Kitabı oku: «When Jayne Met Erik», sayfa 3

Three

Jayne eyed the man standing on the other side of the counter very cautiously, and debated for a full fifteen seconds whether or not she should stomp her foot down—hard—on the alarm button located conveniently behind the jewelry showcase. He didn’t look like a psychotic, crazed, homicidal maniac. In fact, she thought upon further consideration of his charmingly disheveled dark hair and kind, bittersweet-chocolate brown eyes, he was actually kind of cute. But one could never tell these days. Ultimately, being the kind of woman that she was, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

And also, being the kind of woman that she was, she decided to speak slowly and not make any sudden moves.

“Uuummm,” she began, stringing the single syllable out over several time zones. “That’s uh…” She cleared her throat indelicately and tried again. “That’s really nice of you to ask, Mr. um…”

The potentially psychotic, crazed, homicidal—but kind of cute—maniac closed his eyes in what appeared to be genuine embarrassment, pressed his fingertips lightly against his forehead, made a soft tsking sound and looked very sheepish.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I haven’t even introduced myself, have I? I can’t imagine what you must be thinking of me, proposing this way when I haven’t even told you who I am.” He opened his eyes again and extended his hand toward her. “Erik Randolph,” he said by way of an introduction.

Oh, well, that explained everything, Jayne thought as relief coursed through her. Even though she had only moved into 20 Amber Court a month ago, she had grown up in Youngsville, so she knew all about the Randolph family. They were like local royalty. They kept the society pages of the Youngsville Gazette in business. The Randolphs were purported to be one of the wealthiest families in the state of Indiana. And they were rumored to be one of the most eccentric families in the state, too, from what Jayne had heard and read.

If Erik, here, was any indication, the eccentricity thing was no rumor at all.

Still, from all accounts the Randolphs were harmless. They were, in fact, gregarious, magnanimous people, known throughout several states for their wealth, their prominence, their numerous and varied social causes and their limitless philanthropy. But never had she heard anyone refer to any of the Randolphs as psychotic, crazed or homicidal. Which, naturally, was quite a relief.

Nevertheless, she still felt a bit cautious as she extended her own hand and shook his. Then he grinned as he gripped her fingers firmly—but not homicidally or maniacally—and Jayne relaxed.

“Mr. Randolph,” she said, feeling glad that she had hesitated setting off the alarm. “It’s lovely to meet you,” she added, uncertain what else to say. After all, she couldn’t very well tell him she accepted his proposal, could she? As an afterthought she added, “I’ve heard so much about you.”

He nodded amiably, as if he was in no way surprised to hear her say this. “All good things, I hope.”

“Oh, yes,” she assured him. “From all reports, you’re quite the charmer.” And also quite the odd duck, she added to herself.

“Well then, you have me at a disadvantage,” he told her, still smiling, still relaxing her. “Because I’m afraid I know little about you. Other than the fact that you, too, appear to be quite charming. And that you are in need of a wealthy husband. Which,” he hurried on before she had a chance to contradict him, “works out perfectly, because I, in addition to being wealthy, am in need of a wife.”

Oh, dear, Jayne thought. They were back to that, were they? Very diplomatically she said, “Well, I wish you luck in your search, and I’ll be happy to assist you in finding the perfect ring to present to your fiancée. But I couldn’t possibly accept your offer myself.” She smiled, too, what she hoped was a kind—and in no way homicidal-mania-provoking, just in case—smile. “Even if I know of you, I don’t know you. So I really couldn’t accept your proposal. Not that I’m not flattered,” she hastened to add for good measure. “Now about that ring,” she hurried on further. “Personally, I think the square-cut diamonds are just so lovely, especially in the white-gold setting, and very—”

But Erik Randolph was not to be dissuaded that easily. “No, no, no,” he interrupted her gently. “You don’t understand. It isn’t necessary for my wife to know me.”

Jayne arched her brows curiously. Eccentric, she thought, really wasn’t an accurate word for Erik Randolph. No, she was beginning to think the term delusional might better describe him. “Oh?” she said.

