The Best of Friends

by Susan Mallery

  The diamonds winked up at her, all sparkly and perfect. She would never own anything like it, probably never even see one like it again up close. Which was fine. Like with David, the price of the necklace was too high.

  She pulled open the door to the living room. Rebecca and David stood close together, obviously having a heated conversation. Jayne looked at the beautiful blonde standing next to him. Tall and lovely, the kind of woman who stopped traffic.

  Jayne knew everything about her. She knew her moods, what she found funny, what annoyed her. She’d seen Rebecca happy and sad and sick and exhausted. They’d traveled together, had endured the flu together. They’d shared hopes and dreams and clothes. They’d grown up together. Jayne had thought they would always be friends.

  She’d been wrong.

  She and Rebecca weren’t friends—they’d never been friends. Theirs was a relationship born of proximity and loneliness. Under ordinary circumstances, they never would have met. And if they met now, they would have nothing in common. They weren’t friends, and it had been Jayne’s mistake to assume they ever could be.

  They’d used each other. That wasn’t friendship. That wasn’t anything.

  “Jayne, wait,” David said coming up to her. “Please, don’t go. I don’t know what shit my sister has going on, but it has nothing to do with me. Don’t go.”

  He was so beautiful, she thought sadly. Everything a man should be. Not perfect, but perfect for her. She could have loved him forever. Maybe she would, but he would never know.

  She held out the necklace.

  “No.” He backed up, tucking his hands behind him. “I won’t take that back. I want you to have it. Dammit, Jayne, don’t do this. Don’t listen to her.”

  “She knows I’m telling the truth. Jayne, I care about you, but this is impossible.”

  David turned on his sister. “Shut the fuck up,” he yelled. “What are you doing here anyway? Why are you doing this?”

  Jayne didn’t know why Rebecca had turned on her. Jayne’s relationship with David had been amusing before. Something that could be used to annoy Elizabeth. Except Jayne had told the woman she was dating her son, and Elizabeth had panicked. Did she know about the diamond necklace? Had she talked to her son and realized that maybe this was more than a game?

  Jayne wanted that to be true, wanted a moment to hold the thought inside. But there was no point. Whatever David felt for her didn’t change the fact that he was indelibly connected to the rest of the Wordens.

  She couldn’t do it anymore. Not the drama, the hysterics, the assumptions. She just wanted normal. She dropped the necklace onto the coffee table.

  “Good-bye,” she said to both of them. She picked up her purse, then walked out.

  David came after her. He grabbed her arm and spun her to face him. “Don’t,” he pleaded. “Rebecca’s leaving. I want you to stay. Jayne, please.”

  “This isn’t about you,” she told him. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this anymore. I thought I could. I thought we had a chance. We don’t.”

  “I love you.”

  It was a perfect moment. If this were a Lifetime movie, Rebecca would burst out of the room, eyes filled with tears. She would apologize and admit she’d been wrong. She would tell them both that she wanted them to be happy. David would sweep Jayne up in his arms, and they would kiss.

  But this wasn’t a movie. It was her life, and she’d been avoiding reality long enough.

  She thought about telling him she loved him, too. That he was everything she wanted, but there was no point. So she simply turned her back and walked away. David was a proud man—he wouldn’t come after her a second time.

  And he didn’t. She made it to the elevator without hearing another word.

  Elizabeth hovered in the hallway, listening for the sound of Blaine’s arrival. Normally, she waited in her office or in the family room. Not that she was ever excited that he was home, but it did mean the rest of the evening could begin. Usually he ran late, meaning she had to usher him through getting changed for whatever event they had on the calendar.

  Tonight was a quiet evening. Just the two of them. For the best, she thought as she glanced at her watch again. They needed to talk, and interruptions wouldn’t make the conversation go any faster.

  Finally she heard the door to the garage open, then close. She moved into the kitchen and waited until Blaine had entered.

  “We have to talk,” she announced.

