Passion's Promise

by Danielle Steel

  “Do you, babe? Does it fit?” He took it from the box for her and carefully slipped it on her finger. Doing that was a heady feeling for both of them, as though when it reached the base of her finger something magic would happen. They were engaged. Christ, what a trip!

  “It fits!” Her eyes danced as she held out her hand, looking at the ring from every possible angle. It was a beautiful stone.

  “Shit. It looks like it’s loose. Is it too big?”

  “No, it isn’t. No, it isn’t! Honest!”

  “Liar. But I love you. We’ll get it sized tomorrow.”

  “I’m engaged!”

  “Hey, that’s funny, lady. Me too. What’s your name?”

  “Mildred. Mildred Schwartz.”

  “Mildred, I love you. That’s funny though, I thought your name was Kate. Didn’t it used to be?” He had a tender light in his eye, remembering the first day he’d met her.

  “Isn’t that what I told you when we met?” She was a little too drunk to be sure.

  “It was. You were already a liar way back then.”

  “I already loved you then, too. Right away, just about.” She sank back into his arms again, with her own memories of their first days.

  “You loved me then?” He was surprised. He thought it had taken longer. She had been so evasive at first.

  “Uh huh. I thought you were super. But I was scared you’d find out who I was.”

  “Well, at least now I know. Mildred Schwartz. And this, my love, is the Fairmont.” They had just pulled up in the driveway, and two porters approached to assist the chauffeur with their bags. “Want me to carry you out?”

  “That’s only when you get married. We’re only engaged.” She flashed the ring at him with a smile which enchanted him.

  “Please forgive the impertinence. But I’m not sure you can walk.”

  “I beg your pardon, Lucas. I most certainly can.” But she wove badly when her feet touched the pavement.

  “Just keep your mouth shut, Mama, and smile.” He picked her up in his arms, nodded to the porters and mentioned something about a weak heart, and a long plane trip, while she quietly nibbled his ear. “Stop that!”

  “I will not.”

  “You will, or I’ll drop you. Right here. How’d you like a broken ass for an engagement present?”

  “Up your ass, Lucas.”

  “Shh … keep your voice down.” But he wasn’t much more sober than she; he only held it a mite better.

  “Put me down, or I’ll sue you.”

  “You can’t. We’re engaged.” He was halfway through the lobby with Kezia in his arms.

  “And it’s such a pretty ring too. Lucas, if you only knew how much I love you.” She let her head fall onto his shoulder and studied the ring. He carried her easily, like a rag doll, or a very small child.

  “Due to Mrs. Johns’ weak heart, and her weakened condition from the flight,” would they send the registration forms up to the room? The couple rode quickly up in the elevator, with Kezia carefully propped up in a corner. Luke watched her with a grin.

  “I’ll walk to the room, thank you.” She looked at him imperiously, and tripped as she got out of the elevator. He caught her before she fell, and he offered her his arm, trying hard to keep a straight face.

  “Madam?”

  “Thank you, sir.” They walked gingerly down the hall, with Luke supporting most of her weight, and at last arrived at the room.

  “You know what’s funny, Lucas?” When she was drunk, she had the voice of Palm Beach, London, and Paris.

  “What, my dear?” Two could play that game.

  “When we came up in the elevator, I felt like we could see the whole world, even the sky, the Golden Gate Bridge … everything. Is that what being engaged does to you?”

  “No. It’s what being in a glass elevator does to you, when it runs along the outside of the building, and you ride in it when you’re drunk. You know, sort of like special effects.” He gave her his most charming smile.

  “Go to hell.”

  The porter was waiting for them in the door of the suite, and Luke tipped him solemnly and closed the door behind him.

  “And I suggest that you lie down, or take a shower. Probably both.”

  “No, I want to …” She walked slowly toward him, an evil gleam in her eye, and he laughed.

  “As a matter of fact, Mama, so do I.”

  “Hey, lady, it’s a beautiful day.”

  “Already?”

  “It has been for hours.”

  “I think I’m going to die.”

