Lucky In Love (Harlequin Special Edition)

by Sinclair, Tracy

  It was only an act, she reminded herself. Jonathan was an experienced man. By now, every heated caress was probably automatic, she thought bitterly. They had nothing to do with tenderness. Snapping her suitcase shut, she picked up her purse and went out the door.

  Evelyn was alone in the sunroom. She glanced up with a bright smile when Michelle joined her. “Good morning, dear. I’ll ring for Manuel to bring your breakfast.”

  “Don’t bother, I won’t have time. I got a confirmed seat on a plane this morning, but I have to pick up my tickets half an hour before the flight.”

  “Weren’t you fortunate,” Evelyn murmured.

  “Yes, I was. The booking agent said she’d just had a cancellation.” Michelle glanced around. “Where is Lucky? Isn’t he down yet? I want to say goodbye and thank him for his hospitality.”

  “I’m afraid you’ll have to write him a note. He had an early golf game.”

  “Did you tell him I was leaving? Not that I would expect him to give up his golf game for me. I just wondered,” Michelle said casually. Had Evelyn told Lucky about last night’s disaster—the little she knew? Was Lucky annoyed?

  “I haven’t had a chance to tell him,” Evelyn said. “I didn’t mention it last night, because I thought you might change your mind.”

  “I didn’t,” Michelle said grimly.

  “So I see.” Evelyn glanced at the suitcase. “Anyway, Lucky was gone this morning before I got up. He slipped a note under my door saying he’d be back for lunch.”

  “I’m sorry I missed him.” Michelle glanced at her watch. “I sort of assumed one of you would take me to the airport. Is that all right? I’d be nervous waiting for a cab to arrive. You never know when they’re going to show up.”

  “I’ll be happy to drive you, dear. It will give us a last chance to visit on the way. We’ll have to take the little Mercedes, because Lucky has the Lincoln.”

  “I don’t mind roughing it.” Michelle smiled. “It’s going to be hard to go back to my old life after living in luxury for so long.”

  “You’re welcome to stay. You know that.”

  Michelle’s smile faded. “I’ve stayed too long already. Can we get started? I’m in rather a hurry.”

  “I’ll have Manuel bring the car around.”

  Michelle fidgeted while she waited, walking to the window several times. When he returned, she gave a sigh of relief that soon turned to anguish. Manuel, who was in on the plot, reported with a broad smile that the Mercedes had a dead battery. Evelyn was sure he’d given them away, but Michelle was too upset to notice.

  Gritting her teeth she said, “I hate to do it but we’ll just have to borrow Jonathan’s car. It’s right outside.”

  “I’m so sorry, dear, but Lucky took his car back to him last night. He thought Jonathan might need it to go to the office this morning.”

  . Michelle groaned. “Then I’ll just have to take a taxi. Why didn’t I leave myself more time?” she wailed. “I just hope the cab company will send one immediately.”

  “I hope so, too, for your sake,” Evelyn said. “But you’d better be prepared to wait as much as half an hour.”

  “That’s too long! I’d never get to the airport in time. What am I going to do?”

  “I could call Jonathan. He’s only five minutes away. I’m sure he’d be glad to give you a lift.”

  “I doubt that very seriously. But in any case, I don’t intend to find out.” Michelle’s soft mouth thinned. “I’ll just have to call a cab.”

  Her anxiety increased after she phoned several taxi companies and was told the wait might be as much as forty-five minutes.

  “If you expect to make your plane you’d better let me call Jonathan. Or you can wait for another cancellation,” Evelyn said artlessly. “I’d love to keep you here longer.”

  “No...go ahead and call him,” Michelle said grudgingly. “Chances are, he isn’t even home.”

  Jonathan was out on his deck, staring moodily at the water when the telephone rang. He didn’t move from his deck chair. Let the answering machine pick up. The one person he wanted to talk to wasn’t going to call. But after a moment, annoyance mixed with his gloom. Did he intend to allow Michelle to cripple him emotionally? No, damn it! He could function perfectly well without her.

