The Pajama Affair

by Vanessa Gray Bartal

  “That was the first time I saw that spark of passion that you keep hidden from the rest of the world, and I knew I wanted to be the one to set it free. So for the last five years I’ve been trying, but it’s been an uphill battle. You guard your privacy and your heart like they’re Fort Knox, you know that? Every day I feel like I’m chipping away, just to try and gain a foothold.” He paused and looked away. “For the last year, I thought maybe all these years had been wasted effort. Maybe I wasn’t getting anywhere. Maybe you weren’t as into me as I was into you. But then a few months ago, you sat in my lap and cried and—wonder of wonders—you let me hold you. Do you know how many times in our relationship I’ve seen you cry? Until this summer, the answer was one, and that was because of a movie where a dog was killed. And even then you ran into the bathroom so I wouldn’t know.

  “Do you know what I thought when we learned Bryce was secretly a hacker with a criminal record? I thought, ‘Oh that makes sense, it must be a family trait to keep secrets.’”

  For the second time that night she was speechless. She stared at him, stunned, as she replayed their relationship through the focus of his lens. And she was heartsick at what she saw. How many times had she shut him out of her life? How many times had she kept her thoughts and feelings to herself so as not to burden him? She, Liza, had hurt Dirk with her seeming indifference, and all the while she had accused him of being the bad guy.

  There was only one thing to do now. She burst into tears and threw herself into his arms. When she had cried herself out, she was finally able to speak. “I didn’t want to appear clingy.”

  Dirk chuckled at the absurdity of her statement. “You’re the least clingy person I know. Do you have any idea how jealous of Marion I am? She’s the only one you tell your secrets to.”

  “Not anymore,” she vowed. “I promise I’ll let you in. I didn’t know I was keeping you out. I didn’t know you wanted to be let in.” She paused and bit her lip. “If you still want to be with me, that is.”

  “If I didn’t want to be with you, if I wasn’t crazy in love with you, would I have been carrying this ring for the last three months?”

  “Ring?” she croaked.

  He nodded, reached into his pocket and pulled out a small jeweler’s box. “I don’t really want to get down on one knee here because, well, it’s a hospital, and that’s gross. But I will if it’s what you want.”

  “I don’t care,” she said. “I just want to be with you. I…I love you.” She said it shyly, but he didn’t seem to mind. He picked her up and kissed her, not caring that they were in the doorway of a crowded hallway.

  “I only have one request,” he said when the kiss was finished.

  “Anything,” she promised.

  “Let’s not have any more adventure for a while, okay? I just want to spend some quiet evenings at home, eating and talking. Those are my favorite times with you, did you know?”

  “I didn’t know,” she said. “Want to know what my favorite times with you are?”

  “What?” he asked.

  “The kissing,” she said. He laughed, probably thinking she was kidding, but she wasn’t. Dirk was a very good kisser.

  “You never answered my question,” he said. “Is that a yes?”

  “That’s the biggest yes the world has ever known,” she said

  Then she stood on her toes as he kissed her again.

  Epilogue

  The last bell rang and Liza breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her little pupils, because she did. But they weren’t her whole world anymore. Now she had a fiancé, a best friend on the mend, and a wedding to plan. She wearily straightened the classroom before sitting down to grade papers and go over her lesson plans for the next day. Just as she finished, she felt someone’s presence fill the doorway. She looked up with a smile, expecting to see Dirk. Instead she saw Lincoln Stone.

  “The building is practically deserted,” he said. “I could have guessed you were an overachiever.”

  She sat back with a smile. “How are you doing, Link?” She hadn’t seen him in three weeks, since the awful day Marion was shot, since the wonderful day she had gotten engaged.

  He ambled in slowly, as if unsure of his welcome. She pushed out the only other adult-sized chair in the room, the one she kept on hand for visiting parents. “Have a seat,” she invited.

  He sat. “I’m okay,” he answered at last. “How are you, Liza? Engaged, I see. Finally got that boyfriend to commit. I guess near-death experiences have that effect.”

  She didn’t allow his cynical attitude to dampen her joy. “I had things a little mixed up where Dirk was concerned. And I wasn’t the only one.” She quirked an eyebrow at him, waiting expectantly.

