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106: Surprise
“Knock knock knock.”
“It’s Uncle Justin!” Sarah hissed to her brother at the breakfast table.
Hearing his voice, Peter and Sarah bolted out of their chairs and darted towards the parlor door. As he appeared in the doorframe, they crashed into him with warm hugs and excited babble.
After closing the door behind him, Mary asked, “I set a mug for you and the missus already. I’ll bring the coffee now. Would you both care for breakfast too?”
“We’re having waffles!”
“Peter, stop pulling on his suit,” Evelyn reprimanded. “He has to go to work soon and you can’t be getting him grubby.”
Lifting a patient hand, Justin waved her concern away, then turned to Mary. “If it’s not too terribly much trouble, breakfast would be nice.”
“Of course, sir. Mr. James had bacon and eggs. Mrs. James had toast and grapefruit and the children h
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World of Tomorrow 107: Advice
“Evelyn James?” Staring blankly at the typeface before her, Evelyn didn’t hear her name called. The Ladies’ Home Journal’s ‘provocative’ survey article on What Men Think of Women had scarcely proved interesting beyond the title, especially when pitted against her own meandering and worried thoughts. Despite Lily’s concerns about the unplanned pregnancy, Evelyn was positive that circumstance would work out beautifully for her best friend and Justin. She was genuinely happy for them. Still, the surprise news brought her own insecurities to the fore. Andrew’s negotiation with her about having children on the night he’d muscled the televised baseball double header into existence had given her both reason to hope and something delightful to daydream about. If Lily had missed two cycles already, then it was abundantly clear she and Justin had been amorously engaged with a far more regular frequency than she and Andrew had. At least up until recently. Once September had rolled around, h
World of Tomorrow 108: Stumbled Upon
Evelyn sat in the great room, listening to the radio. It was Andrew’s night to go through the bedtime routine with Sarah and Peter, and it felt good to simply sit for a while. To let her mind wander.She’d had her hands full with the children most of the afternoon since school had let out. Between the shorter days with less daylight to wear them out at the park and the imminent arrival of Halloween the following week, they’d been particularly rambunctious. More and more often, even her nights responsible for bedtime were requiring an assist from their sterner, unyielding father.It had taken a bit of experimentation, but she and Lily had finally found a solution for Lily’s raging morning sickness, a combination of strong lemongrass tea and sour hard candies. Mostly Evelyn considered that a good thing. She couldn’t bear to see her best friend looking so exhausted and feeling so poorly, but she also didn’t like that the sour lemon drop
World of Tomorrow 109: Fallout
While Andrew walked Alexander Lowell out, Evelyn sat still on the sofa, staring blankly into the fire. The smell of the wood soothed her, as did the dance of the crackling flames as the logs burned, but everything else inside her felt as thought it had been blasted into a million tiny pieces. Pieces she had no hope at all of reassembling. Of course Alexander Lowell would know. How many times had she heard Andrew say it? That Lowell wasn’t the best lawyer in town because he was better at lawyering than anyone else, but because he had eyes and ears everywhere. With an eidetic memory, every piece of information he ever acquired was readily available the instant he needed or wanted it. She had no reason to doubt that what he'd told them was true. Besides that the lawyer had already been in Russell James’ debt, long before there was any demand for secret identities. What benefit to him would it be to lie now? “Do you want something to drink?” Andrew asked softly,
World of Tomorrow 110: Debates
“Are you feeling alright, darling?” Andrew asked when Evelyn wandered into the bathroom as he was finishing shaving.Rubbing tired eyes, she started the shower warming and pulled the curtain around the tub. “Yes,” she replied around a yawn. “I didn’t sleep well though.”“That much I knew.” He rinsed his razor in the sink, then wiped the shaving soap off one side of his face with a towel. Approving of his handiwork, he wiped the other side, then turned to her for a final confirmation. “You were thrashing around most of the night.”She rested her hands along his clean-shaven jaw, her fingertips making a little wavy pattern as she drew them together towards his chin, then nodded her approval. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you up too.”“I didn’t say I was sleeping.” Rehanging the towel, he drained and rinsed the sink, then pivoted to face her again.
