilarating.

  Kerry talked about nonessentials as they ate. When finished, she packed up the picnic basket and looked expectantly at him. “Did you enjoy this?” she asked almost diffidently.

  Jake nodded, surprised to realize how much he had enjoyed their novel adventure. Maybe he was getting too set in routine.

  And maybe he was getting too close to Kerry when he realized how good he felt to see her smile.

  “Time to head back,” he said abruptly, standing and rolling down his sleeves. He had work to do and no time to spend getting close to this woman, or any woman.

  She rose and began to fold the blanket, her manner subdued. He hadn’t meant to ruin the mood, just needed to get back on track. A brief interlude, now time to go back to reality.

  “I appreciate your making lunch,” he said. Damn, he sounded formal and polite. Couldn’t he at least put enough enthusiasm in his voice to bring that sparkle back in her eyes?

  “Good, I didn’t want you to be mad.” Kerry turned to head for the car. Jake shrugged into his suit jacket and followed. Her skirt swayed as she walked, brushing against her long legs, mesmerizing in its tempo. She looked pretty, he realized. Prettier than he remembered. And sexier. Her legs were long and tanned. Her feet arched daintily in her sandals. And her hair was so shiny and glossy, it appeared to capture the sunlight.

  Rubbing his fingers across his eyes, Jake picked up his pace. He was not one to give in to foolish, romantic descriptions. Her hair was clean. Her legs lightly tanned. He’d seen a hundred women look as good.

  Only for a moment, he couldn’t remember a single other one.

  He joined her before she reached the car and took the picnic basket. “I have to stop by the office before returning to court. Let me have the keys, I’ll drive.”

  Kerry hand the keys over, feeling generally satisfied. The picnic had gone well. And she almost hugged herself with the delight in Jake’s comment that she proved to be unexpected. She wished Great-grandma Megan was still alive, she would have loved to share the event with her. Maybe she’d call Sally tonight to tell her about the picnic. Or stop by and see her. Since her cousin hadn’t read the journal, Kerry could entertain her with some of Megan’s stories.

  What further things could she do to prove unexpected, she wondered as they entered the courtroom a short time later. Jake indicated several rows of chairs where she could have a seat, then moved down the center aisle to the defendant’s table. Ignoring the rows he’d indicated, she moved across the aisle so she had a better view of the man while he worked.

  He was impressive. Calm and logical in his presentations, his questions to witnesses were hard-hitting and insightful. A curious blend of cynicism and compassion kept every eye on him while he was examining the witnesses.

  Kerry enjoyed the afternoon, fascinated to see this side of Jake. She remembered the day she and Sally had come to watch him. She’d been too young then to fully appreciate the talent of the man. And he’d just been a beginner. Today she basked in his performance. If she ever needed an attorney, she’d pick Jake in a heartbeat.

  As the afternoon drew to a close, Kerry reluctantly slipped from the courtroom. Another unexpected turn, she hoped as she wandered through the cool hallways down to the first level of the old courthouse. She knew Jake expected her to be there when he was finished. And a few years ago she would have been. But she hoped she had grown beyond foolish infatuations in the intervening years. Even if she still had that crush on the man, she would not be so blatant in her attempts to capture his interest.

  Their relationship was solely that of neighbors.

  Kerry swung by Sally’s apartment. Finding her cousin at a loose end, they ordered in pizza and rented a movie. While they ate, Kerry shared her lunch escapade, embellishing it where she could to make it sound even more fantastic.

  Sally laughed when Kerry got to the part about blindfolding Jake with a yellow chiffon scarf. “I can’t believe you’d even try such a thing! And I can’t believe that he let you do it!”

  Kerry grinned in remembrance. “It was surprising. Maybe he needs some fun in his life. For a moment I thought he’d snatch it off, but then he left it.” And kissed her silly, but she didn’t need to tell her cousin everything. Some things were just too private, too special to be shared.

  “And you got that idea from Megan’s journal?” Sally asked when Kerry finished her tale.

  “No, just the idea of doing the unexpected. But I figured the last thing a staid respectable attorney did was get kidnapped.”

  Chuckling, Sally tilted her head. “So is he falling for you?”

  Kerry looked at her cousin warily. “No way. I don’t want him to.” The niggling voice that whispered liar was ignored. She’d learned her lesson. No more tilting against windmills.

  “Then why are you doing this?”

  “For fun, mostly. I really worked hard these last years. And I almost feel betrayed—where’s my reward for all that hard work? I was fired.”

