Cherish

by Sherryl Woods

  “He suggested I give you a run for your money.”

  “I like the sound of that,” he said. “Lizzy, why did you go so quiet a few minutes ago? When I mentioned California, you clammed right up. You did the same thing the first time we talked on the phone.”

  He could tell how flustered she was by the way she was twisting her napkin and by the way her gaze evaded his. He’d never known the Lizzy of old to be at a loss for words. One of these days he’d have to accept that there were bound to be some changes over all this time, but at the moment he found this change particularly puzzling.

  “I just can’t see you being comfortable in my world,” she said finally in a desperate tone that had him guessing that she was improvising.

  “I never heard such a crazy idea,” he protested, startled that she could even think such a thing. “You and I were comfortable from the first minute we met. Nothing’s changed, Lizzy. Nothing. Why, when you stepped out of my car night before last, I felt all those years just slip away. I could be comfortable anywhere with you.”

  “You’re wrong if you think there haven’t been changes,” she said adamantly. “A lot of time’s gone by since then. We aren’t the same people.”

  “We are in all the ways that count,” he insisted just as stubbornly.

  “Don’t press, Brandon. Not on this.”

  Troubled by the expression of genuine dismay on her face, he reluctantly nodded his agreement. Then he spent the rest of the day wondering if he’d made a terrible mistake not forcing her to explain why she was more skittish around him now than when she’d been an innocent young virgin.

  * * *

  Elizabeth couldn’t get to sleep, despite another long day of visiting Brandon’s favorite haunts all over Boston. She was still deeply troubled by the conversation they’d had that morning.

  Brandon had seen right through her. He’d guessed that she didn’t want him in California, which was why she had to go back before he could get any notions about coming with her. Unfortunately he already seemed to have some pretty strong ideas about the future—crazy ideas that a man his age shouldn’t be thinking. Even if she could entirely forget old hurts, too many things stood in their way. Things she could never explain. She had to put his crazy ideas out of his mind.

  Because she didn’t want to get caught up in the same fantasy, Elizabeth tried reading a paperback she’d picked up at the airport, but it was no better now than it had been when she’d tried to read it on the plane. She used the remote to switch on the television, skipped through the channels and couldn’t find even an old movie to hold her interest.

  “Face it, Elizabeth,” she muttered under her breath, “you’re not going to sleep until you deal with what’s going on between you and Brandon.”

  He seemed to have this ridiculous notion that they could pick up right where they’d left off, as if they were a couple of kids. Why couldn’t he see that the years had shaped them into very different people?

  He was a business tycoon, for heaven’s sake. She was a semiretired school teacher. He had traveled all over the world. Since moving to California, she’d rarely left—except for one incredible trip to Hawaii that the kids had given to her and David for their anniversary the year before he’d died. Brandon had a custom-tailored wardrobe, a six-bedroom mansion, a housekeeper and a chauffeur. Her clothes were off the rack, she owned a five-room house and did all of her own cooking, cleaning and driving. Years ago maybe none of that would have mattered. Today it seemed insurmountable.

  It wasn’t that she was insecure. Far from it, in fact. She knew her own worth, but she could take a realistic measure of that and see that it didn’t stack up to be the right woman for a confident, sophisticated man like Brandon Halloran.

  Of course, those were only excuses, she admitted reluctantly. There were far more pressing reasons why they couldn’t have a future together, but she couldn’t even bring herself to think about those.

  Elizabeth was questioning whether it was even wise to remain in Boston for the duration of her promised visit, when the phone rang. It was nearly 1:00 a.m., but just before 10:00 p.m. in California.

  Almost glad of the late-hour interruption, she grabbed the phone on the second ring, only to be greeted by Kate’s exasperated “Mother!”

  “Hello, darling. I see you’ve tracked me down.”

  “I wouldn’t have had to do any tracking, if you’d seen fit to tell me you were going away,” she declared, clearly annoyed.

  “Sweetheart, you’ve been away on business for the past two weeks. How was I supposed to tell you?”