  “Hello to you, too,” he said.

  She flicked her wrist. “Yes, yes. Hello, I’m fine. I’m sure your day was excellent. Is that enough?”

  He put down his slim briefcase. “As always, your romantic declarations make me love you all the more.”

  She did her best not to glare. “Are you being funny? Is this humor?”

  “Apparently not.” He walked into the butler’s panty and opened the liquor cabinet. “Scotch?”

  “Yes, please. Then we can talk.”

  “About?”

  “David and Jayne. They’re together.”

  Blaine stepped back into the kitchen. “They’re going out?”

  “Yes.” She finally had his attention. Talk about a miracle. “Apparently it’s serious. They’re sleeping together, which today doesn’t mean anything. But they’re also involved. David seems quite taken with her. I can’t imagine why.”

  “Why not? She’s a bright young woman. Hardworking.”

  “Which is an excellent characteristic for a housekeeper, but not how I want my future daughter-in-law described.”

  “You’d rather she was lazy?”

  Elizabeth forced herself to breathe slowly. “Blaine, I swear, you look for ways to annoy me.”

  He retreated to the butler’s panty, then reappeared with two drinks. He handed her one. “I don’t plan. Sometimes the opportunity presents itself, and I succumb to temptation.”

  “Resist,” she snapped. “We have to talk about what to do. Jayne is nobody. There’s no family, no money, no connections.”

  Blaine sipped his drink. “David has enough for both of them.”

  “You can’t seriously expect me to believe you approve. If your son walked in right now and said he wanted to marry Jayne Scott, you’d be fine with it?”

  “He could do a lot worse.”

  “Yes, perhaps someone from the local prison population.”

  “You’re a snob.”

  “And you’re naïve. This is important. We don’t want him marrying a nobody. If we’re not careful, she’ll trap him, and we’ll all be stuck.”

  Blaine’s blue eyes darkened. “We wouldn’t want our son being tricked into marriage, would we?”

  Elizabeth stiffened. “If you’re going to take that tone with me, we’re not having this conversation.”

  Blaine picked up his briefcase and started out of the kitchen. “Then this might be an excellent evening after all.”

  * * *

  The reception was held at Worden’s Jewelry in Beverly Hills. Rebecca hadn’t really listened when Elizabeth had said something about a reception “launching” her as Rivalsa, but as she entered the normally quiet and elegant space, she was greeted by a tall, handsome man in a tux. He offered her a martini, “shaken, not stirred,” then guided her into a transformed store.

  There were white lights everywhere, competing in brilliance with a room filled with diamonds. The display cases held the usual beautiful pieces, along with hundreds of loose stones Rebecca assumed were fake. No one’s inventory was that impressive. Armed guards in tuxedos stood against the walls, watching everyone. Music from various James Bond movies played in the background, and several faux roulette wheels had been set up for the guests.

  On top of the display cases reclined scantily dressed young women wearing Rebecca’s designs. Beside each model was another armed guard. These looked beefy and quite capable of taking out anyone willing to risk stealing something shiny.

  Rebecca took it all in, then sipped her martini. She’d been reluctan
t to attend Elizabeth’s reception, but she had to admit, her mother had done a great job pulling it all together.

  She scanned the crowd. There were the usual collection of the very rich, a few Hollywood types, and the serious jewelry collectors. Now that word was out as to who Rivalsa really was, she’d been getting calls from people asking about custom pieces. Business had always been good—now it was excellent.

  She should have been thrilled, and she was. Sort of. The only minor annoyance was that David still wasn’t speaking to her. She’d left several messages, which he hadn’t returned, and she had even stopped by his office two days ago. He’d walked out on her.

  She also hadn’t seen Jayne, which was more upsetting than she would have thought. When she’d lived in Italy, she could go several days without talking to her friend, although they always kept in touch through e-mail. Now there wasn’t anything.

