Eve - Iris Johansen [103]
“There are things about you I admire,” she said jerkily. “You’re a survivor, and what you’ve endured would have broken almost anyone else. You thought you were being tortured to protect your country. I admire your patriotism. Most of the time, I think you’re honest with me. That’s important, too.”
He chuckled. “You had to really dig for that list.”
“What do you expect? I don’t know you.”
“I believe we’re going to have to rectify that.” He suddenly reached over and touched her cheek. “Don’t stiffen up on me. I’m not making a move on you. I just want to show you I can touch you with affection that has nothing to do with sex.” He stroked the line of her cheekbone. “Because the affection will always be there. Do you know why?”
“No.”
“Because you gave me Bonnie,” he said simply. “Because together we created something more wonderful than anything I could accomplish by myself if I live to be a hundred.” He felt the moisture of her tears on his fingers. “Hey, I don’t want this. I just want you to know that no matter what we have to overcome, it’s going to be worth it. I think we have to be together some way, somehow.” He added awkwardly, “I think maybe … she wants it.”
“Bonnie?” Eve whispered.
“I’ve thought a lot about why she came to me in that prison. She was a part of both of us, Eve. The three of us are bound together. I’ll never be able to look at you without feeling that closeness with her. Will you be able to look at me without feeling her love?”
She had been trying to shut out every facet of feeling toward him, but his words were tearing down the walls and revealing the truth. He was right. This wasn’t going to go away because it was all about Bonnie. For her, Bonnie had been the center of her being. She was beginning to think that Bonnie had been equally important to John. If that was true, then they had no option but to accept and try to find a way to live with it. She said unevenly, “No, I don’t think I will.”
“Good.” He bent down and kissed her forehead, then was gone again. “I just had to get that much established. I was feeling very much alone. I’ve always been the outsider.”
Alone. Outsider.
Yes, John had always been the outsider as far as Bonnie was concerned. Eve had seen to that. She had never told him, never wanted him to know he had a child. She had chosen to bear the responsibility, but she had also garnered the joy. John Gallo had not been permitted either.
“Go to sleep,” John said. “If we have an intruder in Room 1502, the alarm will wake us.”
Outsider.
“I’m not sleepy. I wonder if you…” She started again. “I wonder if you’d like me to tell you about Bonnie?”
She could feel his sudden stillness. “You don’t have to do that. I know it might be painful.”
“Some of it, but most of it is pure joy. I think … I want to share her with you, John. If that’s what you want, too.”
“Oh, my God.”
She didn’t speak for a moment, trying to put her thoughts, her memories together. He had missed so much. Where to start on the story of Bonnie?
The beginning.
“The first time the nurse brought me Bonnie, she said she was magic…”
CHAPTER
16
WEBSTER GROVES WAS A PLEASANT suburb that consisted of a mixture of older homes built in the early nineteenth century and newer homes that appeared sleek but lacked character.
Catherine glanced at her GPS. She should be arriving at Judy Clark’s mother’s home in a few moments. It was close to eleven at night. She might have gone to bed. Should Catherine ring the bell or phone again? Maybe if she told Mrs. Kamski she was outside, she might agree to let her in and talk to her.
Or maybe she would tell Catherine to go take a flying leap.
She’d ring the bell.
The GPS instructed her to turn left at the next street.
She turned on San Cecilia.
Number 230 was halfway down the block, an older two-story clapboard house. Catherine might not have