Silver Lining (33 page)

Laughing, Louise wound her arms around his neck, careful not to bump the sling across his chest. But when she saw Max's expression, her laughter hitched on a quick intake of breath. There was something different in his eyes, something she had never seen there before. Something deep and clear and intense that made her gasp and caused her knees to tremble.

"You have beautiful eyes," he said in a low, gruff voice. "Tonight your eyes are more green than hazel, as green as the early spring grass."

"Good heavens," she whispered, amazed. "I didn't know I had any beautiful parts." And until now she hadn't heard him express the pretty words she knew were inside him. Certainly she'd never imagined that she might inspire such words. Lordy, Lordy. For the rest of her life she would remember that Max McCord had said she had beautiful eyes, as green as the early spring grass.

Her hips pressed to his, and her gaze dropped to his mouth. And suddenly she wished they were home alone in their bed.

Leaning forward, Max brushed warm lips across hers, a kiss so soft and fleeting that it was almost a tease. When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her. Then he moved his hand on the small of her back and drew her tighter against his body, and he kissed her again, this time with a deep hunger that suggested he'd forgotten they had an audience.

"Well, my, my," Livvy murmured, using another of her phrases that said nothing but in this case managed to convey interest, amusement, and approval.

Sunshine clapped and laughed, then caught Louise's hand. "Come look at my present to you and see if you can guess what it is." Her eyes danced with excitement. "You'll never guess!"

Before Louise allowed Sunshine to pull her to the parlor, she asked Livvy, "Do you need any help with supper?"

"Everything's under control. When you're ready for coffee or something cool, and a break from a certain imp's chatter, come back to the kitchen." She winked at Max. "I had to move the pies you brought yesterday to make room for Dave. He's taken over the pantry to make his special Christmas punch. He's been waiting for you and Wally to serve as official tasters."

Before Sunshine tugged her into the parlor, Louise glanced over her shoulder at Max. He returned her gaze, wearing that same intense, almost smoldering expression. She couldn't decipher what it meant, but the smoky speculation in his eyes sent a warm shiver thrilling down her spine.

Then both he and Livvy turned to look up the staircase.

*

"I have half a mind not to go downstairs at all!" Leaning toward the mirror above the vanity table, Philadelphia patted one of the curls on her forehead, then turned her head from side to side to admire the flash and sparkle of the diamond earrings her father had given her last Christmas. She expected him to give her a matching bracelet tomorrow when she and Wally drove in to have Christmas dinner at home.

"Your mother insisted on ham tonight even after I mentioned that I prefer turkey."

"We've always had baked ham on Christmas Eve."

She glanced at him in the mirror, irritated that he stood before the window with his back to her. So rude.

"My family has turkey on Christmas Eve." Thinking about diamonds led her to wonder if Wally had repaid her father for her wedding ring. She supposed it didn't matter. "I'm sure your mother means well, but really. Ham?" Looking into the mirror, she studied the set of his shoulders, trying to judge how far she could take any criticism of his mother. Perhaps it was enough to plant a seed here and a seed there.

On the other hand, she was in a strange and rebellious mood. Before this tedious evening ended, she might tell Wally exactly what she thought of his judgmental family.

Leaning to the mirror, she pinched color into her cheeks, then ran her fingertips along the silk roses trimming her neckline. "I haven't decided yet if I'll go downstairs."

She'd like Max to see her looking as beautiful as she did tonight, but it was an affront to decency to expect her to be in the same room as Low Down. She had promised herself it would never happen again.

"I insist that you join the family tonight."

Insist? Her eyebrows rose and she turned on the vanity bench. "I beg your pardon," she said coolly.

"Youinsist?"

He continued to stand with his back to her as if there were something fascinating down below in the dark snowy yard.

"Aside from the fact that I'd find it humiliating to have Christmas alone while you're here upstairs, we need to discuss your refusal to make yourself part of the family. There are times when I wonder if I really have a wife."

"And sometimes I wonder if I really have a husband, since you're never here! You leave for town before I'm awake, and you don't return from Max's place until I'm ready to retire for the evening, and then you go out to the barn. On the weekends, you abandon me and return to Max's, and you stay there all day long!"

