A Marriage of Convenience

by Doreen Owens Malek

  She shook her head blindly, her eyes filling with tears. "You told me to go back to school, you said you responded to me the way you had to the whores in Saigon," she sobbed.

  "What a memory. As it happens, I remember every word of that little speech, too. I've heard it drumming in my head ever since." He moved forward and took her arms, holding her fast when she struggled. "Don't you see that I had to say something bad enough to make you go?" he demanded roughly. "I had to get you to leave right then, or I would have begged you to stay."

  Sharon stared up at him, tears running down her face.

  "I don't believe you," she whispered. She wanted to believe him, desperately, madly, but the memory of that brutal rejection was too vivid in her mind.

  "It's the truth," he said huskily, catching a tear on the end of his thumb. "Baby, it's the truth. I had never wanted any woman the way I wanted you that night." He closed his eyes, then opened them. "And I never have again," he added. "Until now."

  She tried to say his name, but he bent his head and kissed her, stopping her mouth with his.

  This time there was no audience and no pretense that they were performing for one. His clothes were damp and so were hers, and the heat of their bodies blazed through them as they embraced. He dropped his hand to her blouse and unbuttoned it as his mouth moved down her neck and on to the cleft between her breasts, his tongue leaving a trail of fire on her rain cooled flesh. He tried to unhook her bra, but his fingers were shaking and clumsy, so he ripped it in frustration, making a sound of satisfaction low in his throat as his lips closed over a swollen nipple. Sharon gasped, then sighed, barely able to stand as he suckled one breast and then the other, binding her to him with one arm, as with his free hand he searched for the hem of her skirt. He found it and his rough palm trailed over her bare thigh. He lifted her suddenly, backing to the wall and forcing her to lock her legs around his hips. She felt him hard and ready against her, with only the thin barrier of their light summer cottons between them, and she whimpered restlessly, eager for more.

  They were so lost in each other that it was a while before they heard the pounding on the outer door. Tay finally raised his head and muttered, "What's that? Do you hear that?"

  "Someone's knocking," Sharon replied shakily.

  "In this weather?" He set her down gently and waited for her to arrange her clothes before he went through the hall, tucking in his own shirt, and opened the door.

  Carlo Perez, one of the hired hands, was standing on the porch.

  "Lightning," he shouted over the noise of the wind and rain. "Hit the main stable. It's on fire."

  Chapter 7

  Did you call the fire department?" Tay yelled to Carlo as he dashed through the door.

  "First thing."

  Tay disappeared, calling back to Sharon, "Stay here."

  Sharon ignored him and followed on his heels, trailing the two men at a safe distance. It wasn't difficult to stay behind them; they were running full out and she was hampered by a full skirt and heels. Hibiscus and jacaranda whipped against her legs, the shining leaves cold and wet, as she circled the house in the thinning rain.

  The roof of the stable was ablaze, spewing a funnel of thick smoke. But as the rain tailed off the flames increased, and it was clear that the storm wouldn't last long enough to put out the fire.

  As Sharon got closer to the stable she could hear the fearful noise the horses were making; they could smell the smoke even though they couldn't see the fire spreading from the roof.

  Tay and Carlo were pulling open the double wooden doors, and as she watched they ran to and fro, leading the stamping, frightened animals from the barn. Melody was the last to emerge, and Sharon could see that she was veering out of control, bucking wildly, her eyes rolling with terror. Tay was dragging on the tether, trying to handle her. He finally gave up and leaped onto her, riding bareback, digging in his heels and urging her forward with his head bent low, his mouth almost against the horse's ear. She responded and Tay rode her out , letting her jump a couple of fences until she wound down, trotting to a halt almost at Sharon's feet.

  "I thought I told you to stay in the house," Tay said to her as he tied the horse to a tree. They could hear fire engines screaming in the distance, coming closer.

  "I was worried, I wanted to see what happened."

  Tay took her by the shoulders and looked down into her eyes. "Sharon, read my lips. I know you've made up your mind never to listen to a thing I say, but this is important. I don't want you to get hurt. This fire could spread. Now go back to the house and stay there. If you want to help make coffee for the firemen. They're going to need it when they're through with this."

