Marsha sighed. “I don’t see a problem but I’ll go get it. I think you’re overreacting. The dress is perfect the way it is.”
Laura Jo looked at herself again. Was she overreacting? If so, why? Because she was going to the dance with Mark or because she was afraid she couldn’t control herself around him?
She studied the dress. It was midnight blue with the slightest shimmer to it. The material hugged her in all the correct places. Twisting, she turned so that she could see the back. It closed close to her neck so that it formed a diamond-shaped peephole in the middle. It was the loveliest detail of the dress.
“Mommy, you look pretty,” Allie said from behind Laura Jo.
“Thank you, honey.” She leaned down and kissed the top of Allie’s head.
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” Allie said, running out of the room.
Laura Jo followed. Surely it was Marsha, returning with the wrap.
Allie opened the door and Mark stood on the other side. Their eyes met and held. Everything that had happened between them the night before flashed through her mind. His gaze slid downward and paused at her breasts.
They tingled and her nipples grew hard. Heat pooled in her middle. What was happening to her? Something as simple as a look from Mark could make her feel alive like no one else could.
Was he remembering, too?
“Doesn’t Mommy look pretty?” Allie asked, looking back and forth between them.
Mark’s gaze didn’t leave her. Seconds later, as if coming out of a stupor, he said, “Uh, yes, she looks wonderful.”
Laura Jo swallowed hard. She’d never felt more beautiful than she did right now as Mark admired her. The man was starting to get under her skin and everything about his idea of life was so wrong for her. Or was it? She’d better guard her heart tonight or he might take it.
Allie looked up at Mark. “You look pretty, too.”
He did, in the most handsome, debonair and charming way. His blond waves were in place and his eyes shone. Dressed in his formal wear of starched white shirt, black studs and tailcoat, he took her breath away. She’d seen many men wearing their finest but none compared to the man standing before her.
“Thank you, Allie.” He was still looking at her when he said, “Do you mind if I come in?”
“Oh, no, do.” Laura Jo gave Allie a little nudge back into the hall. She stepped out of the way and let Mark enter.
“Come in and have a seat. I’m waiting for Marsha to bring me a cover-up.”
“From where I stand, you look perfect just the way you are.” His voice had a grainy sound to it that wasn’t normal.
“Thank you.” When had she become such a blusher? When Mark had come into her life.
“Have a seat while I get my purse. Marsha should be back by then.” Laura Jo indicated a chair in their small living area.
There was a knock on the door and Allie ran to open it. Laura Jo trailed behind her. Her friend breezed in, breathless. “I couldn’t find it. I must have given it away at our last clothes drive. Hi, Dr. Clayborn. You look nice.” Marsha let the last few words spin out.
“Thank you. I was telling Laura Jo she looks great just as she is.”
“I think so, too.” Marsha said. She offered a hand to Allie. “Come on. It’s time to go. Jeremy will be home in a few minutes.”
Laura Jo picked up a small bag and handed it to her daughter. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon. I’ll be picking you and Jeremy up from school.” Laura Jo kissed her on the head.
“Okay. Bye, Mark.” Allie happily went out the door.
“Have a good time and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Marsha quipped with a wink.
“Marsha!”
Mark’s low chuckle didn’t help to lessen Laura Jo’s mortification.
She turned to him. “You do understand I’m only going to the krewe dance because I need funds for the shelter. Nothing else can happen.”
“You more than made it clear that the evening has nothing to do with my company. Are you ready?”
Had she hurt his feelings?
“Mark, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so rude.” She looked down. “After the other night I just didn’t want you to get the wrong idea. I do appreciate you taking me to the dance. It’s just that I have a difficult time with the idea and I seem to be taking it out on you.”
“Maybe if you explained, I would understand.”
She looked at him again. “It’s because…I shunned that world years ago.”
“Why?”
“I fell in love, or at least what I thought was love, with a guy who my parents didn’t approve of. ‘Not of our social status,’ my father said. My parents were adamantly against the marriage. They told me Phil was after my name and money, not me. That he was no good. My father was particularly vocal about Phil being the wrong guy. He forced me to make a choice between them or my ex.
“I always felt like I was an afterthought to them. I never quite fit the mold they had imagined for their child. They spent little time with me when I was young and now they wanted to start making parental demands, showing real interest. I had always been more headstrong than they liked, so my father’s ultimatum backfired.
“I told my parents if the man I loved wasn’t good enough for them then I didn’t need them. I chose Phil. Turned out they were right about him. He was everything they said he was and more. I said some ugly things to my parents that I now regret but I couldn’t go running back. My pride wouldn’t allow that. I had to prove to them and myself I could take care of myself. Live with my mistakes.”
Laura Jo would never let Mark know what it took for her to admit her mistakes. No matter how many times or how sweetly Marsha had asked Laura Jo, she had never told her as much as she had just told Mark.
“You haven’t spoken to your parents in all that time?”
