Free Beverly Byrne by Come Sunrise

"
     
    Amy
had a mental image of a man stepping out of a coffin. Catholics certainly had
some weird ideas. "What are confessions?" she asked.
     
    Luke
laughed and patted her hand. "The sacrament of penance," he said. He
was off on a long explanation, but she only half heard. She was watching his
face. The way his mouth moved, the smile in his deep blue eyes. He was happy
and peaceful. She could tell by the way he looked and sounded. It did not occur
to  her that his calm was related to his visit to church and this thing called
confession. Luke, she told herself, was beginning to know what she knew.
     
    "I've
got two tickets for the Saturday matinee of the new Cohan review," Lil
announced over coffee. "I meant them as a surprise for Amy. Now I don't
see how I can go because I'm so busy with plans for the new house. Can you take
her Luke?"
     
    Amy
flushed. Lil made her sound like a child that needed a nurse. "It's all
right if you've something else planned," she said hastily.
     
    Luke
hesitated for only a fraction of a second. "Never too busy to be your
escort, princess."
     
    He
brought her chocolate truffles to eat at the theater and they had a box and the
show was marvelous. Amy was excited and very happy. She kept casting sidelong
glances at Luke and comparing him to all the other men in the audience and on
stage. No one was as handsome or as wonderful. Luke moved with more elegance
than the dancers, and there was something else that at first she couldn't put a
name to. It was power, she decided. Luke was so tall and lean and self-assured.
When he helped her off with her coat or conferred with her over the program his
every move was perfect. Once she glanced up and caught sight of the two of them
reflected in a gilt-framed mirror. Luke so blond, she so dark. We're a handsome
couple, she told herself. Even when we're old we'll look beautiful together.
Together, married . . . her blood was still singing that new and irrefutable
truth.
     
    They
were together almost daily for the next week. Errands to be done for Lil,
meetings at lunchtime to go to the library and find a book he wanted Amy to
read, dinner at the apartment. It was as if Luke somehow knew what she loved
most in him and acted accordingly. He was more sure, more graceful, more Luke.
His manner seemed to lose the trace of shyness and hesitancy he'd previously
had with her. Amy decided that the day on the beach had confirmed things for
him too. He knows, she told herself. Now it's just a matter of the right
moment. When that moment came they would speak aloud their love. They would
become engaged.
     
    The
weather relinquished its pretence of spring and turned bitterly cold. Amy didn't
mind; she was warm inside. Lil was deep in Christmas preparations. Amy debated
about what she'd give Luke, and dreamed that he might present her with a ring. Christmas
would be a lovely time to get engaged.
     
    Close
to five one Monday evening Lil knocked on the door of Amy's room.
"Darling, I've been such a fool. I saw a nice scarf for Warren at Macy's
this afternoon, but there were so many people at the counter I didn't want to
wait. Now I'm afraid it will be gone by tomorrow. They're open until six and I
was wondering..."
     
    "Of
course, Aunt Lil. I'll go right away."
     
    She
was leaving the building just as Luke arrived. He was earlier than usual.
"The heating in our office broke down," he explained, "so we
closed early. Where are you off to?"
     
    "Macy's,
Aunt Lil needs something." She saw the way he looked at her, and she was
conscious of her hat. It was green velvet with a fur trim. She knew it made a
ravishing frame for her face. "Care to come?" she asked.
     
    "I'd
love to. I haven't seen Macy's window this year. "
     
    All
the way to Herald Square he regaled her with stories of when he was a kid and
he and Tommy were taken to see Macy's Christmas window. By the time they
reached the store Amy was filled with anticipation. Mr. Macy didn't disappoint
her. The window