The Shadow Wife - Diane Chamberlain [75]
“You did?”
“Yes. But I need to talk to you about him.”
Carlynn glanced at her watch again. It would soon be time for afternoon rounds, but she would just have to be late. She moved closer to her sister.
“Talk to me, then,” she said.
“Oh, Carlynn,” Lisbeth grabbed her arm. “He’s wonderful.”
Despite her concerns, Carlynn couldn’t help but grin at the rare joy in her twin’s face. “Go on.”
“I had to bring his tennis racket to him. Dr. Peterson had borrowed it. I was so nervous!”
“And what happened?”
“He was absolutely the best, Carlynn. Just as nice as he’s been on the phone. I talked with him in his office for over an hour, and he asked me out.”
“Hurrah!” Carlynn clapped her hands together, but she felt fear mixed with her joy. Whoever he was, he’d better not hurt her sister. Lisbeth was not stupid, but she could be very vulnerable, a dreamer filled with longing. It was far too easy for her to be taken advantage of. “What’s his name?”
“Gabriel Johnson.” Lisbeth looked at her expectantly. “Do you recognize it?” she asked.
Carlynn frowned. “No. Should I?”
“He’s the chief accountant here.”
“Here?” Carlynn asked. “He works here? You’ve been talking to him on the phone for over a year. Why didn’t you ever tell me he works here?”
“Because I didn’t want you to go peek at him and tell me something about him that would wreck my…” She lowered her voice. “My idea of what he looked like.” She started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
Lisbeth shook her head, but she was still grinning. “Oh, Carlynn,” she said. “Here comes the problem.”
“What?”
“If you go stop by the business office, you’ll see.”
“Tell me!”
“He’s colored.”
Carlynn caught her breath. The first thought in her head was “You’re kidding,” but that was not what Lisbeth needed to hear. She wasn’t certain what she should say to her sister. She could think of no colored professionals working at the hospital, but then recalled noticing a nice-looking Negro in the corridor once or twice, a man obviously not a patient, carrying a briefcase. He was missing fingers on his left hand.
“Carlynn?” Lisbeth sounded worried.
Carlynn laughed. “You caught me off guard there,” she said. “I might know who he is. Is he tall and good-looking? Is he missing two—”
“That’s him!” Lisbeth nodded.
“I’ve never spoken to him, but he looks nice,” Carlynn said. “He’s a lot older than you, though, I think, but then Alan is ten years older than me, so I guess I can’t say anything about that.”
“But Alan isn’t colored.”
She knew Lisbeth was waiting for her opinion of her dating a Negro. “Does it matter to you that he’s colored?” she asked her.
“I really like him, Carly,” Lisbeth said.
“Then go out with him.” Carlynn was unsure if that was the right advice, but she’d never heard such joy in her sister’s voice before.
“What about Mother?” Lisbeth asked.
“What about her? Mother won’t like anybody we pick. She doesn’t even like Alan. No one’s good enough for me, in her eyes.”
“Well, maybe she’ll think a colored man would be just perfect for me, then,” Lisbeth said.
Carlynn laughed, but without much spirit. “Look,” she said, “it doesn’t matter what Mother or anyone else thinks. Not even me. None of that matters, Lisbeth, if you really like him. You can’t live your life trying to please everyone else.” Mother, she thought, must never know. Perhaps this man would just be the start of dating for Lisbeth. Perhaps Mother never would have to know that Lisbeth had seen him. “So, did you accept his invitation to go out?”
“I’m supposed to call him,” she said. “He left it up to me to decide if I wanted to or not. He understood that I might feel…uncomfortable.”
“Do you?”
“I think he’s the most. He sails, Carlynn. He has his own boat.”
This was one unusual Negro, Carlynn thought. She knew how much Lisbeth loved sailing. “Then call him,” she said. “Do you want Alan and me to go out with you the first time? A double date? As long as it’s not on a boat, that is.”
“Oh, would you?”
“Of course.” It was strange. She had been intimately involved with Alan for half a year,