Heart of the Matter (15 page)

“I want to stop at the Virginia Historical Society first. It’s a wonderful resource and an old friend of mine is the director there.

The museum is usually closed on Sunday mornings, but as a special favor he offered to let me come in this morning. Okay?” Kate shrugged.

By the time they reached downtown Richmond a driving rain had begun, filling the gutters and flowing down the streets.

Ellen found a parking space behind the museum and they dashed inside. Ellen introduced Kate to the director, Albert Berg, and Kate accompanied them throughout the building, viewing artifacts and documents. Each time the director tried to discuss Ellen’s research, Kate inquired about documents pertaining to her own area of interest for Ellen’s work.

As they moved to another area of the building, Ellen sensed that Albert was increasingly hesitant and rather confused as to where she was heading with her research. Ellen had to admit even she was becoming confused and definitely frustrated at Kate’s usurpation of her project. If she didn’t take back the reins soon, Kate could sabotage the entire endeavor. But how could she do so without dampening Kate’s spirit?

When Kate became engrossed in letters from soldiers writing home about their experiences in camp, Ellen suggested she stay and read them while she left with Albert to examine weapons in the museum’s collection. She was intrigued when he showed her a recent acquisition—an actual window built by slaves and later removed from Libby Prison in Richmond during the Civil War. The prison had housed many Union prisoners over the war years but was no longer extant.

Relieved to finally be alone with Albert, Ellen returned the focus of her research to her original plan. She could sense his equilibrium return as well.

“Your research assistant seems to be on a different page than you,” he observed.

Ellen was embarrassed at what must appear to be lack of control on her part. “She’s actually a friend of mine who came along when my research assistant cancelled out at the last minute,” she explained.

“I’m happy to see her take such an interest in the research, even if it is somewhat incompatible with mine.”

“She’s the Kate Foster from Channel 5 news in DC, isn’t she? The one in the terrible auto accident?”

“Yes,” Ellen said. It had been a while since she’d thought of Kate that way.

“It’s a shame about her face.” Albert shook his head. “I can see now why she isn’t still on television. She was a very attractive woman.”

The heat rose to Ellen’s face. “She
is
an attractive woman,” she said defensively. “She’s only taking time off to recuperate and do me this favor. She’ll be back at work soon.”

“Of course, I’m glad to hear it.” He changed the subject quickly.

“In here is the collection I’m sure you’ll find very useful.” Several hours later Ellen emerged from the darkened room to search for Kate and found her seated at a table busily entering information into the laptop. Ellen placed her notes on the table and sat on a chair opposite her.

“Whatcha doin’?” Ellen peered at the notepad Kate was referring to as she typed.

“Just finished entering some great stories I found. You should read this stuff. This one guy who writes home to his sweetheart is very touching. You could include it as an example of the emotional strain these soldiers were under and how it impacted their lives and the lives of their families. That would be an entire chapter all by itself. Then follow it up with camp life and what they did for fun. God, I could spend all day here.”

Ellen watched the excitement spread across Kate’s face. She was simply breathtaking when she was so animated. Ellen was drawn to Kate’s mouth, the full lips and the quirky turn at the corner when she smiled. And when she pursed her lips in thought, Ellen almost stared at them.

“I’m so glad you’re enjoying yourself.” Ellen handed over her notes. “When you get a chance, if you could enter these into the computer as well, then we can move on to the next round. I need to review them in the morning so I can see where I need to proceed or if I need to gather more data.”

Kate glanced at Ellen’s notes, then resumed typing. “Sure. I’m almost done with this.”

“I thought we’d take a break and grab something to eat. Then I’d like to show you the White House of the Confederacy and the nearby museum. I think you’ll enjoy it.” Kate shut down the laptop and stowed it in its case, then shoved Ellen’s notes into a side pocket and flung the strap over her shoulder.

“Great. I’m starving.”

The rain continued to come down as they exited the building, but not as strongly as before. They ate a quick lunch, then visited the house where Jefferson Davis lived while in Richmond during his presidency. The building had been preserved much as it was during the Civil War, and they rambled through the home and the museum for nearly two hours. When they returned to the Virginia Historical Society, Kate resumed poring over the diaries while Albert led Ellen to the photograph collections.

