Once Around (19 page)

She gave him a ticket. What more did she have to do?

You know there's a difference between giving him a ticket and asking him to join you.

"
Oh, shut up," she muttered as she turned on the water for her shower. None of this mattered a damn. He had his life, and she had hers. It would take more than a ticket to a dinner-dance to bring the two of them together.

It would take a miracle.

"I know she's home," Molly said to Spencer a few hours later. "Her car's in the garage, and I heard the shower running."

"
I don't hear a shower running now." Spencer glanced at his watch. He didn't need to. He already knew they were running late. "Maybe she lost track of time."

"
I'll go upstairs and sec what's what."

Heat gathered low in his belly as he watched her go. You
'd have to be dead not to react to the sight of her lush body in motion. She looked so magnificent that she scared him. Where she'd been beautiful before, she was otherworldly now. Woman to the infinite power.

Powerful
.
That was the word to describe her these days. She radiated sensual power. He'd always thought of pregnant women as having an asexual, Madonna-like appeal, but Molly blew that thesis to bits. He felt sorry for Jessy, having to compete with a goddess. No wonder she was still upstairs. If he almost felt like bolting, Jessy must be damn near suicidal.

He paced the foyer
, considered lighting a cigarette, then thought better of it. He heard voices, the staccato tap of high heels, laughter. He turned toward the staircase.

"
I found her," Molly said. She had a funny smile on her face, as if she couldn't quite believe what she was saying.

"
Are you sure?" he muttered, looking at the woman gliding down the steps behind her. Jessy Wyatt was a small, forgettable little brown-haired bit of attitude who thought a clean pair of scrubs was haute couture.

"
You'd better smile or somethin'," Jessy said, "because the way you're lookin' at me is makin' me real nervous."

"
Wow," he said. "You look incredible." He wasn't lying. Her tiny body looked amazing in that flapper-style dress, delicate and heart-stopping. He looked at her more closely. "Did you do something to your hair?"

Jessy and Molly laughed out loud.

"If you consider cutting off two feet of hair doing something," Molly said.

"
It's more than that," he said, admiring the sleek geometric bob. "The color—"

"
Highlights," Jessy said, giving her head a little toss. "It was Molly's idea."

"
Good idea," he said. He couldn't take his eyes off her. "You really do look incredible."

"
You said that already."

"
And I'll probably say it a dozen more times before the night's over, so get used to it." He grabbed his car keys from the small table beneath the hall mirror. "Come on, ladies. We don't want to miss the first dance."

#

Jessy had wondered how they were all going to fit into Spencer's Porsche. He must have wondered that, too, because he left the little sports car home and brought a roomier Jaguar instead. She didn't wonder who was going to sit in the back, however. There'd never been any doubt about that. She dutifully slipped into the backseat, while the radiantly pregnant Molly claimed the spot next to Spencer.

In a way she was glad she was in the back. She could stare at Spencer all she wanted
, memorize the way his hair kissed his collar, the way his elegant hands held the steering wheel, maybe even catch his eye in the rearview mirror and see him smile. She didn't even have to go to the dance. The look on his face when he saw her come down the stairs was everything she'd ever dreamed about. She could hold that one moment close for the rest of her life and die happy. He'd seen her, really seen her. He'd looked past Molly and into Jessy's eyes, and the only reflection she saw in his eyes was her own face.

She
'd lived her mama's dreams for so long that she'd almost forgotten they weren't her own. Nothing she'd ever accomplished, no scholarship or honor, had ever come close to making her feel the way she felt tonight. It didn't matter that she'd spend the evening watching him dance and laugh with Molly: She'd known that was the price of admission, and it was worth it.

Molly and Spencer were chatting about the traffic
, making idle, friendly conversation. There were no sparks flying between the two of them, at least none that Jessy could see. They sounded like two old friends, which their body language didn't dispute. Jessy was looking for a way to join in when her beeper sounded. She glanced at it, saw the hospital code, and nearly cried in disappointment.

"
We need to stop," she said. "I have to phone the hospital."

"
Use
mine," said Spencer. He handed her a small cell phone in a leather case.

Her heart dropped. She was probably the only adult in captivity who
didn't have a cell phone. She slipped it out of the case and stared at it. What on earth was she supposed to do now?

He met her eyes in the rearview mirror. She was glad it was too dark in the car for him to see her blush.
Good going, Dr. Wyatt. You can deliver twins but you can't dial the hospital.

"
Just flip it open, press the Power button, dial your number, then hit Send. The phones are all different."

He knew she was stuck and he offered her a lifeline without making her ask for one. If she hadn
't already loved him, that would have been enough to make her tumble. They fell silent in the front seat while she talked with the hospital.

"
False alarm," she said, handing the phone back to Spencer. She wondered if they could hear the relief in her voice. She felt like throwing back her head and shouting hooray to the world. "They forgot I'm not on duty tonight."

Molly half turned in her seat.
"I'm so glad," she said. "You're way too glamorous to deliver babies tonight."

Jessy found herself grinning like a fool.
"I am," she agreed, feeling positively giddy. "If they think I'm turning in this dress for scrubs tonight, they don't know Jo Ellen's baby girl."

"
Jo Ellen," said Molly. "Is that your mother?"

"
None other," said Jessy. "Jo Ellen Grady Wyatt. If it wasn't for her, I'd still be back in Mississippi."

