Men of Intrgue A Trilogy (63 page)

Linda walked over to inspect the mess. “Oh, good,” she said. “I’m glad someone finally trashed that horror. It was one of Margaret’s favorites.”

“Was it very valuable?” Karen asked soberly.

“Extremely.”

“You’d better send me the bill.”

“Don’t be silly,” Linda said briskly. “I wouldn’t think of it.”

“Better yet, send him the bill,” Karen said bitterly. “If you can find him.”
 

“Where does he live? When he’s not traipsing around the globe with a gun, that is.”

“Florida. Though you couldn’t prove it by me. I’ve never seen the place.”

“Florida. That’s somewhere near California, isn’t it?” Linda said.

“No, Lin. Wrong direction, wrong coast.” Linda’s American geography was almost as good as her American history. She’d said once that Abraham Lincoln was famous for winning the Revolutionary War at the Battle of Gettysburg.

“Oh. I seem to remember something about oranges,” Linda said, chastised.

“Both states grow them. You’re right about that,” Karen observed. She glanced at the clock. “It’s almost one. How did your fitting go?” She coughed, then blew her nose.

“Oh, the seamstress was all thumbs but the thing did seem the right size, which is about all one can hope for.” She eyed Karen speculatively. “I don’t suppose you’ll be hanging ‘round now, so you won’t be here for the damned showing anyway.”

“I really should go home.”

“I can’t induce you to stay?”

“No, Linda, I’ve imposed upon you long enough,” Karen said firmly. “I’ve got to get my life together and stop waiting around for Colter to tell me what to do. I’m going back to New Jersey. I’ll get a job and put him out of my mind for good.”

“That’s the spirit,” Linda confirmed, stabbing the air with her fist. “Go in and wash your face and I’ll see about getting us some lunch. All right?”

Karen nodded.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Go ahead.”

Linda left and Karen went to the pediment mirror above the cherry lowboy, gazing at her reflection. She looked like the aftermath of a bad night.

Enough of this, she instructed herself. He waltzed you around for a good turn but the dance is over. He’s gone, and you’re on your own.

Feeling, not better, but determined, she headed for the bathroom to fix her face.

The next afternoon she was on a plane for the States.

Chapter 10

Karen’s sister Grace was mercifully silent during the trip back to her house from the airport. It wasn’t until they were settled in the recreation room, with the kids playing Candy Land on the floor, that she said to Karen, “We missed you at Thanksgiving.”

Karen nodded. The American holiday wasn’t celebrated in England, and she hadn’t even thought about it while she was staying with Linda.

“I’m glad you’ll be here for Christmas,” Grace went on. Karen nodded again.

Grace sighed heavily. “Aren’t you even going to tell me about it?” she asked.

Karen shrugged resignedly. “There isn’t that much to tell. It didn’t work out.”

“All you said in your phone call was that he’d gone off on another job and you were coming home.”
 

“And here I am,” Karen said, hoping Grace would drop it.

She was hoping for too much. “Did you have a fight?” Grace said.

“Sort of. Not really. He wasn’t fighting—I was.”

Grace stared at her.

Karen made a gesture of dismissal. “He basically told me that he thought he was wrong for me and I’d better forget him and find somebody else.”

“That’s the first thing I’ve heard about this situation that I agree with,” Grace said darkly. “I just wish he hadn’t dragged you all over Europe before coming to that conclusion.”

“He didn’t drag me. I wanted to go.”

“Hmph. And you wound up back here, as alone as when you met him.”

Karen stood wearily, putting her hands at the back of her waist and stretching. “Grace, I would consider it a great favor if you didn’t feel compelled to say ‘I told you so.’ It’s over and done with, and I just want to put it behind me and get on with my life. And I can’t do that with you grilling me like an interrogator in a police procedural.”

“I’m sorry,” Grace said stiffly. “I didn’t mean to intrude.” She rose also and headed for the kitchen.

Karen put out her hand and stopped her sister as she walked past. “Grace, wait a minute,” she said.

The older woman turned. There were tears in her eyes and Karen instantly felt guilty.

“I don’t want to hurt your feelings,” she said gently. “It’s just that I can hardly bear to think about it anymore, much less talk about it. Can you understand that?”

“I guess so,” Grace murmured. “But I can’t abide the idea of anyone mistreating you.”

Karen took her sister’s arm and made her sit again. “Grace, listen to me. He didn’t mistreat me, far from it. I’ve had time to consider it and I really think he made the best effort of which he was capable. But he isn’t like other people, and he never will be. He said he was going for my sake and I know he believes that, but there’s more to it. He’s been alone all his life, first by an accident of fate, then by choice because he was taught early to rely only on himself.” Karen gestured earnestly. “His feeling for me was genuine but it frightened him. He doesn’t want to need anyone. He thinks it makes him weak, dependent. He would rather be the person leaving than the one left, and he wasn’t taking any chances with me. He got out before I could decide that I wanted out.”

“You’re very understanding about it,” Grace said in a subdued tone.

Karen shook her head, smiling slightly. “I wasn’t when it first happened. I screamed and cried and told him to go to hell. But in retrospect I know he didn’t mean to hurt me. He tried to avoid that from the beginning. But once I met him I wouldn’t let go, and he... wanted me, so he gave in. But you can’t change people in the long run. They remain what they always were.” She shrugged. “The bottom line is that if he isn’t willing to take a chance on us, I can’t make him do it.”

“It sounds like you grew up a lot in a short time,” Grace commented. “You used to think you could make things happen just because you wanted them to.”

“I had to grow up, I guess,” Karen said. She looked down, avoiding Grace’s eyes. “But it still hurts. A lot.”

