Night Music

by Linda Cajio

  She nodded. “I’ve got a couple of dinners and two luncheons. I’ll talk to Jane and Jeremy, too, but I don’t see a problem.”

  “Well, our work is done.” He put his arms around her from behind, his hands stroking her thighs. As he kissed the curve of her neck, he murmured, “Time for play.”

  “You’re getting barbecue sauce on me,” she said, breathless with the sensations he was creating.

  “I’ll lick it off.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  And they sank into each other’s arms, their bodies dancing to the night music of love.

  “Wake up! Hilary, wake up!”

  Bleary from a dead-to-the-world sleep, Hilary opened her eyes. She winced and immediately shut them against blinding light overhead. She had a vague notion of Devlin, fully dressed, looming over her.

  “Hilary, wake up! I forgot to set the alarm, and we overslept. The guys are here. You have to go.”

  “Guys? Go?” She squinted one eye in the direction of his voice. Her senses told her it wasn’t even close to a normal morning hour yet.

  “The charter group’s here, and you can’t stay. You get seasick, remember? Dammit, come on!”

  She opened both eyes at his impatience. Every bone in her body felt like jelly. “What are you talking about? Why do I have to go? What time is it?”

  He threw her underwear on her lap. “I’m talking about my Sunday charter. They’re here, and you have to go because you can’t go out with us. And it’s a little after five-thirty.”

  She bolted upright. “In the morning!”

  He grinned. “You’re finally with it. I’ve packed up everything for you.”

  “Wait a minute. Are you telling me I have to leave immediately because of your charter?”

  “Yes.” He frowned in puzzlement. “You don’t expect to stay, do you? You’d be uncomfortable, and they’d be ticked that I have a woman on board when they’re not allowed to bring their own. Besides, you get seasick.”

  She stared at him in disbelief. “But I thought I was coming for the whole weekend. Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

  “I told you about the charter, although I didn’t even think about your having to leave until the guys showed up this morning,” he admitted. “I just assumed … I don’t know what I assumed. That you thought of it when I didn’t?”

  “Well, I didn’t.”

  “I’m sorry.” He patted her arm. “But you can’t stay on for the charter. We won’t be too long.”

  “Only half the day,” she said ruefully, then took a deep breath to orient herself. Her body was screaming for more sleep. She ignored it. “Okay. I just need some coffee—”

  “No time,” Devlin said, tossing the rest of her clothes at her. “The guys are waiting on deck. Hilary, please. They’re a group of pain-in-the-butt executives with a time clock running. This is not a patient bunch. The only reason I take them on is because their checkbooks flow.”

  “Can I at least go to the bathroom?” she asked.

  He smiled apologetically. “Do you really have to?”

  “Devlin!”

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

  She took another deep breath. “Okay. I’ll be ready in five minutes.”

  He kissed her soundly on the mouth. “You are terrific. I’ll go up and tell them.”

  He hurried out of the room. Hilary got up and staggered to the head, cursing under her breath the entire time. This was not the weekend she’d had in mind. She looked longingly at the shower, calculated the odds, then sighed in resignation. She had just pulled on her clothes and was about to brush her teeth and hair, when there was a pounding on the door.

  “Ready? It’s been five minutes,” Devlin called through the varnished wood door.

  “No, I’m not ready yet!”

  “Okay, but hurry up.”

  She deliberately took her time brushing her hair. She examined her teeth closely to see if they needed flossing. One did need to floss regularly. She finally decided she could forgo it this once, but she brushed thoroughly, ten times for each tooth.

  “Hilary, please!” Devlin begged for the fifth time.

  She took one last look in the mirror, smoothed back her hair, then opened the bathroom door. She smiled sweetly. “I’m ready.”

  “Great. You’re being terrific about this. Let’s go.” He reached out and pulled her across the threshold. She nearly lost her balance, but he yanked her upright and hustled her down the hall, through the saloon, and up the gangway. Her head was spinning by the time they reached the last step.

