These Foolish Things (9 page)

Liz was so affected by having him this close, she almost
forgot to drink. She started to set her glass on the table, but he stopped her.
“Bad luck to set it down without drinking.” Liz swallowed some champagne.
Usually, she was not a great fan of the stuff, finding it having a nasty sharp
edge to it and giving her intense heartburn. However, she noted tonight, there
was a vast difference between the kinds sold in the supermarket and the high
end stuff. What she was drinking was like liquid velvet, smooth and light. She
sipped some more.

They listened for a while. The combo played a varied set of
standards and new material, altering tempos and arrangements. After a break,
the band came back and Diana Krall began singing “At Last.”

She looked at Ty with arched eyebrows. He was smiling. “How about
that?” he whispered.

Liz leaned back in her chair and smiled. Even if this
evening was never repeated, the memories would carry her for a lifetime. Even
if she never got to look back and say, “That’s when it became our song.”

Ty started to put his arm around her shoulders, but stopped.
Liz felt a knot in her stomach. As much as she wanted it, this man was not hers
and she could not permit herself to become overly familiar with him. The fight
with herself caused her to shiver.

“Are you cold?” Ty rubbed his hand up and down her arm a
couple of times. “Here.” He removed his jacket and draped it over Liz’s
shoulders. She felt his face lightly brush her hair. “You smell wonderful,” he
murmured, “That perfume is fabulous.”

She couldn’t hear the rest of the music over the beating of
her heart. She was acutely conscious that the warmth in the jacket had come
from his body and it was almost impossible to resist the urge to lean her head
on his shoulder or kiss his cheek to tempt him into kissing her.

After the show, Ty signaled a waiter over. He handed him the
camera and he and Liz repeated their close together pose. Then, he slipped a
cocktail napkin with a note to the waiter and within minutes, Diana herself
came over to their table and shook hands. Once again, the camera came out and
Liz found herself posing for a photo with one of her favorite jazz artists and
a man she’d have given anything to call her own. And then it was over.

They were headed north on Route 93, traffic negligible at
this hour. Liz sat with the blossom of her rose against her face and relived
the entire evening in her memory.

“You’re awfully quiet there, Counselor,” Ty spoke quietly,
but it startled Liz nonetheless. “Penny for your thoughts.”

If you knew what I was really thinking, you’d probably push
me down the next staircase we find, Liz thought. “I was thinking about this
evening and how, when I didn’t think it could get any better, you arranged for
a picture with Diana Krall. I don’t know how to thank you.”

Ty shrugged, “There was film in the camera to be used up and
you’ve kept me out of jail,” he said indifferently, “but I’m glad you had a
good time. I’ll make sure you get copies of the pictures.”

The rest of the journey continued in silence except for
music spilling softly from the car’s sound system. Liz mentally patted herself
on the back for having resisted every urge she’d had to throw herself at him.
In the dark and in the quiet, her mind was puzzling the question of what kind
of lover he’d be. Even the slight physical contact tonight had gotten her
juices flowing and she couldn’t imagine what that most intimate of contact
would do to her. Her train of thought was interrupted by their arrival at her
front door. Again, Ty came around to help her out of the car.

As she got out of the car, Liz dropped her purse and the
contents spilled onto the sidewalk.

“Here, let me get that for you,” Ty stooped to pick up the
items he could see in the light from her front porch. “What’s this?” He held up
her MBTA pass.

Liz tried to remove it from his hand.

“It’s a T pass.”

He kept it away from her and put it back in the bag. “Were
you planning to ditch me tonight, Elizabeth?” Ty asked incredulously. “All set
to make a run for it?” He sounded angry. “God knows, you’ve been wound up and
ready to bolt every time I touched you.”

“No, I wasn’t looking to ditch you,” she said.

“Then why did you bring it?” Ty was looking hard into her
face.

Liz squared her shoulders and returned the look. “Because I
was taught, when going out on a date, to make sure you had the means to get
yourself back to home and safety if it became necessary.” She had been prepared
to ditch him if things had gotten too uncomfortable.

She saw him relax a little. “I believe you.”

“Good. Thank you. Would you care to come in for coffee?” And
share my bed, if you want it. Mother’s other rules about dating and sex be
damned.

