Tomorrow Will Be Too Late (13 page)

It was an old place, peaceful and wise with its old crumby walls, simple lines
,
and the cemetery that was adjacent to the church. In the habit of days gone by, the parishioners were buried next to the church, a custom long since abandoned
,
judging by the dates on the stones.

‘I
’
m pretty sure I
’ve
reached my limit of lying for one day
.
’
Obviously,
the glorious weather
didn’t
have the same effect on Kate, her lovely mouth pressed
into a tight line as she looked
at him accusingly
. ‘
We
’
re supposed to pretend to be a couple at the beginning of a relationship
,
not a married couple. The way you act
,
it’s a wonder the priest didn’t ask us if we wanted to get our own wedding at the same time. Two for the price of one
,
so to speak.’

He laughed, unable to restrain himself at her sour comment. She certainly had a sense of humor, even if it was right now directed against him, as it seemed. Still, she was right
,
and he had to address her accusations.

‘I figured it wouldn’t hurt to build up the momentum
.
’
H
e shrugged, his eyes going idly over the rows of gravestones, most of them old and covered with vibrant green moss. Life triumphing over death, he thought
detachedly
, a sense of calm descending upon him like a soothing cloud. Somewhere in the dense branches of an ancient cedar, a bird
sang
, the sweet melody piercing in its haunting beauty.

And that was when her
phone
rang
, the low persistent buzzing breaking the peaceful silence.
The cheerful tune should have felt wrong in this place of eternal rest, but surprisingly
,
it didn’t. He watched her fish her phone out of her bag, her brows pulling together as she inspected the caller’s number.

‘I’ll need to take this,’ she stated shortly, something in her voice alerting him
that
it was not a conversation she was looking forward to. If he
hadn’t known
better, he’d
have said
she sounded
nervous
as
she took
a few steps
to the side
, her slim back turned to him in
an
unmistakable gesture of rejection.

Was it a call from her lover
, he
wondered briefly, a wave of totally misplaced jealousy washing over him instantly. He cursed his own stupidity, his pride finally kicking in.
So
what if she had a lover? He didn’t expect her to be single, just because her sister
hadn’t
manage
d
to hook her up with anyone so far. She had spent the last two years of her life halfway around the globe, for
god’s
sake! Her family had little knowledge of what she did when she was alone, her sex life certainly not something she would be
flaunting
in front of her relatives.

Yet, some untold instinct told him this wasn’t a case of relationship woes. The way she kept turned away, her shoulders hunched and tense even after she finished the conversation and slipped her phone back into her bag, spelled bigger trouble than
a
lovers
’
squabble.

‘Are you ok?’
h
e
found himself asking, his voice gentler than he actually planned. But
then
again, was anything around Kate going the way he planned? ‘
Bad
news?’

‘No, all is fine
.’ F
inally she turned back to him, a brittle smile stretching her mouth and never reaching the depth of her hazel eyes. He watched her, the slight tremble of her lips repressed almost instantly, but not before he noticed
it and
wondered
what was going on.

‘We should go back.’ Her voice sounded normal, even though some new, breathless quality
existed in
the way she insisted on them rejoining the main party. It didn’t fool him for a second,
his
curiosity to find out what just happened too strong to be resisted.

‘Are you sure you’re ok?’
h
e
repeated, hating his own weakness. Did he really care if she was ok? Should he? He knew the answer to both questions
.
Because he did care
,
and he shouldn’t have, nothing i
n their common past justifying
the
emotional attachment he felt for this woman.

‘Of course, I’m absolutely fine.’ She shrugged her slim shoulders in a dismissive gesture, his eyes distracted by the way her long, brown hair reflected the sunlight
that
broke through the clouds.
Her hair had
some red in it, Titian’s famous painting “Judith” coming to his mind
. Kate’s hair had
t
he same rich, chestnut
-
like glow, each silky strand glittering in the mellow, spring sunshine.

‘
I think they will start soon,’ she added, her voice as calm as the expression on her beautiful face. ‘I’d hate to keep them waiting, especially since it would add yet another reason to Tom’s mom
’s
long list of why she doesn’t like Alice. Having an unreliable sister could fit in there nicely.’

‘Fair enough
.’ H
e nodded, not entirely convinced that this was the main reason for her sudden urge to go back. Rather, she didn’t want him to grill her about the mysterious phone call, he thought as he watched her walk ahead, his eyes on her slim back and elegant, slender legs. An unexpected and definitely unwelcomed image of those legs clad in a skimpy red skirt as she sat at the bar rose
before his inner eyes. He swallowed hard, trying to dispel the memory that undermined his resolve to play it out on his terms. He had plenty of practice here, he thought self
-
deprecatingly, the images from their meeting two years ago haunting him over and over again. Was it possible that she had imprinted herself on his brain, the way a prisoner would get branded with
a
hot iron in the past? That
he had
no escape from his memories, however hard he struggled? The
all-familiar
anger heated his insides again, hardening his mouth and successfully extinguishing this moment of weakness.