He nodded knowingly. “The marriage will be in name only,” he told her. “Oh, certainly, we’ll have to live together, to fulfill the terms of the agreement, but that won’t be a problem.”

Wondering what it was that made her prolong this discussion, Jayne nevertheless asked, “Um, no?”

“Certainly not.”

Well, naturally, a man would think that way, she thought. Especially a delusional—oops, she meant eccentric, of course—man like Erik Randolph. But Jayne kept the observation to herself and, in an effort to conclude this part of their dialogue and move on to the next, said instead, “Well, I’m sure you’ll find the right woman soon. Now then, we have a very good selection of square-cut solitaires that you might find—”

Before she had a chance to direct his attention to the jewelry showcase, however, Erik interrupted her again. “Oh, I believe I’ve already found the right woman,” he said.

Oh, Jayne didn’t think so. She met his gaze again—really, he did have the most beautiful brown eyes, thickly lashed and so dark she could scarcely see where the irises ended and the pupils began and…and…and…

And what was it they had been talking about? she wondered vaguely. Oh, yes. He had asked her to marry him, and she was trying to explain why she couldn’t.

It was all coming back to her now.

“Yes, well, as I said,” she tried again, “I’m very flattered that you would ask, Mr. Randolph, but I really can’t marry you. Truly, I can’t. I’m afraid I decided a long time ago that before I married a man, I wanted to, well, know him. And being in love with him would be even more helpful. But thank you, anyway. Now about that ring for your intended, whoever she might turn out to be…”

Jayne tried once more to turn his attention to the array of sparkling diamond rings that lay in the glass case between them. But Erik Randolph would have none of it. Instead of focusing his attention on the exquisite gems, he eyed Jayne with much consideration and interest.

“You don’t think I’m serious, do you?” he asked.

Actually, Jayne suspected he was serious. Which was entirely the problem. Aloud, however, she only said, “Well, can you blame me?”

“I suppose it does make sense that you would draw such a conclusion,” he conceded. “How often do strangers come in from the street and propose marriage, right?”

“I think I can safely say that you’re my first.”

For some reason, he smiled very suggestively at that. Then, “Well, I assure you, Jayne Pembroke, that I am completely serious. I want you to marry me.”

“You fell in love with me at first sight, is that it?” she asked playfully.

“Don’t be silly,” he countered. “I don’t even know you.”

“Oh.”

“Besides, I don’t believe in love at first sight. Or any sight, for that matter.” Before Jayne could comment on that—not that she had any idea what to say—he continued, “As I said, the marriage I’m proposing would be in name only. A marriage of convenience, if you will. I’ll be turning thirty soon. And my grandfather, a lovable old rogue, I assure you, decided a long time ago that I should be married by the time I turn thirty. In fact, he’s blackmailing me into it.”

“Can’t you talk to him? Explain that you don’t want to get married?”

“No,” Erik said. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“He’s dead, you see.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

Erik Randolph looked genuinely bereft as he said, “I am, too. But he was a lovable old rogue, as I said, and I do believe he only wanted what he thought was best for me.”

“And what did he think was best for you?”

“The love of a good woman,” Erik replied promptly.

“Oh,” Jayne said, smiling in spite of the strange situation. “Oh, that’s so sweet.”

“And also one-third of his $180 million-dollar estate,” Erik added, in as matter-of-fact a tone as Jayne had ever heard.

Then his words hit her, and her mouth dropped open slightly, an incredulous little gasp of air escaping. “One-third of…of…of…”

“Sixty million dollars is what it boils down to.” Erik did the math for her, in that same matter-of-fact tone, by golly, when Jayne wasn’t quite able to calculate—or enunciate—the amount herself.

“Well,” she finally got out. “Well. Well, gee. Well, that’s pretty doggone good,” she conceded with much understatement.

Erik nodded, apparently oblivious to her complete astonishment, as if everyone came into $60 million because their lovable rogue of a grandfather willed it to them. “Unfortunately,” he said, “Grandfather Randolph insisted on one small stipulation before I could inherit. That I be married. By the time I’m thirty.”

“And you’ll be thirty soon,” Jayne echoed his earlier sentiment.

