Downsizing (25 page)

“
I see. Anything else I should
know about?”

“
Yeah, Fenwick went into the
jewelers in town this morning.”

“
Did he indeed? Any idea what he
bought?”

“
An expensive diamond bangle. My
partner followed him into the shop and saw the whole transaction.
He gave it to the Small woman just now.”

“
Thanks very much, Mr. Peters.
Keep on them, and let me know what else happens.”

As soon as Graham disconnected he pressed the
speed dial button that connected him to Cassie’s number. She
answered straightaway.

“
Graham, thank God! Where have you
been?” She sounded near-hysterical. “I’ve been trying to reach you
since last night.”

“
And good morning to you too,
Cassie. How are you?

“
At my wits end, since you ask,
and you haven’t even bothered to return my calls.”

“
I’m fine, thanks for
asking.”

“
There’s no need to be sarcastic.”
She breathed heavily down the line. “Where are you? I need to see
you straightaway.”

“
I’ll be there as soon as I
can.”

“
Just hurry!”

Ten minutes later Graham knocked at her door.
Cassie answered it wearing a pretty dress, obviously having tidied
herself up for his benefit. No amount of makeup could completely
conceal the dark circles under her eyes or the wild expression
reflected in them. Her hands trembled as Graham grasped them, and
he could smell alcohol on her breath when he brushed her lips with
his own.

“
Hi.” He followed her into the
living room. “Is something wrong?

“
What a stupid question! Why else
would I need you so urgently?”

Graham fixed her with a penetrating gaze.
“Why, indeed?”

“
I didn’t mean it like that.”
Belatedly she appeared to realize that she might have pushed him
too far, alienating the only person who would endure her mercurial
temperament and slavish devotion to her sod of a husband without
complaint. “Don’t take any notice of me, I’m not myself today. My
whole life’s unraveling, and if you can’t help me I don’t know what
I’ll do.”

He took a chair opposite hers and frowned.
“That sounds rather dramatic.” He took his time to settle into a
more comfortable position, crossing one leg over the other,
remaining implacably calm in the face of her growing hysteria.
“You’d better tell me what’s upset you this time.”

“
It’s Maxine.” Cassie let out a
long sigh. “She’s back in Colebrook.”

“
Ah, yes. Someone mentioned to me
that she’d been seen.”

“
So, if you knew that, why didn’t
you answer my calls? You must have known I’d need you.”

“
Cassie, has it ever occurred to
you that I have a life of my own?”

“
But this is different! It’s
Maxine. She’s lost tons of weight, looks fantastic, and Noah
appears besotted with her.”

“
Really?” Graham lifted his brows.
“And what do you imagine I can do about that?”

“
Well, I don’t know, something,
anything.” Cassie waved her arms about wildly. “Find out why she’s
here and how long she intends to stay.”

“
Didn’t you ask her those
questions yourself?”

“
Yes, but she said she didn’t
know.”

Graham spread his hands. “Well then, how am I
supposed to find out?

“
Oh, she’ll probably tell you if
you turn on the charm. She seems to like male company. She even has
my father eating out of her hand.” Cassie shuddered. “The way he
looks at her. It’s disgusting. But, anyway, with me I felt she was
holding back, just to be spiteful. Goodness knows why, when I was
always such a good friend to her.” Cassie turned toward Graham, her
face distraught. “But she can’t stay here, she just can’t! She’ll
spoil everything.”

A wail came from the baby monitor.

“
Damn!” She pulled herself to her
feet. “You’ll have to excuse me for a minute, but don’t go away. We
have to sort this out.”

Graham let her go, wondering if she’d always
treated him in such an arbitrary fashion, and why it hadn’t
occurred to him to mind. Twelve years of resentment had taken its
toll, and the time had come to change the rules of the game he’d
been playing with her for so long that he could hardly remember
when it had begun.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he followed
her to the baby’s room and leaned against the door-jamb, watching
her breast-feed her daughter. His anger faded away, and he welcomed
the return of the fierce protectiveness he’d always harbored for
this most infuriating, manipulative, self-centered yet strangely
vulnerable female. Oh yes, he wasn’t blind to her faults, but
frustratingly, she was still the only woman he’d ever truly loved.
She’d ruined him for all the others. Hard as he’d tried to find
someone else to take her place, none of them could eclipse the
feelings embedded in his heart for Cassie.

She frowned when she noticed his presence. “I
asked you to wait downstairs,” she said.

“
And devoted Graham can always be
relied upon to do as he’s told.”

She looked surprised by his acerbic tone. “I’m
sorry, Graham. It’s just that I’m not sleeping well and have a lot
on my mind.”

“
You look beautiful nursing the
baby,” he said softly. “So natural, like an earth
mother.”

The baby fell asleep at her breast, and Cassie
placed her back in her cot.

“
Don’t!”

She’d been about to cover herself, but looked
up in surprise and paused. “What’s wrong?”

He offered her a slow, lazy smile. “Nothing
whatsoever.”

His eyes lingered on her exposed breast. If
she’d moved, he probably would have made do with just looking. But
she didn’t move. Instead her eyes clashed with his, and she
remained rooted to the spot, half-naked, her swollen breast plump
and pink and…
Jesus!

Graham ran his hand through his hair. Suddenly
it was all too much for him and something inside him snapped. No
more mister nice guy, waiting for her to offer herself to
him.

He covered the distance between them in two
strides and, with a groan, pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
Her response was lukewarm, but it was there. He could definitely
detect a flicker of interest.

