Marriage In Name Only

by Doreen Owens Malek

  “No, dummy, Heath Bodine. And the longest eyelashes, and the sexiest smile.”

  “I see you took a complete inventory. Look, you don’t have to convince me. Carol would have strolled stark naked down Prospect Boulevard if she thought it would make that guy give her a second glance. I’m just telling you that I can guess why Luisa was acting so weird. Your father probably didn’t know who the marina was going to send to your house, and when Luisa saw Heath she decided that it was her duty to discourage your attraction to him.” Amy daintily daubed a toenail, cleaning its edge with her pinkie.

  “She didn’t know I was attracted to him.”

  “From what I’ve heard, anyone with the appropriate estrogen levels would be attracted to him. Luisa isn’t stupid. She figured if you got a look at each other sparks might fly—and she was right.” Amy put the cap on the bottle of polish and set it on Ann’s dresser, then inspected her foot admiringly.

  “Yeah, well, I’ll probably never see him again. The marina sent somebody else to finish the job on my father’s boat, and from Heath’s attitude I doubt if he’ll be inviting me over to his house for tea anytime soon.”

  There was a knock at Ann’s door. It opened and Mrs. Talbot stuck her head into the room.

  “Ice cream, ladies,” she said. “Come on out to the table if you want some.”

  Both girls rose, Amy walking on her heels to protect the drying polish. Ann sent Amy a silencing glance.

  “How did you do in the tennis round-robin today, Mrs. Talbot?” Amy asked innocently as they walked down the hall to the kitchen.

  Chapter 4

  The next morning Ann’s father was at his office, her mother was at a Daughters of the American Revolution meeting, and Luisa was at the market doing the grocery shopping. Ann was deep into the adventures of a Victorian Gothic heroine in the Yorkshire dales when the doorbell rang. Ann padded barefoot over to the front hall to answer it, saving her place in her book with her finger.

  Heath Bodine stood on the front portico, Ann’s sweater in his hands.

  “Hi,” he said. “Okay if I come in?”

  Ann’s heart began to beat faster the moment she saw him. He was wearing tan chino pants with a crisp navy polo shirt that flattered his dark coloring. She stood aside and let him walk past her into the house.

  “How’s your hand?” she asked.

  “It’s all right. They did a good job sewing it up at the hospital, I guess.” He handed her the sweater, now spotless. “I brought this back for you.”

  “You got the bloodstains out!” Ann said, marveling.

  He smiled wryly. “I’ve been working at the marina for five years now. Stain removal is my life.”

  Ann laughed.

  “Would you like a cup of coffee or something? There’s nobody home but me,” Ann said, leading the way into the living room of the house.

  “I know. I stayed across the street until I saw everybody else leave.”

  Ann looked at him inquiringly.

  “I wanted to talk to you alone.”

  Ann waited, her mouth going dry.

  “I guess Luisa told you all about me,” he said flatly, his gaze expectant.

  Ann shook her head.

  “Yeah, she got rid of the truck so I wouldn’t have to come back to your house. That’s why I’m here.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t appreciate being driven away like a thief,” Heath said darkly.

  “Luisa didn’t mean it like that.”

  “Oh, no?” he said, holding her eyes steadily with his own, his posture defiant.

  Ann looked away from him.

  “There’s another reason I came,” he added.

  “Yes?” Ann said.

  “It was a nice thing you did for me, and I know I wasn’t acting very grateful.”

  “Don’t worry about it, I understand. You were in pain and worried about your hand...”

  “That wasn’t it,” he said.

  Ann stopped.

  “People like you look down on people like me, and I didn’t want to be indebted to any snob.”

  “I’m not a snob, Heath.”

  “I realized that after I got home and thought about it. I guess I just reacted instinctively, and I’m sorry.”

  He extended his hand, and she took it. His palm was callused and warm.

  The telephone rang and they both jumped, as if caught in a stolen embrace.

  “Just let me answer that,” Ann said hastily, “and I’ll be right back.”

