Eliot paced in the entryway of his house, waiting for Brynn. Foolishly, he had agreed to let her come to see the cat one last time before Marta’s friends took it away. He could not but think that he should be gone from the house to avoid any mishaps, but of course Brynn wasn’t just coming to see Lucky.
The knock echoed through the emptiness of the house. Eliot set his mouth into a thin smile and opened the door.
Brynn stood outside in a red wool coat, her hands clasped in front of her in gloves, her hair tied up neatly in a bun. The cab pulled off down the driveway, and Eliot watched as the tires made fresh dark tracks in the morning snowfall. Although technically it had been spring for weeks already, Nature had other ideas in mind for that day. A cold front had plummeted the temperatures in Budapest close to freezing, and the clouds which would normally have rained spring showers had instead turned the ground white with a fresh blanket of snow. Brynn wiped the slush off of her boots before stepping in carefully. Her expression was wary as he leaned forward and kissed her on one cheek in greeting, then the other. Her lips did not so much as brush his skin, and he felt her harden under his touch.
He took her coat from her to hang up, and could not help but stare at what she was wearing underneath—a bright red dress with cap sleeves, low-cut. She looked gorgeous, and immediately he was ashamed of his own state of dress—he was barefoot, in a stained shirt and the wrinkled dress pants he had worn the night before. He looked a mess.
“The girls are going out dancing tonight,” Brynn said, in response to his glance. “I thought I’d get dressed before coming over.”
“Is that one of the dresses Marta picked for you?”
Brynn nodded.
“It suits you well,” Eliot said. Well was an understatement. The dress was stunning, a perfect fit to show off Brynn’s curves. The bright red color contrasted with her alabaster skin and her reddened cheeks, made bright by the cold outside, only added to the effect. He yanked his gaze away from her figure.
“It’s cold out here,” she said. “Even colder than in the city.”
“We’re up higher in the mountains,” Eliot said. “The snow is actually staying on the ground.”
“I wish it wouldn’t melt down where we are,” Brynn said. “I’d like to have one walk through the garden again.” Her words stopped abruptly, as though she had just reminded herself of the memory with her and Eliot.
“Marta will be coming by later,” Eliot said, and the topic was mercifully changed back to Lucky’s fate in the hand of Marta’s friends.
They walked back into the kitchen, where Lucky sat contentedly on the counter top. Eliot had given up trying to keep the damn thing off of the tables, but it was beyond him to admit that he enjoyed sharing the last of his milk with the small kitten.
“He’s grown bigger,” Brynn said with a touch of pride, as she petted the kitten’s newly silken coat. “Thanks for taking care of him.”
“He’ll be happy at his new home, I’m sure,” Eliot said.
“I’m sure he will,” Brynn said, her eyes sorrowful. She turned back to Eliot. “And what about you?”
“What about me?”
“Will you be happy back in America?”
Eliot stared at Brynn. She had struck to the heart of the matter. Eliot didn’t know if he could be happy anywhere. The few glimpses of happiness he had seen in the last few years had been with Brynn.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “I’ll have my work.”
“Your work is here with your students,” Brynn said, slightly admonishing.
“Of course,” he said, moving over to the kitten to stroke its head. Lucky purred. “But there is something to be said for solitude in making progress on these things.”
“Really?”
Eliot did not know what to say. She was right, of course. The best part of his work had been done here.
“I can’t stay, Brynn.”
To his surprise, she began to cry. He put his hands on her arms, trying to comfort her.
“I only wanted to come here to see my mother,” Brynn said. “I didn’t care about the prize, I didn’t care about this stupid problem. I didn’t care about you!” She stared up into his face, her eyes flashing darkly in anger.
“Brynn, I’m so sorry,” Eliot said. “But you’ve made so much progress on this problem.”
“I didn’t want any of it,” Brynn said, her words catching on her sobs. Eliot pulled her towards him and she balled her fists against his chest.
“I’m so proud of you. You’ve done so much—”