  Sharon obeyed reluctantly and then compromised by standing on the back terrace to watch while the two engines attacked the fire with powerful streams of water. The rain had stopped, but droplets clung to all the plants and shrubs, bejeweling the foliage. A crescent moon emerged to hang over the landscape, veiled by smoke at first but becoming more visible as the fire subsided. The crews worked steadily to subdue the blaze, and after a few minutes Sharon went inside to make the coffee.

  It was almost an hour before the men started coming to the house for refreshments. They kept her busy dispensing drinks in the Styrofoam cups Rosa stocked, until only one

  man remained behind while his colleagues returned to their truck.

  Sharon glanced at him, lounging in the kitchen in his soot-stained clothes. She looked at the clock. It was after one in the morning.

  "Is there something else I can get for you?" Sharon asked the fireman.

  He shook his head, taking a last sip of his coffee. "So you're the new missus, huh?" he said.

  "That's right," Sharon replied, wondering how many times she was going to have this conversation.

  "We heard down at the firehouse that Tay got married. None of us could believe it,"

  Sharon smiled vaguely, waiting for him to get on with the rest of it.

  "Tay and I used to hoist a few together, back in his heavy drinking days," the fireman said. "He said he was burned once real bad, years ago, and I really thought that would put him off women forever."

  "Is that right?" Sharon said, listening closely now.

  The fireman seemed to realize that he might be telling tales out of school and said, "Hey, maybe this is classified stuff and I should shut up. I'm Rob Harris, by the way."

  Sharon shook his extended hand. "Don't be silly, Rob. I'm aware of my husband's checkered past."

  "Oh, then you know that girl Sharon really blew him out of the water."

  Rob was looking for a place to put his empty cup, or he would have noticed the stunned expression on Sharon's face. She recovered and turned away from him, saying quietly, "I heard something about it. What did he tell you?"

  Rob shrugged. "Not much. Enough to let me know he couldn't forget her. He was drunk that night and never mentioned her again. He just said that she was younger, a kid really, and came into his life at a bad time. He let her go and he was always sorry about it."

  "Why didn't he go after her later?" Sharon asked softly.

  "Like I said, he only talked about it the one time. Maybe she married somebody else or something."

  "She didn't," Sharon said.

  Rob looked at her.

  "I'm Sharon."

  A huge grin split his grimy face. "You been having me on, huh?"

  “A little," she admitted.

  "Well, I'm sure glad you guys worked it out," Rob said. "I can't wait to go and talk to old Tay—"

  "Uh, Rob, don't say anything to him, please," Sharon said, interrupting with her most potent smile. “We wouldn't want to embarrass him or anything. He might feel funny if he knew we were discussing him behind his back."

  "Okay," Rob said agreeably. "Anything for a beautiful lady." He looked out the window ruefully. "I'd better go. They're going to be packing up the hoses."

  "It was nice meeting you," Sharon said to him.

  "Same here. Good n
ight, Sharon." He winked.

  "Good night."

  Sharon cleaned up the kitchen mechanically after he left, almost in a daze. She would never have believed that some casual remarks from a semi stranger could provoke such a reaction within her, but she felt that everything had changed.

  Tay had wanted her and regretted letting her go. She had guessed it, hoped it, wondered about it during recent weeks, but now she was sure. Tay would have no reason to lie to his drinking buddy, especially while under the influence. Liquor had loosened Tay's tongue, causing the buried truth to emerge.

  About half an hour later Sharon heard the fire trucks leaving, and shortly after that Tay came back to the house.

  He was as filthy as the firemen, his hair damp, his face beaded with sweat.

  "Fire's out," he announced. "We'll need a new roof, but we saved the stable. The horses are bedded down in the other barns."

  "Tay, sit right here," Sharon said firmly. "You've been overdoing it. You just had that fight and your ribs aren't healed."

  He sat. "I'm all right," he said wearily, closing his eyes.