  She wasn’t prepared for running the gauntlet of sport fishermen standing on the Madeline Jo’s deck. The predawn hour was a dead giveaway to what she and Devlin had been doing. Some of the men looked amused, some looked disgusted. Humiliation heated her cheeks, and she scurried past them, keeping her head down.

  Devlin helped her onto the dock, then handed over her things. “I’m really sorry about this.”

  She nodded.

  He kissed her on the cheek, then turned around to the men. “Are we ready to go, gentlemen?”

  “We’ve been ready since Monday, Kitteridge,” one snapped.

  As Devlin leaped up to the fly bridge, Hilary remained on the dock gaping, shocked at the way he’d dismissed her. She knew he had to take care of his clients, but he didn’t have to be this abrupt. Fury and hurt wound through her, but she’d be damned before she’d let it show.

  She raised her chin and walked serenely away.

  Eleven

  He was in big trouble.

  Dev drew in a deep breath, shifted the load of roses in his arm, and rang the doorbell to Hilary’s town house. Nobody answered. He glanced over at her car in her parking slot, then leaned on the doorbell.

  Finally the door opened. Hilary was wearing her flowered silk robe and her hair was mussed. Clearly he’d awakened her. She stared at him.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, holding out the roses. “I was a jerk … and a cad … and a rude pig … and can you ever forgive me?”

  She looked at the roses.

  “This is a really big apology for me,” he pointed out.

  “True.” She took the roses.

  Relieved, he said, “Can I come in and debase myself further? I drove all this way right after the guys left in order to do it.”

  “I suppose.”

  He stepped through the door and shut it behind him. “I thought you’d be there when I got back.”

  “I was supposed to stay at my car and wait for you?” She thrust the roses back at him.

  “Ah … well …” he said helplessly, scrambling to find better words. He gave up. “Oh, hell, Hilary. It was a mess, and I’m sorry.”

  She took the roses back.

  He pulled her into his arms and kissed her hair. “We’ll learn.”

  “I don’t know, Devlin,” she whispered.

  “Don’t say that!” he admonished, tilting her head back and searching her eyes. “We both have businesses to run, and we’re just having a little trouble coordinating ourselves. We can work all this out—if we want to. You do want to, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” she said firmly. “But—”

  “No buts.” He kissed her mouth. “You’ve got to have some faith, Hilary. I do. This morning was bad, that’s all. And that’s the worst it will ever be. I promise.”

  She leaned against him. “Then I suppose I forgive you. We’ll try.”

  “We will.” He yawned. “Want company for a nap? I can nap until tomorrow night. Billy’s taking tomorrow’s charter.”

  “Sure we’ll nap?” she asked.

  “It’s a fifty-fifty possibility,” he said, all too aware of her body, lithe and distracting, against his.

  Later he decided it was a good thing he didn’t bet.

  “Devlin and I are going away,” Hilary said to her grandfather over the phone the next morning.

  “You’re what!”

  Hilary held the receiver away
from her ringing ear and made a face.

  “And I thought he was beginning to like me,” Devlin mouthed to her from across the breakfast table.

  “He’s coming around,” she mouthed back, and brought the receiver to her ear again. “Now, Grandfather, don’t spoil things for me. It’s a wonderful two-week cruise to nowhere—”

  “With your stomach?” His voice, at least, had lowered to a dull roar.

  “I don’t get seasick on the big cruises. You know that,” she reminded him. She had been seasick once, she thought, and now nobody would let her forget it.

  “I’m very disappointed in you, Hilary.”

  “And I am disappointed in you,” she returned, bristling. “I’m an adult, capable of making my own decisions. Stop treating me like a child.” She softened her voice. “Be happy for me, Grandfather. That’s all I ask.”

  “Mmmph. Well, I suppose he’s not that bad, although it’s a shame he’s related to that … that old—”

  “Grandfather!” she admonished, while Dev made a thumbs-up in agreement. Men were all alike, she thought. “I wanted to give you the information so that you would know where I was in case you need to get hold of me.”

  His sigh of resignation came clearly over the line. “All right, let me get a pen.”

  When he was ready, she dictated the cruise itinerary to him.

