The Color Of The Soul (The Penbrook Diaries) (8 page)

“But Henry Jr. will be
luckier than most boys.
He’ll be loved by two mothers
.
Please. It’s how I want it to be.”

As Madeline returned her
steady gaze, a bond formed between them.
A bond that went
beyond mother and daughter, mistress and slave.
They were two women
united in motherhood of one small boy and the commitment to make him greater
than either could have accomplished alone.

1948

Andy closed the journal and
gave a short laugh. So Miss Penbrook had a partly colored little brother. Did
she know what her mother’s diaries revealed? He stood and stretched his back.
What would it do to the pride of Oak Junction to learn that their most
prominent citizen had a Negro brother raised as a white man? He could just
imagine the outcry. But that wasn’t his affair. He was more than ready to get
his story and get out of Georgia.

The Purdues had invited him
to eat dinner with them again. And since water still stood in the streets from
the two-day onslaught of rain, he accepted rather than ruining another pair of
shoes.

He glanced at the clock and noted
it was too early for dinner. Only four o’clock. Mrs. Purdue had instructed him
to be downstairs and ready to eat at 6:30 sharp. He groaned as his stomach
rumbled. After staying up all night, he’d skipped breakfast in lieu of sleep
and hadn’t awakened until after lunch. That meant he hadn’t eaten in almost
twenty-four hours, and he was famished.

Just as he was trying to
decide whether or not to brave the ankle-deep water outside and grab a licorice
stick from the grocery store across the street, he heard a tap on the door.

Standing, he opened the
door.

He gulped when he found Ella
smiling back at him, a pile of linens in her arms. “Hey, Yankee boy. Miz Purdue
says I should see if you want your room straightened and your sheets changed.”

“Uh, I’m not sure.” He
glanced at the journals and notebooks spread out on the bed.

“Come on, now. How about
letting me do my job?”

“I guess so.” He opened the
door wider and drew a sharp breath as she brushed by him, filling his senses
with the sweet fragrance of her perfume. Ella glided to the bed, hips swaying.
“You really are a writer, aren’t you?” She grinned up at him. “To tell you the
truth, I thought you were just trying to impress me. Now I’m not sure whether
to be disappointed or not.”

Gathering his wits about
him, Andy couldn’t help returning the infectious, toothy grin. “Here,” he said,
stepping toward the bed. “Let me get those things off of there so you can
work.”

Ella grabbed one of the open
notebooks he’d been using to take notes from the journals. She whistled as she
glanced at the writings. “Penbrook? Don’t tell me you’re writing about rich,
white Miz Penbrook?”

“That’s exactly what I’m
doing.” Andy couldn’t hold back a stupid grin. It had been awhile since a woman
had regarded him with this sort of admiration. It fit his ego’s need pretty
well at the moment.

“Whoo-ee, how’d you manage
that?”

Taking the notebook, he
shook his head. “Who knows? I guess the old lady took a liking to me.”

“Well, if you ask me, you’ve
been working too much. Don’t you know you have to take some time off every now
and then?”

“Now you sound like my
wife.” He carried an armload of books to a small table next to the window. He
sat in the single chair as though guarding the journals.

A short, throaty laugh
escaped Ella’s lips. “Well, now, no one has ever compared me to a wife before.
But in this case, your woman is right.” She pulled the covers off the bed and
tossed them to the floor. Andy averted his gaze as she crawled across the bare
mattress and pulled the sheets free. “Tell me, Andy,” she said, “when was the
last time you went out on the town and had yourself a good time?”

Andy glanced up and, to his
relief,
she stood facing him, brows raised as she awaited
his answer.

Andy allowed himself to be drawn
into what he knew to be a trap. “Too long.”

A light glimmered in Ella’s
eyes and a slow smile stretched her mouth. “How about letting me take you to
the best swing club this side of Atlanta?”

Andy hesitated. It could be
innocent enough. It wasn’t like she was suggesting a date or a night in a
motel.
Still.
. .

He sat, a refusal poised on
his lips. Then he saw her press her lips together as she watched him, and
suddenly, he didn’t want to disappoint her. “I’ll consider it.”

She smiled and gathered up the
dirty linens. “That’s better than a no. You can decide and let me know at
supper.
Unless.
. .” She turned at the doorway.
“Unless you’d like to grab a bite to eat before we go to Georgie’s club?”

His empty stomach urged him
to say yes. But that sounded a little too much like a date for comfort. Andy
tilted his head and flashed her the sort of grin he knew women liked. “I
already told Mrs. Purdue I’d be here for supper.”

Disappointment clouded her
features, but she rallied quickly and returned his smile. “Another time,
maybe?”

“Maybe.” Hopefully, he’d be
able to finish his research and get home within a couple of days. “I’ll let you
know.”

Ella gave him a knowing
glance that said she realized he was trying to find a way to escape her charms.
With a satisfied smile, she stepped out and closed the door behind her.

Andy shook his head and
decided to grab an early bath. Twenty minutes later he emerged, feeling more
relaxed, more refreshed, and slightly more human. As he walked down the hall
back to his room, he pulled his watch from his pocket. 5:30. Lexie should be
home from her cleaning job at the Bells’s. Deciding to go ahead and call
brought a smile to his lips.

“Too bad that smile’s not
for me, Yankee boy.”
Ella came out of one of the
rooms carrying an armful of dirty linens, stopping Andy dead in his tracks.

He stiffened, guilt washing
over him at the very thought of calling Lexie when he was contemplating having
a night on the town with this woman. He had to settle that right now.

“Ella, I’m going to have to
pass on the club. I think I’d better finish what I came to do and get back home
to my wife.”

She opened her mouth, but
before she could protest, Andy smiled. “I hope you understand.”