  “You’re hung over. I ordered coffee for you.” He smiled at the look on her face. They had made matters worse with a third bottle of champagne after dinner. It had been a night for lengthy celebration. Their engagement. It was more than a little mad. He knew only too well that by the following day he could be in jail, which was why he hadn’t jumped at the thought of Reno or Vegas. But that was one thing he wouldn’t do to her. If they revoked him, that was it. He wasn’t going to take her down with him, as his wife. He loved her too much to do that to her.

  She struggled with the coffee, and felt better after a shower.

  “Maybe I’m not going to die after all. I’m not quite sure yet.”

  “You never know with a weak heart like yours.”

  “What weak heart?” She looked at him as though he were crazy.

  “That’s what I told them when I carried you into the lobby.”

  “You carried me?”

  “You don’t remember?”

  “I don’t remember being carried. I do remember feeling like I was flying.”

  “That was the elevator.”

  “Jesus, I must have really been bombed.”

  “Worse than that. Which reminds me … do you remember getting engaged?”

  “Several times.” She grinned wickedly and ran a hand up his leg.

  “I mean with a ring, you lewd bitch. Shame on you!”

  “Shame on me? If I remember correctly …”

  “Never mind that. Do you remember getting engaged?”

  But her face softened as she saw how earnest be was. “Yes, darling, I remember. And the ring is incredible.” She flickered it at him, and they both smiled as she kissed him. “It’s a magnificent ring.”

  “For a magnificent woman. I wanted to buy you a sapphire, but they were waaaaaayyyy over my head.”

  “I like this better. My grandmother had a sapphire that …”

  “Oh not that again!” He started to laugh and she looked surprised.

  “I already told you?”

  “Several times.” She grinned and shrugged her slim shoulders. She was wearing only his ring. “Now, are we going to sit here all day, making love and being lazy, or are we going to go out?”

  “Do you suppose we ought to go out?” But she looked as if she liked the first idea better.

  “It might do us good. We can come back for more of this later.”

  “Is that a promise?”

  “Do you usually have to force me, my love?”

  “Not exactly.” She smiled primly and walked to the closet. “Where are we going?”

  “What do you want to do?”

  “Can we go for a drive? I’d love that. Up the coast, or something nice and easy like that.”

  “With the chauffeur?” The idea didn’t have much appeal. Not with the chauffeur.

  “No, silly, alone of course. We can rent a car through the hotel.”

  “Sure, babe. I’d like that too.”

  She was forking out vast sums of money for this trip. The suite at the Fairmont, the first-class seats on the trip out, the limousine, the elaborate room service meals, and now yet another car, for his pleasure. She wanted it all to be special. She wanted to soften the blow of the hearing, or at least provide some diversion from the reason they were there. Underneath the holiday air was the kind of gaiety one produces for a child who is dying of cancer—circus, puppet shows, dolls, color TV, Disneylan
d, and ice cream all day long, because soon, very soon…. Kezia longed for the days of their first trip to San Francisco, for their early days in New York. This time nothing was natural; it was all terribly luxurious, but it wasn’t the same. It was forced.

  The concierge rented a car for them, a bright red Mustang with a stick shift that pleased Luke. He roared up the hills on his way to the bridge.

  It was a pleasant drive for a sunny winter afternoon. It was never very cold in San Francisco. There was a brisk breeze but the air was warm, and everything around them was green, a far cry from the barren landscape they’d left.

  They drove all afternoon, stopped here and there at a beach, walked to the edge of the cliffs, sat on rocks and talked, but neither spoke of what weighed on their hearts. It was too late to talk and there was nothing to say. The hearing was too close. They had both said it all, in all the ways they knew how, with their bodies, with gifts, with kisses, with looks. All they could do now was wait.

  A light green Ford trailed them all day long, and it depressed Luke to realize they were being followed that closely. He didn’t say anything to Kezia, but something in her manner led him to suspect that she knew too. There was more than a faint air of bravado, of each trying to reassure the other, by pretending not to see all the terrors around them … or simply the passing of time. The hearing was right in front of their faces, and Lucas noticed that the cops stuck much closer now, as though they thought he’d suddenly bolt and run. But to where? He knew enough not to run. How long could he have gotten away with something like that? Besides, he couldn’t have taken Kezia. And he couldn’t have left her. They had him; they didn’t have to breathe down his neck.