Now he turned and looked at her for a long moment before he lifted a piece of kindling from her fireplace and lit a cigar. She hated it when he smoked in her room. Eventually, she would have to abandon hints and address the problem directly, which irritated her. It was so much nicer when people anticipated her wishes.

"If you want me home in the evenings and on the weekends, all you have to do is ask your father to lift the restrictions on Max's employees. Howard will listen to you."

"If I've told you once, I've told you a dozen times. I don't interfere in Daddy's business." She did not like the way he was looking at her through the nasty smoke curling up from his cigar. Like she was to blame for this, that, and the other thing.

"Then nothing is going to change. I understand why you don't want to accompany me to Max's place when everyone goes there to help on Sundays. But you need to understand that holding yourself aloof places you outside this family. I don't like that, and I'm sure the family doesn't like it."

She stiffened in disbelief. "Have you forgotten what your brother and his doxy did to me?" Standing abruptly, she presented her profile and thrust out her stomach. "Take a good look, Wally." Mrs. Dame had let out the seams as far as possible, but even so, the gown's waist was uncomfortably snug.

"I haven't forgotten anything. How can I when you keep reminding me how badly you've been wronged."

She stared. "What on earth has gotten into you tonight?" When reason failed, tears generally succeeded.

She blinked until she felt moisture wet her lashes. "Why are you saying mean things to me? Why are you being so hateful?"

Ordinarily he rushed to comfort her, but astonishingly he remained at the window. She had to find one of her own handkerchiefs to dab her eyelids.

"It will take time for our situation to seem normal and for everyone to feel comfortable. But that time will never come if we don't make a beginning."

"You don't mean we. You mean me!"

"All right, I mean you. Hiding or refusing to speak to Max when he comes here doesn't make things easier for anyone. All it does is keep the situation in front of us all."

Which was exactly why she let Max see her only occasionally. She wanted him constantly aware of "the situation." She wanted him always thinking about her and feeling sick with guilt.

"What kind of family life can we hope to enjoy if you refuse to be in the same room with Louise? We must get past this, Philadelphia . I know it isn't easy for you, but you need to accept how things are and make the best of it."

Fury burned circles on her cheeks. "Low Down has the manners of a creature raised in a pigsty, the grace of a peasant, and all the charm you might find in a brothel! She's gauche and utterly lacking in morals, without a shred of decency. I will never spend one minute withher unless it is absolutely and totally unavoidable!"

"Her name is Louise. Not Low Down. Not that creature." Never before had he spoken so sharply or stared with such cold eyes.

Astonishment dried her tears. "My God. You're defending that, that…"

"It's Christmas Eve. A night to celebrate love and family." His gaze narrowed. "I expect you to join me in the festivities, and I expect you to be cordial to all members of my family. That includes my brother and his wife."

"Oh my heavens." She stared at him as a terrible thought occurred. "Did you purchase gifts for Max andher?"

"We are giving Max a leather vest, and Louise a pair of fleece-lined gloves."

"We?" Her voice spiraled into shrillness. "You signed the tags from both of us? You had no right to do that!" Furious, she stamped her foot, but that wasn't enough. Frantically she looked around, then grabbed a china figurine from the top of the bureau, and hurled it to the floor. "Now look what you made me do!"

The shattered pieces raised genuine tears to her eyes. "I loved that piece!"

When he didn't come to her, didn't bend to pick up the pieces of china or offer to glue them, she peeked at him through her lashes. Incredibly, he'd turned his back again and stood gazing out the window. She could not believe it.

He drew on his cigar and blew a smoke ring at his reflection in the panes. "It's getting late. After you pick up your mess, we'll go downstairs."

A scream of outrage and fury rushed up her throat, but she checked herself. She needed to figure this out.

What had changed his attitude? When had his puppy-like adoration become judgmental?

It had to be the bank. He wouldn't dare treat her like this if he feared her father or if he believed her happiness essential to his future.

