‘I would too. When this New York job jells, and if R.A. ups my salary, I plan to buy one just for the hell of it.’
‘If we land the job, Joe, I’ll see you get a rise.’
‘What are the prospects? Has he said anything about it again?’
‘He was talking about it last night. I think it’s in the bag. He asked me how soon I could raise the money.’
‘Do you think it’s a good idea to invest your money with him, Ches?’
‘I’m sure of it. An office in New York can’t go wrong. With a stake in the business, I get five per cent of the gross as well as my salary. I’d be crazy not to take the chance. Besides, I’ll be running the business more or less myself so I can protect my stake.’
‘Wish I had some dough,’ Joe said. ‘Five per cent of the gross! You’re going to be rich, Ches.’
My hands tightened on the driving wheel. I could be rich if I wasn’t found out, I thought. I might even be rich enough to take Lucille away from Aitken.
‘Well, a lot depends on how we run the place, Joe.’
‘How soon can you raise the dough?’
‘I’ve told my brokers to go ahead and sell out. I should have it in a few days. The market’s just right. A bit of luck that: I could have been stuck.’
I slowed down as we came to the station,
‘Thanks, Ches,’ Joe said as he got out of the car. ‘Maybe I’ll buy this off you one of these days,’ he went on, patting the Cadillac’s wing, ‘You’ll be able to get an Eldorado when you get to New York. Would you think of selling it to me?’
‘You wait until you get some money,’ I said and grinned at him, ‘but I might. So long. Have a good weekend.’
I drove fast towards my bungalow.
II
At one minute to nine, I pulled up outside the tall wrought-iron gates that guarded the entrance to the Gables. Lucille was standing in the shadows, waiting for me. I let the driver’s door swing open as she came quickly towards me. As she came out of the shadows and into the hard light of the moon I saw she was wearing a pale-blue dress with a flared skirt. Her hair was taken back by a narrow ribbon. She looked pretty enough to take any man’s breath away.
She slid under the driving wheel as I moved along the bench seat out of her way.
‘Hello,’ she said, smiling at me. ‘You’re beautifully punctual. Do you like my dress? I put it on specially for you.’
‘It’s terrific,’ I said, ‘and you look terrific also.’
She laughed happily.
‘Do you think so? Do you really think so?’
‘Yes.’
Maybe there was something in my voice that startled her. Anyway, she looked quickly at me, but I had my back to the moonlight and she couldn’t see much of my face.
‘Well, where shall we go?’ she said. Let’s go down to the sea.’
‘All right.’
This night she didn’t seem in the mood for speed. She drove at a steady twenty-five miles an hour, and at that speed, she drove pretty well.
We turned off the highway and cruised along one of the secondary roads until we reached a narrow dirt road that led down to the sea.
She hummed to herself softly as she drove and she was relaxed, her hands no longer clenched the wheel in a knuckle-white grip. I felt a little pang as I realized that she would soon be competent enough to apply for a permit, and the lessons would come to an end.
We drove slowly down the dirt road and turning a sharp bend we saw ahead of us a great stretch of sand with palm trees and the sea glittering like a polished mirror in the moonlight.
‘Isn’t this wonderful?’ she said. They were her first words since she had driven away from the Gables. ‘You don’t know how much pleasure I get from driving this car, Ches. There’s no sensation like it. I can drive now, can’t I? I’m really good now, aren’t I?’
‘You’re not so bad. You want more practice before you apply for a permit. You haven’t tried reversing yet. Do you want to have a shot at it now?’
She shook her head.
‘Not now.’
We drove down the lonely beach road, and she slowed, drove the car off the road and on to the hard sand, then she pulled up and turned off the ignition.
I sat motionless, my hands damp and clenched, my heart beating fast while I stared at the vast expanse of sand, sea and palm trees. In the hard light of the moon, the beach was lit up for miles. There was no sign of anyone out there, no cars, nothing. We might have been the only two people left in the world.
‘I’m going for a swim,’ she said as she turned off the car’s lights. ‘Will you come?’ This was unexpected, and it took me by surprise.
‘You’re supposed to be learning to drive. You haven’t a lot of time. It’s twenty to ten.’
‘I told Roger I was going to the movies. He doesn’t expect me back until midnight.’ She opened the car door and slid out on to the sand. ‘There’s no one here: no one at all. We have the beach to ourselves. If you don’t want to swim, stay in the car and wait for me.’
She started to run across the sand towards a clump of palm trees.
For a long moment I sat in the car and watched her. Surely this sudden move of hers must be the answer to the question that had nagged me most of the night? If she didn’t mean to let me make love to her, surely she wouldn’t have brought me to this lonely spot?
Only briefly did I pay heed to the warning bell that rang sharply in my mind. You’re fooling with Aitken’s wife, I told myself. You go ahead with this now, and you could regret it for the rest of your life.
But that didn’t stop me. Breathing hard, with my heart thumping, I got out of the car.
I could see her clearly. She had reached the clump of palm trees. She paused to kick off her shoes, then she zipped down her dress and stepped out of it. She had on a one-piece swim-suit under her dress.
I went around to the back of the car, opened the boot and took out a couple of towels and my swimming trunks I always kept there. I stripped off behind the car, left my clothes on the sand, and picking up the towels, I ran down to where she was now moving slowly towards the sea.
As I joined her, she turned and smiled at me.
‘I knew you would come. I’ll tell you something. I’ve always wanted to swim in the moonlight, but Roger would never let me. He makes out it’s dangerous.’
‘You seem to be doing all the things you’re not supposed to do—and with me,’ I said, walking across the hot sand with her.
‘That’s why I like you so much,’ she said. Then, breaking into a run, she raced across the remaining strip of sand and splashed into the water.
She may have been only a learner-driver, but she certainly could swim. I went in after her, but I saw it was hopeless to attempt to catch up with her. After a while, she turned around and came back, almost as fast as she had gone out.
She circled around me.
‘Aren’t you glad you came in?’
‘I guess so.’
I turned on my back and stared up at the big moon. The water was warm, but I wasn’t in the mood to appreciate it. I was impatient for her to finish her swim and come out.
She swam away from me, came back, and then floated beside me.
We remained floating in silence for some minutes, and they were the longest minutes I have ever lived through. Finally, I could stand it no longer.
‘We’d better get back.’
I began to swim towards the shore and she kept pace with me.
As we came out of the water and began walking across the sand to where she had left her dress,
she said suddenly: ‘What are you doing tomorrow, Ches?’