The Contract Page 15

  “You think about things entirely too much, sometimes,” Sara said. “If I am going to be in this household, I think I should learn a little more about manners. I do not slurp soup, but that is pretty much the upper limit of my manners training.”

  “You do fine,” Jason insisted. But he offered his arm. Sara took it.

  Mrs. MacDougal was in the lead. Neither saw her beaming face. Duchess did, however, though she could not wink at her friend and coworker since Jason and Sara would see it. She smiled instead.

  Near the end of the meal Jason told Sara, “Henrietta is off, and the rest of the staff only works very light duty on Sundays. Candy and Mrs. MacDougal usually go to church early. Juliet and Duchess mid-morning. I am sure they would welcome you to their respective churches, or you can get a cab to any of the other churches in the area.”

  Sara’s eyes dropped as she spoke. “I have never really gone much. So much moving around and all.”

  “It is up to you. I do not attend, myself.”

  Sara looked up when Mrs. MacDougal said, “You certainly are quite welcome to accompany us, Miss Sara. And, as Master Jason said, I am sure Juliet and Duchess would be more than pleased to take you with them.”

  Sara heard the strong disapproval in Mrs. MacDougal’s voice when she added, “Just as any of us would Master Jason.”

  Cutting her eyes over to Jason, she saw the resigned acceptance of Mrs. MacDougal’s chastisement. It was obvious, however, that Jason was not going to take up the offer.

  It suddenly occurred to her that with Henrietta off, and the other four at church, she would probably be here alone with Jason on Sunday morning.

  “I think I would like to go with you in the morning, Mrs. MacDougal,” Sara quickly said, looking over at the woman.

  There was a large smile on her face. “You will be very welcome at our church. As is everyone. We leave at seven.”

  Sara looked over at Jason when Mrs. MacDougal went back to the kitchen for a moment.

  Jason met her gaze. “My lack of organized religion is a huge disappointment to them. Especially Mrs. MacDougal and Duchess.”

  He said nothing further so Sara decided not to pursue the matter, though she sensed that there was something specific behind the situation.

  “The computer in the study will be free if you want it for the Internet or for homework,” Jason told Sara as they left the dining room. “I left some information on the desk so you can pick out a laptop computer and a cellular telephone for your use.”

  Sara sighed. “I really do not need either of them.”

  Jason shrugged. “I do not actually need them either, but we can afford them, and they are convenient.”

  “Well… Then maybe… And I did buy some things today… Some clothing…”

  “So I gathered,” Jason replied with a smile. “I take it things went okay at the stores.”

  “Oh, yes,” Sara replied. “The stores with credit line went fine. Everyone was very helpful.”

  “Good,” Jason said. “My mother shopped at several of those stores. And my stepmother, more recently.”

  She cut a glance over at Jason as they entered the study. “Some of the clerks remembered your stepmother. One clerk at that one dress shop mentioned your real mother.”

  “Fondly, I trust,” Jason said. “My mother, I mean.”

  “The one lady, yes.”

  Sara Jason’s slight smile. “I take it the memories of my stepmother were not as fond.”

  “Well…”

  “It is all right. I know she is not particularly well liked. Mrs. MacDougal and the other staff, included.”

  “You have not said a bad word about her. I have already learned your way with words. But I believe that it is more than just your manners preventing you from saying anything negative.”

  “My stepmother is quite forthright and unapologetic. She can be quite demanding. She made my father very happy the last year and a half of his life. She never tried to replace my mother in my life. She left my upbringing to my father, then to the staff. I honestly have no harsh feelings toward her.”

  Sara nodded, still curious, but suddenly the conversation brought back to her the situation with her own mother.

  “I am sorry,” Jason said softly, seeing her sudden distress. “I should not have spoken of my mother or stepmother.”

  “It is silly to try to censor your conversation. The subject of mothers will come up from time to time. I just have to deal with my particular situation.”

  Sara saw Jason clasp his hands behind his back as he stood near the desk in the study. She knew he was about to speak about something he felt strongly about.

