Kathleen’s stomach tightened. “Um… I’ve been… seeing someone,” Kathleen said slowly. It wasn’t entirely a lie.
“Oh? Anyone interesting?”
Kathleen hesitated, caught between truth and omission. “No one serious.”
Edith murmured her approval. “I’m glad to hear you’re getting out. Dinner tonight should be fun. An old school friend of mine is coming; she’ll keep us entertained. David and I have become old stick in the muds. She rang me and said she’ll be staying in New York for a few months, so I invited her along.”
“Where has she been?” asked Kathleen.
Edith gave a soft laugh. “Lord only knows. She’s been divorced twice and between husbands. I think she’s bringing someone with her. She goes through men at a rate of knots and always has someone hanging off her arm. I’ll see you at six.”
When the call ended, Kathleen stood in the kitchen, tea cooling in her hand. She thought about Veronica. The quiet steadiness in her eyes. The heat of her palm. The way she said goodbye like it wasn’t final. It had to mean something, didn’t it?
Sighing, she finished her tea and went to her room to get ready for the night. She put on a pale pink dress with a soft fabric and a generous fit.
She arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early, clutching a small box wrapped in decorative paper and tied with a silver ribbon. Edith and her husband were already at the table and waved her over. “Hi, dear,” Edith stood to kiss her on bothcheeks and immediately assessed her outfit. “You look very fetching.”
Kathleen gave a small smile and turned to David.
He grinned at her over the rim of his whiskey glass. “Long time no see, Kathleen.”
“Happy anniversary,” she said, setting down the box. “It’s no biggie. Just something I picked up at the local gallery.”
He unwrapped it and his face creased with pleasure. A blown-glass sculpture in the shape of a swirling leaf, shades of sea green and blue running through the glass.
“It’s beautiful,” Edith said with a pleased smile. “It looks like one of your algae strands.”
“I thought it might match your lounge.”
Conversation drifted toward mutual acquaintances and their work. Edith filled the silence with updates on the classes she was taking now and some of the students work. Her husband smiled, letting her do the talking. His silence was familiar and comfortable. He was like her, content to sit and listen.
Then Edith looked over Kathleen’s shoulder. “Darlene’s arrived.”
Kathleen turned her head toward the entrance and caught her breath. Edith’s friend was in a crimson jacket with leopard-print cuffs, laughing loudly—her voice was heard from halfway across the room. On her arm was a tall, curvy brunette in a black dress that clung like sin.
Kathleen’s world narrowed in that moment. She felt her throat dry, her stomach swoop. Her hands went cold.
It was Veronica.
She felt a moment of panic, then remembered Edith had no idea who she took to the gala dinner.
“Hello, Darlene,” Edith said.
Darlene made a show of air kissing her. “Lovely to see you, Edie. And you, David. I’d like you to meet Veronica.”
Veronica’s eyes widened for a second when they settled on Kathleen, then a professional mask plastered over her face.
Kathleen dropped her eyes, biting back the twinge of jealousy.Shit.Veronica was with maneater Darlene, and now it would seemwoman-eaterDarlene.
She’d told herself it was simply work for Veronica, that she had no claim. Though it still felt like a knife stabbing her in the chest.
Darlene settled into the seat next to Edith with an air of easy familiarity of old friends. Edith gave her a fond look. “You know how to make an entrance, Darlene. This is my friend Kathleen. She’s one of the Institute’s top scientists.”
Darlene smoothed her napkin over her lap and gave Kathleen a warm smile. “You look charming. I must say you don’t look like a mad scientist as Edith does.” She touched Veronica’s arm. “I must warn you that Veronica and I are woefully ignorant about anything scientific. We’re more into the arts.”
Kathleen gave her a half-hearted smile, managing to keep her tone polite when she turned to Veronica, though she felt like snarling at them both. “It’s nice to meet you, Veronica.”
Veronica inclined her head. “It’s a pleasure.”
