The Ivory Cane

by Janet Dailey

  That was when she learned that Howell Fletcher’s shrewdness was not limited to money and art. He had asked if she wanted to raise speculation as to why it wasn’t for sale. It would be better, he suggested, to put an exorbitant price tag on it, too high for anyone to purchase it. Sabrina had finally agreed.

  ‘What was Bay’s reaction when he saw the model you did of him?’ Pamela inquired.

  One of the other guests chose that moment to offer his congratulations and comments and Sabrina was able to ignore the question. A few others stopped after that. Eventually Pamela was sidetracked by someone she knew and Sabrina was able to escape the question completely.

  ‘It’s stunning, Miss Lane,’ a woman gushed. ‘Absolutely stunning. The paintings, the statues, they’re all so breathtakingly real.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Sabrina nodded politely, not knowing how to counter the effusiveness of the woman’s praise.

  ‘Excuse me, Mrs. Hamilton, but I must steal Sabrina away from you for a moment,’ Howell Fletcher broke in, a smooth hand tucking itself under Sabrina’s elbow.

  Sabrina offered her apologies to the woman and gratefully allowed Howell to guide her away. The ivory cane tapped its way in front of her. She had learned that Howell often forgot she was blind and let her run into things.

  ‘Who are you spiriting me off to see this time?’ she asked, wiping a damp palm on the skirt of her black dress.

  ‘I don’t know how to tell you this exactly, Sabrina.’ Apprehension echoed in his cautious statement. ‘We have a buyer for the bust, and he wants to see you.’

  ‘A buyer?’ She stiffened. ‘You know it’s not for sale.’

  ‘I tried to explain that you were very reluctant to part with it, that its real worth was something less than the price. I couldn’t very well tell him how much less for fear the information would get around and the other prices would be questioned,’ he replied defensively.

  ‘I shouldn’t have been persuaded to display it in the first place. You guessed how I felt about it,’ she accused.

  ‘Yes, I did,’ he agreed quietly. ‘Perhaps you can appeal to his better nature and persuade him to choose something else. He’s waiting in my office. It will afford some privacy for the discussion.’

  ‘I’m not going to sell it,’ Sabrina stated emphatically as they left behind most of the guests to enter a back hall. ‘I don’t care what the repercussions are.’

  Howell didn’t comment, slowing her down and turning her slightly as he reached around to open the door. She walked into the room with a determined lift of her chin. There was a quietly murmured ‘good luck’ from Howell and he closed the door. She turned back, startled, expecting to have his support.

  Then she heard someone rise to his feet. She had been in the office many times and knew the potential buyer had been sitting on the Victorian sofa against the left wall. Fixing a bright smile on her face, she stepped toward the sound.

  ‘How do you do,’ Sabrina extended a hand in greeting. ‘I’m Sabrina Lane. Howell told me you were interested in purchasing a particularly favorite piece of mine.’

  ‘That’s right, Sabrina.’

  The voice went through her like a bolt of lightning. Her hand fell to her side as she fought to remain composed. The floor seemed to roll madly beneath her feet, but it was only her shaking knees.

  ‘Bay — Bay Cameron,’ she identified him with a breathless catch in the forced gaiety of her voice. ‘What a coincidence! Pamela Thyssen was just telling me a few moments ago that you were on a sailing trip somewhere around Baja, California. It must be difficult to be in two places at once.’

  Howell, that traitor, why hadn’t he warned her that it was Bay who was waiting for her? No wonder he had sneaked away, leaving her alone!

  ‘It was a natural mistake for Pamela to make. I hadn’t planned to return for some time,’ he replied in that impersonal tone that made her feel cold. ‘Tonight you’ve achieved the success you wanted. How does it feel?’

  Miserable, her heart answered. ‘Splendid,’ her voice lied.

  ‘You’re looking very chic and sophisticated in your dress of mourning black. The single strand of pearls around your long neck is a nice simple touch. The two make your complexion pale and hauntingly beautiful as if you’ve suffered great tragedy and risen above it. The press must be having a field day with your story,’ Bay commented cynically.

  She longed to tell him that her tragedy had been in losing him and not her sight, but she kept silent, trying not to hear the sarcasm underlining his voice.

  ‘I would have thought by now you would have discarded the cane in favor of another.’ The reference to the ivory carved handle in her hands made her grasp it more tightly as if afraid he would try to take it back.

  ‘Why should I? It serves its purpose,’ she shrugged nervously.

