All That Glitters by V.C. Andrews

Author:V.C. Andrews
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 1995-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

10

Picture Perfect

Paul phoned that night from Baton Rouge and I told him about Mrs. Flemming.

“I’ll come right home,” he said.

“You don’t have to, Paul. We’re all right. I’m just very sad for her and for her daughter.”

“I like to be with you when you’re sad, Ruby. I don’t like your being alone at times like this,” he said.

“You can’t protect me from every little storm that befalls me, Paul. Besides, I didn’t have a nanny helping me when I lived in the shack and things were twice as difficult, did I?” I replied, my tone of voice harder than I had intended.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to suggest you couldn’t do everything for Pearl yourself,” he said in a small voice.

“You don’t have to be sorry, Paul. I’m not angry. I’m just… upset about Mrs. Flemming.”

“Which is why I should be home,” he insisted.

“Paul, do what you have to do and then come home. I’ll be all right. Really,” I said.

“Okay. I should be able to leave here before lunch tomorrow anyway,” he said. There was a short pause and then he asked how things went in New Orleans.

“Fine. Dominique and I made all the arrangements, but I think I’ll postpone it until things get calmer around here.”

“We’ll begin a search for a new nanny as soon as I come home,” he said. “There’s no need to postpone your show, Ruby.”

“Let’s not talk about it now, Paul. Suddenly that’s not as important to me anyway. And I don’t want to go out and get a new nanny just yet. Let’s wait and see what happens with Mrs. Flemming and her daughter.”

“Whatever you want.”

“Besides, I think I can be a full-time mother and an artist at the same time.”

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

“Don’t speed, Paul,” I warned. “We don’t need another car accident.”

“I won’t,” he promised. “See you soon. ‘Bye.”

“Good-bye, Paul.”

The day’s ride on an emotional roller coaster exhausted me. After I put Pearl to sleep, I crawled into bed myself. I lay there for a while with my eyes open debating about calling Beau. I just dreaded the thought that Gisselle would find out I was calling, however, and I decided against it. I would wait for him to call me. I shut my eyes, but despite my fatigue, I tossed and turned, fretting in and out of nightmares, some of which had terrible things happening to Paul and some had terrible things happening to Beau. How fragile our lives were, I thought. In seconds, everything we had, everything we learned, everything we built, could become dust. It made me question what were really the most important things and what were not.

I knew Paul must have driven fast despite his promises, because he was at Cypress Woods very early in the afternoon the next day. When I accused him of it, he swore he had been able to end his meetings earlier than anticipated. I was just finishing my lunch and having coffee on the patio.

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