by Susan Tracy
Her opportunity presented itself that evening.
Jason came to the dinner table straight from the shower, his thick black hair slightly damp and slicked back. He had apparently shaved as well, because when Leigh leaned over to place a bowl of mixed green salad on the table in front of him, she caught a whiff of tangy shaving lotion. A soft, short-sleeved shirt of navy blue stretched across his wide shoulders, the top few buttons undone to reveal the strong column of his throat.
He seemed to be in a better mood than usual and even complimented Leigh on the food. "This is delicious," he told her, after biting into a thick slice of the mushroom quiche that she had made that afternoon. "I can't remember you cooking before. Did Flora teach you?"
Before answering, Leigh reached over to help Jody with a brimming glass of milk, catching it just before the white liquid spilled over the sides.
"No, Flora didn't like me messing about in her kitchen. I taught myself after I went to New York. I didn't want to eat all my meals in restaurants, even if I could have afforded it, so I bought a cookbook and learned by the trial and error method." Her soft mouth lifted at the corners. "Mostly error."
Leigh told him that Betty Pender had come by.
"That was neighborly," he commented. "What did you think of her?"
"I liked her very much, Jason. She's nice. But…" Leigh's fork toyed with a piece of quiche.
"But what?"
"Well, I was a little uncomfortable with her. I don't like pretending to be something I'm not, and besides that, I wasn't sure I was supposed to be meeting the neighbors like any ordinary wife. Won't it be embarrassing for you when I leave in a few months?"
Jason's lips tightened at her words and she could tell that he was angry.
"That's not your concern, is it?" he answered her coldly and transferred his attention back to his plate.
They ate in silence after that, but Jason's good humor seemed to return by the end of the meal, helped by Jody's innocent jabbering. Considering it as good a time as any, Leigh broached her idea of painting the living room.
Impassively he heard her out, his eyes on her delicate, expressive features.
"It's all right with me as long as you don't neglect Jody. She's why you're here, not to interior decorate."
Leigh was not at all deflated by his dampening words. "When can I buy the paint?" she asked eagerly.
Jason said that he would take her and Jody to Harrellsville with him the next day.
"But I have work to do, so be ready to leave when I am," he warned before turning to ask Jody about the intriguing paste-picture hanging on the kitchen wall.
Determined not to keep Jason waiting, Leigh was up and about early the next morning. She dressed Jody in a pretty pink cotton frock and gave her a picture book to look at while she examined her own wardrobe. Some choice, she thought, surveying the two dresses hanging in the closet. The black dress was much too formal for a morning's shopping, so it would have to be the green again. Sighing, Leigh took it off the hanger and slipped it over her head. The dress was plain, but well cut and the soft jersey fabric clung attractively to her slender figure. She touched her mouth with pale pink lipstick, brushed her hair until it was smooth and shining and turned to see if Jody was ready for breakfast.
The little girl was excited and happy at the prospect of an outing, and she asked Leigh if she might be allowed to buy something for herself.
"Of course, darling," Leigh assured her with a wide smile. "Oh, wait." She picked up her handbag and rummaged around inside it for some coins. These she put into Jody's own tiny purse of yellow quilted cotton and pulled the drawstrings tight before hooking it onto the child's arm.
Jody chattered all the way into town, asking Jason a thousand questions and speculating about what she would purchase. The big, luxurious car ate up the miles and before much time had passed they were there.
Harrellsville was not a city like Raleigh, but rather a large town. Jason dropped Leigh and Jody off at a hardware store and gave them instructions on how to walk to his office when they had finished their shopping.
Leigh wasn't sure what kind of paint to buy, but a clerk helped her. Accustomed now to New Yorkers' rapid speech, Leigh liked the man's slow drawl and his long pauses between phrases, as if he were thinking carefully about each word before he uttered it.
After selecting three gallons of cream-colored paint, a brush and roller, some sandpaper and a can of turpentine, Leigh asked the clerk if she might leave her purchases there until she could return later with the car. He smilingly assured her she could, so she extricated Jody from the stack of folders she had been playing with, straightened them into a neat pile once more, and off they went.