They started peppering her with questions
, first Molly, then Spencer, and before she knew it she was telling them all about Jo Ellen and her daddy, Jim, about barefoot summers and hardscrabble winters, about how one woman's dreams can change a young girl's life.

She didn
't talk about the baby, though, and she prayed Molly wouldn't bring her up. She danced around it and held her breath until. Molly said something about college and leaving home that let Jessy know she was safe. The last thing she wanted to do was think about her baby. She'd waited all her life for her Cinderella moment and she wasn't going to let anything ruin it.

#

It felt so natural to Molly, sitting next to Spencer while they drove to the hotel, She felt as if she'd been sitting next to him for years. If she hadn't known better, she'd have thought she was sitting next to Robert. There was no sexual tingle, no jolt of sensual awareness. This time last year, that lack wouldn't have bothered her. She
probably wouldn't even have noticed. She felt comfortable, relaxed, and vaguely bored. That last one embarrassed her. lie was witty and quite entertaining, and, judging from the sound of her laughter, Jessy was anything but bored.

It struck Molly that maybe there was something to what Rafe had said. Jessy seemed more vibrant than Molly had ever seen her before
, almost flirtatious if you got down to it. Molly had attributed the change of attitude to the wonders of a new dress and hairstyle, but there could be more to it than that Spencer had been duly complimentary, but Molly hadn't sensed anything out of the ordinary about his interest in Jessy. She'd been wrong once tonight. Maybe she was wrong again.

A
line of cars curved around the driveway that led up to the hotel entrance. Valets galloped past at breakneck speed, claiming as many cars as they could for their own. A freckle-faced red-haired girl opened the driver's door for Spencer then raced around to the passenger side to help Molly before Spencer had the chance to round the hood. She didn't notice Jessy sitting quietly in the backseat. Molly was about to say something when Spencer extended his hand to Jessy. She swung her slender legs from the car and climbed out.

Jessy had a certain grace to her that Molly had never noticed before
, and she cast a sharp eye at Spencer to see
if he'd missed it. His expression was blandly appreciative, but then again it always was—no matter how he really felt about the person. It was part of his upbringing and part of his training as a lawyer. Robert had been the same way. He'd actually smiled pleasantly when he told her he was leaving. She wished she'd had the guts to slap that smile off his face, but all she'd wanted was to crawl into his arms and stay there forever. Now she couldn't quite remember why.

Spencer escorted the two of them into the lobby
, where they were directed to the Yankee Ballroom. He kept a proprietary hand under Molly's left elbow and one under Jessy's right. A knot of anxiety suddenly formed in Molly's throat, and it was all she could do to keep from bolting for the door. What if Robert was there? She knew the odds were slim that he and the beauteous Diana/Dianne/Diandra/whatever-her-name-was would make the trek from the canyons of Manhattan to central New Jersey for the charity dinner, but stranger things had happened. If there was one thing Molly had learned since the day Robert said he was leaving, it was that anything was possible.

"
Molly Chamberlain!" Celeste Colwin, whose flashing brown eyes missed nothing, met them at the door. "Dick and I have been hoping you wouldn't disappoint us." Celeste had chaired the committee that put together the charity event. She also was the biggest gossip in. town.

"
Good to see you, Celeste," Molly said. "I'm sure you know Spencer Mackenzie. I'd like you to meet Dr. Jessy Wyatt. She's an OB-GYN at the Med Center."

They all exchanged pleasantries. This would have been her life if Robert hadn
't left her: day after day, month after month, year after interminable year of small talk, social chitchat, soul-numbing boredom. She would have found herself lunching with the likes of Celeste, trading tidbits about other people's lives, withholding as much of her own as she could.

They engaged in a few moments of empty conversation while Celeste tried to pretend she wasn
't calculating Molly's state of mind by the state of her wardrobe and grooming.
Take a good look, Celeste. The abandoned wife, her lawyer, and her boarder. You may never see our like again.

She wondered why she
'd ever thought coming here was such a brilliant idea. This wasn't her life any longer. She wasn't part of this world and never would be. She was a pregnant wife who would soon be a single mother with limited prospects. Not exactly the kind of woman who hobnobbed with the Princeton elite.

She glanced toward Jessy. The woman was aglow with excitement. She looked positively radiant as they stood in the doorway to the ballroom. Molly
's heart went out to her. She didn't want to say or do anything to dim Jessy's excitement. Few dreams in life held up to the light of day. Jessy might as well enjoy it while it lasted. Maybe Molly could sneak away after the appetizer, call for a cab to take her home. Maybe she'd bump into a nice couple who was heading back to Princeton Manor and she could hitch a ride with them. All she wanted was to be home in her favorite nightgown, snuggled up in her own bed with a cup of tea and a good book.

"
I wouldn't have figured him for the charity dinner type." Spencer's voice penetrated her thoughts.

She turned to him.
"Who isn't the charity dinner type?"

He pointed toward a table in the corner.
"Your handyman."

A buzzing started inside her head. Not in a million years. It was impossible. Couldn
't happen. She couldn't bring the image of Rafe Garrick, stripped to the waist and glistening in the sunshine, into line with this starched and pressed crowd. That would defy the order of the universe. She would step out of her old life, and there'd be no turning back.

Chapter Eleven

Rafe stood up and walked toward her
, and Molly's old life scattered like birds before a storm. He was the only thing she saw, his voice was the only one she heard.

"
You're late," he said to her, with a nod toward Jessy and Spencer. "I thought you'd changed your mind."