Eclipse of the Heart - By Carly Carson Page 0,58

stilled. No, he hadn't mentioned it.

"Funny," she said, although there was no humor in her voice. "I knew he was manipulating me, but I still fell for it."

Mrs. McDonald set down her tea cup. "Logan is not manipulative." There was more than a trace of outraged mama bear in her tone.

"He knows how to get his own way. You can't deny that."

"His way is usually the right way."

"See?" Amanda threw her napkin on the table and surged to her feet. "Even you've been entranced by him."

The housekeeper smiled. "He is a good-looking man. But I remember him as a grubby schoolboy with frogs in his pockets and stinky socks hiding under the bed. It's hard to be entranced after that."

"Aw…"Amanda dropped back into the chair, misty eyed over the thought of Logan as a grubby little boy. Man, she had it bad. "He sure has changed."

"He grew up," Mrs. MacDonald said sharply. "And not quite as happily as you might be imagining."

"What do you mean?" She leaned forward eagerly. Mrs. M. had to know why Logan lived in an emotional freezer, cool and calm and removed from everyone.

"It's not my story to tell." Mrs. M. pushed herself to her feet, slowly, as if she carried an unseen burden on her shoulders.

Amanda pressed her lips together. Logan's problems weren't any of her business and she had to remember that. She stood up. "I should return home. Thank you for your help."

"There's no need for you to go," the housekeeper said. "I've left a roasted chicken, broth, a fruit salad and a green salad. You might as well eat it to build up your strength. In the freezer are single size portions of many meals. Whatever might strike your fancy, we probably have it."

She didn't say it, but Amanda knew the food in the freezer had been prepared for Logan. Single size portions. It sounded lonely.

***

Of course, she was the lonely one when she woke up on Thursday, and the apartment was empty. She decided she would work from here, rather than go into the office since she wasn't completely better. On Friday, she would definitely go to work and then return home from there. She couldn't afford to be here when Logan returned.

By the late afternoon, loneliness and cabin fever set in. Dressing warmly, Amanda went out for a walk, grabbing the keys Mrs. MacDonald had left for her in the foyer.

The setting sun shone onto the open spaces of Central Park South. Although she'd only intended to walk around the block, Amanda found herself venturing into the park. It was fun to see people strolling about, children running and screaming, the horses clopping by with their carriages full of tourists.

She walked slowly down the path toward the zoo. It was darker inside the park, under the tree cover. Before reaching the zoo, she turned back, chilled and a bit tired.

She was glad to re-enter the apartment, which was warm and—was that music she heard? She froze on the doorstep. Had Mrs. MacDonald returned early? She'd said she wouldn't be back until late on Friday.

Amanda tiptoed in. She wasn't afraid, exactly, because that was opera she heard pouring from a room at the back of the apartment. No thief would break in just to listen to opera. She followed the sound down the hallway, the volume building as she ventured closer.

The music throbbed with passion, rising and climbing toward a raw, explosive climax. Amanda halted in the doorway as she was caught up in the swelling frenzy of desire bordering on madness.

Yes, she understood that feeling.

Just one look at the man sitting in a tall leather chair facing the windows, and her body was softening, her mind reaching, her hands twitching with eagerness.

Logan's head was tipped back, his black hair resting on the top of the chair. He was little more than a dark profile outlined by the golden light of the setting sun. The music soared around the room, rising and falling in swells of beauty that contrasted sharply with the silent, unmoving man. An unknown emotion clutched Amanda's heart and sudden tears pricked her eyes. He was so alone.

He should have looked content, a successful man relaxing at the end of the day. Instead, he looked solitary, apart, a man cut off from normal interaction with other people.

Why? What had happened to cause this accomplished, successful, and dynamic man to withdraw and move away from emotional connections with other people? It wasn't just her he held at arm's length,