Heart in the Field (26 page)

           
“That’s good. And you can bring your
parents as well. I’d love to meet them.”
Reeva
put
down her cocktail fork. “I don’t like gossip in our family, especially the type
that got started in the press this week. Even if you two don’t go the whole way
and get married, at least your relationship, as it stands right now, will be
blessed by your families.”

           
Nick was quite surprised that
Reeva
felt the same way he did on the subject of the
gossip. He ignored Serena’s deep sigh. “I agree with you. Although I’m not sure
my parents will be interested in the invitation. They’ve never been people to
celebrate traditional festivals.”

           
“Serena will invite them, won’t you,
Serena? They’ll come, don’t worry.”

           
But he was worrying. What if they
did decide to come? How would his parents interact with the Brown family? How
would they act with him out in public?

           
Manno
appeared with chicken and vegetables arranged in a design on each plate. He
served each plate with a flourish of his arm.

           
Nick began to think that his parents
would be dumbfounded by
Reeva
and her lifestyle. It
might even do them good to get out and see a part of the world they’d missed by
being so insular during their lives.

           
As they ate,
Reeva
went on, “We’ll all be meeting at Serena’s and taking off from there next
Sunday, Nick.”

           
“Sounds fine to me,” he said.

           
When dinner was being cleared away,
and they were waiting for
Reeva
to fix her makeup,
Serena said to him, “This isn’t the situation I wanted.”

           
Nick pushed his hands into his
trouser pockets. “But it’s the situation we seem to be in. If no one knew what
happened last weekend we could call it quits, like you want to, but as it
happens, we should go along with the ride for the time being. Your mother is
very socially conscious.”

           
“She has to be. She’s a politician.”

           
“And we’re on TV. We have a
responsibility to our viewers.”

           
She tucked a wisp of hair behind her
ear and stroked her earring. Nick could tell she was full of nerves. “I know.”

           
“Let it go a few weeks. It’ll be
forgotten.”

           
“I hope so.
Now.
I have to get ready.”

           
Nick thought he would relax in the
theater but he couldn’t. If the entertainment had been of a faster pace he
might have been able to lose himself in the content, but he couldn’t seem to
get his mind twisted around some of the complex poetry and classical music. He
also couldn’t sit still in his seat for very long with Serena by his side.
Every once in a while he caught a whiff of her perfume. With her hair upswept
and small diamond studs in her ears, she looked elegant. Elegant enough for
Reeva
to send her daughter an approving glance every once
in a while. He realized tonight that Serena must have had a great deal to live
up to with
Reeva
for a mother.
Reeva
expected brilliant gymnastics in life, and Serena had to excel in her
performances.

           
Nick shifted around in his seat and
Reeva
patted his hand as if he were recalcitrant child. He
grinned.
Reeva
didn’t know that he was hot and throbbing
for more loving, while Serena was as cool as a cucumber on ice.
Ice Maiden.
She was appropriately named by her colleagues.
She knew how to perfect a chilling exterior.

           
Seth’s group
Lite
came on stage. They were rousing, fast-paced and thoughtful in one package. The
audience began clapping in time. Some raised their arms in the air in a wave of
tribute. Seth put on a fantastic stage performance. He was expert on his
guitar, and could improvise until the audience grew wild. Nick watched Seth’s
boundless energy bring his band to a finale with the theme from
Neon Nights
.

           
Nick forgot for a moment they had a
brick wall erected between them and whispered to Serena, “They’ve got one hell
of a future.”

           
She inclined her head. “I think so
as well. They’re always so popular. Look at my mother.”

           
Reeva
was
on her feet, clapping her hands so hard that her palms would sting when the
evening was over.

           
“Aren’t they wonderful?”
Reeva
said,
when she at last sat
down beside Nick again. “I’m so proud of him. I’m clapping double hard for his
father, who would have loved this. If he hadn’t been a journalist he would have
been a musician.”

           
It was the first time anyone in the
Brown family had mentioned Stuart Redding Brown without bitterness and without
provocation. Nick nodded. “I would like to have met your husband.”

           
“I’m sure you would have got along
famously. You’re from the same mold.”

           
So that’s what
Reeva
thought. It was interesting that she had picked up the truth about him.

