Christmas 2011 Trio A. Кейт Хьюит

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СКАЧАТЬ When Roy went after something, he did it with a determination that was difficult to ignore.

      “This is more than a setback.”

      “How do you mean?”

      Roy rubbed a hand tiredly down his face and shook his head. “I was foolish enough to believe she was different.”

      “Julie is different. She’s special. I know you think every woman’s like Aimee, but you’re wrong.”

      “No, Mother, in Julie’s case I’m right.”

      “Julie isn’t anything like Aimee,” she said adamantly.

      “She just proved to me she is.”

      “What are you talking about?” He’d have to show her the evidence before Anne would believe him. Although she didn’t know Julie well, Anne had sensed genuine goodness in her. She felt, too, that Julie had attained the spiritual and emotional insights that only someone who’d suffered could fully understand.

      Roy reached inside his jacket and pulled out a wad of folded papers. “Read this.”

      Anne took the papers, opening them on the table. She put on her reading glasses and quickly scanned the contents. As far as she could see, it was a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo. “It’s some sort of settlement offer,” she said. “Oh, here’s Julie’s name.”

      “I know what it is,” Roy barked, then cast her an apologetic glance. “Remember when I ran into her?”

      “Yes, of course, your car collided with her bike. It’s a miracle she wasn’t hurt.”

      He gave an unpleasant laugh. “Correction, Mother. She was hurt twenty-five-thousand dollars’ worth.”

      Anne snatched up the papers and skimmed them again.

      “She signed the settlement offer,” he pointed out. “A check’s already been issued to her in the amount stated.”

      Anne knew that wasn’t possible. Yet there was Julie’s signature, plain as day.

      Roy focused his gaze on the kitchen wall. “I pressured her at first, believing it was best to deal with the incident quickly rather than have her come back and bite me later. She repeatedly refused, and after a while I started to trust her.

      “I finally decided she wasn’t a gold digger. She had me convinced that money didn’t mean a thing to her—and now this.”

      “Roy, I don’t think—”

      “You’re holding the evidence in your hand,” he countered, his voice raised in anger.

      Only he wasn’t really angry, Anne realized; he was hurt and disillusioned and growing more so by the minute. Oh, this was dreadful. It was as if God had broken a promise. Anne had felt so sure that Julie was the woman she’d been praying for all these years and now this … this betrayal.

      “All along, Julie was holding out for more money.” He rubbed his eyes as if he was exhausted. “I forgot about the settlement when we started dating.” He expelled a shaky breath. “Then she declined to move in with me, and that was the end of our fine romance. Except that I remembered we hadn’t settled her so-called accident and I contacted her again.”

      Anne didn’t say anything, waiting for him to continue his story.

      “She wouldn’t talk to me about it.”

      Anne silently applauded; perhaps everything wasn’t lost, after all.

      “The thing is, Mother, I thought she was different, that I could trust her.”

      Anne reached across the table and patted his hand.

      “Then she proved I can’t.”

      “Roy, let’s not be hasty here. Yes, it looks bad, but let’s face it—if Julie was interested in your money, she would’ve moved in with you. Don’t make the mistake of judging her too harshly.”

      “Harshly?” he snapped. “It isn’t just about the money. I went over to her place to see her, to talk to her. I hoped we could find a way to compromise…. All I wanted was for the two of us to be together.”

      Anne bit her lower lip, afraid of what he’d say next.

      “I told her if she didn’t want to move in with me, I’d be willing to set her up in her own apartment.”

      After a moment, Anne managed to speak. “She wasn’t interested in that, either, I take it.”

      “Not at all.”

      Anne smiled to herself. Perhaps, just perhaps, Julie was everything she’d hoped for. Surely God wouldn’t be so cruel as to send another Aimee into Roy’s life.

      “I reminded her that I wasn’t offering marriage, but she could have the next-best thing. I made it clear that this was my final offer. If she said no, I was walking out that door once and for all.”

      “She was willing to accept that?”

      He hung his head. “Apparently so. Then I brought up the settlement. I told her I wasn’t upping the ante. If she was going to get anything out of me, she’d better sign.”

      “You left the papers with her?”

      “Yes,” he said bitterly. “I had my attorney contact her. This afternoon I got the signed papers by messenger, with the attorney’s notice that the check had been mailed.”

      Roy looked so disheartened Anne ached once again to take him in her arms the way she had when he was small. He’d come to her for solace, but there was nothing she could do or say to ease this pain. Julie hadn’t turned out to be the woman Anne had hoped, after all.

      “She has her money, then?”

      He nodded. “It’s what she always wanted. Twenty-five thousand—no strings. I’ll say one thing for her,” he muttered cynically. “She was good.”

      Anne’s shoulders sagged with disappointment. “Live and learn,” she said under her breath.

      “She came in right after Aimee that afternoon,” Roy said, speaking almost to himself.

      Anne leaned closer, certain she’d misunderstood. “Aimee was five years ago.”

      “No, Aimee was three days ago.”

      Anne thought her heart had stopped beating. She needed a couple of minutes to calm herself before she asked, “Aimee came to see you? Recently?”

      Roy’s gaze darted to hers. “I didn’t mean to say anything—I shouldn’t have. I apologize, Mom, for bringing up unpleasant memories.”

      “Tell me,” Anne insisted.

      Roy tilted back his chair, staring at the ceiling. “She stopped by the office, unannounced and unwelcome.”

      “Whatever for?”

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