Danielle Steel - Passion's Promise

She hadn’t wanted to come to lunch. It was strange the way it was all getting a little bit harder. Maybe she was getting too old for a double life. Her thoughts turned to Edward. Maybe she’d see him at “21” for lunch, but he was more likely to be found at Lutèce or the Mistral. His luncheon leanings were usually French.

“How do you suppose the children would feel about it if we took them to Palm Beach? I don’t want them to feel I’m pushing out their father.” The wisp of conversation made Kezia turn her head. Well, well, Marina Walters and Halpern Medley. Things were certainly progressing. Item One for tomorrow’s news. They hadn’t see her discreetly folded in one of the large red leather chairs. The advantage of being small. And quiet.

And then she saw Whit, elegant and youthful and tanned, in a dark gray suit and Wedgewood blue shirt. She waved at him and he walked over to her chair.

“You’re looking awfully well today, Mr. Hayworth.” She held out a hand to him from her comfortable seat, and he kissed her wrist lightly, then clasped her fingers loosely in his.

“I feel a lot better than I did with a jeroboam of champagne under my belt the other night. How did you weather that?”

“Very nicely, thank you. I slept all day,” she lied. “And you?” She smiled at him and they began to thread their way toward the dining room.

“Don’t make me jealous. Your sleep-ins are an outrage!”

“Ah, Mr. Hayworth! Miss Saint Martin …” The headwaiter led them to Whitney’s customary table, and Kezia settled in and looked around. Same old faces, same old crowd. Even the models looked familiar. Warren Beatty sat at a corner table, and Babe Paley had just walked in.

“What did you do last night, Kezia?” Her smile was one he could not read.

“I played bridge.”

“You look like you must have won.”

“As a matter of fact, I did. I’ve been on a winning streak since I got home.”

“I’m glad for you. Me, I’ve been losing at backgammon consistently for the past four weeks. Bitching rotten luck.” But he didn’t look overly worried, as he patted her hand gently and signaled to the waiter. Two Bloody Marys and a double steak tartare. The usual. “Darling, do you want wine?” She shook her head. The Bloody Marys would be fine.

It was a quick lunch; he had to be back in the office at two. Now that the summer was over, it was business as usual: new wills, new trusts, new babies, new divorces, new season. It was almost like a whole new year. Like children returning to school, socialites marked the years by “the season,” and the season had just begun.

“Will you be in town this weekend, Kezia?” He seemed distracted as he hailed her a cab.

“No. Remember? I have that weekend thing with Edward.”

“Oh, that’s right. Good. Then I won’t feel like such a meanie. I’m going to Quogue with some business associates. But I’ll call you on Monday. Will you be all right?” The question amused her.

“I’ll be fine.” She slid gracefully into the cab, and smiled up into his eyes. Business associates, darling? “Thanks for the lunch.”

“See you Monday.” He waved again as the cab pulled away, and she sighed comfortably from the back seat. Finito. She was off the hook till Monday. But suddenly, there was nothing but lies.

* * *

The weekend was perfect. Bright sunny skies, a light breeze, little pollution and a low pollen count, and she and Mark had painted the bedroom a bright cornflower blue. “In honor of your eyes,” he told her as she worked diligently around the window. It was a bitch of a job, but when they had finished, they were both immensely pleased.

“How about a picnic to celebrate?” He was in high spirits and so was she.

She ran down to Fiorella’s for provisions, while he called around to borrow a car. A friend of George’s offered his van.

“Where are we going, sire?”

“Treasure Island. My own treasure island.” And he began to sing snatches of absurd songs about islands, interspersed with a great many cackles and guffaws.

“Mark Wooly, you’re a madman.”

“That’s cool, Cinderella. As long as you dig it.” There was no malice in the “Cinderella.” They were too happy and it was too fine a day. And Mark had never been malicious.

He took her to a little island in the East River, a nameless gem near Randall’s Island. They looped off the highway, and through litter and a bumpy little road that seemed to go nowhere, crossed a small bridge, and suddenly…. magic! A lighthouse and a crumbling castle all their own.

“It looks like the fall of the House of Usher.”

“Yes, and it’s all mine. And now it’s yours, too. Nobody ever comes here.” New York gazed somberly at them from across the river, the United Nations, the Chrysler Building and the Empire State looking sleek and polite, as the happy pair lay on the grass and opened a bottle of Fiorella’s best Chianti. Tugboats and ferries floated past, and they waved to captains and crewmen and laughed at the sky.

“What a beautiful day!”

“Yeah, it really is.” He put his head in her lap and she leaned down and kissed him.

“Want some more wine, Mr. Wooly?”

“No, just a slice of the sky.”

“At your service, sir.”

Clouds were gathering, and it was four in the afternoon when the first lightning flashed past the clouds.

“I think you’re going to get that slice of the sky you ordered. In about five minutes. See how good I am to you? Your wish is my command.”

“Baby, you’re terrific.” He sprang to his feet and flung out his arms, and in five minutes it was pouring rain and lightning flashed and thunder roared, and they ran around the island together hand in hand, laughing and soaked to the skin.

When they got home, they showered together, and the hot water felt prickly on their chilled bodies. They walked naked into the new blue bedroom, and lay peacefully in each others’ arms.

She left him at six the next morning. He slept like a child, his head on his arms, his hair hiding his eyes, his lips soft to her touch.

“Goodbye, my beloved, sleep tight.” She kissed him gently on one temple, and whispered into his hair. It would be noon before he awoke, and she would be far from him by then. In a different world, chasing dragons, making choices.

Chapter 6

“Good morning, Miss Saint Martin. I’ll tell Mr. Simpson you’re here.”

“Thanks, Pat. How’ve you been?”

“Busy, crazy. Seems like everyone has a new idea for a book after the summer. Or a new manuscript, or a royalty check that got lost.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Kezia smiled ruefully, thinking of her own plans for a book.

The secretary took a quick look at her desk, gathered up some papers, and disappeared behind a heavy oak door. The literary agency of Simpson, Wells, and Jones did not look very different from Edward’s law firm, or Whit’s office, or the brokerage house that had the bulk of her account. This was serious business. Long shelves of books, wood paneling, bronze door handles, and a thick carpet the color of Burgundy wine. Sober. Impressive. Prestigious. She was represented by a highly reputable firm. It was why she had felt comfortable sharing her secret with Jack Simpson. He knew who she was, and only he and Edward knew of her numerous aliases. And Simpson’s staff, of course, but they were unfailingly discreet. The secret had remained well guarded.

“Mr. Simpson will see you now, Miss Saint Martin.”

“Thank you, Pat.”

He was waiting for her on his feet behind the desk, a kindly man close to Edward’s age, balding and gray at the temples, with a broad fatherly smile, and comforting hands. They shook hands as they always did. And she settled into the chair across from him, stirring the tea Pat had provided. It was peppermint tea today. Sometimes it was English Breakfast and in the afternoon it was always Earl Grey. Jack Simpson’s office was a haven for her, a place to relax and unwind. A place for excitement about the work she had done. She was always happy there.