Winter Interlude (6 page)

“Tell me about your trip.”

Kate
nodded
.
“You wouldn’t believe the places I’ve seen in the past two weeks
.”
She recounted her trip to Charleston and Savannah, providing tidbits of her observations while scouting out auction houses and other resources for the most interesting pieces to
buy
.
“A couple of times I was out in the middle of nowhere
—
well, not really because I was usually no more than an hour or two from any city
.
But, I have to admit,
the
tune from
Deliverance
kept going through my head on some of those back roads
, considering the looming live oaks
bordering
them
with moss hanging down
on
branches touching each other and blocking out the sky. I felt
all alone and
out of my element
.”

The waiter who’d taken their orders earlier returned with a tray full of food and began serving them
.

“I don’t know how you do it, but you can always make a mundane business trip sound like an adventure of a lifetime
.
I wish my life could be half as exciting,” Judith stated, picking up her fork and digging into her salmon
.

Silently, they ate
.

“I’m bidding on a new project,” Judith finally said, breaking their lull
.
“It’s not big, but it’s a
start
, and hopefully will lead to another job
.”

“Tell me about it
.”
She
listened intently while Judith chatted about designing the interior of a new store
.
Kate
understood her desire to make something grow from nothing but an idea and a dream, as her friend was doing with her new commercial designing business.

“I still have several irons in the fire for more jobs, but the process takes time and I won’t hear anything back for several days, maybe weeks
.”

Judith’s
voice faded to silence
.
The two continued eating
.

“You haven’t changed your mind about the ski trip next weekend, have you?”
Kate
asked, bringing up the subject after swallowing a bite
.

“No
.
Paul’s ecstatic
.
Unfortunately, I have a feeling spending three days with him as a foursome might be a big mistake
.”

“Wait,”
Kate
said, holding up her hand
.
“I’m lost
.
I thought you guys were talking about marriage
?”
Heck, their situation was what
started her discontent in the first place
. That and Chrissie’s engagement
.
Both
made her realize her biological clock was ticking and she wanted a family more than anything.

“We were
.”
Judith sighed and stirred the food around on her plate
.
“But suddenly I have huge misgivings
.
I told him how I felt and just want to keep things light, but I sense he’s on a different schedule than me
.
I
really
wish we could go back to the way it was before
I
said anything
.”
Her expression was torn
.
“So you see my dilemma
.”
She hesitated before adding
,
“Why do you need us along, anyway?”

“Because if you and Paul don’t go, James won’t either, and it’s important that he go
.”
Kate
cleared her throat
.
She couldn’t admit her real reasons, when doing so would lead to questions she didn’t want to think about, much less answer
.
“I kind of told him we needed to socialize more
.
And in doing so, may have inferred you and Paul needed the time together
.”

“Oh
,
great
.
I hope James doesn’t repeat that to Paul.”

“I’m sorry
.
I assumed it was
n’t a
big deal
.”
She met Judith’s eyes, hers pleading
.
“It won’t be so bad.”

“Aren’t there other couples you could ask
?”

“I tried
.”
Kate
shrugged
.
“No one else could make it
.”
Which was why she’d turned to Judith and Paul in a last
-
ditch effort to salvage plans for
next
weekend
.
She felt James slipping away as it was and
,
if she waited longer, he’d most likely be enmeshed in another all-consuming project
.

Judith searched her face for
several beats
. “So, let me get this straight
.
You decided to include us when you can barely stand Paul
.
Yet, you’re willing to spend a weekend with him
?
What’s with James anyway
?
Is everything okay
?”

“Everything is fine
.
He just works too hard
.”
Kate
focused on her wineglass, uncomfortable with her friend’s probing eyes
.
“I can handle Paul for a weekend
—
especially since we’ll be skiing most of it
.”
Besides, s
he’d already decided not to let his little verbal jabs get to her
.
She brought her glass to her lips and took a drink
.

“You know, this might work out for the best
.
I mean, once all our marriage phobias are worked out, we’ll be related
.
We all need to learn how to get along
.”
Kate
had good reason for disliking Paul, but she suspected Judith wasn’t overly fond of James, an idea that started in college
.
“I know James isn’t your favorite person
.”
Over the years
,
she’d nixed too many of
Kate
’s attempts at forming a foursome like best friends usually did
.
Of course, Judith rarely dated in college, which played a big part, as did being GUL
—
geographically undesirably located
—
for living an hour’s drive
away
for most of that time
.
Still, even after moving to the
c
ity, she claimed to have plans if she knew James would be around
.
Judith treated him with the same reserve she did all other men, except Paul
.
And
Kate
had
always wondered why.

“What do you mean?” Judith asked, drawing her gaze
.

Kate
eyed her thoughtfully
.
Although her friend feigned confusion, she didn’t buy it
.
“Why don’t you like him
?”

“I don’t dislike him
.”
She frowned
.
“He just seems a little unapproachable.”

“Unapproachable
?”
Taken aback, she thought about it for a moment and shrugged. “Maybe he’s just mirroring you, which is all the more reason to come skiing
.
To become better friends
.
H
e may end up being your brother-in-law
, you know
.”
To be fair
, if she expected it of Judith, she should be willing to do the same with Paul
.
“Don’t worry
.
You’ll survive and so will I,” she soothed, squeezing Judith’s hand
.
“You might even enjoy it and have fun
.”

A nice weekend away without distractions was what they all needed
.
She only had to remember that
.
And once James understood how serious she was, he’d propose
.
“We could both use some downtime
.”
She grinned at Judith’s skeptical expression, suddenly feeling more encouraged…more like her old, optimistic self
.
Her plan would work
.
It had to
.

“What’s so amusing?”

Kate
shrugged
.
“It’s too bad we can’t flip-flop the guys’ timing.”

When Judith’s expression turned questioning, she
explained
.
“I know James loves me, but the white picket fence isn’t a priority
for him
yet
.
Work is
.
Y
ou love Paul, and he’s embracing happily-ever-after
.
You don’t want marriage right now and I do
.
W
ouldn’t it be great if their timing matched ours?”

“Hmm, I never thought of it that way
.
Paul’s a great guy, and I do love him, but I can’t see myself married to him
.
Or anyone
,
for that matter.”