And then I paused to watch a little girl with long golden pigtails being lifted out of a car by a woman who had to be her mother. She clung to her with loving desperation and gazed over her mother's shoulders at me. Happy, secure, she flashed me a sweet smile and then waved as if we knew each other. I waved back and for a moment I felt as if I were waving at myself, years and years ago, when I was about her age and my stepdaddy was alive. Of course, I didn't know then he was my stepdaddy. I thought he was my real daddy. He loved me just as much as any real daddy could.
The woman carried her little girl into the big, beautiful house where she would be secure and safe and where even the thought of something unpleasant was left at the doorstep. I stood there, smiling and thinking about her. I don't know how long I was standing there, but suddenly I realized there was an automobile stopped nearby and someone looking at me.
It was Mr. Livingston.
He waved.
"You all right?" he asked.
"Yes," I said. "Thank you. I was just taking a little walk."
"In Beverly Hills, that's considered strange," he remarked. "Don't go too far," he said, raised his window and drove on. I watched him turn into the driveway and then I headed back myself. Maybe it was strange to be alone here and think.
I would do what Spike had suggested. I would confront Mommy again, hopefully when she was alone, and if I had the same result, I would get myself back on the plane as quickly as I could and I would fly away, leaving Mommy and my past behind me.
6
Devil's Bargain
.
Alec greeted me at the door when I returned
from my short walk and in a very stiff and formal voice informed me that Mr. and Mrs. Livingston wanted to see me immediately in the parlor.
"Melody, dear, where have you been?" Dorothy asked the moment I appeared. She was seated on the settee and Philip was sitting across from her in the thick cushioned arm chair, his posture regal. They looked like they had been having a very serious conversation. "Philip just told me he saw you wandering aimlessly about Beverly Hills. Why didn't you come right in and report to me about your second visit to that Egyptian whatever?"
"I just wanted to be alone for a while," I said. I certainly wasn't going to say anything about Spike and the little drama in his apartment. "I wasn't wandering about aimlessly. I knew where I was going. Doesn't anyone just take a walk here? Why did they build sidewalks?"
"You poor dear. Come in here this instant and give us the details about your visit," she insisted and patted the seat beside her.
Philip sat staring at me, his fingers pressed together in cathedral fashion, his beady dark eyes looking quite disapproving. I walked in slowly and sat. Then I took a deep breath and began.
"I met her," I said in a voice that even sounded like the voice of doom to me, "and she pretended not to know me."
Philip nodded and glanced sternly at Dorothy. "It was what I anticipated," he said, "even from the little I knew about this bizarre situation. Dorothy--"
"Now hush, Philip. We will solve the matter ourselves," she said, but he didn't look relieved.
"This is not one of your social games, Dorothy. I told you what I thought when I first heard about this. We sympathize with your situation, Melody," he said, directing himself to me, "but we're certainly not equipped to solve the problem as Dorothy implies. This sounds to me more like a police matter. Someone is surely defrauding someone here," he continued. "Perhaps an insurance company. I simply can't have myself attached to the issue in any way. I have a major responsibility to my clients, who are all highprofile, and I can't afford to have any negative publicity. You seem like an intelligent enough young woman to appreciate that."
"Yes sir. I'm sorry. I'll leave tomorrow."
"You don't have to leave so quickly," Dorothy said, but not with the same firmness she said most everything else to me.
"I do
n't want you to feel we're throwing you out. You're a friend of my sister-in-law and Dorothy made her sister some promises," he added, eyeing her disapprovingly. "You can stay for a while as long as you don't bring any of this mess to our doorstep, but from what it sounds like to me, my best advice to you is to return to where you call home and the people who care for you," Philip said.
"Yes sir," I replied in a small voice that started to crack.
"You can report what you know to the proper authorities and let them take the necessary action," he continued. "I'll assist you in doing that, if you wish."
"That's not why I came here. I don't care about any of that. I wanted to find out what really had happened to my mother. I wanted to see if she needed me."
There were tears in my eyes as I spoke, but they defied gravity and remained firmly under my lids.
"I see. Well, Dorothy knows that if you require some money for your return trip . . ."