A few yards down the street, they came to a drugstore, and knowing that Jody was anxious to spend her nickles and dimes, Leigh ushered her inside. There Jody found a whole shelf full of items in her price range. With careful deliberation, she chose a tiny rubber baby doll in a wicker carriage, a string of orange plastic beads and a grape lollipop. Leigh, in order to be prepared for rainy days, bought some crayons, coloring books and water paints after she had helped Jody pay for her purchases.
According to Jason's directions, his building was several blocks away, down streets, Leigh found, that had character, where the old rubbed elbows with the new. She especially liked the red brick Victorian buildings they passed, with their elaborate false fronts that made them seem taller than they actually were.
Jody got tired before they reached their destination, so Leigh transferred the two small parcels to one hand and swung the child up on her hip until they reached a small park. There they bought lemonade and a bag of peanuts from a vendor and sat on an empty park bench to rest and feed the pigeons that hovered nearby. They didn't linger long, however, because Jason had made it plain that he was busy.
The address to which he had directed them proved to be an imposing modern structure of glass and brick that blended in well with its surroundings. Letters cut into the stone above the entryway proclaimed it to be the Randall Building. Leigh was slightly shocked. She had had no idea that Jason owned an entire building.
His office was on the top floor, the reception area a wide expanse of champagne-colored carpeting that stretched to a wall of glass. Somewhat intimidated by the grandeur, Jody crept behind Leigh while retaining a tight hold on her hand.
"May I help you?" inquired a cool voice.
A woman of exceptional beauty sat behind the desk, her jet black hair pulled severely back to reveal perfect features in a creamy magnolia complexion.
Leigh's hand went up to smooth her own hair, and then to brush at her dress. She knew she was rumpled from carrying Jody about.
"I'd like to see Mr. Randall, please."
The woman nodded and lifted a perfectly arched brow. "Did you have an appointment?"
"No, er…" Before Leigh could explain, the woman spotted Jody, who was peering around from behind Leigh.
"Why Jody, darling," she said, rising from her chair. The cool tones became a shade warmer. "What are you doing here?"
Suddenly the woman was looking directly at Leigh, her blue eyes narrowing. "You must be the new Mrs. Randall." She extended her hand. "I'm Paula Knight, Jason's secretary."
Leigh shook hands, painfully conscious of her own dishevelment under the scrutiny of this perfectly groomed woman.
"I'll tell Jason you're here. He's been overloaded this morning, so it may be a few minutes. Why don't you and Jody wait over there." She directed them to a grouping of black leather chairs at the side of the room and disappeared through heavy double doors.
Before Jody had time to bounce more than twice on the soft leather seat, the woman was back.
"Jason will be out as soon as he finishes a telephone call. In the meantime, may I get you some coffee?" she offered politely.
At Leigh's refusal, she hesitated a moment and then gracefully leaned against the arm of one of the chairs, carefully arranging the folds of her deep pink skirt.
<
br /> "May I offer my, ah, congratulations, Mrs. Randall," she said in a careful way that had Leigh wondering if her slight breach of good manners had been deliberate, for she had congratulated Leigh rather than extending her good wishes.
"The wedding was rather sudden, wasn't it?"
Leigh took a deep breath. "No," she answered calmly. "Jason and I have known each other for quite some time."
"I see." Paula Knight was studying Leigh closely, assessing the direct look in her clear gray eyes, the sweet mouth, the seeming fragility of her slender figure.
"I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long," said Jason in a perfunctory, polite voice as he entered the room. He looked unfamiliarly formal in his dark, pinstriped suit.
Before Leigh could answer him, Paula had risen and placed a beautifully manicured hand on his arm.
"Did you get everything arranged with McCurdy?"
He nodded briefly and once again directed his attention to Leigh and Jody.
"How would you two like me to take you out to lunch?" he asked.