  "I can see that," she replied dryly. She filled a cup with the last of the black coffee and put it in front of him.

  "Drink that," she said.

  He raised the mug obediently to his lips and grimaced at its bitterness.

  "It's old," Sharon explained. "I'll make some fresh."

  He shook his head. "Don't bother. I'm just going to turn in, I think." He stood, then sat down again hard, looking puzzled.

  "What is it?'' Sharon asked.

  "Little tired, I guess," Tay mumbled, rubbing his forehead.

  "I'll bet you are," Sharon said grimly. But in a way she was glad for his distraction; she was feeling very nervous around him after her conversation with Rob Harris, but Tay was too exhausted to notice.

  "I'll turn down your bed for you," Sharon said. "Just wait here until I come back."

  He didn't reply, but he also didn't look as though he was going to move. Sharon hurried down the hall and entered his sparsely decorated room. She went over to his bed, pulled the plaid spread down, folded it and placed it at the foot. There was a light summer blanket covering a muslin sheet and she turned them down invitingly.

  She was gone no more than two minutes, but by the time she got back to the kitchen Tay was asleep in the chair.

  She shook his shoulder gently. His eyelids lifted and he stared at her groggily.

  "Time for bed," she said.

  He nodded and stood, and she walked with him down the hall. He sat on the edge of the bed with his hands between his knees as she tugged off his shoes.

  "You're making a habit of this," he said.

  "What?"

  "Putting me to bed."

  "Well, if you'd take better care of yourself I wouldn't have to do it all the time."

  "I had to fight the fire," he mumbled.

  "I thought that's what the firemen were supposed to do," Sharon replied, unbuttoning his shirt.

  "They did a great job, saved the stable," he said, yawning and shrugging out of the sleeves.

  "I met some of them at the house. I talked to your old friend Rob Harris.''

  Tay smiled slightly. "How is Rob? I haven't seen him in a while."

  "He's fine. He was surprised to hear you were married."

  "No more surprised than we were, huh?" Tay said, looking at her candidly.

  Sharon put a forefinger against his shoulder and pushed. He fell back against the pillows, grabbing for her wrist.

  She eluded him, and as he sat up again she slipped quickly through the door.

  "Go to sleep," she said sternly, shutting off the light and pulling the door closed behind her. She listened for a few moments to see if he would come after her, but within seconds his breathing was deep and even.

  Sharon went back to the kitchen.

  She couldn't sleep for the rest of the night. She was sitting at the kitchen table, still wearing the clothes she had donned for the zoning meeting, when Rosa walked through the door at eight o'clock in the morning.

  "I heard about the excitement here last night," she said, putting her purse on the counter. "I was going to come over but then the report came that the fire was under control, so I figured I could wait until morning." She examined Sharon. "Have you got an early appointment?"

  “I never went to bed."

  “Why not? Fire engines kept you awake?''

  Sharon shook her head. “No, they were gone by one- thirty. But I did have a conversation with one of the firemen that gave me a lot to think about last night."

  "Which one?"

  “Rob Harris. Slim. Sandy hair."

  Rosa nodded. "I know him. Pilar once had a crush on his brother. But that's not exactly an exclusive club. Pilar once had a crush on everybody's brother. What did Rob say?"

  “He said he used to go drinking with Tay.''

  “Another less-than-exclusive club," Rosa commented acerbically, folding her arms.

  Sharon ignored that and went on. "Apparently one time when they were out together, Tay got drunk and started talking about a girl from his past."

  "Uh-huh," Rosa said, rattling pans.

  “Tay said he could never forget this girl and always regretted letting her go."

  “Let me guess," Rosa said, assuming an air of concentration. "The girl was you."

  Sharon stared at her. "How did you know?"

  "I'm psychic," Rosa said sarcastically. She dropped a pot into the sink and turned to confront Sharon. "You know, I don't care how many degrees you have, you are the stupidest woman I ever met."

  Sharon's mouth fell open with shock.

  "You needed Rob Harris to tell you that? You couldn't figure it out for yourself?"

