Vintage Love (252 page)

The little man took time to give Judith a wink. “Surprise them,” he said.

Alan’s brow furrowed. “In what way?”

“They expect you to fight them.”

“What else can I do?”

“Upset their plans by pretending to consider the petition,” the Councilman suggested.

Alan showed bewilderment. “I don’t see what good that will do. You’ve just finished explaining how they intend to proceed. And whether I oppose them or pretend to go along with them, it will result in the same thing — a delay!”

“Not if you’re smooth enough handling it.”

“I don’t see how a delay can be avoided,” Alan said, still frowning.

Fred Harvey shrugged. “If the worst came to the worst, you could go along with them, pretend to agree and keep on as chairman of the board. Let them take it to the Governor and have the state put up the extra money for the spur. You can still let them build the North End spur and defeat the Senator and S.C. North by spoiling their main objective: to get you out of your job and North’s steel into the construction of the bridge.”

“It would be a shallow victory,” Alan said grimly. “The bridge costs would skyrocket, and we’d be agreeing to something to which I’m completely opposed.”

“Better than losing out altogether,” the Councilman suggested.

Alan looked at him directly. “If I compromise, I won’t be doing an honest job. And you’re the one who appointed me.”

Fred Harvey smiled. “All politics is compromise. You’ll have to learn that if you’re going anywhere.”

“I guess I’m not good political material, then,” Allan said.

“All you have to be for the time being is a good poker player,” the little man advised. “Bluff them. Don’t let them think you’re willing to give way, but don’t put yourself out on a limb, either. Stand pat while they do all the screaming.”

“That won’t be easy!”

Fred Harvey beamed at him. “You shouldn’t expect it to be. But it’s the first stage of the battle. Just sit pat! The Senator is hoping that as soon as the Council votes to halt work on the bridge, you’ll give up.”

Alan asked, “Is this the best service you can offer?”

“For now.”

“If it’s a sample of what you’ll pass along later, I can do without it,” Alan said. “I’ll have to figure some way to halt those chiselers on my own.”

The little man grinned at him. “You’ll have a chance to. I’m going to Washington on business this afternoon. I’ll be gone for the balance of the week.”

Judith remembered the Councilman’s refusal to use planes for his many jaunts to other parts of the country. Speaking up for the first time, she asked, “Will you be driving or going by train?”

“Driving to Boston and taking a train from there,” the Councilman told her. “So I can’t be back before Monday or Tuesday.” He beamed at Alan. “Maybe by then you’ll have a strategy of your own worked out.”

“You only say that because you know I won’t,” Alan said sullenly. “I’d think you’d stay in town with this breaking!”

“More important things to look after,” Fred Harvey assured him with a wise smile. And with a farewell nod to Judith, he said, “Don’t forget that job is always open to you, Judy.”

“The knowledge of it sustains me,” Judy told him in the same mocking manner.

“Good luck!” the Councilman said to Alan as the young lawyer saw him out

“Thanks!” Alan said a shade too bitterly. When the Councilman had gone out, he closed the door after him and turned to give Judith a glance. “What do you say to that?”

“I’m not surprised,” Judith said.

“I suppose I shouldn’t be, either,” he admitted, starting to pace back and forth in her office. “I should have known North wouldn’t give up so easily.”

“He rarely does.”

“But what he has to gain in this case is not that great! I can’t see him holding up the bridge just to win the contract for the rest of the steel.”

“Isn’t it more than that? A need to prove that he can have his own way in Port Winter?”

“I suppose so. He hates to be crossed.”

“And this bridge business has been a reverse for him the whole town knows about,” Judith pointed out. “He’ll probably never rest easy until he has won the battle.”

Alan gave her a surprised look. “You’re not agreeing with Harvey that I should play along with North’s crowd in this to keep my position?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know enough about it. But I would hate to see you resign.”

“It may be all I’m honorably able to do,” he said. “If Mayor Devlin can’t dismiss this at the Council meeting, we’re in the soup. Once the Council votes for a delay, the Senator has won the first round.”

“Will the Council take the petition seriously?”

“That will depend on how many S.C. North supporters there are among the Councilmen,” Alan said. “We know our side will lose one vote with Harvey away.”

“Surely he could have stayed here another day,” she said.