           
After the performance they went to
find Seth and his band, who were packing up their instruments. Seth glowed with
the praise he received.

           
“We’re getting more and more
popular,” he said to Nick. “Your show has helped my CD and download sales to no
end. Why don’t you join us at The Bear’s Pause? We’re going to be performing
there all next week, and we’re doing an impromptu appearance tonight.” Seth
raised a dark eyebrow. “We’re the introductory offer, you might say, as this is
a test to see how entertainment goes over.”

           
Reeva
hugged her son.
“Sounds wonderful, dear.
We’ll just
come for a little while. We have a limo on hire tonight.”

           
Seth grinned at Nick. “Don’t you
just adore my mother?”

           
“She’s incredible,” Nick said. “
So’s
your sister.”

           
Seth’s mouth thinned. “Are you being
good to her?”

           
Nick figured he had been good to
Serena. Right now it was Serena who wasn’t being good to him.
“As far as I know.”

           
“That’s great.”

           
Seth turned away, and Nick felt like
he’d been warned by the younger man.

•

           
Later, Serena sat in the back of the
limousine with her mother and Nick, thinking ahead to all that was now before
her. She had to pretend she was still an item with Nick, at least until after
Thanksgiving. She even had the task of going with Nick to meet his parents, and
inviting them to dinner in West Vale. She rubbed her forehead. Her mother gave
her a headache. It was all very well Seth wanting
these
family
get
togethers
, but he didn’t seem to
realize that being left alone by
Reeva
was to his own
advantage as well as Serena’s.

           
Reeva
was
getting the chauffeur to drive around the long way before he took Nick home, so
they could chat about her appearance on
Neon
Nights
. It seemed like they had no choice
but to run a program on her. Serena could sense Nick wasn’t all that
enthusiastic about
Reeva
appearing on their program.
And neither was she. She didn’t really want to work with her mother in the
first place. She also, like Nick, didn’t think
Reeva
was appropriate subject matter.

           
As they neared Nick’s apartment
block, he shifted in his seat and his hip pressed against hers. Emotion flared
through her body and she felt a wave of relief when the car purred to the curb
and stopped.

           
Nick smiled at the two women. “Thank
you,
Reeva
, for the dinner, and for the evening.
We’ll be in touch about your interview.” Then he placed his hand beneath
Serena’s chin and pressed his mouth upon hers.
“’Night,
sweetie.”

           
Her mouth trembling, she found the
words. “Goodnight, Nick. See you tomorrow.” The chauffeur opened the door and
Nick climbed out of the car.

           
Serena slouched back into the seat.

           
Her mother said, “Well, that’s all
taken care of.”

           
Serena wasn’t quite sure if
Reeva
meant that her appearance on
Neon Nights
was
scheduled, or that she was prolonging the affair between her daughter and Nick
Fraser to allay any more gossip.

Chapter Fifteen

“It’s not
Neon Nights
,” Nick
said. “It’s not what the show is all about.”

           
“Nick, calm down,” Don said. “
Reeva
is local interest. She’s popular. People will watch
her.”

           
“That’s not the entire point of the
show, Don. So people watch. So what? The show loses its punch.”

           
Don glanced at Serena, who lounged
in one of Don’s comfortable armchairs in his office. “What do you think? She’s
your mother?”

           
Serena crossed her legs and stared
at the toes of her neat black leather shoes she wore with a calf-length skirt
and a black jacket. “That’s a problem right there. But she is popular, and she
should be given a decent farewell from the city. But I agree with Nick. It’s
not
Neon Nights
. Although, Nick, you did tell her that it was a go.”

           
Nick, who stood with his hands
jammed into the pockets of a pair of charcoal slacks, glanced her way. “Thank
you, Serena. And I know what I told her last night, but I’m regretting it.”

           
Don put his huge feet up on to his
desk and clasped his neck with his hands. “Then what do we go with next?
City Streets
will run
out of steam, and we have some empty Thursdays later in the month. Serena seems
to be getting nowhere with
Bad Men, Good
Women
.”

           
Serena shot up from her chair. “I am
not
nowhere
. I’m still very much on top of it.”

           
“But it won’t be ready very soon?”
Nick said.

           
She locked eyes with him.
“Possibly not.
I think Angela is away. I get an answering
machine all the time.”