Graham was past caring whether it was genuine
or born out of desperation to secure his help. Months of increasing
frustration at her vacillations had worn him down. Through a
combination of luck, necessity, and perfect timing he’d engineered
the return of the one woman whom he’d always known would send her
into a tail-spin. If she wanted his help to get rid of Maxine then
she was going to have to give something in return.

Not that he had the slightest intention of
dissuading Maxine from staying. If she went away again, then things
would go back to the way they’d always been. For some reason beyond
his understanding, Cassie would prefer to live with a man who had
little time for her when Graham was prepared to nurture her
neuroses, pander to her every whim, and understood her better than
she understood herself.

She struggled in his arms, and he released her
immediately.

“
Graham, I need to talk to you
about—”

“
You want to talk about Maxine, I
know that. But has it ever occurred to you that I might be tired of
fighting your battles for you, Cassie.”

Panic flashed through her eyes. “What do you
mean?”

“
Precisely what I said. You know
I’ve never stopped loving you, but you only seem to think of me
when you have a problem that you can’t resolve on your own. All
this one-way traffic is getting a little repetitive. When did you
last do anything for me?”

“
I don’t understand,
I—”

“
You understand me very well.” He
trained his eyes upon her exposed breast and said nothing
more.

“
I’d do anything else for you,
Graham, but not that. I can’t. I’m married.”

Graham made a scoffing sound. “Oh yes, how
could I forget? Still, since you’ve brought the subject up, would
it interest you to know where your devoted spouse is at this
precise moment?”

“
He’s working, of
course.”

“
Really? So tell me, what part of
his work requires him to have lunch with an old school friend of
yours in an out of the way pub on Winchester Road?”

“
No!” Her hand flew to her mouth,
and she looked as though she was going to be physically ill. “He
wouldn’t do that. Anyway, how do you know?”

“
I just know.”

“
There’s probably a perfectly
rational explanation.”

“
Probably.” Graham turned toward
the door. “But, in that case, why not The Three Feathers? Why the
need for all this secrecy? Anyway, I’d better be off.”

“
Where are you going?” She grabbed
at his arm, forcing him to turn and look at her.

“
Back to work, I’ve got a client
coming in shortly.” She blinked as though she couldn’t quite
believe what she was hearing. “It’s pay-back time, Cassie,” he said
in a tone of cool civility. “If you want my help, then you have to
give something in return.”

“
I can’t!”

“
Fine, I’ll see you
around.”

“
Graham, don’t go!”

He raised a brow in polite inquiry.

“
You don’t understand. Noah isn’t
unfaithful to me, and if he found out that you and I,
well—”

“
Would it help to change your mind
if you knew that he visited the jewelers this morning and bought
Maxine an expensive present?”

She laughed. “He wouldn’t do that.”

“
Wouldn’t he? They why not admire
her new bangle the next time you see her and ask her where she got
it from?”

Cassie sat on the edge of the bed, her head
resting in her hands, and let out a primeval cry. “I don’t believe
it, I just don’t! He wouldn’t humiliate me like that.” She thumped
her thigh hard but didn’t appear to feel any pain. “Why oh why did
she
have to come back?”

Instead of comforting her, as every instinct
screamed at him to do, he forced himself to move away from her.
“I’ll see you at the party on Saturday, Cassie.”

He had almost reached the top of the stairs
when her voice stopped him in his tracks.

“
Come back, Graham.” He returned
to the room to find her standing once more, her dress still gaping
open, her expression flirtatiously calculating. “You’re right,” she
said. “You deserve better than I’ve been giving you.”

He pulled her into his arms again, but this
time it was she who initiated their kiss. Graham grasped her rear
and pulled her against his erection, telling her over and over
again how beautiful she was, knowing it was what she needed to
hear.

As soon as he’d undressed her and laid her on
the bed, he entered her straightaway, exorcising the demons that
had haunted him for as long as he could remember. Gently at first,
and then, at her urging, more and more forcibly, he made love to
her on the Fenwick marital bed.

She climaxed quickly, and Graham knew her
reaction wasn’t contrived. Her urgent demands, spoken in a husky
whisper, made him feel empowered, ready to conquer the world. He
gloried in the feel of her nails digging into his back, urging him
deeper and deeper as he fought to give her more of what she craved
while hovering on the brink of his own climax, desperately trying
to defer it until he was sure she was fully satisfied. He was
competing with Fenwick and, having waited so long for this moment,
had no intention of being found wanting.

They lay side-by-side afterward, Cassie’s head
resting on his shoulder.

“
You were incredible!” He traced
the length of her body with a gossamer-light touch.

“
It felt good,” she agreed. “You
were good.” She kissed the end of his nose. “Can we talk about
Maxine now?”

“
Shush!” He placed a finger
against her lips. “Later. I want you again first, and then we’ll
talk about your problems.”

She lifted her head and offered him a
transfiguring smile. “You understand me like no one else ever has;
that’s why I can’t manage without you.”

Graham kissed her softly, making the most of
her mellow mood. It could only be a matter of time before Cassie
discovered he was responsible for Maxine’s return.

* * * *

Early that evening, Noah pulled up outside
Maxine’s house and extracted a carrier from the back seat of his
car. The enthusiastic year-old stray dog inside it attempted to wag
its spindly tail and lick Noah’s fingers to death through the bars
at the same time.

“
Take it easy, old chap,” he said,
chuckling as he tickled the animal’s nose and then rang Maxine’s
doorbell. “You’re gonna need all the strength you can muster once
those kids get hold of you, so I’d make the most of this respite if
I were you.”

Maxine came to the door, clad in cut-off denim
shorts and a strappy top. Her hair was piled on top of her head,
and she was barefoot.