Grace patted her hand. “All right. I won’t force you to talk about it.”

“Thanks.”

“So what are your plans now?” Grace went on.

“Back to the want ads. I’m going to be employed by Christmas if it kills me.”

And she was. As if to make up for the other blow it had dealt her, fate smiled in short order, and Karen found a job in a Paterson law office with a substantial bilingual clientele. Translating legal documents involved looking up a lot of unfamiliar terms, and she wound up spending a good deal of her time in the firm’s library. There she met Jim Cochran, one of the young attorneys on staff, and as December moved on toward Christmas he began to ask her out socially. At first she refused, making up excuses that sounded feeble even to her own ears. But then, wondering why she was sentencing herself to lonely evenings in her room with only the company of a book or television, she finally accepted. She was never going to get over Colter if she didn’t try to find distractions from thoughts of him. So on a gray, cold Friday afternoon, about three weeks after her return from England, she got home from work and prepared to go out for the evening.

Grace knocked on her door as she was dressing.

“Come in,” Karen called.

Grace entered wiping her hands on a dish towel. “I guess you won’t be having dinner with us,” Grace observed.

“No, Jim is taking me to Renaud’s. It’s right across from the skating pond at Rockefeller Center, with a glass wall so you can watch the people on the ice.”

“Sounds lovely,” Grace said, beaming.

“Get that gleam out of your eye, Grace. I just met the guy.”

“That didn’t stop you with Colter,” Grace pointed out.

Karen shook her head. “No comparison. Jim is nice, but that’s all.”

“I see. This is ‘I have to do something to forget’ time. Does Jim understand that?”

“I’ve told him that I just broke up with someone and want to take things very slow. He agreed.”

Grace accepted that in silence, then began to prowl around the room, fidgeting.

“What is it, Grace?” Karen asked patiently.

“Have you heard from him? Colter, I mean?”

“No. I’ve been getting my mail here; you know that.”

“I thought he might have called while we were out or something.”

Karen shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I can’t help it,” Grace sighed. She folded her arms and leaned against the wall, watching Karen as she stepped into her pumps and picked up her bag. “How is the apartment search coming?” she asked.

“Pretty good. I’ve got a list of several possibilities but two of them are too far from work. The most expensive places are closest.”

“You’re welcome to stay here just as long as you want,” Grace said emphatically.

“I know that,” Karen said, glancing in the mirror, “but I have to get back out on my own. I can’t let the experience with Colter send me running to hide at the family homestead. I’m getting over it and I plan to recover completely.”

“No more sleepless nights?” Grace asked.

“Less of them,” Karen replied honestly.

“Crying fits?”

“Have you been listening at the door?” Karen asked suspiciously.

“I don’t have to listen. Something’s been causing the red eyes.”

“It gets a little better each day.”

“But it’s never easy, right?” Grace said.

“Right,” Karen answered shortly.

“Do you regret it?”

“What, being with him?”

“Yes.”

“Never,” Karen said firmly. “Now I know what it’s like to really love somebody and be loved in return. I wouldn’t have missed it.”

“Even with the pain?” Grace asked doubtfully.

“Even so. If that’s the price I have to pay for the happiness I had, then so be it.”

“Don’t you think about him now, wonder if he’s all right?”

“Constantly,” Karen replied softly.

“How long has it been since you’ve seen him?”

“Three weeks, four days, and six hours, give or take a few minutes, and allowing for the time change from England.”

Grace shook her head ruefully. “I feel sorry for Jim,” was all she said before she left the room.

Karen got her coat and followed her sister down the stairs into the kitchen, where her niece was sitting at the table with a giant box of crayons, working on a coloring book. Her brother was out with his father, so she was seizing the opportunity to color his spacemen purple before he returned.

Karen went to the stove where Grace was stirring a pan of tomato sauce. “Don’t worry,” she said, giving Grace a quick hug.

Grace nodded.

“I won’t be too late,” Karen added as she turned away.

“Are you sure you’re being fair to this guy?” Grace called after her.

Karen looked back at her sister. “Jim?”

“Yes. You’re obviously not over Colter, and I just don’t think it’s right to raise Jim’s hopes.”

Karen sighed. “I already told you that I explained the situation to him, and he understands. He isn’t asking me to marry him, Grace. This is just a friendly dinner and we’re taking it one step at a time.”

“That should be a refreshing change from your last relationship,” Grace said dryly, moving back from the stove and covering the saucepan.

Karen threw her a dirty look and was relieved when the doorbell rang, announcing Jim’s arrival.

Jim was just the “steady” type that Grace loved, and so Karen was not surprised that her sister was quite taken with him and invited him to stop back anytime. Karen ushered him out the door before Grace got a chance to measure him for his wedding tuxedo, and they hurried across the lawn to his car. An arctic wind was picking up and Karen was glad the interior was already heated from Jim’s drive to her sister’s house.

She studied her companion covertly as he exited Grace’s development and entered the main drag that led out of town. Jim was attractive enough in a pleasant, unassuming way, with short brown hair and medium brown eyes and a quiet sense of humor that often took Karen by surprise. He was really very nice, and she was almost annoyed with herself for her inability to get interested in him. She was hoping that the passage of time would alter her attitude but she had a sinking feeling that it wouldn’t. She suspected that Grace was right. If she still felt the same after a few dates, she was going to tell Jim she’d misjudged and wasn’t ready to go out with anyone else. But for now she was going to try to enjoy the evening and forget her recent past with another man.

Jim looked over at her as he pulled to a stop at a light. “You’re staring at me,” he said, half laughing.