Heart in the Field (10 page)

           
Nick walked up the steps and the
woman rose like a butterfly unfolding. She was an older version of the woman in
Stuart Redding Brown’s photo album. Nick saw her beautiful eyes assess his
ivory slacks and black silk shirt before she said, “You must be Nick. Serena’s just
indoors, getting ready. I’m
Reeva
Brown-
Carstairs
.
Serena’s mother.”
Actually, she was assessing more than his clothes as she put out her hand for
Nick. He had to juggle the wine and flowers to shake her hand, and when they
parted fingers he felt thoroughly dissected.

           
Reeva
raised her arm dripping with the multi-colored material. “This is Gerry
Carstairs
, my husband.”

           
The man rose, smiling. “Pleased to
meet you, Nick.” He came forward to shake Nick’s hand.

           
“Let’s put those on the table.”
Reeva
relieved him of the bottle and flowers. “Sit down. Do
you want a drink?”

           
“No, thanks.”
Nick saw
Reeva
give him another long look while he
pulled forward one of the chairs.
Reeva
and Gerry
were either here to babysit the house for the evening or they were accompanying
Serena to the party. He hoped it was the babysitting duty, but as they were so
dressed up he presumed they were also going to the party.

           
Reeva
floated through a glass door into the plant-filled sunroom. “I’ll go and tell
Serena you’re here.”

           
Gerry settled back into his seat,
cradling his beer. “Ladies always have to get gussied up for parties.”

           
Nick sat down, nodded and smiled,
although he didn’t feel like smiling. He felt irritated at the possibility that
he might not be alone with Serena this evening. He felt annoyed he wasn’t alone
with her now. He was even more frustrated when Serena appeared, looking
beautiful in a pair of flowing cream silk pants and a snug top with a narrow
gold belt at her waist. On her feet were pale gold leather sandals and her hair
was upswept. Long gold earrings with a diamond in each flashed money. He wanted
her all to himself.

           
“Hi, Nick.” She smiled her TV smile.
“Sorry about the commotion. Mom and Gerry were invited tonight, so they decided
to come by and we’ll all go together.
All right?”

           
It wasn’t, but he couldn’t very well
demur in front of her mother and stepfather. He rose and indicated that the
flowers and the wine were for her.

           
“You shouldn’t have bothered.” She
peeked at the flowers and gave him a smile that was less TV. “But they’re
pretty.
Really pretty.
I’ll go and find a vase to put
them in. Do you want to come inside and see the house, Nick? Mom
make
sure Gerry has another beer from the cooler.”

           
Serena carried the flowers. Nick
carried the wine. She ushered him inside the sunroom and closed the door. He
followed her lithe, slim, sexy scurrying figure from the sunroom into a bright,
pretty kitchen.

           
“Put the wine on the table,” she
directed, and began opening doors to look inside cupboards until she eventually
drew out a crystal vase. She turned on the tap at the sink.

           
She held the vase under the running
water. “I’m sorry about the extras for this evening. But Mom called last night
to give instructions. That’s what my mother does, gives instructions.”

           
Nick’s eyes were on her fluid body
beneath the silky outfit. “And you don’t?”

           
Her eyes were huge tonight. “Don’t
what?”

           
“Give instructions. Like, ‘
Put
the wine on the table.’”

           
She touched her forehead with the
back of her wrist. “Sorry. It’s just that when mother visits she likes
everything just so, and I feel I have to please her all the time. This is me
pleasing.”

           
“
Don’t you ever
tell her no
?”

           
Serena stood the vase of water on
the counter, opened the paper and spread the flowers beside the vase. Nick saw
her hands were shaking, and he realized just how fragile she was. He felt
enormous warmth and sympathy for her as she began to slide each flower into the
vase in a floral arrangement that seemed to come instinctively to her. “I used
to once, but since she’s become
Reeva
Brown-
Carstairs
, Councilor, I let her have her way. It’s easier.”

           
Nick pushed his hands into his
pockets. “I can see why that would be. She’s quite a powerhouse. What was she
like once, when you could say no?”

           
“Oh.” Serena popped a white daisy
into the vase beside a pink one. “It’s a long story.”

           
Nick figured everything about Serena
was a long story, but the possibility of problems didn’t dim his attraction to
her. He was even aware that his attraction wasn’t completely sexual. It was everything.
And that worried him. This was no chick he could seduce for great sex. This was
a woman who might crawl into his heart. But he still wanted to seduce her. The
need to have her was becoming quite painful.

           
She stood away from the flower
arrangement, touched a loose tendril of hair on her neck and glanced at him.
“How’s that?”

           
“Very
professional.”

           
“I worked for a florist when I was a
teenager.”

           
“Before you decided on journalism?”

           
She nodded.
“Yep.”
She walked forward to adjust one of the ferns. “I’ll put the flowers on the
table.” She carried the vase to the table. Then she picked up the wine bottle
and held it up to read the label. “Sauvignon Blanc.
My
favorite.
Thank you. Do you want a glass?”

