Hidden Riches

this?”
    She could only shake her head and gather him against her. She rested her cheek on his hair. “I thought after yesterday, it wouldn’t get any better. That it couldn’t.”
    It worried him, that tremor in her voice. “If I’d known an old bed would turn you into a maniac, I’d have brought you in here days ago.”
    She smiled, but her eyes were still troubled. “It’s a terrific bed.”
    “I’ve got about six more in storage.”
    She laughed. “We’ll kill ourselves.”
    “I’ll risk it.”
    So would she, Dora thought. So would she. Because Lea had been absolutely right. She was in love with him.
     
    Two hours later they arrived at the Liberty Theater in time to hear Nurse Nellie demonstrate how to wash a man out of her hair. Dora had taken Jed through the stage door and up into the wings. Her father was there, mouthing the lyrics and pantomiming the moves.
    “Hey.” Dora pinched his cheek. “Where’s Mom?”
    “In Wardrobe. A little problem with Bloody Mary’s sarong. Jed, my boy.” He pumped Jed’s hand while keeping an eye onstage. “Glad you came by. We have an appreciative audience tonight, barely an empty seat in the house. Light cue,” he muttered under his breath, then beamed at the glow of a spot. “A smooth cue is as exhilarating as a waltz.”
    “We just dropped by to see how things were,” Dora said, and shot a warning look at Jed. “And I need a minute with Terri at intermission. Shop business.”
    “I don’t want you pulling her out of character.”
    “Don’t worry.” She slipped an arm around his shoulders and, despite the fact that she’d seen the production countless times, was soon as absorbed in the staging as he.
    Jed hung back, more intrigued by Dora and Quentin than the dialogue onstage. Their heads were tilted together as they discussed some minor bit of business that had been added to the scene. Quentin’s arm came up to wrap around her waist; Dora’s body angled toward his.
    Jed experienced a sensation that shocked him more than a blow to the neck. It was envy.
    Had he ever felt that easy affection, that simple sense of companionship with his own father? he wondered. The answer was very simple and very bleak. No. Never. He couldn’t remember a single conversation that hadn’t been fraught with undercurrents of tension, disillusionment, resentment. Now, even had he wanted to, it was much too late to make peace. It was certainly useless to try to understand why.
    When the old bitterness threatened, he walked quietly back toward the dressing rooms. He’d have a cigarette and wait to question Terri.
    Dora looked over her shoulder. Her smile faded when she saw he was no longer there.
    “Dad?”
    “And music,” he whispered. “Good, good. Hmmm?”
    “I’m in love with Jed.”
    “Yes, my sweet, I know.”
    “No, Dad. I’m really in love with him.”
    “I know.” For no one else would he have broken his concentration. But he turned to Dora with a twinkling grin. “I picked him for you, didn’t I?”
    “I don’t think he’s going to want me to be. Sometimes I can almost see where he’s bleeding inside.”
    “You’ll fix that, given time. ‘What wound did ever heal but by degrees?’ ”
    “ Othello. ” She wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t care for the ending in that one.”
    “You’ll write your own. Conroys are excellent improvisers.” A thought popped into his brain and made his eyes gleam. “Perhaps you’d like me to give him a little nudge. I could arrange a quiet man-to-man talk, with some of my special brew.”
    “No.” She tapped a finger on his nose. “No,” she repeated. “I’ll handle this myself.” Lowering her hand, she pressed it to her jittery stomach. “I’m scared,” she confessed. “It’s happened so fast.”
    “In the blood,” Quentin said sagely. “The minute I saw your mother, I broke out in a vicious sweat. Most embarrassing. It took me nearly two weeks to get up the nerve to ask her to marry me. I kept going up on the lines.”
    “You never blew a line in your life.” She kissed him as the applause broke out. “I love you.”
    “That’s exactly what you should tell him.” He gave her a squeeze. “Listen, Izzy, we’re bringing the house down.”
    Responding to the applause, and the sudden chaos backstage, Jed went back to the wings just as Dora caught Terri.
    “Hey, you working props tonight?”
    “No.” Dora got a good grip on Terri’s arm. “I need to talk to you for a