Free Always by Carol Rose

"Goodnight."
    ~~~********~~~

 
    Five
     
    "I'm so glad you called on your way through town, Brad." Elinor smiled at her best friend's husband across the checkered tablecloth. "I talk to Julie on the phone every week, but you know how she is."
    The sandy-haired man nodded and laughed. "You ask how she is and she says, 'fine,' even if she's dying."
    "That's it," Elinor agreed. "And I know this pregnancy hasn't been easy for her."
    "The doctor says she's okay now." Brad's face looked relieved as he picked up the menu. "She just needs to rest and avoid stress."
    The restaurant was filled to capacity with a boisterous Friday-night crowd. Across the room, the band played a mix of zydeco and country music, all projected at high decibels.
    Having made her selection from the menu, Elinor watched the ever-moving mass of people on the dance floor. She was grateful Brad had asked for a table away from the band. That way they had a chance at being able to carry on a conversation. And she definitely wanted to hear all the news.
    Julie had been her best friend since college, and never had their long-distance friendship been more frustrating than now when Julie faced her first pregnancy.
    Concentrating on Julie would also help Elinor put Cole out of her mind. Ever since last night, her mind had whirled with a jumble of thoughts, none of them productive.
    She couldn't decide whether to be relieved or frustrated that Cole had decided to be noble. He'd been right to put a stop to their heated passion, she recognized. She certainly hadn't been making a rational decision about their involvement.
    But that hadn't stopped her from tossing and turning in her bed the drumbeat of desire surging through her body, her mind racing with confusion.
    On the surface, Cole didn't seem like a driven, success-obsessed man. From what she could tell, he wasn't a workaholic. But money polluted everything, everyone. She'd known that early on when her weak father and wealthy grandfather had parted ways over a plantation house and its accompanying fortune.
    Every wealthy person she'd ever known had been governed to some degree, by their money. How could Cole be different?
    Elinor had battled preoccupation all day, struggling to focus on some back work she needed to finish. So, when Brad called and asked her to have a bite of supper on his way through town, she had jumped at the offer. Anything to get away from her own thoughts.
    After a waiter took their orders, she and Brad chatted above the music, catching up since she'd last visited with him and Julie.
    After a moment, Brad sat forward, leaning his elbows on the table, and began an obviously reluctant interrogation.
    "So, Julie wants to know about this guy you've been seeing."
    Elinor had to chuckle at the look on his face. Clearly, her nosy friend had roped her husband into questioning her. "I'm not seeing anyone, Brad." She shrugged nonchalantly. "I told Julie that."
    "She doesn't believe you." Brad loosened his tie with a harried expression. "She says you're upset about something and her woman's intuition tells her it's a man."
    Elinor sipped her water, silently wishing her best friend's intuition to perdition. "I'm not upset," she reiterated, replacing her water glass on the table.
    Brad leaned back with a sigh of relief. "I told her she was imagining things. But you know how it is. She's had to quit work and there's nothing much to do at home all day. She'll be fine once the baby's here."
    The waiter brought their orders, refilled the glasses and hurried off into the crowd.
    Just then the band ended a rowdy number and began playing a slow, lilting ballad. The song was one of Elinor's favorites and she had to kill the impulse to hum along.
    Turning slightly in her chair to get a better view of the dance floor, she couldn't help thinking of Cole. The song's plaintive words told of finding a long-lost love and living happily into the sunset years.
    The dancers shuffled past, some swaying gracefully, others