Country Roads(127)
He lifted his head, his breathing audible. “There’s a whole gallery full of people out there.”
“I know, so let’s get out of here.” She wanted to be naked and wrapped in his arms so she could obliterate all the wretchedness of the last few days. “On your hog.”
He hesitated and her elation took a dive.
“I have to ask you this,” he said, a line of worry between his brows. “Did you really faint from hunger or were you just saying that for your uncle’s benefit?”
“It was really from not eating,” Julia said, understanding his need to know. “It was completely different from a seizure.”
He nodded and reached for the filled plate. “I trust you to know, but we’re not going until you’ve eaten.”
She could see the worry in his eyes and loved him all the more for overcoming it to accept her word. She wanted to fly through the night with him, the wind blocking out everything except the two of them together. She shoved two miniquiches in her mouth. “Orange juice,” she mumbled as she tried to swallow the oversize bite.
He fetched her the glass as she stuffed in two more canapés. She washed them down with a slug of juice and licked her fingers, making his eyes go dark and hungry. “I know what you’re thinking and I like it,” she said.
He stood and held out his hand. “Let’s ride.”
Claire had been hovering near the hallway leading to her office. She couldn’t leave the reception, but she was concerned about Julia’s health. Julia’s uncle had taken up a position just inside the hall, so when she saw him turn toward the office door, she hurried to join him.
She heaved a sigh of relief when Julia emerged beside Paul, her face radiant.
“Mi Julia, you are recovered?” Carlos said, the lines in his forehead smoothing away.
“Completely, Tío.” She let go of Paul and threw her arms around her uncle for a quick hug. “I was just too nervous to eat.”
Paul met Claire’s gaze. He was wearing his old devil-may-care grin and her heart leaped with joy for him.
“Can you spare Julia for the rest of the reception?” he asked. “We have someplace we need to be.”
Claire smiled in answer to his as she nodded and shooed them back down the hall. “Go now before anyone sees you!”
She watched them disappear out the back door with a sense of satisfaction. Tim strolled up just as the roar of a motorcycle engine filtered through the hum of conversation. “Sounds like your plan worked,” he said, slipping his arm around her waist.
“My plans always work,” Claire said with serene self-confidence as she gave her husband’s ribs a light squeeze. She noticed Julia’s uncle still gazing toward the back door and started to say something reassuring when Belle came bustling up, a fistful of envelopes in her hand.
“These are the written bids for the Castillo painting for tomorrow night,” she said. “You vouched for most of these folks, but there are a couple I wanted to check with you.”
Claire waited as Belle consulted her notes. “Virgil Hofstatter?”
“Yes, he’s a client from my New York days.”
“How about Sandra Barron?”
“A noted collector from Texas.”
“Then there was this weedy-looking fellow with an unusual name who claimed you knew him. Here it is. Paxton Hayes.”
Belle looked up to find the normally controlled, dignified Claire Parker seize her husband’s hands and swing him into a victory dance.