“I tried to contact them after Phil and I got back from Vegas but the housekeeper told me Mother wouldn’t take my call. I phoned a few more times and got the same response. I finally gave up.”
“They really hurt you.”
Laura Jo fingered a fold in her dress. “Yes. After I had Allie I had a better sense of what it was to have a child’s best interests at heart. But after they’d acted the way they did when I called I couldn’t take the chance that they would treat Allie the same way as they had me. I’ll never let her feel unwanted.”
“Maybe they’ve changed. They might be better grandparents than they were parents. You could try again. At least let them meet Allie.”
She shook her head. “I think the hurt is too deep and has gone on for too long.”
“You’ll never know until you try. I could go with you, if you want.”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to think about that. Let’s just get through tonight, then I’ll see.”
“I’ll be there beside you all night. We’ll both put in the appearance to get what you need and to also satisfy my father. Then we’re out of there.”
To her surprise, he didn’t sound like he’d been that excited about going to the dance to begin with. Had she made some judgment calls about him that just weren’t true? He’d never once looked down on her, her friends or where she lived. Did his status in the area truly not matter to him?
She made a chuckling sound that had nothing to do with humor and more about being resigned. “We sound nothing like two people expecting to enjoy an evening out.”
At the car, he opened the door, took her elbow and helped her in. At least if she had to go to the dance she would arrive in a fine car and on the arm of the most handsome man in town.
Mark settled behind the wheel and closed the door but didn’t start the engine. Instead, he placed his hand over hers. Squeezing it gently, he said, “I can see by the look on your face that you have no hope of this evening ending well. Why don’t you think positive? You might be surprised.”
“I’ll try.”
“Plus you’re starting to damage my ego by m
aking me think I no longer know how to show a woman a good time.” Mark started the car then checked to see if she was buckled in. She patted her seat belt and he backed out of the parking space.
“This doesn’t have anything to do with you personally.” She studied his strong profile in the dim light.
“Well, I’m glad to know that. I was starting to think you thought being seen with me was comparable to going to the gallows.”
She smiled.
“That’s better. At least you haven’t lost your sense of humor completely.” He pulled out into the street.
They rode down now crowd-free Government Street toward the port. The building where the dance was being held was located on the bay. Mark circled to the elegant glass doors of the historic building.
Mark stopped the car. He handed the keys to the valet then came around to open the door for her. Taking a deep fortifying breath, she placed her hand into Mark’s offered one. It was large and steady.
“You’re an outstanding nurse, mother of a wonderful daughter and an advocate for mothers, Laura Jo. You’re more accomplished than the majority of the people here.”
She met his look. His eyes didn’t waver. He’d said what he believed. She drew confidence from that. “Thank you.”
He pulled her hand into the crook of his arm as they walked toward the door of the building held open by another young man in evening dress. Slowly they ascended one side of the U-shaped staircase to the large room above. Mark paused at the door just long enough for her to survey the space.
People were standing in groups, talking. The room was narrow and long with a black-and-white-tiled floor. Round dining tables were arranged to the right and left, creating an aisle down the middle. The white tablecloths brushed the floor. The Mardi Gras colored decorations centered on each table were elaborate and striking.
The area looked much as it had the last time she’d attended a ball when she’d been nineteen years old and a lady-in-waiting. A month later she’d met Phil and her world had taken a one-eighty-degree turn. Back then she’d been a child of wealthy parents with her life planned out for her. When she’d broken away from her parents, she would never have guessed her life would become what it was now. Still, had she made a mistake by keeping Allie away from them? Her parents had faults but didn’t she, too?
Just as eye-catching was the dress of the active men of the krewe. They were all clad in their Louis XVI brocade knee-length satin coats trimmed in gold or silver braid. On their heads were large hats that had one side of the brim pinned up with a plumed feather attached and matched the men’s coats. Their pantaloons, white stockings and black buckle shoes added to the mystique. The women who were married to the members of the board wore equally ostentatious dresses, some of them matching their husband’s. Otherwise, men and women were dressed in formal wear.
Were her parents here in all their finery?
Mark must have felt her stiffen because he placed his hand over hers, which was resting on his arm. “Let’s go see and be seen.”
They hadn’t walked far when they were stopped by a man’s voice calling, “Mark Clayborn, I heard you were back in town.”
Mark brought her around with him. “Mr. Washington, how in the world are you?” Mark shook the man’s hand and Laura Jo released his arm but remained beside him.
“I’m doing well.”
“I heard about your father. He’s recovering, I understand,” the older man said.
“Slowly, but retirement is a must,” Mark told Mr. Washington with ease.
“I imagine that’s difficult for him. I’ll make plans to get out to see him.”
“I know he would like that.”
When she started to move away Mark rested a hand at her waist. It warmed her skin. She was no longer worried about the people they might see. Her focus was on his touch.
Mr. Washington turned his gaze to her. Laura Jo knew who he was but had never met him.
Mark followed his look. “Mr. Washington, I’d like to introduce you to Laura Jo Akins.”