World of Tomorrow 111: Underpinning
Andrew looked up from the accounts he was reviewing at a rap on his office door. His mutable blue-green eyes flicked to the pink Federal glass coffee mug standing empty on his desk. In as much as he didn’t want her working, and especially working at the Trust, he missed having Evelyn here with him. She’d made the minutes bearable, put the petty nuisances of his day into perspective. Prepared him the perfect cup of coffee. The rap came again at the door, along with the tentative, female voice. “Mr. James?” Evelyn knew to rap once, then to come in without him telling her to, and he'd never had to tell her to do that. Not that it mattered—he wasn’t going through the hassle of training another secretary for a few weeks' worth of work. He would simply swallow his annoyance and make do. “What is it, Carole?” he called. “May I come in, sir?” she asked, and Andrew tipped his head against the back of his executive chair, rolling his eyes heavenward.
World of Tomorrow 112: Nightcap Recap
“Would you care to have a seat, Detective?” Andrew offered, gesturing to the chairs arranged with the sofa before the great room's fireplace. “This might be a lengthy process.”Detective Kelly inhaled deeply, looking somewhat disappointed. “I thought you were going to be cooperative, Mr. James,” he said, taking the seat offered to him opposite the sofa where Evelyn sat.“In as much as I can be, I have. Most of what we’ve learned has been since we last spoke to you.”“You had my card.”With the detective seated, Andrew sat beside Evelyn, wrapping a protective arm about her shoulders and drawing her into the shelter of his body. He studied her face, peering into the depths of her mystical silvery-gray eyes, dancing with flecks of golden firelight.It never ceased to amaze him how spectacularly pretty she was, or how irrationally he loved her. The mere sight of her caused everything els
World of Tomorrow 113: Sorting
“Andrew, why did you tell him all that?” a still shell-shocked Evelyn asked when he returned from seeing Detective Kelly out. "After all this time. After all the private investigators and the personal researching, now you'll tell him? Why?"Picking up his brandy snifter, Andrew drained it. “Because all this intrigue has gotten personal.” He walked to the bar and refilled his glass. “And now I’m worried about protecting my family.”“’Now’?” she quoted. “It wasn’t personal before? When your brother died? When Miranda Stiles was going to let him take me with him? When that man, Aldrich, tried to kidnap me? When Edward Montero died and the police came looking for you? All the things you’ve learned over the course of time from Charlotte? Now? Now is when it’s become personal?”Inhaling deeply, he prepared to defend himself. “Darling, it’s clear that you disagre
World of Tomorrow 114: Missives
At the excited squeals emanating from the vicinity of the apartment door, Evelyn set aside her sewing gratefully. Only something wasn’t right about the sounds she was hearing. “Peter. Sarah. Please. I need you to settle down.” As she emerged from the great room, Andrew was kneeling in the ornate foyer on one knee, hugging each child, then setting them back from him. “I’m so grateful for your cheery little faces as soon as I get home every day. You know that. But today I need a little bit of time to talk to your mother first, please.” Stealing quietly along the runner in the hall, she came up behind him as he got to his feet. “Why don’t you two go back to playing. Your father and I will be there shortly.” She let Andrew steer her into the library, pivoting to wait as he closed the door quietly behind them. “What’s happened?” she demanded immediately. “Detective Kelly was by my office this morning.” Evelyn’s breath caught in her throat, her slender fingers covering her lips. If her
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- World of Tomorrow 139: Epilogue
- World of Tomorrow 138: Sound and Fury
- World of Tomorrow 137: Miranda's Story
- World of Tomorrow 136: Doors
- World of Tomorrow 135: Plan of Attack
- World of Tomorrow 134: As Luck Would Have It
- World of Tomorrow 133: Black Tuesday
- World of Tomorrow 132: Miserable Monday
- World of Tomorrow 131: Arrival
