Joanne Pence_Angie Amalfi 07 by A Cook in Time

Author:A Cook in Time [Time, A Cook in]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780061044540
Publisher: Avon
Published: 1999-10-06T05:00:00+00:00

Paavo followed Angie to her house, she in her Testarossa, he in his ancient Austin Healey. It was lucky that in San Francisco air-conditioning and powerful heaters weren’t absolutely essential in cars, because his had never had air and his heater was so weak as to be almost useless. The cost to upgrade was at least double what the car was worth.

He followed her to the tenants’ parking garage and took the spot that would have belonged to her neighbor, Stan, if Stan had a car.

They rode up in the elevator in silence. Paavo was too angry to talk, despite Angie’s attempts at pleasantries.

She unlocked the door to her apartment. As soon as they stepped inside, she faced him.

“Why are you so upset with me?” she asked innocently.

“What the hell’s going on, Angie?”

“With Oliver Hardy’s death?” she asked.

“With you,” he bellowed.

She took off her coat and opened the closet door to hang it up. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Your old fiancé tells me he’s seeing you again and wants to marry you—with your father’s blessing—and you ask me what I’m talking about?”

She paled, her coat in one hand, a hanger in the other. “Derrick said that?”

“That’s not all he said.” Paavo strode toward her, one hand against the wall next to the closet. She backed up and bumped into a row of coats and jackets.

“He said you’ve gotten a new business, that he’s met Earl and eaten at Wings of an Angel, that you’re seeing him.”

She spun around and hung up her coat. “It’s not the way he made it sound.” Her words were so soft he had to lean closer to hear her.

“If I thought it was, I wouldn’t be here.” He wanted to touch her, to hold her and have her say everything was fine, but he couldn’t allow himself that easy way out. “Why didn’t you tell me about any of this? Your business … UFOs … Holton.”

He was too close. She put her hand against his shoulder so she could pass by him and go to the center of the room, where she could breathe. He stepped aside, willingly giving way to her.

She stood with her back to him, her hands clasped at her waist. “I was afraid you’d laugh at me.”

A long time passed. When he spoke, his voice was a whisper. “When have I ever laughed at you, Angie?”

His words cut through her. Tears stung her eyes and she looked down at her hands until she was able to speak again. “I came up with an idea for a fun business. I would arrange dinner parties based on a theme. Fantasy Dinners, I called it. Unfortunately, I only received one offer. Well, one legitimate offer, I should say. The very first offer I got, I threw away and forgot about. Some guy called and asked if the fantasy could involve fishnet stockings and Frederick’s of Hollywood.”

Paavo took her arm and turned her so that she faced him. His lips were tightly pursed.

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.