For His Little Girl Page 7

  A wise look came over Josie's face, aging her several years. "Have you got another one of your headaches?" she asked kindly. To Luke she explained, "She's always getting them."

  "Darling, don't exaggerate. I get tired with so much work to do in that stuffy boarding house, and today's been a long day." Pippa laughed. "I don't know why I'm having a shower as though it was breakfast time, when it's actually evening."

  "It'll make you feel better," Luke said. "Wash the cobwebs away."

  He was right. After a shower she felt like a new woman. She dressed hurriedly and returned to the kitchen, where Josie was trying to decide on the rival merits of toffee or banana ice cream, and finally honoring them both with her approval.

  "You've cleaned both plates," Luke declared, as though astonished.

  "She's ten," Pippa reminded him. "What did you expect?"

  Josie opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out. She had been up for twenty-four hours, and before their eyes jet lag overcame her like a cloud. Her eyes closed, her head fell forward, and she would have fallen off the bar stool had Luke not caught her in his arms.

  They went up in procession to the bedroom, where Luke deposited the little girl on the bed. "Leave her as she is," he said, pulling the coverlet over her. "She doesn't want to be bothered with getting undressed now.''

  "Night, Mommy," Josie murmured with her eyes closed.

  "Night, darling." Pippa bent and kissed her.

  "Night, Daddy."

  "Night, sweetheart." He leaned down and kissed the child quite naturally, without a hint of the awkwardness many men would have felt.

  That was Luke, Pippa remembered: easy, tactile, uninhibited, the warmth and charm always available on tap-as long as they weren't crushed by too many expectations.

  He gave her another delightful demonstration a moment later as they returned to the kitchen.

  "And now, eef Madame would care to be seated," he declared in a horrible stage French accent, "zis establishment will provide eggs by Luke of ze Ritz."

  "You remembered how I like them?" she exclaimed, astonished.

  "Of course. I created this especially for you. Don't you remember?"

  It was a brilliantly simple invention consisting of poached eggs and avocado, with a sauce Pippa had never been able to analyze. It was her first taste of it for nearly eleven years, and it was delicious.

  "Just for me," she echoed.

  "I have to admit that I put it in the restaurants-"

  "So I should jolly well hope! Is it a success?"

  "The greatest. But it was always really for you."

  She looked into his smiling eyes and thought, I'm so glad that I'm not in love with you anymore. If I were, you could still devastate me. Lucky for me I'm wiser now.

  He made fresh coffee, and drank some with her, watching her fondly like a recovered treasure.

  "What happened to Luke of the Ritz," she asked smiling, "after he got back home?"

  "Oh, he drifted around from one job to another."

  "Don't tell me he had trouble finding work? Not the genius I remember?"

  "Work of a sort, but not the sort I wanted. Always having to scale my ideas down to someone else's guidelines, never allowed to do things my way.

  "I used to pour out my frustrations to an old fellow I met on the beach. His name was Tommy, and he had a dog, called Catch, the fattest spaniel you ever saw. I guess I just naturally gravitate to beach bums, being half one myself-my mom would tell you that-but Tommy and Catch became my best friends for a while.

  "I used to take them both back to my rooms, practice recipes on them, and we'd talk for hours. I visited him once at his home. He had a little place, but he didn't spend much time there because it was too far from the beach. If you've finished eating, let's go into the other room. It's more comfortable."

  Chapter Five

  They ferried the coffeepot into the large room where he lived when he wasn't working. One wall was a huge window, overlooking the sea. Sofas and armchairs looked as though they'd been thrown down casually.

  "Here," Luke said, settling her on a sofa directly in front of the window. "Coffee's on the table beside you."

  It was lovely to be waited on. Pippa kicked off her shoes and stretched out on the sofa. "Mmm!" she sighed.

  He laughed and settled into an armchair where he could see her face. "Where was I?"

  "Tommy and Catch."

