Part 6 (1/2)

Kari held her hand to her face to hide her giggling. She leaned closer and took his hand in hers. ”No, Tim. I don't like your jokes.”

His jaw dropped in mock astonishment, and he silently mouthed the words, ”You don't like my jokes?”

She laughed out loud this time, and when she'd regained her composure, she squeezed his hand and smiled at him. ”What I mean is, it isn't your jokes that I like. I like . . . you.”

Tim's expression changed then, almost as if he were determined to move past the truth about her onetime love. ”Well, then, at least tell me what went on between you two.”

And she did. For the rest of the hour she talked about her 45 friends.h.i.+p with Ryan, the ups and downs and the fact that she had expected to marry him.

The conversation with Tim that day had been a turning point for them, deepening their friends.h.i.+p and hinting at something more serious ahead. But Kari still doubted that anything lasting would come from their time together because after graduation she planned to spend six months in New York with a few girlfriends-all of whom would be working for a modeling agency on the West Side.

Then, the night she graduated from college, everything about her relations.h.i.+p with Tim changed.

Her parents threw a huge open house to celebrate Kari's big day. That night the house overflowed with people, and Tim was among them. He spent nearly an hour talking to her father, and before the night was over, he helped her mother refill platters of snack foods and tidy up the kitchen.

Her mother pulled her aside before the party was over and whispered in her ear, ”Maybe I was wrong about Tim.”

”Yeah, maybe you were,” Kari whispered back, her heart soaring at the success of the evening. ”Not that it matters. I'm leaving in a few weeks, remember?”

A strange look came over her mother's face, and she hesitated, as if she was considering whether to say the next thing. Then she lowered her voice again.

”Ryan called yesterday. He asked me not to tell you, but I didn't want you to be surprised.”

Kari would never forget the way her heart dropped. Couldn't he leave her alone?

Wasn't it enough to break her heart without haunting her? ”Why?”

Elizabeth Baxter fiddled with a dish towel, and her features tensed up. ”He wants to stop by tonight. Late. After everyone else is gone.”

The panic Kari felt at that moment was almost enough to ruin the evening. She looked at the kitchen clock. ”He wouldn't be coming this late, would he?”

46.

A sheepish look crossed her mother's face. ”He begged me not } to tell you.”

The number of guests was beginning to dwindle, and suddenly Kari thought of a plan. ”Fine.” She looked back at her mother as she took a step toward the living room where Tim and a dozen others were gathered. ”Thanks for telling me.”

Without waiting for a break in the conversation, she came up to Tim and took his arm. ”Quick. I need to talk to you.” If Ryan Taylor was going to show up unannounced, the last thing she wanted to do was appear interested. Or worse, as if she'd been pining away the months missing him.

When Kari and Tim were alone in the hallway, she told him what her mother had said about Ryan. As soon as she mentioned Ryan's name, Tim's expression fell.

”You want me to leave?”

”No!” Kari's response was urgent, and she tugged on Tim's sleeve for emphasis.

”I want you to pretend to be my boyfriend.”

For a flicker of an instant, something dreamy and serious clouded Tim's eyes, but then almost immediately it was replaced by the teasing, twinkling look she was more familiar with. Moving like an actor in a movie, he took her face gently in his hands and lowered his lips to hers.

”Tim!” She pushed at his chest and stared at him, her heart beating hard from a mixture of mock indignation and some new, strange feeling she'd never had in his presence.

”What?” He gave her a lazy grin. ”You said to pretend I was your-”

”Not like that! Come on now. Be serious.” She pushed him again. ”If Ryan shows up, I want you to hold my hand until he goes, okay?”

Again there was a flicker of something in Tim's eyes, something that made Kari's heart jump unexpectedly. Fifteen minutes later Ryan walked through the door, and Kari stayed in the living room, Tim at her side, the two of them holding hands just as they'd planned.

It took several minutes before Ryan worked his way into the 47 room where Tim and Kari were sitting. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him, but she looked away, pretending not to notice. Still, she saw how his eyes took in the sight of her . . . and the fact that she was holding hands with Tim.

”Kari.” He walked toward her, and she realized she'd almost forgotten how he commanded a room. ”Congratulations!”

”Thanks.” She stood up and Tim did the same, keeping her hand in his.

There was an awkward silence as her mother and father followed Ryan into the room and both simultaneously stared at the spot where her hand joined Tim's.

Kari's heart pounded so hard she thought everyone in the room could see it. She cast her parents a look that begged them not to give away her scheme.

Trying to shake off the memory, Kari wrapped the towel around her body and sat at the edge of the bed. Although it had been years since she'd seen Ryan, memories of him were as fresh as if everything had happened earlier that morning.

Kari remembered wanting to draw close to Ryan that evening, just one more time.

To feel his arms envelop her against his chest, hear the way his heart beat against her face. Instead, she nodded politely and introduced Tim, whose hand still held hers. They talked about the Cowboys and spring training and summer camp, and Kari could see that Tim was impressed. There were a few more minutes of football talk, and then Ryan said his goodbyes and left.

Though he still had a way of taking a piece of her heart with him, Kari watched him go without giving way to the desire that welled up inside her. The desire to run after him and forgive him for anything he'd ever done to hurt her. The desire to ask him if somehow he might still love her.

The moment he was gone, relief swept over her.

Ryan had made his choices long ago. There would never be anything between them again. Kari pulled Tim by the hand outside to a quiet place on the back porch.

As soon as they were

48.