He nodded again. “Very soon. In two weeks, to be precise.”

This time Jayne’s jaw dropped a lot more, and the gasp of incredulous breath that escaped was more like a great big whoosh of air. “Two weeks?” she repeated.

He nodded once more.

“You expect to find a woman who’ll marry you in two weeks’ time?”

He eyed her with much concern. “Do you think that’s unreasonable?”

Jayne couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He honestly seemed to think he could just waltz right in off the street and ask a woman to marry him, just because he would be coming into $60 million as a result. Then again, she thought, there were probably lots of women out there who would do just that. Especially once they got a look at Erik Randolph in his expertly tailored dark suit, with his silky, dark-brown hair and puppy dog brown eyes and full mouth that was just made for kissing and—

Well, suffice it to say that there were probably plenty of women who would take him up on his offer. Women other than Jayne Pembroke, anyway.

“Um, look,” she said, striving for a polite way to tell him he was nuts. “I’m really flattered,” she said again, “and I wish you well in your search, and I hope you enjoy your…” she swallowed with some difficulty before finally getting out “—$60 million. But I’m not the woman you need, truly.”

He eyed her intently for a moment, saying nothing. Then he asked, “Would you at least let me take you to dinner tonight?”

Jayne shook her head. But she was surprised at how reluctant she felt when she told him, “No, I’m afraid not. Thank you.”

“Oh, please,” he said. “I can explain things better, and you might change your mind. Plus, it would give you hours to get to know me.”

She couldn’t quite prevent the smile that curled her lips in response to both his cajoling and his own earnest grin. “No, really,” she told him. But she could feel her conviction slipping, and she was certain that Erik detected it, too, because his smile grew broader still.

“And once you get to know me,” he added, “you’ll discover just how charming and irresistible—not to mention what a great catch—I am.”

Jayne had no idea why, but she found herself wanting to say yes to his offer. Not the marriage offer, of course—that would be silly—but the dinner offer. Had he been another man who had wandered in off the street and flirted with her, one who wasn’t rumored to be eccentric, and one who hadn’t just proposed marriage to a total stranger, she might very well have given his invitation serious consideration. He was kind of charming and irresistible, after all. Not to mention cute. And he was seeming less and less like a psychotic, crazed homicidal maniac with every passing moment.

So that was a definite plus.

“I’m not sure it would be a good idea,” she said halfheartedly. She told herself she was trying to let him down easily. But she knew she was really only stalling for time, because she discovered then that—surprise, surprise—she really wanted to accept his invitation.

Erik, however, still clearly picking up on her uncertainty, pressed, “Look, if you’re worried about my intentions, you don’t have to tell me where you live. You can meet me somewhere.”

“Gee, I don’t know…”

“And I’ll let you pick the restaurant.”

“But…”

“And choose the time.”

“It’s just that…”

“Please, Jayne,” he said. “You may well be my only hope. And once I explain the situation to you, you might change your mind.”

She wasn’t sure how she should take that first part of his statement, whether being his only hope was a good thing or a bad thing. But she was absolutely certain about the last part of his statement—there was no way she would change her mind, no matter how well she understood what he termed “the situation.”

Still, what would it hurt to have dinner with him? she thought. It wasn’t as though she planned to do anything else this evening. Oh, wait a minute. Yes, she did have plans, she suddenly remembered. She planned to do laundry.

Dinner with Erik was definitely looking better now.

“It will all make sense to you when I explain,” he promised, swaying her further.

Jayne gazed into his eyes, nearly losing herself in their dark-brown depths. He was allowing her to call all the shots, letting her set up their date—or whatever it was—in any way that would make her feel safe and comfortable. Just because he had a reputation for being eccentric, that was no reason to say no, was it? she asked herself. Were he any other charming, irresistible and cute—did she mention cute?—man asking her out to dinner under the same circumstances, she’d probably say yes.

And he was awfully cute.

“Look, I’ll tell you what,” Erik said when she still didn’t reply one way or the other to his invitation. “J.J.’s Deli is right up the street. What time do you get off from work?”

“Five,” Jayne said before she could stop herself.

