herself was all she could have hoped for. “You didn’t like the house you saw yesterday?” he hazarded.
“ No, and I liked the person who showed it to me even less. I told Graham I wanted to deal with you, or nobody.”
“ That wasn’t very wise of you.”
Kaye was silent for a long instant. “What does that mean?” she challenged. “Don’t you want my business any more?”
“ Of course I want your business. But you really shouldn’t start handing down ultimatums to the man until the knot is tied. It isn’t wise to make him wonder if you’re really going to be the respectful little wife he thinks he’s getting—you know, with the house in the suburbs, the two-point-four kids, the dog, the bridge club, and the station wagon.”
“ You know, it sounds deadly dull when you put it that way.”
“ Precisely,” he said cheerfully. “Which is why you don’t want Graham to start thinking about it. If he does, I won’t get my BMW, and you wouldn’t want that to happen, would you?”
“ I thought you said you’d given up the idea.”
“ Oh, I have. It would be a terribly impractical car for me, anyway—I need space when I’m driving clients around. But it’s fun to think about.”
Kaye laughed at his airy tone. He was only joking, she told herself in relief. I should have known it. I’m just too sensitive to things like that! “If it makes you feel better, I didn’t really give Graham an ultimatum; I just said I’d rather work with you. Do you have anything to show me this afternoon? I’ll buy lunch; it’s my turn.”
“ Can’t. I’ve got plenty to show you, but I have another appointment. How about tomorrow?”
How absolutely ridiculous to feel disappointed, she told herself flatly. She certainly hadn’t expected that he would hang around the office waiting to hear from her— or had she, half-consciously? She should be glad that he had other prospects.
“ All right,” she said finally. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
“ Don’t fret,” he said. “Nothing you want is going to sell in the next twenty-four hours.”
Emily had answered the other line while Kaye was talking, and now she banged the receiver down hard. “That is the sixteenth call this week,” she said irritably. “One of the other agencies is pushing a tour, and everyone is confused and calling us about it.”
“ What is it?” Kaye asked idly. “It must be a good deal, to excite that much interest.”
“ You don’t know about it?” Then Emily answered her own question. “Of course not. You’ve been out house- hunting instead of here answering the telephone.”
“ Sorry, Emily. What’s the tour?”
“ They’re taking a chartered plane to the Bahamas for one day. Can you imagine anyone flying halfway across the country for a few short hours in Nassau?”
“ Yes,” Kaye said. She could almost feel the warmth of the sun on her bare back, the scrape of the sand against winter-softened toes, the kiss of the blue water against delicate skin.
“ The plane takes off at some dreadful hour, just to get to the Caribbean while it’s still morning, and they’ll be on their way home before the sun even goes down. But people are wild about it.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“ I’d go,” Kaye said. “Even one day in the sun, on the beach... but I don’t have the money.”
“ You,” Emily said tartly, “will probably be going twice a year. You’ll be able to do anything you like, while the rest of us are stuck here answering the telephone for the rest of our natural lives.” It rang imperiously, and she picked it up again.
Kaye wanted to say, It isn’t going to change me, Emily. Then she decided that silence was the wiser course, and turned back to her own work.
Being engaged to Graham might not make her into a different person, but she sadly concluded that it had already altered other things. Marilyn’s treatment of her had certainly changed,
“ No, and I liked the person who showed it to me even less. I told Graham I wanted to deal with you, or nobody.”
“ That wasn’t very wise of you.”
Kaye was silent for a long instant. “What does that mean?” she challenged. “Don’t you want my business any more?”
“ Of course I want your business. But you really shouldn’t start handing down ultimatums to the man until the knot is tied. It isn’t wise to make him wonder if you’re really going to be the respectful little wife he thinks he’s getting—you know, with the house in the suburbs, the two-point-four kids, the dog, the bridge club, and the station wagon.”
“ You know, it sounds deadly dull when you put it that way.”
“ Precisely,” he said cheerfully. “Which is why you don’t want Graham to start thinking about it. If he does, I won’t get my BMW, and you wouldn’t want that to happen, would you?”
“ I thought you said you’d given up the idea.”
“ Oh, I have. It would be a terribly impractical car for me, anyway—I need space when I’m driving clients around. But it’s fun to think about.”
Kaye laughed at his airy tone. He was only joking, she told herself in relief. I should have known it. I’m just too sensitive to things like that! “If it makes you feel better, I didn’t really give Graham an ultimatum; I just said I’d rather work with you. Do you have anything to show me this afternoon? I’ll buy lunch; it’s my turn.”
“ Can’t. I’ve got plenty to show you, but I have another appointment. How about tomorrow?”
How absolutely ridiculous to feel disappointed, she told herself flatly. She certainly hadn’t expected that he would hang around the office waiting to hear from her— or had she, half-consciously? She should be glad that he had other prospects.
“ All right,” she said finally. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
“ Don’t fret,” he said. “Nothing you want is going to sell in the next twenty-four hours.”
Emily had answered the other line while Kaye was talking, and now she banged the receiver down hard. “That is the sixteenth call this week,” she said irritably. “One of the other agencies is pushing a tour, and everyone is confused and calling us about it.”
“ What is it?” Kaye asked idly. “It must be a good deal, to excite that much interest.”
“ You don’t know about it?” Then Emily answered her own question. “Of course not. You’ve been out house- hunting instead of here answering the telephone.”
“ Sorry, Emily. What’s the tour?”
“ They’re taking a chartered plane to the Bahamas for one day. Can you imagine anyone flying halfway across the country for a few short hours in Nassau?”
“ Yes,” Kaye said. She could almost feel the warmth of the sun on her bare back, the scrape of the sand against winter-softened toes, the kiss of the blue water against delicate skin.
“ The plane takes off at some dreadful hour, just to get to the Caribbean while it’s still morning, and they’ll be on their way home before the sun even goes down. But people are wild about it.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“ I’d go,” Kaye said. “Even one day in the sun, on the beach... but I don’t have the money.”
“ You,” Emily said tartly, “will probably be going twice a year. You’ll be able to do anything you like, while the rest of us are stuck here answering the telephone for the rest of our natural lives.” It rang imperiously, and she picked it up again.
Kaye wanted to say, It isn’t going to change me, Emily. Then she decided that silence was the wiser course, and turned back to her own work.
Being engaged to Graham might not make her into a different person, but she sadly concluded that it had already altered other things. Marilyn’s treatment of her had certainly changed,
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