Silver Linings, стр. 81
Mattie had been able to accept his past, Hugh realized. He was still dazed by that miraculous fact. But she seemed unable to forgive him for abandoning her a second time, even though it was for her own protection. He wished he could make her understand his own need to keep her safe.
She was not accustomed to being taken care of, he reminded himself. That was the crux of the problem. He had tried to tell her this wasn't like last time. He wanted to explain that for his own sanity he had to know she was thousands of miles away from Rainbird.
“Hugh?”
He heard the soft footsteps behind him, but he was reluctant to turn around and face her. He had handled a lot of things in his life, but he did not want to deal with the accusation he knew he would see in her eyes. “Yeah, babe?”
“When does your plane leave?” Mattie moved up behind him.
“Six.”
“I should have known.”
“Mattie, I'm sorry,” he said roughly. “But this is the way it has to be.”
There was a small silence. “You'll take care of yourself?”
“Word of honor.”
“You'll come back to Seattle?”
“God, yes, babe. Count on it.” He did turn around then, and the first thing he saw was that she was smiling slightly.
The second thing he saw was that she had changed into the little red sarong she had worn that night on Hades.
“Jesus, babe.”
“I didn't want you to forget me,” she whispered as her arms slid around his neck.
“Never. No matter what happens.” He reached up and tumbled her down into his lap, kissing her with a hunger that he knew could only be temporarily assuaged, a hunger that would be with him all of his life. “I'll be back.”
Mattie refused to cry the next morning when she drove him to the airport. She kept a determined smile pasted to her face the whole time, even when she waved good-bye at the gate.
She did not allow the tears to fall until the jet had backed slowly away from the loading ramp and was headed for the runway. Then she went into the nearest ladies' room and sobbed for a long while.
When the tears were finally finished, she bathed her face in cold water and went back out to the parking lot to find her car.
He would be back, she told herself. He would not do something really stupid like get himself hurt. He had survived this long. No one could take care of himself as well as Hugh. He was a survivor.
But so, apparently, was this mysterious Rainbird.
Mattie parked the car back in the garage beneath her building and changed into a neat little gray checked business suit. Then she coiled her hair into its familiar bundle at the nape of her neck and left for the gallery. The only way she would stay reasonably sane until Hugh returned was to keep herself so busy she would have no time to think.
She phoned Charlotte later in the day and told her what had happened. Her aunt commiserated with her but seemed convinced Hugh would be fine.
“He's taken care of himself for quite a while. I'm sure he'll handle this little problem in no time,” Charlotte said. Then she hesitated. “So he finally told you about his mysterious past, did he?”
“I gather he lived a little rough,” Mattie said carefully.
“Well, we guessed that much.”
“He was a professional mercenary for a while, Aunt Charlotte.”
“Yes, I wondered if that might not be the case. It accounts for many of his skills and a lot of his inside knowledge of certain matters, doesn't it? How did you take the news, Mattie? He worried excessively about that, you know.”
“I told him it was obviously not a suitable line of work for him.”
Charlotte laughed at that. “Did you really? How odd.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Oh, no particular reason. Just that I would have imagined he'd have been rather good at that sort of thing.”
“I don't care what he did in the past or how well he did it,” Mattie said fiercely. “He's built a different life for himself now.”
“He's going after this Colonel Rainbird,” Aunt Charlotte pointed out gently.
“Old business,” Mattie said quietly. She knew then she had accepted the inevitable. Hugh had to be free to live his new life, and he was the only one who could close the door on the past. “It has to be cleaned up. And it's not exactly something that can be turned over to the police, Aunt Charlotte, although I wish to God it were.”
“It sounds as though you've come to terms with things. But it doesn't surprise me that you've got the inner fortitude to deal with this. You're a strong woman. Always have been. And Lord knows, Hugh needs a woman who is strong enough to handle his past as well as his present and future.”
“Hugh may have lived a harsh life, but there is one thing I know for certain.”
“And that is?” Charlotte prompted.
“He would never have lived a dishonorable life.”
“Umm, yes, I'm inclined to agree with you. Now, why don't you have some of your famous bug juice, Mattie dear? Take a few antistress vitamins, go do your aerobics workout, and try not to worry about Hugh too much. He'll be back for you.”
“That's what he said.”
“The problem, of course,” said Aunt Charlotte, “is what are you going to do when he does come back?”
She hung up the phone before Mattie could think of a response.
The next morning on the way to work Mattie spotted the figure huddled in the gallery doorway from halfway down the block. She sighed inwardly. It was not all that unusual to find a street person had spent the night sleeping in the minimal shelter provided