  Striding into the house, Jonathan grabbed the phone just before the message began to play.

  “I’m so glad I caught you,” Evelyn said. “I was beginning to think you weren’t home.”

  “I was out on the deck drinking coffee,” he replied warily. Evelyn had never phoned him before. How much had Michelle told her mother about last night?

  “I hate to disturb you, but I have a big favor to ask.” Evelyn explained Michelle’s predicament.

  “You want me to drive her to the airport?” he asked incredulously. “Does Michelle know you’re calling me?”

  “Yes, she’s right here. I’d let you talk to her, but she’s in a tearing hurry. If you can’t take her, I’ll have to call someone else immediately.”

  “No! I’ll be there.”

  Jonathan hung up and raced for his car, filled with jubilation. Until the full import of Evelyn’s phone call hit him. Michelle was leaving! His heart plunged, although he should have known that’s what she’d do.

  And yet... if she was really through with him, she wouldn’t let him get within a mile of her. Maybe this was her way of saying she regretted all the bitterness and didn’t want to see their relationship end on that note. If Michelle gave him an opening even an inch wide, he would apologize for everything he had said and done, or ever would do in the future!

  “You see? I told you Jonathan would be delighted,” Evelyn said after hanging up.

  Michelle doubted it. He probably couldn’t think of an excuse fast enough. But she didn’t want to argue about it. “At least come with us, Mother.”

  “Isn’t Jonathan’s car a two-seater?”

  Michelle had forgotten that. This just wasn’t her day.

  She was waiting on the doorstep with her suitcase when he drove up a few minutes later. Her tense body and remote expression wasn’t what he’d been hoping for, but Jonathan told himself that was to be expected. It must have been hard for her to take the first step. He intended to make it easier for her, though.

  His optimism soon evaporated. Staring out the front window as they drove away, Michelle said coolly, “Thank you for giving me a ride.”

  “You don’t have to thank me. I was glad to do it.”

  She turned her head to give him a sardonic look. “You want to be sure I don’t miss my plane?”

  “That’s not what I meant!”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m still grateful,” she said indifferently.

  “I don’t want gratitude,” he rasped.

  She shrugged. “Okay, I was desperate and you were the only ride available.”

  “I should have figured that out for myself.”

  “What does it matter? It’s almost over.”

  He was goaded into saying, “Almost? You mean there’s something else you forgot to tell me last night?”

  “I’m surprised you’d want to talk about that,” she flared.

  “Why not? It was quite a night. I’ve rarely had a partner who displayed such enthusiasm,” he drawled.

  Michelle turned her head to stare out the windshield again. Jonathan made what happened between them last night seem cheap, a meaningless roll in the hay.

  He slanted a glance at her rigid profile, cursing himself for being an insensitive clod. Was this how he expected to make up? Even if that seemed a remote possibility now, the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.

  “I don’t want to argue with you, Michelle,” he began tentatively. “I was hoping we could at least be friends.”

  “We never were. Why start now? Because of a casual one-night stand?”

  Jonathan’s eyes were bleak. “It was more than that for me,” he said in a low voice.

  He must have realized h
e’d been less than gallant. But Michelle didn’t want him to be kind. If she allowed herself to remember the man she fell in love with, she’d lose control of her tightly reined emotions.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” she said flatly. “We said more than enough last night.”

  “Including some things we didn’t mean—at least I didn’t.” He paused, hoping for a crumb of hope. When none was forthcoming he changed the subject. “You’re going to miss this warm weather. I heard on the news that New York is expecting more snow.”

  “It isn’t too bad when you live in the city. They clear the streets right away.”

  During the rest of the drive they discussed the weather and the benefits of living in a big city as opposed to the inconveniences.

  When they reached the airport it was too hectic for conversation. Cars were double-parked, trying to let off passengers, and people were weaving through the traffic, lugging suitcases and tote bags while policemen blew their whistles shrilly to try to keep the traffic moving.

