The Husband List by Evanovich Janet & Kelly Dorien

Author:Evanovich, Janet & Kelly, Dorien [Evanovich, Janet & Kelly, Dorien]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Historical, Humour, Adult
ISBN: 9780312651329
Amazon: 0312651325
Goodreads: 15793075
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2013-01-08T08:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

“I shouldn’t have come here,” Flora said to Patrick Culhane.

“What? Touro Park is a public place,” he replied. “And we’re two old friends strolling on a Wednesday afternoon. There’s no scandal in that.”

Flora breathed in the fresh, clean air. The park was glorious, with its lush lawns, sweeping elms, broad pathways, and statuary. “It’s not scandal that concerns me.”

He smiled as he took in her dress, which, while cut appropriately for the hour of the day, was a bright crimson.

“I’m thinking not,” he said.

“Color makes me feel as though I’m on stage. Sometimes I miss that excitement, the thrill of becoming someone other than who I am.”

“I was always just fine with who you were.” He took a seat on a park bench and patted its wooden slats. “Come sit by me.”

Flora chose the opposite end. Patrick tipped back his head and let loose a full-hearted laugh she loved hearing. “You can do better than that.”

Smiling, she moved closer, but still kept a circumspect amount of daylight between them.

“And that’s as close as you’ll come? I’ve been closer to a nun.”

“Yes, in church,” she said.

“True enough,” he agreed.

They sat in companionable silence until Patrick asked, “So do you want to talk about it?”

“About what?”

“Don’t be pretending I don’t know you,” he admonished. “What is it that has you so quiet?”

He was right. The years apart didn’t seem to have changed a thing. “I don’t even want to say it aloud.”

“Well, now you’ve got me worried, so you have to.”

“I’m lonely,” she said, feeling better for even having made the confession. “And I don’t want to be lonely anymore.”

“You, lonely?”

“It is possible, you know.”

He shook his head. “If you’re lonely, it’s because you choose to be. Look at you. You’re a breathtaking woman who just so happens to have a bank balance that would stop most men’s hearts. If you want a man, smile once, and a pack will come running.”

“It’s not a man I’m lonely for,” she said.

Patrick gave her an odd look.

Laughing, she added, “It’s not a woman, either. And while I’d be a liar to tell you that I don’t miss the closeness of a man at night … or things as basic as sitting across the breakfast table from him, what I miss most right now is having connections. Clem didn’t have family, and as you know, mine cut me off when I took to the stage. I have no interest in going to them now, but I wish I’d had children.”

“It never happened for you?”

“No.”

Patrick sighed. “I’m sorry for that. I wish I could have wanted it when you did, but I had Jack to deal with, and he was a busy enough boy to earn all of his names.”

Flora smiled. “I remember. You did well. He’s a fine man.”

“That he is.” He nudged his top hat back a bit so that it no longer shadowed his face and then settled his arm across the back of the bench. “I know he’s grown and I should

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