There were many things I wanted to say. I longed to tell him that I understood why he’d decided to try again with Janice. And—more than that—how much I loved him and Cody, how desperately I missed them both. But I didn’t. “I got a note from Cody.”

“What? When?” He sounded shocked, distressed—and hopeful—all at once.

“I found it this morning.” I looked down for fear of what he’d read in my eyes. “He wanted to know if he could talk to me sometime.”

“He misses you,” Brad murmured.

“I miss him, too.” And I missed Cody’s father, but I didn’t mention that. “I know this is hard on him and I…I don’t want to confuse Cody or upset Janice, so if you think it’s best if I don’t call him, I’ll understand.”

Brad’s eyes held mine. “I appreciate that.”

My heart felt like it was about to break. “You don’t want me to talk to Cody?” My disappointment obviously showed, because Brad quickly shook his head.

“If Cody wants to talk to you and you’re willing, then I can’t see that it would do any harm.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, overwhelmed and grateful. “Please recognize that I want Cody to have his family intact. When you first came to me, I was angry and hurt, but I’m over that now—over you.” This seemed to be my day for exaggeration. I was far from over Brad, but I had to pretend otherwise.

He hesitated, as if he didn’t know what to say.

“I’m dating again and…well, the two of us ignoring each other like this is silly.” The dating part was an outright lie. I was nowhere near ready for a new relationship.

“Anyone I know?” Brad asked.

I shook my head, unwilling to lie further. I’m not very good at it—and it’s not really a skill I hope to develop. I knew that if he questioned Margaret she’d cover for me, but I doubted he’d approach her; she’d been curt with him ever since our breakup. “If Cody wants to phone, please let him.”

This time, Brad didn’t meet my eyes. “He’s been asking to, but I wasn’t sure…”

“Like I said, I don’t want to make Janice uncomfortable.”

“I doubt she’ll mind.”

I gave him a slight, though genuine, smile. Being separated from Cody had been so hard, and the opportunity to at least speak to him lightened my heart. “I’ll look forward to hearing from him, then,” I said, as if we were no more than business acquaintances. That was all we ever would be, now that Janice was back in his life.

“Have a good day,” he said automatically—as if I were just like any other customer.

“Thanks,” I whispered, returning to the safety of my yarn store. Not until I turned the lock and retreated to my office did I realize how badly my hands shook.

This had been an eventful Monday for me. I’d received a bank loan, helped my sister and lied to the man I loved.

CHAPTER 26

ELISE BEAUMONT

Elise had never learned to drive. A driver’s license was good for ID purposes, but hardly necessary. Seattle had perfectly good public transportation. The bus generally got her wherever she needed to go, and on rare occasions, Aurora would drive her or she’d take a taxi.

That all changed with Maverick’s arrival. He was more than willing to drive her anywhere she wanted. Then he’d wait for her with limitless patience. For the past two weeks, he’d sat outside the yarn store while she attended her knitting class. She spoke so often about Bethanne, Courtney and Lydia that he knew almost as much about her friends as she did. She shared her concerns about Bethanne’s job and her hopes that Courtney’s senior year would be a good one. She’d also told him about Jacqueline, with whom she’d now attended two Birthday Club lunches.

“Let’s go for a ride,” he suggested Friday afternoon when they’d finished lunch.

Aurora, David and the boys were on a rare family outing to the Woodland Park Zoo. It was just the two of them, Maverick and Elise.

“A ride where?” she asked. No longer did she avoid his company and, in fact, she often sought him out. No longer did she instinctively distrust him—although she never forgot that he was a gambler. She didn’t like it, feared he wouldn’t be able to keep his promise, but decided to enjoy whatever time she had with him before he gave in to his compulsion again.

She did love to hear his stories, though. While she didn’t approve of gambling, she had to admit the tales of his exploits intrigued her. He’d been all over the world, to Europe, to Australia, to the Caribbean. He’d gambled in many of those places, but he’d also experienced real adventures—a boat trip down the Nile, driving through the Australian Outback, being briefly—and erroneously—arrested in Paris. He’d met famous people and told her anecdotes about them. Elise found she could listen to him for hours. She envied, just a little, his emotional extravagance. Unlike Maverick, Elise had always been cautious and frugal, with her money and her life.

The ideal way to live, she thought, was probably a combination of his approach and hers….

“I was thinking it might be nice to take a drive to the mountains,” Maverick said. “It’s been years since I went up to Mount Rainier.”

Elise frowned. “It’s a little late in the day for that, don’t you think?”

“Nah. Come on, Elise, aren’t you bored sitting around the house knitting?”

