Eye of the Storm (Hudson 3)

He brightened again, again deliberately missing the point.

"I was hoping we might bury the hatchet and maybe go out or something. I'd love to take you to dinner tonight." He lifted his hands quickly, palms to me. "Nothing bad, no plans to take you to my place. I won't even kiss you good night if you don't want me to," he promised.

I was almost tempted to say yes just to be with someone my age, just to get away from all this tension and turmoil. My hesitation gave him reason to hope.

"There's this great new Italian restaurant I've found. It's small, cozy. We could sit and talk and maybe get to know each other properly. We've got a lot more in common now, you know," he added.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you're a significant landowner in the community. You've inherited some wealth. You're no longer some poor girl from the inner city dependent upon someone's charity. You're different--"

"I'm no different than I was before all this. Corbette. You think just having some money makes me a better person? Is that how you measure people?" I snapped back at him.

"No, of course not." He shook his head. "Damn, you make me think about every word I use as if we're in court or something. Maybe you should study to be an attorney."

"Maybe I will. It seems these days they're just as important as doctors used to be," I said thinking about all that was about to happen between me and my mother and aunt.

He laughed.

"Right. In a television advertisement they could say. "Lawyers, don't leave home without one.'' he recited, writing the words in the air between us. I couldn't help but smile.

"That's better. We don't have to be dueling with words."

Was I a fool to permit his sweet talk and smile to relax my defenses? Grandmother Hudson had taught me a saying early on: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

An idea occurred to me, a quick test of Corbetters sincerity.

"Maybe I don't have as much money as you think. Corbett, and maybe I'm not a landowner. Maybe everything you've heard is just an

exaggeration. Maybe I'm waiting to get my walking papers and be off, never to be seen or heard from again,"

His smile froze and then slowly evaporated. "What is the truth?" he asked.

I smiled to myself seeing how the look of uncertainty had entered those magnificent eyes and snuffed out some of their charm and glitter.

"Well," I said gazing around and lowering my voice. "I'll tell you as long as you promise not to make this the news of the day."

"Hey. I'm not a aossip."

"Good. They said I could stay here awhile as long as I kept it clean."

"Huh?"

"They actually wanted me to stay awhile and maintain it. They'll pay me, of course, and they'll even pay for my train ticket to wherever I want to go afterward, They hope to sell it in about a month. I think. Someone's got to be here to watch over it all until then and no one in Mrs. Hudson's family is willing to live here."

"Are you saying she didn't leave you a wad of money?"

"Hardly," I said laughing. "Is that what people really think?" He stared.

"Oh, she had arranged for me to return to England for another year and I'm hoping to win a scholarship for expenses, but if that doesn't happen..."

"What?"

"I have a cousin who manages a department store in Charlotte and she said she could give me a job. maybe in the cosmetic department."

"You mean you wouldn't even return to college?'"

"Not for a while. I couldn't afford it," I said. "You know how expensive college can be. and I don't have a sugar daddy. I don't have any daddy," I added, my voice sharper, my eyes narrowing.