September Morning (6 page)

She opened the curtains and walked out. He stared at her, with lips slightly parted, his brown eyes stunned.

“Kathryn?” he asked, as if he didn't trust his eyes anymore.

“Yes, it's me,” she assured him. “Oh, Phil, isn't it a dream?”

He nodded dubiously. “A dream.”

“What's the matter?” she asked, going close to look up at him, while the saleswoman smiled secretively from a distance.

“Are you sure it's legal to wear something like that in public?” he asked.

She smiled. “Why not? It's very fashionable. Do you really like it?”

He caught his breath. “Honey, I love it. But Blake…”

She glared at him. “I'm grown. I keep having to remind Blake…”

“You won't have to remind him anymore if you wear that dress,” he said, staring down at the soft, exposed curves of her breasts in the plunging neckline. “He'll be able to see for himself.”

She tossed her long, waving hair defiantly. “I'll bet that actress wears more revealing clothes than this.”

“She does,” he agreed, “but her lifestyle is different from yours, kitten.”

“You mean she sleeps with men, don't you, Phillip?” she persisted.

“Hush, for heaven's sake!” he said quickly, looking around to see if anyone was listening. “Remember where we are.”

“But she does, doesn't she?” she kept on, glaring.

“I know you've been at it with Blake about your writer friend coming,” Phillip told her quietly. “But don't think you'll retaliate by insulting his latest female acquisition. He'll cut you into little pieces, Kate.”

She felt the rage welling up in her like rain catching in a vat. “I'm tired of Blake telling me how to live my life. I want to move into an apartment.”

“Don't tell him yet,” Phillip pleaded.

“I already have,” she replied, her eyes sparkling with temper.

“And what did he say?”

“He said no, of course. He always says no. But it won't work anymore. I'm going to get a job, and an apartment, and you're going to help me,” she added, with a mischievous glance upward.

“Oh, like hell I am!” he replied. “I'm not taking on Blake for you.”

She stamped her small foot. “That's what's wrong with men today!”

His eyebrows went up amusedly. “What is?”

“That no one's brave enough to take on Blake for me! I'll bet Larry will,” she added stubbornly.

“If he does, he'll wish he hadn't,” Phillip said. “And if you buy that dress, Kathryn, I'm going away for the weekend.” He made a mock shudder. “I can't stand the sight of blood.”

“Blake won't do anything,” she said smugly. “Not in front of his guests.”

“Blake will do anything, anytime, in front of anybody, and if you don't know that by now, you're even crazier than I thought you were.” He shook his head. “Give it up, Kathy. Blake's only trying to do what's best for you.”

“That's beside the point, Phillip,” she replied, smoothing the velvet under her slender fingers. “I don't want to spend the rest of my life being told what to do. Blake's not my keeper.”

“If you go out after dark in that dress, you'll need one,” he murmured, staring at her.

She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “You're a nice man.”

“Kathryn, are you sure…?”

“Don't be such a worrywart,” she told him. She motioned to the saleswoman. “I'll take all of them,” she said with a smile. “And that green velvet one, as well.”

Phillip frowned. “What green velvet one?”

“It's ever so much more daring than this,” she lied, remembering the high halter neckline and soft lines of the other dress she'd tried on. “It doesn't have a back at all,” she added in a wicked whisper.

“Lord help us!” Phillip said, lifting his eyes upward.

“Don't bother Him,” Kate said, “He has wars and floods to worry about.”

“And I have you,” he groaned.

“Lucky man,” she said, patting his cheek before she went to charge her purchases. “Come on. You have to sign the ticket.”

“Whose name would you like me to sign on it?” he asked.

“Oh, silly!” she laughed.

***

She and Phillip had managed to sneak in the back way and dart upstairs to dress for dinner without being seen. Recklessly, Kathryn slid into the burgundy velvet dress after she had her bath, and tacked up her long hair in a seductively soft bun on top of her head with little curling wisps trailing down her blushing cheeks. She used only a little makeup—just enough to give her a mysterious look, a hint of sophistication. The woman looking back at her in the mirror bore no resemblance to the young girl who'd left that room the same day to go shopping.

Satisfied with what she saw, she added a touch of Givenchy perfume and sauntered downstairs. She heard voices coming from the living room, and Blake's was among them. She felt suddenly nervous, uneasy. That would never do. She lifted her head, baring the soft curve of her throat, and, gathering her courage, walked straight into the white-carpeted, blue-furnished room.

