"He has a two-week tour for me. New York, Boston, D.C., and Chicago. Eight days of it in New York. Oh Jesus, Nick, I don't know what to do. I'm scared to death." She sounded near tears, and he wondered if he'd done the right thing. Maybe he had no right to meddle.

"Don't get excited, darling. We'll talk about it. What's he booked you on?"

"I don't know. I forgot to ask. And it's for Monday. And ... oh Nick, what'll I do?"

"I have an idea." He forced his voice to sound cheery as he closed his eyes, feeling as if he were pus.h.i.+ng her off a cliff.

"What?"

"Why don't you go on the show with Jasper again?"

"I can't for chrissake. I just told you. Stu wants me to go to New York." She sounded nervous and exasperated.

"That's where Jasper is doing the show for the next two weeks." And then he opened his eyes wide and waited for a moment. There was no sound. "Would you go to New York with me, Kate? I know it's hard for you, darling, but I'll be there. I promise. I'll be right there with you."

"Did you tell Stu to do this?" She sounded incredulous.

"I ..." c.r.a.p. He had blown it. But there was no point lying to her. He would swear never to meddle again. "I did. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, I ..." But suddenly she was laughing. "Kate?"

"You jerk. You did that? I thought it was for real. I thought my publisher had a tour for me that I had to do, or else. I thought ..."

"He does. Only they didn't line it up until I told Stu I thought you'd do it. You can fly in and out of Boston and D.C., and keep on staying with me in New York."

"What about Chicago?" She was still laughing. Thank G.o.d. "Did they do that too?" Nick sounded amazed.

"Oh yes."

"Zealous, aren't they?"

"You know something? You're crazy, that's what you are. Totally crazy. Did you know about all this when you got home last night?" Her house was home now to both of them.

"Okay, I confess."

"How long have you known?"

"Since Monday. Jasper sprang it on us."

"Terrific."

"So what are you going to do now?" He was more than a little curious. "I mean, other than give me a black eye when I come home tonight."

"Are you sure you want me to tell you over the phone?" The voice was pure Mata Hari, and he started laughing too.

"Never mind that. Will you go with me?"

"Do I have a choice?"

He waited for a long moment, wondering what he should say, but he decided to take a chance. "No. You don't have a choice. I need you too much. Get Tillie to stay with Tygue, and we'll buy out F.A.O. Schwarz for him."

"He accepted your invitation for the weekend, by the way, and he wants to bring Joey."

"Wonderful. I don't care if he brings King Kong. I want to know if you're coming to New York with me."

"Yes, dammit, yes! Okay? Are you happy?"

"Very!" They were both smiling.

"Do I still have to do all that publicity bulls.h.i.+t?"

"Of course." Nick sounded shocked. "And I meant what I said. I'll put you back on the show with Jasper."

"Do I gotta?" She was lying in bed grinning at the phone.

"Yes. You gotta."

"Hey, Nick?"

"What, sweetheart?" The voice was suddenly soft in answer to hers. "Any chance you could come home?"

"You mean now?"

"Uh huh."

He had a mountain of work to do, a thousand things to arrange ... and a woman he adored.

"I'll be there."

And he was.

CHAPTER 23.

"Kate?"

"Mm?" She was asleep next to him on the plane. It had been a hectic few days. She had insisted on "teaching" on Friday, but the trip to Carmel had given her a chance to shop. They had all spent the weekend at the house in Santa Barbara, Joey included, and on Sunday night Nick had driven her down to L.A. with him, so that they could leave together Monday morning. This was the first time he hadn't flown with Jasper. He wanted to be alone with her. A glance at his watch told him they would land in New York in an hour. He kissed her softly on the top of her head and folded her hand into his.

"Miss Harper, I love you." He said it more to himself than to her but she surprised him by opening one eye, and looking up with a yawn that crept into a smile.

"I love you too. What time is it?"

"Two o'clock our time. It's five o'clock there. We'll get in at six."

"And then what?" She hadn't even thought to ask him. She stretched her long legs out ahead of her and looked down at the now familiar cream-colored suit. She was getting more wear out of it than she'd ever expected to when she'd bought it. "Oh my G.o.d."

"What?"

She was looking up at him with horror in the big green eyes he loved.

"Is it Tygue? Did you forget something?"

"No. Licia. I forgot to tell her I was going. If she calls and Tillie tells her I've gone to New York, she'll have a stroke."

"Will she disapprove?" He was curious to meet this character who was the only important person in Kate's life besides Tygue. Maybe she'd hate him. Be jealous of his role in Kate's life. He looked at Kate curiously.

