A Different Light (30 page)

Athen raised her fingers to her lips again, and wondered when, or if, he would call her, and tried to remember just how long it had been since she had waited for a man to call.

QUENTIN WASN’T SURE WHETHER THE
buzz in his head was
due to the company he’d kept for the past few hours or the bombshell Athen had dropped in his lap. He’d dated his share of beautiful women in his day, but he couldn’t remember any of them being remotely like the one he’d just kissed good night.

For one thing, she was a woman he could have a conversation with. Not small talk, not flirty talk, not self-centered “enough about you, let’s talk about me” talk that he’d had to endure on more occasions than he liked to recall. Athen had seemed genuinely interested in the book he was writing, though he suspected that interest might have been influenced by Ms. Evelyn’s connection to the subject matter. Still, there were no awkward pauses when he’d had to work to keep things going, and he appreciated that. What guy liked to be mentally sorting through a list of possible conversation starters when all he wanted was a nice dinner and some easy talk with a woman he was interested in?

And he was definitely interested in Athen.

Yeah, the conversation had flowed easily, and he came away with the feeling of only having scratched the surface where she was concerned. But that was all right, too. He wasn’t in any hurry, and he had the feeling that she was more comfortable taking her time getting to know him, too.

That he’d misread her right from the start had been his mistake. He cringed with embarrassment every time he thought back to the way he’d treated her. It had taken him awhile, but he’d finally had to admit to himself that his initial response had been to hold Athen up to Cynthia and compare. Athen doted on her daughter, was involved in Callie’s life in ways that Cynthia never had been involved in Tim’s, even when he was a baby. Cynthia had
gone back to work after their child’s birth before her maternity leave had ended because she was afraid she’d miss something—a plum assignment, an opportunity that might not come again. When Quentin first met Athen, she was a stay-at-home mom, and after Cynthia’s abandonment of Timmy, Quentin had been impressed by Athen’s devotion to Callie. Then she’d let that creep Rossi talk her into running for mayor, and his image of her as a sort of modern-day Madonna was shattered, and that was where the trouble had started.

God, he’d acted like an ass.

Except for Cynthia, he’d never been so wrong about a woman in his life. Athen really was the sweet woman he’d first thought her to be. He knew he was lucky that she’d been willing to give him a second chance.

Still, he wasn’t unaware of the conflict between her job and his interest in her, and tonight he’d made a conscious effort to keep an even balance. He’d promised not to bring up anything to do with City Hall and he’d kept to that. Not that it had been easy. There were several times when he’d almost slipped but he’d managed to keep his word. Until, of course, she brought up that whole Mary Jo Dolan thing.

Mentally, he’d been writing the first paragraph of that story all night. But he wouldn’t, under any circumstances, betray Athen’s trust. He had the feeling that she was testing him, dropping a scandal like that in his lap after making him promise not to touch it. As juicy a story as this was, it was going to be a test of his willpower.

Quentin cursed Dan Rossi under his breath. The man was a crook and should go to prison. Surely if they dug deeply enough they’d find proof that Dan had been dallying with Mary Jo while she was still underage. As much
as he was sure that even Athen would like to see Rossi fry, he knew she refused to use the information she had because of the pain it would cause an innocent party.

Surely no one would be happier to see Dan Rossi go away than Athen. Who else in her position would pass up an opportunity like that because it went against her personal code of ethics?

Who acts like that?

Well, since she wasn’t going to go public with the Mary Jo Dolan story, she was just going to have to find another way to topple the giant. It would give Quentin great pleasure to help her in any way he could. For one thing, it bothered him that Rossi had taken advantage of an innocent person and used her to maintain his grip on the city. Athen hadn’t deserved to be treated that way by someone she trusted, and it pissed off Quentin every time he thought about how Rossi had duped her. All the time Athen had thought she was doing something good, Rossi was just using her so that he could get his office back in two years.

Yeah, finding a way to bring down Rossi would be sweet.

The fact that it would probably win him major points with Athen would be the icing. He’d really enjoyed kissing her, and had every intention of kissing her again at the very first opportunity.

Still, it was going to drive him crazy to have this great story—his mind had written the second paragraph and was well into the third—that he couldn’t use. He’d have to take comfort in the belief that a man like Rossi had more than one dirty secret in his background. If he couldn’t use the one he had, he’d just have to find another.

That would be fine, too, as long as in the end Dan
Rossi got what he deserved. Quentin drove through the gates of his mother’s home thinking how good it would feel to help Athen deliver the blow that would bring the man to his knees.

 19 

Mom!” Callie made a face. “Mr. Forbes is on the phone.”

Athen took the receiver and tried to talk, feed Hannah, and make dinner at the same time. The call was brief and to the point.

“Why’s he calling you?” Callie asked suspiciously after Athen hung up.

“I guess because we’re friends,” Athen replied.

“You have to be friends with him just because he brought flowers when you were sick?” Callie’s hands rode high on her hips as she interrogated her mother.

“No, Callie, we’re friends because we … well, I guess because we like each other.” Athen avoided her daughter’s eyes. “We had dinner together last night.”

“You had dinner with Timmy Forbes’s
father
?” Callie asked incredulously. “Mom, how could you?”

