The Second Man by Emelle Gamble Read Free Book Online Page B

nurses could work around it when they bathed her.
    Dorothy received it from her mother when she was only a child, and had given it to Jill when Jill was sixteen. Dorothy had asked to wear it again last year when they came across it emptying out the family home.
    With a shock, Jill remembered that inside was a strand of her mother and father’s hair in one side of a locket, the other of which held some of her own, intertwined with a strand of Max Kallstrom’s hair.
    She had put it in one night after she had cut his hair for him, joking that she would shave him bald if he did not sit still. Jill blinked. “Guess who I saw last night, Mom? Max Kallstrom.”
    Dorothy rubbed the locket, but said nothing.
    “Do you remember my boyfriend when I was in college? Max with the dark hair. He loved tea with sugar and lemon.”
    Tears trickled down Dorothy’s face.
    Jill hugged her. “Oh, please don’t cry. Do you remember Max? From Sweden?”
    “Buketa. Buketa buketa buketa,” Dorothy said and moved out of Jill’s embrace.
    Jill swiped her hand roughly over her eyes. “Okay then. Why don’t we go eat? They’re having ham and scalloped potatoes. And there’s cake for dessert.”
    Dorothy’s eyes met hers in the mirror. “I want to leave,” she whispered.
    “I know.” Jill said. “I know.”
    When she got home at three P.M., Jill considered calling Max to say she was not up for dinner, or anything more. Half of her brain had argued a hundred times to just leave the past alone, and not invite the new Max into her current life.
    The other half of her brain had told her to let go and help the guy. She could have a new relationship with him. They could be friends.
    But she couldn’t make up her mind what she could handle. She considered calling Carly, but dismissed that. She wasn’t sure what she was feeling yet, so she was going to give herself more time.
    Time to decide what she could handle. She accepted Max’s story about why he hadn’t contacted her for all these years, but she wasn’t completely ready to forgive him.
    Why?
    Fear, she realized. For even though he had no relationship memories of her, hers of him were suddenly as hot and merciless as a bed of coals.
    Can I be around this new Max and not see the man I loved?
    Jill blew out a breath and went and took a long shower, followed by a short nap. When she woke up she felt refreshed. Outside her window a soft breeze sent the aroma of honeysuckle into her room, and she decided it would be foolish to not at least have dinner with Max.
    Spending time with him would give her new memories of the man, and help her overcome the past ones, or at least partition them from reality.
    The stiffness and anxiety she had felt last night, she realized, was because her feelings were still stuck in the past. She needed to make some in the present, and dilute the power the old ones had over her emotions.
    Satisfied she had given the situation enough consideration, Jill called and agreed to meet Max at seven. He was more business-like on the telephone, and she relaxed even more.
    Think of him as a new friend , she told herself. Because that is what he is.
    She chose her clothes more carefully than she remembered doing for years, white slacks and a soft silk blouse that wasn’t too clingy, along with her favorite navy jacket. She added hoop earrings and a delicate pearl and gold chain, dabbed a touch of lavender perfume behind her ears, more to relax herself than tempt anyone, and slipped on her sandals.
    Max rang the bell promptly on time and she greeted him with a genuine smile.
    He leaned across the threshold and kissed her cheek, his mouth warm on her skin, and held her close a moment longer than necessary when they hugged hello.
    Jill did not ask him to come in, just pulled the door shut and smiled, listening to him complain mildly about traffic as he walked with her to his rental car. A silver convertible, and the top was down.
    “I hope you don’t mind. But sunshine at