Breath of Scandal (24 page)

"Hmm." He raised his eyebrows as though impressed. "With a face like yours, I would have guessed music. Literature, maybe. "

"Nope, marketing and management."

"Jeez, my instincts were way off base. I sure as hell didn't have you pegged for a future tycoon."

She took that as a backhanded compliment.        "Well, this is where I turn Off." They stopped at the intersection of two paved sidewalks. - It was nice to meet you, Hank."

"Yeah, for me, too. Say, uh, I was going to grab a cup of coffee. How's that sound?"

"It sounds good, but I'm on my way to work." "Where do you work?"

"I've really got to run, Hank. 'Bye." Before he could detain her, she turned and jogged to the parking lot.

Hank Arnett watched her until she disappeared from view. He had an even temperament, a tall, lanky physique, and a thick Southern drawl - His shoulders were wide and bony, and his thick, wavy, reddish brown hair was frequently pulled back in a pony tail. His affable face wasn't moviestar handsome, but the twinkle in his brown eyes was engaging. Most of his clothes were flea-market chic, and he wore them with panache without looking efferninate.

One of his virtues was tenacity. Possessing a good sense of humor, he found the foibles of life more amusing than irritating. During the course of her freshman year at Dander College, Jade would discover that. After their first meeting, Hank fell into the habit of walking her from their biology class to her car. Since it was her final class of the day before she had to report to work, she always had a good excuse

Breath of Scandal

183

for declining his invitations to have coffee. While she liked him very much, she discouraged his subtle overtures toward dating.

As Dean Mitch Hearon had predicted, Miss Dorothy Davis wasn't the easiest of employers. A maiden ladyand defensively proud of it-she was demanding and persnickety. Her store could outfit females from birth to burial. Miss Dorothy was personally acquainted with every scrap of merchandise in the store and could, by memory, provide a stock numbei for most of it. Her salespeople were terrified of her.

Jade's efficiency and diligence won Miss Dorothy's approval. She liked her for being a "sensible young person, not like most." Jade utilized her time at the store wisely, learning all she could about the manufacturing and marketing of clothing and other textile products and the dayto-day trials of running a business.

She had resolved that in order to irrevocably damage the Patchetts, she would have to attack them on an economic front. She wanted to strip the Patchetts of what was most important to them-money and the influence that accompanied it. She wanted to permanently cripple their power machine. Her ultimate goal was to create in Palmetto an economic upheaval that would benefit the community but overturn the Patchetts' monarchy. She nursed no delusions that it would be easy. She would have to be smart, savvy, and vested with more power than they before she could even attempt it. From now on, everything she did was in preparation of returning and bringing them down. She woke up every morning thinking about it, and fell asleep tasting the victory that was years away.

If it hadn't been for Neal, there would have been no rape. He and his father were her central targets. She didn't intend to let Hutch, Donna Dee, and Lamar off lightly, but they would topple as a consequence of the Patchetts destruction.

Under an assumed name, she subscribed to the Palmeno Post, the daily newspaper, and had it mailed to a post-office

Sandra Brown

box on campus. The newspaper kept her up to date on local news. During the summer she had read the announcement of Donna Dee's marriage to Hutch. Jade wondered if she had had three bridesmaids all dressed in pink as she had always wanted. She kept the newspapers away from the Hearons' house for fear that they would discover that she was persona non grata in her hometown. Mitch's relatives there must be "distant" indeed, because he had no contact with them-no calls or visits, not even birthday cards. The topic had never come up again, but it was months before Jade was able to let go of her fear of discovery. The couple had come to mean so much to her and Graham, and she didn't want anything to damage their relationship.

They charged her only fifty dollars a month for room and board, and that had been levied only to spare her pride. Miss Dorothy gave her a 10-percent discount on clothes for herself. But keeping Graham clothed when he was growing so swiftly was expensive, as were his pediatric checkups and inoculations. Every penny counted.

Because she couldn't allow anything to jeopardize her job, she wasn't too pleased when Hank Arnett unexpectedly appeared in Miss Dorothy's storeroom one afternoon.

