Love in Another Town

‘You do realize I’m very worried about this whole project, don’t you, Sam? I can’t imagine how I ever let you talk me into it. I’ve never designed a stage set in my life.’

‘But you have designed some beautiful rooms, especially lately, and anyway there’s a first time for everything. You’ll be okay, you’ll do fine.’

‘I wish I felt as confident as you sound. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure where to begin. I read the play through again last night and my mind went totally blank. In fact, I balked at the project. Are you certain there’s no one else to do the sets for you?’

‘There isn’t, Maggie. Besides, you’re only suffering from a touch of stage fright, and that’s quite normal. Look, you’ll be fine as soon as you pick up your pencil and start sketching. Trust me.’

‘I’m not so sure I should do that, Sam. When I’ve trusted you in the past it’s only got me into a heap of trouble.’

‘No, it hasn’t,’ Samantha countered and pushed her chair away from the card table. She stood up, walked across the stage, gesturing as she did.

‘You’ll have to create some sort of major scenic backdrop here, Mag, and the furniture must be representative of the period. Early American, obviously. But you’re an expert on furniture, so I don’t really know why I’m even mentioning it.’

Samantha swung to face her old friend. ‘I see something dramatic in my mind’s eye, something really unusual for the backdrop. Black and white, maybe even a few greys, something like a painting in grisaille. What do you think?’

Maggie rose and went to join her, nodding as she did. ‘Yes!’ she exclaimed, sounding excited by the project for the first time. ‘I know exactly what you mean. It needs to be stark. Bleak almost. Certainly sombre, very eye-catching as well. I think the set has to be a little offbeat, not the usual thing. Let’s take the audience by surprise.’ Maggie raised a brow. ‘Don’t you agree?’

Samantha grinned at her. ‘I sure do and I knew you’d catch the bug, once I got that clever little brain of yours working. You’re so talented, Maggie, and very imaginative, and I’m certain you’ll come up with exactly the right thing.’

‘I hope so, I’d hate to let you down –’ She broke off, looking thoughtful, then added, ‘You know, I think I’ll drive into New York later this week, pick up some books on theatrical design and stage sets.’

‘Yes, do that. No, wait a minute, there’s no need to go into Manhattan. Try the bookstore in Washington and the one in Kent. I know they’re both well stocked. They have everything from soup to nuts.’

Maggie laughed, as always amused by her friend’s colourful expressions, as she had been since their college days.

The two women stood centre stage, discussing ideas for the backdrop and the sets for a few minutes longer. At one moment Maggie went and got her notebook, began to sketch rapidly, all the time listening to Samantha and nodding.

Both women were forty-three and good-looking, but they were strikingly different in appearance and personality.

Samantha Matthews was of medium height and slim, with prematurely silver hair cut short with a fringe. The silver colour did not seem at all ageing since she had a youthfully pretty face and a fresh complexion. Her large eyes, set widely apart, were dark brown and full of soul.

Energetic, enthusiastic and gregarious, she had an outgoing personality and a friendly nature. Somewhat given to taking control, she liked to be in charge. Nonetheless, she was kind, good hearted and easy to get along with.

In contrast, Maggie Sorrell was tall, willowy, with the brightest of light blue eyes that were, at times, highly appraising. Her thick mane of chestnut hair was shot through with auburn lights and she wore it brushed back and falling to her shoulders. Although her face was a little angular and arresting rather than pretty, she was attractive and appealing in her looks.

Maggie had a fluidity and a gracefulness when she moved and she appeared to take things at a more leisurely pace. But she had as much energy and vitality as Samantha. Very simply, her style was slightly different. It was calm, controlled, and she was the quieter and more reserved of the two. And yet she was a vibrant woman, full of life and optimism.

Even in their style of dressing they were true to themselves. Tonight Samantha wore what she termed her uniform: well-tailored blue jeans, a white cotton shirt, a black gabardine blazer with brass buttons, and highly polished black oxfords with white socks.

Maggie, who tended to be less tailored, was dressed in a full, three-quarter length skirt made of brown suede, matching suede boots, a cream silk shirt and a brown cashmere stole flung over her shoulders.

