Yes, I Do

by Gwynne Forster

  “Yes,” Justin said, standing. “Deanna has an appointment at two-thirty, and I promised to see that she’s there on time. I’ll call you this evening, Granddad.” He didn’t seem like the type of grandfather you should hug, so she walked around the table and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for a very tasty lunch. I’m glad we met.”

  “From what I’d been told, I expected a lot, Deanna. But you are much more.”

  She looked at Justin, but he didn’t smile, and she realized that his grandfather might have displeased him. As he drove her back to her client’s house, he said, “I’m sorry. I know he’s cagey, but I never dreamed he’d ask you to work for McCall’s. You didn’t equivocate, and I admire you for that.”

  She patted his hand. “Don’t worry, honey, I understand that he reaches far in order to get what’s nearby. Reminds me of a Browning poem: “‘A man’s reach should exceed his grasp—’”

  He completed it. “‘Or what’s a heaven for?’”

  They arrived at the house in Danvers precisely at two-thirty. She told Justin that a couple had bought the house for their retiring cook and engaged her to decorate and furnish it. “I have to be sure not to include anything that could prove hazardous to a senior, no small area rugs, tile floors, low seating, that sort of thing. I love my client. She’s sweet and motherly, and she seems to like my taste.”

  He pulled the strand of her hair that hung beside her ear. “That’s because you’ve bothered to understand her and to learn what she likes and dislikes.”

  “I try.” She had a sudden urge to move into his arms and let him hold her, but she couldn’t do so unprofessional a thing while at work.

  “I like what you’re doing here,” he said. “Maybe if my house was less of a showplace and more of a warm and inviting home, I’d spend more time there.”

  Better not comment on that, she thought. “Thanks for the ride, hon. I’ll see you later. Where are we meeting for the drink?”

  “How about Pinky’s? The Watering Hole will be crowded at that time.”

  “Okay. See you at Pinky’s at five-thirty.” She kissed him quickly and moved, for if she hadn’t, he’d have started a fire.

  She closed the door behind him, thinking that she was not going to decorate his house unless she was living in it. She almost fell up the stairs. Had she just decided that she wanted to marry Justin McCall? I must be out of my mind. He’ll marry a woman who is as rich as he is, and I’d better…” She sat down midway up the stairs. It was too late. Much too late. She wanted him as much as she wanted to breathe.

  Struggling under the impact of her moment of self-awareness, Deanna pulled herself up and lugged the sample rolls of wallpaper to the first bathroom. This is the guest bathroom, she said to herself. It will have silver shells for wallpaper, all silver accessories and a brick-red carpet on the floor. She made notes, then headed for the second bathroom for which she chose purple irises on a pale green background as wallpaper and purple accessories including the carpet. The woman had said that she loved purple and never got enough of it. Deanna planned to repeat the motif in the woman’s bedroom.

  She looked at her watch, dashed down the stairs, freshened up, phoned for a taxi and prayed that it would come immediately. She needed forty minutes. Justin waited for her at the bar in Pinky’s Restaurant. He greeted her with a kiss on the mouth, and she managed not to let a single one of the patrons catch her eye. Woodmore would buzz with that gossip for days, and she knew that Justin did it intentionally. If he was making a statement, she wished he tell her what it was.

  “Let’s get a seat at that table over there,” he said, pointing to a corner.

  “If I continue to hang out with you, Justin, I’ll learn to drink.”

  “You think so? I don’t drink much.”

  “I know that, but I didn’t drink at all, and I’ve learned to enjoy various kinds of white liquor as long as it’s diluted with tonic and lime.”

  A grin played around his lips. “I’m scared to ask you what else you’ve learned to enjoy.”

  “That, too,” she said and poured half of a vodka Collins down her throat. She wondered if the drink loosened her tongue when she said. “I don’t like working for Netta Cross.”

  He sat forward as he had a habit of doing when someone suddenly raised a serious question, and an expression of concern settled on his face. “What’s the problem?”

