Free Three Women by March Hastings Page A

question in the hope of discovering something that might make her own way to Byrne easier. Then she remembered what Byrne had said: A smart girl doesn't ask; she observes.
    Out of friendliness—Phil was a friend, if nothing else—she said, "How is the paint store coming?"
    "Swell," he answered without enthusiasm. "Ill be signing the papers Friday. Already gave my boss two weeks notice."
    "I'm glad for you," she replied. And she was glad. Phil was getting ahead, and someday he would forget her and marry a sweet thing who could love him as much as she loved Byrne.
    Proudly Mike said, "Phil got me a job with him."
    "Well, that's great," Paula acted as if she were surprised so that Mike could lord it over her for a few minutes.
    She took Phil's arm and squeezed it with appreciation. Mike needed somebody to look up to and emulate, and Paula was thankful that it was Phil. For a second she wished she could be part of all this. The family circle had a solidity and security which she knew there could never be with Byrne. Well, you sacrifice some things to get others, she thought. And love was more important than security.
    Mike walked Phil to the door. She stayed behind so at they could have a few private words together. After Mike locked the door, he came back and cleared the dishes off the table. He looked at Paula with an attempt at pity but it came out as resentment. "I guess you're pretty tired," he finally said. "Why don't just take the day off tomorrow?"
    Her voice choked on the words she wanted to say. There was no way to make Mike know that she loved him; that she needed him as a staunch brother to back her up and help her find strength.
    Behind Paula's brave front lay a vast world in which she wandered alone and lost.
    * * *
    When the alarm went off the next morning, Paula turned dizzily in her sleep and reached out a hand to shut it off. Her head ached with fatigue and she squinted into the growing daylight. The events of last night returned to her with the unreality of a nightmare. Her job was a new one. If she stayed home today, they would dock her. She couldn't afford to stay home. Yet she couldn't drag herself up and around to get dressed. If she never had to go to work again, that would be perfectly all right Those meaningless letters, those impatient voices calling for Mr. This-one and Mr. That-one. She had always accepted work as just a means of survival. Today it seemed unbearable. She fell back to the pillow and decided to stay home.
    Within the hour, Paula summoned enough courage to phone the hospital. Even if they couldn't assure her that her father was improving, they could at least tell her that things had not turned for the worse. The immediate burden lessened somewhat, her thoughts returned to the strange woman she had seen enter Byrne's apartment
    She listened to see if either her mother or Mike were awake. Deciding it was safe to risk the call, she dialed Byrne's number. But she hung up before the phone started to ring. Too early, of course. She didn't dare appear so anxious. Or stupid. Greta would certainly still be there and want to know what this was all about. She had better not irritate Byrne by rousing Greta's curiosity.
    Paula realized that she was thinking more clearly than she had for a very long time. Before this, she had had no reason to. With Phil it had always been a simple matter of emotion expressed when felt. But with Byrne there was all the excitement of a game of Russian roulette. One wrong move and she could kill all her chances.
    Bravely, Mike got up to go to school, the color in his face drained from lack of sleep.
    Paula said, "Maybe you ought to stay home today, too."
    He snorted at her on his way into the bathroom. She was glad that Mike was acting like a man. She felt proud and good that all Ma's and Pa's struggling had produced a good son, after all.
    She put up some cereal for his breakfast happy to see him eat and pack off for school determined to hide the fears and