  “A cruise to nowhere,” he said when she was through. “I have to admit it’s an intriguing idea. I wonder how many people go on those things.…”

  Hilary grinned. He had taken the bait. When she hung up the telephone a few minutes later, she said to Devlin, “You’re next.”

  “You had the easy part,” he said, taking the phone from her.

  “My ear will never be the same.”

  He dialed his grandmother’s number. “Do you think he’ll book?”

  “I think he’s calling the travel agent right now.”

  “Good.… Hello, Grandmother? It’s me, Dev.” He made a face. “Yes, the stranger. You just saw me last week.… Well, I … Never mind. Grandmother, Hilary and I are going away together on a two-week cruise to nowhere.”

  Hilary wished desperately that she could hear the other end of the conversation, but Lettice didn’t bellow like her grandfather did. As she watched, Dev’s expression hardened. Her heart froze.

  “Thank you, Grandmother. I’ll keep it in mind.” His voice was as stern as his features. She could easily discern the anger he was suppressing. “I only wanted to let you know where I’d be after next week.…”

  “What did she say?” Hilary asked after he’d hung up.

  “The usual. Grandmothers do not change. Give them what they want and suddenly they don’t want it.” He seemed to shudder, as if shaking off something mentally, then grinned at her. “I guess we’d better book this cruise before we get left at the dock.”

  She forced herself to smile. “I guess we’d better.”

  As Devlin called the travel agent, she wondered what Lettice had said. Perhaps something yet again about how they weren’t suitable for each other. She tried not to let it bother her, but she couldn’t help it. What had she done that had so offended Lettice? Or was Devlin right? Could Lettice be one of those perverse people who never wanted something once they got it? Lettice could fit that mold, Hilary acknowledged. Was it possible that Dev wasn’t rebelling, but that Lettice was?

  Either way, Hilary thought, it only left her more confused than ever.

  Devlin hung up the phone, then walked around the table and pulled her into his arms.

  He nuzzled her hair and murmured, “All booked.”

  She forced her growing apprehension aside. Maybe she was the one with the hang-ups. And if she was, then it ended right here, right now.

  “Good.” She kissed him. “Let’s go back to bed.”

  It wasn’t any good, Hilary thought.

  She sat down on the edge of her bed and stared off into space. She and Dev might have worked out their schedules over the past two weeks, but there was still the major problem that his business demanded early-morning hours and hers demanded nights. Their moments together had a stolen, frenzied quality to them, and with a two-and-a-half-hour drive between them, spontaneity was impossible.

  Devlin kept saying things would get better and then added that it would be “in the fall,” when his business slowed. Well, she knew better. Their basic lifestyles were too different, and there was enough distance between their homes to make the practicalities of a relationship tantalizing in theory and impractical in reality. Their relationship would not survive as a weekend one for very long. Not with a man like Dev—if he even wanted a long-lasting relationship.

  That was her biggest fear. The more time passed, the more positive she was that his interest in her was a form of rebellion. He never once said he cared for her, or talked about being together exclusively. Although, practically speaking, he didn’t have the time to be with anyone else. Still, nothing had been said about seeing others, and nothing had been said that they wouldn’t. Instead, he just chuckled over how wrong his grandmother was about them. If he said the word unsuitable one more time, she vowed she’d throw something at him.

  It was time she stopped kidding herself and admitted the truth, Hilary thought. There had been no relationship until the moment, the literal moment, his grandmother had expressed disapproval of her. Then he’d turned from nasty boy to solicitous lover. He might have wanted her physically before that—men did have the urge to test every water they saw—but he hadn’t wanted her emotionally. In fact he’d taken great pains to make that clear to her. The change in him had been abrupt—too abrupt. No matter how she tried to ignore it or tell herself differently, the truth had been there waiting until she was forced to turn it away.

  Hilary glanced at the open suitcase on the bedroom chair. Closing her eyes, she shivered at the thought of two weeks on a cruise ship with Devlin. She couldn’t back out now, even if she had the courage to do so. And she didn’t. It really was a last-ditch effort with the grandparents, to try to generate something for them.