She noticed two things immediately: the possessive blonde clinging to Blake's sleeve like a parasite, and the sudden, blazing fury in Blake's eyes as he looked at Kathryn Mary.

“Oh, there you are, darl…ing,” Maude said, her voice breaking on the word as she noticed the dress. “How…different you look, Kathryn,” she added with a disapproving glance.

“Where did you get that dress?” Blake asked in a harsh, low voice.

She started to speak, then darted a glance at Phillip, who was burying his face in his hand. “Phillip bought it for me,” she said in a rush.

“Kathryn!” Phillip groaned.

Blake smiled, like a hungry barracuda, Kathryn thought shakily. “I'll discuss this with you later, Phil.”

“Could we make it after Kathryn's funeral?” Phillip asked, with a meaningful glance at Kathryn.

“Aren't you going to introduce me to your guests?” Kathryn asked brightly.

“Dick Leeds and his daughter, Vivian,” Blake said, indicating a tall, white-haired man with twinkling blue eyes and the equally blue-eyed blonde at Blake's side. “This is Kathryn Mary.”

“Kilpatrick,” she added proudly. “I'm the youngest, next to Phillip.”

“How do you do?” Dick Leeds asked pleasantly, and extended a thin hand to be shaken. He smiled at her. “Not a Hamilton, then?” he asked.

“I'm a cousin,” she explained. “Maude and the family took me in when my parents died, and brought me up.”

“Apparently not too successfully,” Blake said darkly, his eyes promising retribution as they seared a path down her body, lingering on the plunging neckline.

“If you don't stop picking on me, Blake,” she said sweetly, accepting a glass of sherry from Phillip, “I'll hit you with my teddy bear.”

Vivian Leeds didn't look amused, although her lips managed a thin smile. “How old are you, Miss Kilpatrick?” she asked listlessly.

“Much younger than you, Miss Leeds, I'm sure,” Kathryn replied with an equally false smile.

Phillip choked on his drink. “Uh, how was your trip, Viv?” he asked the blonde, quickly.

“Very nice, thanks,” she replied, her eyes cutting a hole in Kathryn. “Lovely dress,” she said. “What there is of it.”

“This old rag?” Kathryn said haughtily, her eyes speaking volumes as they studied the rose silk gown the blonde was wearing. “It's warm, at least,” she added. “I don't really care for these new fashions—some of them look more like nighties than dresses,” she said pointedly.

Miss Leeds's face colored expressively, her blue eyes lighting like firecrackers.

“Let's eat,” Maude said suddenly.

“Lead the way, Mother,” Blake said. Amusement was vying with anger in his dark eyes, and just for an instant, amusement won. But then his dark gaze slid sideways to Kathryn, and the smile faded. His eyes curved over the creamy, exposed skin at her neckline, and she felt as if he had touched her. Her lips parted under a rush of breath, and he looked up suddenly and caught that expression on her young face. Something flared in his dark eyes, like a minor volcanic upheaval, and Kathryn knew that she was going to be in the middle of a war before the night was over. But she managed to return Blake's glare with bravado, and even smiled. If she was going to be the main course on his menu, she might as well enjoy the appetizer first.

Phillip dropped back beside her as they made their way into the dining room. “Feeling suicidal?” he asked under his breath. “He's blazing, and that sweet little smile didn't help.”

“Revolutionaries can't afford to worry about tomorrow,” she replied saucily. “Besides, Blake can't eat me.”

“Can't he?” he asked, casting a wary glance toward his brother, who was glaring at them over Vivian's bright head.

“Phillip, you aren't really afraid of him, are you?” she teased. “After all, you're brothers.”

“So,” he reminded her, “were Cain and Abel.”

“Don't worry, I'll protect you.”

“Please don't,” he asked mournfully. “Why did you have to tell him that I bought you that dress?”

“But, you did sign for it,” she said innocently.

“I know, but buying it wasn't my idea.”

“Be reasonable, Phil,” she said soothingly. “If I'd told him it was my idea, he'd have gone straight for my throat.”

He gave her a measuring look. “And having him go for mine was a better idea?”

She smiled. “From my point of view, it was,” she laughed. “Oh, Phil, I am sorry, really I am. I'll tell him the truth.”

