Convenient Brides (40 page)

He raised an eyebrow. ‘But I haven’t done a thing, Ellie.’

‘You…Let me go, please, Brett,’ she said, even more hotly embarrassed.

‘Will you come to the party?’ He caressed the soft skin on her inner wrist with his fingers.

‘That’s blackmail…’

‘Yep. But look at it this way, we wouldn’t be on our own.’ His eyes danced with sheer devilry.

‘Oh, all right! But I could be—’

‘Don’t say it, I can guess,’ he drawled. ‘Be very an-noyed about it?’

‘Well, I could!’ She stopped as the phone rang. ‘That’ll be Simon. He took my mobile so he could ring when the rehearsal was over.’

‘I’ll go and get him,’ Brett said. ‘While you work on your sense of grievance.’ He raised her wrist to his lips and kissed the back of her hand.

B
RETT
was already out when Ellie left her bedroom the next morning but there was a note on the fridge for her saying that he’d consulted with Simon and they’d or-ganised their day so she was a free agent.

And despite all her misgivings she took herself out to do all the things he’d recommended.

She had a facial and a manicure, got her hair done, then went to shop for something to wear. Delia had told her—what seemed like an eternity ago now—that the party would be chic casual. And she finally found just the right outfit. The top was in the latest fashion, a deep rose-pink, while the skirt was a light, airy material over a lining, white with rose-pink flowers on it. About an inch of her midriff was bare where the top ended and the skirt began. And she found an elegant pair of matching pink high-heeled sandals.

Then, on a bizarre impulse, she bought herself some new lingerie, silk and lace and light as a feather and including a gossamer nightgown and robe in a pale silvery grey trimmed with ice-coloured lace. She also splurged on new cosmetics, thereby blowing all the hard-earned extra money the week had brought her and some more.

‘Wow!’ Simon stared at her. ‘You look stunning!’

‘Thank you, young man,’ Ellie said seriously. ‘I take that as a great compliment. Have you got everything?’

He was going to spend the night with Martie Webster who lived a few houses away; it was a baby-sitting arrangement
Ellie and Martie’s parents had shared for years.

‘Think so. OK, have fun!’ He hugged her and took off, only to come running back for the container of Anzac cookies she’d baked. ‘And don’t do anything I wouldn’t!’ he added with a cheeky grin.

‘Why do I get the feeling there’s a
lot
of role reversal going on in this house?’ she asked the empty kitchen.

Brett strolled in. ‘Role reversal?’

‘I feel just like James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby George Dupree’s mother,’ she told him. ‘Mind you, let’s hope I don’t get lost like she did.’

‘I…feel I’ve missed the boat somewhere along the line,’ he said ruefully.

‘Funnily enough, so do I!’ Ellie said with irony. ‘In your case I wouldn’t worry about it.’

He blinked, then shook his head. ‘One thing I do know, you’re looking good enough to eat.’ His gaze dwelt on the satiny skin of her bare shoulder and her slim outline in her new outfit; her shining cloud of curls in their elegant bob, the tiny gold rings she wore in her ears and the perfection of her make-up; her glossy lips…

‘Yes, well—’ Ellie turned away rather hurriedly and picked up her purse ‘—let’s go.’

‘In case…we get a little carried away again?’ he postulated.

She turned back and said tartly, ‘Brett Spencer, sheer pride has rendered me into cast iron!’

He laughed softly. ‘Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said of me.’ He picked up his car keys. ‘So, you’re right, let’s go.’

As a conversation killer, his last comment worked well all the way out to Raby Bay, but he put on a favourite
classical CD of hers, and she relaxed to the music and the lack of conversation didn’t seem to be a problem. Although it did occur to her that they had similar taste in music.

As he nosed the magenta Range Rover, which Simon so desired to learn to drive, into the kerb beside a brightly lit house, Ellie stared out of the window and suffered another bout of nerves.

But Brett got out and came round to open her door and give her his hand to descend the steep step to the ground. And she walked up the path beside him but stopped abruptly a few paces from the front door.

He turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

‘I won’t know a soul.’

‘Ellie—’ he took her hand ‘—you have me.’ And he dropped a light kiss on her hair. At the same time the front door swung open and Delia called a greeting.

There were about fifty people at Delia and Archie McKinnon’s anniversary party, which turned out to be a very up-market barbecue on their waterfront terrace. And while quite a few of them knew Brett, they were so out of touch with him that her place in his life and her back-ground went completely unremarked.

