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.“Sorry.” He let her go and stepped back.She tried to make light of it.“See? It’s just not safe for us to be alone together.”He didn’t take well to her teasing, not at that particular moment.“What does that mean? You want me to go?”“No, of course not.Sit down.Drink your juice.”“‘Drink your juice,”’ he parroted coldly.“You sound just like a kindergarten teacher.”“I am a kindergarten teacher.”“Well, I’m no kindergartner.”“Ross.Please don’t be angry.”He was scowling at her now.“I shouldn’t have come here.” He swore.“I don’t know why the hell I did.”She wanted to touch him, but she feared it would only make things worse.“Maybe you just…wanted to see me.There’s nothing wrong with that.”“Isn’t there?”She refused to let him goad her.“No.There’s not.I’m glad you’re here.”“Are you?”“Yes, I am.Now, sit down.And we’ll talk.”“About what?”“Whatever you’d like to talk about.” She listed a few safe subjects.“The weather.My problem students.The exemplary Mrs.Simms.” And thought of a few that probably weren’t so safe: your childhood.Your ex-wife…He was watching her mouth.“I’ve got other things than talking on my mind.”She spoke tenderly.“Yes, I know.But don’t think about that.”“Easy for you to say.”“No.No, it’s not, actually.”That seemed to mollify him.Enough that he dropped into his chair again.She sat down herself.“Now I’m going to ask you how your day went.And you’re going to tell me.And when you’re done telling me, I’ll tell you all about my day.And after that, if we’re both still awake, we’ll think of something else to talk about.”He looked slightly bewildered—and so handsome her heart ached.“This is crazy, isn’t it?”“Which? Pretending we’re engaged or your coming here tonight?”“Both.”“We could stop.” Oh, why had she said that? What if he said that he thought they should stop?But he didn’t.He stood again.“It’s too soon for you to call it off.We need to give it a few more weeks.”Do we? a part of her wanted to ask.Do we really?But that would only bring them a little closer to an ending.She didn’t want it to end.Not ever.But if it was going to end, she’d take every minute she could get until then.“I’m going,” he said.“It’s after ten.And we both have to work tomorrow.”“I’m still glad you came.”“Crazy,” he said again, musingly this time.She got up and followed him to the door.On Thursday Lynn called Arlene’s house again.Arlene herself answered this time.And she didn’t hang up—at least, not immediately.“Oh.” Arlene made a humphing sound.“It’s you.Are you all right?”“I’m fine, Arlene.”A silence, then, “I suppose I should tell you that I feel kind of bad that I called you trash.I don’t really think you’re trash.”“I know.”“But what you did was rotten and low.”“I’m sorry you think that.”Arlene humphed again.And then the line went dead.Lynn decided to call that conversation progress.She stopped in at the drugstore the next day and bought three all-occasion greeting cards, each one with “I love you and miss you” sentiments inside.She mailed them off right away—one each for Jewel and Arlene and Trish.That weekend, on Saturday, she and Ross drove to Billings again.They had dinner and saw a movie.During the drive back, Lynn tried to get him to talk more about his family, about his life before he’d come to Whitehorn.He grudgingly admitted that he had worked as a ranch hand for two summers while he was in his teens.The ranch had been a huge one, bigger than the Kincaid spread, not far from Billings.The rancher had taken a liking to him and ended up helping him, getting letters of recommendation for him when he’d started applying for college scholarships.The rancher had even had a few friends who were Princeton alumni.“He pulled some strings, I guess you could say.And that’s how I ended up getting a scholarship to go there.”Lynn jumped in with both feet then.“Where did your wife go to college?”He looked straight ahead.“I’m not married.”“But…you were married? When you lived in Denver?”“Yes.”“What was her name?”“Elana.”“What was she like?”He did cast her a glance then, an unreadable one.“My marriage didn’t work out.My wife died.And I’d rather not talk about it.”Lynn did a double take.“She died? But I heard you were divorced.”A low, disgusted sound escaped him.“From Trish, right?”“Well, yes, but—”“Look.I might have told your sister I was divorced.If my wife hadn’t died, I would have been.The marriage was over at that point, I promise you.”“But—”He cut her off again.“In my experience, if a man says he’s divorced, people hesitate to pry [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.