Jade popped erect from the box of velour housecoats she was unpacking. "What are you doing here? Please leave. I'll lose my job."

"Have no fear, Jade. The old girl's not going to fire you. I told her I had an urgent message for you from your landlord. "

"Dr. Hearon? What message?"

Hank's face creased in a dozen places when he smiled. "You live with Dean Hearon? Imagine that." He scratched his head. "I never thought to look into faculty housing. I combed all the dorms and sorority houses."

"Of all the dirty, rotten tricks!" She had always given evasive answers to his leading questions about where she lived. He had outsmarted her this time, but it was impossible to stay mad at Hank. "Now that you got what you came for, please go. I can't afford to lose this job."

"I'll go quietly under one condition."

Breath of Scandal

185

"No conditions."

"Have it your way." He sat down on the comer of Miss Dorothy's desk and pilfered an apple from a basket of fruit, which Miss Dorothy ate religiously for its fiber content.

Jade cast a worried glance toward the storeroom door, half-expecting her employer to come storming through waving a dismissal slip. "What condition?" she whispered.

"Tomorrow, before biology class, you've got to have coffee with me. And don't say you've got another class because I've seen you studying in the library during that hour. "

"Miss Sperry?"

The sound of Miss Dorothy's voice galvanized Jade into accepting his invitation and shooing him out with the apple tucked inside his jacket. He gave Miss Dorothy a crisp, military salute on his way out.

Her narrow nostrils quivered with indignation. "Who was that impertinent young man?"

Jade stammered a plausible explanation, but she was laughing on the inside and thinking just how impertinent Hank Arnett was.

They met for coffee the following day and fell into a habit of it. He asked her out on dates to dinner, the movies, and concerts, but, to his disappointment, she always declined. Other young men on campus pursued her too, but she stopped their advances cold. Only Hank had approached her in the friendly, nonthreatening, nonsexual way that she could tolerate.

On a sunny afternoon toward the end of the Christmas vacation, Jade was playing with Graham in the backyard when Cathy called to her. "You have company."

Hank loped across the yard and dropped down onto the grass beside her. "Hi. I'm a few days late saying this, but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year."

"Same to you."

"Was Santa good to you?"

"Too good," she said, reminded of the Hearons' embarrassing generosity, which she couldn't reciprocate. "You're back from Winston-Salem early."

186

Sandra Brown

Breath of Scandal

187

He shrugged. "There wasn't much to do at home except eat. Mom said I looked thin and took it upon herself to remedy that. I reminded her that I've always been thin, but she stuffed me anyway - I may not eat again till Easter. Jade, who's the kid?"

His sentences ran together, but he stopped abruptly after posing the question. Cocking his head to one side, he looked at her curiously, rather like a puppy looks at his master when he speaks.

"This is my son. His name is Graham. Say hello to Hank, Graham." Graham toddled across the grass toward Hank and smacked him on the nose.

"Hey!" He raised both fists as though ready to box with the child, then socked him lightly in the tummy. Graharr laughed.

"I'm not married and never have been, Hank." "I didn't ask."

"But you wanted to."

"Is his father important to you?"

"As far as I'm concerned, Graham doesn't have a father.-

Hank gave her a sweet smile and fell back into the grass, hauling the toddler down with him. Graham loved the rowdy game. His peals of laughter eventually brought Cathy to the back door to investigate. She invited Hank to stay for dinner

"I'm going to miss you like hell." Hank stared dismally through the windshield of his car. It was raining-a heavy, ponderous spring rain. "If my mother wouldn't pitch a bitch, I'd stay here and go to summer school."

"You can't do that, Hank. Especially not on my account. "

Jade was sitting in the passenger seat of his Volkswagen, which he had painted to look like a ladybug. He turned his head and gazed at her. "Jade, everything I do is on your account. Haven't you figured that out yet?"

She cast her eyes down. "I told you months ago that we were only going to be friends. That's all. I distinctly re-

member the conversation. It took place right after you returned from Christmas vacation. We were studying for that biology-"

"I remember, I remember," he said testily.

"Don't blame me if you're disappointed now. I was honest with you from the beginning." She reached for the door handle, but he caught her arm.

