CHAPTER TWELVE
NIKI HARDLY TASTED what she was eating. Blair was quiet and morose. Guilt was written all over him. He blamed himself for crossing the line with her. But she’d invited that. She wanted a child, but only because it would have been his—because she loved him. Perhaps he thought any man would have done for that. She’d never confessed how she felt about him. She was afraid to.
But he didn’t love her. She was sure of it. He’d slept with her not because he was in love with her, but because he’d been drinking and he wanted her. He’d wanted her for a long time. He’d been her best friend. Now he was something else: her lover.
She’d sacrificed all her principles to a man’s lust. She was ashamed of herself.
“You aren’t eating,” Blair said curtly.
She looked down at the perfect omelet with hash brown potatoes and toast. For some reason the omelet turned her stomach.
“I thought you liked omelets,” he persisted. He was having pancakes with bacon. He hated eggs.
“I do. I’m just worried, that’s all,” she assured him.
“At least nibble on the toast, will you?” he persisted.
She drew in a breath. “I don’t want to go do the CT scan.”
“Neither do I, but you can’t run away from life. You have to face it, with all its unpleasantness.”
She managed a smile. “I guess so.”
He sipped coffee, frowning. “We’ve got several hours to kill. Suppose we go out to the battlefield.”
“It’s a long way, isn’t it?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Not so far. We’ll take the limo and give the tourists a treat,” he added with a forced smile. “How about it?”
“I’d like that.”
“Put your inhaler in your pocket,” he said firmly.
She drew in a breath, and her gray eyes smiled at him. “It’s already there.”
He nodded.
* * *
IT WAS A long drive to Hardin, Montana, near where both the Crow Reservation and the Northern Cheyenne Reservation were located, but Jameson made excellent time on the long, lonely road. It was a sunny, pretty day. The scenery, while monotonous in some areas, was beautiful. Neither of them noticed. They were dreading the time ahead.
Hardin was known as the City with a Reason. The reason, given in an early twentieth-century brochure, was progress, due to its being a shipping point for agriculture. Niki thought it was charming. The Little Bighorn battlefield was only fifteen miles away.
Blair locked Niki’s fingers into his as they walked slowly up the hill to the Little Big Horn monument.
“After the battle, Custer and his men were hastily buried in shallow graves. Predators and the heat made identification a very messy business. They marked Custer’s grave with a tent and blankets and rocks, but the year after the battle, when his body was to be transferred to West Point, the tent and blankets and other markings were gone. The first time they thought they had Custer’s body, the identification was questioned. The second time they were pretty sure they got it right. A hank of red-gold hair was still attached to the skull, and Libby Custer identified it as exactly the color of her husband’s.
“The bodies were scattered by predators, weren’t they?” she asked, recalling the television special she’d watched.
“Yes. So they allegedly buried Custer at West Point,” Blair pointed out. “But they could only find a few bones, and I think they weren’t even positive that they were all his. So probably pieces of him are still here, along with the men who followed him.”
She turned to him. “What do you think really happened?”
“I think he was killed very early in the battle, probably when he and a few men charged across the river into the village. One of the Cheyenne said that a white officer fell in the river, and his men carried him up the hill, to the last stand. Logically, if the officer hadn’t been Custer, they’d have left him in the river. Natives were charging the soldiers from all sides. It doesn’t make sense that they’d risk being killed to recover a body, unless it was their commander’s and they didn’t think he was dead.”
She nodded. Her eyes swept over the rolling countryside. The wind blew constantly. “It’s so lonely here.”
He smiled, and his fingers tightened around hers. “Not so much,” he teased, indicating dozens of people milling around the monument, taking photos and wandering along the trail that led through the battleground itself.
She leaned against him with a sigh. “It’s still lonely here.”
He let go of her hand and slid his arm around her, holding her close. “On June 25, 1876, it was a very busy place. Echoes of the day of the battle reach even into our time.”
“Dad says we had a cousin who fought here.”
He chuckled. “I had a distant cousin who fought here, as well.” He leaned down. “But mine was Cheyenne. I imagine yours was on the other side.”
She laughed softly. “I imagine so. Cheyenne?”
He nodded. “One of my French ancestors married into the tribe.”
“Were your ancestors fur trappers?”
“That, and mountain men.”