  Rebecca hadn’t made any calls there. She knew Jayne needed time to get over being angry. The truth was Jayne knew she wasn’t right for David. She would be the first one to admit it. However, it was possible that Rebecca’s crude assessment of the situation had been a little over the line. Accurate, but more hurtful than she would have liked.

  Still, Jayne knew she was in the wrong, so she could take the first step.

  “Ms. Worden.”

  Rebecca watched a heavyset Russian man approach. “I see you are as beautiful as your pieces.”

  “Thank you. Call me Rebecca.”

  “And I am Aleksei. I am buying that necklace.” He pointed to a woven chain with three large pink diamonds.

  “For your wife?”

  Aleksei smiled. “For my mistress. My wife doesn’t appreciate fine jewelry.”

  “Perhaps if you gave her more of an opportunity,” Rebecca murmured, then took a sip of her martini.

  “Perhaps,” he agreed, sounding amused. “I would like to commission matching earrings, also in pink diamonds. The larger stones, of course. As the necklace is eight hundred thousand U.S., the earrings will be close to that price, yes?”

  She thought about her diamond inventory. “I have two pink diamonds that are similar. They’re a perfect pair, three carats each. The earrings will be one-point-two million.”

  “I see you are as strong as you are beautiful.”

  “I could easily sell the stones to someone else.”

  “Very well, one-point-two million. How long will it take you to make them?”

  “About two weeks. If you’ll give your card to my brother, he’ll write up the order.”

  Aleksei nodded, then reached for her free hand. He kissed her knuckles, then excused himself.

  A man from China and his translator were next, followed by a representative from the Sultan of Brunei, asking about her inventory of yellow diamonds. The fawning attention made her feel better about pretty much everything. She replaced her empty glass with a full one and went searching for David.

  She found him finishing an order. When he’d shaken hands with both the businessman from China and his interpreter, she moved next to him.

  “Still not speaking to me?” she asked in a teasing voice. “You can’t stay mad at me forever.”

  “I’m not mad,” he said, barely looking at her. “I’m disappointed. There’s a difference.”

  Her good mood deflated like a punctured balloon. “Wait a minute. What did I do except tell the truth?”

  He slipped the order forms into a concealed drawer and locked it. “Because none of this could be your fault? Hide behind the truth, if it makes you feel better. We both know you were a complete bitch. Not a real surprise, you’ve always had the tendency, but your target was unexpected. I thought Jayne was your friend.”

  “She is. We’ve been friends for years. You know that.”

  “With friends like you, I can see why she’s moving away.”

  Rebecca stared at him. “Jayne isn’t moving because of me. She’s moving because of Mom.”

  “Keep telling yourself that. Maybe it will be true.”

  “No, I’m not the reason. Jayne is probably a little pissed right now, but her being sensitive doesn’t change facts. She’s not someone you can be with, David, and you know it. The truth is, you’re the one playing with her heart, not me. Leading her on, making her think she can win you.”

  “I’m not a prize to be won or lost,” he said, glaring at her. “Neither is she. We had a relationship, one you’ve done your best to ruin. I care about her, Rebecca. I’m in love with her.”

  She swallowed. “You’ve never said that about anyone before.” Her chest tightened. Love? He couldn’t love Jayne. He had to see that.

  “I’ve never been in love before.”

  “She’s totally wrong for you.”

  “Why? Because she’s not rich?”

  “Partially.” Partially, because if they had each other, they wouldn’t need her.

  “I’m rich enough for both of us.”

  “Fine,” she grumbled. “There’s more. She doesn’t have any connections. She wouldn’t fit in with your friends.”

  “She’d fit in fine with mine. You’re saying she wouldn’t fit in Elizabeth’s world of charity events and parties. She doesn’t know the right people. You think I give a damn about that? I don’t need her to introduce me to anyone. I have plenty of connections on my own. What I want is a woman I can respect. Someone who challenges me and sees me for who and what I am. I want someone to call me on my bullshit. Someone who makes me laugh. I want to be excited about growing old with her. Jayne is special. I would expect you to be telling me I don’t deserve her, but you’re not really her friend, are you? You’re just like Mom. Using Jayne because it’s convenient and makes you look good.”

