Read Online Wives and Lovers by Margaret Millar - Free Book Online Page B

She lost her air of frightened timidity. She looked composed, even a little ironic.
    â€œShe doesn’t like men callers to stay too long,” Ruby said.
    â€œDo you have other men callers?”
    â€œI can’t see that it’s any of your business.”
    â€œIt isn’t. I just want to know.”
    â€œWell then, sure. Sure I have.”
    â€œI don’t believe it,” George said.
    Ruby put her hands on her hips in an exasperated man­ner. “Well, I like that! I certainly like that, Mr. Anderson! You, you just get out of here and don’t come back!”
    George smiled painfully. “You’re not such a bunny after all.”
    â€œI certainly don’t have to stand here and be insulted.”
    Thump, thump, thump, Mrs. Freeman’s implying feet went down the hall again.
    â€œWhy did you leave the other place and move over here all of a sudden?” George said.
    â€œThat’s my affair.”
    â€œWas it the rent? Do you need money?”
    â€œNow I suppose you’re thinking that I skipped out without paying my rent! Well, let me tell you one thing, Mr. Anderson. If I were broke I could always go home. You seem to have gotten the wrong idea about me. I’m no orphan. I’m not alone in the world. I can go back to San Francisco any time. My mother and father have a beauti­ful home there and they’re always begging me to come back. But I told my dad, I’m tired of this sheltered life, I want to earn my own way.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause. Because I do, that’s all. In the modern world a girl has to be able to look out for herself.”
    â€œYou’re not thinking of going home, then?”
    â€œI haven’t made up my mind. It all depends.”
    â€œI wouldn’t like you to leave town.”
    â€œThat’s funny. Someone else told me today that I’d be better off if I did. There are more jobs down south.”
    â€œThere are jobs here, too. If you don’t want to come back to the Beachcomber, maybe I can find something else for you. I’ve got some connections around town.”
    Ruby’s face lit up. “That would be wonderful. Do you really think you could?”
    â€œI don’t see why not.”
    â€œA receptionist, maybe. I’ve always thought I’d like to be a receptionist.”
    â€œI don’t know about that,” George said cautiously. “There’s not much call for receptionists in a town this size.”
    â€œStill, it’s possible, isn’t it?—with your connections?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œGosh, it’d be nice, sitting instead of standing all the time, and wearing pretty clothes and keeping my nails decent.” Her eyes were soft and her cheeks seemed tohave already fattened on this dream of pretty clothes and half-inch nails. “I’d have to get a new permanent, though. My hair is a mess.”
    â€œIt looks fine to me.”
    â€œNo, it’s a mess.” She twisted a strand of it between her fingers. “Why should you do me a favor, Mr. Ander­son?”
    â€œBecause I want to. There’s nothing, well, personal in it. I know you need a job, and you’re just a kid. In fact—well, to tell you the truth, I’m old enough to be your father.”
    â€œYou are?” Ruby giggled nervously. “My goodness, you certainly don’t look it. You don’t look a day over forty.”
    George, who was forty, thanked her and pulled in his stomach. He knew by her expression that she had meant the remark as a compliment and that she probably thought he was at least fifty.
    He felt a little sick, but he smiled and said, “I’ll do the best I can for you.”
    â€œOh, I know you will.”
    â€œI don’t suppose you’d like to come out and have some dinner with me.”
    â€œI’d love to, but I can’t.”
    â€œOh.”
    â€œI really can’t. I’m so tired.