"What do you mean the weekend issplotchy?"
"I'm not sure how to describe it. I don't knowif I had a kind of mini-nervous-breakdown or something, or if I wasin shock, but things are weird and confusing and all jumbled upwhen I think about that weekend."
Jack shifted. "I'm not a psychiatrist, and Idon't even play one on TV, so I can't say if you had a nervousbreakdown, but I'm pretty sure you were in shock." He paused. "Didyou ever talk to a doctor about it?"
Elizabeth met his gaze, shaking her head. "No,I was too embarrassed. How do you tell someone all that? Hell, if Ihadn't been freezing to death, I probably wouldn't have evenadmitted it to you."
"You always were a little on the stubbornside."
"Sometimes I still am—" she trailed off,swatting at a mosquito who was buzzing her hair. Her hand knockedthe hair clip, loosening it a bit. Elizabeth hated the feeling of aloose hair clip, and with a fluid motion, pulled it out, herchestnut hair falling on her shoulders and down her back like asilk curtain.
Jack shifted suddenly, leaning forwards. "Yourhair—"
Elizabeth immediately started gathering it upbehind her head, preparing to put it up again.
"No, leave it down."
His words were strong, almost with a sense ofurgency. She couldn't help but let her hair fall down. The ends ofher hair brushing her bare skin made her feel sultry and sexy. Shecould almost feel it radiating from her. She put her hands on thetable, now fidgeting with her hair clip. He put his hand on hers tostill it. Slowly, she met his gaze.
"I'm glad you listened to me."
With a wrinkled brow, she asked, "What do youmean?"
"Your hair. You let it grow out. And you'recloser to the color you used to have in high school. It looksbetter this way."
She didn't want to let on, but she reallydidn't know what he was talking about. She stared at his face for amoment, searching her brain. His blue eyes were intense andprobing. She felt bared before him, but was unsure ofwhy.
"I mean, not that it looked bad before, well,but frankly, it did."
"Gee, thanks. You certainly have a way withwords."
He smiled, his eyes going all crinkly. "Youknow what I mean. You look good. Healthy. And reallyho— I mean, you look verybeautiful tonight."
"See what I can do when I haven't just tried toend my life?" She attempted to be glib, but it fell flat. Sheextracted her hands from under his. Silence hung between them,charged with all the things neither one could say. Finally, shebegan again, "So—" and then she broke off. Elizabeth, for the lifeof her, could not think of what to say next.
"Are you mad at me?"
"Why do you keep asking me that? You're fine.I'm still a work in progress, but I'm trying to get there. How canI be mad at you?"
Relief washed Jack's face. "So, we're goodthen?"
"Yeah, I guess." Elizabeth shrugged. "I'dbetter go check on my friend. She was hitting the booze prettyhard, and she's my ride home. I don't want her to forget aboutme."
They stood up and as Jack helped with herchair, he said softly into her hair, "I've never been able toforget about you."
Elizabeth turned around to face Jack, and wasshocked at their close proximity. His hands were still on the backof her chair. She clasped her hands behind her back, as if tryingto restrain herself. Everything went out of Elizabeth's mind, andit was all she could do to keep the small distance that there was.Her lips were suddenly dry, and she licked them. "You'll never knowwhat that means to me, truly."
She held his gaze for a moment before sheducked her head, and turned away, glad the darkness of the nightwas hiding her flushed face. They walked around the side of thehouse, with Jack just a step or so behind Elizabeth. Coming aroundthe side of the house, Elizabeth nearly ran into Kristy Spurns, thequeen gossipmonger herself, and her husband. Elizabeth stoppedshort, and Jack ran into the back of her, stopping himself, byputting his arms around Elizabeth's waist. Her hands shot down tosteady him, and then pulled back quickly as she saw Kristy lookingfrom Elizabeth to Jack and back again.
"Kristy, have you seen Julia? Last time I sawher, she was looking a little rough."
Kristy's eyes grew wide as she looked back andforth between Elizabeth and Jack. "Julia and Mitch left. A whileago."
Elizabeth couldn't prevent her shoulders fromslumping. "Oh crap, she was my ride home." She closed her eyes andshook her head.
"So you didn't see? Where have you been? Whathave you been up to?"
"See? See what? What happened? Is Juliaokay?"
Kristy laughed. It was bitter and shrill, andmean. "She was totally plastered. She threw up in acenterpiece."
Elizabeth's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my God.Poor Julia. Poor Mitch. Poor me. I don't know how I'm going to gethome."
Kristy smirked, "Why don't you call yourhusband? He's not here, is he?" She made an act out of lookingaround, never breaking eye contact with Jack.
"Peter's out of town. I guess I'll call a cab.I need to get home to the sitter."
Kristy smirked again and turned to saunter off."Good luck with that."
Elizabeth just stood there for a minute. "PoorJulia. She's going to be the laughing stock of town tomorrowmorning."
"Julia is an adult. She should know how to holdher liquor at this point."
"See what I mean about the mean moms?"Suddenly, it hit Elizabeth. "We talked a lot that weekend. Abouthow much I was struggling here. How I couldn't fit in here, anymore than I did in high school."
They were facing each other again. "Yes, we didtalk a lot."
"And you really took care of me."
"You could say that. Is your memory thatspotted from that weekend?"
"It's so dominated by feelings that I'm notsure about events. I don't know what was real. I do know that whenI left, I felt ashamed that I had tried to kill myself, because youmade me realize that my life was worth something. I just felt soashamed, I set about making
