Mary Baxter - Sultry

Lindsay grinned. “Aren’t most men, at some time or other?”

The waitress appeared at the table, and once they had placed their orders and were alone again, Mary Jane shook her bobbed dark blond hair and said, “So tell me what’s going on.”

“You mean with Peter?” Lindsay asked innocently.

Mary Jane almost spat out the sip of water she had just drunk. “Now, why would I ask you about that prick? You know my opinion of him.”

Lindsay’s grin widened. “We’re awful. You know that, don’t you?”

“No, what we are is truthful.”

Lindsay merely shook her head.

“So has your idea gelled yet?” Mary Jane asked, switching the subject.

Lindsay kept a straight face. “Idea?”

“You know what I’m talking about—that certain thing you were going to tell me about. Your secret, if you will.” Mary Jane snapped her fingers. “Duh. Ring a bell?”

“Of course it does, silly. I was just giving you a hard time.”

Although Mary Jane grinned, there was a perplexed look on her face. “My, but you’re full of vinegar today. Whatever’s going on sure suits you. I haven’t seen you this relaxed in a long time.”

“I haven’t been this excited in a long time.”

Before Mary Jane could respond, the waitress brought their food, refilled their water glasses and shuffled to the next table.

“Let’s eat first,” Lindsay said. “Then we’ll talk.” She peered at her watch. “Hey, do you have time? It’s later than I thought.”

“No, I don’t have the time.” Mary Jane shrugged. “But screw ’em. I’m not going to be in any hurry. I’ve given that office overtime galore, none of which I’ve been paid for.”

“Atta girl.”

Mary Jane sighed. “What’s it really like to be a lady of leisure?”

“Hell.” Lindsay’s tone was flat.

Mary Jane’s grin fled, and her eyes lost their twinkle. “Oops, you took that personally, and it wasn’t meant that way. I was just teasing.”

Lindsay forced herself to lighten up. “I know that. You don’t have a malicious bone in your body.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that, but not toward you, anyway.” Mary Jane paused. “Am I missing something here? I mean—”

“It’s me, M.J. I guess I’m beginning to see a side of me that I don’t like.”

“Why, that’s ridiculous. Good Lord, after what you’ve been through, I think you’ve accomplished a miracle just to get up every morning.”

“Some days I still think I have a long way to go.”

“Don’t you dare get down on yourself,” Mary Jane warned fiercely. “Why, just a minute ago you seemed on top of the world.”

Lindsay’s mouth turned down. “Well, that’s a bit of an overstatement, but I really do have something on the burner that I’m excited about.”

“So let’s hear it.”

Lindsay told her about her plan for battered women and their children.

When she finished, Mary Jane’s face was glowing. “I think that’s great.” Mary Jane paused again, her face losing its animation. “Uh, have you told your daddy?”

“Yep.”

“Not good, huh?”

Lindsay gave a sarcastic laugh. “You got it.”

“Now why am I not surprised?”

“I won’t bore you or humiliate myself by repeating his reasons for not backing me. But the bottom line is that he had a conniption.”

“I bet a more apt description is that he was frothing at the mouth.”

Lindsay grinned, in spite of the fact that her stomach was clenched in knots. “You’re right, he was.”

“So are you going to scrap it?”

Lindsay could hear the disappointment in Mary Jane’s tone, which strengthened her resolve not to let her friend down. But most of all, not to let herself down. “No, I’m not.”

“Praise the Lord!” Mary Jane exclaimed.

“Shush,” Lindsay whispered, looking around to see if anyone had heard M.J.

“Ah, you worry too much about what other people think. But you come by that honestly. That’s Cooper’s modus operandi.”

“And Tim’s.”

“Like father, like son. What can I say?”

“So will you help me?” Lindsay asked. “If this idea comes to fruition, I’m going to need lots of volunteers.” Her features sobered. “Actually, I’m going to need a lot of everything.”

“What do you mean, if?”

Lindsay’s eyes clouded. “You know how hard it is for me to buck Daddy.”

“Dammit, Lindsay, he’s dominated you long enough.”

“I know. But I’ve spent so many years pleasing him that it’s hard to stop now.”

“But now is the time to stop. This idea is great. When you talk about it, your face lights up, which is something I haven’t seen since you—” Mary Jane broke off, then added, “Never mind about that.”

“I know you’re right.” Lindsay took a deep breath. “It’s just that I wanted Daddy’s approval, as well as his help.”

“I’ll jump aboard, that’s for sure. What about Tim? Do you think he’d help?”

“Are you kidding? He’s got too many problems of his own to care about anyone else.”

Mary Jane’s eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything.

“For months I’ve had all these ideas dancing around in my head like sugarplums. Now I’m ready to put them on the computer and get officially organized.”

“Do you think Cooper’ll try and sabotage the project?”

Lindsay sipped on the cup of fresh coffee the waitress had just poured, all the while staring at Mary Jane over the rim, a pensive look on her face.

“He might.”

“Well, you can’t let him, you hear?”

“All he wants is for me to marry Peter, live in the big house and have babies.”

Mary Jane harrumphed. “God, what a miserable existence.”

“I agree.”

“If I had to wake up and see Peter’s head on the pillow next to mine, I’d puke.”

Lindsay grinned. “As always, you’re the best tonic I could ever hope to have.”

“You go, girl. Don’t let Daddy shift your gears. You take this project and run with it.”

“Just pray I don’t chicken out,” Lindsay said, Cooper’s scandalized face popping to the forefront of her mind.

“You won’t,” Mary Jane said with airy confidence. “I’m not going to let you.” She peered at her watch. “Oops! Gotta go or I’ll be pounding the pavement looking for a new job.” She grinned as she gave Lindsay a hug. “I’m counting on you to hang tough.”

Later that same afternoon, Lindsay was trying to do just that, only to find her self-confidence in jeopardy, especially after she came home and turned on the computer. To raise money, to round up volunteers—to co-ordinate a project of such magnitude—suddenly seemed overwhelming.

Nonetheless, she had no intention of throwing in the towel until she had at least tried. Her game plan was to officially start the ball rolling in the morning. First she would talk to two very influential people whom she not only considered friends but who had the financial means to help fund the project. Next on her agenda was to approach the local junior college, which she hoped would become part of the triad that included the women’s shelter and her proposed facility.

Her palms turned sweaty as her faltering self-confidence soared into full-blown panic. What if she couldn’t do it? What if she failed?

Simple. Daddy would win.

Everything inside Lindsay cringed at such a thought. She pushed her chair back from the computer screen and rubbed her eyes. It was at times like this, when she was tired and discouraged, that she tended to think about her mother—missing her, reflecting on what her life might have been had Emily Newman lived.

More than that, Lindsay wondered if her own troubled past would always overshadow and undermine her future. Was she emotionally able to tackle such a task? Would she crash and burn again?