Phantom of Riverside Park

by Peggy Webb

  He began to press buttons. The heavy draperies slid shut and the lights went out. Even though it was early afternoon, his office was plunged into complete darkness. David hurried to the bathroom to wash his face and comb his hair. When he caught a glance at himself in the mirror the irony struck him. He might as well be pouring perfume on a muskrat or putting that legendary side-saddle on the infamous Southern hawg.

  He hurried back to his office and switched on the lamp beside Elizabeth’s chair. Funny how the chair had become hers from the first time she ever sat in it. David couldn’t look at it without thinking of her, without conjuring up images of her sitting there in her old-fashioned pink dress with her hands twisted in her lap or tugging on the short skirt of her pink uniform from the bakery or biting her lips and bowing her head while her shining hair slid across her cheek.

  “Mr. Lassiter, Elizabeth Jennings is here. She doesn’t have an appointment.”

  He wasn’t ready for her. He had the horrible feeling that he’d forgotten something vital, that she would unmask him and discover that he was not her hero at all but a monster with a hideous face.

  He slid into his chair behind his desk and turned the left side of his face to the wall.

  “Send her in.”

  She stood blinking in the darkness, then smiled.

  “I see you’re prepared for me.”

  “Yes.” No. He was never quite prepared for the sight of Elizabeth Jennings. “Please come in. Sit down.” He watched her arrange her skirt, cross her legs at the ankle, probably the way she’d been taught. There was no artifice in her. She was the genuine article: a Southern belle, through and through. Perhaps one of the last of the true belles, a woman with magnolias on her skin, honey dripping from her speech, soft ways and sweet manners that cried out for white gloves and a hat with a perky little veil, and a big dose of pure steel in her backbone.

  “How’s your grandfather?”

  “Giving orders, bossing me around, which is always a good sign. I don’t even like to think of what would have happened if it hadn’t been for you. How can I ever thank you?”

  “You just did.”

  “That’s what Peter said.”

  “He’s a good man.”

  “He’s absolutely wonderful.” David felt an unaccustomed stab of jealousy. “He watched over me like a mother hen with one baby chick. It would have been comical if I hadn’t been so worried and so very, very scared.”

  “I don’t want you to ever be scared again, Elizabeth.”

  It was too late to call the words back. They went flying across the dark room and landed straight in some soft, sweet part of Elizabeth. Her smile was warm and tender. David had a hard time not taking it personally.

  “That’s a lovely thing to say. You’re a good man, David.”

  It wasn’t the moon, but it would do.

  Suddenly Elizabeth looked as nervous as he felt. Was it any wonder? She was carrying a load too heavy for one small woman to bear, and she’d been carrying it all by herself for a very long time. Plus, the options he’d given her weren’t easy. Nor were they foolproof. In spite of everything he could do, Elizabeth might still lose her son.

  “I guess you know why I’m here,” she said, finally.

  “I have a very good idea.”

  She twisted the hem of her skirt in one hand, then self-consciously released it and tried to smooth out the wrinkles.

  “I meant to take more time to think about everything you said, but when I was with Papa at the hospital it suddenly occurred to me that there is only one decision I can make, only one option I can choose.”

  Shouldn’t there be drum rolls somewhere in the background? Shouldn’t Oprah Winfrey be standing by with an expectant smile on her face?

  One way or another the entire course of his life was going to change, and here he was sitting in the same chair behind the same desk in the same room, the same building where he’d hidden for as long as he couldn’t bear to remember.

  “Have you changed your mind about either of your proposals?”

  Her sudden question threw him off balance. Here he is so tightly wound he’s set to explode, and Elizabeth jerks the rug out from under him.

  “No. Nothing has changed. I meant every word I said. Whatever you decide, I will abide by my part of the deal.”

  She drew a ragged little breath. “This is not easy, you know. The whole thing still feels like charity.”

  “Elizabeth...”

