Part 13 (2/2)
”I haven't forgotten,” he replied. He leaned back in his chair and studied her. ”You don't look well.”
”It's been a long week, Justin,” she said dully. ”And a little unexpected. You don't need to worry,” she said with a faint laugh. ”I'm all right. I'm just fine, in fact. I've got a roof over my head and food to eat, and a job. I've got everything you promised me when we got married. I don't have a complaint.”
She put her fork down and got up, swaying a little. She caught the back of the chair, praying that the sudden blackness would relent before she went down. It did, and she turned away from Justin's quick movement toward her.
”Are you all right?” The words were torn from him. He hated the way she looked. She made him feel cold with guilt. Amazing, when she'd hurt him, not the reverse.
”I told you. I'm fine.” She left the room with her head high, and went upstairs without another word. They spent no time at all together now. If they had a meal at the same time, it was unusual. Afterward, he always went to his study and she went to her room. Maria noticed, but she and Lopez kept silent. With Justin in his present mood, it was safer that way.
The night of the party, Shelby rested before she dressed. She'd found a dark emerald velvet dress that she'd worn the year before. It had been a little too small when she and Justin married, but the weight loss made it just the right size. It was floor length, sleeveless, with an A-line skirt and a rounded neckline. She pinned up her hair and complemented the dress with a dainty emerald necklace that had been her grandmother's. She looked frail even with makeup, and she wished that things were different between her and Justin. Abby would surely have mentioned her brief happiness to Calhoun. When Calhoun came tonight and was able to see the distance between his brother and sister-in-law, he was bound to mention it to Justin. Shelby didn't think she could bear another confrontation.
She touched her stomach, wondering how much longer she should wait before she saw the doctor. They could tell at six weeks, she knew, and it was almost that. But the problem was going to be how to keep it from Justin in a small community like Jacobsville. Perhaps she could go up to Houston and have herself tested at a clinic.
Music was playing downstairs. She dabbed on a tiny bit of perfume and went downstairs, carefully holding onto the banister. She felt wobbly. The past week had been a terrible strain, due to overwork and Justin's unexplained cold att.i.tude.
She spotted Abby and Calhoun when she got to the first landing. They were arm in arm, looking so happy that they broke her heart. Calhoun was big and blond and Abby was slender and dark. They made a handsome contrast, Calhoun in dark evening clothes and Abby in a pale blue silk that matched her eyes.
Shelby didn't see Justin until she got downstairs. He was dressed in a dinner jacket, and he looked very elegant. Shelby wondered if he planned to put on an act for their guests, or if he was going to be himself. She didn't dare look at him too closely. He might see the hurt and longing in her eyes.
She turned toward the door, where Lopez in his white jacket was just opening it to admit the newest guest. Shelby stopped dead at the sight of the man who stood nervously just inside the hall, s.h.i.+fting his feet as he searched the room for a familiar face.
Shelby's eyes flashed. She couldn't believe that Justin had had the audacity to invite him. It was Calhoun's birthday, and she knew Justin wouldn't expect her to make a scene.
But that didn't even register as she moved out into the hall, ignoring Justin, and picked up a very expensive antique vase on the way.
”h.e.l.lo, Tom,” she greeted Tom Wheelor with icy politeness. ”How nice to see you again.”
And without a break in her stride, she lifted the vase and threw it straight at Wheelor's balding head.
Chapter Ten.
Shelby watched, fascinated, as the antique vase whizzed past Tom's left ear and crashed into the hat stand in the corner, knocking Justin's battered black Stetson to the floor.
”Shelby?” Tom asked, moving back a step.
She reached out for the flower arrangement Maria had painstakingly created for the hall table.
”Shelby, don't!” Tom whirled, his hands over his head, and ran out the front door.
Shelby took off after him, blind to the shocked looks from the other guests, including her wide-eyed husband.
”Insect,” she raged. ”Weak-kneed money man!” She let him get halfway down the stairs before she heaved the flower arrangement in its delft bowl. It connected. Tom almost lost his balance as he caught onto the bal.u.s.trade with shards of pottery shattering around him.
He struggled the rest of the way down the steps and ran for his car. Shelby watched him go with fury in her eyes. He'd been responsible, indirectly, for all her heartaches. How could he have the gall to come tonight, of all nights, and at Justin's invitation? Did Tom really think she'd forgotten his part in her anguish? She'd even told him at the time just what she thought of him.
She turned and went back up the steps. She didn't even look at Justin.
”Good evening,” she greeted the guests, as if nothing at all had happened. ”Happy birthday, Calhoun! We're so glad Abby let us throw this party for you.” She went close and kissed his tanned cheek.
”Thanks, Shelby,” Calhoun murmured.
”Shall we go in to dinner?” Shelby nodded to the others, mostly friends of Justin's and Calhoun's whom she barely knew. She took Justin's arm as if she feared his touch would burn her. She didn't look at him or speak to him.
”What the h.e.l.l was that all about?” he asked when they were temporarily out of earshot of the others, heading into the elegantly arranged dining room.
She ignored his question. ”How dare you invite that man here?” she asked instead. ”How dare you bring him into our home, after the way he let my father use him to break us up?”
”I wanted to see if there were any embers left from the fire,” he said with a cool smile.
”Embers?” She took a sharp breath. ”You're lucky I didn't kill him. I'm sorry I didn't!”
”Temper, temper.”
”You can go to h.e.l.l, Justin, dear,” she said with a smile as icy as his. ”And take your moods and your taste for revenge and your cold heart with you.”
His black eyes narrowed. ”Still sticking to your story that your father made you break it off with me?”
”Why can't you believe me?”
”Very simple,” he replied as the others filed into the room. ”It was your father's money that pulled the feedlot out of bankruptcy. He footed the whole d.a.m.ned bill.” His eyes registered her shock. ”Surprised? It's hardly the act of a man who wanted to break us up, wouldn't you agree?”
Shelby knew her heart was going to beat her to death. She grabbed the back of a chair and almost went down, to Justin's surprise.
”Here, sit down, for G.o.d's sake,” he muttered, easing her into her place. ”Are you all right?”
”No, I'm not.” She laughed shakily.
Abby, noticing Shelby's sudden pallor, sat quickly across from her. ”Can I get you anything?” she whispered, glancing at the others.
”I'll be fine, if Justin will get away from me,” she breathed, looking up at him with quiet rage.
He straightened, searching her furious eyes for a long moment. ”My pleasure, Mrs. Ballenger,” he said coldly, and turned his attention to their guests.
Shelby never knew afterward how she got through that dinner. She sat like a statue, answering questions, smiling, being the perfect hostess. But when she escaped upstairs to repair her makeup, Abby was two steps behind.
”What's happened?” her sister-in-law asked without preamble.
”For one thing, I'm pregnant,” Shelby said stiffly.
Abby's breath sighed out, and her eyes softened. ”Oh, Shelby! Does Justin know?”
”He doesn't, and you're not to tell him.” Shelby sat down in her wing chair, easing her head back. ”He's on the rampage again about the past. Just for a little while, things were going so well. Then he came back from Wyoming a stranger. He's been ice-cold ever since. How can I possibly tell him about the baby when he's acting like that?”
”It might soften his mood,” Abby suggested.
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