tuff in newspapers and magazines.”
“Ah.” He sounded almost disappointed. “So you weren’t talking about me.”
“Of course not—that would be unprofessional. We’re going climbing again on Saturday morning at nine thirty. Want to come?”
“Nine thirty in the morning? You’re starting early.”
“I’ve got a busy day planned. We have breakfast before that, and lunch after, and then we’re going to MOMA and trying for tickets to a play Saturday night. Sunday we’re going to visit as many sites as possible. You know, Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, whatever we can fit into the schedule. And Sunday night we’re eating with Gram.”
“What play are you going to see?”
“Whatever we can get three cheap tickets for at the discount place. We’d love to see one of the popular ones, but we’ll take anything we can get. As long as it isn’t raunchy.” Without warning, Anne’s stomach made a huge gurgling noise.
“Sounds like you need dinner.” Gherring sighed. “Was that a genuine offer to help with Jeff’s work? I’ll have to pull most of it off his computer, and first I’ll have to find it. I’m sure he wouldn’t be cooperative and helpful if I called him to ask about it.”
“Yes, it was a real offer, and the good news is I’ve got a lot of the info right here,” she pointed to the file folder on her desk.
“Then I guess we should order something to eat and get to it.”
At nine forty-five, Anne was sifting through the papers spread out among half-empty Chinese take-out boxes, when Gherring let out a moan.
“Ughh! That’s enough for tonight. Let’s go home and tackle this in the morning.”
Anne pushed her disheveled mane out of her face. “Sounds like a good idea. My eyes are starting to cross.”
Gherring called for his car as Anne started organizing the mess. “Why don’t you leave that? We’ll be back here in the morning.”
“No, I need to sort these things into organized stacks. Otherwise we won’t be able to find anything tomorrow, and we’ll waste a lot of time.”
By the time they made it to the lobby, the limousine was waiting.
“I noticed this time you didn’t argue about riding home with me.”
“I’m too tired to argue,” she moaned. “And afraid to use the subway alone at night.”
“I’m glad you weren’t stubborn about it. This time I would’ve had to put my foot down.”
“Well,” she said in an exaggerated country drawl, “I’dduh been fine, if’n I’dduh had muh shotgun wit’ me!”
Gherring laughed. “I would’ve liked seeing Jeff’s face this afternoon if you’d pulled out a shotgun.” He chuckled some more. “Did you see his expression when you told him about using a meat cleaver on him?” He laughed again.
Anne chuckled at the memory, but abruptly sobered. “Mr. Gherring…” she saw the irritation on his face at the salutation, but ignored it. “Tell me the truth. Do you think I was leading Jeff on? It’s so hard to know what to say to guys. I didn’t want to be rude. But he always made me feel uncomfortable. Maybe I just need a little thicker skin. I don’t know.”
“Stop right there.” Gherring’s expression turned dark. “You’re always making excuses for people’s behaviors because you want to believe the best about them. You’ve got to realize not everyone deserves that trust you dole out so blindly.”
“I know you’re probably right, but I think it’ll be a sad day when everyone I meet has to earn my trust, instead of a few earning my distrust.”
Gherring’s gaze was intense. “I never thought of it that way, but you’re right. I’d hate for you to lose that. But it means you need someone to watch out for you, to keep you safe.”
She contemplated his words. “Maybe. But after fifteen years of getting by on my own, I’m not sure I could ever let someone do that.”
“I know what you mean. Try fifty years…”
Yikes! She hadn’t meant to discourage him about the prospect of having a serious relationship. But maybe it meant he recognized he’d been alone too long. He might be ready for a change. Maybe tomorrow night when he went to the benefit with Sharon Landry, he would realize how empty he felt. Anne wondered at the knot that formed in her throat when she thought about Gherring and Sharon together. Probably fatigue from such a long day.
The car let them off at the apartment building, and they dragged themselves inside and over to the elevator.
“So promise you won’t fall asleep outside anymore. I don’t want to have to go up on the roof every night to make sure it’s empty.”