  “Déjà vu,” she muttered, knowing she’d talked herself into several things with Devlin through the same argument. She knew her motives were selfish too. She wanted this time with him, and she didn’t care where it left her emotionally in the aftermath. When they got home, though, she would have to break off with him. She couldn’t go on the way she was, not and keep her emotional sanity.

  Forcing herself to get up, she continued packing. The car to the cruise ship would be coming in just a few hours, and she still had several things to do before she left.

  The telephone rang, and she answered it.

  “It’s me,” Devlin said.

  “Hello, me.” She swallowed back the lump of despondency even as she forced herself to be casual.

  He chuckled. She loved his chuckle.

  “We need to make a slight change in plan,” he said.

  Marsh sat at the Flamingo bar, one of several on the Princess Beatrice luxury liner. He stared at the dwindling level of Scotch in his glass and proceeded to dwindle it some more.

  “I see you’re along for the ride too,” Lettice said, sliding onto the bar stool next to him.

  “You!” He turned sharply at the unexpected voice. He hadn’t been expecting her, but somehow he wasn’t surprised by her presence. “I had nothing better to do.” He motioned to the bartender. “Gin and tonic for the lady.”

  “You remember.”

  He shrugged, then smiled. “It was easy to remember.”

  And it had been. Maybe it was time he stopped being so bullheaded and started admitting it. He’d done a lot of thinking about young girls and their freedoms sixty years ago. They hadn’t had much. He’d even come to a reluctant realization or two. Besides, if he was stuck on the same boat with Lettice for two weeks, he might as well admit a certain amount of defeat. She was a familiar face in the crowd at least.

  “They’re not here, you know,” she said.

&nbs
p; “I know. I checked with the purser. They never got on board.”

  “Do you have the feeling we’ve been outwitted?”

  “Without a doubt.”

  “I probably should tell you that I think our grandchildren are extremely suitable,” she said, after taking a sip of her gin and tonic. “In fact I have always thought Dev would be lucky if he got Hilary.”

  “That’s not what you said before,” he reminded her.

  “My grandson, idiot that he is, responds better in a defiant mode. I was attempting to get him to rebel in the right direction with what seemed like my disapproval of Hilary.” Lettice smiled. “Instead he sicced you on me.”

  “He’s not a bad kid,” Marsh conceded.

  “Except that he’s related to me.” She shrugged. “You can’t have everything, Marsh.”

  He took a healthy swallow of the whiskey. It went down smooth and mellow. His indulgences were few and far between, for a person could get to like this too much. Just as a person could get to like the woman sitting next to him too much.

  “I can’t make up for what happened, Marsh,” Lettice began.

  He hushed her. “Shhh. It’s the past.”

  “I’m in the mood to walk the treadmills in the gym,” she said after a moment’s silence. “Want to come with me? We can check our hearts afterward.”

  “Are you propositioning me?” he asked.

  “Eventually.”

  “Then lead the way.”

  Dev had had plans, special plans.

  “Screwed-up plans,” he muttered, then cursed heartily. The day couldn’t get any worse. His partner on the gambler dinner cruises to Atlantic City had fallen ill and couldn’t make the run. Dev had had no choice but to do it. The ferry wasn’t a small fishing boat. It required tougher licensing, which none of the rest of the crew had and which he did.

  Now he was stuck with a boatload of hungry, screaming gamblers demanding the ride and their money back. Next time he took on a partner, he’d make damn sure they had a qualified backup captain. And that the backup had a backup. He was supposed to be a silent partner. This was the last time he’d ever do this—especially after taking out a charter that morning. He’d been up nearly twenty-four hours.

  He had one bright spot. Hilary, when she’d heard of his predicament, had insisted on coming down and helping him. He didn’t see what she could do, but he was grateful for her company. Maybe he could salvage something once they got to Atlantic City, he mused. Then he cursed again, remembering he had to take the gamblers back to Wildwood at one in the morning. Nothing was going right. He looked around for Hilary on the bridge. She wasn’t there.