She stared out over the battleground. “I’m glad I wasn’t here when this happened. I can only imagine how the wives felt. And to leave the men lying out here, all that time, away from their families who loved them...” She broke off. “Poor Mrs. Custer, waiting for them to send her husband’s remains back home, and not even sure they had them right.”
“It was a different time, and far away from the sensitivities of people in power.”
“Archaeologists have made a lot of discoveries in the past few years,” she said. “I watched a special about it on television.”
“I don’t watch television,” he chuckled. “I buy DVDs. I hate commercials.”
“But how do you know which products to buy, if you don’t watch the commercials?” she teased, looking up at him. “You could miss out on something earth-shattering!”
He brushed his mouth over her forehead. “I had something earth-shattering last night,” he whispered, and when he lifted his head, he wasn’t smiling. “The most beautiful, erotic experience of my entire life, Niki. I’ll remember it until I die.”
The words touched her. “So will I,” she said, and then recalled that it might not be that long, in her case.
“Don’t worry so much,” he said, tugging her closer. “We’ll handle it. Whatever happens, we’re in this together.”
She laid her cheek on his broad chest and closed her eyes. “Okay.”
* * *
JAMESON DROVE THEM back to the hospital in Billings. Niki was taken to radiology, where she put on a gown in place of her blouse and bra, and the technician went to work. It only took a few minutes.
When she was done, she went back out to Blair in the waiting room. He slid an arm around her. “Finished?”
“Yes,” she said. “I filled out all the paperwork before they took me back,” she reminded him. “They said the doctor would contact me later with the results.”
He grimaced. The next few hours were going to be a nightmare.
They walked around town and went into shops, just looking at things. Blair was preoccupied.
Niki paused at the baby department of a department store and winced. When she saw Blair’s expression, she slid her small hand into his and drew him away from it, back to the sheets and pillowcase aisle. His expression had told her things she didn’t want to know. She wanted a baby, but he was just making the best of it. Nothing had hurt quite so much.
He didn’t say anything, but the set of his features was eloquent as he let her pull him along with her.
She looked at a pretty comforter on the shelf, and suddenly she remembered something he’d told her once, when they were at Yellowstone.
She turned and looked up at him, horrified. “You said Elise smiled, all through it,” she said, flushing. “Your first time together, I mean.”
He nodded. In spite of his misery, he smiled. “And now you understand, don’t you?”
“She didn’t feel a thing,” she said.
“No. I don’t think she ever did. At times, it was like she forced herself to be with me.” His face hardened. “My pride could only take so much of that, so we spent most of our marriage apart.”
Niki couldn’t imagine a woman who wouldn’t want him in bed. He was everything she’d ever dreamed of. The memory of the pleasure they’d shared still echoed in her body as she stood close beside him.
He lifted an eyebrow. “Why are you staring at me?” he teased.
“I was thinking she had to be crazy,” she said.
He lifted both eyebrows. “Why?”
“Not to have stayed with you,” she explained. She averted her eyes to his chest. “You’re a wonderful lover,” she whispered unsteadily.
His chest swelled with pride at the words. He knew that she’d enjoyed him; it had been obvious. But it was nice to hear it, as well. He drew her head to his chest and closed his eyes. “So are you, sweetheart,” he whispered back.
“I didn’t know a thing.”
He lifted his head and searched her soft gray eyes. “What you know doesn’t matter. It’s what you feel that matters.”
She drew in a shaky breath. “I could live on last night for the rest of my life,” she confessed.
He touched her mouth with his forefinger and groaned inwardly. He didn’t want to think about what might lay ahead of them. If he lost her now, he might as well be buried beside her. He had no reason to stay alive if Niki wasn’t somewhere in the world.
“Niki,” he began slowly, just as the phone vibrated madly in its holder on his belt. “Just a sec.” He pulled it out, checked the number, grimaced and answered it. “Coleman,” he said. He waited, hesitated. He stared at Niki as if he’d had a revelation. “Yes. Of course. We’ll be right there.”
He hung up. “It’s Trevor. He wants us to come back to the hospital right now.”
“Oh, dear,” she began worriedly.
“He says he has good news,” he replied. His face lit up. He picked her up and whirled her around in his arms, laughing. “He says it’s not cancer, honey.”
“Oh, my gosh!” she exclaimed.
He kissed her hungrily, right there in the middle of the store. It was such a relief. He put her down quickly, though, before other shoppers paid too much attention to them. He caught her hand. “Let’s go!”
