Baby By Chance. M.J. Rodgers

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СКАЧАТЬ damn sneaky, Paul Carter,” she complained as she looked over at the satisfied grin on his face.

      He laughed. “You’re a sucker for that neck-nuzzling trick.”

      The loaded cars had begun to creep up the track toward the top. Susan’s stomach gave a nervous twitch. There was no getting out now. Not that she had a particular problem with this part. But she had seen roller coasters operate. She knew there was a downside.

      A real downside. Their car reached the top. Within seconds they were barreling toward the earth at sixty miles per hour, taking hairpin turns that rattled her eye sockets and careening around neck-yanking loops that had Susan clutching the safety harness in pure terror. Her head was pounding, and her stomach was churning, ready to erupt.

      But when she looked over at Paul, he was grinning, his face flushed, so happy and so full of life.

      Susan awoke and instinctively reached for Paul. But her hand rested on a ball of fur. Then she remembered.

      Paul was gone.

      Why was this happening to her? She had faced the loss of the wonderful man she had married. She had allowed herself to feel the pain of his passing. She had accepted the need to get on with her life. She had gotten on with her life. Why was she having these vivid dreams of Paul?

      SUSAN WAS AT HER light table carefully looking through the negatives of her morning shoot, when Barry Eckhouse interrupted her concentration.

      “I picked up your prints from the darkroom while I was getting mine,” he said.

      She sent him a look of gratitude as she took the prints from his outstretched hand. “Finally. I’ve been waiting for these. Thanks, Barry. I’ll hug you later.”

      “That makes three hundred and seventy-two hugs you owe me.”

      She knew Barry wasn’t really keeping score, nor did he expect to collect. They had been promising each other hugs for years.

      He was a good-looking guy who wore the “I’m so bored I’m cool” expression that only he and the guys on the cover of GQ seemed able to pull off.

      He was also one of her favorite people. Because of his strong urging and recommendation three months before, Greg had promoted Susan to one of the three coveted senior photographer slots. Barry had never said a word about having stood up for her, which was one of the things she liked most about him.

      She took a moment to glance at the prints he’d handed to her. “I requested these two days ago. Why is the darkroom always so backed up?”

      “Their turnover is worse than a Burger King,” he said. “They got another new trainee today. Can’t wait to see how long before this one disappears. Speaking of disappearing, have you seen Ellie? I stopped by her cubicle to deliver her prints, but she wasn’t there. Matter of fact, I haven’t seen her all day.”

      “She’s probably in the coffee room making an espresso.”

      “Which can only mean she’s broken up with her latest loser,” Barry said, shaking his head.

      Susan concentrated on shifting through the prints, saying nothing.

      “Relax, you didn’t give anything away. I know that Ellie always hogs the espresso machine for days after one of her lovers screws her over.”

      She should have known Barry would figure that out. He was smart and observant. When she had first seen Barry looking at Ellie, she’d thought he had a thing for her friend. But however attractive Barry thought Ellie, he was always so negative when he spoke about her that Susan had given up hoping for a romance between them.

      “Be nice to Ellie,” she told him. “She’s going through a rough time.”

      “She’s always going through a rough time,” he said, the disgust thick in his voice, “because she always asks for it.”

      “Of course, you’ve never made a mistake in the romance department,” she said with light sarcasm, knowing perfectly well just how bad a mistake he’d made in the selection of his ex-wife, who everyone at the office called “the psycho.”

      Not that he wasn’t absolutely right about Ellie, of course. But Susan was loyal to a lovelorn friend.

      “Not fair,” Barry protested. “I was barely twenty-five when the psycho did her number on me. Did I tell you she violated the restraining order her third ex-husband got on her?”

      “That the one in Texas?”

      “No, Florida. Her second husband filed the restraining order on her in Texas. Anyway, she picked the lock on her third husband’s house after he’d gone to work and spray painted everything black. She’s a genius at lock-picking. Her old man is still doing time for a decade of breaking-and-entering raps.”

      “Now, remind me again what awful thing her third ex-husband did to deserve this?” Susan asked.

      “He married her, against all my warnings, I might add, just like husband number two. Not that I totally blame them. The psycho’s got legs that go on forever and these big blue eyes and full lips—”

      “So what you’re telling me,” she interrupted, not caring to hear any more about his ex-wife’s physical attributes, “is that a man doesn’t really care if a woman is psychotic as long as she’s sexy.”

      He shrugged. “No one said we were the smarter sex. But I have learned from my mistake, unlike Ellie.”

      Barry quickly looked around, then leaned closer. “You’re her best friend, Susan,” he whispered. “I know you can spot these losers she keeps getting involved with. Why aren’t you setting her straight?”

      “Only time I ever tried to set Ellie straight, as you call it,” she whispered back, “I ended up hurting her feelings, and she didn’t talk to me for two months.”

      “You tried to warn her about that married guy she was mixed up with a few years back, didn’t you?” he asked, his face alight with the revelation.

      Susan didn’t answer. She’d already said more than she should have.

      He straightened and resumed his normal tone. “So that’s why things were so strained between you two then. And all the time I thought you were fighting over me.”

      “Don’t you wish,” she said, smiling. “I’m glad you’re concerned about Ellie. Why don’t you ask her out?”

      “Hell, no,” he said with feeling. “I told you. I’ve learned my lesson.”

      “Ellie’s no psycho.”

      “Yeah, but she’s got another serious problem. Incredibly bad taste in men.” With that Barry waved and left.

      She knew he was right. Put Ellie in a pitching boat in heavy seas and she could not only instantly determine the precise knots that two dolphins were swimming and how many feet away they were, but also the exact F-stop, shutter speed and fill-in flash required to perfectly capture them on film.

      But put Ellie in a room full of eligible men, and her brain would inevitably malfunction and she’d СКАЧАТЬ