“This is a very nice car,” his father said. “A Jaguar, Nick?”
“Yes.”
“Expensive,” Stephen murmured. “You must make good money.”
“I’ve told you I do. That’s why I’ve offered to help you.”
Silence greeted him. He almost missed a red light and jammed on the brakes. The tires squealed.
His mother gasped. “Ooh. You scared me.”
Nick peered at them through the rear view mirror. “This is an unusual situation for us, but we’re going to be joining another family for dinner tonight. I want it to go well.”
“Your mother only said she was scared by your fast jerky stop,” his father said. “You don’t have to get upset.”
Nick moved through the green light. “I’m not upset. I just want things to go smoothly.”
His father coughed. “They will. You can depend on us.”
His mother placed a gloved hand on the back of the seat by his shoulder. “Nick. Are you serious with this girl?”
The gossip that worried Reeva wouldn’t reach his parents, but they might read something between the lines today, so he decided to enlighten them. “We work together, but we have gone out. All right?”
His mother’s fingers worried the upholstery and made his teeth go on edge. “Does that mean you might marry her? I mean, she did come to invite us to meet her family. To me that’s serious. I remember when Stephen proposed to me. We went to my parents and he asked permission. Didn’t you?”
“That’s the way it was done in those days,” his father said. “These days they just fall into bed with one another. At least, that’s how it seems on TV.”
His mother patted the back of the seat. “Serena seemed like a very nice girl.”
“She is.” Nick let out a breath. What was Serena’s expression when things were going crazy? Hell! Damn!
Once on the highway, the powerful car ate the miles. To Nick’s relief his parents remained silent. He turned on the radio, realized it was a cutting edge alternative station, and pushed more buttons until he found a classical music station that he was sure was more to their taste. Relax Nick, he told himself. This will be over later this evening. Treat it like a trip to the dentist.
Gerry’s white Lincoln was parked to one side in Serena’s driveway this time, so Nick slid the Jag in beside it and helped his parents from the car. Serena, smiling to greet them, glided through the rose trellis. Her hair was loose and tumbled around the shoulders of a black silk dress with long sleeves, a scoop neck and a short skirt. On her feet were very high heeled black suede sandals. Around her throat and in her ears diamonds flashed.
“So pleased you could make it,” she said to his mother and father. “Pleased you could make it too, Nick.”
She was in a phony mood he didn’t like. What he liked was Serena in a passionate mood. He wanted to touch her body through the black silk and feel her flesh respond under his fingertips. They were still together, forced by circumstances, but they’d lost touch. Last weekend was fading into a fantastic memory that might never have been.
Serena kept up ahead with his parents, and introduced them to Gerry and Reeva. Gerry wore a gray suit and Reeva was in winter white. She also flashed diamonds. Nick watched his father look at Reeva’s long legs and saw an expression in the old man’s eyes he’d never seen. His mother, he noticed, began to fuss as they were all made to sit on the deck for a glass of wine or beer. His mother accepted a small glass of red wine. His father beer. Nick couldn’t recall ever seeing his parents drink before. All Nick was ever offered when he visited them was tea.
Stephen raised his glass and smiled at everyone. “I want to thank you for inviting us. We’re thoroughly enjoying ourselves.”
“I hope you are,” Reeva told them. “We needed to meet with our son and daughter going out together.”
Wishing things hadn’t gone this far, Nick sipped his own beer.
When everyone discovered Nick and Serena were no longer an item they were going to be disappointed.
They went on to chat about other things, the garden, the leaves, the time of year, the weather. Nick realized that Gerry and Reeva had no hang ups with Stephen and Maria because they knew nothing of their past history. They were Nick’s folks and that was that.
He rose to get himself another beer and went into the house. Pascal slid in with him. “Serena,” Nick called.
She came from one of the rooms into the sunroom. “How’s it going?”
“Fine. I figure if you don’t know someone’s history you can accept them at face value. Once you know things about them, you have a depth of baggage you have to overcome to see them differently.”
She fiddled with an earring. “That’s heavy.”
He noticed, now he was alone with her, that she didn’t look quite as composed as he’d first thought. Her face seemed drawn and there were shadows beneath her eyes. “Are you okay?”
She gave him a dazzling smile. “I’m great, Nick.”
He wanted to say something about their relationship, but he didn’t want to mess up the day. “Mind if I have another beer?”
“Help yourself.”
He went to the fridge and uncapped the beer with the opener on the door. He drank from the bottle.
“Gerry’s the designated driver tonight. He’ll take us over in the Lincoln.”
“Are you saying I’m drinking too much?”
“No. I’m just watching you. And you’ve guzzled three since you’ve been here. What happened on the way down?”
“Nothing. It’s just that I’ve never, ever, and that’s the bloody truth, been out with them like this since I’ve been an adult.”
“But you did when you were a kid?”
“Sometimes they’d take me over to see my father’s brother, either by bus or car. He died and his wife moved to Vancouver.”
“What about your mother’s family?”
He clenched his fingers around the bottle. “Gone before I came into the picture. She was thirty-nine when she had me, you know.”