  “She’s got about as much depth as a teaspoon, and she wanted me to buy products at your store and let her examine them before I made a purchase. Further—now get this—she wanted me to insure that when she went to the store, you would be there.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. And she had the nerve to tell me that she wants you bad enough to have you even if you’re gay. I didn’t punch her. I didn’t even say a word, though I damned sure don’t know why.”

  “Get outta here! I’m not even sure what she looks like, but I know enough about her to know she’s poison, and I learned it sitting at the bar in the Watering Hole. Did she pay you up front?”

  “Half of it. According to our contract, the manufacturer sends her a bill for products, but he pays me my cut. That way, I don’t have to hassle with her about the money.”

  “You’re smart. By the time we have a second drink, we’ll be hungry enough to eat dinner.”

  “You get a second. I’ll nurse this one.” She wanted to find out if that night with him was what it seemed to be, and she wanted to be completely sober so as to enjoy every second of it.

  As if he’d read her mind, he said, “One drink is just about enough considering what I have in mind for later. Besides, we’ll have wine with our meal. My housekeeper complains that I’m never at home these days, and that she hasn’t cooked dinner for me in two weeks. If I don’t keep her happy, she might leave me. So, suppose you have dinner with me at my house tomorrow night. Okay?”

  Was that ever a surprise. “I’d love it. I want to see how you live.”

  “I don’t live there, Deanna. I stay there. I’m alive when I’m with you.”

  Half an hour after he walked into her house with her that evening, he lay buried deep inside of her, loving her senseless. She surrendered completely, and for hours after he left her, she remained there feeling as if she’d just mortgaged her soul. There had to be some changes.

  Justin waited until the next morning to telephone his grandfather. Old age carried with it certain licenses, but there were limits.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t call last night,” the old man said when he heard Justin’s voice. “You’re hot under the collar because I suggested that you and Deanna should get married and pool your businesses. I’ll say it again, because I know I’m right. Besides, she’s a lovely woman, soft, feminine and beautiful with a sharp mind. Did she give you a hard time?”

  “She didn’t mention it to me and I didn’t bring it up to her. She isn’t the type to fall for that, Granddad.”

  “Listen, you marry that girl. You’re crazy about her, and she looked at you as if she’d seen you change the direction of the wind. She’s the right one for you. My Adele used to look at me that way. Yeah. She could look at me like that, and I’d feel ten feet tall and bulletproof. Yep. Deanna’s the one for you.”

  “How could you figure that out after being with her an hour and a half during which time you did most of the talking, Granddad?”

  “I’ve lived a lot of years, son, forty-three of them with a happy woman. You’ve given Deanna Lawford a lot of pleasure and she shows it when she looks at you. Don’t bother to answer.”

  What could he say, except that he prayed that Robert McCall knew what he was talking about? He believed he’d made her happy in bed, but what man knows that for certain?

  “You know that you were meddling, Granddad, and you know I don’t like that. I hope you realize that by doing that, you may have caused Deanna to raise some barriers that I wouldn’t be able to surmount if I wanted to.”

  “Pshaw! If she lives for any
length of time, she’ll have McCall on her headstone when she’s buried. If you can’t manage it, I’ll be glad to tell you how.”

  He couldn’t help laughing then. His grandfather had enough polish for half a dozen men and no lack of women friends, but he also had a level head and guarded his money wisely.

  “You claim that a man with money should stay single if he wants to keep it, but you seem to think I can have the money and the woman.”

  “That’s because you had the sense to fall for one who doesn’t care about your money. If she did, she would have knocked herself out pleasing me instead of telling me point blank an unequivocal no. She’s not after your money. She plans to make her own.”

  “I know that.”

  “Well, you’re thirty-four, and it’s time you got married. You should be thinking about giving me some great-grandchildren while I’m still alive to see them. I won’t live forever, you know.”

  “Loneliness in that big mausoleum I call home will prompt me to get married before you do, Granddad. The moment I realize it’s what I want to do, you’ll be the second to know. I’ll see you Tuesday as usual.”

