Surfside Sisters(75)
Sebastian didn’t phone. Was that a good or bad sign?
In the afternoon, Keely checked her calendar on her phone and discovered there was a fund-raising event for the Maria Mitchell Natural Science Museum that night. She nearly wept with relief. This would be the perfect occasion for her to entertain Gray.
Gray called a little after three to tell her he was on the island and at the hotel.
She told him about the event that evening, cocktails, a full dinner, champagne.
Gray said he’d be delighted to attend with her. He’d pick her up at six-thirty. Keely’s stomach went all funny when he said that. Her mother’s house was so humble. During her visit, Keely and her mother had groomed the yard and planted blooming daffodils in the window boxes, so the place had a kind of cozy charm about it. But compared to Gray’s apartment, the house Keely had grown up in was, at best, modest outside, and as for the inside—well, Gray wasn’t going to set foot in her house!
This gala was the first big charity event for the island. Keely had guessed that some of the stylish summer people would already be on the island, so she’d packed a few evening dresses. Because the night was unusually warm and humid, she chose a chartreuse silk slip dress with a pale lavender silk shawl and her highest heels—wisely, the gala committee did not force their patrons to stand on a lawn. She put her hair up, wore eye shadow for the first time in days, and fastened dangling silver earrings in her ears.
“Goodness!” her mother said when Keely entered the living room. “I can hardly recognize you. My, you look stunning, Keely.”
“Thanks, Mom. Listen, call me if there’s any news about Mr. Maxwell.”
“Do you want me to answer it if Sebastian or Isabelle calls?”
“Yes. Please. Tell them I’m at a benefit. I’ll try to be home by eleven.”
“And Gray is picking you up here?”
“He is. But, Mom, let’s wait for you to meet him tomorrow, okay? I don’t know exactly what my relationship with Gray is right now. I mean, well, you know I’m seeing Sebastian.”
“An embarrassment of riches.”
“Well, certainly an embarrassment. I’ve got to tell Sebastian about Gray, and tonight I need to tell Gray about Sebastian.”
Eloise smiled. “Such problems you have.”
Keely waited outside for Gray to arrive. He’d rented a Mercedes. Of course he had. When he stepped out of his car, she hurried down the walk to meet him. He wore a lightweight navy blazer and white trousers. White bucks, a red tie, an all-American look. She pecked a kiss on his cheek and stepped back.
“You look absolutely ravishing tonight,” Gray said. “Maybe we should forget the benefit and go straight to my room.”
Keely laughed, as if he couldn’t mean what he was saying. “You look rather gorgeous yourself.”
“I’m glad you think so, Keely. I want to do everything I can to please you.”
Keely shook her head, stunned. This was an extraordinary event, this expression of his emotions, the depth of his feelings for her. She was overwhelmed. She didn’t want to thank him—she didn’t want to own the reason for his action.
“I’m speechless,” she said, and that was true.
As they drove out to ’Sconset, they talked of insignificant things. This was no time for Keely to bring up Sebastian, and no time for Gray to get serious with Keely. Once they were at the private club, its spacious rooms leading to remarkable views of the southwest part of the island, they were engulfed by other benefit guests. Waiters came by with trays of drinks. Gray chose a martini, but Keely stuck with prosecco, her old reliable bubbly pal that never got her drunk.
She was only slightly surprised that so many people at the party recognized Gray. Many people were from New York, and the luscious women, flashing with diamonds worth more than Keely’s mother’s house, came fluttering up to Gray to kiss his cheek. Their husbands shook Gray’s hand and patted him on the shoulder. They talked about the Yankees, about a benefit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York that coming summer, about the stock market.
Keely studied Gray as he talked. No doubt about it, if he were cast in a movie, he’d definitely be chosen as the lead. It wasn’t just that he was broad-shouldered and handsome. He carried himself with a natural authority, almost a nobleness. And he deserved it.
The New York women eyed Keely cautiously until she told them she had a pied-à-terre in the city (it amused her to think of her tiny apartment in such terms) and that she was a novelist. Some of the women had read her book and loved it.
At the end of the evening, the valet brought the car up to the club entrance. Keely slipped inside and immediately removed her high heels.
“I’m in pain,” she told Gray, laughing. “No, seriously. I haven’t worn such high heels for weeks. I’d forgotten that it’s complete torture.”
“Wear comfortable flats,” Gray suggested as he turned out of the long private drive and on to Polpis Road.
Keely laughed. “No, thanks. I can deal with the occasional high heels when I’m here. Mostly I wear sandals. After all, it’s spring, it’s Nantucket.”
“But what about when you return to New York? I have a fond memory of you in short skirts and high heels.” Reaching over, he took Keely’s hand. “You have amazing legs.”