  They stopped for dinner at a Chinese restaurant on their way back, and then went to the hotel to relax. They had to meet Alejandro’s plane at ten o’clock that night.

  The plane was on time and Alejandro was among the first through the doors.

  “Hey, brother, what’s your hurry?” Lucas stood lazily propped against the wall.

  “It must be New York. It’s getting to me. How’s it going, man?” Alejandro looked worried and tired, and felt suddenly out of place when he saw the look on their faces, happy, relaxed, with windburn tans and pink cheeks from the sun. It was almost as though he had come out for no reason. What could be wrong in the lives of two people who looked like that?

  “Hey! Guess what?” Kezia’s eyes glowed. “We’re engaged!” She held out the ring for his inspection.

  “Beautiful. Congratulations! We’re going to have to drink to that!” Luke rolled his eyes and Kezia groaned.

  “We did that one last night.”

  “‘We,’ my ass. She did. Shitfaced to the gills.”

  “Kezia?” Alejandro looked amused.

  “Yup, on champagne. I drank about two bottles all by myself.” She said it with pride.

  “From your flask?”

  She laughed at the memory of Christmas and shook her head, as they went to claim his bags. They had brought the limousine; the Mustang had been returned.

  The banter in the car on the way into the city was light and easy, bad jokes, silly memories, Alejandro’s account of his trip, complete with a woman in labor and another woman who had smuggled her French poodle aboard under her coat and then threatened hysterics when the stewardess tried to take the dog away.

  “Why do I always get on those flights?”

  “You should try flying first-class.”

  “Sure, brother, you bet. Hey, what’s with the fruity brown shoes?” Kezia laughed and Lucas looked pained.

  “Man, you ain’t got no class at all. They’re Guccis.”

  “Look like fruit shoes to me.” The three of them laughed and the car pulled up in front of the hotel.

  “It’s not much, but we call it home.” Luke was in high spirits as he waved grandly to the towering palace that was the Fairmont.

  “You guys certainly travel in style.” They had offered him the couch in the living room of their suite. It pulled out to make an extra bed.

  “You know, Al, they’ve got a little old guy who walks around in the lobby just making ‘F’s in the sand in the ashtrays.” Alejandro rolled his eyes, and the three of them chuckled again. “It’s the little things that make the difference.”

  “Up your ass, man.”

  “Please, not in front of my fiancée.” Luke looked mock prim.

  “You guys really engaged? For real?”

  “For real.” Kezia confirmed it. “We’re going to get married.” There was steel in her voice, and hope, and life, and tears, and fear. They would get married. If they got the chance.

  None of them mentioned the hearing and it wasn’t until Kezia started to yawn that Luke began to look serious.

  “Why don’t you go on to bed, babe? I’ll be in, in a bit.” He wanted to talk to Alejandro alone, and it was easy to know what about. Why couldn’t he share his fears with her? But it wouldn’t do to look hurt. It wouldn’t have served any purpose.

  “Okay, darling. But don’t stay up too late.” She kissed him gently on the neck and blew a kiss to Alejandro. “Don’t get too drunk, you guys.”

  “Look who’s talking.” Luke laughed at the thought.

  “That’s different. I was celebrating my engagement.” She tried to look haughty, but started to laugh as he swatted her behind and gave her a kiss.

  “I love you. Now beat it.”

  “Night, you guys.”

  She lay awake in their bed and watched the line of light under the bedroom door until three. She wanted to go out there, to tell them that she was scared shitless too, but she couldn’t do that. She couldn’t do it to Luke. She had to keep a stiff upper lip. Noblesse oblige, and all that shit.

  She saw the next morning that Luke hadn’t gone to bed all that night. At six in the morning, he had finally fallen asleep where he sat, and Alejandro had quietly laid down on the couch. They all had to be up by eight.