"Licia? Disapprove?" Kate snuggled in next to him with a soft laugh. "She'd give you the Legion of Honor for dragging me out of my cave."

"Have you told her about me yet?"

Kate shook her head slowly. She hadn't. And she wasn't sure why. Maybe because she was afraid the magic would all fade away and telling Licia would make it that much harder to live with the loss when he was gone. "No. Not yet."

"I'd like to meet her. She sounds like a character. Would I like her?"

"I think so." And what if he didn't? She loved Felicia, always would. But she already felt herself slipping into Nick's world. Nick had a special place in her life now.

He looked down and saw the serious look in her eyes, and he held her close. "You look so pensive sometimes, love. One day you won't look like that anymore." When she looked like that, he knew she was thinking about Tom.

"Like what?"

"Like your only friend in the world is about to walk out."

"Are you sure he won't?"

"Positive."

She could feel it in his arms, and she felt peaceful as she closed her eyes. She was so happy with him. But it couldn't last forever. Nothing did. No matter what he said. Tom had made those promises too. But she hadn't had the same worries then. She hadn't realized how quickly things come to an end.

"Scared about New York?" He forced her mind back to the present, as he tilted her face up to his. He was smiling at her again, and she smiled back.

"Sometimes. Once in a while I panic and want to hide in the ladies' room, and then I forget all about it and get curious. It's been so long, I hardly remember it."

"Good. I want to give it to you brand new." He looked pleased. They were going to stay at the Regency, only three blocks from Jasper's hotel. Jasper was addicted to the Pierre. But Nick wanted to stay somewhere else, so Kate wouldn't feel awkward. "I ordered separate rooms for us, by the way."

"You did?" She looked disappointed, and he laughed.

"Don't look like that, you dummy. They're adjoining, and we can use one of them as an office. I just thought it would look better in case some nosy reporter gets wind that you're staying with me. This way, you're just staying at the same hotel. A cozy coincidence." She looked pleased again.

"How do you manage to think of all that? Gla.s.s slippers, separate rooms to protect my lily-pure reputation-is there anything you don't think of?"

"That's why I've managed to stay the producer of Jasper's show all these years, my love, it's all part of the job." But she knew it was part of the man. They exchanged another smile and looked out over the city. It was still bright daylight outside, and would be for several hours, but already there was the softened hue of late afternoon. "It's going to be hotter than h.e.l.l, by the way. Did you bring lots of naked clothes?" She laughed as she accepted the gla.s.s of champagne he was handing her from a pa.s.sing tray. First cla.s.s was delightful. Champagne coast to coast.

"I did what I could. I didn't have a lot of time to shop." And Carmel was not San Francisco. But she hadn't done badly. And when they got off the plane in New York she understood what Nick meant about the heat. She had never been to the city in midsummer, and it was blistering, even at six o'clock.

Nick had arranged for them to be met by the airline's special customer service cart, and they were whisked right to the door of the terminal. Their bags would be separated from the others and brought out to the car. And the little golf cart whizzed through the terminal, plowing through countless bodies. Everyone looked hot and tired and gray, not brown and healthy the way they did in California. It had been a long time since Kate had seen people looking like this, and so many of them. She felt breathless as they launched through the crowds in the ice-cold terminal. The air conditioning was blasting full force on the hot, tired, sweaty crowds.

"It's a wonder they don't all die of pneumonia." She held tightly to his hand as she watched them from the cart. It was all so busy and so loud. It was terrifying and fascinating at the same time. Like visiting another planet.

"It's a wonder they don't all die from lack of air, you mean. Have you ever seen so many people?"

She shook her head as he watched her. He had made all the arrangements very carefully, so she wouldn't be overwhelmed right from the first. They were already at the terminal door, and the driver was waiting for them at the curb.

They were shoved through the revolving door by the force of the crowds, and Kate found herself pushed outside, into what felt like a vacuum. It was white-hot and humid, without so much as a breath of air.

"My G.o.d." It was like being punched in the stomach by an elephant.

"Lovely, isn't it?" He grinned as she rolled her eyes, but the driver was already holding open the door of the air-conditioned car, and Nick was urging her gently inside. It was all wonderfully quick and efficient. And five minutes later, the driver had their bags, and they were on their way to the city. She looked back over her shoulder through the smoky gla.s.s of the limousine and she could still see the people in line for cabs. There was a short fat cab driver waving a cigar in another man's face, and as they sped away she started to laugh.

"Isn't it crazy?"

