Window on Yesterday (3 page)

“You’d better! I mean, it’s the least you could do!” Alycia exclaimed, smiling to soften the order. She stole a glance at her watch. “Registration ended exactly twenty-two minutes ago.” She raised her eyes to glower at him. “At the risk of inflating your ego, I must admit that I’ll be one very annoyed woman if I’m denied entrance to the lecture hall.”

A suspicious-looking smile curved his lips. “You won’t be, I can assure you of that.”

Alycia narrowed her eyes, wondering what he was concocting in his brilliant but apparently devious mind. Should the hall be full to capacity, she wouldn’t put it past him to seat her in a folding chair right next to his lectern! Contrarily amused and appalled by that possibility, yet somehow certain Sean Halloran would do it—if not to please her, then merely to indulge his own flair for dramatic impact—Alycia decided she needed a more definitive answer.

“How?” she asked skeptically.

Sean laughed outright. “Oh, come on, Alycia, surely you’re not as naive as all that?” He tilted his head arrogantly. “I’ll simply inform the powers that be that I want a seat reserved in the front row for a very special guest” The teasing glint in his eyes was so at variance with his haughty tone that Alycia had little option but to give in to the laughter tickling her throat.

Sean’s expression changed instantly. His blue eyes darkened noticeably. Moving impatiently, he glanced around the room, as if wishing they were anywhere but in a public restaurant. Observing him closely, Alycia was amazed at the realization that she also wished them in some more private setting.

But only to talk, Alycia was quick to assure herself, feeling oddly excited and uneasy at once. The man was an expert on the subject that interested her most. It was only natural that she should want to spend time with him—for an exchange of views and ideas, of course.

Sure.

Alycia refused to acknowledge the tiny voice that taunted from the edge of her mind. Giving herself an inward shake, she focused her attention on the sound of Sean’s low-pitched voice, wondering what he was saying—and when he’d begun saying it.

“... But the series of lectures won’t begin until after spring break, and I want to talk to you now,” he went on intently. “Have dinner with me, Alycia.”

“This evening?” Alycia asked, glancing at the snow beyond the window.

“Of course, this evening. You’ll be leaving for Williamsburg this weekend, won’t you?”

“Yes, but the weather ... I mean, by this evening the roads will be a mess!”

Sean shrugged. “They were already a mess this morning.”

“But...” she attempted to protest again; Sean refused to listen.

“But nothing.” His smile was an outright enticement. “We have an entire war to discuss before you leave.”

Alycia withstood his smile for all of fifteen seconds, then caved in as, inside, in a secret place, she had known all along she would.

“Who’s coming for dinner?”

Laughing at the comic expression of astonishment on Karla’s face, Alycia set a large grocery bag on the table and shrugged out of her damp coat. “You heard me very well,” she replied, grinning as she draped the garment over the back of a chair and yanked the knee-high boots from her cold feet.

“You are kidding, aren’t you?” Andrea croaked in an awed tone.

Controlling her amusement, Alycia dropped her dripping boots on the scatter rug kept near the door for such occasions. As she turned back to the large open room, she placed her right palm over her heart and tried to look solemn. “Would I kid my two dearest friends?” she countered. She smiled at her friends, noting how warm and friendly the huge kitchen was, absently admiring the way it flowed into the living room, only a subtle arch separating the rooms.

“But—Sean Halloran!” Andrea exclaimed, shaking her head as if dazed. “I mean—Sean
Halloran? “

“I think,” Karla said coolly, “what our babbling friend here is trying to say is—
Sean Halloran!”
she finished in a very un-Karla-like yelp.

Alycia raised her eyes as if beseeching help from above. “Have we now established the fact that, yes, indeed, the illustrious, the famous, the world-renowned Sean Halloran will be here for dinner this very evening?” Placing her hands on her neatly rounded hips, Alycia glanced from Karla to Andrea.

“She’s not kidding.” A horrified look replaced Andrea’s stunned expression as she glanced around the spacious living room that extended from the modern kitchen. “This place is a disaster!” She was whirling into action before the last word was out of her mouth.

Alycia and Karla watched their roommate in arrested fascination until, pausing mid-flurry, Andrea demanded, “Well, why are you two just standing there?” She waved her arms wildly. “We can’t even think of allowing Sean Halloran to see this cluttered mess!” Her eyes were wide and imploring. “Will you get it in gear?”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Karla groaned.