  The hearing was at two, and Luke’s attorney was due at the Fairmont at nine for a briefing. It would probably be the first time that Alejandro would hear it all straight. Luke had a way of clouding the issues, to spare his friends fear. And he knew that Kezia wouldn’t let herself speak what she thought. Alejandro got nothing from Kezia now, and nothing from Luke except bullshit and bravado. The only real thing he had heard was to “take care of Kezia, in case.” And that was going to be no easy task. That girl was going to take it harder than hell if he fell.

  For a brief moment before he went to sleep, Alejandro almost wished that he hadn’t come. He didn’t want to see it. Didn’t want to watch it happen to Luke, or see Kezia’s face when it did.

  Chapter 26

  The attorney arrived at nine, bringing tension with him. Kezia greeted him with a formal “good morning,” and made the introduction to “Our friend, Mr. Vidal.” She poured coffee and commented what a beautiful day it was. That’s when things started to go sour. The attorney gave a terse little laugh that set Kezia’s nerves on edge. She was suspicious of him anyway. He was renowned for his skill at hearings like Luke’s, for which he charged five thousand dollars. Lucas had insisted on paying it himself with his savings. He had set aside money for that, “just in case.” But Kezia didn’t like the man’s style—overconfident, overpaid, and overbearing. He assumed far too much.

  The attorney looked around the room and felt the chill vibes from Kezia, and then made matters worse by putting his foot in his mouth. She was a most unnerving young woman.

  “My father used to say on mornings like this, ‘Could be a beautiful day to die.’” Her face grew ashen and taut and Luke gave her a look that said “Kezia, don’t blow it!” She didn’t, for Luke’s sake, but she smoked twice as much as she ordinarily did. Luke made no pretense: at nine in the morning, he was drinking bourbon straight up. Alejandro chain-drank cold coffee. The party was over.

  The meeting lasted two hours, and at the end of it they knew nothing more than they had before. No one did. There was
no way to know. It all depended on the Adult Authority and the judge. No one could read their minds. Lucas was in danger of being revoked for instigating “unrest” in the prisons, agitating, and basically meddling in what the parole board and prison authorities felt was no longer his business. They had the right to revoke him for less, and there was no denying Luke’s agitating. Everyone knew of it, even the press. He had been less than discreet in the years he’d been out. His speeches, his book, his meetings, his role in the moratorium against prisons, his hand in prison labor strikes across the country. He had gambled his life on his beliefs, and now they’d have to see what the price was. Worse, under the California indeterminate sentence laws, once he was revoked, the Adult Authority could keep him for as long as they liked. The attorney’s “probably not more than two or three years” only added to their collective gloom. No one held out much hope. For once, not even Luke. And Kezia was silent.

  The lawyer left them shortly after eleven, and they agreed to meet at the courthouse at one-thirty. Until then, they were free.

  “Want to have lunch?” It was Alejandro’s suggestion.

  “Who can eat?” Kezia was having increasing trouble playing the game. She had never looked as pale, and suddenly she wanted to call Edward or Totie, even Hilary, or Whit. Someone … anyone … but someone she knew well. This was like waiting in a hospital corridor to find out if the patient would live … and what if … what if he didn’t … what if … oh God.

  “Come on, you guys, let’s go out” Luke had the situation in control, except for the almost imperceptible tremor of his hands.

  They had lunch at Trader Vic’s. It was nice, it was pretty, it was “terribly posh” as Luke said, and the food was probably excellent, but none of them noticed. It didn’t feel right. It was all so fancy, so overdone, so false, and such a goddamn strain to keep up the pretense of giving a damn where they ate. Why the Fairmont and Trader Vic’s? Why couldn’t they just eat hot dogs, or have a picnic, or go on living after today? Kezia felt a weight settle over her like a parachute dipped in cement. She wanted to go back to the hotel to lie down, to relax, to cry, to do something, anything but sit in this restaurant eating a dessert she couldn’t even taste. The conversation droned on; all three of them talked, saying nothing. By the time the coffee was served, they had sunk into silence. The only sound was of Luke, drumming the fingers of one hand softly on the table. Only Kezia heard; she felt the sound rippling through her like a triphammer pulse. She felt wired to the marrow of his bones, to his brain, to his heart. If they took him, why couldn’t they take them together?