From the Heart

suddenly.
    “It was a bad time. The worst kind of time for both of you.”
    Liv drew a deep breath. She didn’t often allow herself to remember. “You were a good friend to us, Greg. I don’t think I ever told you just how good. It was a difficult period of my life. You made it a bit easier.” Now, she returned the pressure of his hand. “I don’t think I realized that until much later.”
    “I hated to watch you hurting, Livvy.” When she turned away, he took her shoulders and rested his head on her hair. “There’s nothing that makes you feel more helpless than watching people you care about in pain. Everything that happened seemed so unjust at the time. It still does.”
    Liv leaned back against him. She remembered he had tried to comfort her all those years ago, but she had been beyond it then. “Doug and I didn’t handle it well, did we, Greg?”
    “I don’t know.” He hesitated a moment, wondering if heshould tell her. Perhaps it was best for her to know everything. “Livvy, Doug’s married again.”
    She said nothing at all. Somehow she had known he would be, had been all but sure of it. Does it matter? she asked herself. She had loved him once, but that was over. Dead. Love was long dead. Still, she felt a wave of grief for what they had had, what they had lost. A long, shuddering sigh broke from her.
    “Is he happy?”
    “Yes, I think so. He’s put his life back together.” Greg turned Liv to face him. “Have you?”
    “Yes.” She went into his arms, wanting to be held by someone who understood. “Yes, most of the time. My work’s important. I needed something important to keep me sane. I’ve put all those years behind me, into their own little box. I don’t open it often. Less and less as the years pass.” She closed her eyes. The grief was still there, only dulled by time. “Don’t tell him you saw me.” She lifted her face so that she met Greg’s eyes. “He shouldn’t open the box either.”
    “You always were strong, Livvy, stronger than Doug. I think he had a hard time accepting that.”
    “So did I.” She sighed again and rested against him. “I wanted too much from him; he didn’t want enough from me.” Suddenly, she clung to him. “When the one thing that bound us together was gone, we fell apart. Picking up the pieces is hell, Greg. I’m still missing some, and I don’t even know where to look for them.”
    “You’ll find them, Livvy.” She felt him kiss her hair, then lifted her face to smile at him.
    “I’m awfully glad I was the female your aunt chose to dangle in front of you this trip. I’ve missed you.”
    He would like to have kissed her, as a man kisses a woman who has always held a special place in his heart. But he knew her too well. He touched her lips lightly with his.
    “Excuse me.”
    Liv’s eyes flew to the doorway. Even in the shadows, she could make out Thorpe’s silhouette. Carefully, she drew out of Greg’s arms, angry that Thorpe had discovered her in a weak, unguarded moment.
    “Myra needs to fill in a table.”
    “Bridge.” Greg grimaced and took Liv’s arm. “This is my punishment for not making it down last Christmas. You’ll have to tolerate being my partner for old times’ sake, Livvy.”
    “You couldn’t do much worse.” She knew Thorpe’s eyes were fastened on her face, and felt absurdly guilty. To compensate, she smiled at Greg. “If you fix me a drink, I’ll try not to trump your ace.”
    Thorpe stepped aside as they walked through the doorway.
    He stood in the shadows another moment, watching them walk away. Jealousy was a new emotion. He found he didn’t care for it. Olivia Carmichael belonged in a man’s arms. He was going to make damn sure they were his.
     
    “Two clubs.” Liv bid on a poor excuse for a hand. She and Greg had as opponents the head of thoracic surgery at a Baltimore hospital and his wife. They were being badly beaten. Neither of them played the game with much skill. After a particularly humiliating hand, Greg jokingly challenged the surgeon and his wife to a tennis match. He remembered well Liv’s energy on the court. With a grin, the surgeon marked down the scoring.
    The three other tables in the room included two senators, a five-star general and the widow of a former secretary of the treasury. Liv kept her ears tuned to the light political talk and gossip. She wouldn’t learn any state secrets, but she had made contacts. A reporter couldn’t afford to ignore the smallest