Gaining Visibility by Pamela Hearon

Author:Pamela Hearon [Hearon, Pamela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2016-07-26T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

Julia awoke the next morning with an emptiness that was more than hunger. Vitale was already gone. She’d wanted to start the day with at least a glimpse of him, a chance to read his mood to see if he really was simply exhausted last night or if his ardor for her had started to cool after a week.

A week. Was it possible she’d met him only a week ago? She was as comfortable with him as if she’d known him for years. Her desire hadn’t cooled a bit. But she couldn’t let it consume her either. She forced herself out of bed.

Concentrating on the photographs and descriptions kept her focus off the limited time remaining with Vitale, although as soon as she stopped for a break, it sprang to mind.

Around two o’clock, she called Hettie, hoping the distraction would be good for them both. She waited patiently as the phone rang. It sometimes took Hettie a few rings to maneuver the phone into place, especially in the morning when she claimed her good arm wasn’t awake yet. But Julia’s patience turned to anxiety as the ringing continued long past what should’ve been acceptable.

Her breath left her in a whoosh when the familiar voice finally answered. “Hello?”

“Hettie, it’s Julia. Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine. You just woke me.”

Julia checked her watch. “I woke you up? You’ve usually had breakfast by now.”

“I wasn’t hungry.” That seemed odd. Alarms started going off in Julia’s head until Hettie added, “Camille brought the chocolates, and I did have a couple of them with some coffee, though.”

“Now, now. You shouldn’t let chocolates take the place of breakfast.

“Now, now.” Hettie mimicked her tone. “You shouldn’t try to tell me what to do. I’ve earned the right to eat chocolate for breakfast if I want.”

There was the spark Julia had been waiting for. She relaxed. “Duly noted. So, how are you feeling?”

“I’m tired. We had a pianist who came in and gave a concert last night. He could play anything, and he took requests, so we ended up staying up until after nine listening to him. I haven’t been up past nine o’clock in years.”

“That sounds like you had a great time.”

Hettie chuckled. “Yeah, it was fun. So, anything keeping you up at night?” She sounded like her old self again.

“Well, I do have this project I’m completing for Vitale,” Julia answered.

“I’d have bet on it.”

Julia ignored the insinuation and proceeded to explain how she’d been spending her daylight hours. Halfway through her story, Hettie yawned loudly. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Julia asked.

“I’m fine. Just sleepy.”

If Julia had hoped for a rousing exchange, it definitely wasn’t going to happen this morning. Hettie simply wasn’t up to it. “Well, shall I let you get back to your nap?”

“Yeah, and you get back to playing with your Italian.”

Julia laughed. “Okay, but only because you told me to.”

“Love you, dear.”

“Love you, too. I’ll call you Sunday.”

“I’ll be here. Bye.”

So staying up until nine had exhausted Hettie. That was probably to be expected.

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