* * *
DR. TREVOR MANNHEIM was waiting for them at the front desk. He took them into the hospital administrator’s office, a courtesy from the administrator himself, and closed the door behind them.
“Okay, this is what we’ve got,” he said, and began to speak. “You’ve got a tiny nodule in your right lung, the size of a BB, which I’ve seen very often in my practice. It’s almost always benign,” he chuckled, “and unlikely to grow. We’ll need to keep a check on it, CT scans annually. But I’d bet my life that it will never be anything to worry about.” He looked at Niki, who was beaming, and shook a finger at her. “And that, young lady, is why we have diagnostic tests, so people won’t worry themselves to death about possibilities.”
She hugged him, shyly. “Thank you for my life.”
He flushed bright red, then laughed. “You’re very welcome.” He shook hands with Blair. “I wish I had time to take you out for drinks and talk about old times.” He checked his watch. “But I have a consultation coming up on a test that had a very different result than this one. I have to head home.”
“My jet’s fueled and waiting at the airport for you,” Blair said. “Thanks, Trevor. You don’t know how grateful I am.”
“Oh, I have some small idea,” the older man chuckled when he saw the way Blair looked at the young woman beside him. “Take care.”
“You, too.”
* * *
BLAIR TOOK NIKI back to the house, with Jameson at the wheel of the limo. They ate lunch in the dining room, but neither of them was talkative.
“I need to take you home,” Blair said quietly.
She looked up, wincing. “What? Why?”
He pushed his plate aside and lifted his coffee to his mouth. It burned his tongue, but the pain made it easier to say what he needed to say. “I got drunk and did something I never should have with you. I’m sorry. It should never have happened.” He ground his teeth together at her expression. “You’re going to be fine now. You got a second chance. Now you have to do something with your life.”
“You don’t want me?” she faltered.
His eyes closed. “No.” Lying through his teeth. Of course he wanted her to stay. But he was back where he’d been before, with the age difference killing his conscience. That, and the very real possibility that he was sterile. After all, Elise had never gotten pregnant with him. Niki wanted a child so much! He drew in a steadying breath and stared into her eyes. “I’m too old for you. That hasn’t changed, even though I’m over the moon that you don’t have something fatal.”
“I see.” She toyed with her coffee cup. “And you don’t...want something permanent with me.”
“That’s exactly it,” he said. He averted his eyes. “I’ve been thinking about Elise lately. She needs help. I still think she’s being blackmailed. I want to go and see her and find out what’s going on.”
She swallowed the last of her coffee. “You still love her, don’t you?” she accused with her eyes on the table. “But she didn’t want you, in bed...”
“That could change,” he lied. He wanted to make her leave. He had to make her leave. Now she had hope; she had a future. He’d had his one perfect night with her. He could live on it forever. But she was young. She needed a man who was her age. She’d wanted him, been curious about him as a lover. That had been wonderful. But it wasn’t enough. He couldn’t give her a child. She’d tire of him. She’d walk away. He could only give her half a life, and he’d be left bleeding to death inside as he was forced to give her up to someone younger. He knew that was in the cards, even if she didn’t. He had to let her go.
She drew in a long breath and forced a smile to her lips. “Don’t worry, I won’t try to make you feel guilty. Thanks for taking care of me, and for calling Dr. Mannheim in to consult.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I guess I’ll go home and go back to work, then,” she said.
She looked at him with aching need but turned her eyes away before he could see it. She went to the guest room to pack. She tried not to think of what had happened in his bedroom last night, of the terrible, sweet glory of fulfillment. He’d wanted her violently. She’d almost thought it was love. But he’d said once that he could take her and walk away without regret. Maybe she could learn how that worked. She had no other choice.
* * *
SHE WAS BACK at home in hours, driven there by Jameson in the limousine and deposited at her front door. Her father met her at the door and hugged her half to death.
“You idiot!” he raged. “Why didn’t you tell me what was going on?”
“I was scared to death. I didn’t want you to be worried until I knew what I was up against. Blair has this wonderful friend...”
“I know. He called me on the way to France,” he added, “and told me the whole story.”
“France?” she asked.
“He’s going to see Elise.” He let her go and his jaw hardened. “Damned fool. She’ll chew him up and spit him out all over again. He should just leave her alone and let her handle her own problems.”
