“How do you mean?”
“If I hadn’t asked you to my house, your sister wouldn’t have gone out with Westfield and you’d be marryin’ him now.”
She drew in her breath. “And if you’d known Pamela was free, you’d not have asked me to your house. Mr. Taggert, you’re free to break our engagement at any time. If you’d rather have—.”
“You ain’t gonna start that again, are you?” he said, rising. “Why don’t you try sayin’ somethin’ different sometime?”
Relief flooded Houston as she stood. “I just thought perhaps—.”
Kane turned and grabbed her against him. “Damned woman, please shut up,” he said as he kissed her.
Houston obeyed.
* * *
Early on Tuesday, Willie informed Houston that Miss Lavinia LaRue would meet her by the bandstand in Fenton Park at nine that morning.
Houston was met by a garishly dressed woman, short, dark, with an enormous bosom. Wonder how much is paddin’, Houston thought.
“Good morning, Miss LaRue. It was good of you to meet me so early.”
“It’s late for me. I ain’t been to bed yet. So you’re the one Kane’s marryin’. I told ’im he could buy hisself a lady if he wanted one.”
Houston gave her an icy look.
“Oh, all right,” Lavinia said. “You didn’t expect me to hug you, did you? After all, you are takin’ away a source of income to me.”
“Is that an Mr. Taggert is to you?”
“He’s a good lover, if that’s what you mean but, truth to tell, he scares me. I never know what he wants from me. Acts like he can’t bear me one minute, the next he can’t get enough.”
Houston knew she’d felt the same way but said nothing.
“What’d you wanta see me about?”
“I thought perhaps you could tell me something about him. I’ve really known him a very short time.”
“You mean what he likes in bed?”
“No! Certainly not.” She didn’t like to think of Kane and another woman. “As a man. What can you tell me about the man?”
Lavinia stepped away, her back to Houston. “You know, one time I did think of somethin’, but I know it was silly.”
“And what was that?”
“Most of the time he acts like he don’t care, but one time he saw that friend of his, Edan, out the window walkin’ with a woman, and Kane asked if I liked him. If I liked him, Kane, I mean. He didn’t wait for me to answer ’fore he left, but I thought then, he’s a man no one’s ever loved. ’Course that couldn’t be true, a man with all his money must have lots of women in love with him.”
“Do you love him? Not his money, but him. If he had no money—.”
“If he had no money, I’d not get near ’im. I told you, he scares me.”
Out of her pocketbook, Houston pulled a check. “The bank president has instructions to cash this only if he sees that you’ve purchased a train ticket to another state.”
Lavinia took the check. “I’m takin’ this because I wanta leave this two-bit town. But no money could buy me if I didn’t wanta leave.”
“Of course not. Again, Miss LaRue, thank you.”
* * *