"Great!" Sami exclaimed happily. "I think we’re making progress. Eugene, could you bring over a few of those cases for me, please? I think I’ll put some of the jewels in my hair. Henry, I believe all you’ll have to do is take up the hem. I promise this is the last dress I’ll put on. Coretta, there’s a high stool over there in the corner. I think you could work on my hair better if you were sitting on it. Jerome, where do you think Morgan is? Oh, well, we’ll give her a few more minutes. She and Jason were going to get dressed for the party before they came over here. I wonder if she found a nice maternity evening gown. It’s terrible the way designers discriminate against pregnant women, making them look like they’re wearing Farmer Jones’s barn or something. Henry, you really should think about doing something nice in maternity wear."
"I might if my name were Henry," he mumbled, starting on the new hem.
"Oh, good, Eugene, thank you," Sami opened one of the cases he sat in front of her and perused the contents. "Nope, the sapphires are definitely out. Let’s see what else we have, Eugene." He placed another case on the table.
"Miss Adkinson, you’ll have to keep your head still so that I can brush your hair," Coretta instructed.
Eugene growled, and Coretta jumped. "No, she’s absolutely right, Eugene. Ummmm . . . the rubies won’t do either. And … good heavens! I had forgotten about the tiaras! Do you suppose everyone would curtsy to me if I wore one?"
Eugene answered. "If you want them to, they will."
Sami cast him a totally blank look. "What was that, Eugene? You know, maybe that case over there will have something I can use."—she pointed to the one she meant—"You see, Coretta, I want to wear my hair up, perhaps with a few baubles here and there."
"A few baubles here and there," Henry snorted to himself, sitting on the floor, already busy with the hem.
Eugene reached down and took a handful of Henry’s shirt, raising the man about a foot off the floor. "If Miss Adkinson wants a few baubles here and there, she can have them. Understand?"
"Here," Sami exclaimed happily, completely missing Henry’s terrified expression as he was dropped back to the floor. She held up a long rope of diamonds to Jerome and found him nearly convulsed with laughter. "What in the world are you laughing at?" she questioned with a frown.
"Sorry," Jerome choked out. "I guess I was letting my mind wander."
"Well, pay attention. Here, Coretta"—she slung the rope of precious stones back to the bemused hairdresser—"You could loosely knot my hair and loop these through it. What do you think?"
"It will look stunning, but you’re going to have to stand very still," Coretta admonished with an apprehensive glance in Eugene’s direction.
He growled, and Coretta jumped again.
"Are you hungry, Eugene?" Sami asked. "Why don’t you go look in the refrigerator? I’m sure there must be something in it. Jerome, you’re going to get wrinkled if you don’t sit up straight, and you’ve got to stop hitting your knee like that. Are you nearly through, Henry?"
"It’s Henri!" he snapped. "And no, I’m not!"
"Well, hurry up. We don’t have much time. I think I’ll wear the emeralds. What do you think, Jerome?"
She held up the necklace to the set. Large, flawless diamonds created clusters of flowers and made up each link of the necklace, with huge, perfectly matched, teardrop emeralds hanging from each. The earrings were composed of an even larger diamond flower cluster, and an equally huge teardrop-shaped emerald.
"Magnificent," Jerome pronounced, wiping away tears of mirth.
"Good," Sami nodded with satisfaction and picked up one of the many emerald-and-diamond rings on display in another case. Just then the phone rang. "Oh, snerts. Who plugged in the phone?"
"I did, Miss Adkinson," Coretta admitted. "When I was over there getting the stool, I noticed that someone had forgotten to plug it in."
"Miss Adkinson doesn’t like the phone plugged in." Eugene told Coretta.
"That’s okay," Sami murmured distractedly, and reached up to twist a strand of her hair but found most of it was already in the coil on the back of her neck. "I wonder who it could be?"
"In New York we have this quaint custom," Henry muttered. "We answer the phone and find out."
Eugene grabbed a handful of Henry’s hair and pulled his head back. "How would you like your mouth sewn shut?" he asked the frightened man in a savagely low snarl.
