The Only Solution(17)

"Thanks for putting my mind at rest," Mack said. "It's a great relief. I'm late because I picked up our bags at O'Hare."                       
       
           



       

"So the plane made it? Then we could have waited and flown in this morning."

"But just think of what you'd have missed."

She reconsidered the events of the past day and couldn't think of  anything she'd have regretting missing  –  even though, on the whole, it  hadn't been nearly as much of an ordeal as she'd expected. "Well, you  missed lunch," she said practically. "Or are you expecting special  service again today?"

"I had a hamburger sent in before I left the office."

It didn't sound like much, compared to what he had missed. The chicken  salad had been tasty and attractive. The china plates it was served on  were so delicate they probably belonged in a museum. The Irish linen  napkins were ironed so smoothly they were almost slick.

Wendy would have traded it  –  without even a moment's thought  –  to have a hamburger with Mack.

There was no reason why she should be surprised at that abrupt  realization, of course. At least with Mack she knew where she stood. She  didn't have to try to be anything but herself. She wasn't attempting to  impress him, and so she was comfortable in his company. That was all,  she told herself, and wondered why  –  if all that was so  –  she should be  feeling a little breathless, and so terribly aware that he was watching  her.

"Ready for our shopping trip?" Mack asked.

She eyed the box he had brought in, grateful for the distraction. "It looks as if you've already been."

"I just picked this up for Mother." He set the box on the hall table and lifted the lid.

Wendy said hastily, "I wasn't trying to be nosy, Mack. What your mother buys is none of my business."

He went straight on. "It's an early Christmas gift from her to you."  Tissue paper drifted to the polished floor as he lifted out a dark green  wool coat, long and sleek. A scarf in a muted plaid was already tucked  under the collar. It was beautiful, and just Wendy's color  –  she could  almost see the way the dark green would set off the red highlights in  her hair.

"I can't take something like that," she said.

"I guarantee you'll freeze without it. And as long as you're going to be  running errands for Mother, why shouldn't she make it easier for you? I  don't hear you complaining about her sending me along to chauffeur and  carry boxes."

"That's different." She said it automatically, and then caught her  breath, hoping he wouldn't ask her to explain exactly where the  difference lay. Of course she couldn't easily shop by herself in an  unfamiliar city  –  but she was uneasily aware that wasn't quite the real  reason.

"Explain it in the car, or we'll never get finished before the stores  close." He held the coat for her, and after only an instant's hesitation  Wendy slipped into it. There wasn't any point in being a martyr; she  hadn't forgotten how the blasts of wind had cut through her thin coat  and threatened to whip her breath away.

The car at the front door was not the one Mack had bought the day  before. Instead, it was a low-slung sports model, the kind that Wendy  would have hesitated to drive at all, much less take out on streets  which might still be icy. He helped her into the car and walked around  it to slide behind the wheel. "Where do we start?"

Wendy consulted Elinor's list and named a store, and Mack nodded. Though  he negotiated the streets with relative ease, Wendy was glad she wasn't  the one behind the wheel. And as they went from store to store, and the  pile of boxes and bags in the back of the car grew higher, she was even  more glad that Mack was with her. "The bills for this expedition are  going to be so high even your mother will turn pale," she muttered  finally.

Mack shrugged. "We're only buying what's on her list."

That was true, but the fact made Wendy very thoughtful. She put down the  dainty ribbon-trimmed dress she'd been holding and turned away  abruptly.

"What's the matter? You don't really think Mother will complain about the bottom line, do you?"

She bit her lip and shook her head. "No, of course not. That's the  point, you know. This is all wonderfully generous  –  the coat for me and  all the things for Rory. Did you know her new crib is draped in antique  lace? But it's not enough, Mack."                       
       
           



       

"Wendy, please."

"She's doing it again. She's substituting material things for what she can't give. That must be what Marissa meant, you know."

"Marissa was – "

"Immature and selfish and spoiled rotten. I'll take your word for it.  Nevertheless, she had a reason for what she said, Mack, and no matter  how inadequate you think it is, she had a point. I like your mother very  much, but you have to face facts. Elinor is too physically restricted  to take care of a baby. She can't give Rory the real care she should  have. For one thing, she doesn't even understand what a baby needs."

"What are you talking about? After four kids of her own..."

"Maybe she's just forgotten, but..." Wendy groped for an example. "Rory  coughed this morning, and your mother wanted to call the doctor."

"What about it? She didn't catch cold yesterday, did she?"

"Of course not. She was just teasing me  –  it's a little trick she  learned  –  but your mother didn't know the difference. She doesn't know  the baby."

"As you do, I suppose you mean," Mack said.

Wendy nodded miserably. "The nurses will handle all her physical care,  but being clean and well-fed isn't the only thing that matters. It's not  the same as having one person who loves that baby who's tending to all  her needs, emotional as well as physical. If you're honest, Mack, you'll  admit it. You know your parents can't take proper care of her."

"And your answer to the problem is...?"

She said softly, "I want to take her back to Arizona."

"You know that's impossible."

Wendy nodded miserably. "I wish I'd never called you."

When he finally spoke, his voice, normally so rich and soft, sounded almost flat. "I know, Wendy. Believe me, I know."





CHAPTER SIX



Wendy picked up the dress again, not because she intended to buy it but  so she had an excuse not to look at Mack. She had to blink hard to push  the tears away. That was dumb, she told herself. The only thing she had  accomplished by bringing up the subject again was to ruin the cheerful  companionship they'd been sharing all afternoon.

Mack had sounded disillusioned, and discouraged, and almost frustrated.  That probably meant he was wishing he'd left Wendy in Arizona, where she  couldn't nag him. Or was it possible that he was honestly thinking he  should have left well enough alone, and not insisted on bringing Rory to  Chicago at all?

Wendy knew she shouldn't get her hopes up. Even if he was having second  thoughts now, she knew perfectly well that her wishes were impossible to  carry out; once the Burgesses had learned about the baby, there was no  way to turn back the clock. They would never allow her to take Rory so  far away. Unless...

"Your mother's rheumatoid arthritis," she said suddenly.

Mack took the dress out of her hands and added it to the pile he was carrying. "What about it?"

"Surely a warmer climate would be better for her. Hasn't she ever considered it?"

"What do you have in mind? Phoenix?" He started to laugh. "I get it. All  of you can live happily together in a little bungalow in the desert."

"I've heard of sillier ideas." She tugged the dress away from him and hung it back on the rack.

"Well, I haven't. You were so desperate to get out of the house today you were practically pacing the hall with your coat on."

"I wasn't! I was in the drawing room because your mother was resting and Rory was having a nap."

Mack shook his head. "The only other explanation I can see for your eagerness is that you were anxious to see me."

That odd breathlessness rose up to taunt her again. Wendy tried to  ignore it. "Well, I was, sort of," she admitted. "I wanted to ask you  something."

"I knew it. That enthusiastic greeting was just for me, after all  –   despite everything you said about it being nothing personal."

Her heart seemed to turn over, and then she realized that the twinkle  had crept back into his eyes. He was teasing; he hadn't even noticed her  odd reaction. "Don't let it go to your head, Mack," she said crisply.  "And if you're angling to get me to admit that I couldn't live with your  parents, don't bother. That wasn't what I had in mind. But if they were  in the same city, surely they'd at least consider letting me keep Rory,  don't you think?"