Witnessing the changes in Damian caused him to wonder what his own life would have been like if he’d married Mary Jo. They’d have started a family by now. The glimpse he’d caught of her almost a year ago at the Red Sox game drifted into his mind, and with it came a stab of pain.
Loving her as he did, even now, it was impossible to want anything but the best for her. He tried not to think about Mary Jo, tried to place her firmly in the back of his mind, but every now and again, the memory of her escaped to taunt him with the might-have-beens.
It had been nearly eighteen months since they’d parted, and she still had the power to move him. He’d dated now and again, but there wasn’t anyone he’d gotten serious about. He wished he knew what it was about Mary Jo that he couldn’t forget.
Evan envied his brother the happiness he’d found and didn’t expect to find the same happiness himself. He could see himself thirty years down the road with white hair, dressed in a smoking jacket, sitting in front of a fireplace smoking a pipe. A black Labrador would lie snoozing at his feet….
“You’re looking thoughtful,” Damian said, helping himself to a chair.
“Just wool-gathering.”
Damian was more relaxed these days, Evan noted. His brother leaned back in the chair and rested one ankle over the other knee. “Remember last month when Jessica phoned from the doctor’s office?”
Evan chuckled. “I’m not likely to forget.” Nor would anyone else in the office. Rarely had he seen his brother so excited, so elated. For days he’d walked around grinning like a mad fool. It wasn’t every day, he said, a man learned he was going to be a father.
Funny, Evan thought, his brother was wearing a similar grin now. “What’s going on now?” he asked. “Did you just learn Jessica’s carrying twins?”
“Not quite. I’ve been approached by the bar about an appointment as a judge.”
“Damian!” Evan rose from his chair. This shouldn’t come as a surprise; it was Damian’s destiny, just as marrying Jessica had been. He walked around his desk. Damian stood and the two brothers embraced.
“You’re going to accept.” Evan didn’t put the words into a question. It went without saying Damian would and should.
“Yes, if Jessica concurs.”
“She will.” Evan had no doubts about that, either. “Are you going out tonight to celebrate?”
“As a matter of fact we are. Cathy Hudson, Jessica’s friend, is starring in a new play that’s opening tonight. Did I mention she recently got engaged to some director friend of hers?”
Before Evan could respond, his intercom buzzed and he reached for the button. “The receptionist called,” Mrs. Sterling informed him, “and said Earl Kress is here to see you, Mr. Dryden.”
“Earl?” Evan said with surprise. He hadn’t heard from him in six months or more. “Send him in.”
“We’ll talk later,” Damian said as he walked out of the office. “Give my regards to Earl, will you?”
Evan went with him, meeting Earl in the hallway outside. The two exchanged hearty handshakes. Evan slapped the younger man on the back as he led him into his office and closed the door.
“It’s good to see you,” Evan said, motioning toward the chair. “Sit down and make yourself comfortable.”
“I can’t stay long,” Earl said, sitting on the edge of the chair. “I probably should have called, but I was in the neighborhood…”
“I’m glad you stopped in. How’s school?”
“Good. I got my general equivalency diploma not long ago,” he announced proudly.
“Congratulations.” Evan experienced a surge of pride at the younger man’s progress.
“I have a lot of people to thank for that, but you’re the one who started it all. I don’t think you ever realized how afraid I was of having the world know I couldn’t read or write. It’s humiliating to admit something like that.”
“I realized at the time how difficult it was for you.”
“Without your support, I don’t think I could have gone through with the trial.”
“I’m sure glad you did.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Earl said with a hearty laugh. “My life would certainly be different if I hadn’t. Listen, I didn’t mean to take up your time, but I wanted you to know how grateful I am for all your help.”
“No problem, Earl.”
“I’m working as a volunteer myself now with grade school kids, helping out in the slow-reader program. I wouldn’t have grown up illiterate if I’d gotten help while I was in the elementary grades.”
Evan smiled broadly. “That’s great, Earl.”
“By the way, I ran across a friend of yours the other day—another volunteer.”
“Oh?”
“At least I assume you two know one another. Her name’s Mary Jo Summerhill.”
“Mary Jo.” Evan realized he breathed her name more than spoke it.
“Funny, she reacted the same way when I mentioned you.”
“I thought she was married,” Evan said.
“Not as far as I know.” Earl stood and held out his hand. “Anyway, I won’t keep you. I just wanted to stop in and update you about what’s been going on in my life.”
“I’m happy you did,” Evan said, walking his former client to the door. He stood there for a moment, his mind spinning.
A few minutes later Damian strolled into his office again.
“What did Earl have to say?” he asked.
“Mary Jo isn’t married.” He said it out loud just to hear the sound of it. Damian wouldn’t fully understand the significance of those words, but it didn’t matter.
“I see,” his brother said thoughtfully. “What are you going to do about it?”
Evan thought long and hard, then a slow smile spread across his features.
ISBN:978-1-55254-728-1
READY FOR ROMANCE
Copyright © 1993 by Debbie Macomber.
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