“He thinks she needs help,” Niki said wanly. “You know how he is.”
“Yes, I do. Well, he’s a grown man. I guess he has to live his own life. I had hoped...” He broke off with a smile. “No matter. I’m just glad you’re home and all right.”
“So am I.”
Edna came out of the kitchen, beaming when she saw Niki. She hugged her. “You should have told us!” she cried.
“Well, I’m fine now, so it’s water under the bridge,” she assured the older woman. “What are you cooking? I’m starved! Jameson fed us a nice lunch, but that was hours ago.”
“I have beef stew and homemade strawberry ice cream,” Edna said smugly. “It’s a celebration, isn’t it? So I fixed your favorite foods.”
Niki hugged her harder. “Oh, it’s so good to be home!”
* * *
IT WAS GOOD to be home. But strange things were happening to her. By the end of the second week, she couldn’t bear to look at an egg, cooked or uncooked. She felt nauseous at the oddest times. And she was so sleepy that she could hardly stay awake.
She was sure it was some virus she’d picked up, so she ignored the symptoms. She went to work during the day and helped Edna at home or watched television with her father in the evenings. A new man had taken Dan Brady’s position in the office. He was nice, but he had a fiancée. Niki was glad. She didn’t want to date anyone anymore. Not at all.
Tex drove her back and forth to work while her car was being serviced.
“You’re sure quiet these days,” he teased.
She laughed. “I’ve grown old,” she returned, gray eyes twinkling.
“Is that what it is?” He stopped to make a turn onto the main highway. “We’re all happy that you got a good diagnosis on that test,” he added. “Lots of worried people around here, until we knew you were going to be all right.”
She smiled. “Thanks, Tex.”
“What are friends for?” he asked.
She leaned her head back with a sigh and closed her eyes. “Wake me up when we get there, if I nod off,” she murmured. “I can’t seem to stay awake these days.”
He laughed. “Lot of that going around. We’ve been moving bulls to summer pasture. Hard work and long hours. Nobody complains about insomnia, that’s for sure.”
“I’ll bet.”
He hesitated. “You been moving bulls to summer pasture, too?” he asked with a grin.
“Feels like it.” She smiled, but she didn’t open her eyes. She was trying not to think about Blair, and failing miserably. He’d made it clear that he didn’t want her. She had to come to grips with the fact that he was never going to want her, except in bed.
Her conscience bothered her about that night. There were extenuating circumstances, but she felt guilty just the same. She’d lived by the rules all her life. Now that she’d broken a major one, she was uneasy. She wished with all her heart that there had been a baby made out of that perfect interlude, but Blair had said it would be a long shot.
It was probably for the best that she didn’t get pregnant, since he didn’t want commitment. It wouldn’t have been fair to force a child he didn’t want into his life. Especially now that he was thinking about going back to Elise.
She remembered how much he’d loved Elise at first, how happy he’d been when they became engaged. Niki thought he’d never really stopped loving her. She knew how that felt. She was never going to stop loving Blair. But she could learn to live without him. She had no choice.
* * *
ELISE STARED AT Blair with horror. “What do you mean, who’s...who’s blackmailing me?” she stammered, flushing.
“You know what I mean. Spill it.”
She bit her lower lip. She was beautiful, and she knew it. Usually she teased and cajoled him, but he’d taken the wind out of her sails the minute they sat down in this exclusive restaurant.
She grimaced. The waiter came to take their drink orders and passed out menus. When he’d gone, Elise looked at him over the table with set features. “It’s a woman,” she confessed miserably. “She’s threatening to go to the producer and, well, tell him things. He’s very religious, rigid in his views...”
“Tell him what things?” he asked. She hesitated. “Come on,” he said quietly. “You know I never tell anything I know.”
She swallowed. The waiter was back with drinks. She took her martini, thanked him and drank the whole thing down in almost one gulp. Blair, nursing a whiskey and soda, stared at her in surprise.
“You must have guessed,” she muttered. “I mean, you had to know that I didn’t really care for it when we went to bed together.”
“I knew.”
She let out a long breath. “I don’t like men. Not that way. I never have.” She averted her eyes. “I was trying to get someone out of my system. You were smart and rich and sexy, and I thought I’d try it with a man. But I just couldn’t do it.” She sighed. “I wish I could have been what you wanted me to be. I was selfish and cruel.”
