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went into the kitchen with Connie.
Bob glanced at his brother curiously. “Are you serious this time about marrying Kirry?” he
asked.
Lang paused, sticking his hands into his pockets. “I'm serious,” he said. “I guess the way we grew
up had a worse effect on me than it did on you, Bob,” he added. “I couldn't bear the thought of
bringing a child into the world whose mother treated it like a nuisance.”
“I can't believe you thought Kirry would be like our mother,” he mused. “Kirry's a motherly
type.”
“Not anymore,” Lang told him, with a sense of pride. “She's got a good mind and she should use
it. Besides that, she's one of the best karate students I've ever trained,” he added with a chuckle.
“Erikson attacked her and she laid him out.” His eyes sparkled with quick temper. “Damn him, I hope
we can put him away forever. If she hadn't known what to do, the least that would have happened is
that she'd have been raped. He might even have killed her.”
Bob frowned. “What did she do to him?”
“He was a security guard at the office. She objected to being talked to like a prostitute.”
Bob's eyebrows rose. “How did he keep his job so long, with that sort of attitude?”
“Women have kept quiet about harassment in the past. They've started objecting to it, and so they
should. You know, in the early days of the century, despite the fact that women weren't permitted the
freedom men enjoyed, at least they were treated with respect. A man who insulted a woman, married
or single, could expect to be beaten within an inch of his life. These days, you'd be surprised at the
language men feel comfortable using around them.”
“Listen, have you ever heard Connie when she hit her thumb with a hammer?” Bob mused.
Lang clapped his brother on the back. “Point taken.”
Kirry's bad experience was the talk of the evening, but the looks she and Lang were exchanging
amused Bob.
“I guess you still haven't set a date,” he commented.
“Next week,” Lang said easily, smiling at Kirry's surprise. “If you don't want a big wedding, that
is.”
“I just want you,” Kirry said honestly. “A justice of the peace and a simple wedding ring will suit
me fine.”
“That's how Connie and I did it,” Bob said, his dark eyes searching his wife's subdued face. “We
used to sit up all hours just talking. We were good friends long before we wanted to live together. And
when Mikey came along, he was the beginning of the whole world.”
Connie's eyes softened as she remembered her son's birth.
She stared at Bob with pain in her whole expression. “And you're willing to throw away ten good
years for a little girl playing house."
His face hardened. “At least she likes it.”
“For now,” Connie agreed. “But she's very young. When she gets a few more years on her, she'll
realize that a woman has to be a person in her own right, not just an extension of her husband.
Thinking up new recipes isn't enough anymore.”
“Keeping a clean house and raising good children who were loved and given attention used to be
enough,” Bob said angrily.
“Of course it did,” his wife replied with a sad smile. “But the world has changed. It's so tough on
one salary. When I worked, I could afford so many nice things that we could never have before. I
guess I went wild.” She shrugged, glancing uncertainly at Bob. “I almost lost my family in the
process. I've decided that I want to be a mechanic, but that I don't want it more than I want you and
Mikey.”
Bob studied the coffee cup in front of him. “I don't want to start getting used to another person
this late in my life,” he confessed.
She smiled. “I could work for someone…”
He looked up. “You could work at your own shop, in the back,” he said stiffly. “But you can
close up on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and we'll spend those days, and Sunday, as a family.
Meanwhile, having someone to help keep the house clean isn't a bad idea.” Before she could speak, he
added, “I know a teenage boy who likes to cook and doesn't mind cleaning. Mrs. Jones's son, and he
could use the money because he wants to go to one of those French cooking schools when he gets out
of school.”
Connie was surprised. “But you hate my work!”
“I was jealous of it,” he confessed with a smile. He looked at his brother. “I guess Lang and I
never talked enough about how we were raised. We were a dysfunctional family and never even knew
it. Now we're both having to learn that marriage is what you make of it.”
Connie's face had brightened. She flushed when Bob smiled warmly at her, and he chuckled. “It
isn't so bad, having a mechanic in the family. Except that my car sure does run rough,” he added.
“I can fix it,” Connie mused.
“I know.”
Kirry felt Lang's hand curving around hers where it lay on the table. She looked at him with her
heart in her eyes, and his breath caught.
“Where are you going to live when you're married?” Bob asked them, breaking the spell.
“I like the security where we are,” Lang said with a chuckle. “My apartment or hers, it doesn't
matter. I'd live with her in a mud hut,” he added solemnly.
“That goes double for me,” she said softly.
“Until the kids come along,” he added very slowly, holding her eyes. “Then I think we might
want a house. One with a big yard, so we can have a dog.”
There were tears of pure joy in her eyes.
“Will you go on working for Lancaster, Inc.?” Connie asked her.
Kirry caught her breath. “Oh, that reminds me!” And she told them what she'd done, and about
her new job.
Lang burst out laughing. “And I thought you weren't listening when I suggested it.”
“I was listening. Mack says Mrs. Lancaster is going to be very sorry indeed, because Lorna is
already talking about pulling the account.”
“That doesn't surprise me in the least,” Lang ventured. “I'm sorry that Lorna gave you a hard
time. I hope you believe that I was serious when I said there was nothing between us.”
"Oh, of course I do,” she assured him. It would be impossible to believe anything else, when he
looked at her that way, with everything he felt naked in his face.
“What will they do to that man when they catch him?” Connie asked, concerned. “Will there be
enough evidence to keep him locked up?”
Lang was remembering the times Erikson had gotten away with what he'd done, and he was
worried. “I hope so.” [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]