so cynical.”
“Not really. But I see the same guys at every one of these meetings, and it seems they get less courteous every time. Now, you! How did Judson Philips know I was at the Hilton in Cairo?”
“I know both of you, and I wouldn’t introduce either of you to just anybody. What happened? Didn’t you like him? He needs some cheering up, and so do you.”
“He sent me two dozen of the most beautiful calla lilies I ever saw. How would he know that calla lilies are my favorite flower? You don’t even know that.”
Scott leaned back in his swivel desk chair and rocked. “I said, didn’t you like him?”
“Don’t ask stupid questions. Why wouldn’t I?”
“That is not the answer to my question,” he continued.
“I liked him, Scott,” Heather admitted. “But don’t try to start anything between us. My life isn’t an easy one. My dad isn’t getting any better, and I want to spend all the free time I can muster with him. And you know I’m being considered for an ambassador post. I have to focus on that as much as I can.”
“The two of you have so much in common, Heather. Why don’t you give it a chance? You owe it to yourself.”
“I’m sorry. It’s the wrong time, Scott. He’s…well, he’s nice. I’ll let it go at that. How can I get in touch with him? I want to thank him for those flowers.”
He wrote a number on a notepad and handed it to her. “You can phone him.”
“Thanks, but I want to write him a note.”
“Yeah. You want to be formal. After the trouble he went to, he deserves better.” Scott wrote the address of Judson’s law firm and handed it to Heather. “Too bad. He liked you a lot.”
Judson looked at the letter and wondered at the precise, forward-slanting handwriting. It had no return address. The sender had marked it personal, and he expected it was probably one more invitation to another stuffy affair. He opened it and sat up when he saw the handwritten note.
Dear Judson,
Thank you for the most beautiful calla lilies I ever saw. Two dozen in about five different colors. Calla lilies are my favorite flower, and you couldn’t have known that. They were still in bloom when I left, and I hated that. But as you know, I wouldn’t have been allowed to bring them into the country. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness.
Yours truly,
Heather
“That’s something,” he said. He folded the note and put it in his pocket. She was an intriguing woman. Several different scenarios flitted through his mind. Did he really want a serious involvement with a roving ambassador? Maybe something casual was what he needed. He leaned back in the chair and made a pyramid of his fingers.
He phoned Scott. “Want to meet for lunch? I have to check on a few things not far from your office.”
“Sure you wouldn’t rather be lunching with Heather?”
“If that were the case, friend, I would have called her.”
“Meet you at The Crab Shack.”
They reached The Crab Shack at almost the same time, and sat at their favorite table. “Your usual, gentlemen?” the waiter asked.
“Right,” they said in unison.
“We have a president who’s pushing education,” Judson said to Scott. “I’m planning to start a boys’ study group. And instead of sports, the focus will be academics. Why don’t you start a girls’ group, and we can have competitions that will keep them focused and interested?”
“Me start a girls’ group? Why don’t you rope Heather into it?”
“I don’t want to involve her in this. You get a boys’ group, then. It won’t work unless they have competition.”
“Okay. You do South Baltimore, and I’ll form one in the Reisterstown area,” Scott decided. “Have you made any further progress on your mother’s estate?”
Judson shook his head. “I’ve had too many distractions. I’m going to look into it again tonight, see what I can find. You’d think my parents would have told me or at least left me some explanation. Suppose I need a bone-marrow transplant. Where would I turn?”
“You won’t, and don’t worry. You’ll find what you’re looking for. They didn’t destroy papers that they could some day need.”
“I sure hope you’re right.”
“This isn’t good,” Heather said to herself when she awakened that morning. It isn’t cold, so why do I feel chilly? She got out of bed and padded to the bathroom. Maybe if she drank some coffee, she could pull herself together. She managed to make the coffee, but took a cupful back to her bedroom, put the cup on her nightstand and crawled back into bed. She didn’t get sick. Never. So what was wrong with her?
She couldn’t afford to get sick. She had to take care of her father and be ready for a permanent diplomatic post. If she wasn’t up to it, someone else might get the assignment.
She fell asleep lying across the bed and awakened at a quarter of ten with a full-blown cold. After admitting to herself that she really was sick she phoned Scott. “Hi, this is Heather. I’m home, and I’m feeling rotten.”
“You’ve got a cold. I can hear it in your voice.”
“Looks like it. Could you please ask my secretary to print out that report I was working on and leave it with my doorman when you leave work this afternoon?”
“Sure. But why would you try to work? You’re sick.”
“I know, but it’s due the day after tomorrow, and this is not a good time to start coming up short.”
“All right. I’ll deliver it. Do you have any food—juice, soup or something—for your cold in the house?”
“Scott, you’re such a darling. Why didn’t you and I fall in love? I need some milk, grapefruit juice and eggs. I have coffee and tea.”
“You got it. You and I would never fall in love because both of us need the same thing—someone who’s laid-back. Two type-A personalities would kill each other. Now, take Judson—”
“All right. I got the message,” she said sleepily.
“Go to sleep. See you later.” He hung up, and she managed to do the same. She knew she should eat, but she didn’t have the strength to cook.
The intercom buzzed, awakening her. “Hello.”
“Ms. Tatum. A man is here with some things for you. Shall I send him up?’
“Thanks,” she said and dosed off again.
“Philips speaking.”
“This