Once again Paula intervened. "Jason, you have an appointment to see Mr. Stone at one o'clock," she dutifully pointed out.
"Call Howard and ask him if he can come at four instead. He won't mind. If there's a problem, put it off until tomorrow." Jason sounded irritated.
Her expression hardening slightly, Paula walked over to her desk and picked up the phone.
After Leigh and Jody had freshened up in the bathroom, they left the office for the hardware store to retrieve Leigh's packages. Then Jason headed the car toward the outskirts of town.
"We're going to one of my favorite spots," he told Leigh.
Before long he turned into a parking lot opposite a rambling wooden building that shone pristine white in the sunshine. A sign hanging from a post designated it The Coach and Four.
The building was obviously old, as was the tall boxwood hedge that surrounded it. Aware of Leigh's interested gaze, Jason related that in the eighteenth century it had been an inn, a stopover for tobacco planters on their way from their backcountry estates to the market in Raleigh.
"Local legend maintains that before and during the Revolutionary War it was a hotbed of rebel spies. Some famous battles were fought relatively near here, you know, the Battles of Alamance and Guilford Courthouse."
He got out of the car and walked with an easy stride around it to open the door for Leigh and Jody. Taking Leigh's arm in a firm grip and catching Jody by the hand, he guided them into the building.
"What do you think of it?"
"It's charming." Leigh looked around in wonder. She might have been transported back in time to the eighteenth century. Jason had drawn her into a room that had been used during coaching days as a parlor. The furniture grouped around the cavernous fireplace, he told her, was a replica of that used in colonial times. The gracefully curved sofa and chairs and delicate mahogany tables had been imported from Europe by the wealthy planters.
Across the hall, the public tavern had cruder furnishings, rough homemade benches and trestle tables.
"Don't worry," Jason told Leigh as he escorted them to the large dining room down a narrow hall, "the food is twentieth century."
Despite Jason's words, Leigh noticed as she studied the menu that some attempts had been made to offer colonial fare. With mischief brightening her eyes, she told Jason she thought he should try the jugged hare and Indian pudding.
"No way. I'm a steak and potatoes man. But you go ahead. Do you know what Indian pudding is, by the way?" Assured that she did not, he told her that it was a mixture of corn meal and molasses.
In the end, Leigh decided to have a steak, too.
When Jason gave their order to the long-gowned, mob-capped waitress, he added a bottle of wine, saying that it was not every day he could dine with two such lovely ladies.
Leigh was just dipping into her sweet potato pie, a concession to the colonial atmosphere, when Jason seemed to notice her dress for the first time. It was a warm spring day and the restaurant was not air-conditioned, conditions which had led Leigh unthinkingly to push up the long sleeves of her jersey dress.
"Isn't that dress too heavy for a day like this?" Jason was frowning at her.
Leigh put down her fork. "Yes, it probably is."
"Then why the devil are you wearing it?"
"Because it's all I have," she answered sweetly. "When I packed to come to Raleigh, I brought only a few things with me since I mistakenly thought I'd be there for just a few days. That was until you came into the picture, of course," she added tartly.
"Why didn't you say something?" Jason's scowl was bringing his black eyebrows together in a fierce line.
Holding on to her temper, Leigh answered, "I've been managing quite well at the cottage, and I intended to pick up a few things at the first opportunity." How like the arrogant Jason to bark at her like this over something that was none of his business anyway!
He shoved back his chair and picked up the check lying on the table.
"Come on. We're going shopping."
Chapter Five
With single-minded determination, Jason propelled Leigh through the doors of an exclusive-looking boutique, Jody trotting along between them.
In an effort to avoid what she knew would be a harrowing experience of shopping with Jason looking on, Leigh sought a way out.
"It's time for Jody's nap," she protested, pulling her arm out of his ironlike grip. "Couldn't we put this off until I can come into town at a more convenient time. There's really no rush."
"It isn't going to hurt Jody to miss one nap. You can just put her to bed early tonight," was the inexorable reply.
