The dinner was the usual marginally edible fare served at such events. At the break before dessert the band began to play old standards, and a large portion of the crowd got up to dance. Daphne seized the first opportunity for conversation and appeared at Jessica’s side, her expression mischievous.
“Aren’t you the sly fox?” she said, glancing sidelong at Jack. “Showing up out of the blue and stealing Jack here away from us.”
Us? Jessica thought. Who is us?
“I’m sorry about what happened when I called,” Daphne went on to say. “I didn’t realize who I was talking to. I didn’t know about your wedding.”
“That’s all right,” Jessica said faintly, wishing Daphne weren’t quite so magnanimous about the whole thing. Her deliberate cheerfulness was giving Jessica a headache.
“You should have told me who you were,” Daphne bubbled. “You could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard.”
I’ll bet, Jessica thought.
“We have a lot to catch up on,” Daphne confided, pulling her empty chair next to Jessica’s and sliding into it. “What have you been doing with yourself since you left Bright River?”
Jack was watching the two of them with a set, expressionless face. As Jessica tried to give Daphne a heavily edited version of her activities over the past decade, Jack turned to Maddy’s husband and engaged him in conversation. Maddy observed the scene with her usual wry detachment, wondering why these people weren’t attacking each other.
Daphne burbled on about this and that, as Jessica prayed for deliverance. She knew Jack wouldn’t save her; he wouldn’t get between them for a crock of gold. Jessica tried to listen, smiling until she felt her face would crack. The worst part about it was that she actually liked Daphne, always had. But the sight of her, beautifully dressed in a black crepe décolleté gown, conjured up images of what she had been doing in bed with Jack not too long ago, and was probably still doing with him now. Jack was gone a lot and he never gave an explanation for his absences.
A man loomed behind Daphne’s chair, and it took Jessica a moment to recognize him. When she did, she greeted him as if he were about to lead her out of the desert and into the promised land.
“Bill!” she exclaimed, standing and seizing his hand. “Bill Campbell, it’s wonderful to see you. How have you been?”
“Great, Jessica,” Bill said. “How about yourself? I understand you just married our football star over here.”
Jack stood to shake hands with Bill, who had been in Jessica’s class at school. She’d always liked him, a sunny, friendly boy whose father was a local postman.
“Aren’t you going to ask me to dance?” Jessica said to him, desperate to get away from the table. Bill, who looked a little surprised by the suggestion, nevertheless took her arm with commendable gallantry and led her onto the floor.
They hadn’t been dancing a minute when Bill said to her, “Jessica, what’s the matter with you?”
“Why do you ask?” Jessica replied, as if he had no basis for the question.
“You were never the type to ask a man to dance. You’ve either changed a whole lot or something’s up. Which is it?”
“Something’s up,” Jessica admitted, surrendering. “I just wanted to get away from Daphne. She was asking me so many questions.”
“Daphne’s my date,” Bill replied, grinning.
Jessica closed her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said helplessly.
“It’s all right,” Bill said, laughing. “I know what she’s like. I also know she was seeing Jack right up until the time he married you. Uncomfortable situation, huh?”
“You might say that.”
“Is she a sore loser?”
“No, no at all. She was trying to be cordial, I think, but oh, I guess it’s me. Don’t pay any attention. Daphne’s nice and I don’t mean to imply otherwise.”
“Don’t worry about saying anything wrong to me. I take her to these things about three times a year because we’re both involved in local business. That’s all it is.”
Jessica had a brief flash of sympathy for Daphne. She seemed to be rather commonly regarded as a good time. “I didn’t know you worked in town,” Jessica said brightly, trying to change the subject.
“Yes, when my parents died I sold the house and opened an appliance outlet. Maybe you’ve seen it? Red C Discounters.”
“That’s your place?” Jessica said. “I’ve driven past it, but I didn’t realize you owned it.”
“Yeah, I’ve been there about four years.” Bill went on to tell her about his business, and when Jessica glanced back at the table she saw that both Jack and Daphne were missing. Sure enough, they were dancing together on the opposite side of the room. And it seemed to Jessica that Jack was holding the other woman very close. Suddenly she didn’t feel like dancing anymore.
“I’d like to sit down, Bill, if you don’t mind,” she said.
“Sure,” replied Bill, confused but compliant. She reached her chair in time to see Jack laughing with Daphne.
He’d be better off with her, Jessica thought sadly. He would relax, take it easy. Not sweat the small stuff the way he does with me. This perception did nothing to enhance her evening.
“See you later,” Bill said, undoubtedly relieved to get away from her. He walked back to his table as Maddy leaned across the floral centerpiece and whispered, “Why did you bolt like that? You left your husband free for the black dahlia to lasso him into a dance.”
“I’m sure she didn’t have to try very hard,” Jessica murmured.