  He hung up and called Deanna. He would have called her first, but he knew she slept later than his grandfather. “How are you, love?”

  “Sleepy. I’m supposed to go over to the sound today, and I dread it. The house is looking fantastic, but she may be there, and she gets on my very last nerve.”

  “Can’t you tune her out?”

  “She’s walking behind me with every step I take. It makes me nervous, and I’m afraid I’ll make some mistakes. I’m thinking of taking Cain along with me, although there isn’t much for him to do there at this stage. But he’s young and good-looking, and he’s great at buttering female egos. He can do that while I work.”

  “Go ahead. It may work. Remember, you’re having dinner at my home today. I’ll be at your place at six-thirty. It’ll be a long day, baby. I feel as if I’ve been away from you for weeks. Crazy, isn’t it, but you’re growing on me like moss on a great oak. Kiss me, and let me get dressed. Lizzie probably has my breakfast ready. I can smell the coffee.”

  “Who is Lizzie?”

  “My housekeeper. I’ll tell her you asked,” he added with a laugh. “Stay sweet for me.”

  “And you stay sweet for me.”

  Deanna had not imagined what Justin’s house would be like. Indeed, she had rarely ventured into the area in which he lived, although she knew that the wealthier citizens of Woodmore lived either close to Pine Tree Park or Wade Lake. They approached the imposing structure shortly before twilight, in the cool and brisk air of the first day of September, which heralded a chilly autumn. The surrounding trees seemed a part of the house, proud and stately, as if they had been built along with it. He drove around the house to the garage, which sat well back from the street, almost behind the house.

  When she asked him about it, he explained, “I had never liked the idea of a garage hooked on to the front of a house, so I built it this way, and I like it. This walkway shields me from the elements, he said of the covered, glass-paneled tunnel that connected the garage to the house.

  They entered a hallway and, once inside, he closed the door, bent down, kissed her and said, “Welcome to my home.”

  She wouldn’t call it a mausoleum as he had, but it certainly lacked warmth. “I furnished this rather like the house in which I grew up, since it remains one of the few houses with which I’m familiar.” Rich Persian carpets adorned the dining and living room floors. She sat in the tufted velvet sofa, which had matching chairs, and looked around. Yes, she would be lonely there. Very lonely.

  A tall woman of around sixty came into the living room with hot hors d’oeuvres and greeted them. “Good evening, y’all. I thought you’d gotten lost.”

  “We’re ten minutes late, Lizzie.” He stood. “Ms. Lawford, this is Mrs. Palmer.”

  “I’m glad to meet you, Ms. Palmer,” Deanna said, and added. “I assume your first name is Lizzie, since Justin told me that a person by that name takes care of him.”

  “I’m glad to say that it is, because I can guess how much trouble he’d be in if I said my name was Claire or something like that. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Lawford.” She looked at Justin. “Would you like some ice?”

  “Thank you. That would be nice.” He went to a large wall unit and opened a door that revealed a variety of liquors and liqueurs. “Gin and tonic?” Deanna nodded. “I’ll have the same.”

  Lizzie brought the ice, and he mixed the drinks. “This is the first time I’ve used this bar in months. I don’t drink alone. I’ll have a beer or some wine with my meals, but that about does it.”

  She wanted to ask him if he was lonely at home, but he might give that the wrong meaning. So she asked him, “Where do you spend most of your time when you’re home?”

  “As I think of it, I mainly sleep here. Otherwise, I eat breakfast in the kitchen and work in my study. I have a movie theater downstairs, but I’ve used it once, because Granddad wanted to see ‘The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming.’ I guess I prefer being around people.”

  She sampled a tiny empanada. “If the dinner is going to be anywhere near this good, I’d better not eat any more of these.”

  “I’ll tell her to wrap some for you to take home. A person could get addicted to those things. While we’re waiting for dinner, let me show you the back garden. It’s faded now compared to what it was in June and July, but it’s still lovely.”

  He took her hand, walked down the hall in which they came and out to the garden on the left side of the garage. Through the tall trees beyond, she could see red, yellow and gold streaks decorating the sky in homage to the sun that had already set.

