Heart of the Matter Read Free

life their parents had envisioned for both of them, but only Joan had managed to achieve.
    She seemed to have it all, but still found an inordinate amount of time to criticize Ellen—about her single status as well as her weight.
    Ellen always tried to convince her she was a lesbian and would never change, but Joan simply ignored her. She could get nothing but women because of her weight, Joan argued, and if she got into shape some great guy would snatch her up.
    Ellen surveyed her figure in the mirror again. She knew this wasn’t the body someone of Kate Foster’s caliber would ever find attractive, let alone sexy. She imagined the tall, willowy blondes Kate probably went for, draping themselves over her arm at a gala function. Ellen chuckled at the thought of taking her to a faculty party with everyone dressed in their tweeds and cheap suits, discussing the unglamorous topics of their latest research.
    She jerked the nightgown over her head, concealing from view the body she no longer recognized. Inside, she still felt like the twenty-five-year-old grad student she had once been, lithe and athletic. Nearly twenty years of research sitting in front of a computer or cocooned in books had taken their toll. As had the countless years of pizza and beer—quick and easy take-out—with other PhD candidates in her department to get them through their program.
    Once she could have eaten like that and more because back then she would always play tennis or jog. But with her workload and now the impending sabbatical, which would mean more research sitting in museums and libraries, she saw her future predictably unfold in increased clothing sizes. She silently vowed that this year, this sabbatical, she would make time for exercise and eating right.
    ❖
    Kate drove along the inner loop of the Beltway, cursing the idiots who couldn’t drive in good weather, let alone when a little rain fell. Glancing at her watch for the umpteenth time, she swore again. She would be later than she thought, but at least she had called ahead and told Paula she would be there as quickly as she could. Paula’s obvious disappointment had only made Kate more anxious. Paula was clearly not a patient woman, and Kate didn’t want her to change her mind. She never liked to hurry a seduction, and the mere thought of what she would do to the willowy blonde caused her heart to flutter.
    A large semi passed her on the left, spraying water onto the Porsche’s windshield. Kate flipped the wiper switch to high and watched as the truck driver signaled to switch back into the lane in front of her. She slowed to let him in, conceding that big trucks always had the right-of-way when it came to little Porsches. She never wanted to try to prove who was stronger, although if the traffic had been lighter she would have definitely proved to him who was faster.
    The taillights flashing bloody red first alerted Kate that something wasn’t quite right about the truck. And the quiet, proverbial lull before the storm really struck her; she saw everything as if standing outside herself. The semi jackknifed onto its side and a white SUV careened out of control to avoid hitting it, rolling over and smashing into the concrete highway divider. Another car collided with the SUV, a dark sedan of some sort.
    Intellectually she knew that all of this occurred instantaneously, but everything moved in slow motion. By the time the events registered, it was too late for her brakes. She crushed the pedal nevertheless, a reflex, nothing more, because she intuited that her reaction would be useless.
    She endlessly slid on the wet pavement as metal crunched and glass shattered. Then all went black.

CHAPTER TWO
    Ellen nodded as students dropped their midterm exams on the lectern and filed out of the classroom. She told them all to have a pleasant weekend and that she would post grades on her office door. Once they had left, she gathered up the papers and headed for her office, making her way