Page 55 of The Austen Escape
“What?... Oh... Thank you.”
“You never told me. I meanyouyou. This is confusing, isn’t it?”
I took a quick breath and shifted the conversation. “So how’d you meet Isabel?”
Nathan studied me. “Did you ever mention me to her? Not that you would, but... Did you?”
I begged my face not to flush and my eyes to stay steady. “When you started at WATT I must have. You kinda flipped my world, work world that is, a little upside down.”
“I did, didn’t I?” His mouth lifted in a half smile. “I think everyone was terrified of all those interviews and me shadowing everyone. Only Moira took it in stride.”
“She would. But back to Isabel?” I wanted to know.
“We met at the Sahara Lounge last March. She was with Tiffany. Brad, her fiancé, and I have known each other for years.” He faced me. “I told her what I did and where I worked that first night, Mary.”
“I don’t doubt that.”
“You did. On the phone yesterday. You thought I’d been playing you.”
I felt his focus fix on me; I looked up from my lap. I’d been shredding a dead leaf. “I didn’t know what to think.”
His focus returned to the water, and a soft “Welcome to my world” reached me.
I cast for a new topic. I was tired of Isabel standing between us, and I did believe him. It was one reason Isabel used nick-names. She liked to control information, variables. Control gave her security.
“The Sahara Lounge, huh? You like the blues.” I smiled. Every new bit of information made me like him more.
“Blues, jazz, classical, rock... I like music. I’ve learned your friend does not like music.”
Your friend.The words were sharp and punctuated. Distanced.
“No...” I couldn’t help grinning. “Roger Taylor, Mick Taylor, James Taylor... For Isabel, there’s only one Taylor. Miss Swift.”
Nathan stared at me. “Whoa... Look at you, pulling out the unsung greats from Queen and the Rolling Stones—not to mention the artist behind one of the best songs ever.”
“Which one?”
“‘Your Smiling Face.’”
“Oh...”Whenever I see your smiling face, I have to smile myself because I love you...
“Great song, right?” Nathan’s voice carried a light teasing note. He knew exactly what I was doing.
“Great song.”
He gestured to my rod, which lay on the ground beside me. “You shouldn’t give up so easily. Come try again.”
I blew a bubble and popped it for the noise. It sounded like a small pellet gun. “I think this is a much more productive use of my time. Do you know the force it takes to blow a good bubble?”
This got him striding toward me. “Did you steal my gum?”
“You left the pack right here on your sumptuous green coat. It wasn’t stealing.”
“Please don’t call it borrowing.”
I popped another bubble. The air had changed between us. It felt like it did some days at WATT when the work was light and Nathan and I... We just had fun together. “I promise not to give it back.”
“So... What does it take to blow a really good bubble?”
