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.“Daisy!” he called out to me.He was dressed in a khaki suit much like the one he’d worn the day before, and he looked a little out of place in such casual surroundings.It was close to a hundred degrees in the afternoon heat, but Luther looked nice and cool in his suit and tie.I had no idea how he did it.He got up and met me, taking my arm and leading me back to the bench where he had been waiting.He waited for me to choose a seat before lowering his lanky body next to mine.“It’s beautiful here, Daisy,” Luther said.The wind kicked up, swirling the air around us.“Still using Chanel No.5.It always makes me think of you.”I blushed, knowing I’d overdone it on the perfume.Then I wondered if that was all we were going to talk about, there in the sweltering heat.I could feel a hint of anxiety inside my stomach, and I was very aware of Luther’s physical proximity to me.“Are there always this many boats docked here?” Luther asked, gesturing to the docks in front of us, where every slip was occupied.I didn’t remember Luther ever showing much interest in boats before.Durham, North Carolina, hadn’t been a hot spot for nautical pursuits.I didn’t believe we were there to talk about my perfume, or about boats, and then a thought occurred to me: Luther was as nervous as I was, and couldn’t get around to what he wanted to talk about.If that was true, then I was going to be sick.Luther had ice water in his veins.He was cool and unemotional even by American standards.I decided to humor him.I didn’t feel as if I was operating from a position of strength, not the way I looked.“There are always lot of boats here,” I said.“Some people even live on them.”Luther nodded sagely, as though this nugget of information had cleared up a lot of questions for him.“Must be nice,” he said.“What’s that?”“You know, being able to do that.”We watched the pelicans perched on the channel markers at the edge of the marina, cackling and preening.Sometimes they would stretch in preparation for swooping down on a hapless fish that had made the mistake of swimming too close to the water’s surface.It always amazed me that those ungainly beasts could actually fly, with their huge beaks and pouches underneath, and that they were actually graceful when they did, skimming the water with their wide wings extended.I sneaked a look at my watch and saw that we had been sitting there for fifteen minutes.It looked like it was up to me.I was the mother of a three-year-old, after all, and couldn’t disappear in midafternoon two days in a row without coming up with some kind of explanation.“Luther, you said it was important that we meet today,” I began, as gently as I could.He turned to me with a deer-in-the-headlights stare.He suddenly acted as though he would prefer a root canal to telling me what he had to say.“I did.” He paused, took a deep breath.His eyes were bluer than ever.“I have a confession, Daisy.I didn’t come to Miami because of a case.”“Then…”“I’m working a case here, that’s true,” Luther said hastily.“All right,” I said, taking all this in.Luther took another deep breath, and I could see him steadying himself for whatever he had to say next.“But I’ve come to Miami on the case more than a dozen times in the past five years.I’ve been coming down here for years, I just haven’t contacted you before.”“You chose to call me now?” I asked.“That seems strange to me.”A sheepish expression came over his face.“Look, I don’t want you to think I’m a stalker or anything.”“Luther, I didn’t say that.”Apparently he was reassured.“I know,” he said quietly.“But there’s something else.Before, when you were working at the firm, I could see you without your spotting me.”“You were…watching me?”“Look, Daisy, this is really difficult.” Luther looked out over the water.He had gone this far, and it was painful for me to watch him struggling with himself.“Just tell me,” I said.“I would watch you as you went in and out of your office building,” Luther offered, wincing a little.I didn’t know whether to be insulted or flattered.I knew Luther too well to think that there was anything creepy or unsavory behind what he was saying.Still, I was really too shocked to react.“Luther, help me out here,” I said.“I don’t understand this.Why…why did you watch me?”I saw Luther conducting an internal monologue with himself, his lawyer’s training weighing how to present his information to make his case.Displays of vulnerability were not part of Luther’s character, although I had seen more in the last five minutes than I ever recalled from our dating days.“Look, it’s like this.Even after we broke up, I still kept track of you and what you were doing.” Luther looked into my eyes, then away.“And I knew there were solid, practical reasons for our breaking up.Believe me, I used to repeat them to myself over and over.But it didn’t matter, I couldn’t get you out of my mind.I dated a lot, and I got involved with a couple of women.But I wanted you, Daisy.All this time.”Luther gently took my hand in his.I just watched him, almost feeling like my hand belonged to someone else.It was awkward, and almost uncomfortable, to be sitting there with our arms outstretched between us, our palms damp and sweaty.The oversize diamond wedding band on my finger was digging into both his and my flesh.Perhaps the ring awakened Luther to reality, because he suddenly released my hand.“It was about a year after we split that I was assigned to a case and sent down here,” Luther said [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]