Maddy was making a face at her when Jack returned Daphne to Bill, and then rejoined his table. Maddy’s husband immediately resumed their conversation, a rehash of some football game Jack had won with a last minute touchdown. Several other men came over to join the discussion, and as Jessica listened to Jack’s amusing recounting of the crucial play, she smiled along with the others. She had almost forgotten how truly charming he could be. He was so wired around her that his natural personality was submerged and lost in the general tension. In a situation like this he could be open, outgoing, funny. Surely this was part of the reason she had fallen in love with him in the first place, but she no longer remembered the process. She had long accepted her love for him as a condition of existence, like rain or the change of seasons. Snow fell, the sun rose and she loved Jack. But now she could see that he was happier away from her. Wasn’t she selfish to cling to something that distorted, almost negated, his true nature?
“I’m going for some air,” Jessica announced to Maddy, rising from her seat. Maddy, who knew that it was twelve degrees outside, looked at her suspiciously.
“Just into the hall,” Jessica clarified, and before Maddy could respond she left, weaving through the crowd to the large entry foyer, which was almost deserted. She sat on one of the couches flanking the coatroom, inhaling the cooler air admitted by the frequent opening of the outer doors. The ballroom, filled with body heat and cigarette smoke, had been stifling.
She was trying hard to refute the evidence of her eyes, but she was failing. She could see that Jack was different with other people; when not around her he became the Jack she remembered from their youth. The only way to allow him to be himself, to be content, was to leave him.
Tears squeezed from under her lids and ran down her face. She wiped at them hastily as she heard footsteps behind her and turned to look at Bill, who was standing before the cloakroom with a check stub in his hand.
“Jessica?” he said, shoving the stub into his pocket and sitting next to her, peering into her face. “Have you been crying?”
She couldn’t deny it, and suddenly the whole evening overwhelmed her. To her own horror she began to sob. Bill’s arm came around her immediately, and he held her head against his shoulder.
“There, there,” he said soothingly, as if comforting a child. “Has Daphne been at you again? She just told me she wanted to leave. It wasn’t because you two had a fight, was it?”
Jess
ica shook her head, unable to speak. He patted her back awkwardly, at a loss.
“Campbell,” Jack said in icy tones behind them, “I think you’d better take your hands off my wife.”
Chapter 9
Jessica and Bill sprang apart immediately. Jessica took one look at Jack’s face and leaped to her feet, putting herself between the two men.
“Jack, listen to me,” she said hastily as Jack advanced, his expression thunderous. “You don’t understand.”
“I understand, all right,” Jack responded tightly, balling his hands into fists. “You leave me alone at the table to sneak out here and meet this guy. When I come after you I find you in his arms.”
“That isn’t what happened at all!” Bill interjected, and Jack took another step toward him. Jessica planted herself in his path, determined to protect poor Bill, who was only trying to help her.
“Jack, you are acting like a child,” she said, her mood changing to indignation.
“I don’t want to tell you what you’re acting like, necking on a settee with this bozo while I’m looking all over for you.”
“I was not necking on a settee!” she fired back. Bill, who was certain now that they were both ready to be institutionalized, was edging toward the door.
“Get back here, you!” Jack roared, pushing Jessica aside.
Jessica grabbed his arm, hanging on so that he would have to hurt her to be rid of her.
“Jack, if you make a scene here I will never forgive you,” she said quietly, trembling with anger, her lips white.
From the safety of the vestibule Bill called out, “I would listen to her, if I were you, Chabrol. And while you’re at it, I would ask your bride why she was running away from the crowd in there to come outside and cry by herself.” He went out and slammed the door, leaving Jessica and Jack to stare at each other.
“Is that true?” Jack asked. “Were you crying?”
He was genuinely upset; his accent was back, transforming “were” into “where.”
“Why are you asking me?” Jessica replied. “I thought you had everything all figured out.”
“Well, what would you have thought if you’d seen what I did?” he countered.
“I might have paused to ask a question!” she answered, but she knew that wasn’t true. If she had seen Jack in a similar situation with Daphne, she would have drawn the same conclusion.
“We’re leaving,” he said abruptly.
“Fine,” Jessica said, turning her back on him.
He went back inside, making some excuse for their abrupt departure, and then returned to bundle Jessica into her wrap and hustle her out to the car.
The night was bitter cold. The drive back was conducted without heat, as Jack wouldn’t wait for the engine to warm up. He pushed the sports car through the empty streets, grinding the gears as he took the turns. The forecast was for snow, and it hung heavy in the night sky, masking the stars. They didn’t say a word to each other as they ascended to the apartment. Jack turned on the lights and tossed his keys on the dining table before he whirled to face her.
“All right,” he said tightly. “Why don’t you tell me what that little scene with Campbell was all about?”
“He already did tell you. Bill came out and found me when I was...upset. You saw him comforting me, that’s all.”
“You didn’t plan to meet him there?” Jack demanded.
“Of course not,” Jessica replied wearily. “Why on earth would you think that?”
“Why not? You were wrapped around him all night.”
Jessica glared at him, astonished. “Jack, I danced with him once.”
“That’s more than you danced with me!” he flung back at her, his hands on his hips.
“How was I supposed to dance with you? I would have needed a crowbar to pry you apart from your mistress!” It was out before she could stop it, and Jessica was sickened by the tortured, helpless jealousy she heard in her own voice.