  “No, let me finish. If anything less were at stake I would say no, thank you to both proposals. But my child is at stake. And now my grandfather. I can’t keep putting him through the wringer.”

  “Is there anything I can do to make this deal more palatable to you, Elizabeth?”

  “If there is, I don’t know what in the world it would be. You seem to have thought of all the angles. I wish I could say I’ve been that thorough, but I haven’t. All I know is that I can’t ask you to give up your anonymity because of me.”

  An absurd hope leaped in David, an outrageous joy. The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing. Pascal had said that. David figured it might be one of the most powerful truths ever spoken.

  “You’ve done too much already,” she said. “I can’t let you make that sacrifice. Reporters would hound you to death.”

  She didn’t know the half of it. Still, something in him thrilled that Elizabeth was the kind of woman who would consider his feelings, even in her time of greatest trouble.

  “I’ve decided to marry you, David... in name only.”

  He wished she hadn’t added that. Some of the glow went out of David. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the next chapter of his life might be the most exciting one to date. And the scariest. The thought of being husband to Elizabeth Jennings terrified him.

  Even if the marriage was a façade. She was waiting for him to say something. What was there to say? You pop the champagne cork while I pass out cigars? No. Cigars were for the birth of a child. There would never be a child from this marriage. There would never even be a wedding night.

  “That’s settled then.” He hoped he sounded businesslike without being brusque. All of a sudden he needed to be alone. He had a lot of thinking to do, a lot of planning.

  “Not quite,” she said.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “I said, it’s not quite settled. First, there’s something I have to do.”

  “Of course. There are many things you’ll want to do in order to get ready for your move, and the ceremony. I’ll make all the arrangements. We’ll do this as quickly as possible...because of Nicky.”

  He couldn’t bring himself to use the word marriage. Even as he thought about the ceremony he was wondering how he would keep Elizabeth from seeing his face. Maybe the groom should wear the veil. McKenzie would get a kick out of that when he told her.

  “I’m not talking about making arrangements,” she said. “I’m talking about right here, right now. I have to see you.”

  “Here I am. You are seeing me.”

  “No. I want the lights on. I have to see you.”

  David could taste his own fear. This was a complication he’d never counted on. He tried to deflect her with humor.

  “Six months after the wedding you’ll be sick and tired of seeing me. Isn’t that the way it usually goes?”

  “I don’t know how it usually goes. I’ve never been married.”

  It was a stark reminder that Nicky was Taylor Belliveau’s illegitimate child, and that Elizabeth, through no fault of her own, had been placed in the category of unwed mother.

  “This is the first time for me, also,” he said.

  What was she thinking now? He wished he knew her well enough to ask. Funny how he knew so much about the woman he was going to marry, and how he knew nothing at all.

  “I won’t be deterred, David. I don’t want to marry a man I’ve never seen.”

  “I don’t see how it makes a bit of difference, especially consideri
ng the terms of our marriage.”

  “I don’t think I’ve made myself clear. I will not marry a man I’ve never seen.”

  David had always admired tenacity and courage, and Elizabeth had both. A pity he hadn’t met her years ago when he’d been young and whole and life was still good. Would his life have been different if Elizabeth Jennings had been the one to walk into that hospital room instead of Kelly Lynn?

  He couldn’t help but believe the answer was yes. Elizabeth was not the kind of woman to run away screaming.

  Or was she?

  He would soon find out. David reached for the light switch, and slowly turned to face her.

  She didn’t flinch, didn’t stare boggle-eyed, didn’t scream, didn’t cry. He searched her face, looking for the thing he feared most--pity. It was not there, and David began to breathe easier.

  They stared at each other across the small space like strangers, newly met. And yet they weren’t. They had a history, however brief, a common goal, even camaraderie. It was more than many couples had going into a marriage.

  He had to quit thinking of this union as real. Couple was not a correct term for what he and Elizabeth would be. Yet, he could taste the word in his mouth, and the taste of it was like cherry ice cream.