"You haven't been honest, Jade. You've told me that all you want is friendship, but you haven't told me why. I can only guess that your reason has something to do with Graham. I I

She shook her head adamantly.

"Listen, Jadi, I'm crazy about that kid. I don't care who fathered him, I'd love to be his daddy."

"Please, Hank, don't," she groaned. "Don't say anything more. I can't return what you feel."

"How do you know?" "I know."

"Why, Jade? Tell me. I know you Re me." "I like you very much."

"But ... What?"

She looked away, refusing to answer.

"Jade." Hank cupped her face between his long, slender hands. "Some bastard hurt you. He broke your hearL Let me make up for that, okay? I love you so much, I can make up for any bad experience you suffered."

She clamped her teeth over her lower lip and shook her head as much as his bracketing hands would allow it to move.

"You're so beautiful, Jade. Jesus, I love you."

He lowered his head toward hers and, for the first time, kissed her. His lips were soft and gentle. They posed no "t, and yet Jade's heart began to drum. Shock and fear immobilized her. He kissed the features of her face, glancing his lips off her eyelids and cheekbones and murmuring about how beautiful and desirable she was, and how badly he wanted to make love to her.

Eventually he returned to her lips. Jade took several swift, short breaths, then ceased to breathe at all when his lips

188

Sandra Brown

applied more pressure and tried to separate hers. Still petrified, she couldn't push him away. Mistakenly, he took that as an encouraging sign. He angled his head to one side and rubbed his lips against hers, parting them.

Jade's body stiffened. Hank removed his hands from either side of her head and set them on her shoulders, where his fingers tried to massage away her tension. Then he took one of her hands and pressed it against his chest. The other, he placed on his thigh.

His breathing grew rough and irregular. He made small, hungry sounds deep in his throat. Nevertheless, he exercised supreme self-discipline as he attempted to deepen their kiss and coax a response from her. Jade recoiled. Hank was gently persistent.

His tongue wasn't intrusive or imperious, but the moment it entered her mouth, Jade began to whimper with revulsion and fear. She didn't recall the ardent tenderness of Gary's kisses, only those which had been forced on her during the rape. She moved her hands to Hank's shoulders. Misreading her reaction, his arms went around her and hugged her tightly as he pressed her against the door and leaned over her.

"No!" Jade shoved him away, thrashing her head from side to side and begging him to stop hurting her. She emitted dry, racking sobs. "Stop. Please don't. Oh, God!"

"Jade?" Mortified, Hank tried to take her into his arms, but she huddled against the car door. "Jade,' ' he whispered, his voice mystified and anguished, "I'm sorry. I'm not going to hurt you. Jade?"

His fingers sifted through her hair until she quieted. Eventually, she raised her head and looked at him with wide. fearful eyes. "I told you. I can't."

"It's okay, Jade."

She was insistent that he comprehend what she was telling him. "I can't be with you like that. I can't be with any man. Ever. Don't expect it. Don't waste your time trying. "

His eyes had lost their sparkle but not their kindness. He smiled lopsidedly and shrugged with self-deprecation. "It's my time. I'll waste it how I like."

Breath of Scandal

193

He walked her to the front door       and bade her a final goodbye, promising to write at least once a week through the summer. After letting herself in, Jade leaned against the door and closed her eyes.

"Jade, would you and Hank like some cake and coffee?" Cathy had entered the vestibule from the rear of the house, and drew up short when she saw Jade's bleak expression. "Hank's not with me, Cathy. He said to tell you both goodbye and that he would look forward to seeing you in the fall."

"Oh, I thought he would come in for a while."

"No. How's Praham? Did he go to bed without a fuss? I'd better go up and check on him."

As Jade moved past her, Cathy reached out and caught her hand. "What's wrong, Jade? Are you upset about Hank leaving for the summer? Or did you two have a spat?"

Jade slumped down onto the third step of the staircase and covered her face with her hands, laughing mirthlessly behind them. "Oh Lord, I wish it were that simple."

Cathy sat down on the step beneath her, removed Jade's hands from her face, and regarded her with maternal concern. "What's the matter, Jade? Can you talk about it?"