  When she got to the phone it was her father, calling from work. That was odd enough in itself to make her wonder what was going on. Henry Talbot’s business was his life, and when he left the house in the morning it was usually as if he had disappeared into a parallel universe until he returned in the evening.

  “I just wanted to let you know that there’s a dance at the Heron Club this Friday night and Dan Witherspoon asked me if you and Alan Michael would like to attend,” Henry said.

  Ann saw the fine hand of Luisa in this development. The housekeeper had obviously told Henry about the incident with Heath, and Henry’s response was to provide his daughter with what he considered a more appropriate alternative.

  Ann’s grip tightened on the receiver. She had spent exactly two hours with Heath Bodine, most of it in an intensely romantic hospital emergency room, and her father was behaving as if she had been discovered in a motel bed with him.

  “Mr. Witherspoon is now arranging Alan’s dates?” Ann said to her father.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Henry Talbot replied testily. “He just thought it would be a nice idea if we could all go together.”

  “Well, I’m sorry, you’re going to have to disappoint Mr. Witherspoon. I have plans for Friday.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Amy and I are going over to Big Palm Island for an Aerosmith concert.”

  “Can’t you postpone that?”

  “Dad, they’re playing one night before going on to Miami. We’ve had the tickets for three months.”

  Henry sighed dramatically. “All right, we’ll arrange something for the future then.”

  Over my cooling carcass, Ann thought. Aloud she asked, “Is that all, Daddy?”

  “I suppose so. Tell your mother I’ll be home at seven-fifteen. Goodbye.”

  “Bye.” Ann hung up the phone and walked back into the living room to discover that Heath was gone.

  * * * *

  “What do you mean, he left?” Amy said as they drove over the causeway to Big Palm on Friday night.

  “Just what I said. I went into the kitchen to get the phone and when I came back he was gone.”

  “That’s odd.”

  “Not to mention rude.”

  “I don’t think he was being rude,” Amy said thoughtfully, turning down the radio.

  “What would you call it?”

  “He probably had to work up his nerve to come and see you, and then when you left he felt uncertain about it. Maybe he thought you were trying to get rid of him.”

  “He heard the phone ringing in the kitchen, Amy. It wasn’t a magic trick.”

  “But you did stay talking on the phone for several minutes, right?”

  “It was my father, Amy. You know what he’s like.”

  “Heath doesn’t know that. He may have thought you seized the opportunity to escape.”

  “That’s stupid, Amy, why would I do that? He was only returning my sweater.”

  Amy turned to look at her in amazement. “You’re the one who’s stupid, Annie. He could have mailed the sweater to you. He wanted to see you again and the sweater was an excuse.”

  “You really think so?”

  Amy rolled her eyes. “You’ve spent too much time in an all-girls’ school, sweetie.”

  “You’ve been going to the same school.”

  “But I sneak out every weekend to drive to Far Hills Community College to party while you stay in our room and read Victoria Holt novels and wa
tch old movies. Trust me, I know about these things. He’s hooked.”

  “I’d like to see him again,” Ann said softly.

  “Then do it,” Amy said firmly.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Tonight is the perfect opportunity. Your parents think you’re at the concert with me. I’ll drop you off at Jensen’s Marina.”

  “I can’t do that!” Ann said, aghast.

  “Why not?”

  “It’s so... forward.”

  “What is this, 1959? Is Donna Reed at your house, giving advice in a shirtwaist dress, high heels and pearls? You want him, go for it.” “I don’t even know if he’s working tonight.”

  “From what I hear he’s always there. I don’t think home is too much fun. But we can make sure. Let’s pull over and call him.”

  Ann stared at her in horror.

  “I won’t say who it is, I’ll just ask for him and see if he’s there, okay?” Amy said, shrugging innocently.

  Ann hesitated.

  “Come on, come on—no guts, no glory.” Amy pulled into a driveway and turned her car around, heading back toward Lime Island.

