Beloved (36 page)

"
Bing! I thought you were
—
"

He caught her in his arms.
"
Nothing could have kept me away
—
nothing!
—
for another day. I
'
ve been counting hours, minutes, seconds,
"
he said elatedly, lifting her from her feet and swinging her round.
"
Your getting a phone was a disaster for me. I was okay until I heard your voice, but after that
—
"

She laughed giddily as he lifted her above his head.
"Af
ter that?
"

"
After that,
" he said, lowering
her slowly to the ground,
"
after that I began to wonder how I
'
d make it through the week without you.
"

He
gave her
a kiss of silvery sweetness that traveled like a kind of lazy lightning along her nerve endings. When he released her she said breathlessly,
"
Can you stay awhile?
"

"
I was afraid I
'
d have to beg,
"
he murmured, nuzzling the curve of her neck.

He released her and she noticed, for the first time, a business envelope that had been slipped through the mail slot and lay on the floor underneath it. She picked it up; the logo said
J
& J NURSERY AND LANDSCAPING,
NANTUCKET
.

From Mac
—
no doubt an apology. She opened the flap and read the contents.

It was a bill:

Lift holly.

Plant holly.

Time and equipment: $300.

"W
hat is it?
"
Bing asked.
"
You look surprised.
"

"
It
'
s a bill. From Mac.
"

"
For what?
"

"
Moving the holly tree.
"
.

"
Moving it where?
"

"
Where it
was,
obviously.
"
Immediately Jane was sorry. She was letting Mac destroy a perfectly romantic moment without even having to be there to do it.
"
I
'
m so
rr
y, Bing. This is nothing,
"
she said, tossing the bill on the nearest table.
"
Just Mac being Mac. Let
'
s have a drink, shall we?
"

Bing made rum and tonics while Jane peeled back the bedsheet she
'
d been using to protect the Empire sofa from work dust. She turned down the lamps to throw a soft golden glow over the worn reds of the tattered
Bokhara
, and tucked a couple of kilim pillows in the corners of the sofa. She loved the room, loved its romantic, exotic, ambience. What a pity that her aunt had spent the greater part of her life in it alone.

Bing came back with their drinks and they settled in on the sofa together. Buster, who was visiting, settled on the floor alongside, happy for the company. Jane took off her shoes and tucked her stockinged feet under her legs, Indian style, aware that trying to appear sexy and seductive in jeans and a sweatshirt was pretty much a waste of time. The wonderful thing about Bing was that he seemed to be dazzled by her no matter what she was wearing.

He was looking pretty dazzling himself tonight. There
was something about him that made her think along the lines of Greek gods. His hair was as bright as spun brass, his eyes the color of the
Caribbean Sea
. His teeth
—
s
o white, so straight
—
we
re as perfect as his profile. Yes: Apollo, the Sun God. Patron of the arts. Lover of nymphs, goddesses, and daughters of kings.

And
—
as she recalled
—
husband to not a darn one of
'
em.

"
You have a very dreamy expression on your face,
"
Bing said softly.
"
I wonder what you
'
re thinking.
"

"Oh ..
. I don
'
t think you want to know,
"
she said with a wry smile, fluttering her lashes. There was a silence, very pregnant, before she raised her head and said,
"
And New York? How goes the battle of the new wing?
"

It was a deliberate change of subject, and Bing knew it. With a smile and a shrug he obliged Jane with an amusing account of the trials and perils of building in
Manhattan
.

When he finished there was a thoughtful pause, and then he said,
"
Did you know that Cissy
'
s been spending the last couple of days buying out
Fifth Avenue
?
"

"
Yes, she told me she was going shopping in the city. I must say, this sudden desire for a makeover surprises me; she
'
s turned into a clotheshorse overnight. What
'
s going on?
"

"
That
'
s what I
'
d like to know,
"
Bing said with a thoughtful shake of his head.
"
Obviously she
'
s going all out to please her Mr. X. But she
'
s so damn secretive about the guy. I
'
ve never seen her like this, so devotedly in love. It
'
s like he has some Svengali hold on her. She was nothing like this when she married Dave
—
although it
'
s true she was even more of a child then.
"

Bing got up and began pacing the room, clearly uneasy.
"
And that
'
s the other problem
—
Dave. My
Nantucket
number
'
s unlisted, so Cissy
'
s been safe from his calls here. But he was able to reach her this week at my co-op. It was pure rotten luck that she picked up the phone.