He smiled. “Fine. I’ll be at J.J.’s Deli at seven o’clock tonight. If you decide to come, wonderful. If you decide not to…”

His voice trailed off, and she was surprised at the depth of disappointment she heard in it.

“If you decide not to,” he said again, sighing heavily, “well, I guess I’ll survive. Somehow.”

She smiled back at him, but still couldn’t quite bring herself to accept.

“But I think, Jayne, that if you do decide to come, we could have a very nice time, and a very interesting conversation. Seven o’clock,” he repeated. “J.J.’s Deli. I hope you’ll come.”

And then Erik Randolph, eccentric, cute guy, potential multimillionaire, spun around and exited Colette without a backward glance.

And all Jayne could do was shake her head in mystification, and wonder what on earth had just happened.

Shortly after arriving home at five-thirty that evening—stumbling over Mojo as she did, because the blasted cat was, as usual, lying in wait for her, to trip her as she came through the front door—Jayne noted the flashing light on her answering machine indicating that she had received two calls. And she immediately sensed that her terrible, no-good, very bad day wasn’t over quite yet. And, too, she wondered when she would learn not to jinx herself by being so bloody optimistic all the time.

The first message assured her that she was right, and it prevented her from playing the second message until she got the first straightened out. Because that first message, although short and simple—“Jayne, call me because there’s something we need to discuss “—definitely had an ominous ring to it. A good reason for that might have been because the message came from her financial advisor.

What felt like hours later but must only have been a matter of minutes, Jayne hung up the phone again, having discovered that one of the “sure thing” investments of which she had been encouraged to take advantage hadn’t been such a sure thing, after all, but that she shouldn’t worry, because she hadn’t lost that much money, really, and she would recover her loss, eventually, and that recovery would be possible in a very short time, say one or two years—three at the most—but in the meantime, her finances weren’t going to be quite as fluid as they had been, so that might be a problem for a little while.

Jayne had had to laugh—albeit with a touch of hysteria—at that part about her finances not being quite as fluid as they had been, because they were barely a trickle as it was. Just what, she had asked her advisor, did “not quite as fluid” mean? Wherein he offered her a very detailed explanation that amounted, pretty much, to the fact that she wouldn’t have enough money to pay any more college tuition for her brother and sister until the year 2003—2004 at the latest.

This, Jayne decided immediately, was going to present something of a problem. The current semester was covered, because she had paid that bill a month ago. Come spring, however…

Oh, dear. She really had been planning to give her brother and sister something for Christmas other than the shaft.

How was she going to tell Chloe and Charlie that they wouldn’t be able to attend college after this, their first semester? She could still remember the joy sparkling in her siblings’ eyes when they’d all said their goodbyes at Indiana University scarcely a week ago. The twins had been so excited about starting their studies, and over pizza and later brownies, the three of them had made such plans for the future. Jayne would do almost anything to preserve those plans, that excitement, that joy.

Almost anything.

She sighed heavily, gazing longingly at the telephone, wondering how on earth she was going to fix things this time. Because Jayne fully intended to fix things. She didn’t know how yet, but she would figure out something. She wasn’t about to tell Chloe and Charlie they’d have to quit school. She would fix things.

Because that was what Jayne did.

For the last four years, that was what she had been. Jayne the fixer. Since her parents’ deaths, she had done whatever she could to ease the twins’ grief along with her own. She had been there for the two of them no matter what. Whenever one or both of them had needed her, for whatever reason, Jayne had dropped what she was doing and remedied the situation, however she could.

Usually those remedies had consisted of a bandage on a sprain or help with homework or stretching a pound of hamburger into three separate meals. Whatever the problem had been, Jayne had somehow found a way to fix it. This time, though…

She sighed again. There was no quick fix for the loss of a large sum of money. Not unless one won the lottery, and Jayne—call her crazy—simply wasn’t willing to put her faith in that. Not unless one happened to stumble upon another large sum of money somewhere to replace the loss. Not unless one stumbled upon someone who had a large sum of money to replace it.

Because you see, I myself happen to be a multimillionaire. Or, at least, I will be a multimillionaire. Once I get married.