  ‘I wasn’t going to accuse you of attaching any sentimental importance to it,’ Bay responded dryly. ‘Although when I saw the bust you did of me, I was curious to find out if you look back on our association with fondness.’

  ‘Naturally.’ Her voice vibrated with the depth of her fondness. ‘Besides, I told you once before that I liked your face. The features are strong and proud.’

  ‘Howell did tell you that I’m going to buy it, didn’t he?’

  ‘Yes, but I never realized you were an egotist, Bay.’ Her laughter was brittle. ‘Imagine buying an image of yourself!’

  ‘It will be an excellent reminder for the future.’

  ‘Bay, I — ’ Sabrina pivoted slightly to the side, feeling the play of his eyes over her profile, cold and chilling. ‘Th-there’s been a mistake. Howell came to get me because . . . well, because it isn’t for sale.’

  ‘Why not?’ He didn’t sound upset by her stammering announcement. ‘I thought the purpose of this show was to sell what was on display.’

  ‘It is, but not this piece,’ she protested. ‘That’s why we put the price so high, so no one would buy it.’

  ‘I’m buying it,’ Bay answered evenly.

  ‘No! I’m not letting you have it!’ She lashed out sharply in desperation. ‘You’ve taken everything else from me. Please let me keep this!’

  ‘Taken from you!’ he laughed harshly. His hand snaked out to wrap his fingers around her wrist. ‘What have I ever taken from you? Aren’t you forgetting that I’m the one who was used? Why not take my money? You’ve taken everything else of value I had to give!’

  ‘Pity? Sympathy? Charity?’ The end of her cane tapped the floor sharply in punctuation to her angry words. ‘When were those humiliating things ever of value? And to whom? Certainly not to me! You never cared about me! Not really! I was only a charity case to you!’

  ‘You don’t still believe I felt sorry for you?’ A weary sigh came from deep within.

  ‘You certainly don’t love me,’ Sabrina sniffed.

  ‘And if I had,’ his hand closed firmly on the back of her neck, turning her stiffly composed face toward him, ‘would it have made any difference?’

  If only he hadn’t touched her, Sabrina thought, a fiery trail racing down her spine, maybe she could have withstood the agony tearing at her heart. Now she felt herself go limp inside, pride unable to support her, and she swayed against his chest.

  ‘If you’d loved me just a little, Bay,’ she sighed wistfully, inhaling the spicy fragrance clinging to his jacket, ‘I might not have minded loving you so desperately. But what girl wants to be with a man who only pities her because she can’t see?’

  ‘You are blind, Sabrina,’ he said. A great weight seemed to leave his voice. The hand slipped from her neck to the back of her waist while the other hand gently stroked her cheek. ‘I never pitied you. I was too busy falling in love with you to waste time with that emotion.’

  ‘Oh, Bay, don’t tease me,’ she cried in anguish, twisting free from his tender embrace. ‘Haven’t I shamed myself enough without having you make fun of me?’

  ‘I’m not teasing. Believe me, the hell I’ve been go
ing through these last months hasn’t been funny at all,’ Bay stated.

  ‘I’m blind, Bay. How could you possibly love me?’ she pleaded with him to stop tormenting her.

  ‘My brave and beautiful blind queen, how could I possibly not love you?’ His tone was incredibly warm and caressing. The sincerity of it almost frightened Sabrina.

  ‘You aren’t trying to trick me again, are you, Bay? Don’t do this to me if all you want is the bust I did of you. I’ll give it to you gladly if it will make you stop lying.’

  A pair of hands closed over her shoulders and she was drawn against his chest. He placed her hands on his heart, rapidly thudding against her palm. Her own heart had to race wildly to keep in tempo. Cupping her face in his hands, Bay bestowed soft kisses on her closed eyes.

  ‘Being blind doesn’t make you feel less of a woman when I hold you in my arms, darling,’ he whispered tightly.

  ‘You never let me guess, not once,’ Sabrina murmured, leaning her head weakly against his heart.

  ‘I wanted to a hundred times in a hundred ways.’ Strong arms held her close as if afraid she would try to escape again. ‘I loved you almost from the beginning. Maybe it started that night we took refuge from the rain in my boat. I don’t know. But I told myself I had to take it slow. You were proud, stubborn, defensive and very insecure. I didn’t try to convince you in the beginning that I was in love with you, because you wouldn’t have believed me. That’s why I set about trying to help you build confidence in yourself. I wanted you to learn that there was nothing you couldn’t do if you set your mind to it. Arrogantly I thought after that was accomplished I would make you fall in love with me. You can imagine what a blow it was to my self-esteem when you informed me that you didn’t need me any more.’