  “The office would have told you how to find me.”

  “And if it had been an emergency, I might have called,” she said reasonably. “I saw no reason to do so just because I was flying to Boston for a few days.”

  “Why on earth would you go to Boston after all this time? You haven’t been back there in years.”

  “Decades, actually.”

  “So, why did you decide to go on the spur of the moment?”

  Since Ellen had obviously reported the trip to Kate, Elizabeth wished her older daughter had also given Kate all the explanations. Maybe then Elizabeth would be feeling less defensive.

  “An old friend called and invited me.”

  Kate paused at that. “I didn’t know you kept in touch with anyone back there.”

  “Dear, you haven’t exactly kept tabs on my correspondence, have you? Nor do you tell me about all of your trips and contracts,” she pointed out.

  “Then you have been in touch with this person?”

  “Kate, darling, I really think you’re making much too much of this. I’ll be home in a few days and I’ll tell you all about it. In the meantime, why don’t you tell me how your business trip went? Did you win that divorce case for your client in Palm Springs?”

  Momentarily distracted just as Elizabeth had hoped she would be, Kate said, “We’re still haggling over the settlement. The man has become a multimillionaire, thanks to his wife’s investment savvy. He wants to hold her to a prenuptial agreement written in the dark ages.”

  “I really do wish you’d gotten into some other aspect of law,” Elizabeth told her. “I think you’ve developed a very jaded view of marriage by handling all these high-profile, nasty divorce cases.”

  “Mother, I do not care to discuss my views on marriage and romance. We both know that I think they’re highly overrated.”

  Elizabeth sighed wearily. “I can’t imagine how you could come to that view after growing up around your father and me.”

  “Believe me, you were the exceptions, not the rule. Don’t blame yourself. You set a wonderful example. I’ve just seen too many of my friends and my clients get royally screwed once the romance dies.”

  “I think you’d change your mind, if you ever met the right young man,” Elizabeth countered. “How is that attractive new partner in your firm? Lance Hopkins, wasn’t it? I believe you mentioned he’s single.”

  “You and Ellen,” Kate grumbled. “You’re both far too romantic for your own good. I never mentioned that Lance Hopkins is single and you know it. Ellen concocted some excuse to pry the information out of my secretary. Now stop trying to change the subject. I want to know whom you’re visiting and when you expect to be back home.”

  “I’ll be back in a few days. We’ll talk about it then,” she replied firmly.

  “Mother, are you there with some man?” Kate asked suspiciously.

  “If I were, it would be none of your business. You worry about your social life, young lady, and let me take care of my own.”

  “Mother,” Kate protested, but Elizabeth was already lowering the phone back into its cradle.

  Okay, maybe hanging up was the cowardly way out. But it was one thing to sit in this hotel room so far from home wondering if she was crazy for coming to Boston, crazier yet for not running away as fast as she could. It would be quite another to have her levelheaded daughter confirm it.

  Chapter Sevenr />
  Brandon was up at the crack of dawn, anxious to get the day under way, more optimistic than he had been in years. Since Mrs. Farnsworth was off on Sundays, he made his own coffee, then glanced through the first section of the paper. Not one paragraph, not even one headline he read registered. He turned the pages mechanically, thinking only of how light his heart had become since Lizzy had come back into his life.

  Unfortunately the cursory study of the newspaper didn’t waste nearly enough time. It was barely seven. He read the business section, then the sports section, and killed another half hour. He glanced at his watch impatiently, muttered a curse and picked up the phone.

  Elizabeth’s sleepy greeting set his blood to racing. How many times had he dreamed of waking beside her and hearing just such an innocently seductive purr in her voice? A half-dozen times in the past few weeks alone. Multiply that by years, when the memory of her crept in when he least expected it.

  “Good morning,” he said briskly. “I’m sorry if I woke you.”

  “You don’t sound sorry,” she said, laughter lacing through her voice. “What are you doing calling so early?”

