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58: Understanding
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Andrew 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
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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
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World of Tomorrow 65: Internalization
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World of Tomorrow 66: Zoo Guests
“Good morning, darling.” Yawning, Evelyn stretched and turned into Andrew’s embrace. “Good morning. How long have you been awake?” “Half hour or so.” Cuddling her close, he kissed her forehead. “I found the sound of the ocean waves rather soothing. In fact, I don’t recall having slept quite so peacefully since the train. Unfortunately, I don’t find the screeching of the gulls or the terns nearly as calming. It’s a bit like waking up to the racket in Times Square.” The fine hairs on his chest tickled her cheek and Evelyn shifted her head against him, laughing. “It’s a wonder you didn’t shout for a cab in your sleep.” “I have to agree with you. As much as I’m proud of him for getting his life together, I miss having Mickey as a driver.” “Ah,” she inhaled the sound. “Elitist as it sounds, even t
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“Stop, Peter!” Sarah exclaimed, whirling to face behind her. She shot her brother an angry glare. “Peter, for pity’s sake, don’t throw dirt clods at your sister,” Andrew called over his shoulder, shifting his swaddled, sleeping son from his right shoulder to his left as they walked the long, tree-lined drive that led to the James’ estate, perched with its back on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Gulls rode the ocean updrafts in the afternoon sun above the glistening water, occasionally diving when something of interest caught their eye. On the opposite side of the tree-lined drive, his wife’s tiny orchard of glossy-leaved oranges in full bloom left a sweet scent drifting over the drive on the warm, salty breeze off the sea. Not far away, Evelyn's gated garden was growing lush with upright stalks of corn, twined in the loving arms of pole beans with the wide leaves of squash spreading in a carpet at their feet along the ground in one row. In another, her tomatoes were already d
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The dancing had worked like a charm. For a couple of hours. Andrew had managed to get just shy of another couple hours on top of that, burning time off the afternoon by alternating between listening to the orchestra rehearse, dancing, and finally, by slipping a bribe to the broadcasting staff to show Evelyn their equipment set-up and to take their sweet time about it. After that, she’d become too fretful to do much beyond distractedly, which had quickly spoiled the ballroom option for both of them. They’d retired to their drawing room, taken afternoon tea, then Evelyn’s pacing had begun again in earnest. He had to admit, watching her as she combed through her drying hair at the dressing table, it might be time to worry about Will a little. It was going on eight o’clock. Late by any business standard, but certainly well past the time when most diners catering to the kind of clients they’d seen at the DeBaliviere Diner and Waffle House would be visiting
World of Tomorrow 134: As Luck Would Have It
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World of Tomorrow 133: Black Tuesday
The hotel’s ballroom was a gently baroque style. Its elegant space was replete with all manner of luxuries one would expect of a high-profile hotel, no matter where one might visit in the world—custom paneled with artfully etched-mirror and plaster walls, gold-leafed accents and intricate crown moldings. Above the near-magical dancefloor, which was lit from below, hung in the decorative ceiling, a ponderous crystal chandelier lit the warm wooden dancefloor beneath it. Along the periphery, undulating balconies supported by Corinthian pilasters gave an air of classicism to the space, but one not overly staid. These generous galleries provided seating for those who had only come for a meal, to watch the dancing or to listen to the orchestra. They’d dressed for a late dinner, but though the orchestra played, their music broadcast exactly as Evelyn had always dreamed of experiencing, she and Andrew hadn’t danced. In fact, they hadn’t stayed much longer than
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World of Tomorrow 131: Arrival
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