She half sat, half fell onto the vanity bench. She could not spend thirty minutes with her father without having to listen to paeans of praise for Wally's success at the bank. Wally had a remarkable grasp of finance and the financial markets. Wally's tact and diplomacy made him a natural for dealing with difficult patrons. No one could have learned all the facets of banking any faster than Wally McCord. She was sick and tired of hearing about Wally's exploits at the bank. It was almost as if he were her father's favored son and she was merely the wife he had married.

Good God. Her eyes widened, and she stared at the back of Wally's head. That was exactly the problem. When she married Wally, she had given her father the son he had always wanted.

Wally may have received his position at the bank because she wanted it so. But he had swiftly proven his worth and firmly established himself in her father's dazzled eyes.

Shocked and tight with resentment, she stood, then kicked the broken pieces of the figurine beneath her bed.

The first thing was to endure and get through tonight. Next, she had to endure and get through the delivery of the baby. Until then, she had to endure an unwanted marriage to the wrong man.

But once the baby was born and she no longer needed this Judas who had usurped her place in her father's heart, then, step by step, she would shed a marriage she didn't want and seize the marriage she did want.

As for Wally McCord, he held his position at the bank because she had wished it, and he could lose that position because she wished it. In time, he would discover this.

Refusing to speak to him, she slapped his arm away and walked to the top of the staircase as if he were invisible and she didn't see him beside her. She had lifted her skirts to descend when she saw Max and the creature standing in the foyer beneath a sprig of mistletoe.

Max had one hand on Low Down's cheek and he gazed into the creature's eyes as he had once gazed into hers, with tenderness and the smoky heat of desire. Philadelphia inhaled sharply and felt the blood rush to her face as he drew the creature hard against him and kissed her as if Sunshine and Livvy were not looking on with encouragement and approval. He kissed the creature as if she were a beautiful, desirable woman and not a coarse vulgarian trespassing where she was not wanted and didn't belong.

What was it about this plain graceless woman that made Max's eyes soften as he watched her follow Sunshine into the parlor? Why on earth would Wally rise to such a person's defense? Mystified, Philadelphia struggled to find an answer. But she could think of no reason why anyone would give Low Down a second glance or a second thought.

The creature's hands and cheeks were chapped and wind-reddened, her hair dressed plainly and unimaginatively. She hadn't the faintest notion of style or etiquette. Her background was deplorable, her morals shocking. There was nothing whatsoever appealing about this no-account person. If she had not tricked Max into marriage, Low Down would never have attracted a man.

Philadelphia seethed as Low Down turned in the parlor doorway and gazed back at Max with shining eyes. Even a fool could see that she loved him. It was in her gaze, on her flushed cheeks, at the trembling corner of her lips.

What the stupid creature didn't grasp was that Philadelphia could take Max away faster than she could snap her fingers. Max didn't care two jots about a nobody like Low Down. He had to pretend in front of his family, and Philadelphia understood this. But he loved her, and she could have him anytime she wanted. When the time was right, she would.

Pasting a bright smile over her anger, she lifted her skirts to descend the stairs. "Merry Christmas," she called gaily. Max had always liked her whimsical moments. He'd teased her about her daredevil ways, but she knew he found her boldness charming.

Ignoring Livvy's wary regard, she swirled into the foyer, letting a lacy edge of petticoat flash beneath rose-colored satin skirts. She whirled to a stop before Max, bringing with her the rose petal scent of her signature fragrance.

Dimpling up at him, she opened her fingers across her bosom and noticed the mistletoe. "Oh! We're standing beneath mistletoe." Expectancy and a breathless suggestion hung in the observation. She let him see the wicked twinkle in her eyes, let him recognize an open dare.

Without looking, she sensed Livvy's shocked disapproval and the heat of Wally's anger. Well, Wally had wanted her to behave naturally, to pretend there was no Situation with a capital S. He'd wanted her to join the family and not run away from Max. In fact, Wally's advice worked to her advantage. Kissing Max beneath the mistletoe would punish Wally and remind Max of what he had given up. If she touched her tongue to his lips, if she could be that daring, he would understand that she still wanted him and that she knew he wanted her, too.