Silver Linings

was only one appealing option available. She turned and stepped into the first warmly lit doorway she saw.
    And found herself in a sleazy, smoke-filled tavern. Music blared from tinny loudspeakers. The smell of alcohol fumes, burning tobacco, and old cooking grease were thick in the air. A couple of men at the bar swiveled around on their stools and eyed her with lecherous interest.
    Mattie ignored them as she clutched her purse more tightly than ever. A waitress paused and looked her up and down.
    “Help you?” the woman asked without much real interest.
    “I'd like to use the pay phone, please.”
    “Back near the rest rooms.”
    Mattie kept her gaze averted from the crowd at the bar as she walked the gauntlet of staring eyes toward the phone.
    It seemed ridiculous to call a cab for a two-block ride. The driver would probably be furious at the cheap fare. She would try the apartment first.
    Hugh answered the phone on the first ring. “Where the hell are you, Mattie? It sounds like a bar, for God's sake.”
    “Smells like one, too.” She wrinkled her nose at the unpleasant odors emanating from the bathrooms. “I'm only two blocks away from the apartment, Hugh. Look, I hate to ask this, but could you come get me? There's someone outside on the sidewalk. I think he might have been following me.”
    “Which bar?” Hugh's voice now had that familiar cold edge.
    Mattie gave him the address.
    “Stay put near the front door. Don't move until I get there. Understand?”
    “I understand.” Mattie hung up and made the endless trip back past the crowd seated at the bar. She could handle anything this lot might try, she told herself. After all, she had survived a barroom brawl on St. Gabriel. The thought gave her confidence.
    Nevertheless, when Hugh came through the front door five minutes later looking lethal, she didn't hesitate for an instant.
    She went straight into his arms.

CHAPTER

Fifteen

    “What the hell did you think you were doing walking home alone in the middle of the night?” Hugh raged as he stood towering over Mattie.
    “It wasn't the middle of the night, Hugh. It was only seven o'clock.” Seated with her legs curled under her on the couch, Mattie sipped a reviving cup of herbal tea. “I knew I shouldn't have called you. I knew you'd only start yelling.”
    “I've got a right to yell. You had no business out there at this hour.”
    “I've never had trouble coming back from the after-work class before.”
    “It only takes once. Damn it, a city is not a safe place for a woman alone.”
    “I can tell you right now, you'll never get me to move out into the 'burbs. It's a jungle out there.”
    “This isn't a joke, Mattie.” Hugh leaned over her menacingly and flattened his hands on the back of the couch on either side of where she was sitting. “City streets are dangerous and you can't deny it. You're the one who warned me to be careful on the way home tonight, remember?”
    It was hard to argue that one. “Well, yes. But that's because you're not used to Seattle. You haven't lived here long enough to develop street smarts. You kind of have to get the hang of living downtown.”
    “Is that right? And you've got the hang of it, I suppose?”
    “Oh, yes,” she said easily. “The sort of thing that happened tonight really isn't typical. I handled it, didn't I?”
    “Hell. This is a really stupid argument. I'm right and you're wrong and that's all there is to it. You'd be a lot safer living out in the islands than you are here in Seattle. I can guarantee it.”
    “May I remind you that I encountered more violence out in your neck of the woods than I have ever encountered in my whole life?”
    Hugh ran his fingers through his hair. “That was an unusual situation.”
    “So was tonight.”
    “Damn it, Mattie…”
    “The thing is,” Mattie said slowly, “I'm not used to having someone chew me out like this just because I had a little trouble on the way home.”
    “Get used to it. And while you're at it, get used to not coming home alone at night, period,” Hugh advised forcefully.
    “I'm not sure I like it.”
    “Not sure you like what? Having me tell you that you can't come home alone at night? Let me tell you, you ain't seen nothin' yet, babe. There are going to be all kinds of rules after we get married.”
    “I've been doing just fine without any of your rules for thirty-two years, Hugh. Damn. I should never have called you. It wasn't any big deal.”
    He glared at her.