“No, thank you. It’s a long haul back to Wellesley and I
have to hit the road. I’ll take a rain check, though.” He stepped closer. Liz
wondered if he was debating kissing her goodnight. He had her vote to do so. Ty
leaned in and kissed her cheek. He leaned back and Liz saw a light in his eyes
that only increased the heart pounding the kiss had started.

“I did enjoy myself, Counselor,” he said. “I don’t get out
much. This really was a treat.”

“So did I,” she said. Ty just looked at her for a moment as
if he didn’t believe her, then abruptly turned and headed around the car to the
driver’s side. Without another word, Ty got in and drove off, pulling away from
the curb, fast and noisy.

Liz headed into the house, blocking Beanie’s escape route as
she always did. She put her rose in a glass of water, making sure it was out of
feline nibbling range (“You so much as lay a whisker on this, Beanie and you’ll
find your furry little ass at the Humane Society”).

As she went through her preparations for bed, Liz kept
pondering the same questions: was she imagining things or had Ty been aiming
for her lips only to change to an alternate landing site on her cheek when he
kissed her? And was his hesitation when she’d asked him in due to an impulse to
accept the invitation?

One rainy Saturday, a few weeks after the court-ordered
date, tired from a full day in the office, Liz was digging frantically through
her purse. T Pass, T Pass, where? Let’s see, keys, receipts (need to enter
those in the checkbook), makeup, Swiss Army knife, no T Pass…

Liz could hear a nearby car horn honking through the rain
and her preoccupation. She ignored the sound while she continued the search for
her pass. It was cold as is generally the case in Boston in late October. The
leftovers of a late-season hurricane were dumping icy rain on New England,
coming down hard, steely and relentless. It was going to be a mile walk to
North Station to catch the train and a very uncomfortable mile at that.
Murphy’s Law says if you forget your umbrella, it will rain like there’s no
tomorrow. Her umbrella was back up in her securely-locked office and there
wasn’t time to fetch it. Liz froze as she heard a distant rumble of thunder.
Oh, God, not that. As she felt her stomach clench, the car horn sounded again.

To distract herself from the growing terror of walking
through a thunderstorm, Liz continued her search, turning her attention to
pockets and briefcase. Still no pass. Great. She hadn’t bothered to carry a lot
of cash with her this morning and she wasn’t sure if she had enough for both a
cab and the train. And she was running out of time.

The horn honked again. Liz ignored it and looked towards
North Station to nerve herself up for an incredibly miserable, terrifying walk.
Within 10 strides, she was soaked to the skin and cold, but Liz pushed the
thought aside. She heard her name being called. The Mercedes that had been
honking had pulled alongside her. Liz peered through the downpour. Ty Hadley’s
head popped up over the top of the car, the driving rain quickly plastering his
hair to his head. He snapped open a large umbrella and ran around the car to
cover Liz. She saw that he was nearly as wet as she was from his brief exposure.

“Get in the car.” He wrapped an arm around Liz and nearly
carried her to the car. Once again, Liz felt a rush from his touch. “What were
you thinking, walking in this?”

Before she could answer, Ty had muscled Liz into the car,
taking her purse and briefcase. She quickly buckled herself in as he made his
way around and got into the driver’s seat.

As Ty started the car, he said, “You were really going to
walk in this slop, weren’t you?” as he gestured to the rain.

Liz nodded, “No cab fare, no choice. Besides,” she added,
“I’m only going to North Station to catch a train.” She squeegeed some water
out of her hair. “And I don’t think I’d get any wetter. Sorry about your car
upholstery.”

Ty pulled the car into traffic. “It’ll clean, don’t worry.
You headed home?” Liz nodded. She winced at a flash of lightning. Ty didn’t
seem to notice.

As the car waited at a red light, Ty glanced at Liz. “Long
time, no see. How’ve you been?” The tone was casual.

“Busy. We got pulled in on a class action suit and Dan wanted
me to research a couple of questions for him and have the answers Monday. Of
course, he asked me yesterday at 4:00 PM.”

Ty nodded, his eyes on the road. “Sounds like Dan. You’re
working on a Saturday and he’s…” Ty left the question hanging.

