by V. E. Lemp
“Oh, I will be fine. Someone will come along and retrieve me soon enough. It is all arranged.”
Mark eyed her speculatively. “I’ve wondered about that. How you get about so well.”
A faint smile crossed Alice’s face. “You will have to ask Alex that. I am not allowed to say more, but he has no such restrictions.”
“That should prove interesting.” Mark glanced at Alex, who simply smiled coolly.
“I’ll go get the van revved up.” Sam seemed relieved to do anything that would get him out of the room. “If you do have any gear, Wythe, you might want to collect it. I’d like to get back to town as soon as possible.” He headed down the hall and out the front door.
Myron followed, but not before walking over to Alice and offering her his hand. “I hope we’ll meet again.”
“We shall.” Alice clasped his hand briefly. “And, Myron Tarrow?”
“Yes?” He turned in the hall to look back at her.
“Tell your followers to gather for the next several nights. We have quite a few displays planned for you.”
He bent his head in acknowledgement and walked outside. Alice turned and headed down another hall, toward the back of the house. She motioned for Alex to join her.
“I’ll be right back.” He followed Alice out of the room.
Karen laid her hand on Mark’s arm. “Are you really all right?”
He covered her hand with his own. “Are you?”
“No, not really.” Karen was distressed by the tension she could read in his face. “But I’ll manage.”
“Just promise to keep me from killing him.”
“I’ll try my best.” Karen stood on tiptoe and kissed Mark on the cheek. “You’re showing remarkable restraint.”
“It’s taking all my training to do so. I am only human myself.” Mark pulled Karen into his arms. “I had no idea,” he said, caressing the side of her face with one hand, then sliding his fingers down to rest in the hollow of her throat, “how very complicated this could become. Sorry, I should’ve been better prepared. I’m afraid I’ve already let things get out of hand.”
“It’s not your fault.” Karen laid her head on his shoulder.
“Are we ready to leave, then?” Alex walked back into the room just as Mark leaned in to kiss Karen gently on the lips. He held up the small duffel bag he was carrying. “All I have. Shouldn’t be in the way.”
Karen stepped back and out of Mark’s arms. “No problem.” She wondered how long Alex had been standing in the doorway, and silently cursed the heat rising in her face.
Mark gripped one of her hands. “Has Alice disappeared already?”
“Yes, she doesn’t really like goodbyes.” Alex’s eyes were not filled with the same good humor as his voice.
“Pity. I wanted to thank her. Well, time to go.” Mark grasped Karen’s hand a little tighter and led her down the hall to the front door.
Outside, the light was blinding, and Karen blinked and shaded her eyes with her free hand. As she approached the van, she noticed Myron was sitting up front with Sam. She frowned.
“I can crawl in the back again,” she said hesitantly, considering the problem of Mark and Alex sitting next to one another.
“Nonsense.” Alex jumped into the van. “Let me throw this bag in the back, and you can sit between your husband and me. I think there’s plenty of room, don’t you, Mark?”
“Of course.” Mark helped Karen into the van and climbed in beside her.
Karen leaned into him as closely as possible while still buckled in her seat belt. Regardless of her position, she realized she couldn’t avoid Alex’s knee pressing against her leg.
Sam drove off slowly. “Not a pleasant ride,” he said to Alex. “Myron here almost got sick on the way over, so I thought he’d be better off up front. You’re bound to be jostled about a bit back there. Sorry—can’t be helped.”
Alex turned his head to look out the window. “I’ve been through worse.”
Mark stared out the opposite window. He took Karen’s right hand in a firm grip and laid it across his knee.
Karen kept her eyes facing forward and concentrated on sitting as still as possible. The confines of the van made her feel slightly faint. Pressed between Mark and Alex, it was all she could do to keep from crawling into the back seat.