  “I know you are having a difficult time dealing with the absence of your mother. And, as I told you, I am doing what I can to find her. But I think you should know that… I was very certain, that if I gave her money… That she would not go back to Indiana. That she would leave. I was even more certain, that if there was significant money, she would leave and not take you with her.”

  Sara stared at Jason for a long time. And for the first time, Jason was unsure of what she was feeling. Her look was blank. She did not seem angry, or unhappy or anything else.

  Finally Sara dropped her eyes to her hands, which rested in her lap.

  “I know,” she almost whispered. “I have not admitted it to myself until just now, but I think I knew it too. There have been times recently when I felt scared to not be right with her… I would not admit it to myself that I thought she might leave me.”

  Tears were starting to stream down Sara’s face.

  “I will go get Mrs. MacDougal,” Jason said.

  “Please, no. She is a dear. But… I know she did not approve of Mother, even before… You… You knew, yet you still treated us… her… me… I just do not want to deal with anyone else right now.”

  “Would you like me to leave?” Jason asked.

  Sara shook her head, as she started to sob.

  “How about if I go draw you a bath, then you can soak, then go to bed early. I will let Juliet know not to disturb you unless you call her.”

  She managed to meet his eyes and say, through your sobs, “Please wait for a few minutes…”

  Jason nodded. He whirled when a knock came on the study door. As usual, Mrs. MacDougal was following the sound into the room.

  With two quick steps Jason blocked further entry. “Mrs. MacDougal, would you excuse us for the rest of the evening? Miss Lee and I are in the middle of something. Tell Juliet that Miss Lee will call her if needed.”

  Her eyes cutting up to Jason’s face Mrs. MacDougal watched him for long moments. She started to speak around him to Sara, but the look of concern convinced her to allow him to handle whatever it was troubling them.

  “Of course,” she replied.

  “Perhaps Duchess would make a pot of cocoa and have Juliet take it to my room.”

  “I will see to it, Master Jason.”

  Jason closed the door behind her and turned to look at Sara again.

  Sara was leaning her head on her forearms, which were on the desk. Her body still shook with small sobs.

  Pulling another chair close, Jason sat down near her and waited patiently for her crying to subside.

  “I think I am okay now,” Sara said after only a few more minutes. She sat up and wiped at her eyes. Jason handed her his brilliant white handkerchief.

  “Such manners,” Sara managed to say.

  “I saw it in an old movie, once,” Jason replied lightly.

  “You would really go draw me a bath?” she asked, wiping at the occasional tear that still fell.

  “You did not want to deal with anyone else, you said. Of course I will. Bubble bath?”

  Sara managed to nod before the sobs began again. She clutched the handkerchief to her chest as she sobbed, eyes closed.

  Jason rose, then left the study. He was careful to close the door behind him.

  “Is she all right?” Mrs. MacDougal asked. She had been keepi
ng a vigil near the doors.

  “No. Thinking about her mother. Did Juliet take the cocoa up?”

  Mrs. MacDougal nodded.

  “Ask her to stay handy if you would, Mrs. MacDougal. And leave this area clear. Miss Lee will be going up shortly. I think she would prefer not to have her tears noticed.”

  “She should have someone with her,” Mrs. MacDougal said.

  “I tend to agree. And I think she will. But I think it should be when she is ready. She will call for Juliet, I am sure.”

  Again Mrs. MacDougal nodded. As Jason turned toward the stairs she put a hand on his arm. “Perhaps you should not be there…”

  “I will not be. Just need to do a couple of things. Then I will be in the shop until she has a chance to recover.”

  “You are a good man, Master Jason.”

  “I like to think so, Mrs. MacDougal, since you have raised me well these last few years. But I sometimes think I am entirely too selfish.”

  He was looking at the study doors. “I need to hurry,” he added as he turned toward the stairs again.

  Sara was relieved when she did not run into anyone on her way up to the bedroom. When she entered Jason was just coming from the bathroom.

  “Bath is ready. I will just pour you a cup of cocoa to sip while you soak,” he said, turning back to the bathroom.