           
“Well, if not, we’ll schedule
Reeva
,” Don said. “I’ve got enough faith in you two to make
something out of her. Get her ideas on the homeless or something. She’s stepped
up on lots of platforms over the years. You’ll dig up something.”

           
The last thing Serena needed was
Nick digging up stuff on her family. Not that she had much to hide from him
now.

           
The meeting broke up and Serena went
down to her office. Nick followed her. “What’s happening with that story?”

           
“If I keep on getting that damn
answering service, I might have to scrap it.”

           
“Don’t be hasty. I still have a
feeling she’ll come through. But let’s get moving on it. Why don’t we begin
with Lawson Thomson? We’ll get Melissa to do some research.”

           
It heartened her that Nick had a bit
of faith left in her story. She did need his help to keep this project going.
“All right.
I’ve discovered that sometimes research unearths
other ideas.”

           
“Exactly.”
He smiled. “We might come up with another angle on the story. Maybe it’s not
Angela alone. We’re going to be busy this afternoon, with tomorrow’s program,
but we could spend all day Friday working on your story and that would give
Melissa a couple of days. Would that be okay?”

           
Serena noticed he’d said your story,
and she really did think that they had come a long way in the few weeks they’d
been working together.
“Fine.
I’d appreciate your viewpoint.”

           
“Settled.
Now for our other great feat.
I mentioned to my parents on
the phone that I was going to bring you over to meet them, which will in turn
give you the opportunity to invite them for Thanksgiving.”

           
Serena had almost forgotten that
duty she had yet to perform. She might as well get it over with. In fact, when
Thanksgiving was over, and her mother’s interference was out of the way, she
could begin to live her life again. Right now she felt as if she were on a fast
train ride to the weekend.

           
After a busy afternoon, Serena went
with Nick to visit his parents. She was shown the family jewelry store before
Nick drove the Jaguar into the back lane.

           
“It used to be a nice area,” he
said. “It’s a little run down now.”

           
She got out of the car and stepped
over a puddle from recent rainfall. “Is that why you want them to move?”

           
“No. I think they should move
because of these steep stairs, the type of old-fashioned place it is, and the
store that my father can no longer attend to. By the way, my mother wanted to
know if you liked
tea?
”

           
“Yes. I do.” She could tell that
Nick was uneasy with family foibles. In a way, it was kind of comforting to
know he wasn’t always the slick journalist.

           
“That’s good. It’s the only drink
they ever serve to visitors.”

           
Serena held on to the railing on the
way up the steep stairs. She could understand why old people would find this
climb difficult.

           
Nick’s parents must have been
looking out of the window, because the door opened before they reached it.
Serena had been expecting two little old people. But Nick’s Dad was big. His
mother had clearly once been a beauty, and she saw where Nick inherited his
good looks. Nick introduced her.

           
Stephen Fraser ushered her through a
narrow foyer into the kitchen of the apartment. “We’re delighted to meet you,
Serena. You’ll have to excuse our humble abode.”

           
“This is fine.” It was a neat but
old-fashioned kitchen. There were only two small windows and they didn’t let in
much light.

           
“Do you like tea?” Maria asked.

           
Serena smiled because of Nick’s
earlier comment. “Love it.”

           
“Then we’ll go into the living
room,” Nick’s father said. “It’s brighter there.”

           
“But not much,” Nick whispered into
her ear as they followed his father up the narrow hallway.

           
Stephen pulled out an armchair on
castors. “Please sit down. Mother will bring in tea.”

           
Serena sat down and tucked her skirt
around her knees. She put her purse on the floor beside the chair. Nick lounged
in another armchair.

           
Maria bustled in with the tea tray.
Serena accepted a cup of tea in a bone china cup and homemade cookies that were
a very delicious mixture of oats and raisins.

           
Maria chose to sit on a footstool in
front of her husband. Serena saw an expression on Nick’s face that was almost
resignation. She figured it had always been this way with his parents, that
he’d seen their closeness as them against him.

           
Serena placed her cup on the tray
and thought she might as well get down to the reason she was here in the first
place. “My family has invited Nick to Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday and we
wondered if you would like to accompany us. We’re going to a very nice
restaurant near West Vale, where I live. Nick would bring you out and drive you
home. So there won’t be any problem with transportation.” She glanced at Nick
to include him in the invitation.

