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"What do you think?"
What do you think? That was a well too deep to explore; better to keep on the surface of the water. "I think youll look incredibly handsome. "
"I love you, Birdie. "
"I know," she said, wishing the emotion came as easily as the words. "I love you, too. "
WINTER
Woman must come of age by herself . . .
She must find her true center alone.
--Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea
SEVEN
On this cold, bleak winters day, not a glimmer of sunlight pushed through the heavy gray clouds.
Jack checked into the hotel and went up to his suite. There, he hung up his garment bag and immediately headed for the ornate cherry armoire in the sitting room. He chose a tiny bottle of Chivas Regal from the minibar and poured himself a drink.
The phone rang.
He knew it would be Birdie. Shed always had an uncanny ability to pinpoint the very second hed arrive in his room. "Hello?"
"Mr. Shore?"
He sat down on the bed. The ice rattled in his glass. "This is Jack Shore. "
"Im Mindy Akin, one of the producers. A car will pick up you and Ms. Maloney tomorrow afternoon at three oclock. "
"Thank you. "
You and Ms. Maloney. There was something ominous in that sentence. He wondered--and not for the first time--if it would have been better to come alone.
But Sally had earned this trip. And theyd sent two first-class tickets; it would have been stupid to waste one.
Besides, he wouldnt have invited Sally if Elizabeth had come. So, really, it was his wifes fault that Sally would be staying in a room right down the hall.
He had barely hung up the phone when it rang again.
This time it was Elizabeth. "Hey, honey. How was your flight?"
He leaned back into the stack of pillows and put his feet up on the bed. "You should see my suite, Birdie, youd love it. "
"A suite, huh? Pretty cool, Jack. "
He frowned. Amazingly, even on this day of days, she managed to sound unimpressed, a little distant.
God, he was tired of this. Their relationship had become a sea of undercurrents and riptides with no shallow, placid water to be found. "Yeah, its great. "
"The dining room is really shaping up. I cant wait for you to see it. "
The house again. Christ. Youd think it was a mansion in Bel Air instead of a redone summer cottage in the butt-crack of nowheresville. "Thats great. "
"How long will you be there?"
"Two nights. The interview is tomorrow. Ill be home late Wednesday. "