  The skycaps were all besieged by travelers clamoring for their attention, but Jonathan managed to get one to take Michelle’s luggage. While the man was writing her flight number on a tag and attaching it to her suitcase, they said goodbye.

  “I hope you have a nice flight,” Jonathan said politely.

  “Thanks, I’m sure I will,” Michelle answered just as formally. She clutched her purse tightly, grateful that the ordeal was almost over.

  “Maybe I’ll give you a call once in a while,” he said casually. “Just to keep in touch.”

  “You could do that, but it’s rather hard to reach me.”

  “I know,” he answered somberly.

  “Goodbye, Jonathan,” she said with finality, turning away.

  “Michelle, wait!” He didn’t get to say any more.

  A policeman came over to them. “You’ll have to move along. This area is for loading and unloading passengers only.”

  As he got into his car, Jonathan watched Michelle disappear inside the airport.

  She forced herself not to look back. She didn’t need a last glimpse of Jonathan. He would remain in her memory forever.

  After watching from his upstairs window as Michelle and Jonathan drove away, Lucky went down to the sunroom to join Evelyn.

  “I see everything went off perfectly,” he said with a smile.

  “Our part did, anyway,” she replied. “I only hope it works.”

  “It will,” he answered confidently. “They’ll be back here in an hour. Ring for Manuel, will you? I feel like a big breakfast.”

  Manuel was just as cheerful when he arrived. “How about my performance? Wasn’t I fantastic? I could have been an actor.”

  “You’d better not quit your day job,” Evelyn said dryly. “Most people don’t look that happy when they announce that a car has a dead battery,”

  “Jeez! Everybody’s a critic,” he grumbled.

  “I’m sure you did fine,” Lucky said. “Tell Bessie I’d like waffles and bacon this morning. And you can bring me some juice and coffee while I’m waiting.”

  He and Evelyn talked over their plans for the day while he waited for his breakfast. By the time he’d finished eating, almost an hour had passed.

  Evelyn tried not to fidget. Finally she sneaked a siureptitious peek at her watch, but Lucky noticed. “Don’t worry. Jonathan and Michelle will be back any minute now,” he said reassuringly.

  “I’m sure you’re right, darling,” she replied as the phone rang.

  It was Jonathan’s secretary. “Mr. Richfield told me to call and leave a message,” she said. “He didn’t think you’d be home. Would you like to speak to him?”

  “He’s there in the office?” Lucky asked. “Yes, put him on.”

  “I thought you’d be on the golf course,” Jonathan remarked when he came on the line.

  “I, uh, my game was called off. Ed Harrison got sick. Did you take Michelle to the airport?”

  “Yes. Tell Evelyn I got her there in plenty of time.”

  “Dandy!” Lucky muttered.

  They talked business for a few minutes. Then Lucky hung up and looked at Evelyn regretfully. “I guess I was overly optimistic. Michelle is gone.”

  “Only to New York. It’s disappointing, but scarcely disastrous. Let’s wait a few days and give them both a chance to cool down. I still think they’ll be so miserable that they’ll get in touch with each other.”

  Evelyn was right about one thing. Both Michelle and Jonathan were miserable.

  Michelle had always considered winter’s ice and snow part of the trade-off for living in an exciting city like New York. But when she returned from Florida, the days seemed grayer and the nights colder than she remembered.

  Everyone envied her tan and wanted to hear all about her trip. The women also asked if she’d met anyone interesting. It was difficult to lie when images of Jonathan tormented her night and day.

  The nights were the worst. Jonathan came to her in dreams that seemed poignantly real. He held her in his arms and caressed her intimately, whispering such tender words that she clung to him tightly. And then she would wake up, clutching a pillow. The sense of loss made her reluctant to go to sleep again.

  Jonathan was suffering equal tortures. Everything reminded him of Michelle: the way she smiled, the flower-fresh scent of her skin—her responsiveness when they made love. He masked his despair under an uncharacteristically curt manner that baffled people.

