Danielle Steel - Heartbeat

“I'll see you tomorrow. Say hello to them for me.”

“I will,” he said, with something warm in his voice that was meant just for her, and she knew it. She was smiling to herself when she ran into Zelda on the way to the control booth.

“How's it going?” Zelda asked pointedly. She worried about Adrian at times, but they were both too busy to talk to each other very often. Zelda asked her if she heard from Steven from time to time, and she was always horrified to hear that she didn't.

“It's okay.” Adrian smiled. She knew Zelda wouldn't give away any of her secrets.

“I saw you with Bill Thigpen the other day.” She was curious about that. She knew who he was, and how successful his show had been, and she wondered if anything was going to come of it between him and Adrian, but she suspected that Adrian was still deluding herself about Steven. “Is that anything?” she asked openly, and Adrian looked offended by her bluntness.

“Yes. A nice friendship.” She hurried off to the control booth then, and at midnight she went home and fell into bed. She was too tired to even think, and she had a lot to do in the next two days before she left on vacation.

She went to Bill's studio again the next day, just in time to see the show air, and she watched in fascination as the woman who was supposedly pregnant sobbed, talking about her baby. Her husband was still in jail, and she was being blackmailed by a woman who allegedly knew who had fathered her baby. Her husband's trial had just begun, and Helen was still mourning the loss of her sister. It was easy to see why people got caught up in it. It was all so absurd, and so exaggerated, and yet it wasn't. It was exaggerated in just the way real life was, with all its unexpected quirks and turns and sudden disasters. People having accidents and getting killed and cheating on each other and losing jobs and having babies. There was a little more melodrama than in most lives, but not as much as one might have thought, Adrian mused, not if her own life was anything to judge by.

And as soon as she walked into the studio on silent feet, she saw the two boys, standing near Bill, watching the actors in fascination. Adam looked tall for his age, and he was standing quietly right next to his father, with sandy blond hair and big blue eyes y and long, long legs. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt and high top sneakers. Tommy was wrapped around a chair in a cowboy shirt and a pair of chaps, with the exact same look on his face that Bill wore when he was concentrating on something. They looked almost like twins, except that one of them was much smaller. And just looking at Tommy made you want to rim up and hug him. He had soft brown curls, and blue eyes that were even bigger than his brother's. He noticed her first, and stared at her with curiosity instead of watching the show. She smiled at him then, and waved, and he grinned, and tugged at his father's sleeve. He whispered something to Bill, and then Bill turned and saw her. He didn't walk over until they broke for a commercial and then he quickly introduced her before they had to be quiet again. Adam shook her hand with a serious air, Tommy grinned and asked if she was the one who was coming to Lake Tahoe. She only had time to whisper yes, and then found herself stroking his soft curls as she watched the rest of the show, but he didn't seem to mind it.

“That was good, Dad,” Adam complimented him as soon as the show was over. And Bill introduced him to all the actors. He had met most of them before, but there were a few new faces, and it touched Adrian to see how proud of them Bill was. He was clearly a wonderful father.

Tommy was climbing on one of the cameras, while Adrian watched, and she noticed that he was keeping an eye on her while pretending not to. Eventually, they all went out to lunch, and over sandwiches, Tommy looked at her squarely.

“How long have you known my dad?” he inquired as Adam frowned at him.

“Tommy, stop that! It's not polite to ask questions.”

“That's okay.” She smiled at both of them, and tried to remember. It depended when you started counting. From the first time in the supermarket, or from when they began to make friends. She wasn't sure which to tell them, and decided to go with the former. It made it look as though they had known each other a little longer. “A couple of months, I guess. Something like that.”

“Do you go out with him a lot?” Tommy went on, as Adrian grinned and Adam shouted at him to stop.

“Sometimes. We're good friends.” But he had spotted something of interest on her left hand, and he was staring at it as she ate her sandwich.

“Are you married?”

There was a long, long pause, and she avoided Bill's eyes. She wanted to be truthful with them, but this wasn't going to be easy.

“I am.” She still wore her wedding ring. She couldn't bring herself to take it off. Bill had noticed it, too, but had never said anything, and wouldn't have had the courage of his younger son to ask her to explain it. And then, “I was,” she corrected.

“Are you divorced?” This time Adam chimed in curious about the line of questioning his brother had started.

“No, I'm not,” she answered quietly. “But I will be.”

“When?” His innocent questions went straight to her heart, but she did her best not to show it.

“Maybe around Christmas.”

“Oh.”

And then Tommy again. “Why do you still wear your wedding ring? My mom wears one like that,” he volunteered, “only bigger, and it has a diamond.” Adrian's was narrow and simple and she had always loved it.

“It sounds beautiful. I wear mine because …well, I guess I was just used to it.” She had thought about taking it off in the past month, but couldn't bring herself to do it.

“Did you want to get divorced?” Adam asked then, and Bill decided to step in and get her off the hook. Enough was enough.

“Hey, guys, give the lady a break. Tommy, pay attention to what you're doing or you're going to spill that soda.” He rescued a can of root beer from him and looked at Adrian apologetically. He hadn't planned to subject her to the inquisition. “I think we owe Adrian an apology. Her private life is none of our business.”

“I'm sorry.” Adam looked at her remorsefully. At nearly ten, he knew better. But he'd gotten carried away with what his younger brother had started.

“That's all right. Sometimes it's better to ask about things instead of just wondering. I would have told you if I didn't want to answer.” She didn't answer his question, though, about whether or not she had wanted the divorce. It was still too painful. “What about you?” She looked at the boys seriously. “Have either of you ever been married?” Adam grinned and Tommy guffawed. “Come on, I told you, now you tell me. What's the story?” She looked from one to the other as they both started to laugh and Tommy was the first to volunteer information.

“No, but Adam has a girlfriend. Her name is Jenny.”

“It is not” He looked annoyed and gave his brother a shove, as Adrian watched them.

“It is tool” Tommy defended his veracity. “He used to have a girlfriend named Carol, but she dumped him.”

Adrian laughed at him, and looked at Adam kindly. “It happens to the best of us.” She smiled. “And what about you?” She turned to Tommy. “Any girls we should know about? I mean, if we're going to be friends, you probably ought to tell me.” They were the same principles they had applied to her, and she enjoyed teasing them a little bit, as Bill watched her. She was sweet and warm and open with them, just as she was with him. And he started to fall for her all over again. She was terrific.

They chatted through lunch, and Adrian hated to leave them and go back to the office. She invited them to come and visit the newsroom, but she didn't invite them to watch the show later that day. Some of the reels they had gotten in were just too grim, and she didn't want them to see that. But she showed them the studio and the editing rooms, and introduced them to everyone, including Zelda, who glanced at them, and their father, with interest. She questioned Adrian as soon as they'd left and she was back in her office.