Part Time Marriage (2 page)

It was absurd! She'd never have the nerveher stomach started to churn at the very idea. Elexa attempted to dismiss the notion. But the pressure was on, that pressurestrengthening, and, short of caving in and taking on one of her mother's `nice' types, what was a career minded executive to do?

She had tried the heart-to-heart with her mother-it had only made matters worse. She knew that her mother worried about her-she was a natural born worrier. In fact Elexa's father had often said that if her mother didn't have anything to worry about she would invent something. But this roping in Joanna, along with Aunt Celia, was going too far.

Yes, but to contemplate marrying some stranger, having his baby and then divorcing just to get her well-meaning relatives off her back, was a bit desperate, wasn't it? But the situation was desperate! On impulse Elexa picked up the phone and dialled her friend Lois's number. It was ridiculous, Elexa decided, before the number had started ringing out.

So why didn't she put down the phone? Gentle, nice Tommy Fielding and a string of others likehim, that was why, Elexa answered her own question. And there was that prospect of promotion she should be concentrating on instead of evading her mother's water wearing-away-stone tactics.

'Elexa!'Lois exclaimed when she heard her voice. `I was just thinking about you and wondering if you fancy doing anything at the weekend.'

`It's the christening this weekend,' Elexa reminded her friend. Lois had often stayed weekends in Elexa's home when they had been schoolgirls, and knew all of Elexa's family.

`Joanna's sprog?'

`She's rather cute,' Elexa replied-and broughtherself up short. Goodheavens, where had that come from? She wasn't getting all mumsie, was she? Just because she had been toying with some far-fetched idea of having a baby, she wasn't going all broody, was she? 'Er-I need a favour,' she said quickly. `If it's in my power, it's yours,' Lois answered without hesitation.

`You don't know what it is yet,' Elexa laughed. But even as she laughed, she knew that she was delaying asking the question because she didn't want to ask it. It was as if, once asked, it would commit her to carrying through her only half-thought-out plan.

`If I know you, it won't be anything too diabolical. Give?' Lois requested.

'I-er...' Lois was her oldest and most trusted friend, Elexa reminded herself. `I um-need Noah Peverelle's private number,' she plunged. `And I can't tell you why,' she added hastily.

There followed a small silence. `Intriguing,' Lois ruminated. 'But,' she added after a moment, `I don't know it. I only ever met him that one time. Uh!' she exclaimed. `You know that I know a man who may know it, right?"

'Marcus and Noah Peverelle are great friends,' Elexa volunteered. `You sound as if you know them both very well,' Lois opined. , `I don't,' Elexa had to confess. `Is there a chance you could ask Marcus without telling him why you need Noah's number?"

'If they're such good friends, Marcus Dean isn't going to tell me without wanting to know why,' Lois commented. `Hang on, though.tinny Dean owes me a favour! I'll ring Marcus's wife and get back to you.'

Elexa put down her phone after her call, wondering what she had done. She had involved Lois in something which Elexa wasn't certain she was going to take any further anyway.

Though, in thinking about it more deeply, more logically, instead of panicking that family pressures had become too intense past bearing, she suddenly realised that, while her career was all-important, yes, there was every probability that she would at some stage rather like to have a child.

It shook Elexa a little that she had childbearing instincts. It was something she had never considered before. But, in delving more deeply, she recalledd how, when Joanna had given her the baby to hold one time, she had been more than happy to nurse the sweet, sleeping infant in her arms. For a few minutes Elexa lived with the discovery that she was no different from most other women-and that she did have the same maternal instincts. Then she gave herself a mental shaking-that still didn't mean that she wanted a husband. She most definitely did not. In her view they were vastly overrated.

Noah Peverelle wouldn't be your normal run-of-the-mill husband, though. For a start it sounded, with his talk of according to his work schedule he'd land round about three years next Palm Sunday, as if he wouldn't be around much anyway. Not that she had any intention of' living with the man. And in any case, in three years' time she would be married and divorced from him. Not that she wanted to marry the man in the first place, but...

Elexa abruptly cut off her thoughts midstream. Good grief, woman, don't start making plans. You haven't so much as got his phone number yet, much less plucked up the courage it will take to suggest what you have to suggest. But-she was still feeling quite desperate, and desperate problems called for desperate solutions.