  Lucky was concerned about the change in Jonathan’s personality. His unhappiness proved how much he cared about Michelle. But Jonathan avoided all his attempts to talk about her.

  “This can’t go on,” Lucky told Evelyn. “Your theory wasn’t any better than mine. You were right about them discovering they miss each other, but Jonathan is too stubborn to do anything about it.”

  “Michelle is, too. I can tell how unhappy she is when I talk to her on the phone, but she pretends everything is just dandy at home.”

  Lucky looked thoughtful. “We can’t give up just because a couple of things didn’t work. How about the jealousy angle? We could tell each of them the other one is seeing somebody else. Then they’d realize they could lose each other forever.”

  “It’s an idea,” Evelyn said doubtfully. “But maybe it would be better to say they were asking about each other. That wouldn’t make either feel rejected, and it leaves the door open for a reconciliation.”

  “Except that neither is willing to make the first move. How about a compromise? I’ll tell Jonathan that Michelle has been asking about him, and you tell her he’s seeing somebody else, maybe Ashleigh.”

  “That just might do it. Michelle detests her.”

  “Good! Then let’s try it. What do we have to lose?”

  Michelle was just walking in the door that evening when her mother phoned. She was tired and out of sorts, and the last thing she wanted to do was appear upbeat. But she forced herself. She made suitable, approving comments as Evelyn told her about the parties and luncheons she’d been invited to. Until her mother mentioned seeing Jonathan at a country club dance.

  “He’s so handsome and charming. It’s no wonder the women are crazy about him.”

  “I’m really not interested in hearing about Jonathan,” Michelle said sharply.

  “I’m sorry, dear. That was insensitive of me. How could I have forgotten how you feel about him? You always sound so cheerful when I talk to you. I suppose I thought you’d decided it was just a physical attraction between you.”

  “That about sums it up.” On his part, anyway, Michelle thought grimly.

  “You’re certainly not alone there!” Evelyn laughed merrily. “Ashleigh did everything but take off her clothes to get his attention.”

  “I’m sure she’s done that, too.”

  “We mustn’t be judgmental. They have been seeing each other for quite a while. Lucky says Jonathan has been dating her for years. I’m always skeptical when things drag on too long, but you n
ever can tell. If Ashleigh catches him in just the right mood, maybe something permanent will develop.”

  “They should be very happy together. They deserve each other.”

  “I don’t agree. Jonathan deserves better, but we don’t always know what’s good for us,” Evelyn observed innocently. “Anyway, I’ll keep you informed. I’m glad everything is going so well for you, too, dear. I’ll talk to you again in a couple of days.”

  She hung up with a pensive look at Lucky. “I feel terrible about making my own child so unhappy. But if it brings them together it will be worth it.”

  “It’s time for me to do my part.” He picked up the phone and called his nephew.

  They talked for a few minutes, as Evelyn had done. Then Lucky said casually, “Oh, by the way, I have a message for you from Michelle. Evie was talking to her tonight and she asked how you were.”

  “Michelle asked about me?” Jonathan’s voice was suddenly taut. “What did she say?”

  “I think she asked Evie if she’d seen you lately, and how you looked, that sort of thing. Just a friendly inquiry.”

  “She sounded friendly?” Jonathan asked cautiously.

  “Of course. Why shouldn’t she?”

  “We, uh, we didn’t always get along. I’m rather surprised that she’d be interested enough to ask about me.”

  “Maybe you took your little spats more seriously than she did.”

  “I doubt that,” Jonathan stated grimly.

  “You’re obviously wrong. Why else would she ask? It might be nice if you gave her a call sometime, just to stay in touch.”

  “I would if I thought she wanted to hear from me,” Jonathan answered slowly.

  “You’ll never know unless you call. Of course it’s up to you. Don’t feel you have to call her for Evie’s sake. If you’re not interested in keeping up the friendship it’s all right with us.”