In mid-afternoon when Stella rose to leave, Wayde suggested lightly, “Why don’t you let me drive you home, Miss Mabry? I know Steve would be delighted to, but since I must leave, why don’t we go together?”
Stella’s eyes widened and she glanced at Steve and then at Wayde.
“Why, that would be very kind of you, Mr. McCullers,” she replied, “if you’re sure it’s not a bother.”
“I’m quite sure it will be a pleasure, Miss Mabry,” Wayde assured her, smiling warmly.
Lynn watched the two of them leave. And when the convertible had slid down the drive, Ruth, the Judge, Steve and Lynn stood on the verandah for a moment before they turned to go back into the house.
“You run along for your nap, Pops,” Lynn ordered firmly. “And, Mom, you have earned one, too. I’ll do the dishes.”
“Nonsense, dear. I won’t let you. There are too many of them.”
“Nonsense, Mom, you can’t stop me,” Lynn said firmly. “You trot right along and tuck Pops into bed!”
“I know you’re tired, Miss Ruth,” Steve offered. “It was a marvelous dinner and you’ve earned a rest. I’ll help Lynn with the dishes.”
Lynn eyed him warily and then looked at her mother.
“They’re your wedding-present dishes, darling,” she warned. “Can we trust him not to break them?”
Steve made an effort to match their frivolous mood.
“I resent that!” he protested. “I haven’t broken a dish in ages, have I, Miss Ruth?”
“Well, not recently,” Ruth conceded, her eyes merry. “But this would be a bad time to start. These are cherished heirloom dishes which I intend to save for Lynn when she marries.”
“Then feel free to break as many as you like, Steve, old pal,” Lynn said firmly, “because I have no intention of marrying.”
“Pay her no mind, Steve. She has been talking like that for so long that I have a firm conviction she’s just about to announce her engagement. ‘Methinks the lady doth protest too much.’ ”
Despite their attempted lightness, the gaiety was heavy-handed, and when Lynn and Steve were in the kitchen, she looked up at him.
“Steve, what’s the matter with all of us today? We’re as stiff and awkward as though we’d all just met!”
Steve grinned wryly.
“Could be the effect of the McCullers having dinner with us,” he admitted. “Us not being accustomed to such distinguished guests.”
“Could be,” Lynn agreed, and sprinkled soap flakes into the hot water in the dishpan. “What do you really think of him, Steve?”
“I don’t know him well enough to think much about him, Lynn,” Steve answered thoughtfully. “He seems to have got off on the wrong foot with you, but he’s certainly making time with Miss Ruth.”
“He is, isn’t he?” Lynn spoke between her teeth.
“Well, Miss Ruth is such a kind-hearted, wonderful person, she’d shake hands with the Devil himself and give him the benefit of the doubt,” Steve answered. “And, of course, McCullers isn’t the Devil himself.”
“No, he hasn’t that much energy,” Lynn all but snapped. She was instantly ashamed of herself and rushed on before Steve could comment, “I like Stella.”
“I’m glad. She’s a fine person,” said Steve. “I don’t know what the Judge and I would do without her.”
Lynn looked up at him swiftly.
“Don’t let her slip away from you, Steve,” she said, and could have kicked herself for the impulsive words.
“Oh, Stella’s the loyal kind,” Steve laughed, obviously misunderstanding her meaning. “I don’t think anybody could hire her away from us. From the Judge, anyway. She just about worships him.”
“And she’s very fond of you, Steve.”
“I hope so, because I’m very fond of her,” Steve said quietly.
“I’m glad,” Lynn told him, and her smile was warm. “You’ll make a wonderful team.”
“That’s what we’re both counting on,” Steve said eagerly. “As soon as she passes her bar examinations, the Judge is going to take her into the firm; and when he retires, she and I will manage the firm together.”
Lynn studied him for a moment and then said dryly, “That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for you and Stella.”
Steve very carefully repolished the plate he had been polishing for the last two minutes, and then he said quietly, “I know it wasn’t, Lynn. But it’s the best we can hope for, for a while. It takes time to get established as a lawyer in Oakville, even with the Judge’s support. It may be years before Stella and I can think of anything except being law partners.”
“But surely, Steve …” Lynn began impulsively, bit her tongue and started over, “Sorry. I’m sticking my nose in where I have no business. Who am I to be trying to shove other people into marriage when it’s something I have no intention of entering myself?”
Steve grinned at her and very carefully put down the polished plate in its proper place.
“I wouldn’t worry about that, Lynn,” he said, and there was a faintly mocking note in his voice. “One of these days, while you’re scurrying about being the perfect secretary to some lucky executive, some man will reach out and lasso you and before you know it you’ll be Mrs. and loving it! You’re just the type, Lynn, to be caught off base like that, when you least expect it.”
“You make it sound very frightening,” Lynn answered his mockery with more of the same. “I’ll be on my guard, I promise you!”
“Won’t do you a bit of good,” Steve assured her firmly. “When the right time comes, the right man is there, and that’s it. You’ve had it! If you’re lucky and somebody else hasn’t copped him first.”
“Now I am frightened,” Lynn managed a laugh and switched the subject, trying to escape their heavy-handed attempts at gaiety, “Did you know Wayde McCullers had decided to spend all summer here?”
“No!” Steve was as surprised at the news as she had been. “When did he tell you?”
“He didn’t. Mother did.”
“Well, now, I wonder what made him decide to do that!”
“I wonder, too. And I’ll believe it when I see it! I still believe that when the clock strikes midnight on his ‘sentence’ here, he’ll be off like a scalded cat!” Lynn hadn’t meant to sound vicious, but there was a bite in her tone.
“Well, I imagine we’d do the same in his place,” Steve suggested comfortably. “After all, Oakville can’t be very exciting to a man brought up the way he was.”
“I’m sick to death of people making excuses for him,” Lynn heard herself saying, and was appalled.
Steve studied her for a long moment and then he said quietly, “It couldn’t be, could it, that you like him more than you’re willing to admit?”
“Like him?” Lynn flung furiously at him. “I detest him!”
Steve nodded sagely.
“That’s what I meant. Because of course the two strongest emotions are love and hate. And sometimes there’s only a hair’s breath between them and it’s hard to tell one from the other,” he pointed out.
Lynn stared at him, wide-eyed.
“Oh, you can’t possibly believe that!” she gasped.
“Why not?” Steve argued, and smiled at her.
“That you could loathe somebody …”
“Oh, I’m not saying you are in love with McCullers.”
“Well, I should hope not!”
“But it’s a well-known fact that sometimes one may mistake one emotion for the other,” Steve pointed out.
“That’s utter nonsense,” Lynn protested, and did not realize that there was too much heat in her protest. “Why — why — it’s ridiculous!”
“Maybe,” said Steve, grinning at her angry amazement “And on the other hand, maybe not.”
Lynn turned back to scrubbing out the sink and to rinsing the dish towels, her head bent in the hope he would not see her flushed face.
Steve watched her for a moment, and then he said quietly, “Lynn, don’t be afraid.”
She whirled on him furiously.
“Afraid of what, for goodness sake?” she demanded sharply.
“Of being a woman, Lynn,” Steve said slowly. “It’s all very fine to be a smart, sophisticated ‘executive’s executive,’ but it’s much more important to be a woman.”
“Meaning what, exactly?”
Steve grinned at her and shook his head.
“Sorry, I’m out of line again,” he offered tacit apology. “Some day I may learn to keep my big mouth shut. But I’m afraid it won’t be any time soon. Now will you excuse me?”
He indicated the kitchen, in perfect order, and Lynn nodded.
“I’ll excuse you.”
Steve laughed and went out of the kitchen.