Alarm jolted through him. “Actually, I was going to ask you the same thing.” He faced Quintessa. “I really need to talk to you. Today.”
Quintessa let out a nervous giggle. “Gracious, I’ve never been so popular.”
“Please?” Mary asked.
“I’m sorry, sweetie, but you and I have all afternoon to chat at the apartment. Besides, I haven’t had any time alone with Jim since he returned.”
“Oh.” Mary chewed on her lips. “I—I didn’t mean to interfere.”
“You never do, sweet Mary.” Quintessa clutched her in a hug. “You never do.”
Mary nodded on Quintessa’s shoulder and glanced up to Jim. “Good-bye, Quintessa. Good-bye, Jim.” Her tone sank low, as if wishing them farewell forever.
Then she headed for the subway, her chin tucked to her chest.
He’d probably hurt her feelings, but he’d deal with that later, along with everything else.
First, Quintessa. Jim motioned to a coffee shop across the street. “Will that do?”
“Sure,” she said, her voice high and clipped.
At the coffee shop, Jim and Quintessa slipped into a booth. The waitress brought coffee and menus, and Jim took a sip of his coffee.
Quintessa didn’t pick up her menu. “Let me guess. You don’t love me anymore.”
Jim choked on his coffee. At least she hadn’t skirted the issue. He swallowed and wiped his lips with his napkin. “I never really did. I admit I was infatuated with you in high school, but it wasn’t love.”
Quintessa traced the edge of the menu with one finger. “You aren’t even infatuated with me anymore, are you?”
“No.” He kept his voice gentle but firm.
She blinked a few times. “Because you love Mary.”
Jim exhaled a relaxing breeze of truth. “Yes, I do. Very much.”
“Have you told her?”
“No. I planned to tell her when my ship came to port in November, but ...”
“But I was there, throwing myself at you.” She pressed her fingertips between her eyebrows, her head bowed.
Jim gave her a half smile. “I wouldn’t call it that.”
“I would. I was so blind, so selfish. Something was brewing between you two, and I came barreling in, full of plans to fulfill your dreams. How arrogant! I just assumed you’d still be interested in me, never thought you two might be interested in each other.”
Something jumped in his chest. “Do you think she’s interested in me?”
“I—I don’t know. She’s always guarded her emotions. But I never asked, never even gave her a chance to tell me whether she loved you. How could she when I proclaimed I’d come to Boston to make your dreams come true?” Quintessa groaned and rested her head in her hands.
Jim smashed his lips together. So that’s what happened. “If she loved me, she would have told you.”
“Would she?” Quintessa rummaged in her purse and pulled out a handkerchief. “Not Mary. She’d never interfere. That isn’t like her. She always puts others first, puts me first. She—she helped me, insisted you and I have time alone together, insisted ...” She held the handkerchief still on her cheek, the tears making her eyes even greener.
Jim frowned. “Insisted ...?”
She patted her eyes with the handkerchief. “I thought it was odd how she avoided us. After all, weren’t you two great friends before I arrived? Then after I arrived, she fled whenever you came over.”
“Do you think—”
