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whispered shakily.
“No,” he said in a strange voice. “I don’t.”
She walked back toward the house, leaving him alone in the dark forest, watching, quietly, every
step she took until she was out of sight.
Janice was a knockout in an amber-colored cocktail dress, and King reacted to her as if she was
the most important thing in his life. He made sure that she had place of honor beside him at the table,
and, ignoring the puzzled looks he was getting from his parents, he made up to the striking brunette all
evening.
Shelby tried to ignore them later, in the living room, with Janice standing so close to King that she
seemed a part of him, but it was impossible. She felt as if she were being stabbed, it hurt so.
Kate Brannt patted her hand comfortingly when King finally took Janice outside to look at the
garden.
“I’m sorry you’re leaving,” Kate said gently, glancing toward the patio window where King and
Janice had vanished. “King mentioned it, but when I asked why, he just stalked off without answering.
Why, Shelby?”
“I came because King asked me here to recuperate,” she admitted softly. “Now, he thinks I have
and he…he asked me to leave.”
“Oh,” Kate said, taken aback.
Shelby sighed miserably. “Not that I don’t want to go,” she said quickly. “Getting back to work
will do me good.”
“But I thought your mother…?” Kate exclaimed.
Shelby shook her head with a smile. “There was nothing left and, in a way, I’m glad. She enjoyed
her wealth. It wasn’t her responsibility to provide for me all my life. I have to earn my own way, as
she earned hers.”
“Oh, my dear,” Kate murmured gently.
“I think I’ll go upstairs and pack,” she said, rising. “It’s late and I don’t feel very well.”
“I know,” Kate replied. “You have a very expressive face, Shelby. I can almost feel the hurt for
you. I wish that my eldest son wasn’t quite so blind.”
“Janice is King’s kind of woman,” she murmured. “Poised and sophisticated, and sure of herself.
I’m none of those things. All I have is a face, and when it starts showing wrinkles, I won’t have a
career.” She smiled wistfully. “Sometimes I wish I’d been born ugly. At least then men wouldn’t
mistake me for a fashion plate without brains or emotions. I’m just a walking glossy photograph to
King.”
“I’m sorry, Shelby,” Kate said, and her pale blue eyes were gentle. “I do wish things had worked
out differently.”
“Is Danny coming home tonight?” she asked suddenly.
“No, dear, he called late this afternoon to tell me that Mary Kate was spending the weekend in San
Antonio with a girlfriend so that the two of them could spend tomorrow with some friends in the
mountains.”
Her heart sank. She needed to talk to someone; but maybe Edie would be at the apartment. She
nodded. “I still can’t understand why he wanted to pretend we were engaged,” she murmured. “He
really cares for Mary Kate.”
The older woman sighed. “It’s a long story, my dear, and maybe I can tell you about it one day. Is
King going to fly you home?”
“No!” she said quickly, flushing.
Kate nodded understandingly. “I’ll drive you to town myself, Shelby, and put you on a plane. All
right?”
“Thank you so much,” Shelby said genuinely.
“I only wish you weren’t going. You’ll come again, soon?”
“Of course,” she said politely, knowing even as she said it that she never would.
She went out into the hall just as King and Janice came back in. He drew the sleek brunette close
by his side, and his face was liberally stained with pale pink lipstick. One eyebrow went up at the
drawn look on Shelby’s face.
“Turning in?” he asked coolly.
She nodded. “It…it’s late, and I have to get an early start in the morning. I’m modeling in a fall
showing of Jomar fashions.”
“Jomar! How lovely,” Janice cooed, “I do adore his designs.”
“So do I,” Shelby admitted, “although I only get to model them. I couldn’t afford even a blouse with
that label.”
“You should have tried a little harder, honey,” King said with a malicious smile. “You came closer
than you knew.”
“What?” Shelby asked softly, blinking at the sharp cut of his voice.
His eyes narrowed. “Your mother didn’t leave you anything but a handful of debts, did she,
Shelby? And you made damned sure I didn’t know about it. Are you going to try and convince me that
you didn’t have a wedding ring in mind when you played up to me? God, I could have solved all your
problems, couldn’t I?”
Shelby’s face went paper white. Where had he gotten such a ridiculous idea…her eyes turned
toward Janice’s face and caught the tail end of a triumphant smile.
“I read all about it in my latest issue of the Hollywood news,” Janice said sweetly. “Didn’t you
think it would come out about how poor your mother was when she killed herself?”
Ashen, Shelby turned and started wearily up the stairs.
“It was suicide, wasn’t it?” Janice persisted. “How sad. I suppose it’s some kind of inherent
weakness. Hereditary, probably, too. Do you have suicidal tendencies, Shelby?”
“Let’s have a drink,” King said suddenly, drawing Janice toward the living room. “Let the little
girl go to bed.”
“Anything you say, sugar,” Janice cooed.
Shelby went into her room and closed the door behind her.
King was still upstairs when she left the ranch the next morning in Kate Brannt’s car, dry-eyed.
This time the hurt had gone too deep for tears.
The days went by in a blur of activity as Shelby threw herself into her work with a vengeance. Edie
tried tactfully to slow her down, but nothing would make her slacken the breakneck pace. Finally, in
desperation, Edie appealed to Danny, who showed up early one Friday night as Shelby was getting
ready to model at an evening fashion show. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]