Dusky Rose

by Joanna Scott

  "No, Reverend, this is Steven's best man. He's just come to the rehearsal with us while Steven and Midge went to get Steven's parents at the motel. They should be here shortly." She looked cautiously at Roger, who wisely kept his silence.

  At that very opportune moment, Steven and Midge arrived with his parents. "Splendid," said the reverend, "I do like a wedding rehearsal that begins on time. It indicates a reliable quality that will last throughout the marriage. Well, now that everyone is here, we might as well begin. Mrs. Carmichael will show you all to your proper places."

  Everything went beautifully and when the rehearsal was over Reverend Carmichael cautioned them to be at the church promptly at 11:00 tomorrow morning for the actual wedding ceremony.

  After they left the church, Steven's father reminded them that he was taking them all to dinner at an excellent restaurant next to the motel. When they arrived at the restaurant, they were immediately shown to a long table which had been reserved for them and Laura found herself seated between Aunt Estelle and Roger. At one side of the candlelit restaurant a small band was playing slow dance tunes and a few diners ventured out onto the brightly polished oak dance floor. Roger asked Laura to dance and she found him holding her tighter than was necessary as he guided her slowly across the floor. She moved about in his arms, trying to widen the distance between them, but he continued to hold her as closely as possible.

  When the dance was over, Laura returned to the table, determined not to become involved with Roger again. His attitude toward her seemed to have changed; no longer gentle, he eyed her with bold desire. No one else seemed to notice, however, nor did anyone seem to notice her ensuing discomfort. The dinner proceeded in a cheerful manner, with many toasts being offered to the happiness of the bride and groom. Once more Laura envied the love that was obvious in the glances drifting between Midge and Steven.

  At last, dinner was over and everyone prepared to leave. Aunt Estelle said that she wanted to discuss some last minute arrangements with Steven's parents and there was no sense in Laura hanging about, someone else could drive her home. Roger immediately offered to walk Laura to her car and Laura could find no gracious way to refuse his offer.

  Her blue van was parked in a secluded area of the parking lot and she hurried along, trying to put as much distance between herself and Roger as possible. But he was not to be put off. He quickened his pace to catch up with her and grabbed her arm, turning her around to meet his demanding eyes.

  "What's going on, Laura? Why are you suddenly so cold to me? I know that you don't love Lattimer and I thought you might find me a welcome change."

  Laura tried to push Roger away, but his hands tightened around her waist and his mouth came down toward hers. She tried again to free herself, recoiling from the frenzy of his kiss.

  "Addison, I suggest you take your hands off my wife." The voice was deceptively soft, but the menace in the tone was crystal clear.

  Chapter 10

  Laura whirled, suddenly freed from Roger's grasping arms. She ran toward David, who was standing beside his Porsche. He put out his arm and drew her to his side; his face was totally devoid of emotion and Laura could feel no warmth in the steely arm that clasped her.

  "I'm really sorry to interrupt such a tender love scene, but I do expect a certain modicum of decorum on the part of my wife, especially at her sister's wedding." Laura started to protest, to explain that she had done nothing to encourage Roger's advances and, in fact, had sought to fight him off. But one look at David's grimly set mouth told her that all her efforts would be futile.

  He pushed Laura into his car and turned to face Roger. "In the future, Addison, you'd better keep a large distance between yourself and Laura. Remember, no matter how Laura may feel about me or I about her, our relationship is sanctioned by the state of California."

  Then he slid behind the wheel and drove calmly from the lot without even a word to Laura.

  She sank further into the seat beside him, not daring to address the hatred she saw emanating from his darkly brooding eyes. Her best defense lay in inaction; she must do and say nothing that would give him a further excuse to lash out at her or even hint at her real feelings for him. She realized that if he ever discovered the depths of her love for him, he would calmly destroy her in an attempt to avenge all the hurt he imagined she had inflicted upon him. She knew that she must continue asking for her freedom as the only way out of this horrifying situation.