"All right, then." Leigh summoned a bright smile. "I'll pick up a few things and then Jody and I can walk along to your office. There's absolutely no need for you to wait. You'll be bored. Besides, I know how busy you are," she prodded sweetly.
"Who says I'll be bored?"
With great charm, Jason smiled at the tall, gray-haired woman who stood hovering at his elbow and introduced her to Leigh.
"Take your time, Leigh. Jody and I will wait over here."
Leigh turned to the discreet displays of dresses, but watched out of the corner of her eye as Jason and Jody sat down on fragile-looking Louis XIV chairs, obviously there for just such a purpose. Jody, who considered that she had waited long enough, eagerly dived into the bag clutched in her hand, pulled out the tiny doll and carriage, and settled down contentedly to play.
Leigh selected a pretty pastel cotton dress, several skirts with tops to match and a lightweight pair of slacks. As an afterthought, she added a pair of shorts. It could get fairly hot here in the spring, Leigh remembered, and she might as well be prepared.
The helpful clerk showed her into a good-sized dressing room equipped with a floor-to-ceiling mirror, and Leigh quickly tried on the things she had selected, not wanting to waste too much of Jason's time. She was just tying the belt of a denim wrap skirt around her slender waist when the clerk appeared, carrying two long dresses over her arm.
"Mr. Randall sent these," she said in an approving voice. "He felt they would suit you."
The woman carefully hung the dresses up, smoothing them out as she did so. "Mr. Randall asked if you would please come out when you have them on so that he can see how they look on you," she said as she turned to go.
Leigh was fuming. Model these dresses, indeed. Just what was Jason up to? He didn't care what she wore.
She had to admit, however, that the gowns were beautiful. She tried on the first one. Of the finest silk, it was a pure, frosty white, a color that interacted with Leigh's silver hair to create a dazzling effect. Leigh blinked at herself in the mirror as the soft silk caressed her skin. She had never thought to wear this color. In fact, she wore white only occasionally, and then a more creamy, eggshell color. The gown's softly gathered bodice had a halter neckline that dipped low in the back, almost to the tight waist, and an A-line skirt that fell in graceful folds to her f
eet.
Jason has good taste, I'll give him that, Leigh told herself as she walked across for his inspection. She stopped in front of him, and not even her professional model's detachment helped to quell her nervousness.
He observed her closely, his expression bland.
"You look more like an ice maiden than ever," was his only comment.
Leigh fingered the delicate fabric. "Jason, this is a gorgeous gown, but I can't really see that I would have an opportunity to wear it," she said hesitantly, not wanting him to think she did not like his choice.
"You never can tell. Be sure to pick out anything you need to go with it—shoes, whatever." His words were an order.
As Leigh turned to go, he caught her arm and leaned forward. "I'm going to miss those tight jeans of yours," he whispered.
Embarrassed, Leigh pulled away and hurried back to the safety of the dressing room.
She put on the other gown, a cobwebby black lace affair with a peach satin underslip, and returned to the shop to find Jason wandering restlessly around a rack of swimwear. When he caught sight of Leigh in the sophisticated dress, he gave her the full blast of his piercing stare.
He nodded carelessly and handed her the wisps of material he had in his hand. "Try that on for me," he directed.
When Leigh held the scraps up by the strings attached to them, they took the shape of a bikini.
"Now, look here, Jason," she began, "I might agree to parade around in front of you in those dresses, but you can think again if you expect me to model this." She shook the offending objects at him.
"Just be a good girl, Leigh, and do as you're told."
She gasped at the patronizing words as the shimmer in her eyes fueled into a blaze.
"No. I do not need a swimsuit," she said firmly. If the saleswoman had not been standing a few feet away, she would take a punch at his arrogant face, Leigh told herself heatedly.
Jason was amused. "Then what do you plan to wear when the pool is finished, as it soon will be? I don't imagine that anything will keep Jody out of the water and it's your job to look after her."
