‘No. I’m afraid I haven’t,’ Alex replied. ‘I… I’m not very familiar with classical musicians.’
‘Oh.’ There seemed to Alex to be a wealth of meaning in that one short word, and her new-found confidence ebbed quickly away.
‘Justin told us you play the guitar and sing yourself,’ John de Wilde put in.
‘Only for my own enjoyment,’ Alex hurriedly informed them. ‘I play mainly folk songs and ballads.’
‘Alex sings, or should I say, sang regularly at the Folk Centre in Brisbane,’ added Justin.
‘Did you do that for your living?’ asked Grace, her tone making Alex feel like a dance hall girl.
‘Oh, no,’ she said quickly. ‘I’ve been studying at the Uni.’
‘I see.’
Alex shrank inside herself. Whatever Justin’s mother saw wasn’t a favourable picture, if her expression was any indication of her thoughts.
‘I keep teasing Alex that she’s now going to be studying full-time,’ Justin laughed into the heavy atmosphere. ‘She’ll be studying looking after me.’
His father laughed with him. ‘That will be a full-time job, Alex, if I know Justin! You’ll have your work cut out for you. Still, it’s a refreshing change to see a young woman who’s content to take on the mammoth task of being a good wife and mother.’
‘Only a wife for the time being.’ Justin smiled as Alex flushed. ‘I want her all to myself for a while.’ He squeezed Alex’s hand.
‘And here I’d set my heart on being a grandfather quite soon,’ chuckled Justin’s father.
‘Well, you could always talk to Ben,’ suggested Justin, his eyes twinkling.
‘Ben’s too busy,’ said his father. ‘No. My hopes rest with you and Alex.’
‘Really, John,’ Grace broke in, ‘it’s hardly our business. And as Justin said, they are only recently married.’
‘We had Justin within the year,’ reminded her husband, not daunted by his wife’s reproving look.
‘Yes, well, things were different then.’ She lifted the coffee pot. ‘More coffee, Justin?’
The following few weeks they stayed with Justin’s parents, and while Justin and his father were there Alex found it bearable. However, they were both away for most of the day. Justin had to recommence rehearsals and commuted to the city each day with his father. This left Alex with Grace, and for Alex the days were long and strained.
She found it almost impossible to talk to Justin’s mother without feeling like a gauche schoolgirl. The older woman seemed indifferent to her daughter-in-law as Alex was unable to discuss Grace’s pet subject, classical music, in any depth. In fact, neither seemed to be able to relax with the other.
When they did talk Alex began to grow aware of the number of times Margot Donald’s name came into the conversation, and Alex became increasingly curious about her. However, it wasn’t until she moved with Justin to his apartment in the city that she actually met Margot.
Two weeks after their arrival in Sydney Justin’s brother came home, and to a degree he was Alex’s salvation. Ben was the one person Alex could talk to without restraint. She could relax completely with Ben, and be herself. They always seemed to laugh together, a fact which appeared to irritate Grace de Wilde even more.
When Justin flew to New Zealand he decided that the trip of hectic engagements was best done alone, and as Alex faced the ten days without him with horror, Ben turned up to take her sightseeing. Alex could barely hide her relief.
They left the house early in the mornings like two children on a promised outing and returned late at night tired and happy. In fact they were out the afternoon Justin arrived back in Sydney. He had managed to catch an earlier flight and rang from the airport for Alex to meet him and stay in town for dinner. Finding Alex out, Justin decided to stay at his apartment and return home the next day as planned.
Alex and Ben had dined out themselves and a bottle of wine had relaxed Alex to the point where she began to giggle when Ben had trouble inserting his key in the lock. The door opened and Grace de Wilde faced them, her expression relegating them both to wayward children. One more black mark, Alex tallied up.
Then when Ben went off to film on location in Adelaide Alex’s days fell back into the strained co-existence she shared with her mother-in-law until Justin arrived home one night to find Alex pale and drawn, her eyes red with crying, and suggested she come up to the apartment where they could stay for a week or so to give her a change of scene.