As Ellen and Albert walked away, she glanced over her shoulder at Kate working away at her self-designated project. Ellen worried her bottom lip, thinking about how to talk to her about getting back on track. She needed to discuss it with her soon, because she was already losing Kate’s attention and time to data she would never use.

Time was very precious to her on this project. Tonight over a nice, quiet dinner might just do the trick.

❖

The restaurant, Julep’s, offered Southern cuisine in the historic River District of Richmond. Ellen loved the pecan-encrusted chicken stuffed with Brie, and along with a chilled glass of wine, the ambience, and Kate, she could almost allow herself to think of the dinner as a romantic one.

Kate was stunning in black trousers and a stark white collarless shirt open at the throat. Unfortunately, she still let her hair hang down and forward, hiding the scarred part of her face. Ellen wanted to see her, all of her, and she wanted to brush the strands away and tuck them behind Kate’s ear. In the restaurant’s muted lighting, Kate was as strikingly handsome as she had ever been and Ellen yearned to touch her, to be connected to her on a more intimate level. She so wanted this to be a date, to flirt and tease, then go back to Kate’s hotel room. She didn’t realize she had sighed out loud.

“Something bothering you?” Kate murmured, her lips caressing the rim of her wineglass.

Ellen was mesmerized, watching the lips gently open to receive the red liquid. For a moment she didn’t answer, overcome by the delicious sensations flooding her body. “Hmm? Oh, no, I just…it’s that…” Ellen stumbled, trying to recover. “Well, actually, I wanted to discuss something with you.”

Ellen was dressed fit to kill. Kate couldn’t guess whether it was intentional or not, but it certainly had her attention. Ellen wore a sage green silk blouse that fell in supple folds down her arms and chest and formed a vee at the décolletage. Kate was constantly drawn to the curvaceous breasts exposed to view. Her heart rate kicked up a notch at the vision, and she tried to maintain a conversation but was failing miserably. She couldn’t form coherent sentences because she could think only of running her tongue in the crevasse of Ellen’s cleavage.

Looking up to discover Kate’s perusal of her breasts, Ellen felt little pinpricks tingle up and down the most sensitive parts of her anatomy. Was it possible Kate could be interested in her, or was this just the standard lascivious stare her breasts received from men and women alike? They didn’t see her looks, personality, or mind, just her tits. Coming from anyone else the attention would have made her angry. But for some reason, coming from Kate, it was a turn-on.

“I’m sorry, did you say something?” Kate asked as though from someplace far away.

Ellen thought hard, but couldn’t recall what, if anything, she had been saying. What was happening? Was she imagining Kate’s desire, or was she so engrossed in her fantasies that they had seeped into her waking reality? She needed to get a grip on her sanity to survive the rest of this trip. “I don’t remember now, but it must not have been important.”

After paying the bill, Ellen retrieved her raincoat and they stood under the awning watching as rain cascaded over the edges.

They had a bit of a walk to the parking lot, and Ellen kept hoping the rain would let up enough for them to get there. But it didn’t look as though it would happen anytime soon.

“Nothing to do but make a run for it.” Kate grimaced.

“But your nice suit will be ruined.” After thinking a moment, Ellen removed her coat, which was too warm anyway, and held it over her head. “Here, share it with me and at least you won’t be completely soaked.”

Kate wrapped an arm around Ellen’s waist, gently pulling her close. The nearness of Ellen, along with her intoxicating fragrance, caused her heart to turn over. She tried not to bury her face in Ellen’s thick blond waves and instead hunched under the coat, taking a corner of it to help hold it over them. “Let’s go.” They ran as quickly as two people trying to stay huddled under a coat could, and Ellen squealed as each step splashed water up their calves. By the time they reached the car, both were as wet as if they held nothing. Kate stood over Ellen as she entered the driver’s side and then ran to the passenger door, tossing the coat in the backseat.

They groaned and shook the water from their hair as Ellen started the car and turned on the defroster. The windows were completely fogged from the heat and humidity, and they sat waiting for them to clear. Out of breath and still giggling, Ellen glanced at Kate, who peered curiously at her, a strange mixture of emotions flickering across her face. Ellen’s breath continued to burst forth in loud pants from the exertion of running. As she watched, Kate seemed to inch forward ever so slightly, one loud heartbeat at a time.

