Cathy cleared her throat. She didn’t want to ask, but she had to know. “He’s kept to himself all this time. He must have loved her very much.”
“Miss Evelyn meant the world to him,” Ula confirmed. Her expression softened, as if she were lost in pleasant memories. “They’d known each other since they were children. She was his best friend. I don’t think he’ll ever recover from losing her.” She paused. “Will you be needing anything else?”
Cathy’s throat had closed, and she could barely speak. “Thank you, no,” she managed to answer through the pain and disappointment.
Ula gave her another smile. This one nearly reached her dark eyes. Obviously they’d bonded over the sharing of Stone’s tragic past. “Then good night.”
“Night, Ula.”
The door closed, and Cathy was alone with her whirling thoughts. It was her own fault for asking, she told herself. If she hadn’t wanted to know about Stone’s relationship with his late wife, then she should have kept quiet. What had she hoped to hear? That Stone had hated his wife? That it had been a marriage of convenience and he was glad she was dead? Not likely. And if that were true, he wouldn’t be someone she would want to know. Stone was more honorable than that. But still, to learn that he’d loved Evelyn so much he hadn’t recovered from her death was not how she wanted to start her evening.
Cathy stared at the ceiling. She wondered what it would be like to care about someone that much. To love and be loved in return. She had no frame of reference, no experience with that. She’d wanted to love someone, but men were not a part of her world. She didn’t know where one went to meet them. Even if she did, she wouldn’t go there. Aside from the fact that she couldn’t start a conversation with a strange man even if her life depended on it, she wasn’t the kind of woman who attracted men. She wasn’t pretty or especially fun. She didn’t have a sparkling personality. She was just average. Her meager life wouldn’t impress anyone.
She forced her mind away from that train of thought. Why had she asked? She’d known better, but she’d done it anyway. Just to round off the evening, she’d missed Stone’s call. She hated that she hadn’t known to pick up, although it was a little strange to think that he’d phoned when he’d only been at the other end of the house.
She flopped back against her pillows and shifted her gaze to the blank television screen. Now what? The evening stretched out in front of her. She refused to spend it thinking about what Ula had told her. She wanted to laugh. She wanted to be happy and feel good about herself. While there hadn’t been anything that looked interesting on TV, maybe she could flip channels until something caught her eye. A sitcom or a funny movie. Or she could—
The phone rang again. Cathy snatched at the receiver. “Hello?”
“Hi. How are you feeling?”
The familiar voice sent a ribbon of pleasure all the way to her toes. She forgot about being hungry, or how much her knee hurt, or even the stiffness in her body from the armchair exercises she’d done that afternoon. She forgot about the things Ula had told her and how much she wondered about Stone’s late wife. She even forgot she was alone.
“Better,” she breathed, knowing he would think she was talking about her injuries, while what she meant was how she felt now that she’d heard his voice.
“I’m glad. Your physical therapy went well?”
“Uh-huh. Pepper is nice and she knows what she’s doing. She told me my crutches weren’t adjusted correctly and she fixed them. It’s made a big difference in my being able to move around the house.”
“She came highly recommended. I’m glad she helped. How was the rest of your day?”
Cathy glanced around the room. She’d spent most of her time in here. What could have happened? “I heard from my boss,” she said. “Ula took a message while I was with Pepper. They’re relocating, and it’s going to be a couple of weeks until everything is up and running. He says for me to take as long as I want before I come back.”
Eddie had been concerned when she’d called him back. He’d wanted to know if she was having any trouble with the insurance company and if she did, to talk to him. He was a nice man, although she didn’t want to have to think about returning to her old, boring job.
“That’s one less thing you have to worry about,” Stone said. “I know it’s a relief.”
Cathy tucked the phone under her chin. “This is very strange,” she said.
“That we’re talking on the phone? We do it all the time.”
“I know, but we’re in the same house.”
“Is that an invitation?”
His voice was low and enticing. Cathy shivered. She wanted to curl up in a little ball and shriek with excitement Okay, so it wasn’t exactly flirting, but it was close enough for her. Stone was just being a friend and a very nice man. She would be a fool to read anything else into his actions. And yet…oh, but she wanted them to mean more. Was it so very wrong to dream?
“Would you like it to be?” she managed to ask, wondering if he could hear her shaking.
“Yes,” he said. “I missed our conversations while you were in the hospital. But now that you’re in my house, I don’t want you to feel obligated.”
“I never talked with you out of obligation.” How could he even think that? His calls were the highlight of her day! Of her life!
“Then I’ll be right there. Turn out the lights.”
For a split second, his words created an image of intimacy that made her face flush while at the same time more shivers of anticipation rushed through her. Then she reminded herself about the scars and that he didn’t want her to see him. It wasn’t anything more.
“I will,” she said, and hung up the phone.