“Sorry.” He let her go and stepped back.She tried to make light of it.“See? It’s just not safe for us to be alone together.”He didn’t take well to her teasing, not at that particular moment.“What does that mean? You want me to go?”“No, of course not.Sit down.Drink your juice.”“‘Drink your juice,”’ he parroted coldly.“You sound just like a kindergarten teacher.”“I am a kindergarten teacher.”“Well, I’m no kindergartner.”“Ross.Please don’t be angry.”He was scowling at her now.“I shouldn’t have come here.” He swore.“I don’t know why the hell I did.”She wanted to touch him, but she feared it would only make things worse.“Maybe you just…wanted to see me.There’s nothing wrong with that.”“Isn’t there?”She refused to let him goad her.“No.There’s not.I’m glad you’re here.”“Are you?”“Yes, I am.Now, sit down.And we’ll talk.”“About what?”“Whatever you’d like to talk about.” She listed a few safe subjects.“The weather.My problem students.The exemplary Mrs.Simms.” And thought of a few that probably weren’t so safe: your childhood.Your ex-wife…He was watching her mouth.“I’ve got other things than talking on my mind.”She spoke tenderly.“Yes, I know.But don’t think about that.”“Easy for you to say.”“No.No, it’s not, actually.”That seemed to mollify him.Enough that he dropped into his chair again.She sat down herself.“Now I’m going to ask you how your day went.And you’re going to tell me.And when you’re done telling me, I’ll tell you all about my day.And after that, if we’re both still awake, we’ll think of something else to talk about.”He looked slightly bewildered—and so handsome her heart ached.“This is crazy, isn’t it?”“Which? Pretending we’re engaged or your coming here tonight?”“Both.”“We could stop.” Oh, why had she said that? What if he said that he thought they should stop?But he didn’t.He stood again.“It’s too soon for you to call it off.We need to give it a few more weeks.”Do we? a part of her wanted to ask.Do we really?But that would only bring them a little closer to an ending.She didn’t want it to end.Not ever.But if it was going to end, she’d take every minute she could get until then.“I’m going,” he said.“It’s after ten.And we both have to work tomorrow.”“I’m still glad you came.”“Crazy,” he said again, musingly this time.She got up and followed him to the door.On Thursday Lynn called Arlene’s house again.Arlene herself answered this time.And she didn’t hang up—at least, not immediately.“Oh.” Arlene made a humphing sound.“It’s you.Are you all right?”“I’m fine, Arlene.”A silence, then, “I suppose I should tell you that I feel kind of bad that I called you trash.I don’t really think you’re trash.”“I know.”“But what you did was rotten and low.”“I’m sorry you think that.”Arlene humphed again.And then the line went dead.Lynn decided to call that conversation progress.She stopped in at the drugstore the next day and bought three all-occasion greeting cards, each one with “I love you and miss you” sentiments inside.She mailed them off right away—one each for Jewel and Arlene and Trish.That weekend, on Saturday, she and Ross drove to Billings again.They had dinner and saw a movie.During the drive back, Lynn tried to get him to talk more about his family, about his life before he’d come to Whitehorn.He grudgingly admitted that he had worked as a ranch hand for two summers while he was in his teens.The ranch had been a huge one, bigger than the Kincaid spread, not far from Billings.The rancher had taken a liking to him and ended up helping him, getting letters of recommendation for him when he’d started applying for college scholarships.The rancher had even had a few friends who were Princeton alumni.“He pulled some strings, I guess you could say.And that’s how I ended up getting a scholarship to go there.”Lynn jumped in with both feet then.“Where did your wife go to college?”He looked straight ahead.“I’m not married.”“But…you were married? When you lived in Denver?”“Yes.”“What was her name?”“Elana.”“What was she like?”He did cast her a glance then, an unreadable one.“My marriage didn’t work out.My wife died.And I’d rather not talk about it.”Lynn did a double take.“She died? But I heard you were divorced.”A low, disgusted sound escaped him.“From Trish, right?”“Well, yes, but—”“Look.I might have told your sister I was divorced.If my wife hadn’t died, I would have been.The marriage was over at that point, I promise you.”“But—”He cut her off again.“In my experience, if a man says he’s divorced, people hesitate to pry [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]