Weekend Warriors (Sisterhood #1)(34)
“I do dream about you, darling. All the time. No, I’ve been thinking about marriage a lot since we began our little project. The main reason is, I love you. I loved you the minute I spotted you standing at the foot of Big Ben. I took your picture, remember? Then we kept meeting up at different places. Husbands and wives can’t be forced to testify against each other.”
“That’s because I was following you and the others. I was smitten the minute I saw you. I’ve always loved Americans. I can’t say I loved your parents, though. They wanted no part of me. So, you are worried about this project.”
“Anxious might be a better way of phrasing it. My parents were not a romantic couple. They were afraid you would coerce me into staying in England. That’s why they whisked me back home. The moment they found out I was pregnant they somehow managed to get Andrew Rutledge to make an honest woman of me. I regret that so deeply, Charles. I wish I had been more defiant. Andrew was a kind man, but so much older. He didn’t have a fun bone in his stodgy body. I felt terrible when he passed on. I tried to find you, to tell you we had a daughter but you were gone. I grieved for you night and day.
“I still, to this day, remember the moment the call came from your embassy asking all those questions. And then your people came to interview me and to check out our security at the candy plant. They said you would arrive in twelve hours if I agreed to hire you on and never breathe a word of it to anyone. I was so speechless I could only nod. Those twelve hours until you walked through the door were the most anxious hours of my life. You just smiled at me and all those empty years were gone.”
“I never stopped loving you, Myra.” He reached for her hand and squeezed it.
“We should have told Barbara. She grew up and died never knowing you were her father. I regret that. We should have told her, Charles.”
“No. She adored Andrew. You can’t rip a child’s world out from under them. I think in time she grew to love me as a substitute father. That was good enough for me. We’ve had a wonderful life, Myra. I have no complaints.”
“Charles, don’t you think it strange that Barbara’s beau hasn’t been in touch with us? The last time I saw him was at her funeral.”
“Ben did call, Myra, many times during that first year, but you were so wrapped up in your grief you would just nod when I told you. Ben Gerrity is a fine young man. He moved to New York shortly after…after the funeral. He works for Goldman Sachs in the city and is doing well. In fact, he’s getting married in June to a lovely young girl who is a physician’s assistant to an OBGYN doctor. They’re going to live in Bronxville in an old Tudor house.”
“How do you know all this, Charles?” Myra asked in amazement.
Charles smiled. “I made it my business to find out. It wasn’t that hard. I knew you would eventually get around to asking me and I wanted to have the answers for you.”
“Whatever would I do without you, Charles?”
“For starters, you’d have to learn to cook. You’d muddle through, Myra.”
“You’ll be leaving in the morning. Isabelle left on a four o’clock flight. I’ll be all alone here worrying myself to death.”
“Nikki will be here, Myra. I gave her enough to do to keep her busy for weeks. She’s such a quick study. You tell her once and she grasps it immediately. By the time this first case is over, she will have complete dossiers and files on each case. She’s worried about Jack Emery. I have to admit I have some doubts myself where he is concerned. I think it was a stroke of genius on your part, Myra, when you had Isabelle draw up plans for remodeling the bathrooms upstairs. You even took it upon yourself to order four bathtubs, four vanities, four toilets and four shower inserts, not to mention the toilet seats, and store them in the garage. That covers us as far as Jack seeing Kathryn’s truck parked here. However, my darling, you goofed up when you said the driver was a man. If he had the presence of mind to run a check on the license plate, he’ll know it was a woman. Unless the plate and truck are registered in Alan’s name.” He slapped at his forehead. “How could I have let that get past me? How, Myra?”
“A senior moment?” Myra quipped. “Nikki’s heart is breaking, Charles, and I feel responsible. If it wasn’t for Marie Lewellen, Jack might have put the ring on her finger by now.”
“You can’t think like that, Myra, nor can you blame yourself. It’s better she finds out now how power hungry Jack Emery is and to what lengths he’ll go to achieve that power he craves. Sex,” Charles said, looking up at the ceiling, “isn’t everything.”
“How long do you think he’ll keep at it before he gives up on Marie Lewellen, Charles?”
“People like Jack never give up. The Lewellens are safe where they are in the Amish country. In a month’s time they’ll adapt. It’s as good as it gets, Myra.”
“I’m going to miss you. What should I do while you’re all gone? If I just sit here and think, I’ll go out of my mind.”
“You could act on what Yoko told you on the phone last night about Kathryn and her little dream house. Or, you can see what you can do about buying back Alexis’s house for her. On the other hand, my dear, you could do both. Vienna or Fairfax would be a nice area for Kathryn. You might want to think about possibly going a little further out to Culpepper. More land out that way. I’m not sure about water. If necessary you could build her a pond and put some ducks in it.”