"Jerome, where are you going?"
"I thought I might answer the phone, Sami. Hello . . . Jason? . . . Oh, no—"
"What?" Sami hurried to his side, leaving Coretta and Henry very much in the lurch.
"Is she okay? . . . How long . . . ?"
"Is it Morgan?" Sami tugged on his arm. "What’s happened to her? It’s not the baby, is it?"
Jerome covered the mouthpiece of the phone. "Morgan’s gone into labor and is at the hospital."
Sami’s eyes widened with alarm. "Tell him we’ll be right there." Even as she heard Jerome telling Jason what she had said, she turned with crisp decisiveness toward the three people. "Eugene, we’ll go in Jerome’s car. There’ll be more room. Coretta, you can sit behind me in the back seat and finish my hair. Henry, find the shoes you brought to go with this dress—"
"But I’ll never be able to find them! You’ve got everything tossed in one big mess over by the rack. I had them so nice and neat—"
"Find the shoes, Henry," Eugene told him.
Henry sulked over to the dress rack, muttering all the while. "What they say is really true. There is no real civilization outside of New York."
"Coretta, see if you can tell how much of this hem is left to be put up."
Jerome walked up to Sami. "Did Jason say anything else? Is Morgan okay?"
"She’s fine. She’s been in labor for a while. She didn’t want him to call, but he knew you, and he knew he had better."
"Well, it’s a good thing one of them is thinking straight over there! Can you imagine, Morgan having a baby without me?"
"Honey, I don’t think that baby understands the need for you to be there before it’s born. Jason said that even though the baby isn’t due for a few weeks, it wants to be born real bad."
"We’d better go, then. Coretta, how’s the hem?"
"Almost finished."
"Henry, the shoes?"
"I found one," he called excitedly from under a pile of dresses.
"Find the other and let’s go. Eugene, grab the jewelry. Jerome, we’re taking your car. Can you get my full-length sable from out of that wardrobe over there?"
"Boy, when you decide to come out of the closet, you really do it, don’t you?" Jerome laughed admiringly.
"Coretta?" Sami questioned.
"Hem’s done."
"Okay, get your hair stuff. Henry?"
"It’s Henri and I’m still looking!"
"Then you’ll just have to follow us to the hospital when you’ve found it. You can take my car. It’s the MG downstairs, and the keys are in it. Eugene, you had better stay behind and come with Henry, since he doesn’t know where the hospital is."
"No! I mean, no." Henry immediately amended the tone of his voice as Eugene swiveled toward him. "Look," he cried triumphantly, "I found the other shoe."
#
Sami and her entourage arrived with all the flourish of a traveling circus. Hospital attendants, nurses, even doctors, stopped what they were doing to stare at the good-looking young man who was dressed in evening clothes and carrying what looked to be a priceless fur coat over his arm.
A hulk of a man came behind him with his large hands filled with what appeared to be a fortune in emeralds. Then there was another rather odd man who had a pincushion on his wrist and a gold satin shoe in each pocket. Bringing up the rear was a rather harried-looking woman with a comb and a brush in one hand, a mirror in the other, and hairpins jammed in her mouth.
And in the middle of them all, there was an extraordinarily beautiful, golden young woman with diamonds threaded through her hon
ey-colored hair and no shoes on her feet.
Sami noticed none of the reaction. She saw Jason, and with a cry, ran straight into his open arms. The tall, dark, and handsome man closed his arms around her slight body. "Morgan’s okay, Sami." Jason’s voice was filled with emotion. "It’s all over, and we have a son."
"A boy! Jerome, did you hear that? Morgan’s baby is a boy."
Jerome came up behind her. "I heard, honey. Congratulations, Jason."
"Thanks."
She peered anxiously into Jason’s warm brown eyes. "Is he okay?"
"He’s perfect. You can see for yourself in a minute or two."
"But have you counted his toes and his fingers and everything?"
"He has the right number of everything." The gold flecks in his eyes laughed at her. "I told you, he’s perfect."