Jack’s expression became guarded. “My mistress?” he said cautiously.
“You don’t suppose I believed that you were working during all those evenings you left me alone, do you?” she asked miserably.
His face went blank. He HAD been working, and it had never occurred to him that she might suspect otherwise. All this time that he had shared her bed she’d been thinking he was sharing another one with Daphne. And she had never said a word, even though he could see that the idea of it tormented her.
“You thought I was with Daphne?” he said slowly, buying time.
“You told me you wouldn’t give her up.”
His thoughts flashed back to the argument they’d had the day after their marriage. He must have given her that impression, but he had been striking out recklessly, saying anything he guessed would hurt. The truth was that he’d forgotten Daphne the minute he knew Jesse was back in town, but he wasn’t going to tell her that.
“You have no right to accuse me,” he said softly, still stalling, his mind racing to consider the implications of what she was saying.
“That’s true,” she replied, nodding. “I have no rights at all, isn’t that the arrangement?” Her eyes misted over and her lower lip trembled. “You just had to bring me there tonight and force me to see her, didn’t you? You wanted to rub my nose in it.”
His gaze grew intent and his voice got even quieter. “Is that why you were crying?” he asked, taking a step forward and seizing her in a viselike grip.
Jessica tried to pull loose. It was like trying to shake off a boa constrictor.
“Tell me,” he insisted. “Is that why you were crying?”
“What difference does it make to you?” she hedged, her pride coming to the fore, unwilling to admit that his involvement with Daphne had wounded her so deeply.
“What difference does it make?” he said hoarsely. “Do you think I can forget for one moment that I bought you like chattel? That if you had any choice in the matter you wouldn’t be with me?”
Jessica stared up at him, her pulses racing, afraid to answer. He sounded as if he really cared, as if he wanted her to reciprocate a feeling he already had for her. Terrified that the hopes he was raising would be dashed, she caught him unaware and slipped out of his grasp, whirling away from him. He lunged after her, and the high heel of her slipper caught on the edge of the rug, sending her tumbling to the floor.
Jack was on his knees beside her in a second. He reached for her, and she flinched from him.
He drew back, his face registering shock. “You’re afraid of me, aren’t you?” he asked in a low, emotionless tone.
She didn’t answer, looking away.
He sat back on his haunches, putting his face in his hands. “Oh, God,” he murmured almost inaudibly, barely loud enough for her to hear, “how did we come to this?” He looked up, and Jessica was chilled by the expression of bleak desolation in his eyes. “Do you remember how happy we once were?”
“I remember,” she replied softly.
He reached out and touched her face. “Are you all right?” he asked, cupping her chin in his hand and turning her face up to the light.
“Of course. I just tripped.”
He pulled her against his chest, and she didn’t even think of resisting.
“My Jesse,” he whispered, his lips moving in her hair. “I wish we could wipe away the years and go back to that last fall we had together.”
“If only that were possible, Jack.”
“Let me try,” he muttered. “Let me try to take us both back.” He stood, picking her up in his arms, and it seemed the most natural thing in the world that he should carry her to the bed.
Jack set her down gently, letting her slip back into the softness of the pillows, and then turned her over and unzipped the velvet dress. She was naked above the waist, and he pulled aside the panels of the gown, leaving her uncovered to the base of her spine; Jessica lay unmoving, prone, waiting for what he would do. She sensed his nearness and then felt the touch of his lips t
railing lightly over her back, pressing into the dimpled hollows below her shoulder blades. She shivered, and he ran his hands up her bare arms, lifting her toward him. The dress fell away, and he reached around her, cupping her breasts. Jessica sighed with gratification as he mouthed her nape, then slid one arm across her torso to hold her steady and caressed her freely with his other hand.
“Your skin is the softest I’ve ever touched,” he murmured, tonguing her ear. “I never forgot the feel of it.”
Jessica turned in his arms, reaching up to lock her hands behind his head. He bent and kissed her lingeringly, with steadily gathering intensity, until he was crushing her to him fiercely. He drew her into his lap, tugging off her skirt and slip, and then slipped an arm beneath her knees, cradling her as he laved the valley between her breasts with his tongue. Jessica lay back against his shoulder, her eyes closed, her lips parted, while he made love to her. Her nipples stiffened under his skillful attention, blossoming into rosy buds, and when he drew back to remove her panties she arched up to help him.
“You are beautiful,” he whispered, dipping his head to kiss the slight swell of her belly as he settled her onto the bed. Then he straightened and reached for the top button of his shirt.
Jessica put her hand over his. “Let me,” she said softly, removing the studs one by one until she could ease her fingers into the opening she’d created and slide them over his chest. Jack sat immobile, letting her fondle him, his eyes half closed, his expression rapt. She peeled the heavy linen shirt from his shoulders and let it fall to the bed, moving up on one elbow to press her mouth to a broad, flat nipple. He inhaled sharply as she trailed her tongue down the line of dark hair to his belt, and then paused to undo it.
An Indecent Marriage Page 14
