Envy(95)

Which brought her to the next hurdle she must face: informing Daniel of their split.

She would postpone it for as long as possible. It would come as a double blow for him. He would be losing not only his son-in-law, but his protégé. Maris was confident that her father was strong enough to handle it, as he had handled all the other setbacks and disappointments in his life, but she saw no point in upsetting him prematurely. However, until the time came when it was necessary for him to know, it was going to be a challenge to keep up the pretense that everything was normal.

He was watching her now with his unsettling intuitiveness. It was hard not to squirm under the direct gaze. “So what do you think, Dad?”

“About the book? I think it’s very good. Speaking as a publisher, I would prod the author to complete it.”

“Then I guess I’m off.” She stood up and began pulling on her raincoat.

“What does Noah think?”

“He hasn’t read it yet.”

“I wasn’t referring to the manuscript, Maris. What does he think of your going away to spend more time with this writer?”

“I don’t need his permission.” Seeing that he was taken aback by the sharpness of her tone, she amended it. “I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“Apology accepted. I don’t presume to interfere with your personal life. It’s just that…”

“Don’t stop there. You’ve come this far.”

He reached for her hand. “It’s just that I remember well when you fell in love with a book, and then with the author.”

She gave him a faint smile. “Is that what you’re thinking? That I’ve got a schoolgirl’s crush on this writer?”

“It wouldn’t be for the first time.”

“I’m older and wiser now.” She stopped herself from saying, I’ve learned my lesson. “This book, this author, have nothing to do with Noah and our marriage. Nothing whatsoever.”

That was the truth. Her marriage was over whether or not she ever saw Parker Evans again. Had she never heard of Parker or Envy, her marriage would have ended. It would have ended because her husband was false and their marriage a sham.

“So Noah’s agreeable to your going?”

Noah’s feelings on the matter seemed very important to her father. But they wouldn’t be if he knew the whole story. She was tempted to roll up her sleeves and show him the bruises on her arms that even a week’s time hadn’t faded. She could tell him how she’d spat blood for an hour after biting her tongue. What if she repeated Noah’s harsh threats, using the same sinister inflection that had been almost more alarming than the words themselves? Her father would be as shocked as she had been. He would be ready to find Noah and mete out punishment with his own hand.

That’s why she wouldn’t expose Noah to him now. She would save it for a day when she had things more sorted out in her own mind, when she wasn’t on her way out of town, when she had a workable plan for Matherly Press as well as her personal life. Until she had answers already in place in her own mind, she wouldn’t detail the problems to her father.

Instead, she looked him straight in the eye and, for the first time in her life, lied to him. “Yes. He’s agreeable.”

He took her face between his hands and kissed her on both cheeks. “What time is your flight?”

“I’ve barely got time to make it.” Plagued by guilt for lying to him, she embraced him tightly. She squeezed her eyes closed and wasn’t surprised to feel tears in them. “You’re my best friend, Dad. I love you very much.”

“And I love you, Maris.” He set her away from him so he could look into her face. “More than you could ever know.”





Chapter 21


Parker answered the door. For several moments he looked at her blankly. Finally he said, “Did you forget something?”

“Very cute.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you going to ask me in?”

He hesitated as though thinking it over, then pushed his chair backward into the foyer, giving her room to step inside. “Where’s Mike?”

“He went to the mainland for groceries, toilet paper, stuff like that.”

“And left you here alone?”

“I’m not helpless,” he said in what amounted to a snarl. “I lived by myself before Mike came onboard. Besides, I’m not alone.”

He was with a woman.

Maris realized now that all the signs were there. Mike was away. Parker’s shirt was unbuttoned, and his hair was more disheveled than usual. “I’m sorry. I… I should have called before I came.”

“Yeah, you should have,” he said crossly. “But since you’ve made the trip, you might just as well come on in. We’re in here.”

He wheeled his chair around and rolled it into the dining room. Reluctantly Maris followed, wishing there were a way she could turn and run without looking like a coward. Short of that, she wished she didn’t have to meet his lady friend looking so bedraggled.

She wasn’t up to an introduction to anyone, but especially not to a woman that Parker had invited over for some afternoon delight. The skirt of her linen suit was badly wrinkled. There was a run in her stocking. The raincoat, which she had needed in New York, was as out of place here as a snorkel mask in the Sahara.