Every Time I Love You Read Free Page B

Geoffrey. But we're too important to each other as friends to be anything else.” Her smile faded suddenly because she wondered if she and Geoff might have been something else if Thane hadn't come into their lives at the same time. Actually, Thane had been a friend of Geoff's.
    There she was, thinking about Thane again. Not that she could really picture him anymore. She was seeing him as the man in the oil painting, as a different kind of lover.
    “What's the matter?” Tina asked.
    Gayle looked at her, startled. “Oh, nothing. I was just thinking.”
    “The deep, dark mysteries in life,” Liz said sagely. “Gayle is in deep introspection.”
    “I'm not really. And I'm an open book. You both know about my one big affair. There's no mystery to it.”
    “Gayle's the one who goes through men like toilet paper,” Tina reminded Liz.
    “Yes, but darling, she doesn't even bother to use them!”
    “Well, it's getting rough these days,” Tina said. “You feel you need to see a man's health certificate before you kiss him. What is the world coming to?”
    “Celibacy?”
    “Heaven forbid!” Liz laughed. “Shall we order dessert?”
    They did. They ordered cheese trays and amaretto cake—with a candle for Tina. The waiters sang “Happy Birthday” and the entire room clapped, and Tina promised Liz and Gayle that she would kill them both. They laughed and started on the cake, then complained that they'd be exercising for the next two weeks but enjoyed every mouthful anyway.
    The check came and Liz and Gayle split the amount between them. As they drove to the Red Lion, Gayle scooted up in the middle of the seat so that she could watch while Tina opened her presents. From Liz, the gift was her favorite perfume, and from Gayle, the negligee. She thanked them both, oohing over the nightgown, then she was curiously silent.
    “I just wish I had the right guy to use them on!” She sighed.
    “You wanted to be single. You wanted your career,” Liz reminded her.
    “Oh, yeah, I did. But now I see time rushing past me, and I suddenly know that I want children, too. Time used to be my friend; now it's running out on me.”
    Liz and Gayle both assured her with stories they'd heard about plenty of women having their first babies at forty these days. Although Tina agreed with them, Gayle realized that they really were out on the prowl: Tina wanted a mate.
    They reached the Red Lion. Again, Gayle thought about what a beautiful night it was. Fresh, clean air, snow-washed—that gave an expectancy to everything around her. She felt a cool tingle race along her spine, and she smiled. Something was going to happen tonight.
    No, she was imagining things.
    Maybe. Maybe not. She knew how Tina felt. She had almost said something while they had been talking. She had not been able to forget the lovers in McCauley's oil painting. The feeling captured there in paint was exactly what Tina was looking for. Perhaps it was what everyone looked for, what everyone ached for. That love so complete that it combined love and passion and the greatest tenderness.
    “We are all mortals beneath the stars!” Liz said suddenly, tapping Gayle upon the back. “Shall we go in? These bright anti-crime lights are great, but I can almost guarantee a molestation if you stand there tempting fate much longer.”
    “It's just such a pretty night,” Gayle murmured. “Spring is in the air.”
    “The stale smell of rotting fish is in the air. Come on, let's go in.”
    The Red Lion was alive with music and with smoke—and with writhing bodies. A live group was playing a number by the Police, and couples were gyrating on the dance floor while people sat in small groups at dimly lit tables. Liz went to the bar and ordered a screwdriver for herself, a rusty nail for Tina, and Johnny Walker on the rocks for Gayle. Meanwhile, Tina found three seats together at the end of the bar, and the barmaid obligingly carried their drinks down that way.
    “It's crowded tonight!”