Winter Interlude (58 page)

“How about Ernie’s on Chestnut
—
say
,
an hour from now?”

“Sure.”

Kate
disconnected the call, then
leaned her head against
the pillows and closed her eyes
.
She hated obsessing over her situation and the only way to keep from obsessing more was to take a break
.
She’d been busy at the store so she could easily take off two days and go up to Tahoe
.
James told her the house would be free and that he expected her to use it
.
Paul usually took Fridays off to her Mondays, so he’d probably gone up yesterday
.
She worked Saturdays, so if she drove up
tomorrow
morning, she could easily avoid him
.
She hadn’t heard a word from him, but then she hadn’t expected to
.
Well aware the next move was hers, she’d put off dealing with him
.
Indecision kept her from calling and apologizing
.
The longer she put off doing something, the easier it became to do nothing.

“Doesn’t matter,” she muttered, shaking her thoughts and rising to shower
.
It wouldn’t change the outcome.

Forty-five minutes later,
Kate
was out the door
.
She arrived at the agreed
-
upon café a little early
.
After placing her name on the list, she grabbed a cup of coffee and went outside to wait for Judith
.
She leaned against the wall and savored the rich brew.

“There’s a twenty
-
minute wait,” she said when Judith joined her.

Judith nodded and went to
order
her own coffee.

When a waitress with menus called out
Kate
’s name, they followed her inside.

At first
,
Kate
didn’t see Paul
or
James seated at a corner table near the wind
o
w
.
Too late to turn back now, s
he kept her eyes straight ahead, praying Judith wouldn’t notice
.
As the two neared the empty table the waitress indicated, James looked up and waved.

Kate
cringed inwardly
when
Judith glanced their way,
then
nudged her
.
“Look who’s here
.
Paul
.”
She started in their direction.

James scooted back his chair and stood. “Hey
,
guys
,
why not join us?”

Judith smiled at Paul and ignored James
.
“That’d be great.”

“Yeah, great
.”
Avoiding looking at Paul,
who’d stood to kiss Judith’s cheek,
Kate
sighed,
wondering how this was going to go over. She’d
never told Judith about her breakup with James or her
attraction to
Paul, so her friend had no idea of the undercurrents going on around them as she sat down beside Paul
.
Left with little
choice
,
Kate
sat
next to James
and
gave
Paul
a slight nod
.
He
returned the gesture
,
but didn’t look at her
.

Kate
opened her menu, ignoring Jame
s’
perplexed expression
.
His
silence spoke volumes
.

Since
Paul acted as if
Kate
didn’t exist
, she
followed his lead and pretended he wasn’t there
—
which had been the norm before their weekend in Tahoe.

Looking as if he were wishing he’d never asked the two women to join them, James finally found his voice
.
“So
,
how’s work?”

“Fine
.”
Kate
shrugged and added, while
perusing
her menu,
“How’s the architecture business going?”

James chuckled
.
“It’s still there.”

Judith, who was used to Paul and
Kate
ignoring each other, seemed to think nothing of carrying on a conversation with Paul, without the other two intervening
.

Kate
flashed
James a grateful smile when he made
small talk
with her
.
To anyone watching, it appeared as if four friends were enjoying themselves, but
Kate
knew better
.

When Paul finished, he threw some cash on the table and stood
.
“I’m sorry, but I need to leave you ladies
.
I have an appointment
.”
Then, he
bolted for
the door, not looking back.

James rose, offering an apologetic smile
.
“Ladies
.
It’s been nice, but I have to talk to Paul about something
.”
He
added his cash to Paul’s, then
turned and said in a louder voice, “Wait up
.
I’ll join you
.”

Judith
stared after them, looking
totally confused. “I wonder what that was all
about?
”

Kate
cleared her throat and studied her food intently
.
Finally, she gave a negl
igent shrug
.
“I wouldn’t know
—
Paul is unpredictable.”

“Don’t start,” Judith warned, nailing her with an accusing gaze
.

“What
?
I’m not starting anything.”

Judith sighed
.
“Look
,
Kate
, I know you don’t like Paul, but he’s my friend and I’d appreciate it if you’d at least be civil to him.”

Incensed,
Kate
asked, “What did I do?”

Shaking her head, Judith
rolled her eyes
.
“I thought the two of you became friends after Tahoe
.
What happened to change things?”

“You thought we became friends
?
What gave you that idea?”

“I don’t know
.
Paul just seemed to accept you more
.
S
eeing
as
how you’re my best friend, I’d really like it if you
both
got along
when you two are around each other
.”

The words tore at
Kate
.
Had Paul been wrong about Judith’s feelings
?
It
sound
ed
like
she was more serious about him than she let on…like she was thinking long
term
.
No matter how outrageous the thought seemed
,
Kate
had to know
.
“Are you two engaged?”

Judith laughed
.
“Heavens no
!
Whatever gave yo
u
such an idea?”

“
Well, you have been talking about marriage
.
It sounds like
you
’ve
changed your mind.”

“
I haven’t
.
I love Paul, but he’s not the one
.
Thank God
,
I didn’t have to end our friendship to get him to see that
.
N
ow that h
e’s finally realized all we will ever be is
good
friends
,
I
would really appreciate your cooperation on being civil. Is that too much to ask?
”

“No.”
Kate
’s relief bubbled up into a nervous laugh
.
“I’m sorry
.
I’ll try harder
to be nice to him
.”

Judith nodded. “
Thank you
.
I’m tired of playing referee.”

~

I
gnoring passersby,
Paul headed toward his apartment at a good clip
.

“Hey
,
Paul
!
Wait up,” James shouted behind him
.

He slowed his pace
.
James
caught up at the corner
.
The two
walked
in silence
for
another block.