  “It’s so beautiful here, Justin, and so quiet. All I hear is the rustling of the trees. Is it always like this?”

  “Yes. I’m at the end of this cul-de-sac, so unless someone is coming to see me, no one comes this far down, and there are no dogs in this area.”

  “Do you tend the garden yourself? It’s beautiful, and I especially like those French marigolds and the calendula. I love autumn colors.”

  “So do I,” he said, as darkness encroached and fireflies emerged. His arm slid around her waist. “The more I’m with you, the more I want to be with you.” He gazed into her eyes, but she couldn’t divine his feelings. “Let’s go inside,” he said as if he’d experienced a change of mood or had exposed too much of his inner self. But she didn’t care. She was getting to him, and since she had decided that she wanted him, his being confused did not bother her.

  They sat down to an elegant meal of salmon en croute, saddle of veal, tiny roasted potatoes, broccoli rabe, green salad and for dessert, vanilla ice cream with raspberry sauce and whipped cream. They sipped espresso later in the living room.

  Suddenly, as if on an impulse, he leaned to her and said, “I could really enjoy my home if you were in it.”

  She nearly spilled the coffee, but she was glad she had the presence of mind merely to smile, put the coffee cup aside and snuggle closer to him. If he wanted a response from her, he had to ask the right question. Later, when he took her home, his long, drugging kiss rocked her, and she had to fight to keep her wits.

  “Thank you for taking me home with you. I loved being in your private world. It was a very special evening for me, Justin. And I mean that. If Mrs. Palmer hadn’t left, I would have given her my thanks. Please thank her for me”. She stood on tiptoe, parted her lips and received his kiss. His possessiveness stunned her, and it cost her a lot of willpower to behave as if he wasn’t acting out of character. She understood that he wanted more, but was not ready to ask for it. Fine with her; she was a patient woman.

  Several days later, Deanna looked at the invitation in her hand. Ms. Netta Cross requested the pleasure of her company at a housewarming, etc. Of course, the woman wanted to show off her house and her decorator. I couldn’t say no if I wanted to, and I plan to fill my handbag with
business cards. If this doesn’t get me a few contracts, nothing will. I’m doing well, but if this works out, I can hire an assistant decorator. Ms. Cross is using me, so I’m sure she won’t mind if I do the same.

  Justin’s call saying that he had a similar invitation from Netta Cross surprised her, and she told him as much.

  “I suggest we go together,” he said, “and in that way she’ll understand that she doesn’t and will not interest me.”

  “I have a feeling that the woman’s brain doesn’t operate like that of a normal person, but I’ll be delighted to go with you.”

  The mid-September Saturday afternoon of Netta’s housewarming party arrived. Knowing the house and Netta, and in view of the 82-degree weather, Deanna arrived wearing a rose-colored, mid-calf chiffon dress, matching hat and white gloves.

  When Netta opened the door, a gasp escaped her. However, she quickly recovered her aplomb, looked from Deanna to Justin. “How nice. Where did you two bump into each other? Come on in.” She took Justin’s arm. “It’s so good of you to come. Deanna’s an excellent decorator. Of course, she used my ideas.”

  Justin removed Netta’s hand from his arm. “Thank you for the invitation, Ms. Cross. We need to get this one thing straight. I did not bump into Deanna. I’ve been courting her for the last six months, and I’ve just begun to make some headway with her.”

  “You’re lying,” she shrieked and turned to Justin. “She told you a lot of things about me and what I said about you.” Several people gathered near. “How could you?” she said to Deanna.

  “You felt free to talk to the hired help about your personal business, and I listened. I had no choice. And you did not give me a single idea for the decoration of this house.”

  “You’re lying,” she screamed. “You told him what I said; otherwise he wouldn’t look at you. Come on, Justin. I want you to meet my other guests.”

  “I don’t know when I’ve been so shocked,” he said. “You insult my date and expect me to walk off with you and leave her standing here? Deanna Lawford is my reason for living.”