Wise in their childish ways, ready to pick up on trouble. She couldn't let them know this kind of fear and pain. "What were you shouting about, Aunt Bryn?" Brian demanded.
"Oh, you know your aunt. What a temper!" Lee answered smoothly for her. "She was mad at me, but she's decided to forgive me. Hey, aren't you two supposed to be at school? We'd better get going."
"Are you going to take us to school, Lee?" Keith asked, wide-eyed.
"Wow!" Brian said. He looked at Keith. "The kids will be green! Man, it's too bad Adam has to miss this!"
Somehow Bryn had managed to leave the support of Lee's arms. "Get dressed and get on down here for breakfast, you two.On the double. We're running horribly late."
And somehow, somehow she managed to get through the day.Like a mechanical being. Lee and Andrew took the boys to school. She and Barbara showered and went to work.
Lee came home with her, and they sat through dinner with the children.
And miraculously, she fell to sleep on the couch, emotionally worn and exhausted, her head against his shoulder.
She had survived her first day of waiting.
Chapter 10
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
When she awoke the next morning the pain was still with her. And the fear, and the horrible anxiety, but she seemed to have it all in check, at a rational level.
She was in her own bed. Apparently Lee had undressed her and put here there. She stared about the room numbly, and at last her eyes came to rest on Lee. He was standing by her dresser, slipping his watch onto his wrist. He caught her eyes in the mirror and turned to her.
"Morning."
She tried to smile, but the effort fell flat. He walked over to her and sat on the bed by her knees.
"You okay?"
She nodded. "Yes."
He picked up one of her hands idly and massaged the palm. "I--I guess I have to get up and get Brian and Keith going..." she said.
"They're already at school. I took them."
"You took them?" Bryn mumbled, a little dazed, a little incredulous. "But..."
"Don't worry. I fed them, and they're neat and presentable."
She nodded,then murmured, "I guess my neighbors will all realize shortly that I'm...sleeping with you."
"Does it matter?"
"I...no, not for me.I was just thinking about the kids."
"Bryn, I hope you know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, your reputation, the boys, or your life-style here. But I can't leave you alone now, either. Not while...this...is going on."
"I know," Bryn whispered. A shudder rippled through her, but strangely it made her feel a little better.
She looked at him and saw in his eyes all the things that made him the powerful and charismatic man that he was.Warmth, strength and sensitivity.
"Lee?"
"Yes?"
"Thankyou."
He smiled and brushed her chin with his knuckles. "We've got a ways to go yet. I'm going to go down and put more coffee on. Get dressed. We've got to go to work, remember?"
He left her. Bryn rose, shivered and hurried into the bathroom for a shower. The days would pass, she promised herself, and then she thought about her nudity again.
It seemed strangely natural, even comforting, that Lee had taken on such an intimate task, that of putting her to bed. Not a sexual act, but rather one that spoke of alongtime relationship, as if they had been Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
lovers and friends for aeons.
She was going to get hurt, she warned herself. But it didn't matter. Nothing could really matter much now. Not until she had Adam home again.
She showered and dressed, and she felt a little stronger. Once the day had passed she would be a day closer to Adam.
By the time they had spent the day at theFultonplace, taken Brian and Keith out for pizza and put them to bed, Bryn had calmed herself to a point where she was fairly rational and willing to talk to Lee about the situation.
She made tea and brought it out to the parlor. Lee was on the sofa, head back, eyes momentarily closed. He rubbed them,then opened them as she approached.
He's been so good, Bryn thought for the hundredth time.
"Tea...great," he said as he accepted a mug.
Bryn sat beside him. "Lee, the more I think about it, the more I don't get this. Shouldn't this guy want the pictures back right away? I mean, the longer we have them, the longer we have to look at them."
Lee shrugged and stretched an arm across the back of the sofa to tug lightly at a stray lock of her hair.
"I've thought about that. I'm sure he's thought about it, too. He just knows he has you over a barrel with Adam. And I don't think he's really afraid of our looking at a set of proofs--or even a set of normal prints. What's in the picture, or pictures, is small. Something you'd only find by constant enlargement.
Something hard to find. You'd have to work in your darkroom for hours to get to it."
"Then why go to so much trouble to get the pictures back?"
"Because it is there--somewhere--and could be found," Lee said simply. He sipped his tea and looked at her. "Bryn, I think we should move to my house."