Unfinished Business. Inglath Cooper

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СКАЧАТЬ bottle of water for me, please,” he said to the waiter, who nodded and strode off in the direction of the bar.

      His departure left behind another gulf of silence over which Culley’s gaze found hers, serious, a little intent.

      “You look incredible, Addy.”

      It was not what she’d expected him to say, but she was suddenly glad she’d bought the black dress even though it had no magical powers of transformation. She took a sip of her wine, finding it easier to let the compliment hover, than acknowledge it with a response.

      The waiter reappeared with his water. Culley raised his glass and tapped it against the edge of hers. “To two old friends running into one another. A very nice surprise.”

      She raised the glass to her lips and took a long sip. “Your mom told you about the divorce?”

      He nodded. “I’m sorry.”

      Her smile wavered. “Thanks.”

      Culley reached across and covered her hand with his. “Are you all right?”

      She couldn’t say anything, his touch surprising her, then suffusing her with a simultaneous rush of warmth and something way too close to gratitude. He turned her palm over, squeezed her hand tight, and she held on as if it were a lifeline, sure of nothing except that she didn’t want him to let go.

      He didn’t.

      He held on while he got up from his chair, and said, “Scoot over.”

      She slid across the leather seat, and he settled in beside her. “Just when you think you know someone,” she said.

      “So what happened?”

      “Imagine the most boring cliché, and you’ll have the picture.”

      He considered that, then said, “Were you having problems?”

      “I didn’t think so, but looking back from here, I guess we were. I know what all the marriage manuals say. That when something like this happens, the affair isn’t the problem. It’s a symptom.”

      “Still hurts.”

      She took another sip of wine. “That from personal experience?”

      “Yep.”

      “So what happened to yours?”

      He looked down, but not before she saw the shadow cross his face. “That’s a story for another time.”

      Addy’s gaze skittered away from his, settling on the next table over where an older couple had just been seated. In a booming voice, the man told their waiter that he and his wife were celebrating their fortieth wedding anniversary.

      Culley glanced at them, a cloud of something that looked like sadness in his eyes. Not what she would have expected of the Culley Rutherford she had known in high school, Mark’s opposite, the one whose mission it was to play the field, steer clear of anything remotely hinting at commitment.

      Addy pulled her hand from his and said, “Mama told me you took over Dr. Nettles’s practice.”

      “Kind of surprised the whole town, I think.”

      “No wonder, considering how you egged his car that Halloween.”

      He smiled. “You know, he forgave me for that, but I think he tacked on a little extra anyway when I bought him out.”

      Addy laughed. And the sound of it chipped away at a chunk of the ice frozen inside her. Simultaneously set up a small stir of appreciation for the presence of the man sitting next to her.

      “Tell me what you’ve been doing with yourself all these years,” he urged now.

      “I graduated from college and woke up one day to find out I’d turned thirty. I think I billed out all the hours in between.”

      He smiled. “What kind of law are you practicing?”

      “Corporate.”

      “Do you like what you do?”

      “The rewards are good,” she said, not exactly answering the question.

      Which he didn’t let her get away with. “But do you enjoy it?”

      “It was exciting at first. I’ve wondered now and then if it’s what I want to do the rest of my life.” She looked down for a moment, suddenly anxious to turn the conversation away from herself. “So what about you? You have a daughter. Tell me about her.”

      He nodded, and his face took on an immediate transformation. “Madeline. She’s seven. I’m pretty much a lost cause now. No idea what I’ll do when she’s sixteen.”

      Addy smiled. “Some would call that poetic justice.”

      “For?”

      “All the fathers whose daughters went out with you.”

      He put both hands over his heart, looked wounded. “Was I that bad?”

      “Close enough.” She smiled. “Madeline lives with you?”

      Culley nodded.

      “Are you happy in Harper’s Mill?”

      “It’s home. Coming back was one of the best things I’ve ever done.”

      The words sent up a flare of longing inside Addy. Over the years, she hadn’t let herself think about going back. As far as Mark was concerned, it hadn’t been an option. “Does your ex-wife live there, too?”

      He shook his head, his expression suddenly blank. “No.”

      Addy wanted to ask more, but felt his reluctance to discuss it.

      “Do you ever miss the orchard?”

      “Only every time I get a whiff of apples.”

      He nodded. “I missed being in a small town. When we were kids, I couldn’t wait to move on to somewhere bigger. Bigger had to be better. But then living in Philadelphia, I actually figured at six minutes a day, five days a week for thirty years, I’d be spending about thirty-two days of my life sitting at this one stoplight. Kind of changed my perspective about bigger.”

      Addy laughed, forgetting for the moment everything but the fact that she was sitting across the table from Culley Rutherford, who, since their sandbox days, had been able to make her laugh.

      “So what happened between you and Mark? Why did you two stop keeping in touch?”

      Culley looked away. “That was his choice, not mine.”

      “There must have been a reason.”

      “If there was, he’ll have to be the one to tell you.”

      “Now you really have me curious.”

      He СКАЧАТЬ