Chapter 2
Pete did not get over his anger very quickly. Gwen grew more and more troubled as he slept night after night on the couch downstairs.
She didn't know how to apologize. She had spoken the truth. Perhaps, she thought, lying awake in the bedroom, after his anger was gone he would realize it was the truth and treat her more gently.
On Saturday morning Pete mowed the lawn. Gwen, cleaning the bedroom, peeped at him through the curtains. Her heart seemed to choke her as she gazed at him.
He was tall and handsome, his black curly hair and tanned face set off by his blue shirt. His blue shorts showed his tanned muscular legs.
He's so strong, she thought, as he pushed the hand mower in easy strokes over the thick grass.
She was about to turn back into the room to resume her work when a movement caught her eye.
Gwen stiffened and glared like an apprehensive kitten as the red-haired woman strolled across the lawn from the house next door.
The woman headed right for Pete. She wore a brief green bra-top which half-revealed her lush breasts. Her green shorts were so tight she might as well be naked, Gwen told herself savagely.
Pete stopped mowing. He turned his back to the window to gaze at the approaching woman. Gwen wished she could see his face. She gripped the curtain tight in her fist.
They talked, and laughed. Pete was laughing! He was so angry at Gwen he hadn't spoken to her for three days, but he was laughing with that woman!
They talked and talked. The woman put her hands on her hips, swaying back and forth on her sandaled feet. She put up one arm flipped her red-gold hair practically in Pete's face. The brazen bitch! Gwen muttered to herself.
Then Pete turned to face the house.
"Gwen!" he called. "Gwen! Come out a minute!"
How sweet of him, thought Gwen, to remember he has a wife!
She brushed back the curtains, and called, her voice honeyed, "I'll be right out, dear."
She paused long enough to look in the mirror. She grimaced unhappily. Next to that over-sexed female, she would look like a child, a drudge. Her hair was tied back with a blue ribbon. Her loose, blue-checked housecoat concealed the nice curves she possessed.
"Oh, well," she said aloud. "Pete knows what I look like."
She went outdoors into the bright sunlight.
"Gwen, this is Karen Marshall from next door. She offered the use of her power mower till we get one. Karen, this is my wife, Gwen."
"Nice to meet you." The red mouth smiled. The eyes were hidden by large blinders of sunglasses. "I'm so glad you're young. The last people here were positively ancient! Every time we held a party, they complained about the noise."
"We don't mind noise not party noise." Pete beamed down at her from his lean height.
"Good! We're having a party tonight. You're coming, I hope. I told Larry I would have you both there tonight."
"Larry?" asked Gwen blankly.
"Larry Crawford. He and his wife Barbara are real swingers. We get together with a small crowd every Saturday night." The blinders flashed a wide green gaze in Gwen's direction. "Larry told us all about you. You like to dance, he said."
"We sure do!" said Pete eagerly.
Karen smiled, a slow seductive smile in Pete's direction. "Come about nine. We always have fun."
She and Pete left to get her power mower. Gwen went back in the house. She felt rather excited about the party. She adored parties, she thought, as she started the house cleaning again.
Yet there was a twinge of uneasiness underneath the pleasure. She instinctively did not trust Karen Marshall. The woman was too easy with Pete, too familiar too fast, too too naked! Gwen grimaced as she realized her true feelings: She was jealous of the woman because she was too beautiful!
Gwen's next problem was what to wear. The choice was not difficult. Her most elaborate dress was a short pink silk sheath with a sequined bodice. She put it on after her bath, and sprayed her best perfume.
"You look great," said Pete, struggling into his white dinner jacket. "This is luck, isn't it? Getting in with Larry's crowd right off!"
"Yes, it should be fun," said Gwen, without enthusiasm. And perhaps, she added to herself, she and Pete would make up after tonight. She hated the anger between them.
Karen Marshall met them inside the open French doors at the side of the house. She wore a green silk sheath embroidered with black dragons writhing sensuously over her breasts and thighs. Her red-gold hair hung loose to her shoulders.
"Come in, neighbors," she drawled. "Meet my husband, Floyd. Fix drinks, Floyd!" And she turned to greet another arriving couple.
Floyd was much older than Karen; in his forties, Gwen guessed. He was shorter than Karen, balding, his blonde hair turning gray, his blue eyes shy and diffident. He spoke little, but busied himself with providing drinks from an ample bar along one side of the large room.
Karen introduced Gwen and Pete to all who came. Gwen tried to fix the names in her mind. Isobel and Don Hoover were pleasant, both blonde, twenty-ish. Elbe and Jim Roth were brisk and smartly dressed, he rather sarcastic. Nola and Arthur Stowell were older, perhaps in then-late thirties. Then Larry and Barbara Crawford arrived.
Larry greeted Gwen and Pete exuberantly. "How are you getting along? How do you like Maple Heights? Do you like your house, Gwen?"
"Oh, yes, it's beautiful! We're so happy-" Gwen faltered. Larry always overwhelmed her when he turned on his charm.
Pete caught up the conversation with a glowing account of how pleased they were. Larry listened, beaming, his attractive tanned face shining with good humor.
Gwen glanced doubtfully at Barbara Crawford. She was a tall elegant woman, blonde, with large blue eyes, so faultlessly dressed in a black sheath that she made everyone else look over-dressed. Her hair was wound in smooth shining coils. Gwen had seen her in the office, but had never spoken to her before. Now, up close, Gwen realized something that startled her. Barbara was in her mid-thirties. Her blonde hair was carefully touched up. The lines in her face were covered with makeup, but her throat gave her away. Why, thought Gwen, she's at least five or six years older than Larry, maybe more.