"It's like the circus." She didn't remember the city as quite so intense. Everything had seemed more sedate when she had been there on Easter vacation with her parents when she was seventeen. They had stayed at the Plaza and had tea in the Palm Court and at a place called Rose-Marie. That all seemed a thousand years ago. And Tom had never let her go to New York with him. He hated it, and usually stayed outside the city with friends. Now she could see why. This wasn't Tom's scene. And it wasn't really Nick's. But he handled it perfectly. He had s.h.i.+elded her from everything unpleasant, even the heat.

She watched the constant fury of the traffic on their way to the hotel. Even on Park Avenue, the cars moved along as though they were angry. Jerk, b.u.mp, stop, screech, honk, shout, and jerk on again. The noise was deafening even in the carefully sealed car.

"How do they stand it?"

"I don't know. Either they don't notice it, or they love it."

But the crazy thing was that she loved it too. She loved the aliveness of it. The frenzy and the sparkle, the crackle of electricity as everything moved at breakneck speed. She suddenly wanted to get out of the womblike car and walk. But she was afraid that if she told Nick, he would think she was crazy. And ungrateful. He had gone to such lengths to protect her from her fears. And yet, there she sat, dying to push and shove along with the rest of them.

They had arrived at the Regency, and the driver helped her into the doorman's hands, from whose protective grasp Nick took her and led her quickly inside. They knew him there. He signed the registration card and they were instantly led to their rooms. Hers was a suite, his a large double room with a door that adjoined her living room. They decided to use his as the office, and hers as their "house." The bags were stacked on elaborate little gold and white stands, and Kate looked around as her feet sank into the thick carpet, and then with a sigh she settled onto the rose-colored silk couch. Everything was very subtle and very lovely. It looked like an English watercolor painting. And they had a beautiful view of the city facing south. She looked around the room again and then at Nick with a smile and a sigh. She felt like the poor little rich girl, s.h.i.+elded from everything that was fun, like dirt and noise and all the crazy people she was dying to gape at, and run along on the sidewalk with. Nick meant well by s.h.i.+elding her from it all, but she felt as if he were keeping her from the fun. Maybe it was nuts to feel that way. But she did. Suddenly she wanted to break loose from her sh.e.l.l, and even from Nick ... from the past ... from Tom ... from Tygue ... from all of them. She wanted to be free.

"Want a drink?" He loosened his tie, and smiled down at her. He had already made reservations for them at Caravelle. He had had his secretary do that from Los Angeles that morning. The reservations were for nine. He didn't think they'd be hungry until then. That would give them time to have a drink and relax, maybe have another drink in the bar of the hotel, and go off to a quiet dinner. But Kate only shook her head at the offer for the drink. "What's up, Cinderella? You look like those wheels are turning a mile a minute. Want to call Licia now?"

"No." And she didn't really want to call Tygue either. Not yet.

"Then what would you like to do?" He sat down next to her on the delicate couch and put his arms around her as she started to laugh. And he loved the fire he saw in her eyes. New York was doing good things to her. Already. It was as though she were coming to life in a way he had never seen before. "Name your pleasure, milady, and it's yours."

"You mean it?"

"Of course I mean it."

"Okay. I want to go for a walk."

"Now?" He looked stunned. At seven o'clock, it was still ninety-five, and the humidity was close to the same figure. "In this heat?" She nodded excitedly and he threw back his head and laughed. He understood. Kate, who had hidden for years, almost since she was a girl, was suddenly young again and hungry for life. "Okay, Cinderella, you're on. Do you want to change first?" She shook her head with a grin and looked just like her son. "In that case"-he held out an arm and she slipped a hand through it as they both stood up-"we're off."

And it was just what she wanted. They wandered up Madison Avenue as she looked into all the shops, and then over to Central Park, where people were still playing games on the gra.s.s. b.a.l.l.s were being thrown, radios were blaring, buses zoomed by, and handsome cabs clopped along behind tired, flower-bedecked horses. It was as though someone had a.s.sembled every possible moving part, every face, every car, every smell, every color, and jammed them all into one town and called it New York. "G.o.d, I love it." She took a deep breath of the polluted air and sighed with delight as Nick laughed.

"I think I've created a monster." But he loved seeing her like that. She was so alive. It was what she should have had for years. Fire, and excitement and success. He was glad he could share them with her now. He looked at his watch. It was already after eight, and they were nearing Sixty-first Street and Fifth. It was only two blocks to the hotel. But they had walked at least twenty, drinking everything in-Kate watching the city with pa.s.sion, and he watching her with delight "Ready to go back and get dressed?"

"Where are we going?"

"To the best restaurant in town. All for you, Cinderella." He swept a wide arm toward the skyline, and she beamed. She smiled all the way back to the hotel, and when he closed the door to their room, she advanced on him with a purposeful gleam in her eye.