Both women had a casual style about them which reflected an understanding of clothes and what suited them; it also bespoke their privileged backgrounds.

Best friends since college days, they had remained close even though they had been separated by thousands of miles for many years. They had managed to meet quite frequently, at least twice a year, and they had spoken to each other on the phone every week for as long as they could remember. Maggie had moved to Connecticut eight months ago, after a dreadful upheaval in her life, and they had become inseparable again.

The banging of a door at the back of the theatre startled both women, made them jump. Automatically they swung around, peering into the dimly lit auditorium.

‘Oh, it’s only Tom Cruise,’ Samantha said immediately, a look of pleasure settling on her face. She waved with a certain eagerness to the man walking down the aisle towards the proscenium.

‘Tom Cruise,’ Maggie hissed, grasping Samantha’s arm, following the direction of her gaze. ‘Why didn’t you tell me, for God’s sake! Has he moved here? Is he taking an interest in the theatre group? Oh my God, I hope he’s not slumming, doing a part in the play just for kicks. I’ll never be able to design the sets! Not with a real pro around.’

Samantha burst out laughing. She said, in a low voice, ‘As far as I know, Mr Cruise is still living in Westport. The guy walking towards us could be him though, and that’s why I call him Tom Cruise.’

Maggie let go of Samantha’s arm as the young man walked across the stage to join them.

‘Sorry I’m late,’ he said to Samantha, stretching out his hand, shaking hers.

‘No problem,’ Samantha answered. ‘Come and meet my friend. Maggie, this is Jake Cantrell. Jake, this is Margaret Anne Sorrell, usually known as Maggie. She’s an interior designer and will be designing our sets. Maggie, Jake’s a genius with lighting and special effects. I hope he’s going to become part of our little group and work with us. We certainly need a lighting expert of his calibre.’

Jake gave Samantha a small smile that hinted of shyness and then turned to Maggie. ‘I’m very pleased to meet you,’ he said politely and offered her his hand.

Maggie took it. His hand was cool, his grasp firm. ‘I’m happy to meet you too,’ she murmured.

They stood staring at each other.

Maggie thought how extremely good-looking he was, realizing at once that he was completely unaware that he was. He’s a troubled man, she thought, recognizing the sadness in his eyes.

Jake was thinking that he’d never met a woman like this in his life, so beautifully groomed and well put together. He was suddenly awed by this woman who was looking at him so thoughtfully through her cool, intelligent eyes.

CHAPTER 3

THE THREE OF THEM sat down at the table on the stage and Samantha handed Jake a copy of the play.

‘Thanks,’ he said, glancing at it, then looking up at her as she continued, ‘As you can see we’re doing The Crucible, and I think you should read it as soon as possible.’ She flashed him a vivid smile, and added, ‘Basically, the meeting tonight is for us to become acquainted. I was hoping the three of us could get together again later this week, maybe on Friday or Saturday, to have our first detailed discussion about the scenery and the lighting. By then you’ll have a better understanding of what’s required.’

‘I know the play,’ Jake replied, giving her a pointed look. ‘And very well. From high school. I also saw a revival of it a few years ago. I’ve always liked Arthur Miller.’

If Samantha was surprised to hear this she certainly disguised it. Merely nodding, she murmured, ‘That’s great. Obviously I’m delighted you know the play; it’ll save us a lot of time in the long run.’

‘I’ve never done any stage work before, as I told you when you phoned,’ Jake said. ‘But what’s required for this play in particular is real mood, that I do know. All stage lighting should underscore the meaning of the drama, the scenes being acted, and create an atmosphere. In The Crucible it should be one of … mystery. Deep mystery, I think. And revelation … impending revelation. It’s important to introduce a sense of time as well as place. In this instance, Salem, Massachusetts in the seventeenth century. Candles are going to be important, as are special effects. It’s necessary to simulate dawn and night-time. I remember a night-time scene in the wood. You’ll need interesting combinations of light and shadow–’ He stopped, wondering if he’d said too much – even worse, made a fool of himself.

Jake sat back in his chair and looked at the women. They were both staring at him intently. He felt himself flush and experienced a surge of acute embarrassment.

