“Only twice,” Cathy said briefly. She did not look up from shredding the lettuce into a salad bowl. She knew what she would see in her sister’s eyes, and she didn’t think that she could bear another dose of compassion. She heard the beep of a cell phone, signaling an incoming text, and put the head of lettuce on the counter. “Excuse me. I’ve got to take that.”
She hurried into the living room and snatched her purse up from the sofa. Digging out the cell, she read the text and typed a reply. Then she slipped the cell back into her purse and returned to the kitchen.
Pam had found the cutting board and was cutting up tomatoes. She looked up. “Who was that? The hospital?”
“No. Just a friend.” Cathy said nonchalantly. At her sister’s curious gaze, she felt a flush rising in her face. Silently cursing her too-easy tendency to blush, Cathy avoided her sister’s eyes and picked up the lettuce again.
“Do I know him?”
Cathy froze for a minisecond before she resumed shredding lettuce. She cast a glance at her sister, only to meet Pam’s knowing expression. Cathy felt a sinking sensation of panic. She tried to bluff. “What makes you think it’s a guy?”
Pam shrugged. “Because I know you. You didn’t tell me anything about this friend of yours, so it’s got to be a man.” She picked up the cutting board and scraped the tomato wedges into the salad bowl that Cathy had filled. She bumped her sister’s hip with her own. “Come on, spill. Are you seeing Paul again?”
“No, I’m not dating Paul.” Cathy’s pulse had sped up. She cautioned herself to handle Pam’s curiosity casually. There was no need to get into details, details which she knew would be upsetting to her sister. With a joking air, she said, “All right, you caught me.” She shot a mock hands-off look at her sister. “You don’t know him.”
Pam raised a slender blonde brow, a slowly widening smile settling on her lips. Her blue eyes sparkled. “Oh, it’s serious!”
Cathy shook her head and sighed. She should have known. After all, she knew how her sister thought. Pam was a hopeless romantic. “No, it isn’t serious. Not in the way you mean. I enjoy being with Michael. He…makes me forget how bad things are. I don’t feel so panicked when I’m with him.”
“With him?”
Pam stared at her so intently that Cathy shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. Cathy waved vaguely. “You know…with him.”
Her sister’s eyes rounded to the size of gumballs. She huffed a breath. “I don’t believe this! He’s a booty call?”
Cathy let out a burst of laughter. “Actually, I’m the booty call.” She slowly grinned. It was kind of liberating to admit it. Of course, Pam would think that she was joking. She slid a sideways glance at Pam and snickered at her sister’s gaping expression. “Bet you never thought you would hear me say that!”
Pam closed her mouth. “No, I didn’t! I can’t believe that you— you!—are having an affair! Is he married?”
“Of course not!” Cathy was indignant. She mixed vinaigrette dressing in a cruet. “Give me a little more credit than that!”
Pam raised both hands in a conciliatory gesture. “Sorry. Of course he isn’t. So? Tell me about Michael! Is he gorgeous? What does he do? How old is he? Do you have a picture?”
Cathy laughed. She deliberately evaded the spate of questions. “I thought you would be more shocked.”
Pam suddenly glared. “It’s been almost six and a half years since Rick abandoned you and Chloe. I’m glad you’ve found someone else,” she said fiercely. “I want you to be happy. If Michael makes you happy, then I’m all for him!”
Cathy shifted uncomfortably. “Michael and I—we don’t have that kind of relationship, Pam. It’s not a fairy-tale, happily-ever-after thing.”