  Sara looked around the room. The bed, on her side, was turned back. Her pajamas and robe were laid out on the foot of the bed. Two hangers, obviously for the clothing she wore, were beside them.

  “Everything is ready,” Jason told her, returning from the bathroom. “Juliet should be in the kitchen, if you want her. All you have to do is buzz.”

  She had not said a word since she entered. Sara nodded and watched Jason move toward the bedroom door. “You are going to come to bed tonight, are you not? In here.”

  Jason stopped with his hand on the door knob, head down. When he did not immediately speak Sara said, “I need to know.”

  “Only if you do not object,” Jason replied.

  “I do not,” Sara replied.

  “I will be back. It will be some time, but I will.”

  Then he was through the door.

  Sara went into the bathroom. The tub was filled with steaming water, mounded with bubbles. A cup of hot cocoa sat on the edge, the tray with insulated carafe within reach of the tub.

  Sara sighed and began to remove her clothes. Jason had said it would be some time before he returned. She did not bother with the terry robe, which was hanging on the hook on the wall near the tub. Sara put away her clothes, then went back to the bathroom, easing down into the bubble bath.

  Her tears came again, even as she sipped the hot cocoa. She had to set it aside twice, as sobs shook her. The water was beginning to cool and all but a little of the cocoa was gone when Sara finally decided she was not going to cry any more that night.

  Though it was not a conscious thought, Sara washed her hair as the tub drained, then buzzed and asked Juliet to come up.

  Sara was in the terry robe, sitting at the dressing table now in the bedroom, running a brush through her hair when Juliet knocked, then entered.

  “Are you feeling better?” Juliet asked, taking the brush from Sara.

  As Juliet began to brush Sara’s hair Sara replied. “Yes. I cried and soaked and sipped hot cocoa. I do feel better now.”

  “Would you like me to turn back the bed in the other room?”

  Sara’s eyes cut to the bed. “No. This is fine,” Sara replied. She looked at Juliet’s image in the dressing table mirror. “Did Jason ask you to just turn back my side of the bed?”

  “Actually, no,” Juliet replied. “I did not turn it back. I thought you did. Master Jason must have.”

  “He filled the tub and poured a cup of cocoa for me before he left. And if you did not turn back the bed… Did you lay out my pajamas?”

  Juliet was watching Sara’s face in the mirror. She shook her head.

  Sara sighed.

  “Perhaps I should turn back the bed in the other room, Miss Sara.”

  Able to smile at Juliet’s somewhat worried reflection in the mirror, Sara said, “Do not worry, Juliet. I will not lose my wits because of what has happened. Besides, chances are, he will do something to make me angry again, anyway.”

  Juliet smiled in return. “Well, since you do know you might be a little susceptible, you probably are not.”

  “Juliet?” Sara turned toward her. “Have you ever known him to tell a lie?”

  “Never,” Juliet said immediately. She looked away, then met Sara’s gaze again steadily. “He has a way with words. But I do not think he is even capable of telling a lie.”

  “That is what I am coming to believe,” Sara said thoughtfully. Then she sighed. “I think I would rather he lied about some things.”

  “No, you do not. Not really,” Juliet gently chided Sara as Sara turned and Juliet once again began brushing out her hair.

  “I suppose not,” Sara agreed.

  A few minutes later when Sara’s long red hair was shining silkily, Sara said, “Thank you, Juliet. I believe I will go to bed. Mrs. MacDougal said she and Candy leave early for church.”

  “Are you sure about me not turning down the other bed,” Juliet asked one last time.

  “I am sure,” Sara said, moving to the bed. She set aside the terry robe and slipped into the pajamas.

  Juliet said nothing, but picked up the terry robe and took it to the bathroom. When she returned to the bedroom Sara quickly said, “He said he would not be back for a while. But I think maybe I should be a little more careful about disrobing in here.”