Maggie, who had been observing him closely and giving him her entire attention, sensed that he was suddenly feeling uncomfortable, although she wasn’t sure why. But wishing to put him at ease, she said swiftly, ‘You’ve hit it right on the mark, Jake. I’m fairly familiar with the play myself, but I know the scenery is going to be tough for me to do. This is my first stab at theatrical design. Like you I’m a bit of a novice. Maybe we’ll be able to help each other as we go along.’

Smiling, Maggie finished, ‘Samantha has a good point about meeting again later in the week, once we’ve both had a chance to refresh our memories about the play. I’m available either Friday or Saturday.’ She glanced at Samantha and then back at him. ‘Which day do you both prefer?’

‘Saturday,’ Samantha answered.

Jake was silent. An unfamiliar discomfort had settled over him. They were taking it for granted he was going to get involved with their drama group, but he still wasn’t sure that he would. Or whether he even wanted to. He wondered if he’d said too much a moment ago, if he had led them to believe he intended to participate.

‘Would Friday be better for you, Jake?’ Maggie asked.

He shook his head. ‘No, I don’t think so. I – ’ He cut himself off abruptly, suddenly wary of making any kind of commitment to them. It might take up too much of his time; after all, he did have a business to run these days. Also, he was beginning to feel a bit out of his depth with these two women. They were so sure of themselves, were from another world, one he didn’t know at all. And there was another thing: it seemed to him that they took their amateur theatrical group very seriously. Certainly they were determined to put on a good production, he could tell that. He knew Samantha Matthews was a perfectionist, his client in Washington had indicated that only the other day. It was apparent to him that she would be a hard taskmaster, very demanding. Better to skip it, he thought.

Clearing his throat, he looked across at Samantha and said, ‘I agreed to come tonight because I’m always interested in extending my knowledge, so the idea of designing stage lighting appealed to me. But I have the feeling you want a real commitment from me, Samantha, and I can’t give you that. What I mean is, I’m very busy with my electrical business. I work late most nights – ’

‘Oh, Jake, don’t be so hasty,’ Samantha interrupted. ‘Maggie and I are also up to our necks with work. We’ve all got to earn a living, you know.’

Once again she offered him that vivid smile of hers, and added, ‘Whatever you might think, you wouldn’t be making such a huge commitment. Not really. Once you’d created the lighting effects you wouldn’t have anything else to do. I’d take it from there. I’ve got several good stagehands to help me and an electrician as well.’

‘Lighting isn’t easy,’ he answered. ‘In fact, it’s very complicated and especially so for this play.’

‘You’re absolutely correct,’ Maggie interjected. ‘But I do wish you’d reconsider. From what Sam’s told me about your work at the Bruce house, you really do know what you’re doing. Look, I know how you feel, I just started a new business myself a few months ago, and I’m totally committed to it. Nonetheless, I think I’ll learn a lot from this little theatrical venture.’ She smiled at him winningly.

He looked at her, looked right into her eyes, and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristling. Maggie Sorrell was not pretty in the given sense. But there was something about her that went beyond mere prettiness. She was arresting, intriguing, the kind of woman a man would look at twice. She had an elegance that had nothing to do with her clothes, but with herself. He felt oddly drawn to her. Instantly, he pulled back. He had never known a woman like this; he was not sure he wanted to.

Since he had remained mute, Maggie continued talking. ‘You did say yourself that initially you thought you’d learn something. Actually, Jake, we’ll both benefit, and in innumerable ways. For instance, there’s the publicity. We’ll get quite a lot, and that can’t be bad for your business or mine. Anyway, I’ve come to realize that whatever I’m doing I’m usually meeting a potential client somewhere along the line.’

‘Bravo! Said like a true professional!’ Samantha exclaimed. ‘And Maggie’s correct, Jake, you can profit from this in a variety of different ways.’

When he still said nothing, she pressed, ‘What do you have to lose?’

Hesitating for a moment longer, he finally said in a quiet voice, ‘It’s the time that’s involved, I can’t let my business suffer.’

‘None of us can,’ Maggie pointed out. ‘Come on, Jake, give it a try. I am. The whole project is challenging and I love a challenge, don’t you?’ Not waiting for his answer, she said, ‘In any case, I think we’ll have a lot of fun together.’