  David drove the car to a turnoff near the edge of the water and parked beneath a small grove of scrubby pine trees. Then he took out a cigarette and brought the glowing flame of his lighter toward it. Laura stole a covert glance at him as he shielded the flickering ember with his tightly cupped hands. The hard line of his lips as he pursed them to draw life into the cigarette tore a soft sigh of desire from Laura's unrestrained lips and David turned to look at her as he replaced the lighter in his pocket.

  "What's the matter, Laura? Are you afraid of what I might do to you and your boyfriend? Well, you can stop worrying, I'm not about to do anything to ruin your sister's wedding. I'm very fond of Midge and Steven, and out of respect for them I'll defer my dealings with you until we return home. But don't interpret that to mean I'm giving you license to carry on with Roger. I'll be watching you like a hawk every minute and I'll hold you fully accountable for anything that happens between you. Do you understand me?"

  Laura didn't answer him. She longed to tell him that she detested Roger's touch and yearned only for the warm security of his own caressing arms, but she knew that nothing she could do or say would change his opinion of her. So she remained completely silent and made no attempt either to answer his question or to turn the conversation in another direction.

  He turned to her and grasped her tightly by the shoulders. "Laura! Do you hear me? I mean what I say! I expect proper behavior from you for the rest of your stay in Carmel. Answer me, Laura."

  By now Laura was too emotionally exhausted to withstand him any further. She nodded her head meekly. "Yes, David, I understand; I'll behave myself. I have no desire to make you angry. You have my word that I'll have nothing more to do with Roger during the entire time I'm in Carmel."

  "That's better," said David, releasing her from his grasp and settling back to smoke his cigarette in silence. After a few puffs, he stubbed it out and restarted the engine. "I'm staying at the motel. I take it you plan to spend the night with Midge, at your aunt's home?"

  Laura nodded in agreement.

  "Well then, I'll get you back there before they start wondering where you are. Steve and I can get the van back to you later; we'll leave the keys in the mailbox. Tell me, have you told your aunt about us?"

  Laura shook her head.

  "Good heavens, Laura, how are you going to explain my presence to her? And how did you explain this?" he said, grabbing her left hand in his and fingering her ring finger. His eyes blazed with anger. "Dammit, Laura, I warned you about removing another one of my wedding rings. I won't stand for much more of this. Where did you leave it this time? I didn't notice it in the apartment when I got home, to find you gone. Did you sell it to raise some cash or did you just remove it so Addison would feel less guilty about making love to you?"

  Laura shook her head wildly, as she drew out the chain with her wedding band dangling from it. "It's not that; I wouldn't do any of those things. I just didn't know how to tell Aunt Estelle. I'm so ashamed of the whole situation that I can't face telling her about it." She buried her face in her hands.

  David reached behind her bowed head and lifted the cloud of soft brown hair from the nape of her neck. He gently unclasped the chain bearing her wedding band, removed the ring and replaced the empty chain around Laura's neck. Then he took her hand in his and replaced the ring on the finger where he had first placed it only days before. He lifted her chin with his muscular hand. "Don't take it off again… for any reason. It stays until I say you can remove it and with the mood I'm in tonight, I may decide to prolong your punish
ment."

  Then he released the brake and turned the steering wheel toward the road. "You'd better direct me to your aunt's house. Use the time to think up a suitable introduction for me because I don't intend to disappear in the next few hours."

  By the time Laura and David reached her aunt's home, Steven's car was already parked outside, and she still didn't know how she was going to explain David. When they walked in the door, Aunt Estelle, Steven and Midge were all seated at the table and Laura could see by the looks on their faces that the matter had been taken out of her hands. She shrank back as Steven came forward to grasp David's hand in his. Then he led him toward Aunt Estelle, who rose from her seat to greet him.

  "This is David Lattimer, Laura's husband." Steven turned to look at Laura. "I know you wanted to surprise Aunt Estelle, but she was terribly worried when we found your van in the parking lot and you nowhere in sight. We finally dragged the explanation for your disappearance out of Roger. I hope you'll forgive us, Laura, but, under the circumstances, we knew you'd understand."

  Laura shook her head and smiled a silently grateful thank you at Midge and Steven. She knew she never could have explained the situation to her aunt without their help. Midge came forward and kissed David on the cheek.

