TALL DARK AND HUNGRY Page 0,38

mind ranging from confusion to dismay. Then pleasure slid past all that to suffuse her mind, and Terri relaxed against Bastien, breathing a sigh into his mouth. It seemed to her that the moment she did, a sudden squawking set up next to them. They broke apart, and glanced at the birds now squabbling over the last of the old man's bread, then relaxed and glanced back at each other.

"I'm sorry," he said, as their gazes met.

"Are you?" she asked huskily.

"No."

"Neither am I."

They were both silent for a moment; then Bastien glanced at the birds flocking around the man who'd been feeding them. His bread bag was empty, but the birds were still hungry.

Bastien tossed the rest of his sandwich into the flock, cleared his throat, and glanced back to her. "Have you had enough of the museum today? We can come another day to finish looking around if you have."

Terri hesitated. In truth, she had seen enough of the museum for one day. Her feet were okay, but she didn't think they would be for much longer. More to the point, if she saw too much more, she feared it would all start to blur in her mind. Still, she was will¬ing to risk both outcomes rather than see this inter¬lude come to an end.

"We could do a little shopping," Bastien suggested.

Terri brightened at the suggestion. He wasn't calling an end to their outing, just switching gears, and the idea of more shopping was attractive. She hadn't really bought anything on Saturday. They had been mostly window-shopping, but she did want to make some purchases while here. Everything was terribly expensive in England. New York prices were cheap in comparison.

"That sounds like fun--if you don't mind," she added with sudden concern. Most men weren't really into shopping, and she didn't want to bore Bastien by making him take her around the shops for the second time in three days.

"I like to shop," he assured her as he got to his feet. He took her hand so naturally as he turned toward the steps, Terri hardly noticed. When she did, she bit her lip and avoided looking at him. They descended the steps to the sidewalk in front of the museum. She felt like a teenager again, nervous and awkward and suddenly tongue-tied.

They walked in companionable silence along the street, Terri glancing curiously at everything they passed. This was only her third trip to New York. She'd visited Kate before, but then they'd spent most of their time talking, shopping in the Village, and talking some more. Kate and Terri had always been particularly close, more friends than just cousins. She smiled at the oddity of her thoughts. She made it sound as if friends were more important than rela¬tives to her, and in some ways they were. You chose your friends, but couldn't pick your relatives. Terri was fortunate in that most of her relatives were also friends. Their family was made up of some wonderful, caring, and giving aunts, uncles, and cousins. Terri loved every one of them. It was the one thing she missed the most living in England: her family.

"How did you end up in England?" Bastien asked suddenly, holding open the door of Bloomingdale's for her to enter.

Terri considered the question in silence, and sad¬ness overwhelmed her. "I moved there when I mar-ried. My husband was English."

"You said you aren't married, so I take it the mar¬riage either dissolved in divorce or your husband died," Bastien said quietly. "I'm guessing he died."

Terri glanced at him in surprise. "You're right. But what made you say that?"

He shrugged. "Bad memories would have seen you move back to America. Only good memories would keep you in a foreign country when the rea¬son for moving there was gone," he explained. "Be¬sides, only a fool would give up a treasure like you."

Terri felt herself flush with pleasure at the compli¬ment, but his question and words brought painful memories to the fore. She'd been young when she'd married and moved to England the year after her mother's death, not quite twenty. Ian had been only a couple of years older. It had all seemed a grand ad¬venture at first. He'd worked at his government job; she'd attended the university. They'd bought a little cottage and played house for a couple of years... until he'd been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease and begun the battle for his life, a battle he'd lost three years later.

Terri had just earned her bachelor's degree the year