[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.The little feetwithin the blanket kicked and squirmed asshe tickled them with the tips of hermanicured nails.The bundle within theblanket giggled at the attention and its tiny fingers reached out for Elise. Hi. I walked over and sat besideher.I felt like a useless piece of furniture,but Elise was a face of smiles.As Ipeeked over her shoulder, I could see theface of the little boy and instantlyremembered one of Charlie s manysketches.I smiled at the thought; it wasnice to know he was just downstairs andrelatively safe. He s beautiful, I told her.I couldfaintly see the same nose that belonged toBen and tuffs of the crisp dark hair thatbelonged to Elise. How old is he? Just four months now. Elise gazed at him with the utmost affection. He sgrowing so quickly it feels strange to me, she admitted. On the other hand, it s hardto believe my world ever even existedwithout him. I ve seen a lot of sketches of him.But I didn t realize& She laughed and hoisted Tyler so hewas over her shoulder. Yes, Ty lovesposing for his Uncle Charlie. I smiled awkwardly, rememberinghow the photograph-like drawings ofTyler were so easily demolished byWallace and what he had said whenshoving me into the confession booth.Wallace s only regret at the time was that he couldn t have Elise and Tyler there,too.She eyed me curiously but I pretendednot to notice.Instead, I focused on thelittle eyes that bugged out at me,surrounded by all of his pudginess.Icouldn t even begin to imagine hurtingeither of them, let alone being angry orvengeful enough to even have thosethoughts. Are you feeling well, Addie? Elisecrossed her legs and swayed her feetagainst the divan. Yes, um& I m fine. May I ask you something a littlepersonal? I nodded, only imagining the otherwide assortment of questions she musthave been asking herself.I had, after all,neglected to mention to Ben Wallace scomment about his wife and son.But Eliseseemed like an intelligent person shehad to wonder if she and Ty were also indanger. Why are you here exactly? I m sorry for imposing, I offered. Itwas never my intention to be a bother toanyone. She waved me away. Oh please!You re no bother at all, besides it s niceto have company.I meant why did youcome along with the boys after the ship got to port? I have a vague idea of whathappened from what Benjamin told me,and the news, but I m still not entirely sureI understand& I wanted to be with Charlie, I cut in, and he wanted me with him.I didn treally think much beyond that. She lit up with excitement. Awesome! I m so glad! Huh? She put the baby down in the bassinetand strolled to the dresser. Well, she brought back over a handbrush and a few other items I couldn t see. Benjamin said a couple of days ago thatCharlie was completely undone by you, but frankly, I just didn t believe him.I mglad that not only was he right, but youseem to be quite taken, too. A couple of days ago? She sat behind me and began brushingmy hair. Um hmm& I think it wasWednesday morning before the ship leftfor Singapore. The information left me feelingstranded.Charlie and I had only first laideyes on each other the day before that.Had Ben been exaggerating, or was itpossible that Charlie loved me longbefore I knew I loved him? It was the same with Benjamin andme, Elise confessed. I was working for a catering company in Chicago, and onenight, when we were working this bigbenefit bazaar, Benjamin and Yuri crashedthe event, trying to gauge security for ashipment they wanted to steal the next day.When he left three days later, he asked meto marry him and I said yes. She clasped a barrette in my hair. Itall sounds pretty romantic, but it wasreally pretty stupid, she admitted. Idon t regret it, though.They say youshould try to live without regrets, but ifthat were the case, life would be boring,wouldn t it? She giggled a little.I tangled with my thumbs. I thinkyou re probably a lot more adventurous than I am. Not from what I hear.Is it true youspent the night in one of the holds? I was a little surprised to hear Elisewould know about that.She seemed toofeminine to understand the ins and outs ofthe ship. It wasn t exactly intentional
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