Although he would be busy with rehearsals, Alex jumped at the chance. Anything to relieve the yawning emptiness of the days stretching ahead without him. At least they could have the nights together and Alex would have the opportunity to cook for him. At his parents’ home Grace rarely allowed Alex to do anything. Once she had made their bed and tidied their room there was very little left for her to do but wait for Justin’s return for dinner.
Their first night at the small apartment Alex spent all afternoon preparing their dinner. She worked happily, singing to herself, anticipating the evening ahead. By the time Justin arrived home she had the small dining room table nicely set, candles glowing, and their favourite wine chilled in an ice bucket. He smiled at the table and as he slipped out of his jacket his eyes moved over her.
‘Mmm.’ He sighed, his arms pulling her to him. ‘I feel better already. Have I got time for a shower?’
Alex slid her arms about him and nodded, kissing the firm curve of his jaw line. ‘It’s so good to have you to myself,’ she whispered.
‘You realise, Mrs de Wilde, that you’re going to have to take the consequences of all this romance,’ he murmured against her ear.
‘I hope that’s a promise, Mr de Wilde,’ Alex laughed softly, and his arms tightened. His kiss arched Alex against him and he groaned and held her away from him. ‘Alex, you’re a witch! Much more of that and your dinner will be absolutely ruined!’ He released her reluctantly and disappeared into the bedroom.
Their meal was a huge success and they slipped back into the togetherness they had shared in the first weeks of their marriage. By the time they retired to the living-room with their coffee, the lights low, soft music adding to the mood, a glow of excitement had caught Alex in its web, righting her world again, wiping out the past weeks. Justin drew her on to his knee, kissing the softness of her throat.
‘It’s wonderful being by ourselves again,’ Alex murmured, her finger tracing the strong line of his jaw and settling on his lips.
He kissed her finger gently and then her lips.
The spicy odour of his aftershave lotion titillated her nostrils and she sighed rapturously. ‘Justin, couldn’t we move in here?’ she asked. ‘I mean, during the week. We could still visit your parents quite often.’
‘Alex, it’s not that I want us to stay with my parents, but at the moment, you know I’m away a lot and you’d be here alone.’ Justin’s lips teased her earlobes.
‘I wouldn’t mind that. I just want to be alone with you. I love cooking and I want to cook for you, for there to be just us when you come home. Oh, Justin, I want to be your wife, not a, well, not just someone who sits around waiting, trying to fit in with your mother.’ Alex’s voice caught on a sob. ‘She… She doesn’t think I’m good enough for you.’
‘That’s nonsense. Alex, you’re my wife,’ he said huskily, ‘and that’s the way I want it. Now, stop all this talking and kiss me like a dutiful little wife.’ He chuckled, kissing her until she was breathless. His kisses deepened, his fingers twined in the silky softness of her hair, washing away all desire for talk.
The doorbell chimed loudly, gradually breaking into the intimacy of their embrace.
Alex raised her head. ‘Someone’s at the door,’ she heard herself whisper and Justin groaned.
‘They’ll go away,’ he murmured against her lips, prepared to ignore the interruption.
/>
‘But it might be important.’ Alex pushed away from him.
‘This,’ he kissed her, ‘is more important.’
‘Justin! We’ll have to see who it is. They can hear the music so they’ll know we’re home.’
He sighed, ‘All right. But on your head be it.’ He smoothed his hair as he went reluctantly to the door.
‘Justin darling! How are you? Your mother told me you were at the flat in town. You wretch! Why didn’t you tell me yourself?’
Chapter 9
The liquid voice drew Alex into the foyer in time to see Justin’s arms go round the other woman. Although the kiss was brief it was hardly sisterly, and Alex stopped in surprise. Over Justin’s shoulder dark eyes sharpened on Alex’s figure hovering in the doorway.
The woman, for she was more Justin’s age, leant back and looked up at Justin. ‘Have I arrived at an inopportune moment, darling?’
Justin turned around, his arms falling to his side. ‘Would it make any difference if I said yes, Margot?’ He smiled at her. ‘Come in and meet my wife. Alex, this is Margot Donald, a colleague of mine.’
‘Colleague? More of a friend, Justin, I hope,’ she admonished. ‘So this is Alex. I must say you’re somewhat of a cradle-snatcher, Justin. She’s just a baby!’