  Suddenly she was moving toward him, and he had to fight down the panicked urge to run. She didn’t stop until she was standing only inches from him.

  It had been so many years since he’d been close to a sweet-smelling, sweet-looking woman that his mouth went dry.

  She reached up and tenderly traced his scars, every one of them. Not a single ugly patch on his hideous face escaped her finger study. And then he stopped breathing, for Elizabeth stood on tiptoe and kissed him softly on his scarred mouth.

  “Thank you, David,” she whispered. “For everything.”

  He almost believed in miracles again.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  It was dark when she got back to the hospital. Elizabeth meant to peek in and check on Papa, then head home and draw herself a hot tub where she could soak and think. But he was sitting up in bed with the television blaring.

  “I just came by to say goodnight, Papa.”

  “Sit down. I’ve got a few things to say to you.”

  “It’s getting late. You should rest.”

  “Don’t argue with me.”

  Elizabeth pulled a chair close to the bed so she could hold his hand. His grip was strong considering all he’d gone through, but then nothing should surprise her where Papa was concerned.

  “How did it go with Lassiter?”

  “He’s making arrangements for the wedding.”

  “Weddings are sacred.”

  “It’s not like that, Papa. This is more like a business deal.”

  “A vow is a vow, I don’t care what you call it. When two people marry there’s ways they ought to treat each other, kind ways. I wish Lola Mae was here to talk to you about it.”

  Elizabeth didn’t. The deal she’d struck with David couldn’t possibly live up to Mae Mae’s dreams for her. There was no silver lining here--merely a short-term arrangement based on her desperation and David’s generosity.

  “You don’t have to worry, Papa. I am deeply grateful to David for everything he’s doing for me. I’m afraid he’s not getting much in the deal, though.”

  “He’s gettin’ the cream of the crop, and I don’t want you ever to think otherwise. You’re just like your grandmother. Lordy, I wanted to give her the moon. She never asked for anything. Did you know that?”

  Elizabeth nodded, but she wasn’t sure Papa even saw her. He had that familiar faraway look in his eyes that signaled he was back on the farm reliving every moment he’d spent with the woman he loved more than life itself.

  “I wanted to give her pearls when I married her, but she said, ‘Thomas, you’re the only pearl I’ll ever need.’ She wouldn’t even let me get her a piece of jewelry when Manny was born. I’d spied a little locket in Brassfield’s that would just about fit my pocketbook, but she found out what I was up to and like to had a fit. ‘I’m not fixin’ to have to you throw away money you need for a new tractor,’ was what she said, and then she put that baby in my arms and I forgot everything else except how much we loved each other and what love can produce.”

  Elizabeth could have cried. One of the saddest and loneliest things in this world is never knowing the joy of loving and being loved. She turned her face toward the window so Papa wouldn’t see her wipe her eyes.

  When the phone rang it was the first time she’d ever been happy to interrupt one of Papa’s reminisces.

  “I thought I might catch you here. This is David,” he added, as if she didn’t know, as if his voice hadn’t gone through her like a fourth of July rocket.

  “I called to check on Papa.”

  “How is he?”

  “Bossy.” She laughed, then covered the receiver with her hand. “Papa, can you turn down the volume on the TV? I can’t hear David.”

  Papa punched the volume down. “I want to talk to him.”

  “He says he wants to talk to you,” she told David.

  “Fine. But first there’s something I have to tell you. It’s about the wedding.”

  Panic seized her. He was going to call it off. He’d changed his mind. He’d realized he was getting the bad end of the bargain. He...

  “I’ve been thinking,” he said. “Having no one there who knows and loves you is going to be very hard for you. I will be there, of course, but ...”

  The silence hung fire between them. Jubilation and despair raged through Elizabeth, and she did the only thing she knew how to do: she anchored herself and hung on.

  Finally she found a voice. “That’s all right.”

  “No, I want you to have somebody, some friend, Quincy, maybe.”