Before he could stop himself he agreed. He wondered what he was doing, making such a commitment. To cover himself, he added swiftly, ‘If it gets to be too much, gets in the way of my work, I’ll have to quit. You do understand that, don’t you?’

‘Of course,’ Samantha replied.

‘What about the next meeting, Jake? Do you prefer Friday or Saturday?’ Maggie asked.

‘Saturday’s definitely better,’ Jake told her. ‘I’m working late on Friday, and on Saturday morning. Can we make it Saturday afternoon? Late afternoon?’

‘Fine by me,’ Maggie murmured.

‘You’ve got a deal!’ Samantha cried, her voice suddenly full of excitement. ‘We’re going to make a great team! And you’ll enjoy it, Jake, you’ll see. It’s going to be a gratifying experience. Incidentally, I was impressed with what you said earlier, about the lighting for the play. Your ideas are brilliant. Personally, I think you’ve already got the lighting licked.’

‘I hope so,’ he replied, trying not to look pleased at her compliment. ‘I’ve always found that play very powerful.’

‘Yes, it is, and frightening in a sense, when you think it all hinges on lies – the terrible lies people tell,’ Maggie remarked.

It was a few minutes before nine when Jake walked back into his kitchen, and he realized how hungry he was as he opened the fridge door and took out a cold beer.

After swallowing a few gulps, he went through into the living room, draped his sports jacket over a chair back and returned to the kitchen. Within a few minutes he had opened a can of corned beef and a jar of pickles and made himself a sandwich.

Carrying the plate and the beer back into the living room, he put them on the small glass coffee table, sat down, picked up the remote control and flicked on the television. He ate his sandwich and drank his beer, staring at the set. It was a sitcom on one of the networks and he wasn’t paying much attention.

Jake was preoccupied with the drama group, The Crucible and the two women he had left a short while before. They were opposites, but they were both very nice and he liked them. And so he had let himself be persuaded to do the lighting for the play. Now he wished he hadn’t agreed. He had done so against his better judgement and instinctively he knew it was going to be more trouble than it was worth. Why did I let myself get swept up into this? he asked himself yet again.

Suddenly impatient with the television and with himself, he flicked off the set and leaned back in the chair, taking an occasional swallow of beer.

After a moment Jake got up, walked over to the window, stood looking out at the night sky. He wondered what she was really like, Maggie Sorrell, but he figured he would never get to know her well enough to find out.

CHAPTER 4

MAGGIE SORRELL AWAKENED with a start. Reaching out, she turned on the bedside lamp and looked at the alarm clock. It was three-thirty.

Groaning to herself, she doused the light, slid down under the covers and attempted to go back to sleep. But her mind raced when she began to think about the living room and library of the house in Roxbury she was redecorating for a client. Fabric patterns, carpet swatches, paint colours and wood finishes swirled around in her head.

She finally gave up trying to envision a scheme. Jake Cantrell kept intruding into her thoughts. There was something about him that was appealing, very engaging, and of course he was stunning looking. But he doesn’t know it, not really, she thought again, as she had a few hours ago. And then remembering the sadness she had detected in his light green eyes, she wondered what had gone awry in his life.

Obviously someone had hurt Jake Cantrell and very badly. She recognized that look only too well. The shell-shocked look she called it.

A woman did him in, Maggie thought, still focusing on Jake. She sighed to herself. Women. Men. What they did to each other in the name of love was diabolical. It bordered on the criminal. She ought to know, it had been done to her.

Mike Sorrell had destroyed her just as surely as if he had stuck a knife in her. But then he’d been killing her soul for years, hadn’t he?

The big upheaval had happened two years ago, but the memory of it was still there. Although most of the pain had receded, there were moments when it came rushing back, took her by surprise with its intensity. She tried to squash the bad memories but they seemed determined to linger.

I’ll be forty-four next month, she thought. Forty-four. It didn’t seem possible. Time had rushed by with the speed of light. Where had all the years gone? Well, she knew the answer to that. Mike Sorrell had devoured them. She had devoted most of her life to Michael William Sorrell, attorney-at-law by profession, and to their twins, Hannah and Peter, college students both, soon to be twenty-one years old.