And she started to enjoy herself. The canapeés were excellent, the wine flowed, the background music appealed to her and the conversation was stimulating. Archie McKinnon, a barrister, was very tall and thin and had a brilliant sense of humour and both he and Delia went out of their way to make Ellie feel welcome. Archie, it also turned out, had a passion for flying kites.

Then a late guest arrived; Gemma Arden, Brett’s law-yer. As Ellie’s only contact with Brett for a number of
years, she’d had quite a bit to do with Ellie and they’d become friends.

‘This is a pleasant surprise!’ Gemma said warmly. ‘How’s Simon?’

‘Fine, thank you!’

‘And how…’ Gemma looked around and lowered her voice, although Brett was helping Archie at the barbecue ‘…is our mutual friend coping with the rigours of civilization?’

A smile trembled on Ellie’s lips. ‘I don’t think it’s that easy, to be honest. It…may even have given him some strange ideas.’

Gemma’s intelligent eyes glinted a question. ‘Such as?’

Ellie grimaced and sipped some wine, regretting what she’d said.

‘I was at university with Brett,’ Gemma said quietly, ‘and I’m not only his lawyer, we’ve been friends for years, so why don’t you and I have lunch one day, Ellie? I also feel as if you and I are friends but you’re right, this probably isn’t the time or the place to discuss things—if you would like to?’

‘I would,’ Ellie said, making a sudden decision.

As they settled on Monday at twelve noon the main course was served. Reef and beef kebabs, grilled mush-rooms, potatoes Idaho, ratatouille and a marvellous array of salads. If that was not enough there was pavlova, apple pie, fruit salad and ice cream to follow.

So, when couples began to dance and Brett looked a question at her, she was lulled by food, wine and good conversation and she couldn’t resist the music. Also, Gemma had left the party—Ellie was sure she would have felt self-conscious about dancing with Brett in front of Gemma Arden.

The terrace lighting was turned off and only the underwater pool lights were left on, although lights did twinkle up and down the canal.

A jasmine creeper was perfuming the warm, sultry night air, and she felt good about herself—dressed right, not so much a single mother with all the burdens that encompassed, but an intelligent, sometimes witty person able to hold her own with a career others had found interesting. She felt as she hadn’t felt for a long time, she discovered. Yes, she’d been to parties down the long road of single-motherhood, but not often and never as enjoyable as this.

So why not? she wondered as she started to dance with Brett. And realized that some of her new-found confidence had come from his presence. He had, mysteriously, contributed moral support.

Perhaps it was gratitude, perhaps it would have happened anyway—he was great to dance with—but being in his arms gradually unlocked that pure physical delight she’d felt the last time she’d been there until she stum-bled suddenly.

He raised an eyebrow at her and stopped dancing.

‘I don’t do this very often,’ she said awkwardly. ‘I must be out of practice. I think I’d like to sit down.’

But he shook his head and drew her closer. ‘You don’t lie very well, Ellie.’ And started to move to the rhythm again.

‘Brett…’ she said shakily. ‘I thought this was what we were staying away from home to avoid?’

He glinted a look down at her that was so nakedly intimate her breath caught in her throat. A look that seemed to strip away her clothes and remove the two of them to some utterly private place where they could in-dulge their fascination with each other to the limit.

Then he said very softly, ‘It doesn’t seem to be working—and we can’t spend the rest of our lives away from home. Should we make a discreet exit?’

She looked at him helplessly. ‘I knew there was something wrong with your logic!’

‘Logic?’ he said wryly.

‘You know what I mean.’

‘The only logic that seems to apply is that we want each other, Ellie.’

‘But I’m not ready to make that decision, Brett.’

He loosened his arms. ‘Then let’s stay,’ he said dryly. ‘Why miss out on a good party for a—possible lost cause?’

A flicker of anger lit her eyes. ‘Saying something like that leads me to think you only have one thing in mind, Brett Spencer.’

‘My dear Ellie,’ he drawled, ‘have you forgotten about Chantal Jones again?’

‘No! Yes! I mean, oh, hell—she may not be very happy with me at the moment.’

‘Why on earth not?’ He stopped dancing.

Ellie explained briefly.

He stared down into her eyes for a long frozen moment, then his shoulders shook and he started to laugh. But what he said next really shook her. ‘Do you know, that’s exactly what I needed.’

‘Needed? What do you mean?’

‘I have to confess—’ he started to dance again ‘—I’ve been battling a certain element of guilt in regard to Ms Jones. It’s now gone.’

‘Guilt?’ Ellie stopped abruptly and frowned. ‘Gone?’

‘Yep.’

‘How? Why?’

