The Widow and the Wastrel (6 page)

Even though they were neighbors, Elizabeth didn't know Kurt that well. She knew he had been married at one time, but was presently divorced. That information she had gained from his sister Freda, who was a year or two younger than herself. She had liked Freda and would have seen her more frequently socially, except she had sensed that Rebecca would have disapproved of the friendship. Looking back, it seemed a weak reason for not pursuing the relationship. Elizabeth could well imagine Jed's contempt if he ever found out.

His opinion did not matter to her in the least, she reminded herself. She wished violently that he had never returned. Life had been very smooth. Now she was seeing all kinds of chuckholes in front of her. He was a disruptive influence that she had to learn to ignore to retain her own peace of mind.

"Good morning, Elizabeth." Rebecca entered the kitchen looking youthfully fresh in a pink satin robe, her silvery blue hair carefully styled and light make-up adding color to her face. "Is there any fresh grapefruit this morning?"

"Yes, I'll fix it for you." Elizabeth slid back her half-eaten toast and walked to the refrigerator.

"I see Jed isn't up yet. I suppose he'll sleep until noon," Rebecca sniffed her disapproval of such laziness.

"Actually he's up and gone." She sliced the grapefruit in half and began running the knife along the skin of each section.

"How do you know that?"

"He left a note saying he wouldn't be back for lunch," Elizabeth answered. "He was considerate enough to wash up his breakfast dishes before he left, so he must have been up quite early."

"Good," Rebecca declared with a wide smile of satisfaction. It took Elizabeth a second to realize that she was commenting on his planned absence that morning rather than the fact that he had cleaned up after himself. "You're going into town this morning, aren't you?"

"Yes, I have a committee meeting to see how the ticket sales are progressing for the charity dinner at the country club," Elizabeth acknowledged as she set the grapefruit half in front of her mother-in-law.

Rebecca slipped a manicured hand into the pocket of her robe. There was a faint rustle, then she was handing a slip of paper to Elizabeth.

"While you're in town, I want you to stop by Shaw's Men's Store. I've made a list of things that Jed needs. The sizes are listed on the right," Rebecca stated. "I'm sure Fred will reopen our account."

Elizabeth stared blankly at the paper. "But how can you be sure these are the right sizes? I mean…wouldn't it be better to send Jed in himself when he comes back this afternoon?" She stammered slightly. -operate just to be obstinate. As for the sizes," Rebecca paused, "I've already checked to be sure they were correct."

Glancing from the list to the woman delicately spooning out a grapefruit section, Elizabeth knew without a doubt that her mother-in-law had not questioned Jed. He would have been certain to guess the purpose.

"Do you mean," she found the question she was about to ask distasteful, "that you went through his things?"

"He doesn't even have a sports jacket." Rebecca shook her head in arrogant disbelief. "I didn't believe him last night. "After the way he was raised, I was certain he had something decent tucked away in that disreputable bag, so I went through it last night while he was at the Reisners’. I hope he doesn't intend to get too friendly with them."

For the first time that she could remember, Elizabeth took offence at the faintly snobbish ring in Rebecca's voice. "They're very nice people," she stated firmly.

Her mother-in-law's mouth opened to comment, then she met the flashing defiance in the green eyes and appeared to change her mind. "I suppose they are," she agreed with marked lack of interest.

"Excuse me while I go to see what's keeping Amy," Elizabeth murmured, moving away from the colonial style table.

"Be sure to put that list in your purse so you won't forget it," Rebecca reminded her.

Fingertips curled around the paper, crackling it slightly. The impulse burned to hand it back to her mother-in-law with the retort to do her own dirty work, but Elizabeth held it back. The animosity in the air since Jed's return was beginning to affect her own outlook.

"I won't forget," she promised, and walked from the room.

