The Blessing Read online

  Jason couldn’t help himself, but he picked up the woman’s hand and kissed the back of it, then looked at her with what he’d been told were very seductive eyes. Since the woman looked as though she were going to melt and run down into her shoes, he felt good.

  “This is Mr. Wilding and he’s gay,” Amy said in a cold voice.

  “But I’m thinking of changing,” Jason practically purred.

  “You can practice on me,” the woman said, and looked at Jason with hot eyes.

  “Is Max all right?” Amy said sharply. “Mr. Wilding is Max’s nanny. Gay men are good at that sort of thing, you know.”

  “I’ve been thinking of having a baby,” Sally said, never taking her eyes off Jason, “and I think I’m going to need a nanny.”

  “How about a maternity nurse as well?” Jason said in a low voice.

  “Honey, I need a donor.”

  “Sally, could you disentwine yourself from my nanny so we could go get something to drink? You can manage Max by yourself for a while, can’t you?” she asked Jason, her lips a tight line as she glared up at him.

  “I might be able to handle him,” Jason said, his eyes still on Sally, as though she were the woman of his dreams. “You two go on. Max and I will take these packages to the car, then I have some, ah, personal shopping to do.” He made the last sound as though he meant to buy something sexy and silky.

  Before her friend could reply, Amy firmly took Sally’s arm and led her to a nearby fake English pub and sat down heavily in the nearest empty booth.

  “I want to know everything there is to know about him,” Sally said eagerly.

  “So what brings you to Abernathy over Christmas and why didn’t you tell me you were going to be here?”

  “I’m in a mall, not in Abernathy, and I’m here because I live six miles away,” Sally said slowly. “You want to tell me what’s going on? Are you having an affair with him? Or do you just look at him like he’s a work of art?”

  “Do you have to come on to every man you meet?” Amy snapped as she grabbed a menu and looked at it. “Are you hungry?” When Sally didn’t answer, she looked up.

  “Out with it,” Sally said. “I want to know everything.”

  “I’ve already told you everything. He’s gay; he has no interest in me as a female, and we talk like two old hens. That’s the end of it.”

  “I want details,” Sally said as she ordered two cups of coffee from the waitress.

  “No, give me a large orange juice. Milk production, you know.”

  Sally gave a slight shudder. “No, I don’t know and don’t want to know. Now, get on with it. Are you sure that hunk is gay?”

  It didn’t take Amy but a moment to get over her unusual reticence with her friend, and she was quite annoyed with herself for feeling what could almost be described as jealousy at Sally’s reaction to “her” Mr. Wilding. And his to her, she thought with a grimace.

  “I think his ex-lover came to the house this morning,” she said, then described Jason’s encounter with Charles. “There was lots of eye rolling while Charles was kissing my hand. There was definitely something going on between them. And the day before, Mr. Wilding kept glaring at two men at Baby Heaven. He paid no attention to the saleswoman, who was a knockout, but gave a hundred percent of his interest to the two men.”

  “Okay, so where did you find him?”

  “He found me. I just opened the door and there he was. David brought him over and gave him to me.”

  “You mean like an early Christmas present?”

  “Sort of, but don’t get any ideas. He really is gay.”

  “He doesn’t seem gay.”

  “And what stereotype do you have in mind for a person to appear gay?” Amy asked defensively.

  “Hey! Don’t jump down my throat. I was just asking, that’s all. Gay or not, he’s divine, and I want to know all there is to know about him.”

  “I don’t know much, really. David insisted that his cousin needed a place to stay and to recover from a broken heart, so I let him stay.”

  “He could mend his broken heart in my bed any day he wanted to.”

  “You’ve been reading too many romantic novels. There is nothing between us, and there never will be. I told you: he’s gay. Besides, he’s very elegant, isn’t he? When I first saw him, he had on a suit that probably cost more than my house.”

  “Amy, this cup of coffee is worth more than that rat trap of a house of yours. If you set it on fire, the fire would put itself out out of pity.”

  “It’s not that bad.”

  “It’s worse. Tell me more about him.”

  “He’s odd, really. He doesn’t say much, but he . . .” She looked up at her friend. “He brings me luck. Isn’t that an odd thing to think about someone? But it’s true; he brings luck to Max and me. Since he arrived, some lovely things have happened.”

  “Such as his going on one knee and telling you he can’t live without you, and—”

  “Stop daydreaming. First of all, Max adores him.”

  “Hmm . . . What else?”

  “I don’t know how to explain him. The truth is that I don’t think I understand him myself. It’s as though he’s a . . .” Her head came up. “He’s a bit of a turtle really. Or maybe an armadillo. He has a hard outer covering, but I think that inside he’s really quite soft. I don’t think he realizes it, but he adores Max just as much as my son adores him.”

  For a long moment, Sally leaned back in the booth and stared at her friend. “Are you in love with him?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s a nice man and we have fun together, but he really is effeminate. He likes to shop and cook and do all the things that men don’t.”

  “You mean, all the things that Billy didn’t like, don’t you? Look, Amy, I know you were the only girl in school who graduated a virgin, and I know you were saving yourself for your husband. I also know that you gave yourself to a drunken dope addict—Don’t give me that look. I know Billy had his good points, but I’m a realist. You’ve been to bed with one man, lived with one man, and all you know is the kind of man who doesn’t know how to open a refrigerator. There are other kinds of men, you know.”

  “Why are you always trying to make a romance out of everything? I didn’t guess that the man is gay; I was told so. By David.”

  “Dr. David? Now, there’s a hunk. You know, your Mr. Wilding reminds me of him.”

  “They’re cousins.”

  “Ah, I see. So what happens next? Do you keep living with this gorgeous hunk who you can’t have or do you have to return him after Christmas?”

  “I have no idea.”

  At that Sally laughed. “Amy, you haven’t changed. Only you would be living with a man and have no idea why he’s there or how long he means to stay.”

  Amy didn’t answer that, but looked down at her empty glass.

  “Okay, I’ll lay off. What about the other men in your life? What happened to that beautiful used car salesman?”

  “Oh. Ian. He owns the Cadillac dealership. He’s very rich, I suppose.” Amy gave a sigh.

  “I can see how you’d consider him tedious. Poor guy is only handsome and rich, so of what interest could he possibly be to you?”

  “He’s of more interest to himself than to anyone else. He seemed to think he was doing me a great favor by showing up every night. He kept calling me ‘Billy Thompkins’s Widow’ as though he were saying that I was an untouchable.”

  “Welcome to small town life. Why don’t you get out of here and go somewhere where no one has ever heard of Billy and his problems?”

  But before Amy could reply, Sally looked as though someone had stuck a pin in her. “What time is it?”

  Amy looked around to find a clock but didn’t see one.

  “I have to go,” Sally said urgently as she gathered her things and started sliding out of the booth; then she saw Amy’s face. “Don’t tell me you don’t know?”

  When Amy shook her head, Sally gave a grimace.