A Summer Affair by SUSAN WIGGS

Author:SUSAN WIGGS [Wiggs, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459294691
Publisher: MIRA
Published: 2003-09-24T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Blue Calhoun’s late wife had exquisite taste and a budget to match, thought Isabel, picking her way through the busy network of streets and alleys leading to the waterfront. She lifted the hem of the indigo cotton traveling skirt above a gutter overflowing with refuse. She had no qualms about appropriating a suit of clothes from Sancha’s dressing room.

The tailored gown, with its matching cropped jacket and hat, were years out-of-date, she conceded, but only the most discriminating arbiter of fashion would notice. Besides, it couldn’t be helped. She had been swindled out of all her scraped-together savings and could ill afford a proper set of traveling clothes.

As she had dressed herself and made her brief, hurried preparations, it had occurred to her that she might help herself to something more than clothing. As quickly as the notion occurred, she dismissed it. There had been times in her life when she wasn’t above stealing in order to survive, but this was not one of those times. Even though the stately Calhoun house offered any number of fenceable goods, from silverware to jewelry, Dr. Calhoun had done enough for her. She would not add insult to injury by stealing from him.

There was another reason, one she would scarcely admit to herself. She wanted him to think well of her, or at least not judge her too harshly. His opinion mattered. This was a new and unsettling concept for Isabel. Ordinarily she cared nothing for the good opinions of people she left behind. But this latest sojourn was anything but ordinary.

However, it was over. Right up to the last moment, she’d harbored a private hope that he would ask her to stay—not because she was injured or ill, but because he wanted her around. But his dismissal of her, right in front of Eliza, had pointed to only one option for Isabel. Her mission now was to resume her travels, all on her own.

The prospect of an imminent departure used to gladden her. There was nothing quite like the sharp anticipation of embarking on a voyage to a new place. Yet something had changed her here in San Francisco. A part of her yearned to sink deep into this place, to take root and make herself a part of it. For the first time, she understood that home was much more than a place to live.

The deep ache that pressed at her heart was a new and unwelcome surprise. How silly of her to get attached. It wasn’t like her at all. Worse, she had developed friendships with Lucas and Delta, Mrs. Li and June. She already missed them.

It didn’t pay to give your heart. She had always known that. Now she was living proof of it. But it seemed her heart was a fickle organ that didn’t always listen to her head.

“You are Isabel Fish-Wooten, lady adventurer,” she whispered to herself to shore up her determination. It was a role that had come easily to her, fitting like a comfortable dancing slipper.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.