Luring A Lady
Page 53

"I lost a friend, too. I've never been sorrier for anything in my life." It cost him to walk to her, to take her hand. "You didn't ruin anything, Syd. At least not alone."
"I need a friend, Peter. I very badly need a friend."
He brushed a tear away with his thumb. "Willing to give me another shot?" Smiling a little, he took out his handkerchief. "Here. Blow your nose and sit down."
She did, clinging to his hand. "Was that the only reason it didn't work. Because we couldn't handle the bedroom?"
"That was a big one. Other than that, we're too much alike. It's too easy for us to step behind breeding and let a wound bleed us dry. Hell, Syd, what were we doing getting married?"
"Doing what everyone told us."
"There you go."
Comforted, she brought his hand to her cheek. "Are you happy, Peter?"
"I'm getting there. How about you? President Hay-ward."
She laughed. "Were you surprised?"
"Flabbergasted. I was so proud of you."
"Don't. You'll make me cry again."
"I've got a better idea." He kissed her forehead. "Come out in the kitchen. I'll fix us a sandwich and you can tell me what you've been up to besides big business."
It was almost easy. There was some awkwardness, little patches of caution, but the bond that had once held them together had stretched instead of broken. Slowly, carefully, they were easing the tension on it.
Over rye bread and coffee, she tried to tell him the rest. "Have you ever been in love, Peter?"
"Marsha Rosenbloom."
"That was when we were fourteen."
"And she'd already given up a training bra," he said with his mouth full. "I was deeply in love." Then he smiled at her. "No, I've escaped that particular madness."
"If you were, if you found yourself in love with someone, would you consider marriage again?"
"I don't know. I'd like to think I'd do a better job of it, but I don't know. Who is he?"
Stalling, she poured more coffee. "He's an artist. A carpenter."
"Which?"
"Both. He sculpts, and he builds. I've only known him a little while, just since June."
"Moving quick, Sydney?"
"I know. That's part of the problem. Everything moves fast with Mikhail. He's so bold and sure and full of emotion. Like his work, I suppose."
As two and two began to make four, his brows shot up. "The Russian?"
"Ukrainian," she corrected automatically.
"Good God, Stanislaski, right? There's a piece of his in the White House."
"Is there?" She gave Peter a bemused smile. "He didn't mention it. He took me home to meet his family, this wonderful family, but he didn't tell me his work's in the White House. It shows you where his priorities lie."
"And you're in love with him."
"Yes. He wants to marry me." She shook her head. "I got two proposals in the same night. One from Mikhail, and one from Channing Warfield."
"Lord, Sydney, not Channing. He's not your type."
She shoved the coffee aside to lean closer. "Why?"
"In the first place he's nearly humorless. He'd bore you mindless. The only thing he knows about Daddy's business is how to take clients to lunch. And his only true love is his tailor."
She really smiled. "I've missed you, Peter."
He took her hand again. "What about your big, bold artist?"
"He doesn't have a tailor, or take clients to lunch. And he makes me laugh. Peter, I couldn't bear to marry him and have it fall apart on me again."
"I can't tell you if it's right. And if I were you, I wouldn't listen to anyone's good-intentioned advice this time around."
"But you'll give me some anyway?"
"But I'll give you some anyway," he agreed, and felt years drop away. "Don't judge whatever you have with him by the mess we made. Just ask yourself a couple of questions. Does he make you happy? Do you trust him? How do you imagine your life with him? How do you imagine it without him?"
"And when I have the answers?"
"You'll know what to do." He kissed the hand joined with his. "I love you, Sydney."
"I love you, too."
Answer the questions, she thought as she pushed the elevator button in Mikhail's lobby. It was twenty-four hours since Peter had listed them, but she hadn't allowed herself to think of them. Hadn't had to, she corrected as she stepped inside the car. She already knew the answers.
Did he make her happy? Yes, wildly happy.
Did she trust him? Without reservation.
Her life with him? A roller coaster of emotions, demands, arguments, laughter, frustration.
Without him? Blank.
She simply couldn't imagine it. She would have her work, her routine, her ambitions. No, she'd never be without a purpose again. But without him, it would all be straight lines.
So she knew what to do. If it wasn't too late.
There was the scent of drywall dust in the hallway when she stepped out of the elevator. She glanced up to see the ceiling had been replaced, the seams taped, mudded and sanded. All that was left to be done here was the paint and trim.
He did good work, she thought, as she ran her hand along the wall. In a short amount of time, he'd taken a sad old building and turned it into something solid and good. There was still work ahead, weeks before the last nail would be hammered. But what he fixed would last.
Pressing a hand to her stomach, she knocked on his door. And hoped.
There wasn't a sound from inside. No blare of music, no click of work boots on wood. Surely he hadn't gone to bed, she told herself. It was barely ten. She knocked again, louder, and wondered if she should call out his name.
A door opened—not his, but the one just down the hall. Keely poked her head out. After one quick glance at Sydney, the friendliness washed out of her face.
"He's not here," she said. Her champagne voice had gone flat. Keely didn't know the details, but she was sure of one thing. This was the woman who had put Mikhail in a miserable mood for the past few days.
"Oh." Sydney's hand dropped to her side. "Do you know where he is?"