"
He
'
s called me in the city before, drunk and wheedling, trying to get me to intervene on his behalf. I
'
ve managed to keep things cool, but I guess when Cissy answered the phone he lost it. She told me he got pretty ugly. He always was a mean drunk.
"

"
Can you put the police on notice?
"
Jane asked, concerned for Cissy. She
'
d read too many stories of estranged husbands to be comfortable with what Bing was telling her.

"
What can I tell them? That they had an acrimonious conversation on the phone? What divorcing couple hasn
'
t? It
'
s not grounds for a restraining order. No, she
'
ll be safe enough on the island, if I can just coax her out of Bergdorf Goodman and onto a plane. She
'
s supposed to be here tomorrow evening, as soon as she
'
s finished with her fittings at Saks.
"

"
You
'
ll breathe more easily then,
"
Jane agreed.

"
You think I
'
m an alarmist,
"
he said. Jane denied it.

"
Dave
'
s never hurt Cissy physically,
"
Bing admitted.
"
Never even threatened her. But when she finally mustered the resolve to walk out on him and his escapades
...
well, Dave
'
s too macho to take something like that without lashing out. Can you blame me for worrying?
"

He had his hands in his pockets and was staring without seeing at the slant-top desk and its leaded-glass bookcase.
"
I wish to God our parents were here!
"
he burst out bitterly.
"
She
'
s too much responsibility for me.
Damn
it to hell!
"

Surprised by his vehemence, Jane said thoughtfully,
"
I had a college chum who was a lot like you. She wanted everything to be perfect, from her boyfriend to her master
'
s thesis.
"

Bing turned and cocked one eyebrow at Jane.
"
Come again?
"

"
Well, for instance: She could never walk into a stereo shop and say,
'
That sounds good. I can afford it. I
'
ll take it.
'
Oh, no; she knew too well what the best equipment was. But it cost too much. So she sat in silence.

"
My friend wanted a garden filled with exotic delphiniums and tender calla lilies; no easy-care daisies for
her.
But she didn
'
t have the time; she couldn
'
t take the trouble. So she ended up with weeds.
"

Jane smiled ruefully to herself.
"
Needless to say, she never finished her thesis; she was always researching one more aspect of it. For all I know, she
'
s still in the RISD library.
"

"
So what
'
re you saying? That I don
'
t have a green thumb? That I
'
m poor material for graduate school?
"

He was being deliberately dense; Jane ignored it.
"
I
'
m saying that you cannot create a perfect life for your sister, no matter how hard you try. I
'
m saying your sister herself will not be perfect, no matter how much you want her to be. That doesn
'
t mean you should resent the commitment —
or walk away from the responsibility.
"

"
Am I really such a coward?
"
he asked with disarming candor.

"
You
'
re an emotional idealist,
"
Jane said carefully. She unwrapped herself from the lotus position she was in and went over to Bing.
"
And you
'
re beating yourself up for no reason. I won
'
t say Cissy
'
s a big girl now
—
in many ways, she
'
s not
—
but I don
'
t think you can put her in a pumpkin, either. She won
'
t let you. So far Dave is nothing more than a nuisance. As for her Mr. X, if she wants to date someone who likes fine clothing
...."

It was as i
f two light bulbs
went on at the same time.
"
Philip?
"
they both ventured at once.

It was such a startling thought that they both burst out laughing. Phillip and Cissy? Phillip
—
who could name every wine district, parish, and chateau in
Burgundy
—
with Cissy, who thought
Burgundy
was a shade of nail polish? And yet, Jane could see the match. Phillip was older, commanding, knowledgeable
—
everything that Cissy wasn
'
t. As
for Cissy, she brought youth, beauty, and an eagerness to please. That was enough for many a middle-aged man.

"
I guess it proves that opposites attract,
"
Jane mused.
"
Were we the last ones to figure it out?
"

"'
Mistress of Edgehill,
'"
Bing murmured with a wry smile as he led Jane back to the sofa.
"
It does have a certain ring to it.
"