‘
L
et’s go then. We’ve got a lot to look forward to today
.
’ Ignoring her tense resistance, his fingers reached out and wrapped around her hand, the icy coldness of her skin shaking his newfound resolve. She might have played it cool, but her body told another story, he thought as they walked hand in hand, the warmth of his skin slowly seeping into her slim palm. He
realized with a sense of shame that all his carefully laid plans were threatened
as his
fingers tightened instinctively around hers, automatically searching to warm her up even more.
He needed to believe it didn’t mean anything. He almost managed to do exactly that, pushing his doubts into th
e
secret
,
hidden part of his brain that was locked away.
And maybe it was for the best…

She wasn’t sure how she survived the following few hours. It felt like walking through a dream, Kate thought dazedly as she finally managed to do what she craved most
—a
rrive at her apartment blissfully alone and with no need to pretend any longer. She wasn’t lying when she told Justin she wasn’t much of an actress
,
but she
had
underestimate
d
her talent, she thought bitterly as she walked into her
kitchen. Her
hands
went
automatically to the kettle. She needed to do something normal, she thought, still too numb to allow herself to actually think about what
had
happened during her stay
at Thomas’ house
. Obviously
,
she could act better than she would have ever thought, she mused as she waited for the water to boil, her fingers searching through various tea boxes. Peppermint,
chamomile
,
or just good
,
old
-
fashioned Earl Grey? She didn’t want to think of anything else, she thought miserably, desperately hanging on to this sense of normalcy that would be completely shattered once she actually allowed herself to go back to this wretched, short phone call.

Justin could read her better than anyone else, Alice included. She found it puzzling and unsettling alike, his watchful gaze keeping her on her toes for most of the day. He had no right to be so damn observant, she fumed now, her fingers shaking slightly as she poured the boiling liquid over the teabag. For god’s sake, even her own sister couldn’t tell that something was wrong! So how was it possible that this perfect stranger sensed her tension and reacted to it with this infuriating concern that was totally misplaced
?
Well, Alice was in love and planning for the most important day of her life, a little voice of reason whispered in her head, trying to make sense of the mystery. She had a right to be distracted and overlook things, especially with Tom’s family watching her like a swarm of hawks.

She didn’t want him to be concerned, she thought miserably, her eyes misting. She didn’t want anyone to be concerned, for the matter. It was her life alone, she mused as her lips trembled in a beginning of a sob. She hated this pathetic weakness, but the icy protective shield she managed to build around her emotions for most of the day was starting to melt, the frozen shock turning to misery and disbelieving sadness.

‘I need to see you right away
.
’
The
voice of her family doctor, concerned and urgent, sounded in her ears, as if she
were
taking the phone call again. ‘
It
turns out, I was right to be concerned, Kate.’

‘How so?’ S
he didn’t want to speak louder, aware of Justin
a mere few steps away. ‘
What
happened?’

‘
The
little lump we talked about? T
he one you asked me to remove? Remember?’

‘
Of
course
.’ W
hy was it so difficult to breathe
all
of
a
sudden? Upon her return from Australia, she had decided on a full body check
-
up, guiltily aware that she
hadn’t had
any regular
doctor
visits for the last two years. True, she was only
twenty-eight
,
so it wasn’t really that important, she
had
reasoned as she visited her family doctor, eager to get it over with and move on. Everything
had gone
well, as far as she knew, the lab results and overall physical bringing nothing new to her health record. Only, she had discovered a small lump under her skin, the same kind as her father used to have all over his body.
Little
fat nuggets as he called them affectionately, the benign little pea
-
sized bumps never raising any flag at any of his doctor’s visit
s
.

Maybe she was vain, but her little lump sat just on the side of her torso, making her self
-
conscious and embarrassed to wear a
two-piece
swimsuit. It wasn’t large or
particularly
visible, but it bothered her enough to mention it to the doctor, who saw no problem removing the lump with local anesthesia. It should have been the end of it, she thought, the tiny scar healed in the two weeks since she
’d
had it done. Apparently it wasn’t, the unexpected phone call making her shiver in sudden premonition.

‘Well, it’s not what we thought it to be, Kate.’ She
had
made an effort to listen carefully, fighting the wish to press the off button and pretend
the call had
never happened. Hiding one’s head
in the
sand would never do, and she knew it.

‘
So
,
what is it then?’ S
he yearned
to see her
family doctor, the man she
had known
ever since she learned to walk and who
planned to
retire
from his practice
in
the
near future
.
She enjoyed his company and experience over the years, hoping he would reconsider his decision and keep working, even if just a bit longer. Having him as a family friend for as long as she could remember, she was used to see
ing
him and his wife outside the practice. Their regular get
-
togethers
with her mom before she moved away permanently allowed
Kate
to get to know his wife, Mary. It
was
so much easier to talk to him instead of his replacement, however knowledgeable and eager he
or she would be
.