It was nearly noon when Elizabeth paused beside the store-front. The sign above the canopy read Shaw's Men's Clothing. She wished she hadn't left the cold lunch for Rebecca and Amy before leaving this morning. She would have welcomed an excuse to postpone this errand. Outside a few Christmas gifts for her father-in-law, she had never purchased any clothing for men. During her short marriage, Jeremy had always preferred to choose his own.

Nervously she ran her fingers along the scalloped neckline of her white sundress, Squaring her shoulders in determination, she walked to the door. A bell tingled above the door to announce her entrance.

The balding head of Fred Shaw, the owner, turned away from the customer he was helping to glance toward the door, and immediately he waved to his other male clerk to take his place as he excused himself to walk toward Elizabeth.

It flashed through her mind that this was usually the case. The owners or managers of the various stores in Carrelville invariably were the ones who waited on her, sometimes even letting other customers wait. It struck her suddenly as being very unfair.

"Good morning, Mrs. Carrel," he greeted her. A wide, professional smile spread across his face while his eyes crinkled at the corners behind steel-rimmed glasses. "It's going to be another hot one today, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Elizabeth agreed, wondering if her vague embarrassment was revealed in her cheeks. "If you're busy, Mr. Shaw, I don't mind waiting a few minutes."

"Not at all, not at all," he assured her quickly. "I'll bet I can guess why you've called. I was just saying to my wife last night that we hadn't got around to buying tickets for your dinner. She suggested that I get a couple of extra so we can take our daughter and her husband along."

"That's very generous of you, Mr. Shaw, but actually," her smile faltered slightly, "I stopped by to purchase a few items. Of course, I'll gladly sell you the tickets."

Elizabeth knew that he was undoubtedly curious about who she was buying clothes for, but he didn't comment until the money and tickets had been exchanged.

"Now, what may I show you?" he asked, Elizabeth took the list from her purse and handed it to him. "This is almost a complete wardrobe." He peered at her over the top of his glasses. "Is the—er—rumor true that young Jed has come home?"

"Yes, Jed is back," she admitted stiffly.

"For good?" Then as if he thought the question was too personal, Fred Shaw shrugged it aside. "I suppose with Jed it's impossible to be certain," He led her toward a rack of expensive dress suits. "Craig Landers said that he thought he'd recognized Jed at the airport yesterday. The engine of Craig's small plane was being overhauled. That's why he was out there. Jed flew in, didn't he?"

Since Elizabeth hadn't asked, she could only assume that was so. "I believe he did."

"This is a nice one," he suggested, removing a suit from the rack for her to examine. "Craig mentioned that Jed looked a little worse from wear. Has he been ill?"

"Not that he mentioned." Elizabeth guessed it was a reference to Jed's untidy appearance. "Of course, he'd had a long journey. He was quite tired when he arrived at the house."

"Where has he been? I heard once that he was on some South Pacific island."

She fingered the material of a dark brown suit. "He traveled a good deal," she replied, remembering that the three letters had been postmarked at different places.

"What's he been doing all this time?"

That was another question that Elizabeth hadn't thought to ask him. "Various things," she hedged.

"Jed never did seem the type to settle down to one thing. Never seemed the type to settle down at all." Fred Shaw laughed as though he had made a joke. "You probably never got to meet him. I think he'd already left by the time you became engaged to Jeremy."

"He left shortly after our engagement was announced," Elizabeth admitted, and tried to distract him from the subject by questioning him about the material in a particular suit.

Once he had answered that, Fred Shaw returned the conversation to Jed. "Yes, I remember now. You and Jeremy were engaged before Jed left. We were all expecting Jed to come back for the wedding. "Course, he never was one to follow convention. No, he wasn't dependable like his brother. Now Jeremy was a son that any parent would be proud to claim. He was a fine boy, trustworthy and a hard worker. But I guess I'm not telling you anything you didn't already know."

"Jeremy was a very wonderful husband," she murmured.