He moved his water glass around on the tablecloth. “I hoped you might want to stay with me, at first.” He smiled. “I kept thinking you might get pregnant and it would settle you down.”
“There was no hope of that. I was on the pill,” she confessed, oblivious to his shocked expression. “I don’t want children. I never did. It must have occurred to you that I never missed my monthly while we were together.”
Elise was too absorbed in her misery to see the shock her revelation had caused in the man across from her.
He sipped water that he didn’t even want. “When you never got pregnant, I thought I might be sterile,” he bit off.
“That was unlikely. I just made sure that I couldn’t conceive. I knew we wouldn’t be together for long.” She swallowed. “I don’t like men. I like women,” she confessed without looking at him. “I knew when I was ten. My father beat me up when he found out. He was horrified that someone might know the truth. I had to hide it until I left home.”
He nodded. “You’re a lesbian.”
She was shocked and couldn’t hide it. “You knew?”
“Yes. I hired a private detective to investigate you. The day the divorce was final, he gave me his report.” He didn’t add that he’d gone half-crazy at the revelation and gotten drunk. That was when Niki had come with her father to take him home with them. He’d never told them why he was so upset.
“I couldn’t tell you. I’ve hidden it all my life. I thought I could try to be what my family wanted me to be, with you. But I couldn’t. I just...didn’t feel anything. This woman, I loved her. Loved her more than anything in the world. We were together for two years. Then she got killed in a car wreck and I was lost in my grief. That’s when I met you.” She searched his face. “I’m sorry, Blair. I should never have married you. I started drinking, I tried drugs—I was horrible to you when you were sick because I was stoned out of my mind overseas. I did go to rehab, but it was too late for us. I know you can’t forgive me. I don’t deserve forgiveness, but...”
“You can’t help what you feel, what you are,” he said quietly. “I wish you’d told me when we first got married. My pride took a hell of a blow.”
“I can imagine.” She breathed harshly. “Well, I’m being blackmailed and there’s nothing I can do except pay her off.”
“The hell there isn’t.” He picked up his cell phone, checked his numbers and speed-dialed one. She listened while he outlined the problem to a private detective, got names from her and gave the man an assignment.
“You’d do that for me?” she stammered. “After the way I’ve treated you?”
“Of course,” he said simply. “I’ll stop her. Don’t worry.”
“It’s the part I always dreamed I could play. I know I can make it in theater. I just need this one chance to prove it.” She stared at him and winced. “I’m so sorry!”
“It’s all right.”
She searched his eyes. “You look miserable. It’s that girl, Niki, isn’t it?” She smiled sadly. “I thought so,” she added when his face gave it away. “You should stop worrying about your age and go get her. She’s been taking care of you for years. Women don’t do that unless they love deeply.”
“I chased her away,” he said curtly.
“Then win her back,” she prodded.
He sighed. “Too late for that, I’m afraid.”
“Blair, if you love her, you’ll find a way to get her back,” she said gently. “You have to at least try.”
He leaned back in the chair. “You’re different now.”
She managed a smile. “I met someone. She’s everything I dreamed of. Sweet and caring and supportive.” She shifted uneasily. “I guess it turns your stomach, to hear me talking like this.”
“No, it doesn’t,” he said surprisingly. “People are what they are. I don’t think we have the right to judge.”
“You really are a nice man,” she said quietly. “I hope things work out for you.”
“Not likely. But I’ll make sure that things work out for you. How about another martini?”
She smiled. “I’d like that. Thanks,” she added.
He shrugged. “What are friends for?”
* * *
LATER, ALONE IN his hotel room, he downed two glasses of whiskey. He’d honestly thought he was sterile. He’d told Niki that a baby would be unlikely. He just didn’t tell her why.
He hadn’t been able to make Elise pregnant. But learning now that she was on the pill changed everything. He’d had unprotected sex with Niki, in the belief that he didn’t need to use anything. What if he’d made her pregnant? He’d hoped to give her a choice, to let her go to someone younger, a man who would be a better bet to give her a child. He’d pushed her away. Again. Now there was every possibility that she was carrying his child, and she wouldn’t tell him, even if she was. Or, worst-case scenario, she’d terminate it to spare him a child she didn’t think he wanted. He hadn’t even told her he loved her, that he wanted her forever, that he wanted a child.
