Such a Dance by Kate McMurray Read Free Book Online

Clyde didn’t say a word. Marian sighed and waited near the sofa, mildly concerned that Jimmy wasn’t even home. It would be just like Clyde to just leave her there for an hour.
    She slid her fur coat off and draped it over the arm of the sofa. She crossed her arms and waited.
    Jimmy walked in a few minutes later. Marian was struck at first the way she always was by his handsomeness. He had curly dark-blond hair washed with gray that he kept cut short, a rectangular face, and a lean body that he often kept covered up with one of the many neatly tailored dark suits he owned. Today was no exception; he wore a gray suit with a red tie and he looked every inch the slick professional that he was. He smiled at her as he entered the room.
    “Hello, my dear,” he said. “How are you?”
    “I’m just lovely.” She uncrossed her arms and ran a hand down the front of the red day dress she’d put on that morning. She’d had the dress made for her, modeled after a design by Coco Chanel that she’d seen in a magazine. It had been an extravagant purchase, but she liked how it skimmed her body. Marian considered 1927 a good time for fashion; it was so much more accommodating of her boyish figure than the previous decade had been.
    Jimmy stepped forward and took her hand. He raised it to his lips and lightly kissed her knuckles. “You are lovely,” he said.
    Marian wondered at the protocol. Would it be appropriate to jump into his arms? Should she make polite conversation? “Is anyone else here?” she asked. Jimmy did a lot of business at the house on Saturday mornings.
    “I just had a meeting with Walter Rhodes, but he left a few minutes before you arrived. He’s a composer. You’d like him. He’s writing a few songs for next year’s Le Tumulte , real showstoppers.” Jimmy grinned. “I asked him to write a song for you.”
    “For me?”
    “Yes, dear. You do that clown act with Cotton very well, but I think it’s time for you to shine on your own.”
    Marian laughed in disbelief. “That’s ridiculous. Eddie and I have a good act going. I’ve never had a solo before. What’s all this?”
    Jimmy stepped away and started to pace. “You fashion yourself a comedienne, I realize, like that Fanny Brice. But you have something Fanny Brice doesn’t have.”
    “What’s that?”
    “You, Marian dear, are beautiful. Brice is a hag. Plus, you do that honking thing in your act with Cotton, but I know that you’re capable of so much more than that. You have a silvery voice under all that nonsense. Rhodes is a genius with lyrics. He’ll write some very clever things for you. I think a ballad. Something that shows off how talented you are.”
    Marian shook her head. “Forget it. I do the act with Eddie.”
    Jimmy rolled his eyes. “Eddie Cotton is a sideshow. He can dance, sure, and he has great comic timing, but that man is not destined for greatness, not the way you are. Why, you could go to Hollywood! They’re making motion pictures with sound now. You would look so marvelous, up on the big screen, where everyone could see your gorgeous face.”
    “Jimmy, that’s crazy. I don’t have any business in Hollywood.”
    “Forget Hollywood, then. You could be the star of Le Tumulte . You, Marian dear. You are my muse! Yours and Eddie’s act is everyone’s favorite part of the show, and you know why? It has nothing to do with Eddie Cotton, I’ll tell you that.”
    “You flatter me.” Marian felt heat flood to her face. Jimmy exaggerated, but she didn’t mind him buttering her up.
    “It’s the truth. You can do great things.” Jimmy stopped pacing and turned to face Marian. “Just humor me, all right? I’ll get a few songs from Rhodes, you can take a look at them, and then we’ll decide.”
    Marian sighed. “Yes. Whatever you say, Jimmy.”
    “I know you like Cotton . . .”
    Marian walked over to the couch and sat down. She was aware that Jimmy had a bizarre jealous streak where Eddie was concerned, and she