Lady in Black by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub

Margaret sat on the balcony outside her bedroom and stared into the night. Venus shone just above the trees, bright and unblinking, and she cursed it. "Goddess of Love, indeed. Are you responsible for my behavior today?"

Oddly, she heard no answer. She had made a terrible, terrible mistake by opening the doors to her own sensuality. She'd put her body in the deep freeze for so long, she'd imagined it was solid. Now life was pulsing into the frostbitten parts, and it hurt. It stung, it throbbed, and she didn't want to have to deal with it.

Why did it have to be with Reid?

In some vague way, she'd imagined that she'd find another man one day and they'd marry. Her dreams had been of a mature love, gentle and kind and tender, without the peaks and valleys that characterized youthful passion. So what if she hardly qualified for the senior citizens' tour of Florida? At thirty-four, she felt as if she'd lived forever. Luke had been sick for so long. So wretchedly sick, and each day had been filled with midnight, and each week had stretched eternally. The young woman she'd been before had vanished in the night of illness. All her inner joy had faded; if it weren't for Amy, she thought she'd be terminally grim.

Now she'd made love with a man who thought he'd discovered sex. His eyes had glowed with fervor as he appreciated her body with hands and mouth. He'd made no secret of his heady arousal, yet combined his impatience with inventiveness and endurance.

He'd laughed when they made love. Laughed! As if sex was a joyful experience, as if he'd never been so happy.

Damn him, he'd driven her to impatience and inventiveness and rekindled the demands of her body—and, she feared, rekindled the demands of her own loving heart.

She groaned out loud, and from behind her Amy said, "Mom?"

Margaret jumped, half-afraid she'd been talking to herself and Amy had listened. Her normal serene voice hit a high note as she asked, "Yes, dear?"

"Are you okay?"

"Fine, dear."

"You sounded sick."

Margaret hesitated. What could she say? "I'm fine. I just sat on my foot wrong."

"Is it asleep?" Amy came eagerly onto the balcony. "Do you want me to massage it?"

Sticking out her stocking-clad foot, Margaret grinned through the darkness at her daughter. "Talked me into it. Shut the door behind you or you'll let the bugs in the house." The screen bounced against the frame, and Margaret winced at her daughter's enthusiasm.

Amy pulled up a chair and took her mother's foot into her lap. "You always do this for me when I have growing pains."

"I had 'em when I was your age, too."

"Did you have two parents when you were my age?"

The tone was innocent, the question was not, and Margaret considered it carefully before answering. "No, actually, I didn't. My parents were divorced. They treated me like a hot potato. 'You take her.' 'No, you take her.' Getting stuck with the kid was punishment."

"I'll bet you missed having two parents," Amy soothed.

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