One Night With You. Gwynne Forster

he said after he and Marcus greeted each other. “And I’m surprised. My boss said I can do the job independent of the company, and he’s promised to send me a letter to that effect. I’ll be over the first weekend after I get that letter, and you can tell me what you need and show me the space.”

      “Great. I’ll expect your call.”

      “I can’t advertise that I’m doing this, because Jack—he’s my boss—said he’ll have problems with his other architects if they know about it.”

      “I can appreciate that, and I’ll keep it to myself.”

      At a few minutes before eleven, he dressed in warm clothing, put on his hooded storm jacket and dashed across the street to Kendra’s house. She opened the door at once.

      “Hi.” She reached up and kissed him quickly on the mouth, then licked her lips, as if savoring a sweet and wicked thing.

      “Hi,” he said. “Do I smell coffee?”

      “You do, and I made it for you, because I know you’ve had nothing but instant.”

      He followed her to the kitchen, pulled off his jacket and threw it across the back of a chair. She took a mug from one of the cabinets, put a small amount of milk in it, poured the coffee, handed it to him and turned back to pour one for herself.

      “Kendra, you’re precious. Are you aware that if we continue this way, we’re liable to be stuck with each other for life?”

      She didn’t turn around to look at him when she said, “Worse things could happen to me.”

      He should stay where he was, and he should let that pass, but he got up and walked to her and, standing behind her, gripped her shoulders. “Does that mean you could love me?”

      “Of course I could love you,” she said, her voice low and without inflection. “Now go back over there and finish your coffee.”

      “What’s wrong?”

      “What’s wrong is I’m scared. This is moving so fast. I want to be with you every minute, but I don’t even know who you are, and you don’t know who I am. I don’t know what hurts you, makes you sad, angry, happy. I wouldn’t know how to comfort you if you were down and depressed. Do you play jokes on people, Reid.? What games do you like to play? Oh, Reid. Hold me!”

      He turned her to face him, wrapped her in his arms and stroked the back of her head as she rested it against his shoulder. “We are moving fast, and I tell myself to slow down, but I don’t really want to. When I’m not with you, I’m thinking about you. Do you want us to…to see less of each other?”

      “We ought to, for your sake. I want you to win that case, and a liaison with me could prove to be an impediment. I’m not willing to sacrifice that, no matter how we feel about each other.”

      “I know what you’re saying, and I’ve thought about it, too. And then, we’re together, and our being together, like now, is so natural and so fulfilling,” he said to her. “How am I going to give up the pleasure of being with you?” He released her and lifted the mug of coffee. “Could you top this off, please?”

      She poured some of the coffee out and refilled the cup. “Let’s go down to the Sound. I’ll get my jacket while you drink that.”

      They strolled down Albemarle Heights to Washington Avenue, the road that led them to the Sound. Although flowers bloomed, the wind from the ocean still chilled, and she folded her arms to warm herself against it. As they reached the bottom—as the locals called it—of Washington Street, Reid’s arm went around her, pulling her to his side.

      “It irks me that I can’t even hold your hand when we’re walking the streets.”

      “Let’s give it a try, Reid. We can talk on the phone, have an occasional dinner together at your house or mine, or maybe not. I don’t know. Anyhow, I’ll always be there for you if you need me. So, let’s not see each other, Reid. I’m afraid that if we get closer, it may hurt you. I won’t be happy with that arrangement, but it’s best.”

      Reid faced the wind and turned her so that she had her back to it. “What do you feel for me, Kendra? I care for you. It’s deep, and I know it isn’t going away. Tell me.”

      “I care deeply for you. This isn’t a brush-off, and you know it.”

      He looked into the distance. “I’m going to hire a lawyer and get started on that suit. I’m going to try to keep my distance, but I don’t promise not to call you, and I want you to promise to let me know whenever you need me. Will you do that?”

      “If I need you, I’ll let you know.” Her voice broke.

      “To hell with it, baby,” he said and put his arms around her. “Come on, let’s go back.”

      After the first court session Monday morning, Kendra asked Carl, her clerk, to come into her chambers. “Carl, I want to get involved in the community, but I don’t quite know how to go about it. If I’m going to live here, I have to have a stake in the place.”

      “We have a great little theater group, Judge. I used to belong to it, but after the babies started coming, I dropped out. What free time I had, I use to relieve my wife and look after the children. They’ll be glad to have you, and especially if you can act.”