Platinum Doll. Anne Girard

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      Oscar will keep you company when I’m not here. He is the only other boy allowed access to your boudoir. Love, Chuck.

      Entirely charmed by the cute and unexpected gift, she placed her hands on her hips. “Oscar, is it?” The dog stopped barking now that she was paying attention and his tail began to wag. “You’re an awfully demanding fella, aren’t you, Oscar?”

      She bent down and scooped him up into her arms, which he quite happily tolerated with a whimper. Then he began to lick her cheek with his sandpaper tongue.

      “Let’s get one thing straight right from the start, Buster Brown. You might have access to my bedroom boudoir, but my husband is the only one allowed to kiss me in here, is that clear?”

      It felt like ages since Harlean had had a pet of her own. Back in Missouri, she’d had quite a menagerie to care for and keep her company while her mother was out. When she was a little girl, Grandpa Harlow had spoiled her with kittens, a Labrador puppy and even a parrot—as many pets as she could convince him to let her have. She owed her grandfather a letter, she thought, and she would reread his last one to her for how much she missed him.

      Her heart swelled with love that Chuck had thought to do this. She’d been so horribly homesick lately, but this gift made everything seem so much better. Especially with the blindingly dull day of bridge and shopping which lay ahead for her today.

      She stroked the puppy’s head and, once again, he lunged for her face to lick her. “I can see we are going to have to work on your manners, Oscar,” she joked as she took him into the kitchen to see if her very thoughtful husband’s gesture had extended to the purchase of dog food.

      * * *

      It had to be done. Harlean knew she had already put off too long telling Chuck about her mother and Marino’s visit, which was now only a few days away. In an attempt to divert an argument, she had decided to mention it just after Rosalie and Ivor arrived one evening for a game of cards. Earlier in the day, she had confided in Rosalie, who wasn’t particularly thrilled to be caught up in another potential scene, like on the cruise ship, over the subject of Harlean’s mother.

      “I owe you,” Harlean murmured to Rosalie in the kitchen as she stirred a pitcher of lemonade and set it on a tray.

      “Damn right you do. Have you even told him yet about Dave Allen?”

      “One battle at a time, Rosie, please.”

      They walked together back into the dining room where Chuck was dealing the cards. “Five card draw?” he asked of which game they would play first. Ivor nodded in accord.

      “So, you know how much I’ve been missing my mother since we’ve been out here,” Harlean began and, as she did, she felt her heart quicken.

      She so desperately wanted this to go well and there were a dozen reasons that it wouldn’t.

      “The mother you talk to on the phone every week?”

      Everyone exchanged a glance before they picked up their cards.

      “Sorry, doll, yes, I know how much,” he amended. “Why?”

      “Well, she and Marino are coming out to California for a visit!” Harlean tried her best to make it sound like a wonderful announcement, but it took some effort with her heart racing as it was.

      “Isn’t that great, Chuck?” Rosalie asked cheerfully before he had a chance to react. “After all, we girls are never too old to spend time with our mothers.”

      “I’m really awfully happy about it,” Harlean added, her glance shifting from Rosalie back to Chuck.

      In the silence that followed, she reached across the table and put her hand over his. She was relieved when he didn’t pull away, even though he kept looking at his cards. “If it’s what’ll make you happy, then I’ll welcome them to California,” he finally said. “How long are they staying?”

      There was a note of humor in the way he had added the question, and how quickly. Or maybe it was just that the three of them were so relieved there wouldn’t be a scene that Ivor started to laugh. Then they all did. When he gave Chuck a light brotherly clip on the shoulder, Harlean felt herself finally exhale.

      * * *

      Jean Harlow Bello always entered a room as if she were driven inside by the force of a strong wind. There was a confidence and attitude that came with her as well as a mighty swirl of her favorite Shalimar perfume. Today was no different. Chuck held the front door open as his mother-in-law strode past him, swirling onto the scene in a smart burgundy traveling suit, with a fox-fur collar, pearl earrings, fashionable black turban and neat black gloves. Having been a teenage bride herself, and a mother at the age of nineteen, Harlean’s mother was still a beauty. But her overly strong personality made a far stronger impression.

      Harlean watched Chuck roll his eyes as her mother was followed inside by her husband, Marino, with his oiled inky hair and waxed ebony mustache. He was wearing his customary tight-fitting pin-striped suit with white spats, and he was dutifully toting the luggage.

      “Ahh, there’s my baby, at last!” Jean cried out as she drew Harlean to her chest and squeezed her. The gesture was theatrical, but she loved being caught up in her mother’s distinctive whirlwind embrace.

      “Mommie is here now, Baby. All is right with the world when we Harlow women are back together.”

      Harlean heard the subtle challenge to Chuck in that, as she knew he was meant to, but she refused to react, and she hoped he wouldn’t either to ruin their reunion. Besides, it had been cleverly worded as a compliment. Jean was an expert at that sort of thing. Harlean didn’t love facing that, and the sensation was unsettling, even mixed with the joy of being reunited.

      “Hello there, Charles,” Jean said blandly as she tossed Chuck a cursory glance. “Provincial little place you’ve got here.”

      It hadn’t been meant as a compliment but Chuck had been brought up well enough not to take the bait.

      “Thank you, Mrs. Bello. We’re happy here.”

      Harlean heard the unmistakable edge in his response. Jean had never forgiven Chuck for eloping with her precious only child and every look, every word, was meant to remind him of that. In particular, she had resisted inviting him to call her by her first name. But Harlean had gained such confidence these past months of their marriage, by taking chances and by watching Rosalie, that she had every intention now of finding clever ways to help the two of them reconcile their differences, and not allowing her mother to steamroller things this time.

      If they spent enough time together, Jean would see what a wonderful young man she had chosen on her own. Going against her family to marry Chuck, when she knew that it was right for her, had only been a prelude to the bold choices she was beginning to make for her life, and she liked the way that felt. The independence she had begun to seek here in Hollywood was drawing her more strongly every day.

      “Come on, Marino, let’s find the guest room. You do have one, don’t you?”

      “Mommie, you and Marino take our room. It’s larger and much more comfortable.”

      She СКАЧАТЬ