The sudden delight in her eyes made his heart leap. He had a notion to kiss her again, right then and there, before she could think of a reason to turn him down. Just as he’d resolved to do just that, however, he caught a movement from the corner of his eye and straightened.
“There you are, Dr. Sloane.” The councilman had reached them, his hand extended and his florid face wreathed in smiles. “Name’s Friendly, Bill Friendly. ‘Friendly’s my name, friendly’s my aim.’”
Karen blinked up at him, an uncertain smile on her face. “I…see.”
Friendly chuckled, the braying sound all but lost in the noise from the other people around them. “I represent the part of town where Vanderbilt Memorial is located, which makes you one of my constituents—part-time, anyway.”
“Hell,” Cassidy muttered under his breath as he dropped Karen’s arm an instant before her hand was clasped between the councilman’s sausage fingers.
Karen shot him an apologetic look before acknowledging the man’s greeting. “Mr. Friendly, I wonder if—”
“Call me Bill,” he boomed over the drone of surrounding conversations.
“Bill, we, my husband and I, were—”
“No need to introduce your husband, Doctor,” Friendly barreled on, his politician’s grin at the ready. “I recognized both of you from the picture in the Herald after those gallant boys from the fire department hauled your daughter outta that pit. Nearly tore this old man’s heart out, thinkin’ about what you two nice people went through.”
Cassidy bit down hard as he reluctantly shook the man’s sweaty hand.
“Glad to meet you, Mr. Sloane,” Friendly declared with all the gusto of a practiced politician. “Friendly.” Cassidy usually kept a tight rein on his temper, but now and then those reins slipped a little. The result was generally explosive.
“I guess I don’t have to tell you how proud we all are of your wife,” Friendly went on, apparently oblivious to the chill that had settled over their little corner of the huge structure.
Cassidy cocked a thick black brow. “You don’t? Why not?”
Friendly’s mouth opened and closed, reminding Cassidy of a particularly unattractive bass. He glanced at Karen. The laughter in her eyes and the way she was biting her lip told him she was trying mighty hard to keep from giggling.
“Well, I, that is, of course we’re proud of her,” Friendly protested “Why, it gives the strongest man pause to think of her working so diligently in the emergency room, not even knowing her own little girl was trapped underground.” Friendly chuckled. “I reckon you know how lucky you are to have her.”
Cassidy’s control thinned. “Is there a point to this, Friendly?”
Before the councilman could blunder on, Karen leaned closer to Cassidy’s side to whisper urgently, “We’ll leave early, I promise.”
“Now, Kari,” he demanded, pinning her with a look that dared her to resist.
“But, Cassidy, we can’t just walk out.”
“Sure we can.”
“Cassidy, listen to me, please,” she pleaded, her gaze searching his. “More than anything, I want to be with you. But it wouldn’t be fair to the committee and everyone who’s worked so hard—”
“Forget it, Karen. I got the message.” His face closed up.
Karen wanted to scream in frustration. Just like that, he was once again the cold, angry man standing in the glare of rescue lights, his eyes rejecting her. But this time there was another emotion buried within those intimidating onyx depths, something that suggested an emotion far more complex than anger. It was a look she’d seen before, in patients suffering intractable pain.
Her heart contracted, and she felt the sudden, inexplicable press of tears against the backs of her eyes. Somehow she had to reach him, to make him understand.
“Cassidy, please don’t do this,” she whispered.
“Do what?” he challenged, making no effort to lower his voice. “Deny that I resent the demands other people make on my wife? Or the fact that you let them?”
Her body humming in ways she hadn’t felt for months, she leaned closer, deliberately brushing his arm with her breast. “Cassidy, it won’t be all that long before I’ve fulfilled my obligations and then we can leave.”
“Don’t kid yourself. We’ll be lucky if we get out of here before eleven.”
Conscious of the councilman’s curious gaze shifting from one to the other, she turned slightly to hide her face and whispered, “I want to make love to you, Cassidy, but—”
Brow arched, he deliberately took a step away from her. “I’ve heard that before, Kari, and ended up sleeping alone while you’re off on some emergency or other.”
Karen heard the resentment buried in his caustic words and felt her stomach constrict. Take a chance, Kari, she thought. Grab that thick, strong wrist of his and make a beeline for the truck. Maybe they couldn’t spend the entire night at the Fireside Inn, but—“Great party, isn’t it?” Friendly declared as he caught her eye again. Like all true politicians, it seemed, he couldn’t stand a lull in the conversation.
“Excuse me, I’m goin’ to find the bar,” Cassidy drawled. With that, he nodded to the councilman, then turned away to be swallowed up by the shifting currents of humanity.
“Did I say something wrong?” Friendly asked, his brow furrowed over troubled eyes that suddenly seemed more perceptive than she’d thought at first glance.
Reminding herself that Bill Friendly was her host, Karen summoned a social smile. “It’s not your fault. My husband hates to talk about Vicki’s accident, that’s all.”
“Understandably.” He cleared his throat. “Why don’t I get you something cold to drink, and then I can fill you in on the presentation ceremony.”
Karen bit off a groan. “Ceremony?” she asked warily.
Friendly held up a hand. “Nothing fancy, I promise. The VFW will present the colors, of course, and the American Legion marching band will play the ‘Star-Spangled Banner,’ then Hal Stuart will say a few words.” He sighed, then glanced around quickly before adding in a low voice, “Don’t get me wrong, Dr. Sloane, but I sure do miss Hal’s mama coming into City Hall every morning with that sunny smile of hers.”
Karen welcomed the distraction. Her cheeks were still hot as the result of the longing Cassidy had aroused in her. “Have the detectives handling the case uncovered any more leads?”
Friendly shook his head. “Not that I know of, but that young detective, Richardson, plays his cards pretty close to his vest.”
“I suppose that’s best.” Karen glanced around. At six-three in his boots, Cassidy had the advantage of height on most of the males in the room. Her spirits drooped even lower when she realized he wasn’t in sight.
“Shall we?” Friendly asked, offering his arm.
As Karen slipped her hand into the crook of the councilman’s elbow and allowed him to lead her through the throng, she couldn’t help thinking about the early days of her marriage when nothing short of a cataclysm would have pried Cassidy from her side.
Chapter Four
By eight-thirty, the formalities had been concluded, which for most of the attendees meant that the real party could start. Slim-Boy Brown and the Old Time Fiddlers tuned their instruments and a couple of slicked-up, freshly barbered and cologned cowboys eager to dance with the pretty ladies cleared a space near the bandstand.
With