Part 17 (1/2)

Corbett' . She looked at him with tears suddenly s.h.i.+ning in her eyes. Do you ever get over the feeling that any day now she's coming home? I don't think anyone understands it. But I keep feeling that, as though he were only on a trip.

He smiled gently and nodded. In some ways he is. I believe that one day well all meet again. But now we have this life to make better. We have to make the most of it while we're here. But in answer to your question, yes, I used to feel that Beth was only out for a while, for a few hours, away for a couple of days, visiting, shopping, somewhere. I'd hear the elevator, or a door would close in my apartment, and I'd think She's home! And a minute later I' feel even worse than before. Maybe it's a game that we play with ourselves to keep from knowing the truth. Or maybe it's just hard to break old habits. Someone comes home every day and you think that they will forever. The only thing that changes in the end is eventually that someone no longer comes home. What it does is make you very grateful for what you have, while you have it, because now you know how brief and ephemeral it sometimes is. They sat quietly again for a while as the ashes in the fire dimly glowed.

Seven and a half months is not very long. But it's long enough to be very lonely and to realize that you really are on your own.

It frightens me sometimes. No, that's not true. It terrifies me.

You don't look very terrified to me. She looked calm, pulled together, and able to handle almost everything, and he was sure that in the last seven and a half months she had. Just don't let people push you. Go at your own pace.

I don't have a pace. Except in my work. That's the only life I have now.

Now, only for now. Don't forget that. It's not forever. Remind yourself of that every day. If it gets unbearably painful, tell yourself that it is only right now. When I lost Beth, a friend told me that a woman. She said that it was a little bit like having a child. When you're in labor and it gets unbearable, you think it will go on forever, that you'll never survive. But it isn't forever, it is only a few hours. And then it's over, finished, behind you. You've done it, you've arrived.

She smiled at the comparison. She had had a hard time when Alessandro was born. I'll try to remind myself.

Good.

And then she looked at him questioningly. Do you have children, Corbett?

But he shook his head. Only those I borrow occasionally from Friends.

That may not be such a bad arrangement. She grinned at him. You may feel that way, especially after you've gone to the firehouse with Jason and Alessandro.

I'll enjoy it. Now what about you?

What about me?

Would you like to go for a drive tomorrow?

Aren't you working? She looked startled.

It's Sat.u.r.day. Are you?

I'd forgotten. And I was going to but She looked warmly at him I'd love to go for a drive. In broad daylight?

Of course. He looked momentarily victorious.

There are curtains in the backseat of my car. We can draw them until we get a little way out of town.

How mysterious. She was laughing again, and Corbett stood up as she held out her hand. Thank you, Corbett. He was going to tease her about bring formal, but decided that it would be wiser not to. He shook her hand then and walked to the door.

I'll see you tomorrow, Isabella.

Thank you. She smiled again as the elevator reached them. Good night.

This time when he left her he was smiling, but a tremor of fear ran through him when he remembered all that he hadn't said.

Chapter TWENTY-ONE.

The next day they drove into Connecticut for the day, hidden deep in the secrecy of his curtained Rolls, chatting about business again, this time about her grandfather's couture house in Paris and then once again about Rome.

How do you know so much about all this? She looked at him intently as they drove beneath trees that were just beginning to show leaves.

lt's no different than any business. Whatever the commodity you deal in, the concepts are often the same. The idea intrigued her. She had never even thought of applying what she knew of her business to anything else.

Are you involved in a great many undertakings? But she already knew from his extensive knowledge that he was. She thought it strange how closemouthed he was about business most men were so eager to talk about nothing else.

Yes.

Why don't you tell me more about them?

Because they would all bore you. Some of them even bore me. She laughed with him and stretched happily as they got out of the car.

If you only knew how long it's been since I've walked on gra.s.s and seen trees. And finally, finally, there's a little green here. I thought it was going to be gray forever.

He smiled at her gently. See, it's the same thing. Nothing is forever, Isabella. Nothing good, and nothing bad. We both know that by now. You can't chop down a tree because it isn't yet in bloom. You have to wait, nurture it, love it. In time it revives again. He wanted to tell her, So will you.

Perhaps you're right. But she was too happy to think of the past now. She just wanted to breathe deeply and enjoy the country and her first taste of spring.

Why didn't you bring Alessandro? He looked down at her.

He and Jason had a date with some friends in the park. But he told me to be sure and remind you about the firehouse. She wagged a finger at him, laughing. I told you so!

I've already arranged it. For Tuesday afternoon.

You're a man of your word then.

He looked at her seriously, yes, Isabella, I am.

But she knew that already. Everything about him suggested the man of honor, someone you could rely on and trust with the secrets of your heart. She hadn't met anyone like him in years; it had been even longer since she had opened up to anyone as she had to him. Her only confidants had been Amadeo, Bernardo, and Natasha. But she had lost Amadeo, and she and Bernardo, well, she and Bernardo were not talking about personal matters anymore. There was too much distance between them, and, too, she was feeling herself withdraw from him and he from her. So she was left with Natasha, and now Corbett. It was amazing how in a few short days she had come to trust him and all that he said.

What were you thinking?

That it's strange how comfortable I feel with you. Like an old friend.

Why is that so strange? They stopped at a fallen tree and sat down. His long legs were stretched out before him, crossed at the ankles; his broad shoulders were encased in fine English tweed. He looked amazingly young, despite the prematurely white hair.

It's strange only because I don't know you. Not really, not who you are.

Yes, you do. You know all the essentials about me. Where I live, what I do. You know that I've been Natasha's friend for years. You know other things. I've also told you a great deal. He was referring to Beth, his lost wife. Isabella nodded quietly and then looked up at the trees, her long neck arched skyward, her hair hanging down her back. He was smiling at her; for a moment she looked like a child on a swing.

He was intrigued by her, by her great beauty, and her diamond-sharp mind, the delicate elegance combined with the rare strength and the power of command. She was all contrasts and rich shadings, with mountains and valleys and textures that he loved. Why do you always wear black, Isabella? I've never seen you wear a color, except that night; the coat you wore was white.

She looked at him simply. For Amadeo. I'll wear black like this for a year.

I'm sorry. I should have known that. But people don't do that anymore in the States. He looked upset, as though he had said something he shouldn't have, but Isabella smiled.