“There’s no time, Andrea,” Alycia said, smiling with amused understanding of her compulsively neat friend. “He’s parking the car right now and will be here in a few minutes.” A frown drew her eyebrows together as she glanced around the room. “Besides which, the place really doesn’t look all that cluttered.” And in fact it didn’t, if one was willing to overlook the textbooks piled haphazardly on every horizontal surface.

“That’s not important, anyway,” Karla said, waving her hand impatiently to indicate the room. “What I want to know is, how did this happen? I mean, where did you meet him?” She threw up her hands. “You left here only six hours ago. How ...” Her voice trailed away at the unmistakable sound of a male tread on the stairs.

“Oh, gosh, it’s him!” Andrea moaned, frantically plumping the toss pillows on the sofa.

Spinning around, Alycia headed for the door. “I’ll explain everything later,” she promised, drawing a deep breath and squaring her shoulders before pulling the door open.

“Hi.”

One soft, deep-voiced word was all that was required to set Alycia’s pulses thumping out in a jungle rhythm; the smile that accompanied the word had her nerve endings vibrating to the beat.

“Hi.” Her response was expelled on a whispery puff of uneven breath.

“May I come in?” Sean’s smile grew into a sensuous invitation.

“Wh ... what? Oh!” Alycia blinked and stepped back. “Yes, of course.” Her cheeks growing warm, she swung the door wide. “Come in and meet my friends.”

“Thank you.” Sean stepped into the room, his smile slanting at the scene that met his gaze.

Caught in flight, Andrea stood poised like a startled doe, her beautiful hazel eyes wide in disbelief as she stared at Sean. Her slender arms were laden with books.

“It’s the profile!” Andrea finally managed the soft exclamation.

Sean’s expectant expression went momentarily blank, “I beg your pardon?”

“Damned if it isn’t,” Karla responded, in a dry, if obviously surprised, tone.

Sean shot a glance at Alycia, who shrugged, as if to say “who knows” before switching her exasperated gaze to her friends.

Andrea stood as if frozen to the floor, her delighted stare riveted to Sean’s face.

Karla stood at the kitchen table, her expression alert, one hand gripping the pale winter tomato she’d just plucked from the grocery bag Alycia had brought. She raised an eyebrow coolly at Alycia and murmured chidingly, “So, get on with it.”

Alycia made the introductions briefly while relieving Sean of the pastry box he held in one hand and the paper bag he was clutching in the other. The formalities over with, she took his heavy thigh-length jacket while he tugged rugged boots from his feet. After tossing the boots next to Alycia’s, Sean retrieved the articles she was balancing, along with his jacket.

“I hope you don’t mind the intrusion,” Sean said, raising his brows questioningly, his expression saying quite clearly that he wasn’t sure.

Reading his wary look correctly, Karla and Andrea hastened to assure him that he wasn’t intruding at all.

“I invited Alycia out, but it appears just about every restaurant is closing due to the weather, so we shopped for dinner,” he explained, the beginnings of a grin easing his wariness as Andrea and Karla attempted to eye the pastry box with casual disinterest. “I hope you both like steak and salad, followed by coffee and cheesecake.”

“Cheesecake! My favorite.” Karla groaned. “There goes my diet.”

Snapping out of her bemusement, the ultra-slim Andrea smiled smugly. “I love cheesecake.” She threw a teasing glance at Karla. “And I never diet.”

“Oh, give it a rest,” Karla advised in a mild tone, delving into the paper bag. “Wine! Red
and
white,” she exclaimed, extracting the bottles and holding one aloft. “How did you know we were bone dry?” She smiled at Sean.

“Alycia told me about the deplorable state of your wine cellar,” he said solemnly.

“Wine cellar! Anybody could tell this guy’s a historian,” Karla said, laughing as she continued pulling their dinner from the grocery sack.

Sean managed to suppress his laughter, though the corners of his lips twitched with a smile.

“And I think you’d better come in and sit down,” Alycia advised him in a dry tone. “If only to get out of range of missiles.”

Backing into the living room, Sean examined Karla’s cool expression with sparkling blue eyes. “Dangerous, are you?” he asked, arching one russet eyebrow.