  “What if he is there? Are you going on to the concert by yourself?”

  “Are you kidding? Gloria Stansfield has been bugging me for weeks to sell her my ticket, she’ll take yours in a second. I know for a fact she’s home tonight, I just talked to her this morning. I can pick her up after I drop you off at Jensen’s.”

  “Got it all figured out, haven’t you?”

  “Yup,” Amy said smugly, and grinned.

  She guided her red Camaro into the Jiffy Stop strip mall and stopped the car in front of the pay phone. “Well?” she said as she put the car in park.

  “All right. Should I call?”

  Amy shook her head. “He might recognize your voice if he comes to the phone or answers it himself. This way, if I call and then you chicken out, he won’t be the wiser.”

  Ann watched as Amy got out of the car and went to the phone. She had to hand it to her more sophisticated friend; Amy was a whiz at this stuff.

  She saw Amy’s lips moving and then waited what seemed like an eternity before Amy flashed her the thumbs-up sign and nodded emphatically.

  Ann felt her heart lurch. She had been half hoping that Heath wouldn’t be there. As much as she wanted to see him again, the thought of actually confronting him made her go weak in the knees.

  What if he told her to get lost?

  Amy scampered back to the car and chortled “Bingo” as she pulled open the door. She started the engine and the car shot out into the street, its tires kicking up sprays of gravel in her eagerness to get back onto the road.

  “What took you so long?” Ann demanded, gnawing on her thumbnail.

  “I had to get the number of the marina from information first. I didn’t exactly have it memorized, you know.”

  “What did he say?”

  “I didn’t talk to him. When somebody answered I just asked her for Heath Bodine, and when she went to get him, I hung up the phone. But we know he’s there.”

  “For how long?”

  “Probably until the place closes at nine.”

  “But what if he leaves early? What if he goes out on a j ob and isn’t there when I arrive?”

  Amy looked over at her in exasperation. “Then take a cab back home. Luisa’s gone for the day and your parents are out, anyway, they’ll never know the difference.”

  “I only have ten dollars.”

  Amy picked up her purse from the car’s console with her free hand and thrust it into Ann’s lap.

  “There’s fifty in my wallet, take half. That’ll be more than enough, even if the cabbie takes you home by way of Santiago. Anything else, Nervous Nellie?”

  “I’m not dressed right.”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake Annie. You’re driving me nuts. You look perfectly fine.”

  “This blouse is old.”

  “It brings out the color of your eyes.”

  “My hair is frizzy.”

  “Sweetie, your hair would not frizz in the jungles of equatorial Africa. It looks the way it always does, sensational.”

  “I have a zit on my forehead.”

  Amy slowed the car and pulled onto the shoulder of the road. She put the car in neutral and looked over at her friend.

  “We are three minutes from the marina. If you don’t want to go through with this, say so now and we’ll forget it, all right?”

  Ann bit her lip. “I want to do it. I’m just... scared.”

  “Scared of him?”

  “A little. He’s so big and strong and, I don’t know, masculine. And he must have a reputation, or else why would my father and Luisa be freaking out just because I talked to him?”

  “Hold me back,” Amy said, sighing. “If he were interested in me I would live at Jensen’s Marina.”

  “Okay. Let’s go.”

  The rest of the trip was conducted in silence. The marina was lit up as dusk was just falling, and through the glass walls of the showroom Ann could see the new boats up on blocks for display to potential buyers. The docks where the tenant boats bobbed at anchor led off to the water on the right; the repair garage was on the left.

  “How are you doing?” Amy asked as she pulled to a stop at the entrance to the garage.

  “I’m a wreck. My hands are like ice.”

  “Go for it. Good luck.”

  Ann got out of the car. Amy pulled away so fast that Ann knew Amy was not giving her a chance to change her mind.

  Ann walked slowly inside the garage, where several boats were disassembled on the stained cement floor and the smell of oil and diesel fuel was overpowering. A middle-aged man with red hair, wearing a rugby shirt, looked up from a ledger at a desk by the door.

