Barbara Holloway: Desperate Measures Part 41

Will left, saying no one would believe the work he had neglected during the past week or so. Then Barbara and Sh.e.l.ley headed back to her office. Barbara would be busy for the next week or two, wrapping things up, cleaning up accounts, going to the Children's Services offices....

"Are you going to want me for anything the rest of the day?"

Sh.e.l.ley asked at the office.

"I don't think so. Beat?"

"Pretty much. But I told Alex I'd be back as soon as I'm free. If it's okay, I'll take a few days off. We're going to be looking at real estate. Maybe a ranch with a whole lot of acres and a forest. But close enough to come in to work."

"Sh.e.l.ley, what are you telling me?"

"You know, Barbara. You've known from day one. Think of how it is when you see someone you haven't seen for a long time. And you're surprised, because in your mind he's bigger, or smaller, or she's prettier or not as pretty as your mental image. In my mind, when I think of Alex, he's beautiful, a shining, beautiful man. And when I see him in person, he's still a shining, beautiful man. I love him, Barbara. And I'm going to make him admit he loves me. Today. This little-sister bulls.h.i.t ends as of today. I'm going with him, if he'll have me."

Herbert's dinner was excellent, as was to be expected. He had made a tenderloin of beef in a heavenly crust, baked to perfection, a.s.sorted vegetables, featherweight biscuits....

They had toasts and drank wine; Bailey had his Jack Daniel's, and Herbert drank whatever was near him. Alex showed them the sketchbook he had put together of the actors in his trial: a lawyer who looked suspiciously like Humpty Dumpty, a judge with flowing silver hair and an immense head, a man with a corduroy face, a woman in shining armor carrying a sword, standing upright on a white horse. Barbara choked when he came to that one. Bailey patted her on the back a little harder than necessary, and both Frank and Will asked if they could get a copy made.

Alex didn't show any sketch he had made of Sh.e.l.ley.

Then Will put on music, and Alex and Sh.e.l.ley danced. After a moment Will asked Barbara to dance, and the four onlookers retreated to the kitchen, out of the way.

Will led Barbara into the hall, where he kissed her, a long, thorough hair-raising-and-p.r.i.c.kly-arms kind of kiss. When she drew back, shaken, she said, "Whew!"

"I wanted to do that twenty-five years ago, and d.a.m.n if I don't still want to," he said huskily.

From the kitchen doorway Frank watched them dance out of sight, then reappear, and he felt a strange mixture of sadness and joy. He glanced at Graham Minick and thought he was feeling the same kind of happiness, tinged with regret that something was ending, something new beginning. With no guarantees in sight, he added to himself.

"Hey, you two, you want to play some poker?" Cousin Herbert asked. "A real Texas version, one-eyed jacks, deuces and eights wild. Quarter limit."

Ella Fitzgerald began to sing "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes." Graham Minick put his arm around Frank's shoulders and they turned together.

"What the h.e.l.l," Frank said. "We're in. Deal."

Kate Wilhelm.

Kate Wilhelm's first short story, "The Pint-Sized Genie" was published in Fantastic Stories in 1956. Her first novel, More Bitter Than Death, a mystery, was published in 1963. Over the span of her career, her writing has crossed over the genres of science fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy and magical realism, psychological suspense, mimetic, comic, family sagas, a multimedia stage production, and radio plays. She has recently returned to writing mysteries with her Barbara Holloway and the Charlie Meiklejohn and Constance Leidl Mysteries novels. Her works have been adapted for television, theater, and movies in the United States, England, and Germany. Wilhelm's novels and stories have been translated to more than a dozen languages. She has contributed to Redbook, Quark, Orbit, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Locus, Amazing, Asimov's Science Fiction, Ellery Queen's Mysteries, Fantastic Stories, Omni and many others.

Kate and her husband, Damon Knight (1922-2002), also provided invaluable a.s.sistance to numerous other writers over the years. Their teaching careers covered a span of several decades, and hundreds of students, many of whom are famous names in the field today. Kate and Damon helped to establish the Clarion Writer's Workshop and the Milford Writer's Conference. They have lectured together at universities in North and South America and Asia. They have been the guests of honor and panelists at numerous conventions around the world. Kate continues to host monthly workshops, as well as teach at other events. She is an avid supporter of local libraries.

Kate Wilhelm lives in Eugene, Oregon.

Visit infinityboxpress.com to find other books by Kate Wilhelm.

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