“Callie, Quentin Forbes is a very nice man.”

“You didn’t used to think he was so nice,” Callie jabbed.

“Yes, that is true. I didn’t used to like him.”

“But now you do?” The statement, delivered flatly, sounded to Athen’s ears like an accusation.

“Yes, I do.”

“Is he the same Quentin Forbes who used to work for the newspaper? The one who embarrassed and humiliated you?” Callie asked pointedly. “That’s what you told Aunt Meg, right?”

“Yes.” Athen tried to ignore Callie’s sarcasm. “And he still works for the newspaper.”

“How do you know he won’t embarrass you again?”

“Well, I guess I don’t know for sure, Callie, but sometimes you just have to give people a chance.” She set the pan of moussaka on the table.

They ate in silence. Athen knew how sensitive Callie was as far as her father’s memory was concerned. Did Callie think she was being unfaithful to John because she’d shared the company of another man?

“Grandpa used to make this better,” Callie muttered.

Before Athen could think of a way to approach the subject of her dating, Callie asked, “Are you planning on seeing him again?”

“He asked me if I’d be at the spring concert at school on Wednesday night,” Athen told her. “I said I would be.”

“If he asks you out again, will you go?”

“Yes. I will.”

“Oh, God.” Callie pushed her plate away and left the room, moaning loudly, “My mother is dating the butthead’s father. I hope this doesn’t get around school.”

FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE
she took office, Athen found herself looking forward to the Wednesday morning press conference, knowing Quentin would be there.

“How do I look?” she asked Veronica before she set out for the large conference room.

“You look great.” Veronica seemed puzzled. Athen
never asked about her appearance. “You always look great, Mrs. M.”

“Thanks.” Athen took a deep breath and headed for the elevator.

She smoothed the collar as she stepped off the elevator and walked into the room where the press conferences were held. Quentin was there, in his usual spot in the front row, when she entered. She had some difficulty sticking to her agenda, knowing he was there. She cleared her throat and reminded herself to focus.

There were a few announcements that day, so the question-and-answer session was uncommonly brief. Quentin hadn’t asked any questions, though she was pretty sure the reporter two rows behind him had identified herself as being on the
Woodside Herald
staff.

He caught up with her in the hallway.

“Will I see you tonight at school?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

“Can I pick up you?”

Recalling Callie’s horror at her mother’s having had dinner with him, Athen thought it best to pass on the ride.

“No thank you, I may have to rush from work. I have a meeting at four that might run a little late.”

“Then I guess I’ll see you there.”

She tried to act surprised when she found him waiting for her in the school lobby.

“Want to sit with me?” he asked.

“Sure.” Callie would be onstage and would be none the wiser.

The band performance was an exercise in discipline for the audience, which tried desperately to refrain from open laughter at the inharmonious renditions of several tunes that neither Athen nor Quentin could identify. They
finished up with a version of “Yesterday” that no one who’d ever heard the original would have recognized. The auditorium filled with cheers of gratitude when the instrumental nightmare concluded.

“God, that was bad.” Quentin shook his head. “I’d say Timmy needs a few more lessons on that trumpet.”

“They’re just kids.” Athen stifled a giggle. “They’ll get better as they get older.”

“Lord, I hope so.” He moved his leg so that it rested against hers. “We have, what, seven or eight more years of concerts to endure?”

The choral group was much better, though it appeared that some of the younger members got off track a time or two and sang from the wrong page.

Athen couldn’t keep from watching Quentin out of the corner of one eye.
Keep your feet on the groun
d, she cautioned herself.
You both have jobs to do, and children to raise.

But he is so handsome—
she sighed softly—
with those little lines that crinkle around his eyes when he smiles, and shoulders big enough to stand on. …

“It can’t go on too much longer.” Quentin squeezed her hand, forcing her thoughts back to the auditorium and the performance.

“It does make me wonder what they were doing, all those days Callie stayed after school for rehearsals.”

Then, yes! The finale, with a beaming Mr. Halterman bowing at center stage to the audience.

The smiling parents were invited to the reception room to share refreshments while they waited for their offspring. Athen and Quentin were standing somewhat apart from the others, deep in conversation, when Callie and a few of her friends joined them. Callie rolled her eyes
when she recognized her mother’s companion.

“Well, that was some show,” Quentin told her as she approached.

“It stunk and you know it,” she said flippantly.

“Callie!” Athen protested.

“Would it make you feel better if I said that you were terrible?” Quentin asked matter-of-factly, unruffled by her rudeness.

Her efforts to get a rise out of Quentin having failed, Callie shrugged her indifference and addressed her mother impatiently. “Can we go home now?”

“In a minute.” Athen was becoming more and more annoyed with her daughter’s ill manners. “Why don’t you get some punch?” It was a command and not a suggestion.

“Yech. School punch. How appealing,” muttered Callie as she walked off to get a cup.

QUENTIN, I’M SO SORRY.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He smiled good-naturedly. “I suspect that Callie’s a good kid, but it looks like I bring out the worst in her. But it’s perfectly understandable. Timmy was the same way the first time I went out with someone after his mother left. He got over it. Callie will, too.”