suspiciously.
“Just a friend.”
“What does that mean? What friend?”
“Someone I met on the cruise.”
“On the cruise! You never told me you met someone on the cruise.”
“I met a lot of nice people.”
“Is this a man?” Will demanded.
“Well, yes.”
“Mom, you’ve got to be careful. What do you know about this guy, anyway? For all you know he could be a fortune hunter.”
Catherine thought of Athena and smiled. She and William had a lot in common.
“Don’t worry. He’s fine. Now, are you going to come pick up Cookie?”
“Yeah,” he said, not sounding happy. “We’re going out but the babysitter and the kids can watch her. Jeez, Mom. You don’t tell us anything.”
“I didn’t think you’d be interested.”
“I want to know if some fortune hunter’s after you.”
She chuckled. “If that’s why he’s after me he’ll be sorely disappointed since I don’t have a fortune. Maybe he wants me for my body.”
“Mom, stop it,” William said, shocked.
“I’ve got to get ready. Thanks for watching Cookie.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said irritably. “I don’t like this.”
“I know,” Catherine said, and smiled.
She took a bath, fixed herself a little snack, then got busy doing her hair and makeup. Struggled into the pantyhose. By the time she was done she looked...like an overweight, older woman in a black party dress. Nothing special. What had Rudy seen in her, anyway?
At the last minute she put on her jewelry, dabbed perfume behind her ears and on her wrists and slipped into the black heels. They were ten years old. She’d almost forgotten how to walk in heels. She checked herself in the long mirror hanging on the closet door. Now she looked...like an overweight, older woman in a black party dress.
William arrived half an hour before Rudy was due.
“How do I look?” Catherine asked him.
“You look good,” he said. “Where are you going?”
“I’m not sure.”
“You don’t even know where he’s taking you?”
“It doesn’t matter where he’s taking me.” She’d go anywhere with Rudy Nichols.
“Keep your cell phone on in case.”
“In case what?”
“In case you need to call me. And don’t stay out too late.”
“When’s my curfew?” she teased.
“Not funny, Mom. You watch yourself.”
“I will,” she assured him.
He nodded, then went to fetch Cookie’s crate.
“Have you told Lila about this?” he asked when he returned.
“No, but I will.”
“She’ll probably think it’s great,” he said irritably. “She reads too many romance novels.”
“Every woman needs a little romance,” Catherine said lightly, making him shake his head.
He and Cookie left and then it was just her, sitting in her living room, waiting for Rudy. Her and the butterflies.
At ten minutes to seven the doorbell rang and her heart shot clear up into her throat. He was here, this was it.
She swallowed hard in an effort to calm her nerves, got up, smoothed her dress and went to the door. She opened it and there he stood, holding a bouquet of pink roses and a bottle of champagne.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
Not half as good as him. “Do I?”
“Oh, yes.”
She stepped aside. “Come in.”
He did, looking around as he went. There wasn’t much to see in the hallway, only a hall table with a vase holding red silk poinsettias. A Kinkade print hanging on the wall. She led him into the living room.
“This is so homey,” he said, taking in the tree and decorations. He handed her the bouquet and champagne. “I thought maybe for later,” he said tentatively.
“That was so thoughtful of you. Let me just put these in water. Sit down and make yourself comfortable.”
For later, she thought as she put the champagne in the refrigerator and found a tall cut-glass vase for the roses. She set it on her dining table, next to the glass globe his daughter had given her, then returned to the living room where he’d perched on the edge of the sofa. She sat down on the other end.
“You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here,” he said.
“A little.”
“I missed you,” he said simply.
“I missed you, too. How’s Athena?”
“She’s fine. She says hi, by the way.”
“That was nice of her,” Catherine said.
“She’s a good daughter.” He checked his watch. “I suppose we should go. I have reservations at Canlis for seven-thirty.”
“Canlis?” she echoed. One of the most expensive and exclusive restaurants in Seattle. “Oh, you shouldn’t have.”
“Why? Isn’t it good? I looked it up online and it seemed okay.”
“It’s very expensive.”
He grinned. “That’s all right. I can afford it. By the way, I’m spending this money with my daughter’s permission,” he added. “And that’s saying something.” He sobered. “Catherine, we left