Read Online Deceptions by Judith Michael - Free Book Online Page B

job at Midwestern is too good.' She kissed Laura's cheek. 'We'll buy a big house with lots of bedrooms and you'll visit us. You've never been to Evanston, have you? Or Chicago?'
    'Neither one.'
    'Well, now you will.'
    Stephanie saw Sabrina come into the courtyard and join Judge Fairfax and the Cardozos. 'Excuse me,' she said and crossed over to take her hands. 'You look wonderful!'
    'No, you're the one ... is it possible to be as happy as you look?'
    'When I come to your wedding I'll ask you that.'
    Sabrina smiled. 'Judge Fairfax says he bounced us on his knee when we were babies in Washington.'
    'And predicted I'd preside at your weddings,' said the judge. 'I'm waiting for Sabrina's to give me an excuse to come to Europe/
    Sabrina raised her eyebrows and once again changed the subject. She never talked about herself, Stephanie thought; not even in her letters. She wrote like a good friend, describing her days, asking interested questions, but always a little remote, just as she was last summer when they were in Scotland with their parents. Then she had been quiet and withdrawn, reluctant to let others draw her into conversation, as if she were afraid someone would accuse her of attempting to outshine her sister. Stephanie understood, but she refused to make things easier. It evened things out, she thought, if Sabrina felt awkward for once. She was ashamed of being mean, but she did nothing to make Sabrina feel better and for the whole month neither of them had had a good time.
    Once each of us was half of the other, she thought, watching Sabrina talk to the Cardozos. Now I don't know

    anything about her - whom she loves or what she dreams about. And she doesn't know me.
    'Sabrina/ she said, touching her sister's arm. They walked together, bending their heads to each other. Gordon caught them with his camera - his glorious daughters, identical but elusively more and more different: Sabrina strangely cool and quiet in a slim dress of dusty rose that subtly traced her body, her hair hidden beneath a matching cloche; Stephanie glowing in a white embossed gown edged in embroidered lace, a camellia nestled like carved ivoiy in the dark auburn of her hair. 'I've got to apologize,' she said.
    'Don't,* said Sabrina. 'I think I understand.*
    'How can you? You left school early so we'd have a few days together, and I've done all the talking; you haven't told me anything about yourself.*
    'It doesn't matter. You look so happy; I've never seen you look so happy. Stephanie, I love you. Just enjoy your day.'
    'You do like Garth, don't you?'
    'Of course I do. He's charming and he's in love with you. Stephanie, I'm happy for you. I'll talk about myself some other time. Not today.*
    Stephanie put her hands on Sabrina's shoulders and pressed her cheek to hers. She was glad Sabrina wouldn't talk about herself, that was the terrible truth. She didn't want to discover that behind Sabrina's casual letters was a life more exciting than hers. She had Garth, she didn't need Sabrina. 'Thank you,* she said to Sabrina, then stepped back as Garth came up. 'You two never had a chance to get acquainted.*
    Sabrina and Garth exchanged a quick glance. 'I'm sorry,* he said. 'I thought I could get here sooner. Too much to do. The end of the school year, the end of my teaching at Columbia. All that nostalgia to deal with We'll get acquainted later.'
    Stephanie shook her head. 'Not unless Sabrina leaves Paris and settles down in Illinois.*
    Sabrina smiled involuntarily at the idea, and Garth was struck by the imp that broke through her cool, remote lips. But she snatched it back; the imp disappeared. 'We'll visit,' she said. 'Don't professors come to Europe for research and - whatever else they do?*

    •Children,' said Gordon. 'The judge is ready.*
    Judge Fairfax stood before a bank of high bushes, Stephanie and Garth before him, with a friend from Columbia on Garth's left and Sabrina on Stephanie's right. As they arranged themselves. Garth whispered in