  "We're so glad you were able to come. Laura thought you might not be able to get away."

  David looked thoughtfully at Midge. "I told you I would be here. Unfortunately, Laura doesn't always believe what I tell her. I hope she will one day come to learn that I always mean what I say and then maybe she'll begin to take my statements more seriously." He turned expressionless eyes toward Laura as he spoke.

  Aunt Estelle looked from Laura to David, not quite understanding the tension between them. Then she motioned David to the table, setting a cup of coffee before him. "Well, the main thing is that you've come, I'm delighted to find Laura married, although I must say, I wish I had known about it so we could have had the wedding here. However, I suppose you young people are so impulsive these days that we can't always expect you to wait for parental approval. In any case, I intend to announce your marriage tomorrow, right after Midge's wedding. I guess Laura won't be returning to Carmel after all." Then she looked at Laura, "Will you be going back to the motel this evening to stay with David?"

  Laura was suddenly stricken. She knew she could never spend an entire night with David without letting him discover the true depth of her feelings for him. She couldn't think of an answer to her aunt's question. Unexpectedly, David came to her rescue.

  "No, Laura is going to spend the night here with you and Midge. It's probably the last night she'll be able to spend together with both of you since she and Midge will both be married after tomorrow. Under the circumstances, and since Laura and I expect to have many years together, I think I can spare her company for one evening." Then he rose from his seat and said to Steven, "I'll meet you back at the motel and buy you a drink on your last evening of bachelorhood and then we can drop off Laura's van. I'm sure the ladies have a few things they'd like to take care of before tomorrow." He kissed Laura gently on the cheek and walked out to his car.

  When Steven had left as well, Laura and Midge started to clear the coffee cups from the table. Midge looked at Laura. "Now will you stop talking nonsense about David? I told you he promised to come to my wedding. I hope this will put an end to all your silly notions."

  Laura was about to answer Midge but their aunt returned to the room and the conversation came to an abrupt end.

  Laura woke the next morning to the gushing sound of a shower running in the adjacent bathroom. The bedside clock showed nine o'clock and she quickly swung her feet to the fluffy pink rug just as Midge entered the room, still drying the hair at the back of her neck with a thick yellow towel.

  "Let's go, Laura. You'd better shower. I'm going to need some help getting dressed in my gown, it's an impossible mass of lace and buttons. I'm afraid it will take all day to get into it and we have to be at the church by eleven o'clock."

  Laura smiled. "Don't worry, Aunt Estelle and I won't let you be late today." She snatched her robe and ran into the shower. The cool water streaming swiftly down her body brought her mind to full consciousness and she began to consider the events of the day ahead of her. She knew that much of the joy she should be feeling at Midge's wedding would be spoiled by David's formidable presence. Roger was Steven's best man and she would be standing up with Midge, and David had made no secret of his opposition to even the mildest sort of social contact between Laura and Roger, but how could she possibly avoid him completely? She only hoped that David would control his violent temper and not allow it to ruin Midge's wedding. Laura determined that she would avoid Roger's presence as much as possible and do everything in her power to please David, if only to ensure her sister's happiness on this important day in her life.

  When she reentered the bedroom, Aunt Estelle was helping to brush Midge's damp black hair into the loosely arranged ringlets that were so becoming to her.

  Laura set down and began combing her own hair. She arranged it in a carefully curled cascade which lifted off her face and fell enticingly along the nape of her neck. The styling was more elaborate than any other she had ever attempted.

  Her aunt eyed her critically. "Isn't that hair style a bit too sophisticated for you, Laura? I think it's much more becoming when you wear your hair loose."

  "I want to look sophisticated. It's not every day I get to be matron of honor for my sister." She went to the closet and withdrew the dress she was going to wear to the wedding. It was made of silk organza and had a high jewel neckline leading to closely fitted sleeves which buttoned snugly at the wrist. Carefully tailored darts nipped her waistline, moulding the gauzy fabric enticingly to the sensuous curves of her softly swelling breasts. A delicate jeweled belt circled her waistline, accenting its slender beauty. Layers of fabric in various shades of blue from palest sky blue to darkest midnight fell from her waist in skillfully cut handkerchief tiers. The muted shades of blue emphasized the intense blue of her eyes, making them shine like two deeply set sapphires. Triangles of filmy fabric swirled softly about her legs, highlighting their slender beauty, which was further emphasized by strappy high-heeled sandals in the same shade of navy blue that ranged intermittently through the dress. Around her neck, Laura wore a simple gold chain in a delicate filigree pattern.

