by Jodi Thomas
“Our son,” she answered. “If it’s all right with you.”
“It’s not all right with me,” he answered. “It’s perfect.”
The world slipped away as they made love, then fell asleep wrapped in one another’s arms.
Deep into the night, she felt his hands moving over her once more, needing her. They made love slowly as if both had dreamed the same dream.
At dawn, Blaine crawled from the bed and dressed. She had to get to the doc’s house before Mrs. Bailey woke up. Blaine clicked off Mark’s alarm. He needed to sleep. With luck, she would be back to have the talk he’d promised by the time he woke up.
In some ways they were still so far apart. She’d always known what he wanted, where he wanted to live, how he wanted their lives, but he’d never known her. Maybe she was just starting to know herself.
As she locked the door and started down the hallway, Mrs. Lilly’s door opened. The chubby little lady maneuvered on crutches out the door.
Blaine looked up, but before she could say a word, Lilly smiled. “Welcome home,” Lilly said. “I’ve been wondering when you’d be back.”
“You recognized me?”
Lilly grinned. “I knew the minute Mark started telling me about this woman named Mary who you were. A kind woman who loves to read, he said. A woman who walks with grace.” Lilly giggled. “I’ve read one too many mysteries not to be able to figure it out. Only question was why you weren’t coming home.”
Blaine hugged her. “Can I tell you all about it later? I’ve somewhere I have to be.”
Lilly looked disappointed. “I guess I can wait, long as you bring muffins when you come.”
Blaine promised and ran down the hallway. She stepped outside, walked half a block and caught the bus heading downtown. It crossed her mind that all the years she’d lived in Austin, she’d always fought the traffic and the parking downtown, when she could have stepped on a bus and been there quicker. Only, Blaine wouldn’t have thought of riding a bus; Mary, on the other hand, with three dollars in her pocket, saw it as quite practical.
She walked the last few blocks to the doc’s house and let herself in. The stillness of the old house welcomed her. The dark paneling, the overstuffed furniture, the muted colors. Every few days the doc threatened to leave the place to her, and though she always protested, in truth, she wouldn’t mind.
Blaine curled up on the couch and was almost asleep when Mrs. B. came down the stairs.
“’Morning, Mary,” she said as she opened a blind. “You up?”
If Blaine hadn’t been, she was now. “Yes.” She yawned. “How’s the doc?”
“He slept well but he’s sure up early this morning. I told him if you were awake I’d get you to read to him while I make him some oatmeal.” She pointed her finger. “I promised not to wake you.”
Blaine grinned. “You didn’t. I’ll go up.”
Mrs. Bailey nodded. “I’ll make you breakfast too. After he eats, he’ll fall back asleep. Maybe you can tell me what happened last night. Tuesday was worried about you, but I told her you must have been with Miller.”
Blaine grabbed a book and hurried up the stairs before Mrs. Bailey asked any questions. As she climbed she planned. She’d read, eat breakfast, then call Mark.
But the doctor was restless with pain and she read longer than she’d planned. Finally, she tucked him in and brushed his white hair back to make sure he didn’t have a fever.
“Thank you,” he whispered, already half-asleep.
“You’re welcome, Doc.” Blaine could see seventy years of goodness in this old man. She knew he could double his pain medication, but his mind would slip away with the pain and he wouldn’t be able to follow along with the stories she read. “Sleep now.”
“You’ll stay, Mary?”
“I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”
“No,” he said. “You’ll stay with me until the end.”
“But you’ll be better…”
“We’ve never lied to one another. Don’t start now.” He patted her hand. “I only have a few weeks at the most. I’d like my last hours to be filled with books. If it’s no trouble for you, I’d be grateful for the company.”
Blaine gripped his wrinkled hand. She understood him. He’d held the hands of all those he’d loved and watched them die. Now it was his turn and there was no family to stand by him. “I’ll stay,” she whispered.
He took a deep breath and relaxed into sleep.
Thirty-Nine
Mark rolled over and reached for Blaine.
The sheets felt cold to his touch. He came awake in degrees of pain. His hand hurt with bruised knuckles, his head throbbed from the stitches, his ribs ached each time he took in a breath. But none of the pain mattered compared to the one in his heart.
Blaine had left him…again.
He sat up and tried to remember what he’d said to her. He’d told her it didn’t matter about the baby, but had he told her he wanted it? He’d made love to her with more passion than he thought himself capable of, but had he said the words even once in the hours they’d been together?
Mark stood and pulled on his clothes knowing he had to go after her. At least this time he had a pretty good idea where she was. Only, was this how it would be between them? Never knowing when he’d wake beside her. Not understanding what she wanted him to do. What she wanted him to be.
Mark realized that for the past ten years it had always been what he wanted. He remembered talking about his plans for a career, for buying this place, for moving up in the firm. Had Blaine ever told him her plans?
He walked to the kitchen and stared at the empty refrigerator, remembering hoping, as if by magic, one morning food would appear.
Maybe Blaine’s plans didn’t include him. Maybe that was why she’d left without saying a word.
A banging at the door pulled him from his thoughts. Before he could hope that Blaine had returned, he heard Lilly yell, “Wake up. You can’t sleep all day.”
Mark opened the door and frowned at her. Her shoulders were almost to her ears as she leaned on her crutches with the top of a white bag wrapped around each handrest.
She smiled. “I brought doughnut holes and coffee. And news. Great news.”
He managed a grin. “You shouldn’t be up and about.”
She didn’t wait for him to invite her in. Handing him the bags, she swung over the threshold. “Don’t tell me what to do. I’m not in the habit of listening.”
Mark followed her. “No woman in my life seems to be these days.”