  “I didn’t want to waste a minute of this beautiful day. How about coming to church with me, then going for a drive to see all the spring flowers in bloom? I know a wonderful old inn that would be the perfect place for lunch. If I play my cards right, I might even be able to borrow Dana’s car again.”

  “It sounds lovely.”

  “Can you be ready in an hour? The service I had in mind is at nine.”

  “I’ll be ready,” she promised.

  Brandon tried not to feel guilty as he rushed through his shower and dressed in a dark blue suit, a pale blue shirt and a silk tie—all made of Halloran fabrics. Maybe he should have mentioned that Lacey and Kevin were likely to be at the services.

  Then again, he consoled himself, he wasn’t absolutely certain they would be. They might even be out on Cape Cod, where they were spending more and more time since Kevin’s last heart attack. No need getting Elizabeth all worked up over nothing. She’d handled the impromptu meeting with Jason and Sammy blithely enough. In the long run maybe it was better to spring things on her, so she didn’t have time to fret and find a dozen excuses for saying no.

  An hour later, with Lizzy by his side, he was pulling into the church parking lot.

  “What a beautiful old church,” Elizabeth said of the plain white structure with its intricately designed stained glass windows and towering steeple.

  “Wait until you see it inside,” he told her, imagining it through her eyes. “The light filters through all that glass and creates a rainbow of colors.”

  Just then the bell began to chime, its resonance pure and strong as it filled the air.

  “Let’s get inside before the processional starts,” he said.

  He led the way to a pew halfway up the wide, carpeted aisle just as the first hymn began. He found the song in the hymnal and offered it to Elizabeth, but she was already singing in her clear soprano. Even so, in a gesture he remembered vividly from another long-ago Sunday, she placed her hand next to his so they could share.

  As he stood next to her, fingers barely touching, and listened to the verses of the hymn, he realized that he had never felt so blessed or so joyous. Unexpected contentment stole through him. Finding his precious Elizabeth again must have been God’s work.

  She glanced up then and smiled, her face radiant. “You’re not singing,” she whispered.

  He looked down, reminding himself of the familiar words, and then he too sang along with the congregation, his bass joining her sweet voice to soar above all the rest.

  Brandon was oblivious to the rest of the service. Though he normally found the minister’s sermons to be lively and meaningful, today he was far too conscious of the woman seated next to him. He couldn’t stop himself from thinking that if all had gone the way he’d wanted years ago, she would have walked down this very aisle to become his bride.

  As the service ended, he took Elizabeth’s elbow and steered her through the crowd, murmuring greetings to friends, many of whom he’d known his whole life. He liked the continuity of that, just as he liked thinking that a relationship he’d once cherished was just as strong decades later.

  But only for him, he conceded reluctantly. He knew deep down he had yet to win Lizzy over to that way of thinking.

  Outside they lingered to chat with the minister. Elizabeth praised the sermon, but Brandon was forced to mutter some innocuous statement because he couldn’t recall the topic, much less anything his old friend had said.

  He was just about to beat a hasty retreat, when he heard Kevin’s voice behind him.

  “Dad, I didn’t see you earlier. You must have been late.”

  “We got here just before the processional,” he said, turning to face his son and Lacey. He kissed his daughter-in-law. “Good morning, you two. I thought maybe you’d be out at the Cape this weekend.”

  “Thought or hoped?” Lacey asked, with a pointed glance at Elizabeth. “I understand you have company. Hello, I’m Lacey Halloran and this is Kevin.”

  “This is Elizabeth Newton,” Brandon said, watching Lizzy’s face for some indication of her reaction to this chance meeting with his son and daughter-in-law. Judging from the glance she shot his way, he was going to hear about this encounter later. She might forgive one meeting as chance, but two in a row were bound to look suspicious in her eyes.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” she said graciously. “Brandon has told me quite a lot about you.”

  Kevin scowled. “Funny, he hasn’t told us a thing about you. Have you been keeping secrets, Dad?”