“I gathered that.” She rested her hip against her table. “You know, I never figured you’d have all these hang-ups.”
He gave her a narrow glance. He was back to how it had been that night of Don’s soirée, when he had wanted her so much. The fuse had been lit once again. “That should make us compatible.”
She rapped the table with her fingers. “I’ve never said we’re not compatible.”
“Possibly not. You just want to put me through hell.” He hadn’t meant to get into this.
“I’m not doing this intentionally. If I’d had my way this weekend would never have been. But Mother does have a point. I’m not the type to spend one weekend with a man and call it quits. Especially—” She walked to the window ledge, where she straightened a couple of pots of flowers.
Nick drained the rest of the bottle and placed it on the table. “Especially a man with a reputation like mine. Is that what you want to say?”
She didn’t turn around. He watched the sunlight flicker over her gorgeous golden hair. His gaze roamed her hips and long legs. His breathing quickened. He always felt so aroused with her. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I’ve told you that my reputation isn’t quite what you think it is.”
She twisted on her heels. “Don’t try and make this worse than it already is. I loved last weekend. I needed last weekend. If that stupid critic hadn’t been there, I—”
“You’d still be with me, wouldn’t you? You’re using that as an excuse, Serena, because you haven’t got the guts to go beyond two days in bed.”
Her features were contorted as she held in her feelings. “I think you’re right. If we go on, it’ll just be like driving aimlessly without a map.”
“What’s your idea of a map in a relationship?”
“Two people heading toward the same destination.”
“You want to marry me. That’s not a question. It’s a comment.” Nick tried to lighten the atmosphere.
“I don’t know. I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”
“Well, then.” He let out a deep sigh. “Serena. You and I will have to talk at length about this, because we’ve got a lot of time left of the season.”
She rubbed her forehead. “Not today.”
“No. Not today.”
He helped Serena on with a black wool jacket and they went outside. His parents looked as if they were enjoying themselves. He thought of them cooped up over the shop and he felt angry with himself for not being able to persuade them to move into something more amenable, angry at them for being so damn stubborn. Everyone was damn stubborn. Including Serena. He was sure she still wanted him in the blazing way he still wanted her. He had broken her down once, he could do it again. He just had to take his time and not rush her.
Chapter Sixteen
Beyond the curved windows of the atrium the deep red and orange leaves on the trees cascaded down into the valley and crawled up the rocky gorge. The brilliant sunshine that had greeted Thanksgiving Sunday dimmed into an early evening glow and brought the warmth of the colors into the dining atmosphere of the West Vale Inn. Serena had only dined here a handful of times, though she had always been impressed by the cuisine. She was also impressed by the setting, and it confirmed her reasons for moving out to West Vale in the first place.
If she didn’t feel so darned miserable she would be enjoying herself, as everyone else around the table seemed to be doing. Her one highlight was Seth, looking fantastic in black cord slacks and jacket. With Seth’s presence, she felt the full circle of her family around her for the first time ever since her father had died. And if she was going out with Nick in the accepted manner, she would have felt great.
Gerry refilled all the glasses and Reeva laughed. “This looks like another night at Serena’s.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I have to work tomorrow.”
“You are such a downer, sometimes, Serena,” her mother told her. “Just because you have to work doesn’t mean we can’t stay the night.”
“I won’t be staying,” Seth said, a hint of amusement in his tone. “We have to rehearse for our new gig.”
“And we definitely wouldn’t stay,” Nick’s mother said. “We wouldn’t impose ourselves upon anyone.”
Serena smiled. “What about you, Nick? What do you want to do?”
He gave her a tight-lipped stare. “I’ll be working with you. We have to set up your mother’s interview. We have two more weeks of City Streets. Therefore, Reeva, you will be working as well.”
Seth glanced at his mother. “You’re being interviewed for Neon Nights?”
“Yes, dear. I’m quitting politics at the end of this term and we’re doing a piece on me.”
“You’re quitting?”
“Haven’t I told you?”
“You never tell me anything. Did Serena know?”
“I only found out on Tuesday.”
Seth frowned. “It’s Sunday. Quite a few days have passed between then and now.”
Serena saw that her brother looked annoyed. This meal was supposed to be for him, to bring him back to his family. Instead, it had been all mixed up with Nick and his family to stop some gossip about her.
He drank some wine. “I’m always the last person to learn anything in this family.”
“It wasn’t that important.” Reeva sounded irritated. “Besides, it’s a secret.”
“Then why are you telling everyone?” Seth said. “Gad, Ma.”
He hadn’t used that expression for years. Serena chuckled. “Stop it. This is supposed to be a lovely meal.”
“It is lovely,” Maria Fraser told her. “Don’t worry. Your secret won’t go anywhere with us, Reeva.”
Serena let out a breath. “Okay. Firstly. Mother’s secret isn’t going anywhere until she makes the announcement at the end of the program. And secondly. Anyone is welcome to stay at my house if they feel they’ve had too much to drink.”
She saw Nick grin. She’d laid down the law.