“Stop complaining and come tell me why you look like something even Tres wouldn’t bother to drag in.”
Mark flipped the paper open. He wasn’t surprised to see a picture of the bombing, but the headline below the lead story read Harry Winslow Arrested.
Mark reached for the phone and remembered he’d turned it off last night along with his cell phone. He dialed Randell and found out Shorty, a guy Winslow had hired to watch Mark, had spilled the entire plot. Winslow would never live long enough to get out of jail.
“I want to see you today,” Randell snapped. “Why didn’t you tell me Mary was Blaine? I didn’t figure it out until I saw you holding her.”
Mark didn’t answer.
“As soon as we hang up, cut off your phone unless you want to talk to the press. I’ll see you soon.” Randell laughed. “I hear Winslow is looking for a good lawyer.”
Mark swore, then laughed and hung up the phone. He drank coffee with Lilly and filled her in on the details. Then he retrieved his briefcase off the hall table. “I’ve got some papers for you to sign.”
“I didn’t come about me,” she answered without interest.
“I know, but your husband’s lawyer and I hammered out the details a few days ago. I noticed Bettye Ruth had the papers delivered here. Since Willard started his business with the sale of the car you left, legally you’re a partner in his companies.”
“I’m not interested in his companies.
”
“I know, that’s why I agreed to a settlement. If you’ll sign this he’ll send you a check for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
Lilly dropped her half-eaten doughnut hole.
When she didn’t answer, he asked, “Any plans for the money?”
Lilly winked. “I might go back to school. Looks like I’m single again. Or I might look for a bigger place, I’ll think it over.”
An hour later, Mark knocked on Dr. Early’s door. He waited a long while before anyone answered. Finally, an older version of Tuesday Bailey jerked the door open and frowned at him.
“Whatever it is we ain’t buying.”
“Is Bla…is Mary here?”
“Who wants to know?” She crossed her arms and widened her stance.
“Her husband.” Mark tried to decide whether to bully the woman or charm her. His charm hadn’t had much luck lately, but she didn’t look like the type who would bully easily. “I’ve got to see her.”
Mrs. Bailey’s head leaned over as she looked him up and down. “You got a job?”
Mark smiled. “Yes.” Although he doubted he’d have one by this time next week.
“What do you make? Mary needs a man who can take care of her and a family, not some freeloader who looks like he’s been in a bar fight.”
“I make enough.” Mark knew the women probably wouldn’t believe him if he told her how much. “I need to talk to my wife.”
“It’ll have to wait. Come back later.”
Mark held the door open with his foot. “It can’t wait. Now, you can let me in, or I can stand here and yell her name. It’s up to you, but I’m not leaving without talking to her.”
The woman didn’t look the least bit frightened. She raised an eyebrow as if debating how long it would take her to knock him out and toss him off the porch. “You sure you’re married?”
He held up his left hand. The ring seemed to satisfy her. She stepped back.
“But be quiet, I got the boy asleep on the couch. Poor little fellow was so worried about Mary this morning he tapped on the door. I talked him into staying for breakfast.”
Mark noticed a little boy in ragged clothes curled into a corner of the couch.
“You can see her, but she’s upstairs sleeping with the doc.”
Mark followed the tugboat of a woman up the stairs. Maybe the old bag was simply trying to shock him, but he knew Blaine well enough to know she wouldn’t be sleeping with another man.
He was wrong. When they reached the second floor, there was his wife, atop the covers of a massive bed, surrounded by books. A frail old man, tucked beneath blankets lay a few feet away, little more than skin over skeleton. Both were sound asleep.
“Whatever you do, don’t wake the doc,” the woman whispered and headed back down the stairs.
Mark moved to Blaine’s side of the bed and brushed her cheek with his fingers. “God, you’re beautiful.”
She smiled and opened one eye, then rolled into his arms.
Mark lifted her gently and carried her down the stairs.
He sat her on the first chair he came to and knelt in front of her. “Are you leaving me, Blaine? There is no reason for you to run any longer, unless it’s from me.”
She rubbed her eye with her fist and yawned. “I don’t belong there anymore.”
“All right,” he said as he stood and walked to the door.
She still sat in the chair when he returned a few minutes later. Tears sparkled in her eyes, but she didn’t say a word as he dropped the suitcases on the floor.
He went out for another load and the cat carrier. When he returned, she said, “Try to understand, Mark. I can’t go back to what I was. There is really no use in us talking about it.”
He watched her closely.
“I can’t be what I was, no matter how much I love you.” She raised her chin as she stood. “Thank you for bringing my things. I don’t know where I belong but it isn’t in your town house world anymore with nothing to do. The doc needs me here and wants me to stay. I have to watch over Anna in case she makes it. Miller thinks he’s all tough, but he needs someone to help him. And last night we finally got the little boy from the cemetery to talk to one of us. Tuesday couldn’t manage the café without me to do the book work and—”
She stopped, realizing she was rambling.
“I agree,” he finally managed to get in. “But these are not your things, they’re mine. I don’t know where you belong, Mary Blaine, but I know where my world is.”
He stepped so close their bodies touched. “It’s here, with you. I know a woman who just came into some money who might buy our place. If you want to be here, I’ll see if the house next door is for sale—I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Blaine leaned near and rested her hand over the heart of the only man she’d ever loved. The baby moved and Mark’s grin told her he felt his son.
“I love you,” he whispered as he pulled her closer. “By whatever name, in whatever world, I love you.”
Blaine sighed and breathed deeply. Finally, she’d found her way home.
ISBN: 978-1-4603-6299-0
FINDING MARY BLAINE
Copyright © 2004 by Jodi Koumalats.
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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