a gesture of prayer, the tips of her fingers touching the wetness of her eyes. The idea of happiness seemed impossible to her at that moment.
He watched her, then moved to her, and placed his hands softly on her shoulders to sooth their tremors. He almost expected her to push him away, to reject his empathy, but instead she leaned toward him, and let her forehead rest on his broad chest. He said softly, “You need the same thing I need, and that is to be loved.”
44
“So you’re having sex with a man you can’t stand, because you’re in love with another man trapped in his head,” Jan said.
Meghan laughed into the phone. “Don’t say it like that. I can stand him now—I’m even starting to like him. Quite a lot, actually.”
“Then it must be very good sex.”
“It’s only been once, but it was great. Better than it ever was with Seth.”
“You’re making me jealous.”
“I’m even—just a sec, someone’s battering down my door.”
Her doorbell had chimed, followed immediately by an insistent pounding. The bell chimed again. “I’m coming, I’m coming,” she shouted. She opened the door to the sight of Derek’s flushed, eager face, perched above a mass of messy, tousled red roses. With mock gallantry, he pronounced, “These are for my Lady fair.”
“Huh. It’s just like you,” she smiled. Into the phone she said, “Gotta go. It’s Derek, bearing gifts. I’ll call in a bit.”
“You better,”
“Promise.”
She hung up, reaching out to take the flowers he laid gently in her encircling arms. “I feel a bit like Miss Universe,” she said. “There’s got to be at least four dozen here, that’s a bit extravagant.”
“Six dozen, in fact. Don’t worry, I got them cut-rate.”
“On closer inspection they look it,” Meghan giggled.
“They’re meant to make a huge, splashy first impression, not be scrutinized for every flawed bud or droopy petal. Can I come in or what?”
“Of course. I have some news for you—there’s progress.” They went to the living room and she laid the roses in a heap on the coffee table. “Sylvanne found out her husband had been cheating on her, not just once or twice, but by the truckload. It was just sinking in when Thomas came along, and he handled it just right. He dried her tears and told her very sweetly that what they both need is to be loved.”
“A human being’s only really being, when he is being, loved,” Derek sang. “He picked that up from me, I’m sure.”
“Your advice for him to woo her was good. I really wish he’d marry her. Thomas, do you hear that? It’s like Daphne said, you’re in need of a wife. And Sylvanne needs someplace to anchor herself. She’s too proud to beg, but she’s allowing her heart to open, I can feel it.”
“Great.” Derek said. He gestured toward the roses on the table. “I’d tell you to put them in a vase, but you’d need a forty-five gallon drum.”
“Is that all you have to say?”
“What? I’m happy, I’m happy for them. If they get together, great. I’m not as invested in them as you. You get to see them every night, but to me they’re second hand. They’re friends of friends.”
“You’re more than a friend to Thomas—he knows you better than I do.” Her face suddenly broke into a wide grin. “He did say to say thank you for the performance yesterday. He found it—how’d he put it?—I think he called it passionate and edifying.”
“Glad to hear we’re giving him an erotic education,” Derek smiled. “I think it’s time for another lesson.”
“Now? Not now.”
“Where’s Betsy?”
“She’s just down the street. She took her unicycle to the skateboard park, it’s made her a bit of a star there. The boys line up to try it out.”
“Then it’ll have to be a quickie.”
“A super-duper quickie. Even then I don’t think so.”
“When did she go?”
“Ten minutes ago. I told her to be back in an hour.”
“Fifty minutes—that’s not a quickie, that’s a slowie. A slowie with one ear cocked for the key in the door.” He took her hand, and she felt herself carried to him by some force like a river’s current. He put his arms around her and pulled her close, and felt her stretch pliantly against him. She planted kisses on his chest above the V of his collar, rubbing her nose at the base of his neck. “You smell good,” she murmured. He sat back on the couch and she lowered herself onto his lap, straddling him. She stared