asking. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
Mollified, I settled back against him. We sat quietly, the only noise Whiskers’s purring. Curt started playing with my hair, his fingers killing the mousse effect. Soon I’d be a flathead. Well, he might as well get used to it. I looked a lot worse in the morning. I relaxed and enjoyed.
“I got a call from the art institute today,” he said.
So much for relaxation. “Um?” I thought I sounded noncommittal and neutral.
“They want to interview me next week.”
I sat up and turned to face him. “And you’re going?”
“Of course.”
I thought I detected a wariness underneath. What did he think I’d do, throw a tantrum at the very idea? Well, I might have felt like it, but I had too much class. Besides, I was too busy trying to figure out how to show him that Pittsburgh was much better for us than North Carolina.
Where was Jolene when I needed her? She was great at stuff like getting her way.
“This is so last minute, the tickets’ll cost the school a fortune.” Which meant they really must want him, I thought without pleasure.
He shrugged. “That’s their problem. I’m just glad we don’t have to pay for them.”
We don’t have to pay? Consciously or unconsciously he’d hit on just the right word. We. He wouldn’t accept the job in North Carolina if I didn’t want him to because we were a we. So what was the harm in visiting? Let him see the place and get it out of his system.
I took a deep breath. “Okay, go and check the place out.” I hoped he was impressed with my magnanimous spirit. “But don’t make any commitments, okay?”
Curt nodded. “I wouldn’t without your input and agreement.”
I nodded and tried to push my niggling fear to the back of my mind. It wouldn’t stay there, so I voiced it. “What if we never reach an agreement?”
He was quiet for a minute, thinking it over. “I could always say I’m the head of the family and you have to do as I say.”
“Now that’d really make me feel loved.”
“Mmm. Whatever happened to ‘Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God’?”
Dirty pool, pulling out scripture, but I wasn’t thrown. I had a good answer which just proves there’s a lot to be gained from listening in church. “That quote from the book of Ruth is a daughter-in-law talking to her mother-in-law. It’s not a wife to her husband even if lots of people do use it at their weddings.”
He looked at me with my smug smile. “You’re too smart for my own good.”
“And don’t you forget it, bucko.” I kissed him. “Now, when you get home from North Carolina, we’ll make a list of good and bad for both places.”
He sighed and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. He didn’t like lists nearly as much as I did.
“All right,” he finally said. “We’ll make a list.” He turned his dark gaze to me. “But don’t think that just because I love you, I’m going to cave and agree to move west. This opportunity may be too good for me to pass up.”
I looked at him and knew he meant what he said. There was no way I was going to cajole him into doing what I wanted just because it was what I wanted. Even Jolene lessons wouldn’t be of any help here.
Oh, Lord, You’re going to have to break him for me.
TWELVE
W hen I got up on Thursday morning, I pulled on white slacks and a navy blouse with a sailor collar that was piped in white. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen anyone over five wear a sailor collar, but I liked it, so who cared? It made me feel jaunty, like a yachtsman standing before the great chrome wheel, my feet planted wide on a teak deck.
While I ate a little tub of strawberry-banana yogurt and crunched a piece of my Jewish rye washed down with Diet Coke, I planned my day. First, visit the police station to seek the latest on Martha. Then begin work on the Tony Compton piece and set up a time to get a picture of him
Mollified, I settled back against him. We sat quietly, the only noise Whiskers’s purring. Curt started playing with my hair, his fingers killing the mousse effect. Soon I’d be a flathead. Well, he might as well get used to it. I looked a lot worse in the morning. I relaxed and enjoyed.
“I got a call from the art institute today,” he said.
So much for relaxation. “Um?” I thought I sounded noncommittal and neutral.
“They want to interview me next week.”
I sat up and turned to face him. “And you’re going?”
“Of course.”
I thought I detected a wariness underneath. What did he think I’d do, throw a tantrum at the very idea? Well, I might have felt like it, but I had too much class. Besides, I was too busy trying to figure out how to show him that Pittsburgh was much better for us than North Carolina.
Where was Jolene when I needed her? She was great at stuff like getting her way.
“This is so last minute, the tickets’ll cost the school a fortune.” Which meant they really must want him, I thought without pleasure.
He shrugged. “That’s their problem. I’m just glad we don’t have to pay for them.”
We don’t have to pay? Consciously or unconsciously he’d hit on just the right word. We. He wouldn’t accept the job in North Carolina if I didn’t want him to because we were a we. So what was the harm in visiting? Let him see the place and get it out of his system.
I took a deep breath. “Okay, go and check the place out.” I hoped he was impressed with my magnanimous spirit. “But don’t make any commitments, okay?”
Curt nodded. “I wouldn’t without your input and agreement.”
I nodded and tried to push my niggling fear to the back of my mind. It wouldn’t stay there, so I voiced it. “What if we never reach an agreement?”
He was quiet for a minute, thinking it over. “I could always say I’m the head of the family and you have to do as I say.”
“Now that’d really make me feel loved.”
“Mmm. Whatever happened to ‘Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God’?”
Dirty pool, pulling out scripture, but I wasn’t thrown. I had a good answer which just proves there’s a lot to be gained from listening in church. “That quote from the book of Ruth is a daughter-in-law talking to her mother-in-law. It’s not a wife to her husband even if lots of people do use it at their weddings.”
He looked at me with my smug smile. “You’re too smart for my own good.”
“And don’t you forget it, bucko.” I kissed him. “Now, when you get home from North Carolina, we’ll make a list of good and bad for both places.”
He sighed and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. He didn’t like lists nearly as much as I did.
“All right,” he finally said. “We’ll make a list.” He turned his dark gaze to me. “But don’t think that just because I love you, I’m going to cave and agree to move west. This opportunity may be too good for me to pass up.”
I looked at him and knew he meant what he said. There was no way I was going to cajole him into doing what I wanted just because it was what I wanted. Even Jolene lessons wouldn’t be of any help here.
Oh, Lord, You’re going to have to break him for me.
TWELVE
W hen I got up on Thursday morning, I pulled on white slacks and a navy blouse with a sailor collar that was piped in white. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen anyone over five wear a sailor collar, but I liked it, so who cared? It made me feel jaunty, like a yachtsman standing before the great chrome wheel, my feet planted wide on a teak deck.
While I ate a little tub of strawberry-banana yogurt and crunched a piece of my Jewish rye washed down with Diet Coke, I planned my day. First, visit the police station to seek the latest on Martha. Then begin work on the Tony Compton piece and set up a time to get a picture of him
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