Page 31 of Dreams of Falling
Margaret held the bottle of perfume under Ceecee’s nose and laughed. “Come on, Ceecee—like I already told you, Aunt Dot won’t mind.”
Despite having been up most of the night throwing up, Margaret still looked beautiful. Her hair was unbrushed, her skin scrubbed free of any makeup, and she still looked like she should be on a pinup poster.
“Only if you’re sure,” Ceecee said, taking the stopper and hesitantly putting a dab on each wrist.
“Oh, for goodness’ sakes,” Bitty said, grabbing the bottle and upending it on her finger before generously sloshing perfume behind each of Ceecee’s ears. “She’s got to know him a bit longer to make him get close enough to smell just that tiny bit of perfume,” she said around a cigarette clenched between her lips.
Laughing, Ceecee jumped up from the dressing table. She felt self-conscious in the violet pedal pushers she’d borrowed from Margaret, but secretly pleased, too. She had long, elegant legs like Margaret, and the pants showed them off. Her mother would take to her bed with a headache if she could see her, but there was no chance of that, thank goodness. She closed her eyes, concentrating on her resolve to enjoy herself for the next two weeks without regret or self-recrimination. She’d have the rest of her life for that.
There was a knock on the door, and the three women looked at one another with varying degrees of surprise. “It can’t be Boyd,” Ceecee said with confidence. “I didn’t tell him our address, and I told him I’d meet him at the Pavilion.”
“Don’t look at me,” Bitty said. “What about you, Margaret? Did you tell Reggie where you were staying?”
Margaret’s blue eyes widened in horror. “Oh, my gosh. I did. But surely he wouldn’t...”
Bitty dropped to her knees and crawled to the bedroom window that faced their street and moved aside the curtain. “It’s Reggie!” she said in a loud whisper. She quickly crawled toward the unmade bed and grabbed the silk wrap from the bottom. It belonged to Margaret’s aunt Dorothy, but Margaret had been wearing it, and the matching silk pajamas, swearing her aunt wouldn’t mind. “Throw this on,” she hissed. “I’ll get the door. And I suggest running a brush through your hair. You look like something the cat dragged in.”
As Ceecee helped Margaret into the robe, they listened as Bitty opened the door and pretended to be surprised. “Oh, it’s... I’m sorry, I think I’ve forgotten your name. From the Ocean Forest, right?”
“It’s Reginald Madsen—Reggie to my friends. Is this where Margaret Darlington is staying? I’m pretty sure this is the address.”
“Yes, but...”
“I wanted to make sure Margaret is all right. She was... wasn’t feeling well when she left last night, and I feel responsible. I brought her some flowers. Is it all right if I come in? I’d like to see her in person and apologize, and give these to her if possible.”
“I really don’t think she’s in any state...”
Ceecee tried to hold Margaret back, but her grip easily slipped on the silk sleeves of Margaret’s robe. As she tightened the tie around her slim waist, she slid on small kitten-heeled slippers with soft fur balls at the toes, then walked casually out into the main room like a movie star, Ceecee close behind. “Did I hear somebody at the door?” she asked, feigning a yawn and stretching her arms over her head.
“Just for a minute... ,” Reggie began, but then stopped when he spotted Margaret stretching, outlining her breasts against the silk of her pajamas and robe.
At that moment another figure stepped out from behind Reggie. Although he was just as tall as his younger brother, Bitty must have missed spotting him because he’d been standing to the side, out of view.
“Boyd,” Ceecee said, her voice laced with surprise. “I thought we were meeting at the Pavilion.” She moved toward the door, blocking the men’s view of Margaret in her state of undress.
“I know, but then Reggie said he was coming here. I knew you and Margaret were together, so I decided to come along. And if Margaret is feeling better, maybe we could all go—including Bitty, of course.”
Bitty took a drag of her cigarette and watched the smoke rings rise to the ceiling, dissipating slowly like little dreams. “Gee, thanks. I’m honored.”
Ceecee sent her a quelling glance before turning back to Boyd. “Well, I’m already dressed, and I don’t think Margaret is feeling well enough...”
“Don’t be such a wet blanket, Ceecee,” Margaret said as she stepped out from behind Ceecee and extended her hand. “I’m feeling fit as a fiddle after such a good sleep. And you must be the same Boyd that Ceecee has been talking about nonstop since last night. I’m Margaret Darlington.”
Ceecee watched as Boyd grasped the tips of Margaret’s fingers and squeezed. “It’s a pleasure meeting you, Margaret Darlington.”
Ceecee watched his eyes as he took in Margaret’s face and tall, lean figure; she watched at the way his eyes didn’t change and how he dropped her fingers quickly. She wasn’t ready to let out a sigh of reliefquite yet, thinking about how sometimes a person could get exposed to a cold or some other infectious horror and not develop symptoms for a week.
Margaret turned her attention to Reggie, whose eyes darkened as he watched Margaret approach, each curve of her body clearly outlined with each step. As she looked at Margaret standing next to Reggie, Ceecee thought they seemed to have been carved from the same block of marble, each as beautiful and physically perfect as the other. Boyd was decidedly handsome, but Reggie had an air of power and purpose around him that probably affected Margaret like catnip would a cat.
Margaret batted her eyelashes up at him. “And aren’t you just darling to bring me flowers.” She took the bouquet of red roses from him and delicately sniffed the petals. “These smell just divine.” She graced everyone with one of her wide smiles. “Just give me a moment to put these in a vase with water and throw on some clothes, and we’ll all head out to the Pavilion and have some fun.”
Everyone watched her retreat toward the kitchen except Ceecee, who watched Boyd, noticing how his eyes seemed reluctantly pulled in Margaret’s direction before he jerked his gaze back to Ceecee and smiled.
An hour and a half later, they piled into Margaret’s car—because Reggie’s car wasn’t a convertible and the day was too pretty, according to Margaret—and drove to the Pavilion and the attached boardwalk and amusement park. Bitty sat up front with Margaret while Ceecee sat in the middle of the backseat between Reggie and Boyd. After they were settled, Boyd’s hand found hers and held it the entire short ride, making Ceecee want to weep with joy or relief—she wasn’t sure which.
“Let’s go on the carousel first!” Margaret announced as she waited for Reggie to open her door for her and rewarded him with a warm smile. “It’s very famous, you know—all hand-carved wooden animals, and they just brought it here from Alabama. There’s a blue sea dragon with a gold mane, and I’m riding on that one first.” She turned to face Ceecee. “Did you bring your camera? Because I must get a photograph of us all on the carousel.”
“Of course,” she said, patting it in its case around her neck as theystood in front of the carousel with its red-and-white-striped awning, its short stature nearly eclipsed by the tall Ferris wheel next to it. “I say we start with that instead,” Bitty said, pointing to it. “So we can get a bird’s-eye view of the entire boardwalk and Pavilion. Not everybody has been coming here since we were children.” She looked pointedly at Margaret.