           
Maria glanced at her husband. “What
do you think, Stephen?” She looked over at Serena. “We don’t get out very often
since we sold our car. We used to go for drives near West Vale. It’s pretty
country.”

           
“It is. Very,” she said. “We’d love
to have you join us.”

           
Stephen Fraser hadn’t said a word
yet. While glances were exchanged between Stephen and Maria, Serena felt like
tapping her toe with impatience.

           
“I think we’d like that very much.”
Stephen said at last.

           
“Wonderful.” She looked over at
Nick. “Isn’t that great?”

           
He nodded. “Great.”

           
But she knew he was uneasy with his
parents’ decision, and when they were back in the car she said, “If they’d said
no you would have been upset.”

           
He looked at her, and she saw that
his hands were clasping the steering wheel.

           
“No. It wouldn’t matter. And that’s
the truth. I’m used to being on my own.”

           
“Then why did you accept my mother’s
invitation?”

           
“I don’t believe I had much choice
in the matter. Besides, I believe this entire charade is to protect you and the
Brown family from shabby gossip.”

           
He drove out on to a main road and
back to the Steel
Tower.

           
Serena’s chest felt tight. It had
been quite an ordeal going to meet Nick’s parents. She wished that she had met
them in the true light of being with their son forever. Had she been a fool to
cut off their intimacy? Only time would tell, she supposed.

           
She really didn’t have much time to
feel too miserable over him as
Neon Nights
took up a lot of hours. Cam
produced some more commercials, and she spent all day Friday doing research
with Nick. Melissa’s efforts had been admirable, and her visits to the library
and newspaper offices as well as internet searches, had given them enough
material to understand the type of program they wanted to present. The process
really brought to light how well Serena worked with Nick.

           
“Listen to this, Nick.” Serena held
a newspaper clipping. “This is the writer speaking: ‘I felt as if Thomson had
two sides to his personality. On the one hand he was charming.
On the other very sadistic.
I felt he was conning me all
along.’”

           
“He was,” Nick said. “His real name
is Alan Wayne Thomason, with an A in the middle.”

           
Serena frowned. “I wonder if Angela
knows Lawson isn’t his given
name?
”

           
“She must. She lives with him. She’s
married to him.”

           
“That’s what I mean, though, Nick.”
Serena felt the excitement that had first brought her to this project. “Women
like Angela, who marry and love this type of men, don’t always know what
they’re about. They’re conned. Exactly the way that reporter felt he was being
conned.”

           
Nick’s eyes narrowed. “Angela’s
pretty astute.”

           
“In some ways, but she’s never had
much love. If she felt she could get it by not making waves, then Lawson would
be her perfect man.”

           
“Then we might be waiting it out in
vain. But I don’t think so.” Nick stood up, yawned and stretched. “Look. Why
don’t we go with your mother’s program? It’ll give us a break from extra heavy.
Possibly we can get two weeks from her. By then Angela might have made a
decision.”

           
Serena watched Nick in the sunlight.
He was so handsome she wanted to run to him. But there was a distance between
them now.

           
“Are you still with me?” Nick asked.

           
“Yes. I just hope you are right and
Angela is making a decision.”

           
“If she isn’t then my suspicions are
wrong about her being in a trapped situation. But I believe if everything was
okay she would have come clean right away. From what we’ve read, her husband is
the type who can turn on the charm when he wants to.”

           
“Like you.” She regretted the words
as soon as they were out.

           
“Ah, come on, Serena. It’s you who
is the problem in our relationship. I was up-front. You’re the one looking for
excuses not to continue with what we started. It’s not what I want. It’s what
you want.”

           
Serena pushed some of the files aside.
“Make yourself sound like a martyr.”

           
He shook his head. “I’m not. I’m
telling the truth. I’ve always told you the truth.”

           
“I believe that. But you understand
why you’re a dead-end street for me?”

           
“Your father and
everything?
Yes. I understand.” Then he gave a rueful smile. “Anyway,
let’s clear out of here for the day. We’ll decide a day, possibly Monday, to
grab your mother and grill her about her politics, especially her position on
the city homeless. That way we’ll have a focus.”