  His words were a punch in the gut, but not as devastating as the contempt she saw in his eyes. “It’s not like that,” she began.

  “I expected it from Mom,” he said. “But not from you.”

  He walked away from her. There was something about the way he moved, as if he couldn’t wait to put some distance between them. As if she was someone he didn’t like anymore.

  Her eyes burned, but she refused to give in to tears. Not in public. She hurried to the restroom, wanting to check her reflection. She felt small and ugly and needed to know that none of that showed on the outside.

  After reassuring herself, she returned to the party, but she found she couldn’t stay. A few more people stopped her, wanting to talk about her work or to place orders, but their words seemed flat and false. The lights overhead were too bright, and the burning in her stomach seemed as if it would never go away.

  How could Jayne have let things get this far? She had to have known it would never work out, but she continued to see David, taking him from Rebecca, probably turning him against his own sister.

  The music was too loud, the crowd too large. The need for escape, for air, pressed in on her. She set her drink on the glass display counter, bumping it against the hip of one of the Rivalsa girls, as people had taken to calling them. The busty blonde rolled in Rebecca’s direction, stretching out on the glass.

  “Hey, you’re the designer,” she said, fingering the diamond bracelet around her wrist. “Great stuff.”

  “Thanks,” Rebecca mumbled as she headed for the door. She had to get out.

  She’d barely managed to push through the door when she bumped into a woman trying to enter. A woman Rebecca had never met but knew on sight.

  They stopped inches from each other. Staring. Rebecca’s sense of unease grew until she was afraid she was going to throw up.

  “Ariel,” she said, stepping away from the door, wishing she had her car parked in front so she could jump inside and drive away. She had to run, had to be anywhere but here.

  “Rebecca.”

  Nigel’s wife looked tall and elegant in a beaded designer gown. Ariel, a former model, had long auburn hair that tumbled to her waist, green eyes, and a mouth that had once been named the sexiest on three continents.

&nbs
p; Now those green eyes filled with tears, and that famous mouth trembled. “I came here to see you.”

  The last thing she wanted to hear, Rebecca thought, pressing a hand to her midsection. “I’m really busy now. I have to go.”

  “This will take just a second. It’s about Nigel.”

  Rebecca had already guessed that. There were only a handful of reasons a bride followed her new husband to a different country, and very few of them were good.

  Ariel straightened and squared her shoulders. “Is he still in love with you?”

  Pain joined the tears. Rebecca watched the other woman brace herself for the inevitable. It would take only a second to pay back Nigel for the crap he’d tried to pull. A matter of a word or two to shatter both their lives. Saying yes was the easiest thing in the world. God knows Nigel had earned it.

  She could tell Ariel about the blue diamond that Nigel had not only stolen but given to her. She could ruin them all and walk away without looking back.

  “You can say it,” Ariel told her. “I know something’s wrong, and you’re not the kind of woman men forget.”

  “True,” Rebecca said slowly.

  The need to hurt someone else was powerful. All that stopped her was the realization that if Nigel was free, he would come after her again. She would probably fall for his lines and then be stuck with him. He wasn’t anyone she could trust. He could never make her happy. Better to leave him where he was—safely out of reach.

  “He’s not in love with me. I don’t think he ever was. We had fun, but our relationship was never serious. He likes the connection with the family. Rubbing elbows with the rich and famous.”

  Ariel looked as if she desperately wanted to believe.

  Rebecca took pity on her. “You’re the one he married. Not me.”

  “Because you wouldn’t say yes.”

  “Does it matter? You have him now. Are you going to fight for him, or are you going to become some whiny, clingy doormat who begs for attention? Nigel always wants what he can’t have. Be that woman. You already know how—you wouldn’t be married to him if you didn’t.”