  He smiled against her temple and Sabrina snuggled closer. ‘I needed you. I wanted you desperately,’ she murmured fervently. ‘I was terrified you would guess and feel even sorrier for me.’

  ‘I never felt pity. Pride, but never pity.’

  ‘Pride?’ She turned her face toward him, questioning and bewildered.

  ‘I was always proud of you. No matter what challenge I made, you always accepted it.’ Lightly he kissed her lips.

  ‘Accepted with protest,’ she reminded him with an impish smile.

  ‘No one could ever accuse you of being tractable. Stubborn and independent, yes, but never tractable. You made that plain the first time we met and you slapped my face,’ Bay laughed softly.

  ‘And you slapped me back.’ Sabrina let her fingertips caress his cheek. ‘It made me angry. Eventually it made me love you.’

  His fingers quickly gripped her hand and stopped the caressing movement, pressing a hard kiss in her palm. ‘Will you tell me now why you ran away from me at Pamela’s?’ he demanded huskily. ‘The truth this time.’

  Her heart skipped a beat. At the moment she didn’t want to talk, not after the sensually arousing kiss in her sensitive palm.

  ‘I heard you talking to a girl named Roni. She said you’d brought me with you because you felt sorry for me and because you hoped to make her jealous. You didn’t deny it, Bay. I kept hoping you would at least say I was your friend, but you just let her keep rattling on about me being a charity case and a poor unfortunate. I thought she was telling the truth. That’s why I ran away,’ she admitted.

  She heard and felt the rolling chuckle that vibrated from deep within. It was throaty and warm and strangely reassuring.

  ‘One of the first things I’m going to have to remember when we’re married is how acute your hearing is,’ Bay declared with a wide smile of satisfaction against her hair. ‘If you’d eavesdropped a little longer, you would have heard me tell Roni to take a flying leap at the moon and that I didn’t appreciate her comments about the woman I was going to marry.’

  ‘Bay!’ Her voice caught for a moment on the tide of love that welled in her throat. ‘Are you going to marry me?’

  ‘If that’s a proposal, I accept.’

  ’d-don’t tease,’ she whispered with a painful gasp.

  His mouth closed over hers in a tender promise. Instantly Sabrina responded, molding herself tightly against every hard male curve. Hungry desire blazed in his deepening kiss as he parted her lips to savor every inch of her mouth. His love lit a glowing lamp that chased away all the shadows of her dark world.

  Long heady moments later Bay pushed her unsteadily out of his arms. She swayed toward his chest rising and falling so unevenly beneath her fingers. His hands rigidly held her at a distance.

  ’darling, I love you so,’ Sabrina whispered achingly. ‘Please hold me a little while longer.’

  ‘I’m not made of iron, my love.’ The sternness of his voice only indicated the deepness of his love. ‘A little while longer would be too long.’

  The corners of her wide mouth were tugged upward in a tiny smile of immense pleasure. ‘The door has a lock, Bay.’

  ‘And there’s a horde of people who must be wondering what’s happened to the star of the show,’ he reminded her tersely.

  ‘I don’t want to be a star,’ she answered.

  ‘Your work — ’ Bay began.

  ‘ — will fill the moments you are away from me. That’s all it will ever do for me,’ Sabrina declared in a husky murmur.

  ‘You’re not making it easy to be sensible,’ he growled, letting her come back into his arms.

  ‘I know,’ she whispered in the second before his mouth closed passionately over hers.

  Biography

  * * *

  Janet Dailey

  Janet Dailey was born Janet Haradon in 1944 in Storm Lake, Iowa. She attended secretarial school in Omaha, Nebraska before meeting her husband, Bill. Bill and Janet worked together in construction and land development until they "retired" to travel throughout the United States, inspiring Janet to write the Americana series of romances, where she set a novel in every state of the Union. In 1974, Janet Dailey was the first American author to write for Harlequin. Her first novel was NO QUARTER ASKED. She has since gone on to write approximately 90 novels, 21 of which have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List. She has won many awards and accolades for her work, appearing widely on Radio and Television. Today, there are over three hundred million Janet Dailey books in print in 19 different languages, making her one of the most popular novelists in the world.