“Not nearly as dangerous as Alycia,” she retorted, ignoring her friend’s soft gasp. “I’m obvious. She’s subtle.”

Sean shifted his gleaming gaze to Alycia’s flushed cheeks. “How fascinating.” He lowered his voice. “You’ll have to tell me all about this subtlety”—he lowered his voice for her ears only—”later.”

Embarrassed, Alycia was raking her mind for a response, any response, when Andrea inadvertently came to her rescue.

“Oh, damn!” Frowning at the books stacked precariously in her arms, Andrea gazed around helplessly. “What should I do with them?”

“You could put them back where they were “ Alycia suggested, crossing over to relieve her friend of several weighty volumes.

“But they give the place such a cluttered look,” Andrea wailed, still hesitating uncertainly.

“Not true,” Sean contradicted in a stern tone. “Books never clutter, they enlighten.”

While Andrea looked chastised and Alycia looked on the verge of launching a defense of her friend, Sean carefully folded his large frame into the corner of the sofa. After stretching his long legs out in front of him, crossing his ankles, and sighing comfortably, he grinned up at Andrea. “So dump them anywhere and let’s get to know each other.”

* * * *

The dinner was a delightful, at times hilarious, success. The steak was tender, the salad crisp, the cheesecake creamy, the wine tangy, and the conversation animated.

With an ease of manner so polished that no one even noticed, Sean steered the flow of conversation away from himself and onto the subjects most dear to Andrea’s and Karla’s hearts.

“I’m thrilled and fascinated by the probability of space probes beyond our universe,” Andrea said in response to a cleverly worded remark by Sean.

“And what are your hopes for these future intergalactic explorations?” Sean sent out a probe of his own.

Andrea fairly quivered with excitement at finding an intelligent person who was genuinely interested in the exploration of space. “The possibilities are endless,” she answered, leaning forward intently.

Exchanging an understanding smile with Karla, Alycia settled back to enjoy her wine, as well as the lively discussion. Only occasionally did she remember
to
glance through the window to observe the still steadily falling snow.

“I like the grittiness, the unadorned reality, of modern western art” Karla told Sean later as they all left the table by the windows to resettle in the living room.

“And painting western scenes is your own field of expertise?” Sean inquired with unfeigned interest.

“No.” Karla’s smile held a wealth of self-knowledge. “If nothing else, coming back to college has taught me one important thing.” Like Alycia and Andrea, Karla had resumed her education after several years away from the academic community. “I know that I don’t have the talent to be a fine artist.” She lifted her shoulders in a gesture of acceptance. “But I do appear to have a gift for displaying fine art to its best advantage.” She gave Sean an easy smile. “And that’s exactly what I plan to do.”

“You have my respect,” Sean said with utter sincerity. “There are few who recognize their weaknesses as well as their strengths.”

“And are you one of the few?” Alycia interjected softly.

“Probably not.” Sean’s chest heaved in an exaggerated sigh; his lips tilted in a self-mocking smile. “I still like to believe that I can accomplish anything and everything I set my mind to.”

Karla laughed. “And what do you set your mind to?”

“Anything and everything.”

His immediate and dry response drew laughter from the three young women, which had obviously been his intent.

The conversational ice was not only broken, it was completely melted.

Pleasantly sated by the delicious meal and relaxed by the delicate wine, Alycia was content to observe and listen to the others from her curled position in one corner of the sofa. When asked a direct question, she replied but, in the main, she merely enjoyed the congenial flow of conversation, and her unobstructed view of the russet-haired man seated at the opposite end of the sofa.

The wine bottles were long empty before Karla and Andrea excused themselves and retired to their bedrooms. Quiet held the living room in thrall for several seconds before Sean cocked his head and smiled quizzically at Alycia.

“Is it time for me to go?” he asked quietly.

“Do you want to go?” she answered with a question.

“No.”

Alycia smiled. “Then it’s not yet time for you to go.”

Her smile was apparently all the invitation Sean required. Setting his glass aside, he slid his body along the sofa, coming to a stop when the length of his thigh rested against hers.

Suddenly breathless and flustered, Alycia took a deep swallow of wine. The moment she drew the glass from her mouth, Sean leaned over to gently touch his tongue to her lips.