“Do you like it?” Pattie asked hopefully. “It was my father’s.”

“It’s beautiful,” he said quietly, closing the box, without putting it on his wrist. “But I can’t accept it. That’s a really big gift, and it was your father’s. You can’t just give that to someone like me.”

“Why not? What do you mean?” She looked hurt.

“You hardly know me. What if we break up? You don’t want me going off with your father’s watch. You should keep that for Justin one day.” Just as his own father’s watch was waiting for him, but he had never worn it yet. Annie had it in a safe for him.

“Then don’t break up with me,” Pattie said, sounding pathetic. “I want you to have it, Ted.”

“Not now,” he said gently, and silenced her with a kiss. And a moment later the predictable happened, their clothes were in a heap on the floor, and the tensions of the past two days had found release. Their passion overwhelmed them both, and they lay breathless, first on the couch and then in her bed, clinging to each other insatiably. He couldn’t get enough of her, and she seemed desperate in the way she made love to him, as though she wanted to swallow him whole and become a part of him.

It was ten o’clock when Mrs. Pacheco called her and asked if she could bring the children home. She wanted to go to bed. They had totally forgotten the time, and Ted still hadn’t left. They dressed hurriedly, and a few minutes later Jessica and Justin rang the bell, and Ted gave them their gifts as soon as they walked in. They loved the games, and Pattie looked happy and relaxed again. The past few hours had convinced her that Ted was still addicted to her. She had been terrified that she had lost him and had made him miserable as a result, punishing him for going home.

“I have to go,” he whispered to her, and she shook her head. She wanted him to stay, but her kids were home, and he didn’t want to do something crazy with them there. Instead he wished them all a merry Christmas, kissed her, put on his coat, and hurried down the stairs. He wanted to get home. He didn’t know why, but tonight had made him sad. She seemed so desperate, and her father’s watch had been too big a gift. It hadn’t touched him, it had scared him. He had left the gold watch on the dresser in her bedroom. They weren’t married or engaged, he didn’t even know if he was in love. He liked her a lot and he wanted to be with her, and their lovemaking was extraordinary, but he didn’t want to become her prisoner either, and sometimes there was a hint of that. He took a big gulp of air as he hailed a cab and got in. She had been sexier than ever, but for the first time in a month of making love to her, he was relieved to leave. He wasn’t sure why he felt that way, but he suddenly felt as though Pattie were suffocating him.

The others were asleep when he got home. It had been a long day. When Ted left, they had watched a movie, and after that Kate and Annie had played Scrabble while Liz finished packing for Paris, and then they all went to bed.

Ted tiptoed in when he got home. Annie had left the Christmas tree lit for him, and he sat down on the couch and looked at it, thinking of where he had just been. It was so exciting and intense being with Pattie, but the white heat of her passion seared him at times. And all he could think of now was that it felt good to be home, in the apartment where he’d grown up, with the people he loved. Pattie was like a wild fantasy he couldn’t get enough of. But this was real. He sat in the living room, feeling like a kid again, smiling at the Christmas tree, and happy to be home.


Chapter 8


On the day after Christmas, Ted slept till almost noon. Lizzie left the house at ten in the morning for a one P.M. flight to Paris, and Annie was at her desk, working on some plans for Jim Watson’s apartment, when Kate wandered in and asked if she could have a friend over for pizza that night. She was always considerate about asking if she could have people in, and Annie was happy to have her entertain her friends. She had always been very welcoming to all of them.

“Of course. You don’t have to ask, but thank you anyway.” And then she looked at her and smiled. “Is this a new love interest you haven’t told me about?”

“No, he’s just a friend.” But Annie knew better than that after being a surrogate parent for all these years. New boyfriends and girlfriends were always announced as friends. “We might go to a movie, or stay here.”

“Do whatever you like. I have some work to do. I can stay in my room.”

“You don’t have to hide.” Kate smiled at her. “I’m not fifteen. I’m not ashamed of you.”

“Well, that’s nice to know. I was pretty embarrassing there for a while.”

“You’ve improved,” Katie said magnanimously with a broad grin.

“What’s his name?”