  His tone was teasing, but there was an underlying thread of dismay that Brandon caught even if no one else did. Fortunately Lacey had a knack for putting people at ease and she was already chatting a mile a minute with Lizzy, asking about California, her family, her teaching.

  “That reminds me,” Brandon said. “Lizzy and I were talking about the need for a school that could cater to youngsters like Sammy, children who are bright enough, but need an extra boost if they’re to succeed. You two should talk about it.”

  “What a wonderful idea!” Lacey exclaimed and began asking Lizzy questions in a voice filled with enthusiasm.

  Brandon listened to them in satisfaction. Two of a kind, he thought complacently, just as Kevin pulled him aside.

  “Who is this woman?” his son demanded.

  Brandon stared at him, startled by his thoroughly disgruntled tone. “You say that as if she’s got a big scarlet A pinned to her dress. What on earth’s the matter with you?”

  “I don’t like it, Dad. You’re quite a catch for any woman. I don’t want to see you taken advantage of. Jason mentioned you hadn’t seen this woman for almost fifty years. Out of the blue, she turns up again, now that Mother’s dead. Quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”

  Brandon felt his temper starting to boil. “Son, that is enough! Elizabeth is a fine woman. If you’d done a little checking instead of flinging around slanderous opinions, you would have known that I went after her, not the other way around.”

  The visible tension in Kevin’s shoulders eased some at that explanation. “Okay, maybe I misunderstood, but a man in your position needs to be careful, Dad. You’re vulnerable with Mother gone. It would be easy enough for some gold digger to come along and take advantage of you. There are a dozen women right here in town, women you’ve known forever, who would be happy to share your life with you, if you feel the need for companionship.”

  “You make it sound about as simple as choosing a puppy and training it to fetch my slippers,” Brandon grumbled. “I suppose I should have expected this. It’s more retaliation for all my meddling over the years. Kevin, don’t you think I have sense enough to spot a devious, conniving woman?”

  “Frankly, no. You always did have a romantic streak. You’d imagine you were in love, no matter what the circumstances were.”

&nbs
p; “You let me worry about my imagination. Unfortunately, I suspect what you’re really worried about is your inheritance,” he said with an undeniable edge of sarcasm.

  Kevin couldn’t have looked more shocked if Brandon had accused him of embezzling. “Dad, you know that’s not true.”

  Brandon sighed heavily. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I know you’re just thinking of me, but believe me, son, I know what I’m doing.”

  “Is this relationship serious?”

  “At the moment, let’s just say it’s a serious flirtation. I don’t think Lizzy would stand for anything more.” He glanced at her and his expression softened. “I do believe, though, that I will do anything in my power to change that.”

  “Just go slowly, Dad. Promise me that.”

  “Son, at my age, there’s not time enough left to go slow. I plan to grab whatever happiness I can. Don’t begrudge me that.” He moved back to Lizzy’s side. “You ready for that drive in the country?”

  “Indeed, I am,” she said, smiling up at him.

  “Have a good time, you two,” Lacey said.

  “We intend to,” Brandon replied, hoping that Lizzy hadn’t noticed Kevin’s failure to join in Lacey’s best wishes.

  When they were alone in the car, though, she turned a troubled gaze toward him. “Kevin’s unhappy about my being here, isn’t he?”

  “I wouldn’t say unhappy.”

  “What would you say?”

  “Concerned.”

  She sighed. “Isn’t it amazing that we can live an entire lifetime, raise families, hold jobs, suffer devastating losses, and our kids still think we haven’t got the brains the good Lord gave a duck?”

  He chuckled. “You’ve been getting the third degree, too?”

  “Only from my youngest. She called last night to fuss at me for not notifying her that I planned this trip. I tried to point out that she almost never tells me when or where she’s going on a business trip, but she didn’t quite get the similarity.”

  “Are you sure it’s the same thing?” he asked. “Or did you make a point of not telling her, because you knew she wouldn’t approve?”