Oh, dear, Jayne thought. That was the last thing—the last voice—she needed to be hearing in her head right now. Accepting Erik Randolph’s proposal was not going to be the fix for this particular problem.

The marriage will be in name only.

That didn’t matter, she told herself. There were all kinds of things that could go wrong in an arrangement like that. She wanted no part of it. Yes, she would do almost anything to keep her siblings in college. The operative word in that avowal, however, was almost. There was no way Jayne would marry a complete stranger just to keep her siblings in school.

Though she supposed she could argue he wasn’t a complete stranger. She did know him by reputation. And they had enjoyed a nice, if superficial—and borderline surreal—conversation that afternoon. There were still a host of reasons why she couldn’t—wouldn’t—marry Erik Randolph.

Oh, certainly, we’ll have to live together, to fulfill the terms of the agreement, but that won’t be a problem.

And that was just the first of those hosts of reasons.

The arrangement will only last one year.

That was beside the point. The point was—

The flashing red light on the phone caught Jayne’s attention again, and she was grateful for the interruption into her mental argument with Erik Randolph. Honestly, she thought, they weren’t even married yet, and already they were disagreeing about things.

Not that she had any intention of marrying him, she hastily reminded herself. It was just a hypothetical argument, that was all.

Oh, bother, she thought, pinching the bridge of her nose to ward off a headache that came out of nowhere. Just play the next message, Jayne. Maybe it will be good news.

She realized it was indeed good news the moment she heard the sound of her sister’s voice. There was nothing Jayne liked more than hearing Chloe and Charlie’s reports from the collegiate front, which had come pretty much daily since the beginning of the semester.

“Hi, Jaynie!” Chloe’s voice chirped from the answering machine. In the background, Jayne could hear Charlie’s voice, as well, a shout of “Hey, big sister, whassup?” and she smiled.

“Hello, Chloe. Hello, Charlie,” she said, even though she knew they couldn’t hear her.

“We just called to say hi and to tell you that we wrote a poem for you today in our Intro to Creative Writing class.”

This announcement was followed by Chloe’s clearing of her throat, Charlie’s mimicking of an opera star warming up with a deep, resonant “Mi-mi-mi” and Jayne’s laughter at both. Then her brother and sister began, in unison, to read their composition.

“J is for Jaynie, our sister so fair, A is for altruistic, unlike a bear.” This was punctuated with giggling, and Charlie’s murmuring of “I told you that line needed work.” Then the twins began again, more soberly this time. “Y is for youth, which she gave up too soon. N is for niceness, by far her greatest boon. And E is for everything that she does for us, and also for everything she’s given up for us.

“Okay, so the rhythm’s off a little bit here and there, especially at the end,” Chloe said hastily. “And the last rhyme wasn’t so hot, either. It’s our first poem, and we wanted to write it for you.” There was a small pause, then Chloe and Charlie together said, “We love you, Jaynie.” Charlie added, “And we just want you to know how much we appreciate everything you’ve done for us. Everything is great here.”

“We love it at IU,” Chloe added. “Call when you can. Kiss Mojo for me. We’ll talk to you soon.”

And then the soft buzz of the dial tone filled the air for a moment before going silent.

Only then did Jayne realize there were tears in her eyes. And not because she feared her brother and sister were going to flunk creative writing, either. But because she knew in that moment that she really would do anything to make sure they stayed in school.

Even if it meant marrying an eccentric—but cute—guy like Erik Randolph.

The least she could do, she told herself, was meet him for dinner as they had arranged, and listen to what he had to say. Maybe he wasn’t as crazy as he sounded. Maybe what he was proposing would be the perfect arrangement for both of them. Maybe her encounter with him this morning was simple fate and everything would work out for the best.

And maybe, Jayne thought further, while she was sleeping tonight, the blue fairy would fly into her bedroom and turn her into a real boy.

Resigned to at least hear Erik Randolph out—and recalling that all of her matching clothes were in the laundry—Jayne picked up the phone again. This time it was to call her upstairs neighbor Lila, to see if she could borrow that cute little yellow dress the other woman had worn to the company picnic last month….