Belinda (15 page)

Having rationalized his behavior, Reeve felt
much better. Everything in his life was exactly the way he wanted
it now: Belinda was a good nanny; the children were happy; there
was a stability and sense of permanence in his home. He would do
nothing to upset that balance—nothing.

Just to make certain that he kept that
promise to himself, he ripped apart tomorrow’s lesson plans—the
love sonnets of Shakespeare—and substituted T.S. Eliot’s “The
Wasteland.”

The next morning when Reeve summoned Belinda
to the den on the intercom she was so excited she forgot to put her
assets on display. When she walked in and saw him standing beside
the mantle with a perfectly lovely, perfectly elegant woman, her
hopes fell.

“Belinda, I want you to meet Maureen. She’s
kindly agreed to a private showing. Just pick whatever you
want.”

She hadn’t noticed the array of clothes.
There were enough suits and evening gowns and dresses to outfit an
army of nannies.

Now what? Though she knew perfectly well that
whispering in front of somebody was rude, she marched to Reeve and
leaned close so Maureen couldn’t hear.

“I don’t need those expensive clothes.”

“I’m paying.” He said it right out loud, as
if money grew alongside the rosebushes in his backyard.

“I won’t take them,” she said, loud enough
for Maureen to hear.

Reeve’s expression didn’t change. “Will you
excuse us for a moment, Maureen? I’ll have Quincy bring some coffee
to you in my study.”

After she had left the room, he turned to
Belinda. “Whether you will take them is not a question here.” He
held up two dresses. “Which do you like best, the black or the
green?”

“Neither. They’re both plain as dirt. Anyhow,
what does it matter what I like? I will not take your charity.”

“This is not charity, Belinda; it’s
business.”

“I am not a kept woman!”

“That’s a ridiculous notion. No one thinks of
you that way.”

“Maureen will. After today she’ll tell
everyone all over town that you bought a ton of clothes for that
little upstart from Augusta, Georgia.”

Reeve chuckled. “Belinda, you can be very
amusing when you get angry.”

“Stop patronizing me.”

“That’s great!”

“I don’t see what’s great about it.”

“I’m astonished at how quickly your
vocabulary is growing.”

“Why do you always think of me as your
project! I’m not a project, I’m a person.”

Reeve came to her and cupped her shoulders.
“I know you’re a person.”

His voice and his touch were kind and gentle,
the sort a teacher might use with a student. His actions served
only to fan the flames of her indignation.

“No, you don’t. You didn’t even ask if I
wanted a new wardrobe.”

“It’s a part of your education.”

“Then show me some pictures. Let me look at
all those designer labels in the pages of some slick magazine from
Paris, but please allow me the dignity of buying my own
clothes.”

“What has gotten into you, Belinda?”

“Maybe I’m in—” She bit her lower lip just in
time to keep from saying
love.
She needed a break; she
needed a change; she needed a miracle.

“Look, Reeve, I’m sorry. Forget everything I
said. Just send the clothes back with Maureen and maybe you can
drop me off at the store next Saturday and I’ll buy one of the
outfits.”

She saw the muscle working in the side of his
jaw. One of the things she knew about Reeve was his bullheaded
determination to do whatever he set his mind to.

“All right, Belinda,” he finally said. “You
can purchase the clothes.” He pulled a wad of bills out of his
pocket big enough to buy Louisiana, with Texas thrown in for good
measure. “Take this. It’s a bonus for showing Mark how to catch a
fly ball.”

“That’s part of my job.”

“No. It’s part of
my
job. I’m his
father. I wasn’t there for him—you were. And now, if you’ll excuse
me, I going to send Maureen in here to take all this back to the
store.”

o0o

From: Belinda

To: Molly, Joanna, Catherine, Janet, Bea,
Clemmie

Re: Update

I think the plan is working! I’ve paraded my
assets like somebody in a red light district, and he’s acting all
hot and bothered.

Bea, you’ll be glad to know I’m remaining an
independent woman, too. When Reeve sent some prissy woman who
looked like she had a stick up her butt to give me a private
fashion show, I told him I’d buy my own clothes. You ought to see
what I got! I’m going to be showing more skin than Jennifer
Lopez!”