  "Right. Tommy shouldn't have been living on his own, but his only relative was a daughter he didn't get on with. She said he could stay with her if he had the dog put down. Said he was vicious, which was a damned lie because he was too fat to be vicious. So Tommy went on living alone, except for Catch, who was all he had to love.

  ''Then Tommy died suddenly, and left a will, saying everything he had was mine, if I'd look after Catch. So I took him home, put him on a diet, and he lived another three years. But here's the incredible thing. It turned out Tommy owned the place where he lived. He'd bought it fifty years ago before prices had shot through the roof, and I'm not sure he ever realized what it was worth.

  "That was when the daughter reappeared, screaming blue murder, saying how I'd influenced the old man and stolen her inheritance.''

  ''What did you do?'' Pippa asked, genuinely curious to know how Luke's sweet temper would have dealt with this one.

  "I'd have cheerfully fought her to the end. She was mean to Tommy, and everyone knew it, but she was miserable and lonely, and I reckoned money was all she was ever going to have, so I offered her a third and her lawyer advised her to settle.

  "When the house was sold, that still left me enough to get started. I found a place that was already a restaurant but not doing as well as it should. Tommy's money paid just over half the purchase price, and a bank loan covered the rest including the cost of making it over how I wanted."

  "And it was a huge success, and soon you had enough for the second restaurant," Pippa said triumphantly.

  ''Not quite. It was a success, but the money came in slowly, and banks are cautious. There was a moment when I just knew it was right to expand. There was a place for sale exactly where I wanted it, and the price was reasonable. I had one day to clinch it. Would the bank listen? No way."

  "Tightwads!"

  "Right. If it wasn't for Claudia, I'd be sunk."

  "Who's Claudia?"

  "Oil heiress. She owns a house a couple of hours from here, in Montecito, and she spends a month there every year. When she was in Los Angeles she would eat at Luke's Place, and we got to know each other. To make a long story short, she gave me the loan for Luke's Other Place, or I couldn't have bought it. Soon after that I got the TV spot, and now I'm well on the way to paying her back, with interest."

  Pippa chuckled. "If there was one thing about you that used to get up my nose, it was the way you always fell on your feet."

  "That's true," he reflected. "The cavalry always came galloping to the rescue, like you today, turning up just when Dominique was getting heavy." He became awkward suddenly. "About Dominique-"

  "Luke, you don't owe me any explanations. We went our separate ways years ago. You put the picture in a drawer and took it out when it was useful."

  Hearing it put that way, he winced. But there was no blame in Pippa's eyes. She knew him from way back and accepted him for what he was. He was the one who suddenly didn't like it.

  "It was fate," he said. "Fate knew you were coming at just the moment I needed you. Come to think of it, that's true."

  "Yes, what would you have done without us?" she asked, amused. "You'd be halfway up the aisle by now."

  He shuddered. "Please don't say things like that. It makes me feel queasy. From now on that picture's staying there all the time. And while you're here I'm going to take plenty more."

  "That's nice."

  "Just what did bring you here suddenly? And why didn't you let me know you were coming?"

  "You know I always did crazy things on the spur of the moment," Pippa said wit
h a shrug. "The guest house is doing well and I took on an assistant. Susan's bright enough to be left in charge. One of my boarders can get cheap airline tickets, and 1 thought-why not?"

  She was quite pleased with the speech. It had just the right air of daft spontaneity, and who would guess how long she'd rehearsed it?

  "Besides," she went on with her other prepared speech, "I needed a break. I've been having a load of minor ailments recently. I get migraines, and sometimes asthma, and the doctor says I've got a touch of anemia.''

  "That's terrible," he said, taking her hand. "You were always so full of beans."

  "Well, I still am, basically. I just live on iron pills, and I'm better than I was. It's only little things, Not life threatening."

  Not life threatening. Not like the heart condition that she ought to be at home being treated for this minute.

  "But I get a bit short of energy," she finished cheerfully, "so sometimes it'll be just you and Josie doing things without me.''

  "Whatever you say. You do exactly what you want to."

  "Well, I thought a holiday would do me good. So here we are."