“If you get the chance,” he muttered under his breath, nodding toward his brother.

Blake seated Vivian and then turned to hold out a chair for Kathryn. She approached it with the same aplomb as a condemned terrorist headed for the gallows.

“Nice party,” she murmured under her breath as she sat down.

“And it's only beginning,” he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. “Make one more snide remark to Vivian, and I'll grind you into the carpet, Kathryn Mary.”

She spared him a cool glance. “She started it,” she said under her breath.

“Jealous?” he taunted softly.

Her eyes jerked up to his, blazing green fire. “Of her?” she asked haughtily. “I'm not fifteen anymore,” she said.

“Before the night's over, you're going to wish you were,” he said softly. “I promise you.”

The deep anger in his voice sent chills running all over her. Why did she have to open her mouth and challenge him again? Hadn't she had enough warning? She felt a surge of fear at what lay ahead. It seemed that she couldn't stop fighting Blake lately, and she wondered at her own temerity. Was she going mad?

One glance at his set face down the table from her was enough to make her want to run upstairs and bar the door.

Dinner was an ordeal. Vivian monopolized Blake to such an extent that he was hardly able to carry on a conversation with anyone else, but her cold blue eyes made frequent pilgrimages to Kathryn's quiet face. The animosity in them was freezing.

“You're not doing much for international relations,” Phillip remarked as they retired to the living room for after-dinner drinks.

“Blake's doing enough for both of us,” she replied, darting a cool glance toward the blonde, who was clinging to Blake's big, muscular arm as if he were a life raft. “He has bad taste,” she said without thinking.

“I wouldn't say that,” Phillip disagreed. His brown eyes danced as they surveyed the blonde's graceful back. “She's pretty easy on the eyes.”

“Is she?” she asked with magnificent disdain. “Frankly, she doesn't do a thing for me.”

“Don't be sour,” he said. “You forget why she's here, darling. Remember the strike?”

“Oh, I remember,” she told him. “But does Blake? I thought her father was the focal point.”

“Part of it, at least,” he said.

She stared up at him. “What do you mean, Phil?” she asked curiously.

He avoided her sharp eyes. “You'll know soon enough. Look, Mother's motioning to you.”

Maude was showing some of her antique frames to Dick Leeds, but she left him with a smile and drew Kathryn aside.

“You're doing it again, my darling,” she moaned, darting a wary glance in Blake's direction. “He's ready to chew nails. Kathryn, can't you manage not to antagonize him for just one evening? The Leedses are our guests, remember.”

“They're Blake's guests,” came the sullen reply.

“Well, it is Blake's house,” Maude said with a placating smile. “Johnny left it all to him. He felt Blake would keep me from frittering it away.”

“You wouldn't have,” Kathryn protested.

Maude sighed. “Perhaps,” she said wistfully. “But it's a moot point. You aren't improving Blake's disposition, you know.”

“All I did was buy a new dress,” she said defensively.

“It's much too old for you, Kathryn,” she said quietly. “Phillip hasn't taken his eyes off you all evening, and every time he looks at you, Blake scowls more.”

“Phillip and I aren't related, after all,” Kathryn pointed out.

Maude smiled. “And there's no one I'd rather see him marry, you know that. But Blake doesn't approve, and he could make things very difficult for you.”

She scowled. “He doesn't approve of any man I date,” she grumbled.

Maude started to say something, but obviously thought better of it. “It will work itself out. Meanwhile, please at least be civil to Miss Leeds. It's terribly important that we make a good impression on them both. I can't tell you any more than that, but do trust me.”

Kathryn sighed. “I will.”

Maude patted Kathryn's slender shoulder. “Now be a dear, and help me entertain Dick. Blake is going to drive Vivian into King's Fort and show her how the city looks at night. She was curious, for some reason that escapes me.”

It didn't escape Kathryn, and it didn't improve her mood, either. Especially when she watched Vivian and Blake go out the door without a backward glance. She wanted to pick up the priceless Tang dynasty vase in the hall and heave it at Blake's dark head. In the end, she consoled herself with the fact that at least she didn't have to face Blake until the morning. That was a blessing in itself.

Dick Leeds was interesting to talk to. She liked the elderly man, who seemed to have the same kind of steel in his makeup that Blake did. All too soon, he went upstairs to his room, pleading fatigue from the long trip. Maude followed suit with a sigh.