Winter Interlude (48 page)

“If he gets to be a bigger problem, I’ll call you
.”
She relaxed on the stool as the hostess walked up with two menus in her hand
.

Thank God
,
their table was ready
.

Both followed the woman through the crowded restaurant to a cozy table in the back.

Once seated, Judith flipped open her menu
.
“So…how was Tahoe?” she asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Fine
.”
Paul shrugged, deciding on a seafood burrito.

“That’s it
?”
Judith looked up at him with eyebrows lifted
.
“Fine?”

He schooled his face to show no emotion, irritated because it seemed all anyone wanted to discuss was his weekend
.
H
is time spent in Tahoe was the last thing he wished to rehash
.
N
ot willing to make a huge deal out of it, which would cause more interest, he said, “We actually had a great time.”

“You and
Kate
?”
Judith’s expression could only be called incredulous.

Refocusing on the menu, he took a deep breath to curb his annoyance
.
“She’s not so bad.”

“Wow
—
that must have been some weekend,” Judith teased
.
“What happened to change your stubborn mind about her
?
Especially since I’ve tried for years to get you to lighten up.”

“What’d you expect
?”
He dug deeper for more patience to alleviate some of her suspicion
.
“You told me I couldn’t be mean and you told
Kate
the same thing
.
So
,
we were nice to each other
.”
Offering a wry smile, he shrugged
.
“Well, for the most part
,
we were
.
You’ll be happy to know Judith the Good struck again
.
We survived the weekend, and
Kate
’s hide remains intact
.”
He held
up his hands, he continued
.
“As you can tell, I have
every finger
and if I took off my shoes, you’d see I have all ten toes
.”

“Whoa
!”
She put up
her
forefingers in the shape of a cross and tossed out a nervous laugh
.
“I’m merely interested in your weekend
.
No need to get testy
.”
She dropped her hands to her menu
.
“I appreciate your sacrifice
.
Thank you for taking my friend up there
.
I realize it was much more than you signed on for, especially since you got snowed in.”

“Well, you owe me big
-
time for that,” he said, only too happy over
this second
opportunity
to lighten
up the conversation
.
“
I
n all honesty,
Kate
’s a great skier and I enjoyed skiing with her on Friday.”

“What about Sunday?”

He resisted the urge to squirm, despite feeling like he was on the witness stand
.
Judith was obviously just making conversation and had no idea that
Kate
’s defection was a sore subject, so he answered as honestly as he could. “
Kate
decided to ski by herself and left me in the locker room
.
I assumed she made it home okay
.
She had a date with James last night.”

Judith sighed
.
“She was so looking forward to their romantic weekend and he gets stuck here
.”
Not realizing her words sliced
into him
like a knife, she set down her menu
.
“She mentioned in passing about maybe going up this weekend with him, so I guess they worked things out.”

He swallowed hard, as the knife twisted
.
“She’s driving to Tahoe with James this weekend
?”
Apparently, his instinct about
Kate
not ending things with James was right on, much to his dismay.

“
Mmmm
hmmm, it sounded like that
.”

Paul’s mood went further south
.
Somehow
,
he got through the rest of the meal without making a fool of himself
.
He kept
his comments on autopilot
as
he conversed with Judith, asking about her work and listening with only half his brain
.
The other half was busy trying to discern what had happened between
Kate
and his brother.

After Paul paid the check, he walked Judith out to the street, heading in the direction of her parked car
.

“I assume you walked
.
How about a ride?” she asked,
as they approached her
vehicle.

“I have a lot on my mind right now,” he said, shaking his head
.
“I need the exercise to think things over
.
But thanks for the offer
.”

He’d refused rides many times because San Francisco was a walking city and his apartment was only a few blocks away
.
Still, his refusal clearly surprised her
.

She
pressed
the keyless remote to unlock the car,
then
considered him with a sad expression as a nervous laugh bubbled up
.
“I guess I have to get used to that.”

“What?”

“Letting you go
.”
Her features softened
.
“I needed to set the record straight for your benefit, but it still hurts
.
It was kind of nice to know you were there.
”

His smile was quick
.
“Come here
.”
He opened his arms and immediately she stepped into them
.
He kissed her lightly on the lips to seal their friendship
.
When he leaned back, his grin spread
.
“Just because things didn’t work out between us, doesn’t mean I’ll stop caring for you
.
No matter what, you’ll always have a special place in my heart
.
One of friendship
.”
He couldn’t resist one more heartfelt hug
.
“And you
are
a good friend, Judith
.”

Judith hugged him back
.
“I’m glad we worked things out
.
I think we should make our non-engagement official
—
put the word out
,
so to speak
.”
She smiled
warmly,
and
reached up to pat his face
.
“You need to get out there and find someone special.”

Her words and sweet gesture told him he’d achieved what he set out to do
,
even as a sad thought flashed
.
He’d already found another someone special
.
Only she was no more available than Judith had been
.
He didn’t think he could survive finding a third.

He kissed the top of her head and
looked
down at her, offering a sincere smile
.
“That’s much easier said than done
.
You’re a hard act to follow
.
But, yeah, go ahead and tweet it, so it’s official
.”

He opened her car door and she
settled herself
inside
.
“Drive carefully,” he said, shutting the door
.
“Call me if you need anything
.”

He stood with his hands in his pockets, wistfully watching the car drive away before sighing and s
et
ting off in the direction of his apartment.

~

K
ate
round
ed
the corner and recogn
ized
Judith’s green
Passat,
sorry she’d agreed to walk off their meal when Mike suggested it
.
She tried not to spy, but couldn’t help zeroing in on the couple talking across the street
.
It hadn’t been easy
to keep
the conversation with Mike going, especially after seeing Paul wrap his arms around Judith and kiss her
.

Jagged pain had ripped through
Kate
the entire time she’d spent viewing the intimate scene
—
one of lovers saying good
-
bye, rather than just good friends.

She watched
Paul walk in the opposite direction,
and
her stomach clenched
.
How foolish of her to even consider the possibility that he would actually break up with Judith
.
Or that he’d be interested in a relationship with her, as she’d half convinced herself last night, figuring Paul’s comments to James meant something
.
What she’d just witnessed belied the idea and left her feeling totally bereft
.
There was no mistaking the love between her best friend and Paul
.