Barbara smiled with her mouth, her gaze following Larry as he and Pete moved away. It seemed an effort for her to look at Gwen.
"You'll enjoy the parties here," she assured Gwen. "This is a lively crowd. Never a dull moment. Have another drink. Floyd?"
Floyd appeared with two more drinks. Gwen had swallowed her first hastily without noticing what she did. Now the burning and dizziness made her cautious. These drinks were strong. She had better sip at hers and make it last, she decided.
Barbara motioned to Gwen and the two girls went to sit on the couch beside Nola Stowell. Gwen listened in silence as the women discussed a fashion show. Evidently both had time and money to spend freely.
The music blared louder, drowning out conversation. Barbara looked up to watch Karen dance past with Pete. Gwen tried not to watch. Karen had pasted herself to Pete, and Pete seemed to enjoy the way she was hanging on to him, her hips brushing his as they danced. Her hand at the back of his neck played with the curls he always brushed down so hard.
"Attractive man," said Nola dispassionately. Somehow Gwen was reminded of horse-buyers at her father's farm as Nola looked up and down the length of Pete.
"Very-good-looking," agreed Barbara. "You have an adorable accent, Gwen. Where are you from?"
Gwen stiffened. She was sensitive about some jeers she had received when she first came to Ohio. "I'm from Kentucky," she said proudly. "My daddy raises horses there."
"Lovely," drawled Barbara indifferently, her gaze following her own husband now.
"Kentucky?" said another voice, a masculine voice at Gwen's elbow. It was Arthur Stowell, standing there. "I thought you looked like a fresh pretty farm girl!" He snickered.
Gwen disliked him at once. Her mouth tightened to hold back angry words. Why did Ohio folks think it was so humorous to come from Kentucky? She looked for Pete, but he was dancing with Ellie Roth. The approved mode of dancing here seemed to be for the couple to squirm as close together as possible.
"Gwen? How about this dance?" It was nice blonde Don Hoover who smiled down at Gwen. She stood up gratefully and moved into his arms. He was polite, she thought, as he didn't hold her too tightly.
"What did Arthur say to you just now?" Don asked, moving her slowly in a circle.
Gwen told him, impulsively. "He laughed when I said I was from Kentucky."
"He laughs at me for liking good music," said Don. "You should hear him kid me about Beethoven and Brahms. Don't mind him. He-likes to find a sore spot and then prod it. But Nola is fine. We like her."
Don made her feel much better. Gwen smiled at him, and he smiled back.
"You're very pretty, you know that?" he said. He wasn't fresh, she thought, just direct and natural.
"Thank you."
"Tell me what you like. Strauss waltzes?"
"Oh, how did you know?" Her brown eyes widened. He chuckled. "I should tell you I'm psychic, but it so happens I drove past the house a couple days ago, and heard the hi-fi going full blast."
He was so pleasant she was regretful when he relinquished her to Larry Crawford. Larry held her more tightly. Yet he was agreeable, and asked her several questions concerning the house.
The evening began to fly past. Except for the number of drinks consumed, it was a party like any other she had attended, and the only flaw for her was the fact that Pete did not dance once with her. He was still angry, then, she decided ruefully.
Once the crowd seemed smaller. There was more room to dance. Looking about, she realized four people were missing. Larry Crawford, Ellie Roth, Arthur Stowell and Isobel Hoover were no longer in the room. Odd, Gwen thought. Were they out on the lawn? She couldn't see anyone out there.
Then Larry and Elbe returned. Gwen realized as soon as she saw them that Ellie was definitely drunk, and very mussed. Her hair had tumbled down, her smart clothes looked as though she had slept in them. Her eyes were unnaturally bright.
Gwen began to feel uneasy. She tried to shove the thought from her mind but she couldn't keep from believing Larry and Elbe had been in a bedroom together. Arthur and Isobel came back. She was tugging her dress into place. Arthur paused at her back and pulled up her zipper to her neck. She smiled over her shoulder at him.
It could all be innocent or it might not be. Gwen's mind was in a turmoil. Then she saw Karen dancing with Pete. He began to laugh at something she was saying. He laughed so hard, she wrinkled her nose at him. She gave him a quick shove, and he sat down hard in a big armchair.
To Gwen's surprise, Karen then sat down on Pete's lap and cuddled up to him. She put her arm around his neck and rubbed her nose against his head as she whispered in his ear. Pete laughed again, but a red flush came up in his cheeks. His eyes met Gwen's. He looked defiant, startled.
"Are you shocked?" Larry's husky voice said in Gwen's ear. She had not realized he was so close. She shrank away from him. "My dear girl, they're only having fun! Don't look so horrified."
Gwen looked up at Larry's amused face. His eyes were narrowed, a little cruel, she decided.
"I think," she said, "that I'm tired. We've been cleaning house, you know." She went over to Pete, who was still holding Karen on his lap.
Gwen's smile felt frozen when she met Karen's sharp green eyes.
"Pete, we really must go," she said, with false brightness. "I'm so tired. It has been a lovely party, Karen!"
Everyone heard, and turned toward them, watching. Karen finally got up, her green eyes like slits of emerald fire.
"If you must go before midnight," she drawled. "Just like Cinderella..." Her gaze went significantly over Gwen's pink dress.
Pete came with Gwen, but he was furious. "Are you trying to get me fired?" he growled angrily, as soon as they were home. "Dragging me away from a party of my boss and his friends! What do you think you're doing?"
He slept on the couch again that night. Gwen could hear the sounds of music and laughter that went on and on, far into the night and early morning. She felt as though she and Pete had visited briefly in another world, a strange and disturbing and frightening world.