Sam maintained a steady stream of conversation about missions he’d been on in other lands, in part, Karen realized, to distract Myron from feeling ill. As the drive continued, the words sounded like nothing more than murmuring and buzzing. Karen pressed her head back against the slick upholstery of the car seat and closed her eyes. Mark’s fingers caressed her right hand, and she dropped her head onto his shoulder. He brushed a swift kiss against her hair. Karen sighed and sank in closer to him. Her left hand, finally relaxed, slipped from her lap and dropped onto the seat beside her.
After several minutes, Karen felt a familiar touch sliding over her left hand. Slender fingers curled around her own. She glanced at Mark, whose head had dropped back and whose eyes were closed, although his hand still cradled hers as it lay upon his knee. Karen turned her head slightly and looked at Alex from under her lowered eyelids. He was staring out the window. She glanced down—his fingers were entwined with hers. She tightened her grip on his hand until he turned his head slightly and met her questioning gaze.
“Over ten years,” he whispered. “I think I might be granted a little human compassion.”
“Very well.” She loosened her grip but did not pull her hand away. “But this doesn’t mean I’m having a change of heart.”
“I never imagined you would.”
Karen, reading sincerity in his eyes, felt satisfied with this answer. She moved to lay her head on Mark’s shoulder but caught a glimpse of the smile on Alex’s face as he turned away. A smile more satisfied than resigned. She frowned and attempted to extract her hand from Alex’s grip, to no avail.
“Don’t make a scene,” he whispered, without turning around. “You’ll wake Mark.”
“Let go.”
“Just relax,” Alex said under his breath. “I’ll be sure to release your hand before your husband wakes up.”
“Not the point.” Karen sat back and stared at the ceiling of the van. “Your choice,” she said softly after some time. “It was your choice, you know.”
Alex’s fingers tightened about her own. “I know.”
“Well, at least we’re finally on a decent road,” Sam called out. “Everyone all right back there?”
Mark sat up and asked what was going on, and Alex immediately released his grip on Karen’s fingers.
“We’re surviving.” Alex placed his right hand on his knee.
“Almost back in town,” Karen told Mark, as he pushed his glasses up from the end of his nose. “You fell asleep.”
“Did I?” Mark stretched out his left arm and placed it around Karen’s shoulders. “Probably best to miss part of that trip anyway.”
“I wish I had.” Myron turned slightly to look at them. “Sam’s done his best, but these roads are not kind to those of us with sensitive stomachs.”
“I’d like to transport myself like those avatars seem to do,” Sam said.
“No, you wouldn’t,” Alex said. Myron looked at him quizzically, but he said nothing more.
Karen was relieved when they pulled into the motel parking lot. “Finally. I desperately need a drink.”
“You and me both,” Mark said, with a discreet nod toward Alex.
“Of water,” Karen replied firmly. “A drink of water.”
“Water?” Mark’s brown eyes sparked with humor. “How unusual.”
Karen banged her knee into his thigh. “Stop it,” she said with a little laugh. “Water first, at least. Wine later.”
Alex turned and regarded them both steadily. “I suppose I’ll need those papers in order to check in.”
“Ah yes, of course.” Mark instantly composed himself as Sam parked the van. “They’re in our roo
m. I’ll retrieve them right away. Perhaps you’d better wait outside, though. It might look a bit peculiar, handing off documents in the lobby.”
“Of course.” Alex grabbed his duffel bag and stepped out of the van.
“What a delightful trip this is turning out to be,” Mark muttered as Alex walked over to stand under the motel canopy.
“I still don’t trust him,” Sam said. “Want a lift back to Mary’s, Myron? I can drop you off.”
“Yes, thanks,” Myron said, before he cast a swift glance at Karen. “Well, Alex is likely to be rather strange, living as he has all these past years. I can’t imagine doing such a thing. Living with no human contact for ten years? Highly problematic, from a psychological point of view.”
Karen didn’t trust herself to say anything.
Mark’s steady gaze was focused on her face. “Come, let’s get you out of this stifling vehicle.” He stepped down from the van and held out his hand to Karen. “You do look like you could use some water.”
