Separate Beds by Lavyrle Spencer Read Free Book Online

“Why, Clay, why?” But she knew it would do no good. He, too, was hurting now—she could see it in his eyes—so she only returned the pressure of his hands. But without warning, two tears slid down her cheeks, not only for herself, but for him, as well. She tugged at his hands, reaching to pull him down and kneel as she held him.
    He felt a keen, sharp pain at having disappointed her, a deep welling love at her reaction.
    “Oh, Clay,” she said when she could speak once more, “if only you were six years old this would be so much easier. I could just punish you and send you to your room.”
    He smiled a little sadly. “If I were six, you wouldn't have to.”
    Her own wistful smile trembled and was gone. “Don't humor me, Clay. I'm deeply disappointed in you. Give me your hanky.” He fished it out of his pocket. “I thought I taught you”—she dabbed her eyes, groping for a graceful phrase—”respect for women.”
    “You did, you both did.” Abruptly Clay stood, plunged his hands in his trouser pockets and turned away. “But for God's sake, I'm twenty-five years old. Did you really think I'd never had anything to do with women at my age?”
    “A mother doesn't think about it one way or the other.”
    “I'd be abnormal if I were pure as the driven snow. Why, you and Father were married already by the time he was twenty-five.”
    “Exactly,” Claiborne interjected. “We were responsible enough to put things into their proper perspective. I married your mother first, no matter what my baser instincts advised me while we dated.”
    “I suppose you'll preach me a sermon if I say things are different now.”
    “You bet I will. Clay, how could you let a thing like this happen on a blind date, and with a girl like that! It might be understandable if you were engaged to the girl or had been seeing her for a while. If you . . . if you loved her. But don't stand there and ask me to condone your indiscriminate sex, because I will not!”
    “I didn't expect you to.”
    “You should have had more sense!” the older man blustered, pacing feverishly.
    “At the time sense didn't enter into it,” Clay said dryly, and across the room Claiborne's eyes blazed.
    “That goes without saying, since you obviously hadn't enough wits to see that she didn't get pregnant out of it!”
    “Claiborne!”
    “Well, dammit, Angela, he's an adult who has used the brains of a child to let a thing like this happen. I expect a man of twenty-five to display twenty-five years' worth of common sense!”
    “We each assumed the other had taken precautions,” Clay explained tiredly.
    “Assumed! Assumed! Yes, you've assumed yourself right into the hands of that obnoxious, money-hungry father of hers with your stupidity! The man is a raving idiot, but a shrewd one. He has every intention of taking us to the cleaners!”
    Clay couldn't deny it; even Catherine had said it was true.
    “You're not liable for my actions.”
    “No, I'm not. But do you think reasoning like that is common to a man like Anderson? He wants restitution made for his little girl's seduction and he won't rest till it's made to suit the figure he has in mind.”
    “Did he mention how much he wants?” Clay asked, afraid to hear the answer.
    “He didn't have to. I can tell his mind works best with big, round numbers. And Clay, something else has come up that bears consideration.” The glance he gave his wife told their son it was something Angela, too, knew about. “I've been approached by members of a local caucus to consider running for county attorney. I hadn't mentioned it to you because I thought it best to wait until you'd passed your bar exams and become part of the firm. But frankly it's something your mother and I have been considering quite seriously. I don't have to tell you how detrimental a little muckraking can be to a potential candidate. It won't matter to the voters who the source is.”
    “Catherine said she has her plans made, although she