He shrugged. ‘The thought of Dan Dawson falling out
of love with you and into love with her has—dissolved it.’

‘Thank you,’ she said with a tinge of bitterness, but then shook her head in a mystified kind of way. ‘I still don’t understand.’

‘Look, I should never have let things go the way they did on the plane, especially as I had no intention of—following up.’

‘Because she was a topless dancer?’

‘No, well, I tried to tell myself that. But now Dan has succumbed, I don’t feel so bad about myself.’ He shrugged and looked rueful. ‘She packs a powerful punch and we’re only human.’

‘Why didn’t you have any intention of following up?’ Ellie asked with a frown.

‘I had someone called Elvira Madigan on my mind.’

Her eyes widened. ‘Even then? But you hadn’t seen me for five years!’

‘I wasn’t disappointed when I did.’ He looked down at her. ‘I should have thought,’ he added, ‘that much was obvious.’

An expression of such confusion crossed her face, he laughed softly and said, ‘Still looking for logic, Ellie? When will you understand these matters don’t respond to logic? They’re there or they’re not, they come and they go. But if you prefer to ignore them, be my guest.’ And he swung her around with a flourish and brought her to a standstill. ‘I don’t know about you but I’m thirsty.’

‘And I’m not the person who has just confessed to being attracted to two women at the same time—or did I get it wrong?’ she said tautly.

‘You got it dead right. But with Chantal it was only a prickle, just one of those things.’

‘That still doesn’t make me…feel very good,’ she said desolately. ‘Or present you in a very good light!’ she added with more spirit.

He smiled lazily down at her. ‘On the other hand I know a way to make you feel very good. What a dilemma for you, Elvira Madigan!’ he said with a sardonic glint in his eye. ‘But it’s up to you.’

He released her, waited for a moment, but when there was only confusion in her eyes he took her hand and led her towards the drinks table.

They didn’t stay until the bitter end but close to it, and the only good thing to come out of the rest of the party was that she sold a kite unseen to Archie McKinnon.

And while they maintained a friendly front for the rest of the evening, the tension in the Range Rover on the way home was tangible.

She glanced at him a couple of times beneath her lashes and saw a side of him she hadn’t seen for the past couple of weeks. The hard side of Brett Spencer, and it made her shiver inwardly. Then she cautioned herself to take it into account should she ever decide to marry him. Although, she thought with a tremor, perhaps the offer of that privilege was about to be withdrawn?

She soon discovered it wasn’t.

They went into the house by the front door and she hesitated in the hall. ‘Goodnight. It was a nice party,’ she said lamely.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked down at her impassively, his gaze lingering on the faint blue shadows beneath her eyes—and his mouth tightened for a moment. ‘You look more stressed than you did when I came home. Look, forget Chantal and think about Simon. But most importantly, think of yourself.’

She swallowed.

‘You know,’ he continued, ‘it’s come as a bit of a surprise to find that you have such reservations about me, Ellie. It makes me wonder why you didn’t move on years ago.’

Her eyes widened. ‘If…if this seems like ingratitude, it’s not that at all.’

‘Blow gratitude,’ he said roughly. ‘It’s the last thing I want. But it might be worthwhile remembering that I’ve always done what I could for you and Simon.’

There was sudden anguish in her eyes. ‘I do remember that, Brett, but this is marriage you’re talking about. It’s—’

‘It’s something we can make heavy weather of, Ellie, or not. I’m in favour of “not” but I have no doubt it’s what we should do. Go to bed,’ he said, sounding weary himself, and he turned away.

Ellie got up late on Sunday morning, just as Simon returned from Martie’s place. Brett was working in the study although he came out to get a cup of coffee.

‘You guys look as if you had a late night,’ Simon observed.

Ellie smiled feebly.

‘Good party, Mum?’

‘It was very good!’ She tried to sound enthusiastic and winced inwardly as Simon shot her a piercing little look.

‘Great food and great music,’ Brett supplied as he poured his coffee. ‘By the way, Archie rang a bit earlier. He wanted to know if he could come over and see your kites, Ellie.’

‘Oh. Well, sure!’

‘Good. I thought you’d say that so I invited them this
afternoon. Why don’t we take some tea and stuff up to the park and give him a demonstration?’

‘Them?’

‘He’s bringing Delia and Grace, Delia’s daughter—she’s about your age, Simon.’

‘Ripper! I mean, I feel like flying kites in the park, although girls aren’t much good at it usually. Which ones shall we take, Mum?’

‘You choose, Simon,’ Ellie said slowly and looked around the kitchen. ‘I better do something for afternoon tea.’