  “Perhaps, Miss Sara. He would not create a scene, but what you said…”

  “I know,” Sara sighed. “I do not want to cause him problems. It is just… I do not know… He just makes things easy…”

  Juliet nodded. “I know. He is the same way with us, for the most part. We do have to be careful not to take advantage of his nature.”

  Sara was under the covers. She watched Juliet as she turned down Jason’s side of the bed.

  “Do you… the others… Think I am taking advantage of him? You were not implying it just now. I just… sometimes I think I am. Like today, buying the clothes. He thinks I should get a laptop and a cell phone.

  “And there are all those other provisions in the contract. I will be sixteen in a few days. I can get my driver’s license. I never even dreamed of having a car to use. Now… I just do not know…”

  “Sleep on it, Miss Sara. But, in answer to your question… No, we do not think you are taking advantage of him.” Juliet smiled. “You seem to fight every step of the way, to avoid taking advantage.”

  “I think it is my red hair. I think I just like to fight,” Sara replied with a slight smile.

  “Possibly. But I doubt that. Now, with that spirit, you might be a big help to the basketball team.”

  “I am not really the cheerleader type,” Sara said dryly.

  “I was thinking of the girl’s team. You are tall, wiry, tough and smart. You would be a great power forward, I think. Kennedy High needs one the next three years. You should think about it.”

  “I have never been much of a joiner,” Sara said.

  “Just think about it,” Juliet said.

  “Did you play, by chance?” Sara asked.

  “Well, as a matter of fact…” Juliet laughed. “I was a power forward. We went to state all three years I was on the team. Took it my senior year. Ah, the glory days!”

  Sara decided to stay awake until Jason returned. To thank him being so kind that evening. But she fell asleep, exhausted from the emotional strain.

  She did not wake when Jason knocked lightly on the bedroom door before entering.

  Jason stopped beside the bed. Sara lay on her back; covers pulled up just over her chin. Some light spilled from the open bathroom door. Sara’s red hair and porcelain skin shone in pale illumination. The blanket rose and fell slightly as she breath
ed.

  Before she could feel his gaze and wake, Jason moved to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Sara stirred slightly when the light changed, but did not waken.

  Nor did she wake when Jason slid into the far side of the huge bed.

  When she did wake, it took several minutes for Sara to realize she was far past the middle of the bed, lying on her side. On Jason’s side of the bed, facing him. She jerked back quickly.

  Sara realized that Jason was not in the bed. Her eyes cut to the bathroom. The door was standing wide open. He was not in there, obviously. Suddenly she frowned. “He said he would come back, last night,” she muttered, feeling herself getting annoyed.

  Hurrying to the bathroom, Sara suddenly stopped. “He did come back,” she said. Jason was neat, but there were the small signs of occupancy that were not hers.

  When Sara returned to the bedroom she studied Jason’s side of the bed. “Yes,” she said softly. “He did come back and sleep in the bed.”

  The pillow was shifted. The edge of the blanket and sheet were not quite perfect. Satisfied that Jason had done as he had said he would, Sara dressed for church.

  Expecting to see Jason at the table in the dining room, she found Mrs. Mac-Dougal and Duchess sitting there instead. Each had a plate with scrambled eggs and toast.

  “We take a few liberties on Sunday, I am afraid,” Mrs. MacDougal said as Duchess rose and moved to the sideboard where a pair of chaffing dishes sat.

  “This last year or so, with Mrs. McKindrick on her round the world trip, Master Jason has encouraged us to use the amenities of the house on days like this.”

  “I certainly do not mind,” Sara said. “I can get it, Duchess,” she said to the cook, who was still standing at the sideboard, plate in hand to dish and serve Sara. “Your breakfast is getting cold.”

  Duchess did not protest, handing Sara the plate. “Scrambled with a tiny bit of bacon. Whole wheat toast. I could prepare something else, if…”

  “This is fine, Duchess,” Sara said.

  Candy and Juliet both entered the dining room as Sara was taking a seat. They moved to the sideboard to serve themselves. Sara noted that, like Mrs. MacDougal and Duchess, the two younger women were dressed in Sunday church appropriate clothing, rather than uniforms.