But what if Noah Peverelle hadn't been serious anyway? What kind of a fool would that make her look? What...? Elexa was just building up a fine head of steam against Noah Peverelle for daring to make her feel a fool when the phone rang.

She grabbed at it. But it wasn't Lois; it was her mother. It couldn't have been an hour ago that they had last spoken! It must be important. It was-to her mother. `I forgot to ask. What are you going to wear on Sunday?'

`Wear?' Elexa repeated in surprise. `Does it matter?"

'Of course it matters. You'll want to look your best when Tommy Fielding sees you again. I don't want you turning up in those old trousers you were wearing when Timothy Stowe popped round the other Sunday.'

Popped round! As Elexa recalled it-and she had been wearing a pair of fairly new trousers at the time-Timothy Stowe had been especially invited to `pop' in to see her father's stamp collection, and to stay to tea. But Elexa knew from past experience that it would do no good to remind her mother of this. Timothy, Tommy- she'd probably got a Tarquin all lined up ready, should Tommy Fielding fail to thaw her annoying daughter's stony heart.

`I'll make sure to wear something smart,' Elexa replied finally, feeling too worn down by the constant attempts at coercion to want an argument with her parent.

`Good,' her mother replied, and rang offno doubt, Elexa assumed, to do more scheming inthe I 'll-get-my-daughter-to-the-church-if it's-the-last-thing -I-do stakes. A minute later, however, and the phone rang again, and this time it was Lois. `I've perjured my soul to get this for you,' Lois began. `Have you got a pen handy?'

Elexa took down the number her good friend read out to her, and repeated it back, and then said gratefully, `I truly appreciate it, Lois."

'What are friends for?Though you'll have to tell me why you want it as soon as you can. My imagination is running riot, trying to guess what's going on!'

Elexa said goodbye to her, knowing that not even in her wildest imaginings would Lois ever guess at the truth of what was going on. That was, Elexa mused, beginning to feel hot all over at the thought of what she was contemplating,if she ever found enough nerve to call that number.

She did call it though, a half-hour later when she was heartily fed up with her dithering. For goodness' sake, the man hadn't space for emotional entanglements- well, neither had she! With her throat dry, her hands shaking, she picked up the phone and pressed out Noah Peverelle's number, and consequently didn't know whether she felt frustrated or relieved when he wasn't home. He really was as busy as he'd intimated, she had to conclude when over the next couple of days she tried his number again with the same result. He was never home.

By Sunday morning it had become something of a fixture in her mind that she would keep ringing his number until he did answer. By then she knew his number off by heart and, just before she left her flat to drive to her parents' home in Berkshire, she stabbed out the digits again.

'Peverelle,' said a voice she knew-and Elexa only just managed to hold down a squeak of alarm.

It was him! He! 'Hello!' shemanaged, the whole idea of what she was about all at once seeming not only crazy but totally preposterous. Yet, as she recalled that her mother had again phoned her last night to ask her to be `warm' to Tommy Fielding, Elexa saw that if she could manage to spit the rest of her rehearsed speech out, she might see in front of her time free of pressure-leaving her the space she craved to be left in peace to get on with her career. `You don't know me-' She hushed herself to go on, but just couldn't get any further. It was preposterous! It was...

`Do you have a name?' Noah Peverelle asked shortly. Elexa made a face-charm school had obviously been wasted on him. But for the moment she preferred to stay anonymous. `The thing is,' she asserted herself to begin briskly, `that you would likea s-son, and I need a h-husband tem...' Temporarily, she would have said, had he given her thechance.

`Who the hell are you?' Peverelle demanded curtly.

`No one you know.We .. "

`Where did you get hold of that sort of erroneous information?' he challenged sharply. `Are you press?"

'No, I'm not!' she erupted, unsure if she was glad or sorry that her information was erroneous. Though, hang on-it wasn't erroneous. She had heard it herself from him with her very own ears. Abruptly then she realised that if he believed her to be from the newspapers he would automatically deny he had said any such thing, wouldn't he? `We have a mutual friend, sort of,' she hurried on.

