It was Adele Connors, Lisl's secretary friend from the math department.
"Hello, Adele. Look, I've got to—"
"Oh, Lisl was so hoping you'd show up." She glanced around. "Isn't it strange here? Doesn't it make you feel funny! I mean, look at those paintings," she said, lowering her voice and pointing at the abstracts. "There's something unholy about them. But not to worry. The Lord is with me. And Lisl will be so glad you're here."
"Uh-huh."
He tried to slip around her but there was no room to get by. My God, the phone!
"She wanted you here so bad but didn't think you'd show up. So last night I prayed to the Lord that you'd be here today, and see? Here you are!"
He could feel the sweat breaking out all over his body. Any second now, that phone was going to ring. Any second…
"I've got to make a call, Adele."
"You know," she said, "not enough people at Darnell appreciate the power of prayer. Why, just the other day—"
Will pushed past her and lunged for the phone. He yanked up the receiver.
Safe! At least for the moment. It couldn't ring while it was off the hook.
That had been his original plan: Find a phone, lift the receiver, and leave it off the hook. But then it would begin to howl, or someone would see it off the hook and replace it on its cradle. His new plan was better.
Positioning his body between the phone and the rest of the room, Will reached around to the rear of the base and undipped the jack. This phone was now cut off from the rest of the world. No wire, no calls. Simple but effective.
He hung up the receiver and turned back to Adele. She was looking at him strangely.
"What was so important that you had to almost knock me over to get to the phone?"
"Sorry. Had to check on something. But there's no answer." He looked around the room. "Where's our hostess? I'd like to say hello."
"In the kitchen, I think."
The kitchen. Most likely there'd be a phone there as well.
"Thanks, Adele," he said. "I'll see you later."
Will wove through the living room, went right around a corner, then left toward the back, and there was the kitchen. There was Lisl as well. She was placing canapes on a cookie sheet, spacing them evenly and sliding them into the oven.
Will had to stop and look at her. She wore white, the same white as the rest of the condo, a dress of some soft fabric that clung in all the right places, its whiteness broken only by the red and green splash of holly above her left breast. He had always found her attractive, but she looked beautiful today. Radiant.
Whoever had said white wasn't a good color for blondes obviously had never seen Lisl.
She glanced up and saw him. Her eyes widened.
"Will!" She wiped her hands on a dish towel and hugged him. "You're here! I can't believe it. You said you weren't coming!"
"Your little note changed my mind."
"I'm so glad!" She hugged him again. "This is great!"
As pleasant as the contact was, Will couldn't enjoy it right now.
He glanced left and right over the top of her head, searching the kitchen for the telephone. He spotted it next to the refrigerator—a wall phone.
How was he going to disconnect that?
Gently he pushed Lisl back to arm's length.
"Let me look at you," he said while his mind raced. A wall phone—it hadn't occurred to him. "You look great!"
Her eyes were bright, her cheeks flushed. She looked excited. And happy. So good to see her happy like this. But he had to do something about that phone. And now.
"You don't look so bad yourself," she said. She reached up and straightened his tie. "But I can tell you're not used to one of these."
"Can I use your phone?" he said.
Her brow furrowed. "I thought you didn't like phones."
"I never said that. I said I just don't have one." He reached over and lifted the receiver. "That's why I'd like to use yours."
"Actually it's Rafe's."
"Just a local call."
"I didn't mean that. Go right ahead. He won't mind."
She turned back to the oven. While Lisl inspected the progress of her canapes, Will pressed the heel of his free hand under the base of the wall phone and pushed up. It resisted so he leaned his body into it. If he could get it free he could—
Suddenly the base came loose and popped off the wall with a clatter. He glanced around and found Lisl staring at him.
"What on earth—?"
He smiled sheepishly. He didn't have to fake embarrassment—he wished he could have been a little more subtle about this.
"It's okay. I'm just not used to these things. Don't worry. I'll get it back on its plate."
He saw that the base was connected to the wall by a three-inch coil of jack wire. He quickly unplugged the wall end, then reset the base back onto the wall plate. He listened to the receiver. Dead.
"The line's busy," he told Lisl as he hung up the receiver. "Can I try again feiter?"
"Sure."'
"How many phones does he have?"
"Three. There's one out in the living room and one upstairs in the…" Her voice trailed off. "Did you meet Rafe yet?"
"No. I just got here."
"As soon as these are done I'll introduce you." Her smile was bright with anticipation. "I can't wait for you to meet him."
"Great. Uh, where's the men's room?"
"Right around the comer."
"Be right back."
Will ducked around the corner, spotted the stairs, and ran up to the second story. He glanced in an open door, a bedroom, all in white, the double bed littered with coats, and spotted the phone on a nightstand. Seconds later he was on his way back down to the first floor, light of step, light of heart. All three phones were disabled. Now he could relax a little and try to enjoy himself.
"There you are!" Lisl said, catching him in the hallway as he approached the kitchen. She had her arm crooked around the elbow of a slim young man. "Here's the person I've wanted you to meet for months now."
Lisl introduced Rafe Losmara. Black hair and mustache, fine features, piercing eyes. His open-collared white shirt and white slacks—the same white as Lisl's dress—emphasized his dark complexion. Will realized then that these two were a real couple. And they were letting everybody know.
As he shook Rafe's hand, Will experienced a powerful sensation of deja vu. The feeling had tickled him before when he had seen Rafe at long distance, but here, close up, it was almost overwhelming.
"Have we ever met before?" Will said.
Rafe smiled. It was dazzling, charming.
"No. I don't think so. Do I look familiar?"
"Very. I just can't place you."
"Maybe we've seen each other around campus."
"No. It's not that. I get the feeling it was years ago."
"I grew up in the Southwest. Ever been there?"
"No."
Rafe's smile broadened. "Perhaps it was in another life."
Will nodded slowly, searching his memory.
"Perhaps."
Another life…
Before coming to N.C., Will had spent over a year on New Providence and the surrounding islands; most of that time was lost to him. That had been another life of sorts. v
"Have you ever been to the Bahamas?" he asked Rafe.
"Not yet, but I'd like to."
Will shrugged and said, "I guess we'll just have to leave it as a mystery for now. But I'm glad to meet you. Lisl's told me a lot about you."
"All of it good, I hope," Rafe said. N
"All of it very good."
Rafe slipped his arm around Lisl's waist and hugged her against his side.
"She's told me a lot about you too. Why don't you stick around after this is over and we'll sit down and get to know each other. Right now I've got to make sure everyone is fed and watered." He gave Lisl a peck on the cheek. "See you later."