Follow a Stranger

“Aren’t I important, then?” she asked.

He looked embarrassed. “Oh, I’m very fond of you, of

course, you know that! We’re engaged, aren’t we? What’s

the point of these questions, Kate?”

“Never mind your damned temple,” she snapped,

suddenly angry. “Listen to me for a moment. You don’t love

me, Peter. You are, as you said, mildly fond of me, but if I

vanished tomorrow, I doubt if you would even notice.”

“Oh, really,” he said crossly, “how like a woman to try to

put everything on a personal level! Can’t you think of

anything but yourself? This is a crisis in my life. I need your

help, and you’re trying to make me pay for it with

declarations of undying passion, I suppose.”

Kate was so angry she could hardly speak for a moment.

“I’m doing nothing of the kind! I only want a little honesty

between us. I’m trying to be honest with you.”

He looked at her, then, with more awareness. “Oh, I get

it! You want to break off our engagement? You’ve found

someone else?”

“No!” she said roughly, “I haven’t found anyone. I just ...

want to sort things out honestly.”

“You do want to end things, though?” he asked.

She hesitated. “Oh, yes,” she said on a quick breath.

“Yes, I do. I don’t love you. I’m fond of you, but I don’t really

love you.”

He shrugged. “Well, now that’s settled, can we talk about

the temple?”

She glared at him. “You don’t give a damn, do you,

Peter?” She pulled off her ring and threw it at him. He

caught it awkwardly, looked at it with amazement and