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56: Unexpected Surprises
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World of Tomorrow 57: Realizations
The train had long since reached speed and the cityscape faded into rolling landscape. Evelyn leaned against Andrew with her feet tucked under her watching the greenery through the wide window as he read through the Times she’d bought to sneak onto the train.“What’s happening in the world?” she asked to re-engage him.“Some not so good things I’m afraid,” he replied with a sigh, but nuzzled a kiss into her hair. “A journalist in Europe reported Germany is aligning along the Polish border with a significant number of armed troops supported by hundreds of tanks, armored vehicles and field guns. And in Philadelphia, an amateur golfer is being held for involuntary manslaughter. Apparently, after he hit his ball into a sand trap, he swung his niblick wide in a fit of temper and it slipped his grip, striking a nearby caddie in the temple. The caddie died a couple hours later in the hospital of deep cerebral lacerations.”“Oh my word. Maybe I don’t want to know after all.”“I’m happy to tell
World of Tomorrow 58: Understanding
Andrew knew. He knew the instant she’d asked him about Justin’s motivations for marrying her best friend what Evelyn had been thinking. Not that he blamed her—in her position, he’d have thought the same thing. Long before now, in fact. With their meal finished and the dining car growing crowded and noisy, they took their leave, drifted silently through a quiet, nearly empty lounge car, then through the corridor of the first sleeper car before crossing into their own. There was no sense denying—either to himself, or to her assuming she’d press, which she wouldn’t—that he’d thought it. In fact, he’d thought she might be carrying his child two months ago, after that ridiculous row with his mother when he’d almost lost her. When she’d fainted and spent the night in the hospital. The mere notion had made him giddy, had made him feel like more of a man than he’d ever b
World of Tomorrow 59: Gala
“Who are we looking for tonight?” Evelyn asked, lounging in the luxurious bath as Andrew stood at the sink, shaving in the mirror. They’d arrived at the Ambassador earlier that afternoon after successfully avoiding society journalists by assuming casual disguises as they departed the train. His had included the entirely uncharacteristic facial hair he was presently in the process of removing, a light cashmere jersey, blue jeans and pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses they’d picked up Chicago. In her humble opinion, it had done little to make him less noticeable—by her estimation, that and his dark hair left to dry without pomade gave him a certain rugged attraction that upped his masculine appeal. By the same token, he’d scarcely been able to keep his eyes or hands off her, wearing her own blue jeans, a dusky blue shirt with a navy chiffon scarf wrapped over her hair and tucked into the neck of her blouse, and her own chunky sunglasses that completely overpowered her face. While he agreed it
World of Tomorrow 60: Ebbs and Flows
Through the heavy haze of sleep, Evelyn dragged herself to the surface, coming aware in lazy pieces. The whisper soft caress over her hip sent a delicious shiver racing across her skin despite the surrounding warmth. Detecting she was awake, Andrew nuzzled the back of her neck, curling himself closer against her. It was better this time—the argument they’d had. She’d seen how hard he worked to keep from lashing out and she was grateful. It had made it easier to see her own mistakes and apologize for them. To say nothing of how nice it had been to find her forgiveness in the strength of his arms, tucked against his gorgeous body as the dark closed around them and the steady reassuring rise and fall of his chest lulled her to sleep. Warm. The bed’s so warm, she thought, turning into his embrace as he adjusted around her. Their legs tangled together and she pressed little kisses along his collarbones, receiving a contented sigh in return. Of the few people she knew, only he generated bo
World of Tomorrow 61: Feast of Colored Light and Shadow
The evening calls with Andrew’s adopted children that became a nightly occurrence after the September third start of the new war in Europe greatly lifted Evelyn’s spirits. So did the regular communications they received from the New York branch of the Trust, predominantly filtering through Justin and Lily.Unfortunately, the latter especially didn’t have the same positive effect on Andrew. While he was happy to speak to Sarah and Peter, to learn about their new experiences attending school instead of studying with a governess, his conversations with Justin Mitchell consistently led to increased personal stresses for him.“Andrew.” Evelyn stared across the breakfast table at the front and last page of the first section of the New York Times that his nose was buried in, listening to him grumbling in curses to himself. She let him continue a few more seconds, then repeated louder, and with an edge in her voice, “Andrew.”Flipping the paper down so he could just see her over it, he barked
World of Tomorrow 62: Intrepid
Lifting away the drawing room’s sheers, Evelyn looked out over the Ambassador’s wide lawns and gardens visible from their upper story hotel suite. Behind her, Andrew answered the door, standing aside so that room service could deliver their breakfast. Outside, the wind whipped across the open spaces in waves, flattening the grass and sending leaves and debris flying like shrapnel. Overhead, the sky roiled with dark threatening thunderheads. “Is it always like this in autumn?” Evelyn asked as Andrew joined her at the window, then slid a large warm hand around her narrow waist. “Yesterday, it was so bright it was almost hot. Today, the weather turns on a dime. Same thing last week. It’s like spring in New York, though at least it’s not snow.” “Sir?” Releasing her, Andrew took the offered tab from their delivery person and signed it, then handed the young man a cash tip. “Thank you.”
World of Tomorrow 63: Reactions 2
Why did everything have to take so infernally long? Andrew moaned internally, watching from the back of the cab as it waited at a stop while traffic through the intersection ahead flowed perpendicular to their return path to the Ambassador. On the floorboard, his toe tapped out a frantic rhythm, the unconscious manifestation of the swirling anxiety and frenetic state of his mind.When they’d been here in the spring and Evelyn had been accosted by the man looking for Charlotte, he’d explained what he knew of the events surrounding his father’s death. How the police had never solved the crime. How Russell had claimed the murderer was gone by the time they reached the bungalow. How he swore he’d never known of a mistress kept by his father.Yet the Piersons were certain James the senior had carried on an extramarital affair. And the desperate stranger looking for Charlotte had implied it. Even Montero had told him there were things about his family that Andrew didn’t want to know.Was thi
World of Tomorrow 64: Next Adventure
“Andrew, please, will you stop treating me as if I’m made of glass?” Evelyn made a grab for her travel case only to miss with his artful dodge.“I won’t. Not for one minute. You spent three days in the hospital and every single one of them was an absolute hell for me,” he retorted, setting her bag by the front door with his.Trailing along behind him, she perched her sunglasses on the top of her head. “That was last week—.”Pivoting, he fixed her with an angry glower that silenced her. “Darling, I don’t care when it was. You were in a terrific amount of pain, running a fever and whatever is causing it confounds the doctors. That says nothing of the fact that it’s getting worse.”“It’s not—”“It is!” he snapped, taking the few steps between them in two long strides so he could stand over her and stare down his narrow nose. “And don’t you dare attempt to tell me otherwise. What helps is keeping your exertions and stresses to a minimum, which is exactly what I’m going to do.” He took her
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