And her not saying anything was stretching the awkward chord near snapping.
“These looks are...expected.” Christine put a hand on top of Slade’s.
He nearly jerked off the couch.
She squeezed his hand reassuringly. “I’m not saying they’re bad looks, but tame by what I’ve come to expect from you two. What else have you got? Can you shock me?” She tried smiling again. It was no easier this time.
What was Slade thinking? Did he realize she was talking to him as well as to the girls?
The shadows around his eyes said, I’m sorry. It’s true. I tried to commit suicide.
Christine’s arms tingled with shock. Something in Slade’s life had been so bad he’d tried to kill himself. He kept it hidden. And yet he’d let her unbutton those buttons.
Why?
The girls ran enthusiastically up the stairs with their assignment.
Slade loosened Christine’s fingers, which had been digging into his knuckles. “You can go now.”
“Is that what she did?” Somehow, Christine knew his ex-wife had left him because of this. “Your wife left you because she couldn’t trust you to...you know...not try again.”
Instead of releasing her, his hand closed around hers. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does.” Christine turned to him in wonder. “You haven’t told anyone. At least not anyone here in town. No one over the age of sixty in this place can keep a secret.” With her free hand, Christine reached for the collar of his shirt to get another look. “No. She left you.”
Slade pulled away.
“But you showed me.”
He released her hand and rebuttoned his shirt.
Her mind raced, that scientific mind that had made her an outcast when she was little, because she understood too much, leaped ahead of conversations in class. “You want me to leave,” she stated matter-of-factly. “You think this will disgust me. You must...”
It hit her then. Not like a ton of bricks, or a slap in the face, or a cold shower. This was a gradual awareness of something truly special. Once-in-a-lifetime special. He was...he was great. She liked him. A lot.
And he liked her. More than a boss should like his employee.
He liked her. Those mixed signals weren’t all just self-preservation on his part.
He liked her. A lot.
The proof was there. But what did it mean?
Nothing, her head said.
Everything, her heart said.
It could be a silly infatuation, spawned by all the time they’d been spending together. Something that would fade. Or it could be the beginning of feelings that went down like a rich red wine. Something that expanded and lingered. That filled up the empty places.
But which was it? Science required she test out her theories.
“I need to kiss you,” she said, surprising both of them.