They had ordered the Thanksgiving meal, which was a traditional turkey dinner with added vegetables, salads and garnishes. It was excellent. When Gerry brought out his credit card Stephen tried to stop him paying the entire bill, but Reeva flapped Nick’s dad’s hand away from picking up the bill.
“This is our treat.”
And darn your pride, Serena thought.
She was pleased when they were able to go out in the fresh air again. She offered coffee when she got home, and everyone sat in her sunroom to drink it.
Seth was the first to leave in his van. Serena walked him outside.
“That was great, Sis,” he said.
“Oh, really?”
“I should be used to mother. It’s just that I spoke to her on the phone twice this past week and she never mentioned anything about quitting.”
Serena touched his arm. “I know. We don’t get together enough, that’s the problem. When she has more free time, things might get better.”
“Don’t bank on it. It’s going well with Nick, is it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you two barely spoke to one another today, and I thought all this, with his parents, was because you two had hooked up.”
Serena told him about the weekend and the gossip. “So Mother is trying to cover our tracks and at least make us seem respectable.”
“For her own good.”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
Her brother leaned against his van. “I’m not sure I’m getting the point of this. If you spent a weekend with Nick in a hotel room, surely you’re serious enough to be going around with him now, a week later.”
“I thought we should let the gossip die down.”
Seth didn’t look convinced. “I think you mean you should leave the fire before you get burnt?”
“Yes. Oh, Seth.”
“You love him, don’t you?”
“Yes.” It was quite a relief to admit that to someone. She wished it could be Nick.
Her brother put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “Just take it easy. Play one day at a time. Don’t rush yourself into the future. Enjoy the moment.”
“It’s not easy for me.”
“Obviously.” He climbed into his van and rolled down the window. “Nick’s parents are an odd, uptight couple, though. Doesn’t figure.”
“He was a late-in-life baby. He hasn’t had it easy with them.”
“I didn’t think so. So what’s he doing with Ms. Hang-up-of-all-time?”
“Stop it, Seth. I think I’m becoming quite well rounded in my old age.”
“I never denied you didn’t have a nice bod.”
“Seth. You drive me crazy. Go home.”
He grinned and patted her fingers where they gripped the edge of his window. “Come and see me at The Bear’s Pause?”
“I will. Don’t forget to watch mom on my show.”
“Right.”
She watched his van take off with a puff of smoke from the exhaust pipe and returned to her house through the sunroom door. If she felt good about anything, it was about her renewed relationship with her brother.
•
Due to a number of breaking news stories, Reeva: an Exposé didn’t air until much later. During the interview Nick kept to Reeva’s political career, and discovered that Reeva was deeper than he had suspected. She had definite views on society that might not be politically correct, but they caused comment. He realized that if he asked the right questions Reeva wasn’t quite so in control, and that inconsistency gave the interview an edge that would be in keeping with what had aired so far on Neon Nights.
Reeva unclipped her mike. “You know, Nick. I don’t mind that I’m connected with Stu Brown.”
He’d never heard his idol called Stu Brown before, and it kind of gave him a sense of awareness that this beautiful, sophisticated woman had once slept with the man, had borne his children, had been his wife. “But it’s not his story,�
�� he said as the floor crew began to deal with the mikes and they were forced to move away from the set.
“That’s true. It might be a nice tribute to do his story one day, though.”
“I’ve mentioned it to Serena, but she’s not interested.”
Reeva glanced to where her daughter was chatting with a couple of the technicians. “Keep on mentioning it. She needs to dump that part of her life and move on.”
“I’m going to take that as permission.”
“Definitely. But give me my claim to fame first.”
Reeva left and he returned to his office, pleased to be alone for a moment to collect his thoughts. Maybe a documentary on Stuart Redding Brown would one day be feasible, but for some reason it didn’t seem quite such an urgent project as it had once been. Reeva thought Serena needed to move on and he needed to do the same thing.
Reeva didn’t know it, but he’d moved on after spending Thanksgiving with his parents. They had enjoyed themselves, and they kept asking how Serena and her family were. Nick had even taken Serena up to the apartment once more, on their insistence, even though they weren’t going out anymore. But they’d pretended they were for the sake of parental peace. Reeva also thought they were holding up that image, and Nick had found himself invited to the same social occasions as Serena.
He rubbed his face with his hands. But he was tired of pretending, even if they did manage to stay friendly and work well together. It wasn’t enough. He wanted the real thing. He heard Serena walk into the office suite, and with a sigh, he raked his fingers through his hair.
His phone rang. He had it set up on the speaker, so he left it there. His father’s voice came through loud and clear.
“Nick. I am sorry to bother you. It’s your father, Stephen Fraser. Your mother slipped on the back steps tonight in the rain. I have her at the hospital, and I’m staying the night with her. I think it might be a good thing if you phoned me here. I am worried about the store and the apartment, which I left in a great hurry. Thank you. Here’s the number.”
Nick wrote down the number. He was aware of Serena hovering at his office door as he talked to the hospital reception, who put him through to his father.
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