“No point in asking him. He had no intention of staying, and he’d only have refused me.”

“Still, you weren’t very polite in accepting his advice.”

“That kind of advice! What did you expect me to say?” Alan demanded.

She smiled ruefully. “Of course it’s up to you.”

Alan smiled at her apologetically. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to put you on the griddle.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“You’ll be wanting to accept Harvey’s job offer,” he told her. “I think he means it, by the way.”

“I’m sure he does,” she said, looking amused. “But it’s the last job I’d ever want. He’d be impossible to work for, far too nervous.”

“Nervous?” Alan said in surprise. “That’s not an adjective I’d apply to him. He’s like an iceberg.”

“I bet that’s a front,” Judith told him. “And I’m sure his wife and his secretary would both tell you he’s a nervous wreck.”

“Could be,” Alan said, but he sounded doubtful. “I think I should pass along some of Harvey’s gems of wisdom to the Mayor. Get him on the line for me.”

Judith did this and then worked at her desk as Alan gave the Mayor a summary of the conversation between himself and Fred Harvey. The phone talk ended with Alan inviting the Mayor to his office later in the afternoon. When the young man hung up he called out to her, “The Mayor will be dropping by about four o’clock.”

“Fine,” Judith said. “I’ll keep you clear of any appointments at that time.”

“What have I for the rest of the day?” he wanted to know.

She rose from her desk and went in to stand by him. Checking the appointment book, she said, “The union representative at one-thirty. A Mrs. Regan about a property being sold to the bridge authority at two o’clock. After that there is only Mr. Stevens coming in to discuss his suit against the bus company.”

Alan listened. “Doesn’t sound too bad,” he said. “It will give me time to work out some ideas for the Mayor.” Then suddenly he groaned and clapped a hand to his temple. “I forgot Pauline!”

“You said she was in New York.”

Alan shook his head. “She’s getting back on this morning’s plane. I told her to meet me here and we’d have lunch together.”

“You can still manage that if you don’t waste any time.”

“It will make it tight,” he mourned. “And I could have used that time to consider my plans. Now I’ll have to spend the entire noon hour hearing Pauline talk about the marvelous paintings she picked up while she was away!”

Judith smiled. “Isn’t she entitled to some enthusiasm for her work?”

He sighed. “All right; take her side. I guess I’ll have to suffer through it. But when we leave, be sure to mention I have an appointment and have to be back early.”

“Then she’ll think I’m a cat with designs on you.”

“Better that than that I overstay my lunch hour with her,” he said. And then his thin face brightened. “Maybe she won’t come! Perhaps she’ll decide to stay in New York another day.”

But Pauline Walsh put in an appearance at exactly ten minutes to twelve. She was a tall, slim, blonde girl with a great deal of dash. She was wearing her hair in a short, graceful coiffure, and the suit she had on was of some satiny silver material. She wore tall boots of a matching shade, and her skirt line was enough above her knees to reveal a fetching pair of legs. Yet for her height she carried the short skirt very well.

She always politely referred to Judith as Miss Barnes, and as she swept into the outer office with a smile on her lovely face, she said, “Is Alan in, Miss Barnes?”

Judith got up. “Yes. He’s expecting you.”

“Grand!” Pauline rolled her eyes. “I was afraid with all his business problems, he’d forget about me.”

“No chance of that.” Judith smiled. “He’ on the phone. As soon as he hangs up, I’ll let him know you re here.”

“I had a wonderful trip,” Pauline went on in her breathless way. “Picked up some divine clothes for myself! Saw a lot of my old friends and discovered a great new talent for the gallery!”

“You must have been busy!”

“I didn’t have an idle moment from the time I stepped off the plane,” Pauline assured her. “I had the paintings sent on ahead. And I’m having a party to introduce them at the gallery on Friday night. Why don’t you come?”

The abrupt invitation left Judith at a loss. “I’m afraid I’m not a good potential buyer,” she confessed. “I haven’t any spare money these days.”

“That doesn’t matter, darling!” Pauline protested in her breezy manner. “You have plenty of friends to tell about the paintings. You have good taste. You’re exactly the type of person I want there.”

“I’ll think about it,” Judith promised. “And thanks.”

“You haven’t been out much socially lately,” Pauline said, studying her. “I’m sure you’ve been missed. It would do you good to come.”