`Who?' he rapped. Don't beat about the bush, come straight to the point, why don't you? `That's not important just now.'

'So-what is important?"

'You sounded much more pleasant the last time I heard you talking,' Elexa said without thinking.

`I've had a hard week!' he rapped again, clearly taking in his stride that she, somewhere before, and at some time, had heard his voice. `What are you after?"

'Nothing-other than...'

`A husband, in return for a son-and a meal ticket for the rest of your life, no doubt,' he snarled.

He thought she was after his wealth! Shocked, Elexa was speechless for endless seconds. Then, furious with him, with herself, `When I'm that hard-up I'll let you know!' she hissed, and fairly threw the phone back on its rest. That anyone could accuse her of such a thing as marrying for money was something she had simply not considered.

To think she had seriously, for even half a moment, thought of tying herself up with that suspicious swine! She had money of her own without wanting any of his, thank you very much. Her parents were quite well off, as too had been her grandparents. They had left her a substantial sum of money, sufficient anyway for her to be able to live comfortably without the need to touch her not inconsiderable salary. Had he been mixing with the wrong sort of woman? Suspicious devil!

Elexa was still fuming a minute later when her phone rang for attention. She gave a hefty sigh of despair. She would be seeing her mother quite soon now; she did not really need another call from her with yet more instructions on how she should behave with Tommy Fielding.

But, unable to give in to her mother and marry and settle down', Elexa tried in other ways to be dutiful and respectful, and went to answer the phone, hoping that her parent would make it brief.

`Hello,' she said, and was shaken rigid to hear the voice of the man upon whom she had just slammed the receiver down. `So what's with the proposition?' he said toughly.

Proposition !He thought, Mr Clever, dial one-four-seven-one to get his last caller's number-so much for wanting to remain anonymous-that she was propositioning him! `Forget it!' she snapped furiously. `I'd sooner marry a man-eating shark!' With that she slammed the phone down on him for a second time. If it rang again, mother or no mother, she just wasn't answering it.

The christening went off beautifully, with baby Betsy being little short of angelic. Aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces were all assembled, all female members queuing up to cuddle the tiny bundle.

She really was a sweetheart, Elexa mused, feeling all sort of squashy inside when her turn came to hold and croon to the gorgeous cherub. Glancing up, though, she saw her mother watching her, and hated that she was made to feel guilty for denying her grandparental status.

Joanna came up to her. 'She'll want changing, I expect. Shall I have her?' the proud mum asked, and as she came closer to take the baby from Elexa she said, `Sorry about Tommy. I couldn't say no without offending your mother,' she apologised for inviting the man who, while for a brief moment absent, had otherwise been sticking like glue to Elexa's side ever since he'd arrived. `Don't worry about it.He's-er-nice.'

`Nice,' Joanna mouthed silently, and they exchanged cousinly grins. But as Elexa gave the baby up to her, Joanna warned, `I saw Aunt Kaye nailing Rory a little while ago-I shouldn't be at all surprised to see Tommy Fielding at cousin Rory's wedding in a couple of months' time.'

`Oh, grief,' Elexa groaned.

`Shall I get you some christening cake?' Tommy hovered the moment Joanna had gone.

`I've had some, Tommy, thanks,' Elexa answered, fast running out of innocent topics of conversation-she had a feeling Tommy would be asking her for a date before the afternoon was over-it would be less embarrassing for them both if she could head him off.

She thought she had been successfull when, as the party started to break up, and at her mother's instigation, she went down the front garden path with Tommy to his car.But only to find that she hadn't been as successful as she'd believed. `Come out with me tonight?' Tommy blurted out the moment they were alone, every bit as though he had bottled it up all afternoon and somebody had just let the cork out.

'I-er...' Elexa tried hard for some gentle way to say no, and then to her own incredulity-and his, `I can't, Tommy. I'm dating someone,' she heard herself say. And, fearing Tommy would press her further, she found she was adding, `Long term.' And to her further amazement, and quite without her bidding, a picture came into her head of tall, dark-haired Noah Peverelle, standing the way he had been at the Montgomery that day.

'But-your mother...' Tommy was arguing, astounded.