The Property of a Lady - Elizabeth Adler [173]
“Most folks is in the movie business,” the driver said glumly. “It’s an early rising town and early to bed. All they do is work—them that has work, that is. The rest of ’em sits around in casting offices—hoping.”
No town for a nightclub, O’Hara thought. Or was it? Maybe everybody went to bed early because there was nowhere else to go?
“Here’s Fountain, sir.” The driver turned into a quiet tree-lined street. “Rosemont’s ’bout the middle here.” He stopped in front of a white three-storey house. The sash windows were flung open to the fresh air and clean cotton curtains blew in the faint breeze; the windowpanes sparkled and a couple of pretty blond girls sat reading on the front porch. And next to them, sprawled in the shade, was Viktor. O’Hara’s heart almost burst with relief and love—if the dog was here, Azaylee was there. And so was Missie.
A tall, actorish-looking man strolled from the hall, surveying him as he stepped from the car and walked up the narrow path. “Sorry, old fellow,” he said in a crisp English accent, “but the ‘No Vacancy’ sign is right there on the gate. Though I must admit, with that car and a driver, you could do a bit better for yourself than Rosemont.”
“And what’s wrong with Rosemont?” O’Hara demanded defensively. “If it’s good enough for Rosa Perelman it’s good enough for anybody.”
The man nodded. “I meant that you are obviously not just anybody—like the rest of us. In other words, you look like a man in gainful employment.”
“That I am,” O’Hara said proudly, “as well as an old friend. King O’Hara’s the name.” He held out his huge fist and shook the man’s hand enthusiastically.
“Marshall Makepiece,” the man said, dropping his British upper-crust voice and lapsing back into everyday American.
“Are you really King O’Hara?” The twins gasped in unison.
Their voices were suitably awed and O’Hara grinned. “I sure am, and I’m delighted to meet two such beautiful girls. If you’ll forgive me saying so, shouldn’t you be in the movies? With eyes as innocent as yours, you’ll make Mary Pickford look like a barmaid.”
The girls blushed and Makepiece laughed. “Lilian and Mary are the next stars-to-be. The rest of us are just hoping.”
O’Hara nodded. “And the lady proprietor? Where would she be now?”
“Who’s asking for me?” Rosa appeared suddenly in the doorway, wiping her hands on a dishcloth. “Give only a look.” She gasped, her eyes almost jumping from her head. “It’s Shamus O’Hara from Delancey Street.”
“And if ever a man was glad to see a woman it’s me,” he exclaimed jubilantly. “You’ve cost me a small fortune, Rosa, hidin’ away in Hollywood like this. It took a team of detectives a month to find you.”
Her shrewd eyes assessed his beaming face and she sighed. “It’s not me you’re searching for though, is it, O’Hara?”
He mopped his forehead with an immaculate white pocket handkerchief. “Sure, and I’ll have to confess it’s Missie I’m after,” he said anxiously. “I’m hoping she’s here with you, Rosa, and not with Zev Abramski.”
She shrugged. “No one knows what’s become of that mystery man. He sold his business and left for Hollywood with no forwarding address and that was that. It’s a small town; I guess by now I would have heard if he was the big success.” She looked O’Hara up and down again while the twins and Marshall watched interestedly. “You look like a man come into a fortune himself,” she commented, inspecting his dapper tailored suit, his tan-and-white spectator brogues, his blue silk shirt with a darker blue striped tie. “What happened to the shamrock suspenders and the old tie holding up your pants?”
“I can afford better now,” O’Hara said, waving his arms expansively. “Would you be stallin’ me then, Rosa?” he said impatiently. “I’m a man with a mission and I need to find Missie.”
“Come inside and take a seat,” she said, turning away, “I’ll go and get her.”
O’Hara’s heart was pounding. She was going to get Missie! He wondered suddenly if she had changed—after all, she was a married woman, a widow now … she had become used to money, servants, anything she wanted…. He sat staring at