  “Help you?” he said.

  “Yes, I’m, uh, looking for Heath Bodine.”

  “He’s out back with Joan. Want me to get him for you?‘“

  Ann almost said no, but the man was already moving away. She stood shifting her weight nervously, wondering who Joan was, until she heard the sound of footsteps and saw Heath walking toward her.

  He was wearing ripped and faded jeans with a sleeveless army surplus T-shirt and wiping his hands on a greasy rag. He stopped short when he saw her.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  Ann stared at his unsmiling face, the hard lines of his mouth, and her nerve failed her.

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come,” she muttered, bolting for the exit.

  He ran in front of her and blocked her path. “Don’t go,” he said. “I was just surprised, I didn’t expect to see you.”

  Ann looked back at him in mute appeal.

  The redhead returned to his desk and examined the ledger again, humming under his breath.

  “Joe, okay for me to use the office for a few minutes? ” Heath said to him.

  “Sure, kid. It’s empty.”

  Heath jerked his head toward a cubicle with a door at their left, and Ann followed him into it. Once inside Heath turned to Ann and looked at her inquiringly.

  “I don’t know what I’m doing here,” she said miserably. “I just wanted to see you again.”

  He gazed at her for a long moment and then walked past her to lock the door. When he turned back to her, his face was unguarded and vulnerable.

  He opened his arms and she ran into them.

  “It’s all right, Princess,” he said into her hair as she closed her eyes and relaxed into his embrace, reveling in the hard feel of his arms around her and the support of his shoulder under her cheek. “I feel the same way, I just wasn’t sure if you did.”

  “I did. I do. I hadn’t planned to leave you the other day when the phone rang, and when I came back and you were gone—”

  “Don’t explain,” he said, interrupting her, and she felt the rumble of his voice under her ear. “It doesn’t matter. You’re here with me now and that’s what counts.”

  He held her o
ff at arm’s length to look down into her face, and then laughed.

  “I’m getting you all dirty,” he said.

  She threw her arms around his neck again. “I don’t care. Hold me again.”

  He obeyed, crushing her to him, and she felt his lips in her hair. When they moved down to her cheek, she lifted her mouth eagerly for his kiss.

  It left her breathless, eager for more. He knew what he was doing; this was not the shy, tentative kiss of an inexperienced adolescent but the mature embrace of a man. She clung to him, her lips opening to admit his probing tongue, pressing herself against his lean body until she could feel his unmistakable reaction. It didn’t alarm her, only made her hungry for more.

  There was a knock at the door. “Hey, kid, I need to get in there for the day’s receipts,” a male voice said.

  Heath pulled Ann’s arms from around his neck and took a step back.

  “We can’t do this here,” he said breathlessly. “Can you meet me when I get off work at nine?”

  Ann nodded, her heart still pounding.

  “I have my bike out back. We’ll take a ride, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  He moved to unlock the door. “And whatever you’ve heard about me or my family,” he said, “don’t be afraid. I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

  “I’m not afraid,” she said, and suddenly she wasn’t.

  The door opened and the redhead came into the room, shooting Heath an amused glance.

  “I’ll see you later, okay?” Heath said to Ann, careful not to look at her.

  “Later,” she echoed, and walked out of the office and through the garage, not seeing a thing.

  She waited until she was outside the doors before she jumped for joy.

  * * * *

  The hour and a half until Heath got off work seemed to last a decade. Ann went to a sandwich shop down the block from the marina. She sat there nursing several sodas and staring uncomprehendingly at a newspaper until it was time to walk back to Jensen’s. When she got there, the redhead was locking the doors of the garage with a woman standing at his side. He grinned at Ann and said, “Heath will be right out, miss.”

  Ann nodded.

  Heath emerged from the office door, a gray, hooded sweatshirt tied around his waist. He smiled when he saw her and called out to the others, “G’night, Joe. G’night, Joanie.”