  Midge looked up from her dressing table. "That's a lovely dress, Laura. I just hope I look half as nice. After all, I am the bride, you know."

  Laura could tell by Midge's bantering tone of voice that her remarks were made in fun. She walked over and kissed her sister on the cheek. "Thank you for the compliment, but you know that there's nothing I could do to upstage you today. It's the most important day in any woman's life." Her voice weakened as she thought of her own wedding. She had no memory of that ghastly event. The only confirmation of her marriage came from David's testimony and the legally binding certificate of marriage. It was almost as if the coldly unromantic beginning of her wedded life had foretold the chilling unhappiness that had followed so closely behind. No serene expressions of love would ever pass between herself and David, just the hateful tension generated by David's desire for vengeance for the injustice he imagined she had done to him. The soft touch of Midge's arm on hers brought her back to reality and she smiled brightly at her sister. "Let's get this bridal outfit on you and we'll see who'll be the star of this show."

  Midge stood up and let Laura slip the soft white lace dress over her head. Then they fastened the long row of buttons at the back. When they were finished, the ballooning sleeves and bell-shaped skirt fell softly from the waist of the bateau necked dress. Laura stepped back and watched as her aunt placed the orange blossom tiara with its short net veil on Midge's head. The soft, pure white of the gauzy veil contrasted brightly against Midge's jet black hair and the effect was dazzling. Laura stood in back of Midge, who gazed at her reflection in the mirror.

  "Are you still worried about who will h
old everyone's eyes today?"

  Midge turned and hugged Laura. "The only eyes I want to hold are Steven's and I want to hold them for a lifetime, not just for today. I only wish that you and David could find the same happiness in your marriage," she whispered sadly.

  Laura shrugged. "Let's not talk about me today. This is your day, yours and Steven's."

  Aunt Estelle interrupted their conversation. "My, my, stop quibbling, you both look beautiful," she said as she parted the curtains and looked out the window. "I can't tell you how happy I am for my two little girls. Well, there's no more time for idle chatter. Steven's dad is here to take us to the church, so we'd best get moving." Then she hugged them both. "I'm so happy for you—both of you."

  When they arrived at the church, Midge and Laura went directly to the room especially reserved for the bride, so neither the guests nor the groom would see her before the ceremony. Midge was becoming more nervous with each passing minute and she had twisted her lacy white handkerchief into a wrinkled mess by the time Steven's father came to walk her down the aisle. Laura went out the door first, wondering how she would feel about seeing Roger again. She held her head high and clutched her cornflower bouquet tightly in her hands. When she neared the altar, her steps slowed as she waited for Roger to come forward to meet her and escort her to her place near the altar. Instead, she felt the all too familiar touch of a sure, strong hand on her arm, and was startled into looking up into the admiring eyes of her husband. Stunned, Laura looked around for Roger, but he was nowhere in sight. She looked inquiringly at David, waiting for some comment, but he only gripped her arm more tightly and whispered softly in her ear, "I'll explain later."

  The musky scent of his cologne drifted to Laura's nostrils when he bent to speak and she tightened her grip on his arm as she felt her legs threatening to give way beneath her. He seemed to sense her distress because he patted her hand gently as if to reassure her and pass his own strength on to her. He escorted her swiftly to the side of the altar and then left to take his place next to Steven. Laura raised her eyes and met his where he stood, tall and straight in his gray morning suit, his dark eyes and hair glistening above the pure whiteness of his silk shirt. Laura marveled at the strange way the sight and scent of him could arouse ardent desires hidden deep within her. She longed to tell him how she felt about him, but she knew he would only glory in his absolute power to take the ultimate revenge on her. No, she could never reveal the love her heart harbored for him.