  “Let go, downsized—it’s different from being fired,” Sally said.

  “Doesn’t feel any different. I’ll be thirty soon. Time to live a bit, don’t you think? Anyway this is fun. And if it looks like it’s working, I can try it out on some man I might want to develop a permanent relationship with.”

  “What if Jake falls for you?”

  “Get real, Sally. He’s sworn off women for life. You told me how hard it is to get him to even go out with someone. Do you really think he’s going to fall for me? Especially when he’s done his best to push me away all our lives?”

  “Doesn’t seem to be pushing you away now.”

  Memories of recent kisses flashed into Kerry’s mind. They meant nothing. Nothing beyond a momentary impulse.

  “Leopards don’t change their spots,” Kerry murmured. Hadn’t she just read that before falling to sleep last night? She’d have to reread that passage in Megan’s diary again. In fact, when Sally finished the journal after her, she might reread it, to make sure she hadn’t missed anything.

  “So what are you going to do next?” Sally asked.

  “About Jake? Nothing. You want to come to dinner on Saturday? I could cook some jambalaya. You always like that.”

  “I love that. I’m so glad your parents moved all around so you have a wide selection of cooking treats. Can I invite Greg?”

  Kerry shrugged. “If you want.”

  “Then you’ll have to invite someone so we’ll be even,” Sally said slyly.

  “I’ll ask Carl.”

  Sally wrinkled her nose. “No. Invite Jake. He and Greg are good friends.”

  “I guess.” For some reason she was reluctant to include Jake in her dinner plans. Was she taking the hard-to-get stance too seriously? Suddenly she didn’t want him to think for an instant she was chasing him. She’d been so embarrassed as a teenager when he’d rounded on her and blasted her for her clinging ways. There was no future in a relationship with her sexy next-door neighbor. Maybe she should repeat that litany a hundred times a day until she completely believed it.

  When Kerry slowed for the turn into her driveway later that night, she saw Jake’s car parked in his. Lights shone from his house, but she didn’t pause. Driving to the back, she stopped and quietly entered her aunt’s home. She thought dinner with Sally would be the thing to do, but now she had mixed emotions. Maybe she should have stayed after court and seen what Jake might have suggested. Dinner in Charlotte? Or would he have had work to do and merely thanked her again for lunch?

  She got ready for bed, donning her comfortable sleep T-shirt. Maybe tomorrow she’d go shopping for some really sexy nightgown. Though what would be the point, except to feel luxuriously daring when she went to bed—alone.

  She reached for the journal, but it was not on the night stand. Hurriedly she went downstairs and hunted for it. Where had she left it
? There, in the kitchen on the table. Was she getting absent-minded? No, she remembered now. She had brought it down to read at breakfast and been sidetracked by the local paper.

  Snuggled beneath the sheet, she turned to the page she’d skimmed before falling asleep last night.

  A leopard won’t change his spots. By the time a man is grown, he is set in his ways. And all the blandishments a woman tries won’t change a thing. Aunt Dottie told me that this afternoon after she had taken a short nap. We were sitting in the backyard snapping beans. I love Dottie, she is a wealth of information that she freely gives. Much more so than Mama. Study the man and understand him, she said. He will not change. The woman who thinks she can change a man is forever doomed to failure. So I must make sure I can live with the man the way he is.

  Frederick is a bit somber sometimes. I think he needs something in his life to make him laugh more. But I do like him. He is kind to others, listens to me, even when I try to get him to talk about himself, and is generous in his compliments. He said he found the dress I wore to the church social elegant and refined! I would not want to change him. Just make him like me a little. Is he the man for me? To marry and spend the rest of my life with? I could do that. Would I be enough for him?

  Kerry closed the book. Jake certainly wouldn’t change at this late date. The man was thirty-four years old. Firmly established in his career and his life. He had everything just the way he wanted, Kerry thought. No need for changes. When he wanted companionship, he asked a woman out. When he wanted solitude, he just went home.

  He’d spoken the truth all those years ago. There was no future together. She had to admit deep down inside that she had hoped following Megan’s old-fashioned advice would cause a change of heart in the man. She secretly still yearned for more from him. For a spark of affection or closeness that would bind them together.

  Foolish thoughts, Kerry decided, switching off the light. She had no more chance of that happening than of flying to the moon. Time to end the fun and move to more serious ventures. She could begin with sending out her resumé, and start to date other men. Maybe she would invite Carl to dinner Saturday instead of Jake. Greg could handle it, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to spend more time with a man who really didn’t want to be with her.