  "And I'm going to love having you, but you were crazy not to warn me. Suppose I hadn't been at home? I'd have missed you."

  "No, we'll be here for about a week, and I know your show goes out twice a week, so we were bound to overlap."

  "But we weren't. I record those shows six at a time. In between I can be away for as much as ten days."

  "I never thought of that," she said, horrified. "I wouldn't have wanted to miss Josie for anything. We're already on the same wavelength."

  "She's the perfect age to appreciate you," Pippa agreed.

  "Is that your way of telling me I have the mental age of a ten year old?"

  "What do you think?"

  "I think I'll fetch some wine," he said hastily, and vanished back into the kitchen.

  The sun was setting over the ocean, a vast, magnificent sight that made her go to the window and stand, almost breathless with the beauty of it. "I can see why you bought a house in just this spot," she said, hearing Luke enter behind her. "Imagine having this, all the time."

  "All the time," he agreed, coming up behind her and putting his hands on her shoulders. "I'm so glad I had the chance to show it to you. And I've got you both for a whole week. I'm going to make this the best vacation you've ever had."

  "As long as Josie enjoys herself, and you and she get to know each other."

  "What about you and me?"

  "We already do know each other," she said with a smile.

  "That was then. This is now."

  Still standing behind her, he slipped his arms right around her, crossing them in front, and gave her a friendly little hug. It was the kind of thing Luke did easily without it meaning anything. She could see the two of them reflected in the dark window, their faces side by side.

  You're weakening, said the warning voice. Any moment you're going to succumb to his charm. And you promised yourself not to.

  She moved, turning in the circle of his arms just enough to make him break his hold. "Can I have some more of that wine?"

  "Sure. Sit down," he said cheerfully.

  He filled her glass and asked, "How are things back home, your family and so on?''

  "My father died five years ago. We hadn't seen much of each other. I took Josie to see him but it wasn't a success, and he and I had nothing to say to each other. Clarice remarried fairly soon after his death. What about your parents?''

  "They're going strong, still living in Manhattan. Like Tommy, they bought their house before the property prices shot through the roof. My brother Zak and sister Becky are both earning more than Dad ever did, but they can't afford to buy around here so they're still living at home. What about Frank and Elly? Did they have that crowd of kids they wanted?"

  "Not even one, I'm afraid. And they haven't had any luck adopting. The highlight of their lives is when I take Josie to visit."

  "Poor little soul."

  "They adore her, and they're very kind people."

  "I believe you. It's just that I can't imagine a worse fate for a kid than having Frank as a father."

  "Josie's very fond of him. But I must admit she finds him a bit slow."

  "Slow, boring, narrow-minded, pompous…"

  "All right, all right," she laughed. "He admires you, too."

  "Rackety, he said I was, didn't he?"

  "Yes, well, he knew one when he saw one."

  "Thanks. You always knew how to give it to me right between the eyes."

  "I saw through you and out the other side."

  "Not always. I pulled a few fast ones that you knew nothing about."

  Something stabbed at her heart. He was going to say he'd been seeing another girl all those years ago. But how? He'd spent every moment with her.

  "So tell me about these fast ones you pulled?" she said as casually as she could. "Had a whole harem I didn't know about, did you? The Romeo of the Ritz we used to call you. Girl on each floor."

  "It's nothing like that. I might be many kinds of a jerk, Pippa, but I wasn't that kind of a jerk." He added conscientiously, "Not with you, anyway. While we were together, you were the only one."

  Her heart stilled its unruly beating, but she was shocked at herself for the fierceness of her relief. It shouldn't have mattered. But it had mattered terribly.

  He went on. "But I had other little angles that you knew nothing about."

  "Oh, yeah?" she said in the old way.

  "Oh, yeah!"

  She leaned toward him. "Oh, yeah?"

  He leaned to her. "Oh, yeah!"

  "OH, YEAH?"

  "OH, YEAH!"

  They burst out laughing together, and she fell back on the sofa, stretching out luxuriously. It was comfortable, the brandy was good, and she was beginning to relax.