“I’d enjoy it, and I will try to be there.”

“Be there!” Pauline insisted. And with a conspiratorial smile: “I’ll tell Alan to make sure you don’t offer any last minute excuses.”

“He’s off the line now,” Judith said, grateful for a diversion. “I’ll tell him you’re here.” And with this she ushered the blonde girl into Alan’s office.

Not long afterward Pauline and Alan came out together on their way to lunch. Alan paused to give Judith a knowing glance and ask, “Just what do I have after I come back?”

“The appointment with the union representative at one-thirty,” Judith said, taking her cue. “It’s very important you be back in time for it.”

Alan was as solemn as if the little dialogue hadn’t all been pre-arranged. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he assured her.

As they went out the door, Pauline called back to her, “And don’t you forget about Friday night!”

Left to her own resources for the lunch hour, Judith decided that rather than hurry out somewhere for a quick snack, she would have a sandwich and milk sent in. This would leave her with some time to finish a novel she’d been enjoying in her rare free moments. Also, it would allow her to remain in the office and take any phone calls. There could be some important messages with the present crisis pending.

This decided, she phoned her order to the fountain service around the corner and settled down with her book. No phone calls came in and there were no interruptions by callers until the boy came with her lunch. After he had gone and she’d finished it, she checked the time. It was still a few minutes short of one o’clock, so Alan would not be back from his luncheon engagement for a half-hour. Again she relaxed to enjoy the novel.

She hadn’t read more than a few lines when the office door opened and she raised her eyes to see Brandon Fraser come in.

“Is Alan back from lunch yet?” he asked.

She smiled. “No. Miss Walsh returned from New York, and they’re having lunch together. I don’t expect him until one-thirty.”

“Oh!” The news didn’t exactly seem to cheer the reserved head of the law firm. “Is he usually away from the office that long for lunch?”

“No,” Judith said hastily. “He often has something sent in.”

“I see.” Brandon Fraser nodded, his lips tight again, as if he suspected she was trying to put a good front up for Alan and wasn’t impressed by her assurance that Alan often had lunch as he worked.

To make it seem more convincing, she decided to add lamely, “Of course we have no set rule about it.”

The gray-haired man’s smile was cold. “So I gather,” he said. His hand were clasped behind his back, and he stood ramrod straight, his deep-set eyes studying her. “How do you like working as my son’s secretary?” he asked.

Judith managed a smile. “I’m very happy here,” she said. “Of course I’ve known Mr. Fraser since school days.”

“I’m aware of that,” the precise voice said. “I haven’t forgotten our families have been neighbors all these years. I know you call Alan by his first name. You needn’t do otherwise for my benefit.” He glanced around the office appraisingly. “I’m not a client to be impressed.”

“No, sir,” she said in a small voice.

Brandon Fraser continued his study of the office. “This place is shamefully shabby. I must see that it is redecorated in the same style as my own office.” He gave her a sharp glance again. “It was too bad about your father,” he said. “How is your mother these days?”

“She isn’t too well,” Judith said. “So she doesn’t go out much.”

“The last of the Melrose line,” Brandon Fraser commented thoughtfully, “excluding yourself, of course. And I think of you as a Barnes. I’m afraid the Melrose blood ran a bit thin.”

Judith was uneasy in the stern presence of the elder Fraser. “I have some cousins in Vermont,” she ventured. “They’re the closest relatives I have left.”

The deep-set eyes fixed on her. “You used to go out with Alan, didn’t you?”

“Long ago, during high school days,” she said with a smile.

He stared at her in silence for a moment. “Yes, I remember. He brought you to the house quite a few times.”

“Before he left for college,” she said.

Brandon Fraser frowned. “I seem to remember seeing you even after that,” he said. “Didn’t you know my late son, Brian, as well?”

“Yes,” she said quietly. “Brian and I went out together some.”

The deep-set eyes glowed with pleasure. “Brian was a fine boy, wasn’t he?”

“He was.”

Alan’s father was so deep in his own reverie that it was doubtful if he heard her. With a nod of his head, and almost as if he were talking solely for his own benefit, he said, “If Brian had lived, he would have had a brilliant future! First in sports, studies and everything! He put Alan to shame! If Brian had lived, he would be doing important work for the firm by now!”