Her lips came closer and closer like a heat-seeking missile until they found their target.

God
.

Kate’s lips were firm but pliable and, oh, so talented. Ellen melted into her, opening to receive Kate’s questioning tongue. She relinquished all thoughts, all resistance to Kate’s command, and within seconds was spinning out of control.

Way too soon Kate pulled back, her eyes heavy-lidded as her focus remained on Ellen’s lips. “The windows are clear,” Kate whispered.

Tearing her gaze from Kate’s mouth, Ellen saw indeed that the windows were clear enough for her to drive.

“Let’s go,” Kate said.

Needing no further encouragement, Ellen backed out of the parking space and headed to the downtown Marriott.

❖

Registration took far too long. All the while, Ellen could feel Kate’s presence at her back. She didn’t need to see Kate in order to feel the waves of arousal emanating from her. For the first time, Ellen knew it wasn’t just her imagination or her overactive fantasies.

Kate had kissed her, and it was definitely not a kiss of friendship.

Ellen’s knees gave out, and she held on to the counter in front of her. The desk clerk handed Ellen her key and turned to Kate. “Ms. Foster, here’s your key.” Her glance strayed to Kate’s scar despite her obvious attempts not to stare. “I was a big fan of yours, Ms. Foster. I was so sorry to hear about your accident.” With a brief nod, Kate took the card from her outstretched hand, mumbled her thanks, and headed for the bank of elevators.

Ellen almost had to run to keep up.

They hadn’t spoken during the drive from the restaurant to the hotel, but an exciting, anticipatory tension had filled the silence.

Now Ellen felt something shift. A wall descended upon Kate’s features and a blank, empty expression filled her eyes. Ellen thought it had to do with the front-desk clerk, but she couldn’t be certain.

All she knew was that her body was primed and she wasn’t sure she could turn it off.

Inexplicably nervous, Kate was unsure of her next move and, stranger still, unsure if she should even be making a move. The desk clerk had brought home to her what she had almost forgotten—she wasn’t the irresistible stud she had once been. She was a “was,” someone who had once been somebody, but was no longer.

Did Ellen feel sorry for her? From the beginning Ellen had tried hard to help her. She was a genuine person. Maybe she simply wanted to boost Kate’s ego by sleeping with her. Very warmhearted, but Kate wasn’t looking for that kind of pity from anyone.

They found their rooms and paused at Kate’s door.

“Ellen, back there in the car, I—” Kate broke off awkwardly, unable to find the right words to ease the tension between them.

“Er…thank you for dinner.”

“You’re welcome.” Ellen searched Kate’s face for some sign as to where things were heading. Kate’s inability to meet her eyes spoke volumes.

Ellen was so used to rejection she had her response down pat.

Reject before being rejected. And yet she had felt so sure about Kate’s feelings. But she thought she had sensed the same interest from Sandra.

“We need to get to the Historical Society early,” she said.

“I want to follow up on some documents pertaining to Lee’s and Davis’s exchanges during the battle of Fredericksburg. Spellbinding letters and full of excellent data. So, get some sleep and I’ll see you in the morning.”

“You, too.” Kate hesitated, surprised by Ellen’s readiness to sweep aside what had transpired between them in the car. Crushing a small stab of self-pity, she said sincerely, “I really enjoyed tonight.”

“The pleasure was all mine.” Ellen’s voice sounded stiff. Her discomfort was obvious.

Feeling foolish for hovering in her open doorway, Kate stepped inside and said, “Good night, Ellen.” Ellen mumbled a reply and turned away so quickly Kate had no doubt that her well-meaning friend was relieved not to have to follow through on that kiss.

Regret pierced Ellen as she escaped into her room. Why had Kate retreated into herself? Was it because the clerk had stared at her? Did it have anything to do with the clerk at all? Ellen was convinced of what she’d seen in Kate’s eyes back in the car. She’d felt it all the way to her toes. She had never seen a look like that directed at her before. She hadn’t mistaken its meaning.
Desire.
In that moment, Kate had wanted her. Ellen
knew
it.