“Scottsdale. Hilton Head and Bermuda took too big a hit from
Hurricane Katie here,” Liz answered ironically. The light turned green and the
car rolled forward, windshield wipers furiously pushing away the driving rain.
Between their rhythm and the warmth from the car’s heater, Liz could have
easily fallen asleep, except for the brevity of the ride and the presence of
Ty.

“Is this Tillson v. Damon Industries? The price-fixing case?
I know for a fact he’s had that on his desk for at least a week,” Ty asked.
“Why do you put up with his bullshit?”

Liz held her temper. “Because he hired a C student from a
fifth-tier law school when everyone else was fighting over the top ten from
Harvard. Hey, you missed the turn to North Station, Ty!” Great. She was going
to miss her train.

“If I was headed to North Station, I would have missed the
turn,” Ty answered evenly as he threaded the big car through traffic towards 93
North. “But I’m not going to North Station.” He spared a quick glance at Liz.
“If I recall, your home is in Salem.”

Liz was floored. “But it’s so far out of your way!”

“I have a full tank.”

“The weather’s crappy.”

“The tires are good and the heater works.”

The entrance ramp to the Central Artery was packed with cars
and moving slowly. “It’s going to take a long time to get there,” Liz added in
a vain attempt to dissuade him.

Ty gave her a long, hard look. “So?”

He turned his attention back to the road. “I’m driving you
home whether you like it or not.”

“Suit yourself,” Liz answered and settled back into her
seat. The sudden tension was almost unbearable and added to her physical
discomfort.

As the car inched forward, Ty glanced at Liz, “Mind
answering a question for me?”

“No.”

“You act as if you’d rather be anywhere but near me. Do you
dislike me that much?”

The question caught her off guard. “No, but since I never
heard from you after our court-ordered date…”

It took nerve for Liz to say it, but she felt relieved.
She’d had hoped that he would call or see her again. The disappointment had
been sharp and she’d thrown herself into activities to forget it. Her house had
never been cleaner. Liz was a great believer in occupational therapy for
heartache. Keep yourself too busy. And people always admired a clean house.
Since Liz had channeled a lot of unused sexual energy into it, her house was
immaculate and well-decorated. And now, just as she was putting it behind her,
here he was…

Ty looked at her incredulously. “Really? Well, Miss Gardner,
I haven’t even gotten an acknowledgement for the roses I sent you,” he growled.
“I thought that was rather rude.”

“What roses?” Liz was puzzled and confused. “I never got any
roses.”

Ty looked at her quizzically. “I sent two dozen sterling
silver roses to your office the Monday after our date. You never got them?”

“No. Honest. I got the pictures, but no flowers.” The
pictures had come through McCafferty’s office.

He had sent her two dozen sterling roses? Must have been
ordered by McCafferty. “What. You said Monday?”

“Yes, Monday. Ring a bell?” Ty looked at her, face and voice
deadly serious. His look was penetrating, eyes searching her face for a
straight answer to what would normally be a joking question. “Lose track of
them amid all the shipments from your boyfriends?”

Liz smiled, trying to soften his mood. “I wish. I love
roses, but I have to fend for myself in that department.” He relaxed visibly,
but still looked mystified, as if he couldn’t believe that no one sent flowers
to Liz. “But anyway, I remember that a perfectly gorgeous bouquet arrived
without a card that day and the delivery guy couldn’t make out the name on his
clipboard. No one was expecting flowers, so we left them with the receptionist,
except that I swiped three for my office. They were beautiful, smelled fabulous
and it gave me a lot of pleasure to have them. Thank you.”

Ty cursed under his breath, inching the car forward. “Monday
morning, I’m gonna…”

“No, you’re not,” Liz surprised herself by interrupting him,
quietly and firmly. “It didn’t work out exactly like you planned, but those
flowers brought pleasure to a lot of people. Even if I’d gotten the whole
thing, I would have divvied them up and shared. Three were plenty for me.”

Ty raised his eyebrows, “Only three?” he asked skeptically.

“Okay, you caught me. A dozen, but it would have been too
obvious if I’d stolen that many,” Liz admitted mischievously. She heard Ty’s
chuckle. Thank God. She didn’t want to be around when he really got angry.
There was some black, carefully walled-off rage she could sense in him and Liz
didn’t want to be the cause of its release.