Dear God, he thought miserably. What was he going to do? He made the same mistakes over and over again, trying to protect her. He put his head in his hands and groaned. He had no idea how to try to save the train wreck of his life.
* * *
NIKI FELT HEALTHIER than she ever had. She used her meds religiously, but she started going out again. There was a newly divorced man who worked as a vice president in the company. He was older than she was, but very nice. He loved to tell Niki about his ex-wife. Which was fine, because she loved to tell him about Blair. Not that she mentioned his name. She just told him that there was a man in her past that she’d loved who couldn’t love her back. He understood all too well.
They had supper at a Latin club in Billings. He could do the dances, and he taught her. She blossomed as she got used to being out in the world, taking part in it. All her years in college, she’d hidden in textbooks and studying. She hadn’t wanted to be around people. Blair had accused her of hiding, and he was right.
But she wasn’t hiding anymore. She bought clothes that flattered her slender figure, in colors that suited her, and she wore them to work. Of course, they were a larger size because she seemed to be gaining weight. She had her hair styled and learned to use makeup. She took a class in public speaking, of all things, at the local community college in Catelow. It helped with her shyness and taught her how to debate. She was blossoming. It would have helped, of course, if she wasn’t sleepy all day and getting nauseous at the oddest times. It must be some stubborn virus, she told herself.
“I can’t get over the change in you,” her father said with a grin. “You’ve matured, Niki.”
“It was about time, I guess,” she laughed.
“I like your new friend.”
“Devlin?” she asked, smiling. “Me, too. He’s great company, and he can really dance.”
“So I hear.” He toyed with his coffee cup. “Is it serious?”
She hesitated.
“Sorry, I won’t pry,” he said after a minute.
She smoothed her fingers over her own cup. “There’s only Blair,” she confessed heavily. “If I live to be a hundred, there will only be Blair. But he’s gone back to Elise...”
“What?”
His surprise was obvious. “Didn’t he tell you?” she asked with a wan smile. “He said he’d made a mistake by kicking her out of his life, and he wanted to try again. That’s why he flew to France.”
Her father’s expression was too complex to classify. “Good Lord.” He swallowed coffee, burning his tongue.
“Why do you look so surprised?” she asked.
He scowled. “Don’t you know about her?”
“Know what?” she asked with a faint smile.
He started to tell her what he’d found out from Blair, but it wasn’t really his secret to tell. It should come from Blair, who was positively wallowing in misery and asking all sorts of odd questions about Niki lately.
“He thought someone was blackmailing her,” she recalled.
“Someone was. Blair put a stop to it.”
Her heart fell. “I guess he does still care about her.”
“He cared enough about you to come rushing down here the minute he heard you were in the hospital,” he reminded her. “And he was ready to beat the hell out of Brady.”
“I caused a lot of trouble,” she said. “I’m more sorry than I can say.”
He reached over and patted her hand. “We all understand where your mind was, honey,” he said softly. “You wanted to spare us the trauma of cancer treatment. But as you see, it wasn’t what you thought.”
“I’m so glad,” she said fervently. “I was scared to death. Blair was wonderful to me. Then, when we knew I wasn’t going to die, he shot me out the door like a bullet.”
“He thinks you’re too young for him,” he told her. “I thought like that, too, once, when I loved your mother.” He smiled sadly. “I took a lot of convincing. I even set her up with a colleague of mine, hoping she’d get involved with him. Of course she had eyes for no man except me, but I couldn’t see that.”
She sipped coffee. “My situation is a little different. Blair’s still in love with his ex-wife. Like this nice man I date from work.” She smiled sadly. “I guess we take what we can get from life and try not to want things we can’t have.”
“Things were going well between the two of you, before we went to Mexico.”
She managed not to flush and give the show away. “We were friends then,” she said.
“And now you’re not?”
She glanced deliberately at her watch. “Have to go. Mr. Jacobs is going to be out of the office, and I have to get there early. His phone rings constantly, especially when he’s not there to answer it,” she laughed.
“I try to lose mine,” he said wistfully. “Oh, the wonderful old days when all phones were connected by a wire to walls. Work is far too portable nowadays.”
“That’s what Mr. Jacobs says,” she laughed. “See you tonight, Dad.”
“Have a good day.”
She climbed into her car and drove to work, trying not to dwell on what her father had said about Blair helping Elise. She wondered when they’d announce their remarriage. She wished she didn’t care so much.