"His death was a real tragedy." He shook his head and sighed. "It's always the hardest thing to understand why somebody like Jeremy is taken. He could have done so much good for the community. Jed was always the irresponsible, reckless one with his devil-may-care attitude. I remember when he was barely in his teens he'd disappear for a day or two, then show up and claim he'd hitch-hiked to Dayton to see the Air Force Museum. Heaven only knows where he truly went. That was one boy who brought more than his share of heartache to his parents. They tried so hard to see that he had all the advantages that Jeremy had. Mr. Carrel refused to stop trying to get him a university education. Every time Jed was expelled, his father would be out looking for another place that would take him, paying whatever money was necessary. It was a shame, truly a shame."

"That was all very long ago, Mr. Shaw," Elizabeth said coldly.

Lost in his thoughts, as he was, it took several seconds for her reprimand to penetrate the store-owner's thoughts. By then it had lost some of its strength.

"Yes, it was a long time ago," Fred Shaw agreed. "After losing both Jeremy and Franklin, your mother-in-law is probably relieved to have a man around again."

Nodding crisply in agreement, Elizabeth began selecting dress and sports outfits from the rack. She was fully aware that the instant she left the shop the news would spread all over town that Jed was back. The subtle barrage of questions she had endured led her to believe that Rebecca had sent her so that she wouldn't have to answer them initially.

Choosing quickly and unerringly, Elizabeth unconsciously picked out styles that would complement Jed's lean virility and not attempt to cloak it in formal, sophisticated designs. It was a relief when the list had been filled and the clothes carefully folded in boxes. She signed the charge ticket with a flourish, anxious to be gone before Fred Shaw's curiosity burst to the surface again.

Her car was parked at the end of the block. Elizabeth walked swiftly ahead of the male clerk who had been designated with the task of carrying the cumbersome parcels to her car. Opening the rear door on the driver's side, she stepped back to let him pass.

"Elizabeth." A male voice spoke her name in warm surprise.

Turning, she saw Allan Marsden standing on the sidewalk in front of her car, a wide smile of pleasure directed at her. He was the administrator at the local city-county hospital and had been for the last year and a half. The townspeople were holding their breath to see how long he would stay. It was difficult to keep a man of Allan's caliber when they had to compete with larger cities that could offer him more prestigious jobs and better salaries. He was a young man, in his late thirties, which was young by their standards, and one they felt destined to go places.

"Hello, Allan." Her greeting wasn't as warm as it usually was. Elizabeth was too anxious to be gone.

"I hadn't guessed that you would be in town over the lunch hour or I would have invited you to join me." Sandy brown hair glistened a bronze shade, catching the sun when he inclined his head toward her with a rueful smile.

"I had a committee meeting and a few errands to run, so I was a bit pressed for time, anyway," she assured him.

"That's all of them," the young male clerk inserted courteously as he closed the rear door of her car. "Mr. Shaw wanted me to be sure to remind you that if any of the clothes didn't fit properly you were to bring them back."

"Thank you," Elizabeth nodded.

There was a puzzled light in Allan Marsden's eyes as he watched the clerk re-entering Shaw’s Men's Shop. When his gaze swung curiously to Elizabeth, she very nearly didn't explain. But she liked Allan. She had accepted three dates with him, the last being nearly two weeks ago. He had been a pleasant, undemanding companion, although what she had told Jed was true, she didn't feel the need for a man's constant attention or companionship. With all those parcels in the back seat of the car bearing Shaw's name, it would be unfair to let Allan speculate why she should be buying men's clothes, especially considering that the news would be all overtown within an hour that Jed was back.

"That was one of my more formidable tasks," Elizabeth smiled, gesturing with her hand toward the rear of the car. "My brother-in-law has just returned after a lengthy absence. His clothes haven't caught up with him yet, so I was appointed to buy him a few things."

"Your brother-in-law?" His sandy brow lifted in surprise. "Forgive me, I always assumed your late husband was an only child."

"Jed is the younger brother, but he's been out of the country for several years."