This seemed to be my day for exaggeration. I was far from over Brad, but I had to pretend otherwise.
He hesitated, as if he didn’t know what to say.
“I’m dating again and … well, the two of us ignoring each other like this is silly.” The dating part was an outright lie. I was nowhere near ready for a new relationship.
“Anyone I know?” Brad asked.
I shook my head, unwilling to lie further. I’m not very good at it—and it’s not really a skill I hope to develop. I knew that if he questioned Margaret she’d cover for me, but I doubted he’d approach her; she’d been curt with him ever since our breakup. “If Cody wants to phone, please let him.”
This time, Brad didn’t meet my eyes. “He’s been asking to, but I wasn’t sure …”
“Like I said, I don’t want to make Janice uncomfortable.”
“I doubt she’ll mind.”
I gave him a slight, though genuine, smile. Being separated from Cody had been so hard, and the opportunity to at least speak to him lightened my heart. “I’ll look forward to hearing from him, then,” I said, as if we were no more than business acquaintances. That was all we ever would be, now that Janice was back in his life.
“Have a good day,” he said automatically—as if I were just like any other customer.
“Thanks,” I whispered, returning to the safety of my yarn store. Not until I turned the lock and retreated to my office did I realize how badly my hands shook.
This had been an eventful Monday for me. I’d received a bank loan, helped my sister and lied to the man I loved.
26
CHAPTER
ELISE BEAUMONT
Elise had never learned to drive. A driver’s license was good for ID purposes, but hardly necessary. Seattle had perfectly good public transportation. The bus generally got her wherever she needed to go, and on rare occasions, Aurora would drive her or she’d take a taxi.
That all changed with Maverick’s arrival. He was more than willing to drive her anywhere she wanted. Then he’d wait for her with limitless patience. For the past two weeks, he’d sat outside the yarn store while she attended her knitting class. She spoke so often about Bethanne, Courtney and Lydia that he knew almost as much about her friends as she did. She shared her concerns about Bethanne’s job and her hopes that Courtney’s senior year would be a good one. She’d also told him about Jacqueline, with whom she’d now attended two Birthday Club lunches.
“Let’s go for a ride,” he suggested Friday afternoon when they’d finished lunch.
Aurora, David and the boys were on a rare family outing to the Woodland Park Zoo. It was just the two of them, Maverick and Elise.
“A ride where?” she asked. No longer did she avoid his company and, in fact, she often sought him out. No longer did she instinctively distrust him—although she never forgot that he was a gambler. She didn’t like it, feared he wouldn’t be able to keep his promise, but decided to enjoy whatever time she had with him before he gave in to his compulsion again.
She did love to hear his stories, though. While she didn’t approve of gambling, she had to admit the tales of his exploits intrigued her. He’d been all over the world, to Europe, to Australia, to the Caribbean. He’d gambled in many of those places, but he’d also experienced real adventures—a boat trip down the Nile, driving through the Australian Outback, being briefly—and erroneously—arrested in Paris. He’d met famous people and told her anecdotes about them. Elise found she could listen to him for hours. She envied, just a little, his emotional extravagance. Unlike Maverick, Elise had always been cautious and frugal, with her money and her life.
The ideal way to live, she thought, was probably a combination of his approach and hers….
“I was thinking it might be nice to take a drive to the mountains,” Maverick said. “It’s been years since I went up to Mount Rainier.”
Elise frowned. “It’s a little late in the day for that, don’t you think?”
“Nah. Come on, Elise, aren’t you bored sitting around the house knitting?”
She bristled. “I happen to enjoy my knitting, thank you very much.”
“Bring it with you. You can knit in the car, can’t you?”
“I … I suppose.” Suddenly, she didn’t want to yield to his plans. She no longer seemed to have any resistance to him, and that frightened her. “I believe I’ll pass, but thank you for thinking of me,” she said stiffly.
Maverick grew quiet then, his disappointment unmistakable. He washed his lunch plate and tucked it inside the dishwasher. Then he disappeared for a few minutes, returning with a spy novel he’d been reading, and sat down in the family room off the kitchen.
As she wiped the counters, Elise glared at him. She refused to let him manipulate her.
“You can go without me, you know,” she told him.
Maverick lowered his book and glanced at her over his reading glasses. “I know.” He went back to his novel, apparently engrossed in the plot.
With Maverick reading, Elise walked down the hallway to her room and reached for her knitting. She was finished with the first sock and working on the second one. On Tuesday she’d purchased yarn for another pair of socks; these, she’d knit for her daughter.
She finished two complete rounds until, with a disgusted sigh, she set her knitting aside and marched into the family room. “Oh, all right. I’ll go.”
His face broke into a broad smile. “I hoped you’d come around.”
He’d blatantly used guilt to get his own way—and she’d let him. He was quite a master of manipulation; with barely a word, he’d coerced her into doing exactly what he wanted.
Within ten minutes, they were in the car and on their way out of the city, heading toward Mount Rainier National Park. Although Maverick had suggested it, Elise didn’t bring her knitting. She had enough to concentrate on.
Maverick was a fascinating conversationalist, able to talk about anything, able to switch topics instantly. This was a gift she didn’t have and one her ex-husband often used to ensnare his opponent on the other side of the gaming table. At least, according to his stories …
“I want you to tell me what happened,” he said as they continued down the two-lane highway that led to the park.
“If you’re referring to the debacle with the house, then let me inform you, the subject is closed.” She couldn’t bear the idea of exposing her foolishness to his scrutiny.
“Will you be okay financially?”
“Of course I will, once the lawsuit is settled.” She felt irritated that he was asking her these awkward questions now, while she was virtually his captive. The only thing she could do was change the subject. “I don’t remember the last time I was up in Paradise,” she murmured, staring out the window. Maverick was a skillful driver and the scenery was breathtaking.
“I do,” Maverick said, shooting her a look. “I’ll bet you remember, too. We were on our honeymoon.”
She swallowed tightly. Time to change the subject again. “You were gone this Wednesday. For several hours.”
“I had personal business and before you ask, I wasn’t gambling. You have my word on that.”
She shouldn’t have brought it up, and regretted that she had.
“Paradise was a misnomer,” she said after a stilted pause. “Our honeymoon was ruined by those dreadful mice.”
Maverick burst out laughing.
“It