‘How do you do, Miss Donald. And actually I’m older than I look,’ Alex said evenly, not liking the way Margot’s scarlet-tipped fingers rested possessively on the sleeve of Justin’s light sweater.
‘Aren’t we all?’ Margot replied with a high laugh that grated on Alex’s nerves.
Perhaps Margot’s laugh was the thing that Alex disliked most about her. Almost from the beginning she had felt that Margot was not the friend she professed to be, but at that first meeting, still wrapped in the security of Justin’s lovemaking, Margot had not really seemed a threat.
‘Well, it was quite a surprise to hear that Justin was married,’ Margot continued. ‘We were all quite sure he was a confirmed bachelor.’
‘I hadn’t met Alex then,’ Justin smiled easily. ‘Would you care for a drink, Margot?’
‘Love one, darling.’ Margot strode into the living-room as though she was not a stranger to the apartment, her eyes not missing the small dining table with the candles still glowing, the soft music and dimmed lights.
‘Well, I see I am interrupting something. How very cute and romantic!’ She sank on to the couch, crossing her shapely legs. ‘Come and sit down, Alex, and. tell me all about yourself.’ Margot patted the couch beside her. ‘I can see you’ve changed the starkness of Justin’s apartment already. Men are so hopeless when it comes to adding those little womanly touches, aren’t they?’
Watching Justin pour the drinks, Alex subsided on to the couch, keeping space between herself and the other woman. The heavy perfume Margot wore seemed to settle cloyingly on Alex and she longed to get up and sit as far away from her as possible.
‘I was going to redecorate the apartment for Justin myself some time ago, but,’ she raised her hands expressively, ‘I had to go to Europe with the company and, well, that was that.’ Her smile slid from Alex’s face to Justin’s back as he fixed the drinks. ‘Anyway, enough of that, tell me all.’
‘There’s not much to tell really,’ Alex said, feeling uncomfortable and ill-at-ease, wondering just what Margot’s knowing smile was implying. Was she trying to say that she had been involved with Justin before their marriage? Well, Justin was hardly an inexperienced youth. He must have been involved with other women, she knew that. Margot Donald was an attractive woman and Justin could very well have…
‘Nothing to tell? Oh, come now, don’t be modest, Alex.’ Margot broke into her thoughts. ‘Where did you two meet? It must have been a whirlwind romance.’
‘We met in Brisbane,’ Alex replied lamely, somehow not wanting to share any details with this sophisticated woman.
‘Stop pestering Alex, Margot,’ Justin remarked easily as he handed her a drink and then returned with Alex’s orange juice. ‘Let’s just say it must have been a case of love at first sight, because I knew I had to snap her up before she could change her mind.’ He laughed, and sat down opposite them, his long legs stretched out in front of him.
Margot turned back to Alex, long false lashes hiding the expression in her eyes. ‘And did you want to change your mind, dear?’
‘No. No, I didn’t.’ Alex smiled across at Justin. ‘I rather thought he might have changed his mind.’
Justin raised his glass to her. ‘No way,’ he said quietly.
‘Ah, love! Where would we be without it?’ Margot said theatrically. ‘Justin’s mother tells me you sing, Alex. In clubs, I believe.’ Her eyes were cold as they looked back at Alex, her condescending tone implying that it wouldn’t surprise her in the least if Alex had added stripping to her accomplishments.
‘I only sang as a hobby really, at the Folk Centre in Brisbane. I was a student at the University of Queensland.’ Alex told her.
‘And what were you studying?’
‘Sociology. I’d only just started my course.’
‘I see. So now you’ve given it up to become a little homemaker.’ Margot smiled. ‘I hope you don’t become bored.’
‘No, I don’t think I’ll become bored at all.’ Alex’s eyes went over to meet Justin’s and they exchanged a mutual look of unity.
‘But Justin’s work will take him away quite a lot,’ interrupted Margot. ‘Are you sure you won’t be looking to find other, well, diversions?’
Justin’s jaw tightened and his eyes, narrowing slightly, remained on Alex’s face.
Alex laughed then. ‘No, Miss Donald. Justin’s the only diversion I need.’
Taking a sip of his drink, Justin smiled crookedly back at her, a cynical expression on his face.