Xo

Belinda

From: Joanna

To: Belinda, Molly, Janet, Catherine, Bea,
Clemmie

Re: Phase Two

Cool, Belinda!!! Hey, Molly. It’s time to
bring out the big guns! Where’s that HOTTIE you know?

Big Hugs!!!

Joanna

From: Janet

To: Belinda, Molly, Catherine, Bea, Clemmie,
Joanna

Re: The Other Half of the Story

You sound happier, Belinda. I’m glad. What
about the other part of this plan. Is that man
teaching
you
anything
?

XO

Janet

From: Bea

To: Belinda, Molly, Catherine, Janet,
Clemmie, Joanna

Re: Fly on the Wall

OMG, Belinda! I’d like to be a fly on the
wall! Keep kicking butt!

Molly, tell your friend to
call Reeve
Lawrence’s house!
That will have more impact than calling than
Belinda’s mobile. And send one of those hotties to Texas. I think
my Virginia is in need of
resuscitation
!

Hugs,

Bea

From: Clemmie

To: Molly, Belinda, Bea, Catherine, Janet,
Joanna

Re: A Hottie

If you have an extra hottie, send him to
Peppertown, Molly. I can’t wait to hear how phase two works!

Hug,

Clemmie

From: Catherine

To: Molly, Belinda, Bea, Clemmie, Janet,
Joanna

Re: Bea’s Virginia

OMG, Bea! May I remind you that you were the
one who wrote the rules? No sex without a wedding ring!

Belinda, is this man the marrying kind? Also,
you’d better check to see if that house is a shrine to his dead
wife. Next weekend you have off, why don’t you come down to New
Orleans, sweetie? There are some really hot guys on campus, and the
French Quarter is just crawling with men! You might see something
that will change your mind about Reeve Lawrence.

Gotta run! A HUGE test tomorrow.

XOXO

Catherine

o0o

Molly didn’t take long to launch her plan of
sending in the hotties.

Belinda got the first phone call the next
evening after she and Reeve returned from dinner at one of Tupelo’s
fancier restaurants. He had just removed her jacket and was hanging
it in the hall closet.

“Call’s for you, Belinda. It’s some
man.
” Quincy was grinning when she held out the phone. It
would be just like her to guess what Belinda was up to.

Reeve paused in the act of shutting the
closet door. When Belinda took the phone, she heard a really sexy
male voice asking her for a date.

“That sounds lovely.” She made herself giggle
in the way that makes a man wonder what a woman is up to. “Yes! I’d
be thrilled!”

“Was that a friend of yours?” Reeve asked
after she’d hung up. He was trying to act casual, but she noticed
he’d walked off and left the closet door wide open.

“No. Just someone who saw me at the
restaurant tonight.”

“A perfect stranger called you?”

“Yes. After we left, he inquired who we were.
Then he called me.” Belinda was enjoying her power. Reeve had held
the reins far too long. “He sounded very nice,” she added.

Reeve made a visible effort at regaining his
self-control.

“You have to be careful of strangers,
Belinda.”

“Some of the best times of my life have been
with strangers.”

His face got red, but still he held on to
that iron control of his. Belinda decided to prod him a little.

“Just think of all the fun I’d have missed if
I had turned Charlie Crocket down because he was a stranger.”

“The man who wanted to pick your plums?”
Reeve enunciated each word as if he were spitting bullets.

Belinda laughed. “That’s the one.”

“And what was this man offering?”

“You’re asking me what he was offering?
You’re asking me that?
You,
the absolute master of bribery
and gestapo tactics?”

“Would you like to explain your
accusations?”

“I think they are self-evident.”

“What do you consider bribery, Belinda? The
dinner, the wine, the clothes?”

“Take your choice. I’m bought and paid
for.”

“In that case I may as well get my money’s
worth.”

His mouth came down on hers, and he kissed
her with such savage fury both of them were left breathless. When
he finally let her go, he stared at her as if he had never seen her
before.

She didn’t dare speak, didn’t dare move. She
barely dared breathe. The man she loved had just kissed her and she
was in heaven—and in hell.