  ''That was almost the first thing we said to each other," he said. "Remember?"

  ''I remember you turning up in Green Park to find me missing, throwing up your hands to the skies and crying, 'Please, please, no!'"

  "You imagined that!"

  "No way!" she teased. "You were really desperate at the thought that I might not be there."

  "Yes, I was," he said unexpectedly. "It mattered. But then you came back-because of course you found me irresistible-"

  "Oh, really?"

  "So I took pity on you-" He saw her eyeing him balefully, and his expression became suddenly rueful. "If you hadn't come back I was going to turn the Ritz inside out looking for you. And then I was going to go on my knees asking forgiveness, offering you a big bunch of roses-now what?"

  "I'm sorry, Luke," she choked. "But I can't keep a straight face when you talk like that."

  "You fell for it last time," he said aggrieved.

  "You didn't talk like that last time. Roses? You?"

  "I'd have bought you roses if I'd had any money. I just never did."

  "No, we didn't have two pennies to rub together, did we?"

  "And we didn't care," he said slowly.

  "No, we didn't care."

  She stretched again as luxuriously as a cat. Luke regarded her, marveling that she still had the same figure that he recalled, slender, lithe and flexible. Memories were coming back to him, how pert and saucily elegant she'd been when she was naked, and how filled with acrobatic energy. Exhausting, and how! Why, he remembered-

  He wondered self-consciously if she could read his thoughts in his face, but she was lying full-out with her eyes closed and a contented smile on her face. With an effort he clothed the naked vision. Clothes, that was it. Think of clothes quickly. She could always carry off the most outrageous garments.

  That's what was different, he realized. She was wearing slacks and sweater that were pleasant enough, even attractive, but not designed to be eyecatching.

  He got up suddenly. "I'll be back."

  He vanished, and a few moments later she heard a "ping" from the telephone extension on a low table beside her. She
could just make out the murmur of Luke's voice from the kitchen. He was gone about ten minutes.

  "I had to make some calls to clear the time for you and Josie," he said. "The only thing I couldn't cancel was recording the show. You might like to come and see that."

  "Mmm, lovely. Josie will be thrilled to be in a TV studio."

  "But you won't want to sit there for two solid days. Why don't you take a shopping trip on the second day-my treat? Go to Rodeo Drive and buy yourself and Josie some knock-out clothes.''

  "Luke, even I've heard of Rodeo Drive and what it costs to shop there.''

  ''I told you, it's my treat. You take my card and buy anything you want.''

  Pippa was silent for a moment, then she sat up. She was looking at him in a way that worried him, although he couldn't think why.

  "This wouldn't be your gold card you're offering me, would it Luke?'' And there was no doubt about it, he thought. Her voice was definitely unfriendly.

  ''Yes, it would, if that matters.''

  "The one you gave Dominique, no doubt?"

  "Well-yes."

  "Fine. That's what gold cards are for-popsies. Dominique is a popsie. I'm the mother of your child. There's a big difference."

  Silence. Then he drew a long, careful breath. "Oh, boy! I really screwed up, didn't I?"

  She relented. "Just a little. Sorry, I didn't mean to get heavy, but it just didn't feel right."

  "What about Josie? Can't I buy her some pretty dresses?''

  "Josie hates pretty dresses. She thinks they're for wimps. She wears jeans with sweaters, jeans with jackets, jeans with T-shirts. Since it's so hot here she might try shorts, but if you offer her a pretty dress she'll probably put arsenic in your coffee."

  Her joking tone had restored the atmosphere. She'd immediately regretted her little flare of temper, but there was something about being put on Dominique's level that had offended her to the soul. She'd been more to Luke than that, and although those days were over, she would die before letting him rank her with the crowd.

  Then it struck her that the idly used cliche wasn't a cliche with her, but perhaps the bitter truth, and suddenly she couldn't stand any more of this conversation.

  "I need another good sleep to get rid of my jet lag," she said hurriedly. "Good night, Luke."