Momentary Marriage(86)

“Good,” Doug said, dubiously as he got to his feet. “I have to run, but I’ll call you.”

“Sounds good,” Kelsey agreed, new tears prickling at her eyes.

She shut the door behind him moments later and leaned back on the wood panel with a sense of consolation. Her life might have gone to hell and her marriage was now in shambles, but at least Doug appeared to be over his infatuation.

Now if only he could convince her sister of the fact.

***

As Doug stood in the shadowed darkness, Amy walked out of the restaurant, her friend at her side. The foot traffic on the sidewalk was consistent, but he could see her clearly from where he waited.

The two weeks away from her seemed like an eon and he couldn’t keep from staring at her hungrily, his body tense as she came through the doorway.

Her shiny dark hair cascaded over her shoulders, curling in a casual abandon that pierced him. All those wonderful nights, he’d had her head on the pillow next to his.

She had to listen to him. He’d make her listen.

Standing beside Amy, Janelle, his information source, adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder. As they stood in the exit, the other woman cast him a surreptitious glance.

“I’m so glad you could join me tonight,” he heard Amy say, her smile warm despite the tiredness around her eyes. Had she been sleeping badly, he wondered. Missing him at all?

“It was a terrific meal,” Janelle agreed, turning to head off down the street with a final look in his direction. “Well, I gotta go. I’ll see you at work, Amy.”

Dodging a woman and a stroller, he stepped forward out of the shadows and into the light cast by the street lamp. Doug said, “Amy!”

She turned then, her eyes widening as she saw him standing next to her—and then hardening. Without a word, she turned and walked away toward the street corner, the line of her body stiff with anger.

Moving between on-coming pedestrians, Doug followed her, pleading, “Will you give me a chance to explain? At least, listen a minute?”

“No,” she said, continuing to walk briskly along the sidewalk, threading her way between elderly women with shopping backs and businessmen toting their briefcases.

“Amy, I’m an idiot and a fool, but I love you,” he said, not caring if he was overheard. If she wouldn’t stop, he’d make his plea this way.

But a sound of disgust in her throat was his only response.

“Amy! Please listen to me!” He walked next to her, shifting around the toddler who’d strayed from his father.

Amy came to the corner and joined the crowd standing there, her face cold as she waited for the light to change. “Get lost. I’ve already wasted too much time on you. Go talk to Kelsey.”

Doug grimaced, following her out into the crosswalk when the group of people moved. “I know I’ve been a fool. I don’t deserve you.”

“No, you don’t,” she agreed immediately. “Stop following me!”

“But I love you,” he said, matching his steps to her fast walk. “I’ve realized my mistakes.”

“Whatever. I don’t care.” She quickened her step as they came to a construction zone with scaffolding over the sidewalk. The poles of the overhead maze created lanes for foot traffic with only the occasional cross-through. Moving to one side as pedestrians streamed from the opposite direction, Amy kept walking.

“Will you stop and listen to me?” he asked when he’d fought his way through the shifting pack of people.

“No.” She didn’t pause. “I’ve listened to your lies too many times and if you don’t leave me alone and stop following me, I’ll get a restraining order.”

“Amy!” he said sharply as they stepped out from under the scaffolding, coming to another street corner.

But she didn’t turn, forging ahead as the light changed.

“Amy,” Doug called out loudly, following her to the opposite curb. “Your sister asked me to marry her.”

Ten feet ahead of him, in the stream of pedestrians, Amy stopped. She turned and looked at him then—the first time she’d looked him in the face since he’d surprised her outside the restaurant. Looking into her beautiful eyes, he saw raw pain and cursed himself for causing it, while rejoicing that she still cared.

“I hope you’ll both be very happy,” she told him and then turned as if to disappear into the flow of humanity streaming around them.

“I turned her down, Amy,” he said, his voice raised to reach her. “I turned Kelsey down.”

He saw her stopped on the pavement ahead of him, still turned away. Hurrying forward, Doug stepped around in front of her, saying urgently, “I turned her down because I realized I never loved her as more than a sister.”