Three Fates

back to the hotel from the university, he noted as he watched her climb out of the cab. And she’d come alone.
    He sauntered down the sidewalk, gauging his timing. He glanced toward her just as she turned. Once again they were face-to-face.
    “Dr. Marsh.” The tone of his voice, the spread of his smile were calculated for surprise and flattery. “You’re staying here as well, then?”
    “Ah yes. Mr. Sullivan.” She remembered his name. In fact, she’d been thinking how attractive he was while she’d rubbed antibacterial lotion on her hands in the taxi.
    “It’s a lovely hotel. Fine service.” He turned as if to walk to the door and open it for her, then stopped. “Dr. Marsh, I hope you won’t think this out of line, but I wonder if I might buy you a drink.”
    “I . . .” Part of her brain fizzled. She’d actually woven a complex little fantasy on the taxi ride as well. One where she’d been witty and sophisticated during their conversation, and they’d ended up finishing the evening with a mad, reckless affair. “I don’t really drink,” she managed.
    “Don’t you?” Amusement touched his face. “Well, that knocks down the first approach a man might use to spend some time with an interesting and attractive woman. Would you fancy a walk?”
    “Excuse me?” She couldn’t keep up. He couldn’t be hitting on her. She wasn’t the type men hit on, particularly wildly attractive strangers with fabulous accents.
    “One of the charms of Helsinki in the summer is the sun.” Taking advantage of her confusion, he took her arm, gently, and steered her away from the hotel entrance. “Here it is, half past nine already, and bright as day. It’s a shame to waste such a light, isn’t it? Have you been down to the harbor?”
    “No, I . . .” Baffled by the turn of events, she looked back at the hotel. Solitude. Safety. “I really should—”
    “Have you an early flight in the morning?” He knew she didn’t, but wondered if she’d have the guile to lie.
    “No. No, actually, I’m here until Wednesday.”
    “Well then. Let me take that case for you.” He slid her briefcase off her shoulder and onto his own. Though the weight surprised him, it was a smooth move. “It must be a challenge giving talks and seminars and such in a country where you don’t have the primary language.”
    “I had an interpreter.”
    “Yes, she was very good. Still, it’s a bit of work, isn’t it? Do you wonder at such interest here in the Greeks?”
    “There are correlations between the Greek gods and myths and the Norse. Deities with human failings and virtues, the adventures, the sex, the betrayals.”
    And if he didn’t steer the conversation as he was steering her, Malachi thought, they’d be right back in lecture mode. “You’re right, of course. I’m from a country that prizes its myths. Have you ever been to Ireland?”
    “Once, when I was a child. I don’t remember it.”
    “That’s a shame. You’ll have to go back. Are you warm enough?”
    “Yes. I’m fine.” The minute she said it, she realized she should have complained of a chill and gotten away. The next problem was she’d been so flustered she’d paid no attention to the direction. Now she hadn’t a clue how to get back to the hotel. But surely it couldn’t be difficult.
    The streets were straight and neat, she noted as she worked to calm herself. And though it was moving toward ten at night, crowded with people. It was the light, of course. That lovely, luminous summer light that drenched the city in warm charm.
    She hadn’t even looked around until now, she admitted. Hadn’t taken a stroll, done any foolish shopping, had a coffee at one of the sidewalk tables.
    She’d done here what she did all too often in New York. Stayed in her nest until she had to fulfill an obligation.
    He thought she looked a bit like a sleepwalker coming out of a trance as she studied the surroundings. Her arm was still rigid in his, but he thought it less likely she’d bolt now. There were enough people around to make her feel safe with him, he assumed. Crowds and couples and tourists all taking advantage of the endless day.
    There was music coming from the square, and the crowd was thicker there. He skirted the bulk of it, nudging her closer to the harbor, where the breeze danced. It was there, by the edge of that deep blue water where boats, red and white, bobbed, that he saw her smile easily for the first time.
    “It’s beautiful.” She had