“He worked hard to get me out of the picture. He might want to make sure I stay away from Harmons.”
“Would you go back?”
She hesitated. “I inherited some money from my mother. It’s enough to live on—modestly—for a few years. I was hoping that I could establish myself as a writer. The column should help with that. Then I won’t have to worry about teaching.”
“You don’t like teaching?”
“Actually, I do. But there are times when I want to focus on my own work. I’d like to be able to take on a reduced class load.”
“I thought Esther Scott’s identity has to remain secret. How can the column help you in a writing career?”
“For now, it’s got to be secret. But I’m hoping to give the column a different tone. And if I’m successful, Vanessa might want to promote me. Plus, when you’re submitting a book proposal, you can list qualifications that might not be known publicly.”
“Okay, yeah. And how would you make the column different?”
“Sometimes it sounded like Esther didn’t respect the people who wrote letters. At least it felt to me like she was using them to get a laugh.”
“Agreed.”
“You read the column?”
“Sure. I want to know as much about her as possible.”
“And what did you find out?”
“I probably wouldn’t have liked her very much.” He pushed back his chair. “Come on, we need to get over to your old house. How long were you there?”
“A little over a month.”
“And it was furnished. There won’t be a lot to move.”
“Food. My clothing. Sheets and towels. A few other things.”
“I wish you didn’t have to go back there. I could handle it for you.”
She looked uncomfortable. “I don’t really love the idea of your handling my underwear.”
Underwear? Or something else she didn’t want him to know about? He was trained to catch the subtle changes in a person’s voice. The remark had sounded innocent, but she’d let him know by the tone of her voice that she was holding something back, and he was going to find out what it was.
Could he do that without wrecking their relationship? He sure as hell hoped so.
Because it would kill him now if he found out something underhanded about her.