Mary's Choice by Kay Cornelius

Author:Kay Cornelius
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2012-11-06T16:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

They reached Mary’s house shortly after eight o’clock, and her father quickly invited Walter inside.

“I’ve made several inquiries, but no one seems to know anything about a geological survey on Oliver Mountain,” he told Walter. “I want to know exactly what you heard.”

“It’s all second hand, but I have a few ideas about it and some other things, too.”

“Sit down and tell me about it.”

Walter did, and for a while, Mary feared he and her father would talk all night.

A half hour into their discussion, she made some coffee and heated a plate of brownies she’d frozen after Decoration Day.

“These taste like you just baked them,” Walter declared. “You sure know your way around a kitchen.”

“That she does,” Mary’s father agreed. “Have another brownie.”

Mary rolled her eyes and retreated to her room to read.

Walter finally left shortly before the ten o’clock news, which Mary and her father had watched together for years. She was putting their cups into the dishwasher when he came into the kitchen.

“Walter said something interesting while you were out of the room.”

“What was that?”

Mary’s father leaned against the kitchen counter and folded his arms across his chest. “Mr. Chance seems unwilling to take ‘no’ for an answer. He wants me to use my influence to persuade you to keep the necklace.”

“I thought we agreed I shouldn’t.”

“Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Walter assured me he can afford it.”

“I don’t care. It’s not the kind of gift one accepts from a friend.”

“Surely you know he wants to be more than that.”

Mary closed the dishwasher. “Is that what he told you?”

He laughed. “You two remind me of eighth graders in the throes of a first crush. They can’t talk to each other, so they have to let their friends talk for them.”

“Believe me, I don’t have a crush on Walter Chance.”

“That’s too bad. He all but asked me for your hand.”

Mary studied her father’s face and decided he was serious. “What did you tell him?”

“The truth. My daughter has a mind of her own, and I have nothing to do with her love life.”

Mary didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “My love life! Please tell me you didn’t use those words.”

“Walter wants to be your personal Prince Charming. He’s a nice fellow—if you can’t love him, try not to break his heart.”

❧

Mary wasn’t surprised when Walter called the next morning to tell her how much he’d enjoyed going out with her. When he asked her to have lunch with him, she quickly refused.

“I can’t.”

“If you change your mind—”

“I won’t.”

Mary could picture Walter’s baffled shrug. “Okay. See you later.”

Being pursued was new to her, but Mary hoped Walter would soon realize she had no interest in being caught.

She had no sooner hung up than the telephone rang again. Thinking it might be Walter calling her back, Mary took her time answering.

“Mary Oliver? This is Jason Abbott.”

Jason Abbott. Her heart lurched unaccountably, and she realized she’d been hoping he’d call. “Yes?”

“We met Monday at DeSoto State Park, and you were kind enough to offer to tell me about your children’s programs.

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