She drew herself out of his embrace and stood
facing him.

“Did you get your money’s worth?” she
said.

Her nerves frayed as she watched him,
waiting.

Finally he said, “I’m sorry, Belinda. I lost
my temper. It won’t happen again.” And then he turned and walked up
the stairs.

She watched until he’d disappeared, and then
crossed to the closet and shut the door before she went to her own
bedroom.

She opened her computer and shot off an email
to her friends.

From: Belinda

To: Molly, Joanna, Janet, Bea, Clemmie,
Catherine

Re: Our Big Plan

That guy called and I said yes, but I think
it might have backfired. Molly, make sure he knows this is not a
real date, that he’s just doing you a favor. I don’t want to lose
Reeve.

XO

Belinda

She didn’t even wait for a reply. Instead she
got into her gown and lay sleepless in her bed, wondering if Reeve
meant what he said about never kissing her again.

o0o

Reeve lay in bed, rigid with anger. That was
all he needed. Some man interested in a casual fling coming along
to take Belinda away from him. Just when everything was going so
well.

He had shaped her and polished her, and now,
when she was sparkling like a fine diamond, some fool was going to
turn her head and talk to her about a trip down to the Bahamas or a
fun weekend in Las Vegas. Then Reeve would be looking for another
nanny for his children. They would be heartbroken.

Besides that, Quincy would never stop
berating him for losing Belinda. In addition, he would once more be
left alone, trying to juggle work and children and all the myriad
details of his life that Belinda took care of.

He sat up and gave his pillow a vicious
punch. Maybe things would look better tomorrow. Perhaps he was
overreacting.

o0o

Belinda’s boyfriend was worse than Reeve had
imagined, a big brainless-looking jock with a bone-crushing
handshake. And what was that little outfit Belinda was wearing? It
wasn’t big enough to cover a sneeze.

He said, “Have a good time, Belinda,” which
was patently ridiculous when he meant exactly the opposite.

Then he hurried off to his office and shut
the door. Work, that was the ticket. Forget about Belinda and the
jock.

The evening dragged by, and when the car came
back up his driveway he popped out of his chair like a man shot
from a cannon. To make matters worse, he went to the window like
some lovesick teenager. To spy, for God’s sake.

When the muscle-bound fool leaned down to
kiss her, Reeve gripped the windowsill so hard his knuckles turned
white. Thank God, Belinda had sense enough to end break away so the
kiss landed on her cheerk.

He marched back to his desk, feeling a
certain amount of self-righteous satisfaction. But it was to be
short-lived.

The next day, much to Reeve’s horror, Belinda
was suddenly a hot item in town. Men were suddenly crawling out of
the woodworks, keeping the telephone lines hot trying to get a
date.

Reeve stood by with tightly clenched jaws,
observing the emergence of his creation into the social whirl. He
didn’t even bother to meet the second guy who picked her up,
somebody by the name of Jerry Orion, she’d said. It was none of his
business.

He shut himself into his office and set to
work. He’d be leaving for Paris within the week, and he had a lot
to do.

Finally he stood up to stretch and glanced at
the clock with some alarm. Belinda had been gone three hours. Good
Lord, how long did it take to see a movie?

Granted, they would probably stop for
hamburgers on the way home. The young man was probably the
hamburger type. On the other hand, what if he had driven Belinda to
some dark country road and parked? Did people still do that these
days?

Reeve began to pace. He needed to warn her
about men like Jerry Orion. What kind of name was that, anyway? It
sounded suspicious to him, like a fictitious name. What if he had
let Belinda go out with a criminal?

He looked at the clock again. Three and a
half hours. He started to call the police, then realized the folly
of that move.

Reeve made himself stop pacing and sit down
at his desk. The French project seemed to glare up at him.

Suddenly he lifted the file and a new,
horrifying thought came into his head. There was no telling what
would happen while he was abroad. He might even come back to find
Belinda engaged... or married. After all, she was the most
beautiful, most desirable, most charming woman in town. Thanks to
him.

He clenched his jaw. Belinda was
his.
She was his creation. For a moment, Reeve let his
emotions take charge as he thought of all the awful
possibilities.