Sami coiled her arms around his neck again, and Jason’s strong arms lifted her off the floor in an embrace of elation. She laughed. "I’m so happy for you. And Morgan? Are you sure she’s all right? Can I see her?"
"Of course you can. She should be back in her room by now. Come on."
"Wait! Eugene, may I have the jewelry, please? I want Morgan to get the full effect of how I’m going to look tonight."
The waiting room swelled to its capacity, with the overflow of nurses and attendants spilling out into the hall. Everyone appeared fascinated by what was going on in the small room and jockeyed for the best position from which to see.
In the waiting room, Sami tried to stand more or less stationary while Jason fastened the heavy necklace around her throat and she clipped the earrings on her ears. Jerome stood in front of her and held up the mirror while Coretta put the finishing touches on her hair, and Henry fussed around the dress until he finished the hem, and it was hanging to his satisfaction.
"Okay, I think I’m ready," Sami finally pronounced. "Oh, wait! My shoes! Henry?"
"They’re right here." Henry sounded more than a little dazed. "If everything is to your satisfaction, I think I’ll take a cab back to the warehouse, get the dresses, and fly home tonight."
"That’s fine. I appreciate all you’ve done." Sami balanced her weight against Eugene’s bulk as she put on the gold satin shoes. "I’ll give you a call the next time I need a dress for a special occasion."
"If you don’t mind, Mademoiselle, I’d rather you didn’t. I think it will be a long time before I leave New York again."
#
Jason had been right. Morgan seemed fine, even though she appeared a little pale and somewhat tired. Sami bent down to kiss her, and Jerome did the same from the other side of the bed. Jason stood at the foot, looking on proudly.
"I don’t understand how you could have told Jason not to call me," Sami complained.
"I knew how important this party was to you, Sami. I didn’t want you to get upset."
"Don’t worry about me. I’m fine." Sami cast a worried gaze at her friend. "The question is, how are you? Did you remember to take cleansing breaths when you should and concentrate on one object and not push until they told you to and all that stuff?"
"Yes." Morgan laughed a little hoarsely. "It couldn’t have gone better. Have you seen him?"
"Well, of course we have. We went by the nursery before we came here. He’s a tiny version of Jason. They were teaching him to talk when we left."
"Sami, you look perfectly beautiful." Morgan’s tone had turned serious, and Sami felt the first tug of worry at the thought of the evening before her. Morgan saw it and grabbed Sami’s hand. "You’re going to be just fine. You not only owe this night to Daniel, but you owe it to yourself. It’s been a long time coming, but you’re finally taking your rightful place and claiming the special heritage that belongs to you. You can’t know how happy I am for you. My only regret is that I won’t be there to see it."
Jason spoke up. "She’s right, Sami. You’ve got nothing to worry about. St. James is going to support you one hundred percent, and don’t forget about us. All of our love and thoughts will be with you tonight."
She glanced over at Jerome. "I guess we’d better go. We’re already a little late." She leaned down to kiss Morgan’s forehead. "You get some rest tonight, and I’ll be by tomorrow to report."
Chapter Nine
From the outside, it looked to Sami as if every room in Daniel’s house were lit up. She could hear the music and the gaiety of the party from the front steps, and her stomach tightened with a pang of fear. She gave Jerome a tremulous smile.
He put a reassuring hand on her arm. "I know how hard this is for you, but just remember how many people love you. I’ll be right there, if you need me, but everything is going to be all right, you’ll see."
"I don’t know why I ever thought this was a good idea."
"Because it is."
She glanced at the door, then back at him. "Do I look okay?"
"Honey, you’re positively incandescent."
She straightened her spine and squared her shoulders. "Then, I guess I’m as ready as I’m going to be."
The door opened immediately in response to Jerome’s ringing the bell. "Miss Adkins, Mr. St. James has been worried about you! He expected you somewhat earlier."
"Yes, well, it’s a long story, Mrs. Abbott, but I’m here now. Everything going all right?" she inquired as Jerome helped her off with her luxurious coat.
"Just fine." The housekeeper gave a gasp. "Miss Adkins, you look so . . . so . . . so elegant!"