“Yes, you’re rather flushed, Karen,” Myron agreed, as Sam revved up the van. “Sure you’re feeling all right?”
“I’m fine. Really,” she said, shooting a sharp glance at Mark. “Stop treating me like I’m made of glass.”
Mark took her by the elbow as Myron rolled up the window and the van drove off. “You have no idea of how distraught you look, do you? Never mind, I know what a strain this must be for you.”
“Not sure you do.” Karen reached for his hand. “I feel under siege.”
“I think we both are.” They walked, hand in hand, toward the entrance. “Obviously, Alex is not yet reconciled to reality.”
Karen frowned. “Hopefully he can accept things as they are sooner rather than later.”
“We shall see. In the meantime, keep your guard up. Now, I have to go and get those papers. Do you want to accompany me, or are you going to wait outside? I won’t be long.”
“I’ll wait out here,” Karen said. “I think I need to prove I’m not afraid to do so.”
Mark smiled. “Good idea. It’s always best to make a show of strength.”
“Even when you feel like a total nervous wreck?”
“Even then.” Mark leaned over and gave her a swift kiss. “Chin up, sweetheart. I’ll be right back.” He strode off toward the front doors.
Alex’s eyes followed Mark until he entered the lobby. “So, Karen, are you going to stand all the way over there in the middle of the parking lot? You can come closer, you know. I promise to behave.”
“Do you?”
He was leaning against one the posts that supported the canopy, a casual pose that didn’t disguise the tension in his body. His eyes never left her face as she approached him. “If I must. And I can tell by your expression I’m required to do so.”
“You haven’t lost your ability to read my face then.”
“I doubt I’d ever lose that.” Alex straightened as Karen moved closer, rising to his full height so she was forced to look up at him. “I’ve thought about your face, as well as the rest of you, quite a lot over the years, you know.”
Karen shook her head. “Don’t start, Alex.”
He smiled, but she could read only pain in his eyes. “I’d imagined,” he said softly, “our reunion quite differently.”
“If you did, you weren’t thinking logically.”
“I’m not sure logic enters into it. At least on my part.”
“It must, if we’re to spend any time around one another.” Karen tentatively laid her hand on his arm. “I do want us to have some kind of relationship, if we can.”
“Well, on that point we can agree,” Alex said. The passion in his eyes made Karen step back. He reached out and covered her hand with his own. “Backing off already, kiddo? I’d think we’d be allowed some friendly contact after all these years.”
Karen glanced at the lobby doors. “I don’t think that’s wise.”
“Mark hasn’t yet returned, if that’s your concern. Is he such a possessive husband he’d begrudge a few chaste embraces?”
“No, this has to do with me, not Mark. He isn’t really the jealous type, you know.”
Alex raised his eyebrows. “You could’ve fooled me. I thought he’d be glad to strangle me back at the ranch house.”
“Well, you were being rather provocative.” Karen slid her fingers out from under his loosened grip and placed her hands behind her back. “Now listen, I’m glad you’ve returned, just as I was happy to hear you were alive after so many years of thinking you dead. But we must come to some type of understanding if we’re to have any relationship going forward.”
“I agree with you completely.”
His smile made Karen sigh deeply. “You’re not taking me seriously.”
“On the contrary, I’m deadly serious.” Alex stepped forward until he was standing toe to toe with her. “As serious as I ever was,” he whispered in her ear. “And here’s Mark with my new life in his hands,” he said in a louder voice, straightening and looking over Karen’s shoulder.
Karen stepped back, keeping her eyes on his face. “I’m very angry with you right now.”
“I think you’ve been angry for some time, haven’t you? Ah, well, they say any emotion’s better than disinterest.” Alex turned his face toward the motel entrance.
Karen followed his gaze, watching Mark’s approach. Mark stopped walking and held up a soft-sided briefcase. “Your papers, if you’d like to come and fetch them.”
Alex strolled over to Mark. “Thank you.” He took the briefcase from Mark’s hand. “I hope you know how much I appreciate the effort that went into this.”