“Shoot, of course I do. But
that don’t mean I’m not disappointed.” She shrugged. “Well, you still have a
couple of hours. If you change your mind, just let me know. I won’t call Leroy
until I’m sure you won’t decide to come along after all.” Giving him no
opportunity to reply, she brushed past him and moved down the hall.

Andy had to smile at her
efforts as he sauntered back to his room to drop off his dirty clothes. Still,
Ella would have to accept his refusal. She was too much of a temptation and he
couldn’t risk taking her up on what she had to offer.

The house seemed unusually
quiet when he stepped down the stairs. Mouthwatering smells drifted from the
kitchen, making his stomach growl loud enough for him to hear.

Pushing aside thoughts of
his hunger, he dialed the operator, mentally calculating how much it was going to
cost him to call long distance every day. All thoughts of money spent fled when
the connection went through and he heard
Lexie’s
voice.

“Hi, it’s me.”

“Andy?” she sounded
breathless and surprised.

“Did I catch you at a bad
time? You fixing supper or something?”

“I just walked in the door a
few minutes ago. June and Petey and the girls are here for dinner.”

“Hey, Robert.” Andy heard a
child’s voice on the other end of the line. “It’s my turn for a piggyback
ride!”

“Robert?” Anger seized him,
and his stomach clenched, squeezing the breath from him. “Robert Kline?”

“Andy, don’t overreact.”

Her calm voice heated his
blood. “You think I’m overreacting?”

“Robert just came over to--”

“I know exactly what that
guy came over to do. I don’t know what he
said
he came over for. But I
think you and I both know what he wants.”

“Oh, Andy,
really.
. .” But her tone said it all. She knew she was
playing with fire by not telling that guy to shove off.

Jealousy lit a fire inside Andy.
“Are you keeping him sniffing around for insurance, just in case I don’t come
through for you?” Here he’d been keeping himself away from other women for her.
For a year.
And she had the gall to let that rat come
around? Lord, he felt like a fool.

 
“You’re acting like a child.” She lowered
her voice. “I can’t discuss this right now. Mama’s kitchen is in chaos and she
needs my help with supper.”

“Is Robert staying?”

“Yes. The least I could do
was invite him for supper after he carried my groceries home for me.”

The image of Robert sitting
at his place at his mother-in-law’s supper table while Lexie poured him coffee
and brought him dessert nearly overwhelmed Andy, forming a knot in his gut the
size of a baseball.

“If you can’t respect my
wishes about that idiot, we have nothing more to discuss,” he said, the tension
in his throat reducing his words to barely more than a whisper.

“What did you say? I
couldn’t hear you?”

“I said good-bye, Lexie.”

He hung up the
phone,
stunned that Lexie would blatantly disregard his
wishes about Robert. Any man who would weasel his way into another man’s life
when he was off trying to provide a decent living wasn’t worth his salt as far
as Andy was concerned. The fact that Lexie couldn’t see through him escaped
Andy’s realm of understanding. For crying out loud, the guy was giving his
nieces piggyback rides? How transparent did he need to be for her to see him
for what he truly was?

Without heading back
upstairs, Andy made his way to the kitchen. Mrs. Purdue scurried about, giving
orders to her two oldest daughters, whom Andy remembered from the day before.
Ella turned toward him, a serving dish in her hands. She remained silent, but
smiled her slow smile. Andy’s blood warmed.

“Oh, Mr. Carmichael,” said a
breathless Mrs. Purdue. “Supper isn’t quite ready yet.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

“How sweet. But no, thank
you. We have it under control. Go ahead and sit and have some coffee while we
finish up. Ella, pour Mr. Carmichael a cup, will you?”

“My pleasure, Miz Purdue.”

Andy sat, trying not to
watch the sway of Ella’s hips as she sashayed to the cabinet, took down a cup,
and filled it with steaming coffee.

She kept her eyes fixed on
his as she walked the short distance from the counter to the table. He knew he
should feel guilty, wanted to turn away and pretend she didn’t exist, but the
image of Robert and Lexie flashed through his mind like a motion picture. He
allowed Ella’s hand to brush his as she set the cup down, then he looked up at
her and smiled.

*****

A sense of foreboding washed
over Lexie as she hung up the phone.
A foolish woman tears her house apart
with her own hands.

Her temper flared at the
recalled words. Mama always took Andy’s side. In eleven years of marriage, he
had been away chasing assignments more than he had been home--practically. And
when he wasn’t chasing assignments, he was chasing other women.
What about a
man neglecting his wife, huh? What about a husband tearing down his house with
his own hands?
Besides, no one had the kind of fairy-tale romance Mama and
Pop
had.

“Everything okay,
Lexie-girl?” The deep voice came so close behind
her,
Lexie could feel Robert’s hot breath against her neck.

She cleared her throat and
stepped away quickly. “Everything’s fine. Andy misses me real bad.” With forced
cheerfulness, she moved to the counter to unload her groceries. “I swear, he’ll
be so glad when he makes editor and doesn’t have to travel anymore.”

He gave her a lazy smile.
“Can’t say I’ll be too happy when that day comes.”

Alone in the hallway, Lexie
felt the forbidden pleasure of attraction for a man who was not her husband.
His closeness sent fingers of excitement blazing a trail up her spine. She
shook off the feeling and stepped back. “Listen, Robert, I don’t mean to be
rude, but I think I’m going to have to ask you to leave without supper. Andy
wasn’t too happy about your being here.”

“Sure thing, Lexie-girl.”

Lexie stepped around the
counter and preceded him down the hall. When they reached the door, he donned
his hat. “Call me if you need me for
anything
while your husband is off
doing what he loves most.”

Lexie stiffened and reached
for the door. He caught her wrist and pulled her toward him. “If you were my
woman, there’s no way I’d leave your bed for even one night.”