‘Such devotion, Justin!’ Margot’s laugh was high-pitched and harsh in the subdued light. ‘Are you sure you deserve it? After all, you have been something of a rake in your time, have you not.’
‘Reformed rake now, Margot,’ replied Justin.
‘For how long, I wonder?’ Margot’s lips pursed.
‘How does forever sound?’ Justin stood up and yawned, his light sweater pulling across the firm hardness of his chest. ‘Well, Margot, I don’t mean to be rude,’ he glanced at his wristwatch, ‘but we both have early rehearsals in the morning and I need my sleep.’
Alex flushed, embarrassed by Justin’s blatant hint that Margot leave, and she couldn’t meet the other girl’s eyes.
‘You’re an uncivilised devil, Justin de Wilde.’ Margot stood up. ‘I really don’t know why we women fall so consistently at your feet. Maybe we’re all masochists at heart.’ She walked across and touched her lips to Justin’s cheek. ‘I’ll see you in the morning, then, darling.’ She turned to Alex. ‘My dear, I hope you haven’t bitten off rather more than you can chew.’ Her mouth smiled while her eyes were cold as they fell over Alex’s figure.
Alex couldn’t think of a thing with which to retaliate and she twisted her hands together. Sometimes the world in which Justin moved, the people he spent his days with, seemed so alien to her that a cold hand of fear clutched at her vulnerable heart. Was there not just a shred of truth in Margot’s insinuations? How could someone as innocent, as unsophisticated as she was ever hope to keep the interest of Justin de Wilde, handsome, celebrated, sought after? Would he soon tire of her and look for someone else to please his jaded interest?
‘She’s a quiet little mouse, isn’t she?’ Margot directed at Justin as they moved to the door.
‘Goodnight, Margot,’ Justin said pointedly, holding the door open.
She pouted. ‘Brute!’ Her eyes went back to Alex. ‘So nice meeting you, dear. Perhaps you can get Justin to bring you along to some of our little get-togethers, I’m sure you’d enjoy them.’
‘Thank you,’ Alex got out, thinking
if all Justin’s friends were like Margot she would be like a fish out of water.
Justin closed the door with a decisive click and turned to face Alex, the expression in his eyes shielded by his dark lashes. He sighed heavily. ‘Dear, divine Margot,’ he said quietly. ‘About as serene and sincere as a coiled snake.’
Alex watched his lips twist. ‘Do you… Do you know her well? I mean… ‘ She stopped as he looked up at her, his eyes hard.
He gave a short laugh. ‘We’ve known each other professionally for some time. She’s a top-rate soprano. Some say the best in Australia at the moment.’
‘Oh.’ Alex stood watching him helplessly.
‘Alex?’ His voice was low, sending tremors down her backbone. ‘Don’t read anything into Margot’s bitchiness.’
She kept her eyes on her hands. ‘Do you think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew?’ she asked quietly. ‘With you?’
‘Alex?’
She looked up then, her mouth dry.
‘Come here,’ he said softly, his voice wrapping about her, drawing her the few feet to stand in front of him. His finger traced the smoothness of her cheek, slid over the trembling contours of her mouth, down over her chin, down to the plunging neckline of her dress. Leaning slightly forward, his lips followed the trail of his finger, arousing Alex until she leant weakly against him, all thought of Margot suddenly wiped from her mind.
‘What do you think?’ he breathed huskily.
Tiny spirals of wanting began in the pit of Alex’s stomach. They had always ended up in the bedroom, with Alex losing herself in the ecstasy of his lovemaking. That part of their relationship had always been perfect. They were two halves of one whole. It had always been that way. Any altercation they had was never carried over until the next day. No, the sun never set on any differences they had. Not in the beginning.
Now, six years later, she rode the next wave into the shore and walked up the sand to where Paul lay stretched out where she had left him. There was no sign of Justin and she told herself she was relieved, refused to acknowledge the beginnings of a small niggling of disappointment. She dropped the board on the sand and shaking droplets of water from her hair on to Paul’s sun-warmed chest had him sitting up indignantly.
Play Our Song Again (Lynsey Stevens Romance Book 13) Page 11
