Banjo Man (17 page)

Lifting her chin determinedly, she started to make some decisions. The first step was to get Heather and Katy on the bus to Pittsburgh. And then she’d deal with Rick Westin.

But, as had been the pattern of Laurie O’Neill’s life lately, things didn’t happen quite that simply.

Her apartment was empty, except for some junk dumped on the oak table. There was not a sign of the girls except for an open closet door that showed their hasty getaway—in two pairs of Laurie’s new pants! She wandered into the kitchen and was absently grabbing for the refrigerator door when she spotted the note in Katy’s left-handed scrawl.

Laurie’s mouth tightened to a narrow, white-edged
line. She stared at the note, at the refrigerator, out the tiny window at the grass moving in the soft spring breeze. How dare he whisk them off like that! This was
her
sister,
her
irate father,
her
problem! And she damn well wanted to handle it herself! Everything was getting out of hand.

The volatile combination of tiredness, worry, and confused, tangled emotions set off her Irish temper with the force of fireworks. But, short of calling in the CIA, there wasn’t one thing she could do about it.

Laurie glanced at her wristwatch for the seventeenth time since seven o’clock. The deafening silence in her apartment was driving her crazy, and she still hadn’t heard a single word from Rick or the girls. Obviously they had planned not only their day, but their evening, without her!

A spurt of good, old-fashioned anger brought a spot of color to each cheek. Well, she knew where to find them, and find them she would. Then they’d all see whom they were tangling with!

A cab was impossible to find, of course; traffic was horrendous, and the show was half over when she finally got to the theater. No one was out front at the ticket window, but she caught her first lucky break when Hans Hanson, Rick’s producer, wandered into the lobby just as she rushed through the door.

“Laurie! Hey, glad to see you again!” He swept her up in his arms like a long-lost friend and kissed her lightly on the cheek. “Rick’s been looking for you!”

“I bet! Has he got company tonight, two teenagers?”

“Your sister? That kid’s a honey!”

“Oh, I’m going to wring that little honey’s neck.” She winked at Hans’s look of surprise. “But I promise to wait until the show’s over.”

In seconds he had ushered her into the brightly lit room and straight down to the front table.

“Katy!” Laurie exclaimed between clenched teeth as she sat down. “You are in big trouble.”

Katy and Heather grinned happily. “Oh, don’t be mad. You said yourself we’d be coming to the show, and we’re guests—of the star!”

“Hmmmph.” Laurie did not want to be drawn into her sister’s contagious excitement.

“Laurie,” the younger girl continued breathlessly, “he’s absolutely
wonderful.
If being convent-bred will bring me a man like that, I’ll stay at Holy Family College for the next fifteen years!”

Laurie fought to hide her grin. “Katy, you are avoiding the subject. I thought Rick would drop you off at the apartment. I expected you to come pick me up, or at least call—”

“Oh, I know, I know,” her sister whispered, “but Heather and I talked him out of it. I’ll explain everything later. Don’t worry about anything, Laurie. It’ll all be fine.”

She patted Laurie’s hand with such blatant condescension that all of Laurie’s pent-up feelings of anger and confusion swept back in one powerful gust. She glared at Katy’s heavily mascaraed eyes and crimson cheeks. “Don’t you tell me everything will be fine, little sister!”

“Sh-h-h,” Heather and Kay said in unison as Rick came onto the stage. “He’s back!”

Their adoring eyes swept up to the stage and fixed on the hypnotic black gaze of the man who had granted them one enchanted day and night. They stared at him like love-sick pups, but Rick only had eyes for Laurie.

He sang the rest of his songs for her. And when it was time for his closing number, he came and sat on the edge of the stage, lit by just one pearly spot. The light etched the planes and angles of his handsome face, and brought out blue highlights in his wild, dark hair. He smiled for her, and sang their song:

Rick was at their table before the crowds had begun to leave their seats. He straddled a chair, leaned over, and kissed Laurie softly on the lips. “These two are great kids, Laurie. We’ve had a wonderful time!”

Trying tried not to react to his kiss, Laurie frowned. “Why didn’t you call, Rick? Why didn’t you bring the girls back? I’ve been a nervous wreck!”

Rick’s eyes moved swiftly to Katy, who was coughing loudly into her napkin. “Katy O’Neill …” His tone was low, but his message was clear.