"Thank you, Mrs. Abbott."
Sami knew she had achieved the effect she wanted. The diamond-and-emerald necklace blazed against the dull gold satin of her dress and cast a radiant luminescence onto her skin. The diamonds in her hair and the emeralds that dangled from each of her ears refracted their brilliance every time she moved her head. She would be able to move with complete confidence among the sophisticated, soignee women of Daniel’s set. At least she hoped she would.
"Sami!"
She swung around and found Daniel coming toward her. "Sweetheart, I’m so glad you’re here. I was getting worried."
Regardless of the fact that Mrs. Abbott and Jerome were standing there, he took her into his arms and kissed her with a soft urgency. Sami responded with everything that was in her. Tonight, she needed to feel the warmth and reassurance of Daniel’s arms more than she ever had before. Even though she had the distinct impression that he didn’t want to, he at last released her, and stood back to look at her.
Sami held her breath, but remarkably, his face registered no shock at her changed appearance. He didn’t so much as flicker an eyelid. Instead, he said very quietly and very seriously, "You’re beautiful, Sami."
Inside of Sami, a cold apprehension wound its way through her and ended up in a big knotted ball in her stomach. This wasn’t going as she had expected. Why didn’t he comment on the way she was dressed? Why didn’t he ask her about the fortune in jewels she was wearing? Through the roaring in her head, she heard him speaking to Jerome.
"And you must be Jerome. I’m glad to meet you. Sami assures me you’re nothing less than brilliant."
"I don’t know about that, sir, but it’s awfully good to meet you. I’m a great admirer of yours."
"Thank you. I’m sure we’ll get a chance to talk later. For now, why don’t you give Sami’s and your coats to Mrs. Abbott, and we’ll join the rest of the party. Sami? Are you ready?"
Her sable. It’s richness was unmistakeable, yet he didn’t say a word about it. Wasn’t that a little odd?
She looked over at Jerome, who gave her a reassuring smile.
"Sami?" asked Daniel.
Afraid to speak, she took a deep breath and nodded. This was it. This would be the test—facing all of Daniel’s friends and acquaintances, the people who had been at the art-gallery opening, who had met her as Sami Adkins and had made her feel so uncomfortable, either unconsciously or by design. They would definitely realize that there was a distinct difference about her. Daniel hadn’t, but he was a man—a man, moreover, who was very
much in love with her. They, however, cream of society that they were, would suffer no such blindness.
As Daniel and Sami entered the big double doors to the drawing room, with Jerome a few steps behind them, a silence that could almost be touched fell over the assemblage. It was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room and its occupants had been left in a soundless vacuum.
Daniel took her hand in his and gave her a long, steady look. Then he turned to address his guests. "My friends, I would like you to meet Miss Samuelina Adkinson."
The silence lasted for a horrendously long moment and then broke. All the air rushed back into the room, and jagged fragments of conversation assaulted her.
"My God, she’s that Sami!"
"Look. She’s wearing the Adkinson emeralds. Aren’t they fabulous?"
"Can you believe it? She could buy and sell us all ten times over."
"It’s hard to believe. The elusive Adkinson heiress right here in our midst all along."
"Well, I mean, how could we have known? Who could have connected the two?"
"I understood they only called her Samuelina."
"They say her parents—"
Ice, Sami thought. That was what she felt like. Her whole body felt as though it were encased in a solid piece of ice.
She heard Daniel’s voice close to her ear. "I’ve known for a long time." He was still holding her hand, only now he was rubbing it between his own, trying to instill warmth in it. "Ever since Eugene came to the house that night. I knew who he was and who he was connected to. I got to worrying about you, so I started checking. I found the warehouse, and searched the records until I discovered who owned it. I’ve just been waiting for you to trust me enough—"
Marian and Hardin Qushman rushed up, interrupting Daniel. "My dear, now I realize who you reminded me of when I saw you at the art-gallery function and you were wearing that marvelous dress. It was your grandmother. Did you ever know her?"
"N-no." Sami could only just get the word out between her frozen lips.
For the Love of Sami Page 13