“Paul. He goes to my school. He’s really talented. He wants to be a graphic artist one day, but he’s really good at fine arts. His parents want him to learn something practical, like design.”

“How old is he?”

“Twenty-three.” It seemed like a reasonable age to Annie, and she nodded.

“I’ll be happy to meet him. I like it when you bring your friends home.” Katie nodded and went back to her room and called Paul. He said he’d come over around five. And after she talked to Paul, Ted emerged from his room. He looked exhausted. His sexual adventures with Pattie were wearing him out. Pattie had just called and invited him out to lunch with her kids. There was still snow on the ground in the park, and she had suggested a snowball fight or maybe skating for the afternoon. He liked the idea and had agreed.

He left the house an hour later without telling his aunt or his sister where he was going. He just said he was meeting friends and didn’t say when he’d be back. Annie wasn’t surprised, and it didn’t bother her. She didn’t keep track of his every move, and at twenty-four, he had to feel free to come and go when he stayed with her.

Katie went out for a while too. She wanted to check out the sales at her favorite stores, and she came back to the apartment shortly before five. Annie was still working at her desk and had been there all afternoon. The doorbell rang a few minutes after Katie got home, and she went to let him in. Annie could hear them talking and laughing in the living room, and Katie had put some music on. It was the Clash, which Annie actually liked.

They had been there for an hour when Annie walked through the room. She was on her way to make a cup of tea and intended to casually say hello, and she smiled at the handsome young man who stood up and held out his hand to shake hers. He was much more polite and poised than Katie’s usual friends. He introduced himself with impeccable manners, and he was wearing a blazer and a tie, which was unheard of among Katie’s cohorts. He was a beautiful young man with jet-black hair and deep honey-colored skin and eyes the color of onyx. Annie realized that he was probably from the Middle East, or maybe Indian, and suddenly she remembered the book about Muslim culture that she had seen in Katie’s room. She had obviously borrowed it from him. And she hadn’t said a word to Annie about him before he came. He was extremely polite as he shook hands with Annie. He seemed very mature for his age, and he was a far cry from Kate’s tattooed and pierced friends from art school who wore drooping jeans and torn T-shirts with uncombed hair.

In an effort to make him feel welcome, Annie offered him a glass of wine, and he smiled and said he would prefer a cup of tea. It was a welcome change from the vast quantities of beer Katie’s friends always consumed when they came to visit.

The two young people followed Annie into the kitchen while she made the tea. Katie helped herself to a Coke, and Paul chatted easily with Annie. As she served him tea, Paul explained that his parents were Iranian, from Tehran, but they had all been in the States since he was fourteen. He said he still had family there but hadn’t been back to his native country for a visit in nine years, since they left, and added that he was an American citizen, as were his parents. He spoke without any trace of an accent and seemed very polished and adult and also very respectful in the way he spoke to Annie. Katie’s eyes shone brightly every time she looked at him, and Annie’s heart fluttered a little as she watched them.

They were young and very sweet, and Paul was clearly a wonderful young man, but Annie was concerned that their cultures were very different. Katie looked like she was in love, and if so, Annie couldn’t help wondering how his parents felt about Katie, with all her pierced earrings and tattoos and her very liberated ways. She was too young to take any romance too seriously, but if in fact she was serious about this, Annie wondered if Paul’s parents were concerned. In terms of their origins, Katie and Paul came from two different worlds. And Katie looked a lot wilder than she was. Annie was used to it and knew what a good kid she was. But for strangers who didn’t know her, Katie’s look could have been quite a shock, particularly for the parents of a boy as polite and conservative-looking as Paul.

All Annie could hope for her was that this was a happy romance but not a lasting relationship that would challenge them too much. But the look in her niece’s eyes said something very different. Annie had never seen her look like this at any boy. And Paul was not a boy, he was a man. Annie could easily see everything that Katie loved about him, but that didn’t mean that a serious relationship between them at their age would be easy. And Annie knew that relationships were challenging enough without adding extreme contrasts to the mix, and backgrounds that were so culturally different in their traditions. It was hard enough to make a relationship work with someone who had grown up in all the same ways.