Page 31 of Love Me Sweet

CHAPTERNINE

Sylvie wasn’t sure what made her ask what was next, especially in a tone that had a hint of flirtation. That was the opposite of the cool, keep-your-hands-to-yourself persona she hoped to portray.

Andrew twirled the wine glass back and forth between his fingers, the glow from the fireplace making the red liquid shimmer, “We could, oh I don’t know, talk about our day?”

“The day we spent together?”

“There hasn’t been much opportunity for us to discuss what happened on the trail.” His gaze shifted to the fire and his expression turned solemn. Then he appeared to blink away the clouds and shifted slightly in his seat to face her. “You kept your cool.”

Sylvie experienced a flush of pleasure. “I didn’t do anything. You are the one who saved George’s life.”

“Keeping his wife calm allowed me to tend to her husband without any distractions. Thank you.”

“She was so worried about him.”

“Of course. He was her husband.”

“I don’t believe my parents ever cared about each other like that.”

He reached forward and grabbed the plate she’d fixed, his gaze never wavering from her face. He washed a bite of the ham sandwich down with a sip of wine. “You once told me your father left when you were very young.”

Sylvie wondered how they’d gotten on the topic of her parents. She never liked thinking about them, much less talking about them. They were her past. She preferred looking ahead.

Yet Andrew was staring at her so expectantly, she offered a resigned sigh, and answered. “Though I was only four I remember him. I remember when he used to lift me up on his shoulders so I could touch the ceiling of our apartment.”

“Is that all you recall?”

“He and my mom fought all the time. Yelling and screaming and blaming each other about everything. Even when I hid between my bed and the wall and put my hands over my ears, I could still hear them fighting.”

His gaze sharpened. “Did either of them ever hit you?”

Sylvie shook her head. She’d had it good there. She’d never been physically abused. “It scared me when they yelled. I think that’s probably the reason I shy away from conflict.”

He took another bite of the sandwich, his gaze thoughtful. “Tell me what else you remember about him.”

“Well, he ate breakfast one day, went to work and never came back.” She kept her tone matter-of-fact. The man had left a long time ago. She rarely thought of him anymore.

“Did he ever call?”

“Nope.” Sylvie let the delicious wine settle in her mouth before she swallowed. She slipped off her boots then propped her feet up on a leather hassock. The fire warmed the undersides of her stockinged feet.

“Do you know where he is now, or what he’s doing?” Andrew pressed.

Apparently in his world people didn’t simply vanish.

“Never heard and not interested.” Sylvie remembered her mother crying, the initial worry that something bad had happened. Then, the explosive anger when an uncaring cop had told her mother it wasn’t illegal for a man to walk away from a bad marriage.

“The night before he left I pestered him to play with me, but he brushed me off.” She stared into the burgundy liquid. “They’d been fighting a lot and I think he was just tired of both her and me. I could be a real pain.”

Andrew lifted the glass of wine to his lips, but instead of drinking, he only gazed at her over the rim. “Your mother did the same thing to you when you were a teenager.”

The smile that lifted Sylvie’s lips held no humor. “I was thirteen. She waited until after supper to leave. She’d been acting strangely—”

“How?” Andrew leaned forward, his gaze focused on her face. “How was she acting strangely?”

Sylvie thought back to that time when she’d foolishly thought life couldn’t get any worse. They’d been living in a run-down apartment in Newark. Food had been in short supply. The landlord had been a frequent visitor that summer, demanding rent money.

Still, in her world none of that was unusual. Many of her friends were in the same boat. Her mother had been more interested in her boyfriends than what her teenage daughter had been doing. They’d gotten along just fine.

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