  "Rosa," Sharon protested.

  Rosa was silent.

  "I told you what happened back then, I told you what Tay said to me..."

  Rosa held up a hand to forestall any further commentary. "I don't want to hear that. He didn't mean it when he said it, and it doesn't matter anymore anyway. All I have to say is that if you blow it again this time, you'll have no one to blame but yourself." She picked up the pot, which she had just dried, shoved it into a cabinet and marched out of the room.

  Well, Sharon thought, stunned by Rosa's outburst. What does she expect me to do? Throw myself at the man's feet? Feeling slightly annoyed with Rosa's attitude and fuzzy with her own lack of sleep, she went down to her room to shower and dress.

  When she emerged twenty minutes later Rosa was dusting furiously, still in high dudgeon, and the door to Tay's room was ajar. Sharon pushed it inward, suspecting that the housekeeper had checked on him, and Sharon decided to do the same.

  He was lying on his back, his lips slightly parted, the surgical tape on his ribs contrasting with his tanned skin. Sharon was reminded of the night she found him sleeping in the bunkhouse, Endymion slumbering on his hillside, waiting for Diana to pass in her chariot of moonlight. He was older now but still much the same, still beautiful, still the most desirable man she had ever met. Was Rosa right? Sharon wondered, tucking the sheet more closely about his waist. Did she have their fate in her hands at last? She stood looking at him for a moment more and then tiptoed out of the room.

  "I have some shopping to do in Glendora," Sharon said to Rosa as she passed.

  Rosa nodded, not looking at her.

  Sharon took the car and spent a couple of hours in the stores, buying some personal items, and returned just after noon. She came into the kitchen and called, "Anybody home?"

  Rosa entered from the hall, looking worried.

  "Is Tay okay?" Sharon said.

  Rosa looked more worried.

  "What is it? Is he ill?"

  "He's not here," Rosa said.

  "Well, where is he?"

  "In jail," Rosa replied, shrugging helplessly.

  "In jail!" Sharon said incredulously. "He's sleeping when I leave, I'm gone for two hours, and when I come back he's in jail? What on earth
happened?"

  "I told him to wait for you, but he wouldn't."

  "Wait for me to do what?" Sharon asked, trying to absorb it.

  "The insurance adjuster came right after you left," Rosa explained. "Tay got up and went out to the stable with him. The insurance man looked at the stable roof and said the company would only pay ten thousand to replace it. Well, that's a new roof, Tay had it put on a year and a half ago for fifteen. They got into quite a dispute about it and Tay wound up punching him."

  Sharon rubbed her forehead. "Let me understand this. Tay wanted five thousand more than the company man said the roof was worth, so Tay handled the argument by decking the guy?"

  "That's about it," Rosa said uncomfortably.

  "Why am I surprised?" Sharon murmured to herself, shaking her head wearily.

  "The insurance man was furious, he marched straight in here and called the police," Rosa said. "He's charging Tay with assault. The cops came and took Tay away in a squad car. He's in the municipal lockup right now.

  “Oh, God, I can't stand this," Sharon said. "What's his bail?"

  "It wasn't set yet when I called."

  Sharon sighed. "I'll go down there and try to straighten this out. Rosa, I'm sorry you had to be here for it."

  "Don't worry about me, I was just afraid somebody was going to get hurt. I wish Tay would think before he reacted so physically."

  "Amen," Sharon murmured. She glanced at her watch. "I'll have to stop off at the bank and get some money. I doubt if the bail will be more than five hundred for simple assault, but I'll get some extra money just in case."

  "There was nothing simple about it," Rosa said darkly.

  "The jail is right behind the municipal building, isn't it?" Sharon said, fishing around in her bag for her wallet, which contained her bar association card.

  Rosa nodded. "Do you want me to come with you?"

  Sharon shook her head. "I can handle it. I'll call you if there's any problem."

  Sharon hurried out to the car and drove back to town, pulling into the lot of the municipal building and walking around to the jail. A uniformed clerk looked up desultorily as she entered through the double glass doors.