Free An Inconvenient Husband by Karen van der Zee Page B

is,
terrified she'll be fired over a damn phone! You should have seen her a minute
ago. She was shaking like a leaf when she brought me the stuff. She'd been
praying all night for forgiveness."
    Nicky felt a wave a
pity. "I feel sorry for her."
    "But
why does she feel this way, for heaven's sake? Why doesn't she know her own worth?"
Nicky shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea. Maybe it's culture, or
something. Or maybe nobody ever actually told her she was worth her weight in
gold."
    He frowned
impatiently. "I can't understand why she wouldn't know."
    "How are you
supposed to know what other people think if they don't tell you? Are you
supposed to read their minds?"
    He gave an exasperated
sigh. "Oh, for God's sake, Nicky, I'm not going to argue about this."
He swept up the bits and pieces of the receiver and dumped them unceremoniously
into the wastepaper basket. "I don't think we'll need this anymore."
    "So now we have
no phone," Nicky stated unnecessarily.
    "Right. Cut off
from the civilized world we are," he said indifferently. "I, for one,
don't care. A little peace and quiet won't hurt me at all."
    Irritation swelled
inside her. "That's all good and well, but in the meantime I'm sitting
here not knowing what's going on with my father!"
    He nodded, his
expression softening. "Don't worry about your father, Nicky. He's a smart
man."
    "That's easy for
you to say!" She clenched her hands, feeling suddenly close to tears.
"I can't believe this is happening to me! I hate not knowing what to do,
to just...sit here!"
    "It's the best
you can do for now."
    "Well, it isn't
good enough!"
    His jaw tensed.
"Complaining isn't going to get you anywhere. You might want to consider
what would have happened if I hadn't been able to get to you in time. You might
have found yourself in a place much less agreeable than this one."
    The thought alone
cooled her considerably. He was right. Of course he was right. She dragged in a
calming breath of air. "I'm sorry," she said, trying to infuse her
voice with a little mature dignity. "My nerves were getting the better of
me. I'll work on them." She was going to stay in control of her emotions
if it killed her. She wasn't going to complain.
    She caught the silver
glint deep in his eyes, but had no idea how to interpret it. She didn't know
his thoughts. Had she ever really known his thoughts?
    She turned and went
back into the living room which also had a wall of shelving containing books
and magazines in both French and English.
    To her delight she
found a wonderful collection of books on native foods, herbal medicines, and a
cookbook on aphrodisiacs and love potions. She took them to her room and read
through them, enjoying the strange tales and myths. There was an article in
there somewhere. She'd have to give it some thought.
    Ramyah served them a
delicious meal that night, flavorful, spicy food which Nicky enjoyed
thoroughly.
    "Does Ramyah live
in the village?" she asked Blake, trying for some conversation. He had
said little since the start of the meal.
    He nodded. "Yes,
but during the week she and Ali stay in the servants' quarters at the back of
the house. They go home on Thursday night and come back Saturday
afternoon."
    Nicky went on talking,
about her writing, about the success of her book, about the book she was
writing now. After a while it was clear that she was doing most of the talking
and annoyance began to creep through her.
    "Listen,"
she said, "I'm trying to be pleasant and keep up my part of the
conversation, but a little feedback would be appreciated."
    "I'm sorry, but I
don't feel like talking." He scraped back his chair. "I've work to
do, excuse me."
    She stood up, too, her
heart suddenly pounding. What was the matter with this man? She did not
recognize him. She faced him squarely.
    "I'm sorry if you
don't find my company stimulating, but I don't believe it's necessary for you
to be rude about it."
    He stood still, his
gaze meeting hers for a moment. Dark shadows, hesitation.