She bristled. “I happen to enjoy my knitting, thank you very much.”

“Bring it with you. You can knit in the car, can’t you?”

“I…I suppose.” Suddenly, she didn’t want to yield to his plans. She no longer seemed to have any resistance to him, and that frightened her. “I believe I’ll pass, but thank you for thinking of me,” she said stiffly.

Maverick grew quiet then, his disappointment unmistakable. He washed his lunch plate and tucked it inside the dishwasher. Then he disappeared for a few minutes, returning with a spy novel he’d been reading, and sat down in the family room off the kitchen.

As she wiped the counters, Elise glared at him. She refused to let him manipulate her.

“You can go without me, you know,” she told him.

Maverick lowered his book and glanced at her over his reading glasses. “I know.” He went back to his novel, apparently engrossed in the plot.

With Maverick reading, Elise walked down the hallway to her room and reached for her knitting. She was finished with the first sock and working on the second one. On Tuesday she’d purchased yarn for another pair of socks; these, she’d knit for her daughter.

She finished two complete rounds until, with a disgusted sigh, she set her knitting aside and marched into the family room. “Oh, all right. I’ll go.”

His face broke into a broad smile. “I hoped you’d come around.”

He’d blatantly used guilt to get his own way—and she’d let him. He was quite a master of manipulation; with barely a word, he’d coerced her into doing exactly what he wanted.

Within ten minutes, they were in the car and on their way out of the city, heading toward Mount Rainier National Park. Although Maverick had suggested it, Elise didn’t bring her knitting. She had enough to concentrate on.

Maverick was a fascinating conversationalist, able to talk about anything, able to switch topics instantly. This was a gift she didn’t have and one her ex-husband often used to ensnare his opponent on the other side of the gaming table. At least, according to his stories…

“I want you to tell me what happened,” he said as they continued down the two-lane highway that led to the park.

“If you’re referring to the debacle with the house, then let me inform you, the subject is closed.” She couldn’t bear the idea of exposing her foolishness to his scrutiny.

“Will you be okay financially?”

“Of course I will, once the lawsuit is settled.” She felt irritated that he was asking her these awkward questions now, while she was virtually his captive. The only thing she could do was change the subject. “I don’t remember the last time I was up in Paradise,” she murmured, staring out the window. Maverick was a skillful driver and the scenery was breathtaking.

“I do,” Maverick said, shooting her a look. “I’ll bet you remember, too. We were on our honeymoon.”

She swallowed tightly. Time to change the subject again. “You were gone this Wednesday. For several hours.”

“I had personal business and before you ask, I wasn’t gambling. You have my word on that.”

She shouldn’t have brought it up, and regretted that she had.

“Paradise was a misnomer,” she said after a stilted pause. “Our honeymoon was ruined by those dreadful mice.”

Maverick burst out laughing.

“It was no laughing matter,” she said with a shudder. Maverick had managed to get them reservations in the National Park’s beautiful and romantic lodge. In the middle of the night, Elise had awoken to a faint scratching sound. Her mistake was turning on the light. To her absolute horror, she saw five or six deer mice crawling in Maverick’s overnight bag. She’d let out a scream that had startled her husband—and probably half the lodge—into sudden wakefulness. Maverick had peanuts in his suitcase and the mice had gone after those, carrying them out one by one in what was practically an assembly line.

The following morning Elise had complained to the man at the registration desk about the unsanitary conditions and the fact that there appeared to be an infestation of mice. He’d informed her that the lodge was prohibited by federal law from killing any of the wildlife in the area—including mice. The only place they were allowed to set traps was in the kitchen.

“Remember how I distracted you?” Maverick asked in a sultry voice.

Leave it to a man to mention sex. Or to hint at it, anyway. She refused to give him the satisfaction of a reply.

“You remember,” he said, his amusement obvious.

“I most certainly do not.” She hugged herself even tighter.

He laughed at her stubborn refusal to admit the passion they’d shared. “How long has it been, Elise?”

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Longer for me than for you, no doubt.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

She turned around to glance at him. “You can’t fool me, Maverick. I was married to you, remember? I know you. You had an extremely healthy sexual appetite.”

“After we split up, you used to let me come to your bed.”

Her face went instantly crimson. “That was a mistake.” The year following their separation and divorce, he’d showed up at the apartment every few nights and talked his way into her bedroom. Then he’d abruptly stopped and Elise knew why. He’d found some other woman who welcomed him. One who was happy to overlook his flaws and take what he offered without questions or recriminations.

“It wasn’t a mistake on my part,” he said.

“Do you mind if we talk about something else?” she asked in a bored voice.