smashed their lives together.
When dinner was over, Larry helped Catherine wash and dry the dishes. He stood
next to her at the sink, and his nearness gave her a physical ache. How long had it been? It
did not bear thinking about.
“I’ve really enjoyed it,” Larry was saying, with that easy, boyish grin of his. “Thanks,
Cathy.”
And that, Catherine thought, was the end of that.
Three days later, the phone rang and it was Larry phoning from Madrid to say that he
was on his way home and to ask whether she would go out to dinner with him that
evening. Catherine clutched the phone, listening to his friendly, easy voice, determined not
to go. “I’m free for dinner tonight,” she said.
They dined at Tourkolimano at the harbor at Piraeus. Catherine was barely able to
touch her food. Being with Larry was far too painful a reminder of other restaurants they
had dined in, of too many exciting evenings together in the long-dead past, of the love that
was going to last them both a lifetime.
“You’re not eating, Cathy. Would you like me to order something else for you?” he
asked, concerned.
“I had a late lunch,” she lied. He probably won’t ever ask me out again, Catherine
thought, but if he does I will say no.
A few days later Larry called and they had lunch at a lovely restaurant in a hidden
maze off Syntagma Square. It was called Gerofinikas, the Old Palm Tree, and was reached
through a long, cool passageway with a palm tree in front of it. They had an excellent
meal, with Hymettus, the light, dry Greek wine. Larry was at his most entertaining.
The following Sunday he asked Catherine to fly to Vienna with him. They had dinner
at the Sacher Hotel and flew back the same night. It had been a wonderful evening, filled
with wine and music and candlelight, but Catherine had the eerie feeling that somehow it
didn’t belong to her. It belonged to that other Catherine Douglas who was long since dead
and buried. When they got back to the apartment, she said, “Thank you, Larry, it was a
lovely day.”
He moved toward her and took her in his arms and started to kiss her. Catherine
pulled away, her body rigid, her mind filled with a sudden, unexpected panic.
“No,” she said.
“Cathy…”
“No!”
He nodded. “All right. I understand.”
Her body was trembling. “Do you?” she asked.