Would he recognize her name? No, probably not. There were a number of girls in the south with double first names. Laura Jo wasn’t that uncommon.
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Akins.”
She forced a smile. “Nice to meet you, too.” At least with her married name it wasn’t obvious who she was.
“Laura Jo is a nurse at Mobile General and has started a shelter for abandoned mothers.” Mark jumped right into helping her look for supporters.
“That sounds like a worthy cause,” Mr. Washington said, as if he was really interested. “What made you decide to do that?”
Laura Jo wasn’t going to lie. “I was an abandoned mother. My husband left me when I was pregnant. I have a daughter.”
“So you know the need firsthand.” He nodded his head thoughtfully.
“I do.” Laura Jo lapsed into her planned appeal. Mark offered a few comments and the fact he had made a donation to what he thought was a worthy cause.
“Contact my office tomorrow and I’ll have a donation for you,” Mr. Washington assured her.
“Thank you. The women I’m helping thank you also.”
Mark looked across the room. “Mr. Washington, I think it’s time for us to find a place at a table for dinner.”
“It does look that way. Good to see you, son. Nice to meet you, young lady.”
As Mark led her away she whispered to him, “I never imagined it would be that easy.”
“I don’t think it will always happen that way. But Mardi Gras season is when people are having fun so they’re a little more generous.” He took her hand and led her farther into the room.
“You’re right about coming tonight. As much as I didn’t want to, it was the right thing to do for the shelter.”
After they were stopped a couple of times by people Mark knew, he found them a table with two seats left near the front of the room. She still hadn’t seen her parents.
Mark remained a gentleman and pulled her chair out for her before he took his own. She could get used to this. As ugly as she had been about coming to the ball, he’d still helped her get a promise of funds from Mr. Washington and was treating her like a lady. She owed him an apology.
He knew a few people sharing their table and introduced her. She recognized a number of other couples by their names but they didn’t act as if they knew her. Still, she might run into some of her parents’ friends. She looked around.
Mark whispered in her ear, “They might not be here.”
Laura Jo knew better. They didn’t miss a Mardi Gras ball. One more pass over the crowd and she saw them. They had aged well. There was more gray hair at her father’s temples but her mother had a stylish cut and kept it colored. They both looked as elegant as they ever had for one of these events.
“What’s wrong?”
“My parents.”
Mark looked in the direction she indicated. “Why don’t we go and say hello?”
“They won’t want to speak to me. I said some horrible things to them.”
“I bet that doesn’t matter anymore. At least you could give them a chance. They may regret what happened, just like you do. You’ll feel better if you do. At least you will know you made the effort. Come on, I’ll be right there with you.” He stood and offered his hand.
Laura Jo hesitated then placed her hand in Mark’s. It was large, warm and strong. A new resolve filled her. No longer the same person she had been nine years ago, she could do this. Mark held her hand tight as they crossed the room. The closer they came to her parents’ table the more her gut tightened. The sudden need to run splashed over her. She hesitated.
“You can do this.” The small squeeze of her hand told her she wasn’t alone.
Her parents looked up at them. Shock registered on their faces.
Mark let go of her hand and cupped her elbow.
“Hello, Mother and Daddy.”
“We’re surprised to see you here. We had no idea you were coming
,” her father said in a blunt, boardroom voice.
Well, he was certainly all open arms about seeing her again.
“Hello, I’m Mark Clayborn. Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Herron.”
Her parents looked at Mark as if they weren’t sure they had heard correctly. She was just relieved he’d taken the attention off her for a moment.
“Mark Clayborn, junior?” her father asked.
“Yes, sir.”
Her father stood and offered his hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”
Leaving her seat, her mother came to stand beside her father. “How have you been, Laura Jo?”
She sounded as if she truly cared. “Fine.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I understand you’ve started some type of shelter.”
How did they know about that? Was she really interested? “I have.”
Mark put an arm around her shoulders. “Laura Jo has helped a lot of women who needed it.”
It was nice to have someone sound proud of her. Not till this moment had she realized she’d been missing that in her life.
“Are they unwed mothers?”
At least her mother had asked with what sounded like sincere curiosity. “Some are but most have been abandoned. Those that have no family they can or want to go home to.”
Laura Jo didn’t miss her mother’s flinch.
“That sounds like a worthwhile project,” her mother finally said.
“It is,” Mark agreed. “She’s now trying to buy a larger place for the shelter to move to.”
Laura Jo placed her hand on Mark’s arm. She didn’t want to go into all that with her parents. “I don’t think they want to hear all about that.”
When Mark started to argue she added, “How have you both been?”
“We’ve been well,” her father said.
They were talking to each other like strangers, which in reality they were.
“I understand you live over in the Calen area.”
“I do.” Laura Jo was astonished that he knew that. Had they been keeping up with her when she’d had no idea? Did her parents care more than she’d thought or shown?
The Doctor's Redemption Page 11