  He put up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. You were right and I was wrong. And I’m sorry. There, satisfied?”

  She smiled happily. “Yes.”

  He shook his head, but he was smiling, too. “I think I’ve apologized to you more in the last four months than I have anyone in my life. I wonder why that is.”

  “Maybe it means you’re growing as a person,” she suggested.

  “Or maybe it means I just like you. You’re good people.” He leaned forward to rest his arms on her desk. “You know, for a little while I had myself convinced I was falling in love with you.”

  By the intense look in his eyes, she wondered if maybe he thought he still was. “You know what I think, Link?”

  “What’s that?” he asked, sounding genuinely curious.

  “I think you had grown used to your superficial lifestyle and I was a reminder that it’s not who you really are. You’re a good man, Link, and you need to stop selling yourself short. On that note,” she paused and fished around in her purse before pulling out a piece of paper, “Marion has been going crazy at home. I gave her the task of finding something in the hopes that I would see you again. Here.” She handed the slip of paper across the desk.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s Kelly’s address and phone number.”

  He looked up in surprise. “My Kelly? But she’s not on any social networking site. How did she find this?”

  Liza shrugged. “Marion has her ways.”

  Link smiled. “She surely does. I couldn’t believe it when I saw her going for Puck with her bare hands. She didn’t even give Sal and I the chance to jump him before she took action. She’s a cool cucumber under pressure. We could use someone like her.”

  “At the FBI?” she asked.

  “No,” he said cagily.

  Liza smiled, picturing Marion at the CIA. Somehow, the image fit. She would be an awesome spy. “I think she’s more protective of Bryce than she realized.”

  “Is there something between them?” Link asked.

  “I never thought so. They’ve always fought like cats and dogs, but she was certainly upset when his life was threatened, and he was equally devastated when she got shot.”

  “So, if I contact Marion about doing some work, you won’t be upset?”

  “Of course not. Why would I be upset?”

  “She’ll probably have to move,” he said.

  Liza’s face puckered as if she might cry, but she quickly smoothed out her expression. “I want what’s best for Marion,” she said slowly. “And I think she would be good at what you’re suggesting.”

  “I’m not suggesting a thing,” he said, the cagey expression returning.

  “Of course you’re not,” she agreed. “Oh, I forgot to tell you Mrs. Jenkins finally came home from the hospital. One side of her mouth droops so she looks like she’s frowning all the time.”

  “How can you tell?” he asked.

  “Link, be nice,” she said. “She’s been very grateful that I took such good care of her cats.”

  “I took care of those stupid cats,” he said resentfully.

  “I know, but how would I have explained that? It was easier to take the credit.” She shook her head. “I still can’t believe you think
Dirk had anything to do with her heart attack. If he hadn’t found her, she would be dead. He saved her.”

  He sat back again with a smile, ignoring her statement. “So have your boyfriend and his cousin made up?”

  “My fiancé,” she corrected. “And sort of. Sal said an unconvincing apology to both of us, and we accepted. But for everyone’s sake he decided to take some time off and see the country.”

  They both shuddered, imaging the trail of bodies his vacation might leave behind.

  “Did you know he became an assassin on a lark? He and some of his Princeton buddies were bored and took it up on a whim. Still, I expect him to be best man at our wedding,” Liza added. “He and Dirk have always been close, and the separation is hard on Dirk.” She knew because Dirk told her, along with all the other details of his life. And she was learning to open up and share with him. All in all, they were the best they had ever been, and she was the happiest she had ever been.

  “Will I be invited to the wedding?” Link asked, but before she could answer, he laughed. “I’m kidding. Your boyfriend would have apoplexy.”

  “My fiancé probably would, but you’re still my friend, and I would love it if you would come. With a date. Maybe, I don’t know, Kelly for instance.”

  He stood and eased to the door. “We’ll see.” He stepped a foot outside the room, then paused and looked back. “When you and Marion were doing this research, did you see a recent picture of Kelly?”

  “Yes,” Liza said.

  “Is she still pretty?”

  “Would it matter if she wasn’t?” Liza asked.

  “No,” he said sincerely.

  She smiled. “She is.”

  He pumped his fist in the air. “Yes! See you, Liza.”

  “See you, Link,” she said, then she packed up her bag and went home to Dirk.