Lesley drew in a shuddery, snuffling breath and wailed a bit as she let it out.
“Okay,” he said. “Nice and slow, now. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“They must have the wrong guy, Uncle Stan. You have to tell them they have the wrong guy.”
“Tell who?”
“The FBI. They came to Rob’s apartment and arrested him and took him away and they said I couldn’t come because I wouldn’t be able to see him.” She looked up at her uncle’s face. “They think he sabotaged your computers.”
Dysart gaped at her in astonishment.
“But he couldn’t have.” Her voice had taken on a pleading tone. “He’s not a hacker or anything. He was trying to fix your problem, wasn’t he?”
“I thought so,” Dysart said.
But what if Rob’s efforts had just been for show? Could Rob really be so two-faced? And did an arrest mean they would know the keyword soon?
When Lesley spoke again, her cracked voice sounded far away, a mere whimper.
“I don’t know what to do.”
At five-thirty that afternoon, Lesley had climbed three flights of stairs to the top floor of Rob’s apartment building and crossed the hallway to his door. Before she could knock, the door swung open to reveal Rob wearing dress pants, black shoes and a crisp white shirt. He had a dishtowel draped over one arm like a waiter.
“Ah, yes,” he said. “Miss Whitlock. You’re with the Donovan party, are you not? Please, do come in.”
Lesley raised one skeptical eyebrow and walked past him into the apartment.
“We’re so glad you could make it,” Rob said. “Your table is ready and the others are already seated. Can I take your jacket?”
Lesley sighed and gave him her jacket. “I’m sorry,” she said, “I guess I’m not much in the mood for clowning around. It’s been a really crappy day.”
Rob closed the closet door and looked at her with a mildly shocked expression. “Tut tut, my dear. Not in front of the children.”
“What children?” Lesley said as she walked around the corner into the tiny walk-through kitchen. The sight of the dimly lit dining area stopped her cold.
A white tablecloth covered the table. The four place settings included salad forks, cloth napkins, as well as both water and wine glasses. Two fluffy teddy bears that Lesley had never seen before — one white and the other dark brown — each had their own place setting. Their chairs were pulled in close so their front paws sat on the table. Two tall candles flickered and helped to illuminate the arrangement of roses in the center of the table. A small envelope with her name on it leaned against the base of the vase.
“I told you the children could hear you,” Rob said.
She plucked the brown teddy bear from his chair and smiled for the first time in hours. “He’s cute. Where did he come from?”
“I wasn’t sure what kind of mood you’d be in. I thought it’d be safer for me if there were witnesses.”
“Ha ha.”
The teddy bear went back into its seat. Lesley opened the envelope. The card inside said: To brighten the day of the Future Mrs. Donovan. Love, Rob. She looked at the silly grin on Rob’s face and couldn’t help but laugh.
“You didn’t have to do this,” she said.
“You don’t like it?”
“It’s perfect. Thank you.”
“You seemed so upset when you called earlier.”
“I was.”
Rob leaned toward her and used two fingers to lift her chin.
“There’ll be other stories to cover,” he said, “you’ll see.”
Then he kissed her, briefly, on the lips. She was amazed at the amount of tension that seemed to flow outward through his touch.
“Could you do that again?” she said.
He did. Same result.
“How is it you always know how to cheer me up?” she asked.
His smile seemed to light up the room for her.
“Didn’t you know?” he said. “That’s my job.”
Lesley’s stomach growled.
“I think you better dig out whatever it is that smells so good,” she said. “All of a sudden I’m ravenous.”
Rob opened the warm oven and showed her the pizza, still in its take-out box. “My most favorite concoction,” he said, “and just as you like it, lots of cheese.” He gave her a serious look. “I slaved over this for hours, you know.”
She chuckled. “I know you’re an idiot.”
“Maybe,” Rob said with a shrug, “but you agreed to marry me, so now I’m your idiot.”
“You’re going to hold me to that?”
“Someone has to help take care of these teddy bears.”
“Well … okay. But only if you promise not to run off tonight and leave me alone like you did last time.”
Rob slid a slice of pizza onto her plate with a flourish. “Not a chance,” he said.
The pizza was exactly the kind of greasy food Lesley needed. After two slices she wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Okay,” she said, “I might survive now.”
Rob topped up their glasses with red wine and they moved to the couch in the living room. Lesley snuggled comfortably under one of Rob’s arms.
After taking a sip, Rob asked, “Who should we show the ring to first?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Lesley said. “When we’re done here I want to drive over to Stan and Sheila’s place and surprise them. Then after that we can phone our parents.”
“You don’t want to wait until the weekend and tell them in person?”
“No way.” Lesley’s wine jostled in her glass as she shook her head. “I’ve already waited two days to start telling people and I’m not waiting anymore. It was hard enough keeping it from Stan and Sheila when I was over there last night, but I knew it wasn’t the right time. Besides, all sorts of people will see the ring over the next couple of days and I don’t want Mom to hear from someone else.”
“I can just imagine what she’ll say.”
“The length of time we’ve been going out,” Lesley said, “I doubt anyone will be all that surprised.”
“Wasn’t Shayna excited?” Rob said.
“Shayna gets worked up when she finds a new shade of nail polish.”
Rob chuckled. “With her at the wedding, we’ll definitely have a party.”
“I was thinking of asking her to be my maid of honor. It’d either be her or someone back in Worcester like Karen Cunningham.”
“I haven’t even thought of who I’d ask to be the best man yet. Tim, I suppose.”
Lesley screwed up her face. “And of course he’ll bring Kirsten.”
“So what? You’ll have old boyfriends there, too. Like Tim, for that matter.”
“Oh, right. We dated for like a few weeks. I didn’t practically live with him for two years like you did with Kirsten.”
“That’s ancient history,” Rob said, “and you know it.”
Rob set his empty wine glass on the end table beside Lesley’s. He leaned in and kissed her. She put her arms around his neck, pulled him to her and the kiss grew long. She felt his hands move to delicious places.
When they came up for air she said, “Is this any way for newly engaged people to act?”
Rob considered this for a moment. “Absolutely,” he said, and they went back to work.
A knock sounded on the apartment door. Rob started to get up but Lesley pulled him down again.
“Don’t answer it,” she said. “They’ll go away.”
A few seconds later the knock sounded again, louder this time.
“I better see who it is,” Rob said. “Save my spot for me.”
Lesley relaxed back into the softness of the couch as he left the room. She heard Rob speak in the entryway.
“Who is it?” he said.
The reply got her up off the couch and buttoning her blouse.
“FBI, Mr. Donovan. We need to talk to you.”