The fresh air made their appetites boundless, and Marlene was devouring the countryside with her eyes as ravenously as she was eating her brunch. “I’ve never been here in the winter,” she said finally.
He put down his fork, his interest only in her. The sunlight dappled through the trees onto her cheek, and her expression of awe made her seem twenty years younger. “It’s my favorite time to come,” he told her.
She took a bite of fruit salad and shook her head, staring at him as she chewed.
He raised a wary brow. “What is it?”
“Yet another surprise from you, Tom Sullivan. ”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re not generally the biggest talker. ”
“I’m more a man of action,” he said firmly.
She made a startled oh sound that gratified the man in him. He asked, “Is it the action part that surprises you?” He heard the huskiness in his voice and saw an answering flush on her cheeks. She seemed so uncertain, all he wanted was to wrap her in his arms and take care of things for a while.
“No,” she said slowly. “It’s that…just when I think I know you, you open your mouth and say the darndest thing. ”
“How’s this, then?” He took her hand. “Marlene Kidd Jessup, once the weather warms up, I’m bringing you here on my bike. ”
She coughed as she swallowed. “Oh goodness. I could never ride a motorcycle. ”
“Why not?”
“Why not,” she repeated, considering it. She opened her mouth, hesitated, then shut it again. “Well, I don’t know why not, precisely. ”
“You can be your own woman, Marlene. Heed your own heart. ” He was thinking of her mother’s last words, and he knew Marlene must’ve been thinking the same.
“I don’t even know how I’d go about that,” she said quietly.
“I could help you. We could figure it out together. ”
“Could we?” She sighed. “Sometimes I wonder if it’s not over for me. I’m not sure how it happened or when, but I woke up one day and I was old. And now all I have in me is to mind my aunts, nag my grown children, and wait for the years to pass. ”
“Seems to me, your aunts do a damned fine job of minding themselves. ”
“Seems that way, doesn’t it?” A grudging half smile spread across her face. “So there it is: my kids are done with me, my mother is gone, and not even my aunts need me, not really. ”
“Then you best get living for your own self. ” He wanted to touch her, to comfort her with his body. But there’d be time enough for that. He’d let her do some more grieving. Let her come to her own conclusions, get back on her own two feet. And then one day soon, he’d take Marlene, and they’d take off together.
“You’re right. ” Her eyes brightened, clearer and more vivid than he’d ever seen them. “And you’re on, Tom Sullivan. When the weather clears, we’re getting on that bike of yours. ”
Thirty-six
“I am so sorry. ” Sorrow shepherded the couple out the door, doing her best to carry thei
r suitcases with numbed fingers. Waking up to screaming tended to do that to a girl—dump adrenaline in her veins, leaving behind chilled and deadened limbs. “We’ll refund your stay, of course. ”
“You bet you will,” the woman said, looking as pinched as her buttoned-up collar.
Her husband angrily snatched back their roller bags, shoving them in the trunk of their car. “One doesn’t expect to encounter wildlife on one’s research trip. ”
Sorrow began to say, “We generally don’t get bears” but the slamming car doors cut her off.
She stomped into the kitchen, muttering, “Newsflash, Professor. One does generally encounter wildlife in the damned mountains. ”
Her mom was standing at the sink where she’d been watching the proceedings from the window. “Good Lord in heaven, that woman has a scream to wake the dead. ”