“Rick, I’m sorry.” Katy’s eyelashes swept dramatically down across her cheeks. “I know we promised to call before dinner, but”—she glanced quickly at Laurie, then back to Rick, “but we got a little busy … and besides, Laurie might have had other plans … like getting bus tickets, or whatever.”

Laurie ignored Katy’s stuttered excuses, her eyes still on Rick’s face. “Rick, you
knew
I’d be worried. And the girls must go back. My father is furious! It’s all a mess, and—”

Rick covered her hands and held them still on the polished wooden surface of the table. “Hush, Laurie. I’ll explain it. Everything is taken care of.”

The room was nearly empty now. The overhead lights had been turned off, and it was very quiet.

Laurie felt the pressure of his hands heat her body; the fire started at her wrists and blazed up her arms, until it pierced her heart. What it gave her was a delicious sense of release, as if she no longer needed to hold everything in check, no longer needed to be angry. Suddenly all she needed was him.

She leaned toward him, welcoming his body pressing against hers as an overwhelming tiredness hit her. “Oh, Rick, I don’t know if I can take any explanations tonight. Maybe we’d better all talk it over rationally and calmly tomorrow.”

“It’ll have to be early tomorrow, Laurie,” Katy cut in.

Laurie glanced warily at her sister. “Oh? And why is that?”

Katy’s voice was soft, but her eyes sparkled happily. “Because Heather and I are leaving on the morning bus. For home. We need to be in class on Wednesday.”

Laurie’s eyes narrowed. “Just like that? Without a fight?” Her suspicious glance circled the table. This was too easy; something didn’t make sense.

No one’s eyes met hers. Rick was concentrating deeply on tracing tiny patterns on the back of her hands. Heather and Katy smiled sweetly into the darkening room.

“Well?” Laurie prompted.

“Yep. Just like that,” Katy finally replied. “We have, ah, lots to do when we get back.”

Laurie waited, knowing there was more coming.

“Yes,” Heather gulped out. “Easter is just two weeks off, you know.”

“Of course, Easter. How silly of me not to have thought of it.” Laurie slipped to the edge of her chair. “What are you telling me, Katy O’Neill? What
does going back home have to do with Easter?” she demanded.

Katy threw her arms up in the air. “All right, you might as well know. You’d find out anyway! The week of Easter is—”

“—exceptionally dull around here,” Rick interrupted, his voice soft and cajoling. “I close the show just before the holidays; gives the crew a chance to get home to families, and all that.” He shrugged, offered a grin. “And me, well, I just take care of a few loose ends around here. Begin oiling up my motorcycle—”

“See?” Katy’s head was bobbing in agreement, the flaming waves of her hair tumbling around the sides of her face. “See, it was the perfect time, Laurie.
Perfect.
”

“For what?” Laurie’s voice rose a decibel as the suspicion of what Katy was going to say next bloomed inside her.

“Well, the perfect time for Rick to come back home to give a concert, of course! It’ll put Holy Family on the map!”

Numbness blocked out anger in the days that followed. Numbness and constant anxiety attacks.

“Laurie, I think you’re letting this trip get all out of proportion,” Ellen said as she flopped down on the sofa bed and bit into a piece of pepperoni pizza.

“You’re right.” Laurie took an avenging stab at her salad. “You’re absolutely right! It’s going to be even worse than I’m imagining!”

“Nonsense! You’ve changed, Laurie. Whether
you
see it or not, you’re not the same Laurie O’Neill who let her father rule her life and emotions.”

Laurie looked at her friend with fondness and picked her words carefully. “No, you’re right about that, Ellen. I’m not the same; if I were, I would never have been able to leave the convent. I know that. But to have to face him for the first time, and with Rick right there … I don’t know if I can do it.”

Ellen tried to laugh away the doom in her friend’s voice. “Well, I admit, the timing isn’t terrific; leave it to Katy to stage a little drama! But it’ll
work out okay. Who could not be charmed by Rick Westin?”

“William O’Neill, that’s who!” Laurie retorted, sending her pizza sailing across her plate. “Everything’s against Rick: his offbeat charm and incredibly sexy smile, his profession, his gypsyish life-style, to say nothing of his motorcycle. Dad still thinks of motorcycles in terms of black leather jackets, stabbings, and gang wars!”

