Chapter 16
Morgan entered the lobby of the Regency Hotel
and glanced around. Spotting a familiar figure, she walked across the room to a
cozy sitting area with plush, high-backed chairs covered in rich red and gold
fabrics.
“You look like something the cat dragged in,
Peaches,” Grace Compton greeted her.
Sinking into a chair across from the other
woman, Morgan said, “I’m a little tired. I didn’t sleep well last night.”
“Drew went to get the luggage and check out.
We should be ready to leave shortly.”
“That’s fine. I’m not in any rush. We have
most of the day.”
“What are we going to do today, anyway? We
never made any firm plans last night.”
“I was thinking about taking you to a little
hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant for lunch. It’s the best Tex-Mex I’ve found
since moving here. I still haven’t found a place that makes decent tamales, but
everything else is great where I want to take you. Afterwards, we can do
whatever you like. If you haven’t had enough sight-seeing, we can take a tour,
or we can hang out at my place this afternoon and visit. It’s up to you.”
“Well, if it’s up to me, I’ll choose to hang
out at your place. I could use a quiet afternoon and you look like you could
use some rest as well. Besides, you and I haven’t had much of a chance to talk
since we arrived.”
“And whose fault is that?” Morgan asked,
crossing her arms and trying to appear stern. “If you and Jack hadn’t ditched
us Friday night, we would’ve had some time to catch up.”
A quick smile came to her face. “You can’t
blame me for that. Your Jack is quite a character. I had a wonderful time with
him.”
“By no stretch of the imagination could he be
considered as my Jack,” Morgan corrected her firmly.
“By whose choice? I know it wouldn’t be his.”
“Don’t start with me, Grace,” she warned with
a hint of annoyance. “Every time we talk on the phone, we have this same
conversation about what I’m doing with my personal life. You even have Drew
grilling me now. Jack and I are just friends and that’s the way we both want
it. I don’t have the time or energy to devote to anything more complicated, and
he’s as busy as I am.”
“If something is important enough, you make
time for it. I think your busy schedule has little to do with it. I think you’re
afraid to get involved with anyone again.”
Morgan shifted in the chair. “Analyzing my
neurosis is not on the agenda for today. Can we please change the subject?”
With a nod, she agreed. “Okay. Let’s change
the subject. What did you and Jack do after you left us last night?”
“I could be mistaken, but I think this is the
same subject only thinly disguised as another,” Morgan observed dryly.
“You said you didn’t want to talk about your
neurosis. What does last night have to do with that?”
After studying her friend for a few seconds,
Morgan said cautiously, “Nothing, I guess.”
“Well? What did you do?”
Morgan shrugged. “Not much. He drove me back
to my place, we went for a walk and talked for a while, then he went home.”
“How late did he stay at your place?”
“He didn’t stay at my place. We went for the
walk before even going inside the building, and he left as soon as we
returned.”
“He didn’t even see you to your apartment?”
“No. It was late and he wanted to go home.”
“In other words, you didn’t invite him in,”
she concluded.
“Same subject, different hat,” Morgan nodded.
“Did he ask to come in?”
“Not specifically,” Morgan answered,
annoyance seeping back into her voice. “But, yes, it was my decision for him to
leave me at the door. Satisfied?”
Grace shook her head. “He’s intelligent,
charming, he has a wonderful sense of humor, not to mention the fact that he’s
tall, dark, and handsome. What else are you waiting for?”
“I’m not waiting for someone better to come
along,” Morgan insisted, her annoyance growing. “The point is I’m not waiting
for anyone to come along. The last thing I need in my life is complication.”
“Some complications are worth the effort.”
She leaned forward. “Do you want to know what Jack and I talked about on
Friday?”
“Actually, I’ve been trying not to think
about it. After having him refer to me as ‘Peaches’ on Saturday, I don’t even
want to imagine what other conversations the two of you had.”
She reached out and patted Morgan’s knee
affectionately. “Now you know I love you, Honey. I’d never tell anyone
something truly embarrassing about you.”
“Your idea of embarrassing isn’t quite the
same as everyone else’s,” Morgan noted good-naturedly, her irritation fading.
“Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but it isn’t necessary. I’ve
never been more content with my life than I am right now. Jack has been a very
good friend to me and I value that friendship, but we’re both satisfied with
things as they are. We agreed a long time ago to keep the relationship
plutonic. Believe me, he’s not interested in anything more, either.”
“I think I can safely say you’re wrong about
that, Peaches. Although I wasn’t supposed to notice, he spent almost the entire
three hours we were together the other night casually steering the conversation
to you. You can tell yourself what you like, but I know what I saw and heard.”
Morgan stood up abruptly. “I’m going to go
see what’s keeping Drew.”
Grace reached out and caught her hand before
she could walk away. Looking up at her she said, “Not every man is like Frank
Tyler. Don’t be afraid to take a chance again.”
“I’ll bring the car to the front door,”
Morgan replied quietly, stepping around him and walking away.
His smile quickly became a puzzled frown as
he watched her head for the exit. Turning to his wife, he asked, “What did you
say to her, Grace?”