Page 42
Valerie laughed. “He didn’t really mean it. Oh, maybe he did at the time, but I didn’t make falling in love easy for either of us.”
Valerie’s stubbornness was a trait the three Bloomfield sisters shared, Steffie thought with a small, rueful grin.
“After we talked, Colby started dating Sherry again. I think they went out four or five nights in a row. I didn’t know about it, but in a way, I guess I did. I certainly wasn’t surprised when I heard.
“Poor Norah felt she had to let me know what was happening. I think it was harder on her than on me.”
“Were you jealous?”
“That’s the funny part,” Valerie said pensively. “At first I was so jealous I wanted to scratch Sherry’s eyes out. I fantasized about hunting down Colby Winston and making him suffer.”
“You should’ve asked me to help you. I’d gladly have volunteered.”
Valerie smiled and patted Steffie’s forearm. “Spoken like a true sister, but as I said that was my first reaction. What I found interesting was that it didn’t last.
“I sat down and thought about it and realized how selfish and unfair I was being to Colby. If I truly loved him, I should want him to have whatever made him happy. If that meant marriage to Sherry Waterman, then so be it.”
“In other words you were willing to let him go.”
“Yes. And that was a turning point for me. Don’t misunderstand me, it hurt more than anything I’ve ever done. Remember the day I was supposed to fly back to Houston?”
Steffie wasn’t likely to forget it. “Of course.”
“When I got ready to leave, I really had to work at controlling myself. I wasn’t sure I could make it down the front steps without bursting into tears.”
“I knew you were upset….”
“Naturally, Colby would have to choose right then to stop in for a visit. That man’s sense of timing is going to be a problem.” Valerie shook her head in mock exasperation.
Steffie laughed. Give Valerie a week and she’d have Colby’s life completely reorganized.
“Somehow I managed to pull it off,” Valerie continued. “I remember sitting in the car and—this is odd—I felt a sense of peace. I don’t know if I can explain it. I felt this incredible…nobility. Don’t you dare laugh, Steffie, I’m serious. I didn’t stop loving Colby—if anything, I loved him more. Here I was, willingly walking away from the first man I’d ever loved.”
“I wanted to throttle Colby about then.”
Valerie grinned. “I remember learning about the tragic hero in my college literature courses. In some ways, I felt like I qualified for the tragic heroine.”
“You weren’t sorry you’d fallen in love with him, were you?”
“No, I was grateful. I was leaving him and at the same time I was giving him permission to find his own joy. And like I said, that somehow…ennobled me.”
Steffie recalled the farewell scene on her front porch when she’d been so angry with Colby. “I…don’t know if I could be that noble about Charles.”
“What’s happening with the two of you?”
“I’m not sure.” Steffie was being entirely honest. “We had a wonderful dinner on Thursday, then we drove to Multnomah Falls and watched the moonlight on the water.”
“That sounds so romantic.”
“It was. We walked up to the footbridge and…talked.”
“I’ll bet!” Valerie laughed.
“We did—only we did more kissing than talking.” Steffie knew that Charles had wanted to talk, wanted to discuss the past with her. She hated the thought of reliving all that pain. But more than anything she dreaded examining her utterly ridiculous behavior. Every time she recalled the scene in his bathroom, with her playing the role of waterlogged enchantress, she burned with humiliation. Someday they’d talk about it, but not now. It was too soon.
“Dad seems to think you two will get married.”
This discussion was a repeat of the one she’d had with her father every day for the past two weeks. “You know Dad when he’s got a bee in his bonnet. I’ve had to make him promise not to say a word about marriage to Charles.”