“All for a good cause.” The lenses of Mark’s glasses had darkened in the bright sunlight. Probably for the best. Karen could imagine the anger his eyes might betray.
Karen waited until Alex strode off and entered the motel before she crossed to where Mark was standing.
“I see Alex is continuing to be a little too up close and personal,” Mark said.
“Yes, I’m afraid so. And he seems determined to goad you for some reason.”
“Oh, I’m pretty clear on the reason. He thinks you belong to him and I’m nothing but an annoying impediment.”
“He has another think coming then.” Karen sighed and rubbed at her eyes, which were frustratingly damp. “It’s such crap—I guess I’ll have to remain on my guard with him at all times. In the past we were friends as well as lovers, you know, and I’d hoped… well, we could be friends again. But he seems incapable of that right now. It makes everything so difficult. I feel,” she said, her voice breaking, “like I’m losing him all over again.”
Mark carefully examined her face. “I think I need to do some research into the terms and conditions of justifiable homicide.”
Karen’s lips twitched into a smile. “For my sake I hope you won’t actually kill him.” She touched Mark’s arm. “I like having you around on a daily basis. I don’t want to limit our interactions to conjugal visits at the state penitentiary.”
“But he’s already dead, for all intents and purposes.” Mark tucked her arm into his crooked elbow. “Another disappearance could easily be arranged.”
“I have a better idea,” Karen said as they walked into the lobby. “I say you and I go to our room and rest before dinner. Perhaps we can actually relax for a few hours before we deal with any more such difficulties.”
“Perhaps we should just stay in our room and pretend such difficulties don’t exist.”
“If only it were that simple.”
As soon as they entered their room, Karen fell across the bed. “Wake me in time to get a shower before dinner.” Her words were muffled in the comforter.
“I think I’ll set an alarm.” Mark took off his wristwatch and placed it on the nightstand. “Waking you from a nap can prove perilous.”
“What do you mean?” Karen rolled over and glared at him.
“Well, you sleep so deeply sometimes… Perhaps it’s the dreami
ng, but when I try to wake you after a short nap you tend to snap my head off.”
“I do not.”
Mark choked back a laugh. “Oh, yes you do. Anyway, I’m liable to fall asleep too, as soon as I sit down, so I think the alarm’s our safest option.”
“I don’t snap at people.” Karen scooted over as Mark sat on the bed. “Don’t know how you ever got such an idea.”
“Experience?” Mark lay back on the bed.
“The next thing I know you’ll be claiming I snore,” Karen muttered.
“You do, but quite musically. Rather like the sound of the ocean. Soothing, in its way.”
Karen swore and turned her back to him, but Mark reached over and wrapped his arms around her.
“Watch out, I may feel like snapping,” she said.
“That’s why I’m staying on this side.” His voice was bright with amusement.
“Why I put up with you I’ll never know.” Karen spoke more softly as she felt his lips brush her shoulder.
“Because, despite yourself, you love me?”
“I suppose that’s it,” she said, with a little smile he couldn’t see. “Although I’m old enough to know better.”
“No,” Mark said, before they drifted off to sleep. “We’re both finally old enough to know what’s best.”
EIGHT
“Myron’s invited us to dinner.”
Karen, drying her hair after her shower, glanced in the bathroom mirror and glimpsed Mark holding up his cell behind her head. “Really? I guess we ought to go, if only to talk things over. But I hate to think we’re putting Mary to extra work or expense.”
“Apparently it was Mary’s idea. So what do you think? I suspect Myron’s invited Alex, as well. Are you prepared to deal with him again?”
“Oh, I suppose.” Karen paused in brushing her hair to stare at her reflection. “Perhaps it’s best if he sees me more often. It might make him accept who I am now, instead remaining fixated on his memory of me. I’m not that young girl anymore.” She made a face at the mirror. “Honestly, I’m sure there’ll be scores of other women throwing themselves at him once he’s back out in the world. You know how it is. Men get older and everyone thinks they’re more attractive, and women … just get older.”