two doors down from Brad’s.
“Patience,” my cohort advised. “Give Austin a few minutes to get out the door.”
The saucy gal’s name was Ruby Callahan and she’d been a resident of the building for some time, she’d told me.
“Not often we get youngsters like that Mr. Walters in here. Shame about him, isn’t it?” She leaned toward me on the plain ivory sofa and checked her watch. “It’s time.” She gave a nod toward her adjoining bedroom.
I snuck into the room and hid behind the door, listening for my cue.
The sound of humming… the main door to the hallway opening… Ruby’s voice of fake surprise.
“Why, Austin. Just the man I’m looking for. Remember that magazine I lent you? With the article about finding the perfect mate? I have someone else in need of it and I must have it back, please. Snip snap.”
“Just heading out, Mrs. C. How about I grab that for you when I get back and drop it by?”
“That’ll never do. You promised to return it last week.”
A sigh. “Fine. I’ll be right back.”
“Nonsense. I’ll come with you.”
A few minutes passed with no voices. Then a perky, “Thank you, thank you. The young woman will be thrilled. Thirty-four and she’s never been married, poor dear.”
“You’re welcome. Talk to you later.” Austin’s exasperated voice disappeared down the hall.
“Coast is clear,” Ruby said a moment later.
I stepped into the hall. “Now what?”
“Door’s unlocked,” she said with a sly grin. “Just make sure you fasten it when you leave.”
“Thanks.” My heart fluttered with excitement as I headed down the corridor, clock in hand, to Brad’s apartment.
I gripped the knob, half expecting it wouldn’t turn. It did. Tiptoeing, I closed the door behind me and locked it against the meddling Ruby Callahan.
The air inside felt oppressive. Through the partially open bedroom door came the canned laughter of a television show.
In my hand, the package ticked like a bomb as I stood, hesitating. Austin could return at any moment. If I was going to do this thing, I’d better get to it.
I set the clock down on the counter, the paper scraping softly on the surface, and steeled myself.
“Austin? Is that you?” Brad’s voice spoke tentatively from the direction of the bed.
I cleared my throat. “No, Brad. It’s me. Tish.”
The door swung back under my fingertips. I stepped into his sight, taking off my wig and sunglasses, holding them in one hand while I smoothed my snarled hair with the other.
His eyes were huge, as if he were seeing a ghost.
“Hey,” I tossed my disguise on the coverlet over his feet and circled to the head of the bed. “It’s okay. It’s really me.”
I touched his hand, which lay on top of the sheet, holding its warmth in my fingers as if holding a lost pearl, now found.
“You’re… They told me you were dead.” His voice tore from his chest.
I nodded, squeezing back tears from my smile. “I know. I heard. But turns out I’m still around to haunt you.”
He looked up at the ceiling a moment, as if searching for an explanation. Then he shot a hard glance at me. “Who let you in here? I told them I didn’t want to see anyone.” The words burned. I pulled my hand away. “I’m not just anyone.”
He strained to look down over his body. “Look at me.”
I crossed my arms, running my eyes from his face to his feet. “I heard most of this is your own doing.”
“What?” His voice rumbled. “I was shot and almost killed. Nothing works anymore. You think I wouldn’t change that if I could?”
“Puppa told me you won’t even try.”
His face turned red and I could see rage build in his heaving chest. I welcomed the thought of him leaping from the bed and chasing me from the room. My mission would certainly be accomplished.
But no such miracle.
“Get out and don’t come back!” His roar almost peeled the hair off my head.
I stood my ground. “Come on,” I said in a soothing voice. “Don’t chase me away. Do you know how much I love you? How much I’ve missed you?”
“I’m not that man. He’s… dead. Gone.” He turned his face away from me. “Nothing means anything to me anymore. Including you. Leave me alone.”
The words hurt. I scrunched my face as a shield against them, but they crawled under my skin anyway and made a home somewhere a little right of my heart. The pain stole my breath.
I gasped and choked for air, trying to keep myself from melting into a pile of unwanted cells right at the foot of Brad’s bed.
“You’re all I thought about. You’re all that kept me going in Del Gloria. And you just want me to walk out of here like we had nothing?”
He gave a wild look. His neck and shoulders moved slightly as if he were trying to sit. His head flopped back to the pillow and he closed his eyes, catching his breath.
From the other room came the sound of a key being inserted into the lock.
27
I controlled my sobbing long enough to know I’d better be out of sight when Austin entered the room. “Please…,” I whispered, followed by a hiccup, “don’t tell him I was here.”
I pulled back a curtain from the window, the sudden light blinding me. My hands scoured the panes for a locking mechanism.
In the living room, the door opened and Austin’s voice filtered in as he conversed with a male visitor.
“I’ll see if he’s up for company. Just a minute.”
My fingers fumbled, but the window wouldn’t budge. I searched the room in a panic, my eyes darting to the closet. I grabbed my wig and sunglasses on the way past and stepped inside the tight square, sliding the louvered door closed and feeling ridiculous as I did so. What prevented Brad from telling Austin I was hanging with the shirts?
Inside, my cheek rubbed against fabric, fascinating my nose with the Brad-scent that had always messed with my hormones.
By some miracle, I held my breathing quiet and steady when Austin entered the room.
“Hey, Mr. Walters,” Austin greeted. “I barely made it out of the building when I came across a friend of yours. Are you up for a visitor?”
Brad must have made some sign to the negative.
“He’s come a long way to see you. It’s Mr. Braddock. Says it’s an emergency.”
My jaw clenched. What if Denton was here to track me down? Once he figured out I’d flown the coop, he’d probably made some inquiries, then headed this way.
A sigh from Brad. “Go ahead and send him in.”
At least Brad hadn’t told on me.
Footsteps, a door opening. Then Denton’s voice as he entered the room.
“Hey! How are you feeling?” Denton sounded more exuberant than usual, as if trying to compensate for something.
Brad remained silent.
A pause. “Everything okay?”
“You lied to me.”
A longer pause. “What’s this all about?” Denton asked.