           
Nick wished things were different.
Yes. He’d like a glass, or even two, but with her, alone. Not with other people
outside awaiting them. Not with a party to go to, where he’d likely drink more
than his share anyway. He didn’t even want to go to the party. He’d like to
stay here with Serena and get down to something hot and heavy. She made his
body burn like a furnace.

           
He pushed his hands deeper into his
pockets. “Let’s save it for later.”

           
“Okay.” She glanced at the microwave
clock. “We have to get going anyway. I guess we’ll have some shuffling of cars in
the driveway. Gerry’s a drive-up-and-just-park-anywhere type of driver. Did you
park behind him?”

           
“I did. What does he do for a
living?” Nick wanted to get away from his scalding thoughts of what he would
rather to do tonight.

           
“He consults, mostly in property
deals.
Makes a bundle.
Mother’s not badly off. She
sold her string of successful florist shops when she decided to go into
politics.”

           
Nick shouldn’t be surprised at
anything Serena told him. “So flowers are in your blood as well as journalism?”
He knew after the words were formed that he’d said the wrong thing.

           
Her wide forehead creased. “What do
you mean?”

           
Nick shrugged. “You know what I
mean.”

           
“Did you just know, or did Don tell
you?
Because if Don told you, I’ve got some bones to pick
with that man.”

           
Nick prepared himself for a rocky
road. “Don told me, but I think I would have figured it out, especially after
meeting your brother. You see, I have your father’s book at home with his face
on the cover, and your brother is the spitting image of him.”

           
She nodded. “He is, isn’t he? Just
lately, since he’s got older and become a man.”

           
Nick heard her voice quiver and knew
he was treading extremely delicate ground. “Don did mention that you didn’t
associate your work with your father. That’s fine. It doesn’t make any
difference to me one way or the other.”

           
She posed her head to one side. “Oh?
It does to most journalists. I mean, he was sort of a pioneer of modern TV
journalism. He’s an idol.” Her voice broke and she tried to cover her confusion
by fiddling with the flowers once more.
A pink one here, a
white one there.
She gave up with a piece of fern she couldn’t jam down
between them and began to wrap it around her fingers.

           
Nick moved closer to her. He could
smell her expensive perfume. Beneath the creamy silk her body rippled with all
sorts of feminine delights. But it wasn’t sex she was rippling with. It was
grief. Tears flooded her eyes.

           
She looked at him. “Why did you have
to say anything?”

           
“It just came out. I didn’t mean
to.”

           
“But you knew all this time.” She
flung the fern down on the table. “Damn Don. He shouldn’t have said a word. He
knows I like to go on my own merit. Now you’ll be comparing me, thinking, ‘Oh,
her journalism is weak compared to her father’s. Where does she get off?’”

           
“Is that why you don’t acknowledge
him?”

           
“Partly, I guess. It’s not
important.”

           
He raised an eyebrow. “No?”

           
“No.”

           
She wasn’t telling the truth. Her
father’s memory bothered her to no end, otherwise she would acknowledge him.
Knowing everything about family dysfunction and how it hurt, he moved closer to
her, wanting to comfort her.

           
She moistened her lips with her
tongue and put her head to one side so that her diamond earrings flashed in the
light. “We’d better go.”

           
“No. You’re too upset.” He put his
arms around her, hoping to soothe, but instead she turned her head so that her
mouth came close to his. He couldn’t stop himself from kissing her.

           
Nick expected to be pushed away, but
instead she ground her hips against him and he felt himself losing part of his
sanity as his tongue delved between her teeth and she parted her lips to let
him inside. His hands desperately massaged her hips, and their mouths hungrily
locked together.

           
The sunroom door opened and
Reeva
called through the house. “Serena. Are we leaving
yet?”

           
Serena suddenly seemed to realize
what she was doing, and she thrust Nick away and stumbled from him to hang on
to the kitchen counter. She held her head high and straightened her shoulders,
calling out, “We’ll be there in five minutes, Mom.”

           
Nick heard the door close again.

           
“That’s been coming since we met,”
Nick said. Then he raked his fingers through his hair, knowing there was a high
flush of color on his cheekbones, knowing he couldn’t hide how aroused she made
him. He’d never been affected by a woman so quickly, so mindlessly in his life.

•

           
Serena didn’t know where the anger
came from. It welled from inside her and she thought as she lashed out at Nick
that she might be actually lashing out at herself. “It wasn’t coming from me. I
don’t know what ideas you’ve got into your head. We work together, Nick. That’s
it.
Nothing else.”

           
“I didn’t start that. You wanted
me.”

           
“You caught me unawares.”

           
“I was going to comfort you.”

           
Serena touched her lips with her
fingers and she could still feel his mouth there. She had been far too
aggressive.
“My lipstick.
I have to fix my lipstick.
Go and tell the others I’ll be with them in seconds. I’ll lock up the house. We
have to go.”

           
“Okay. Ignore what’s going on. What
the hell do I care? You’re trouble anyway.”

           
“What do you mean, trouble?”

           
His eyes were narrowed, so she
couldn’t see his expression. “You know what I mean. You’re hung up about your
father for some reason. Lord knows why. He was famous. You should revel in his
fame. He did great things for journalism.”