Laurie recaptured her pizza and took another bite. “You know, Ellen, the most incredible thing is that I’m sitting here worrying about problems grown women don’t worry about. I mean, I’m twenty-three years old! What difference does it make what my father thinks? What—”

“It makes a lot of difference, Laurie,” Ellen said softly, “because your family has always been so close and ruled so strictly by your father.” She laughed lightly and brushed a stray hair off her forehead. “You know, as a kid, I used to envy you, because everyone in your family cared so much about one another. And your father, he was always involved, always so cautious about what you did, always so—”

“Stifling.” A peculiar sadness crept into Laurie’s voice. “And I can see from Katy that he’s still the same. I know it’s done out of love, and I do love him dearly, but it’s not the way it should be.”

“Maybe not. Maybe it’s up to you to strike the balance. To keep the love and replace the other stuff with your own independent spirit. Once your dad sees the woman you’ve become, Laurie, he’ll—”

“—send me back to the convent!” Laurie laughed.

“Seriously, Laurie, I think it’ll be fine. There’s only one thing that I see as a problem.”

“Oh?” Laurie stood and began cleaning off the table.

“I don’t think you’ve faced your own feelings about Rick Westin completely, about just how he fits into your life. And I think that’s botching up your thinking about everything else.” Ellen spread her fingers out in front of her and shook her head. “Just my uneducated opinion, mind you, but that’s what I think.”

“Well, stop thinking about it!” Laurie spun on her heel and stalked into the kitchen. She jerked open the refrigerator and pulled out a half-eaten pie. “It’s not something that needs thought. It’s
beyond
thought,” she murmured to the pastry crust. “The fact that that man has me sweating at the mention of his name, standing at my window at night and imagining his hands on my body, feeling alive and full and wonderful when he wraps me in his arms … What kind of thought does that take?”

Ellen followed her into the tiny kitchen. “You’re afraid, aren’t you?”

“Me? Afraid?” Laurie laughed mockingly. “Afraid of falling for a guy, becoming dependent on him for my happiness, just at a time when I was finally beginning to stand on my own two feet? Afraid of falling in love? How can I be? I mean—” She shoveled a piece of pie into her mouth. “I mean, face it, Ellen, what do I know about love? I’m a two-month-old ex-nun!”

“Well, well, well!” William O’Neill’s booming voice filled the small entry hall as the handsome gray-haired man scooped his shaking daughter into his arms. “My little Laurie has finally come home!”

Trying to breathe deeply against the smothering fabric of her father’s shirt, Laurie willed her knees to hold up. This was awful! Why had she come like this, with Rick standing just behind her to witness
everything that happened? She felt sick. Then a tiny voice screamed inside her head: You’re not a little girl anymore, Laurie O’Neill! Shape up!

Pulling her head back until she could see into her father’s deep gray eyes, she smiled brightly. “Hello, Daddy. I’ve missed you.”

She slipped out of his grasp then and caught sight of her mother, waiting her turn, her hands wrapped nervously in the folds of the checked apron she never took off.

“Oh, Mom.” Laurie hugged her warmly, breathing in the familiar odor of freshly baked bread mixed with the English Lavender soap her mother always kept beside the kitchen sink. Her mother’s arms wrapped around her tightly and held her close.

Laurie held back her own tears and wiped a stray one from her mother’s cheek. “Hey, this is a happy time—a reunion! Don’t cry, Mom.” She looked lovingly into her mother’s eyes and stepped back.

It was when she stepped back that the hallway grew cool and quiet, almost as if a stranger had stepped into her stylish blue flats. Her father stood a few feet away, his severely appraising look moving slowly over her. Her mother stared at her, too, surprise filling her damp eyes.

The oddest feeling swept through Laurie: She thought for an instant that she should introduce herself to her mother and father.
Hello, I’m Laurie. Remember me? No, perhaps not. I’ve changed, as you see!

But they
did
see, she noticed at once. And that was exactly the problem.

“Our Laurie.” Her mother moved toward her first, her fingers touching the soft, gauzy blouse that lay loosely across Laurie’s shoulders. It was bright blue, the color of peacock feathers, and was bound about her narrow waist with a colorful cummerbund
that emphasized the fullness of her breasts. “You … you look wonderful, Laurie. Such a pretty blouse. It’s—”