The three of them were gone from her life and she had learned to live without them. But it still pained her when she thought of the twins. They had sided with their father, even though she had done nothing wrong. He was the guilty party. But then he was Mr Money Bags and that apparently carried weight with them.

How terrible it was to know your children were greedy, avaricious and selfish, when you’d tried so hard to bring them up right, to instil proper values in them. But there it was. They had proved to her that she had failed with them.

In taking his side they had destroyed something fundamental deep within her. She had borne them, brought them up, looked after them when they were sick. She had always been there for them and guided them all of their lives. What they had done to her was rotten, in her opinion. They had flung all that caring back in her face. Flung her love for them back at her, as if it were meaningless.

In a sense, their cold-hearted defection had stunned her more than Mike’s ugly betrayal of her. He’d dumped her when she was nearly forty-two for a younger woman, a woman of twenty-seven who was a lawyer in another Chicago law firm.

But I survived, Maggie reminded herself, thanks mainly to Samantha. And myself, of course.

It was Samantha who had reached out to her two years ago, that awful day in May, the day of her birthday when she had finally admitted to herself that she would be spending it alone.

Hannah and Peter were both attending Northwestern, but were far too busy with their own lives to make time for their mother’s birthday celebration. And their father had left that morning on a business trip without wishing her a happy birthday. Apparently he hadn’t even remembered it.

That May morning, sitting alone in the kitchen of their apartment on Lake Shore Drive, she had felt totally, completely alone. And without her husband and children she was. Her parents were dead and she had been an only child. That special morning she had felt something else – abandoned, cast aside, of no use to anyone anymore. Even now, so long after, she was unable to pinpoint her exact feelings, but she had been disturbed, she knew that.

When the phone had rung and she had answered, had heard Samantha singing ‘Happy birthday’, she had burst into tears. Between sobs she had explained that she was spending her birthday alone because the kids didn’t have time for her and Mike had gone away on a business trip.

‘Pack a bag, get out to O’Hare and take a plane to New York! Immediately!’ Samantha had exclaimed. ‘I’ll book us into the Carlyle. I have some pull there, I can usually get rooms. I’m taking you out on the town tonight. Somewhere posh and smart. So pack your fanciest gear.’

When she had tried to protest, Samantha had said, ‘I’m not listening to your excuses. And I won’t take no for an answer. There’s a plane leaving every hour on the hour. Just get on one and get yourself to New York. Pronto, pronto, pronto, honey. I’ll meet you at the hotel.’

True to her word, Samantha had been there when she arrived, full of warmth and love, sympathy and support. They had enjoyed their two days together in Manhattan, doing a little shopping and eating at nice restaurants. A Broadway play and a trip to the Metropolitan Museum had been mandatory; they had also found time to talk endlessly, reminiscing about their days at Bennington College, when they first met, and their lives thereafter.

Samantha had married several years after Maggie. Her husband had been a British journalist based in New York. She and Angus McAllister had tied the knot when she was twenty-five and he was thirty-one. It had been a very happy marriage, but Angus had been tragically killed in a plane crash five years later, en route to the Far East on an assignment.

It was only a few months after this that Samantha, who was childless, moved back to Washington, Connecticut, where her parents had long owned a country house they used at weekends. Heartbroken though she had been, she had managed eventually to get her grief under control. But she had never remarried, although there had been several men in her life in the intervening years.

At one moment, during the birthday visit, Maggie had asked Samantha why this was so. Samantha had shaken her head and said, in her colourful way, ‘Ain’t found the right man, honey chile. I’m looking to fall head over heels in love, the way I did with Angus. I want my stomach to lurch and my knees to wobble.’ She had laughed, and finished, ‘I want to be swept off my feet, into his arms, into his bed and his life forever. It must be like that for me or it won’t work. And I’m still waiting to meet him.’

Later, on the plane going back to Chicago, Maggie had admitted to herself that her marriage to Mike was growing more and more unsatisfactory with the passing of every day. She did not know what to do about it. He did. A day later he returned from his trip. He walked into the apartment, announced he was leaving her for another woman, and walked right out again.