The Ugly Duckling Read Free Page B

find a chocolate eclair for you.” She stood up and pulled the little girl to her feet. “Now, go run your bath while I take this flower arrangement downstairs. I’ll be back in two minutes.”
    Jill gazed solemnly at the Chinese vase and thensmiled luminously. “It’s pretty, Mama. Even nicer than when they were in the garden.”
    Nell didn’t agree. She always thought it was a shame to pick flowers. Nothing was more beautiful than a garden in bloom. Like the garden of the bed-and-breakfast she had painted when she was going to school at William and Mary. Mists and rich colors and all the textures of morning …
    She felt a sharp pang and quickly shied away from the memory. She had no reason to pity herself. Richard had never denigrated her paintings as her parents had done. After they were married, he had even encouraged her to continue with her work. She just had no time. Being the wife of an ambitious young executive seemed to occupy every hour of the day.
    She made a face at the vase as she picked it up. If she had not been forced to spend all afternoon doing Sally Brenden’s flower arrangements, she could have sketched that beautiful shoreline. But that would have meant going with the Brendens and Richard for that walk along the beach. She would have had to smile and chat and bear Sally being gracious to her. Sally’s subtle tyrannies were a welcome alternative to her company.
    Nell brushed her lips across Jill’s brow. “Lay out your pajamas and don’t go near the balcony.”
    “You’ve already told me that,” Jill said with dignity.
    “I told you not to go into the cave too.”
    “That’s different.”
    “No, it isn’t.”
    Jill started toward the bathroom. “Caves are neat. I don’t like balconies. I get dizzy looking down at the rocks.”
    Thank heaven for small mercies. She couldn’t believe Sally had given them, a couple with a small child, a suite with a balcony overlooking that rocky shore. Yes, she could believe it. Richard had told Sally yearsbefore that he loved the view from a balcony, and Sally always tried to please him. Everyone tried to please the golden boy.
    “You should see the boatload of security men Kavinski sent ahead. You’d think he was Arafat.” Richard blew into the suite like a strong breeze. He glanced at the flowers. “Pretty. You’d better get them downstairs. Sally mentioned there wasn’t a bouquet in the foyer.”
    “I just finished it.” She was making excuses again, she realized with annoyance. “I’m not a professional. She could have had someone come out to the island from Athens to do them.”
    He kissed her cheek. “But they wouldn’t be as pretty as yours. She’s always saying how lucky I am to have such an artistic wife. Be a love and hurry them down to her.” He headed for the bedroom. “I have to shower. Kavinski should be here within the hour, and Martin wants to introduce me to him over drinks.”
    “Do I have to go? I thought I’d show up just for the party.”
    Richard thought about it and then shrugged. “Not if you don’t want to. I don’t think you’ll be missed in the crowd.”
    Relief flowed through her. It was much easier to fade into the background during a party. She turned toward the door. “Jill’s running her bath. Will you keep an eye on her until I come back?”
    He smiled. “Sure.”
    He was dressed in white shorts and shirt, his brown hair rumpled and his lean cheeks flushed by the sun. He always looked wonderful in a tuxedo or a business suit, but she liked him best like this. He was more approachable, more
hers
.
    He made a shooing motion with his hands. “Hurry. Sally’s waiting.”
    She nodded and reluctantly left the suite.
    She heard Sally’s sharp, birdlike voice before she started down the curving marble staircase. She had always thought that tiny voice incongruous in a woman almost six feet tall and lean and sleek as a panther.
    Sally Brenden turned away from the servant she had been scolding. “There