For Better or Cursed. Mary Leo

smiled, sat down next to him on the bed and handed him three aspirin and a glass of water. “Here. This should take care of your condition.”

      He dutifully took the pills.

      “Try to relax. It’s been a long day.”

      Rudy was unexpectedly overcome with emotions for Cate, for their past, for his walking out on her and for how much he would like to just kiss her. Right there on her bed, the way he used to. He could almost feel her lips on his. “Look, Cate, I want to tell you how sorry I am about your car. I’ll have another one here tomorrow morning. Would a Lexus be all right?”

      Cate smiled her apparent approval. “A Lexus would be fine.”

      “And, Cate, I want to thank you for taking me in like this.” He was watching how she moved. How she looked, and that butt of hers. Outstanding. “And, I want to—”

      He tried to get the words out, but he didn’t know where to begin. They needed to talk. “I want to tell you—”

      “That you’re sorry for…”

      That was it. He would tell her that he was sorry for everything. Women liked it when you gave them a blanket apology, but she interrupted him before he could say anything.

      “…the way you treated me this afternoon.”

      “Yes.”

      God, she has the best mouth.

      “Yes, what?” she asked.

      “This is ridiculous. I have something important I want to tell you.” Just then he had a powerful recollection of how her lips felt on his.

      Warm.

      How she tasted.

      A little sweet.

      How her body fit under his.

      Perfectly.

      “So, then, say it,” she said. Her lips puckering with the word so.

      She abruptly stood up, breaking his lip trance, put her hands on her hips and waited.

      The moment had obviously passed.

      “Do you want something to eat?” she asked.

      “Sure.”

      “I’ll get you some pasta. The tomato sauce is good for you. It’s loaded with vitamin C and lycopene.” She turned and walked away.

      “No. Don’t go, Cate.”

      She turned back around in the doorway. “You can tell me what you want to say after you eat. My mom used to say that apologies are always easier on a full stomach. I think she was right.”

      “I’m sorry about your mom, Cate.”

      “Thanks.”

      But she’d gone before he could holler wait.

      He really did want to tell her how sorry he was that he had skipped out on her. Explain a few things. How he’d been uncertain about marriage. Back then he couldn’t think past the moment, let alone a lifetime. She had her whole life planned out, all he had was a dream.

      He had used skiing as an excuse for his escape—she wouldn’t understand his passion. She’d want babies and a mortgage. So he ran, but he never stopped loving her. Never stopped thinking about her. He knew for a fact that she was the reason why he’d been so good at the moguls game. Every time the competition got tough, he’d think of Cate and work harder at the sport to erase her from his thoughts. He’d been so certain she’d gotten married to some other guy, and now to find out she hadn’t really sent him spinning.

      He couldn’t figure her out. Women like Allison, he was all over, but Cate was in a league of her own.

      He’d like to tell her that his leaving had been for some noble cause, like he was saving her from his un-committable self or something equally as honorable, but he wasn’t up to lying to Cate.

      Not now.

      Not when she had actually taken him into her home and he was lying in her bed. He suddenly wished he could go back in time and change his obviously wrong-headed decision.

      CATE MADE HER WAY down the hallway past Gina’s bedroom, then past her mother’s old room, and started down the stairs.

      The voices from the dining room echoed through the narrow stairway. Dinner for six or eight had apparently turned into dinner for the neighborhood.

      Usually she liked a houseful of family and friends, but not tonight, especially now when her emotions were running around making her say and do stupid things. Who was that girl out on the front lawn who’d invited Rudy Bellafini into her house? Into her bedroom? And into her bed? It certainly wasn’t the same Cate who threw him out of her office that afternoon.

      Guilt. That’s what drove her. Guilt over her car and her refusal to work on his battered body. He was right. She had been unprofessional about the whole thing.

      But he was so full of himself.

      The group sitting around the table was rather loud, everyone talking at the same time about totally different subjects. Her Dad sat in his usual spot at the head of the table, while everyone else squeezed in where they could.

      Gina was there, along with Henry, Vinney and his rescue team, cousin Charlie, a few neighbors and the lady from Henry’s funeral home who could never stop crying. Henry once dated her when they were in high school, but they broke up right after graduation. The details were always somewhat sketchy.

      Cate slipped right past everyone and headed into the kitchen.

      “I almost got it ready,” Aunt Flo said, standing over two massive bowls of pasta. She ladled on the thick red sauce from the giant stainless steel pot sitting on the kitchen table.

      “I added a few more tomatoes, a little bit more basil, some more garlic, a couple sprigs of parsley, and what do ya know, we got more than enough to feed this bunch.”

      “It looks good, but why is everybody here? Don’t they have homes of their own?”

      Aunt Flo spooned on the freshly grated Parmesan cheese. “Suddenly you got a problem with your friends and family around your dinner table?”

      “No…yes. I mean, is there no privacy left in the world?”

      “Sure there is. When you’re in the ground you’ll get plenty of privacy, but right now you got a roomful. Be thankful, doll.” She picked up a bowl and nodded toward the other one, throwing a green dish towel over her shoulder. “Grab that and let’s go. Everybody’s hungry for your pasta. You should be happy I did you a favor. Rudy’s back and he’s in your bed. What more do you want? A special invitation? Now you can get your revenge on the louse and break your curse. You got the control. I wish that devil Pinky would come back so easy.”

      She winked and walked out of the kitchen. Cate picked up the other bowl and followed, wondering if Aunt Flo’s people-management skills couldn’t be put to better use at the UN, or even divorce court.

      CATE MANAGED TO BREAK AWAY from the group to bring Rudy a plate of pasta. She carried it up on a tray, along with a few slices of bread and a glass of red wine.

      When she stepped into the room, he was lying on his side, apparently fast asleep. The sight of him contentedly sleeping in the middle of her bed brought back way too many memories. She immediately knew this had been a bad idea. She should have let him go to the hospital.

      “You can’t sleep here,” Cate said. “You have to go back to Rudyworld.”

      No response. He didn’t budge. Rudy Bellafini was fast asleep in Cate Falco’s bed.

      Or was he?

      She put the tray down on the nightstand.

      “I know you can hear me. You can’t sleep here. Everybody will start talking, teasing, and you know how this