  “At the ceremony?” She couldn’t bring herself to call it a wedding.

  “Not the ceremony. Before. In the room with you.”

  “Oh.” She sounded ungrateful. After all he’d done. “Thank you. That’s kind of you.” Now she sounded like Eliza Doolittle, trying to learn manners.

  “I’ll speak to your grandfather now.”

  “Elizabeth’s told me all about this wedding,” Papa said as soon as he took the phone. “She’s a lady, you know, just like her grandmother. Before I give you my blessing there’s just one thing I want to know: will you always treat her kindly?”

  Papa listened, nodding, then he said, “That’s all I want to know,” and hung up the phone.

  Too nervous to sit still, dying to know but afraid to ask, Elizabeth went to the window and drew the shades against the night. Finally she could stand the suspense no longer.

  “What did he say?”

  Papa smiled. “He said he would never give you cause to be sorry you married him.”

  It wasn’t much, but it was all she had. Elizabeth pulled the covers over her grandfather.

  “Thank you, Papa,” she said, then kissed him goodnight and drove to her lonely little house on Allen Street. It was a black night with very few stars, but it seemed to her that there was a star in the heavens she’d never noticed, and that when she went up the sidewalk it moved just slightly as if it were blessing her.

  o0o

  “McKenzie, you didn’t have to drive up here for this,” David said, this being the ceremony about to take place in his board room on the fifth floor of Lassiter Building. “I probably shouldn’t even have told you until it was all over and done with.”

  “Most of the time I think you walk on water, David, but if you hadn’t told me about your wedding, I’d never have forgiven you.”

  “Right now I feel as if I’m walking on quicksand.”

  McKenzie stood on tiptoe and kissed him. “Everything’s going to be all right. We’ll get through all this together, the way we always have.”

  “Is my tie straight?”

  “No.” McKenzie fiddled with it. David had thought about wearing a tuxedo, but that seemed excess
ive to him. And hopeful. Much, much too hopeful. “What’s she like, David?”

  “She’s drop-dead gorgeous, and the thought of marrying her under any circumstances scares me to death.”

  McKenzie got a brush out of her purse and started fluttering around David’s head like a setting hen. He started to tell her to stop it, and then he realized that she was as nervous as he and needed some small task so she could tell herself that she useful instead of scared.

  “You didn’t tell me a thing I didn’t already know, David. You forget. I’ve met her. She seems extremely nice, and very vulnerable. What I want to know is what you think of her.”

  “She’s a sweet woman, McKenzie. Intelligent, courageous, gentle.”

  “This must be very hard for her with her grandfather still in the hospital and her little boy ...I can’t even stand to think about that. Poor little thing, waiting out there all by herself.”

  That’s why he’d called Elizabeth at the hospital. The sadness and loneliness of attending your own wedding with not a single soul who loved and cared for you in attendance had struck David.

  “She’s not alone,” he said. “Quincy and Fred are with her.”

  “They are? Will they be at the ceremony?”

  “No. I told her they could come, but she said it was enough to have them waiting for her when it was all over.”

  McKenzie teared up. “I’m gonna love this girl, and you...” She punched his shoulder. “I could kiss the quicksand you walk on.”

  o0o

  Elizabeth had read that all brides were nervous on their wedding day, and she hadn’t thought it would happen to her, considering the circumstances. But she’d been wrong. She’d chewed her nails to the quick and she’d dropped her soap this morning and almost broke her neck getting out of the tub.

  Somewhere in the huge Lassiter Building, David was waiting for her, and even if he wasn’t going to be a real husband Elizabeth had a full-blown case of the jitters. She picked up her hairbrush.

  “Girl, if you start to fixing that hair one more time you’re gonna be bald as an egg, and it’s not gonna make one whit of difference about that pretty face of yours. Now let that hair alone.”

  Elizabeth hugged her old friend. “Quincy, what in the world would I do without you?”