Read Online My Love Betrayed by April Lynn Kihlstrom - Free Book Online

our mood later, in
his car, he covered it well. He even managed a little
whimsy on his own. Nothing could erase the horror of what was happening with Rick, but the
kindness of Charles and Mr. Iveson could help put
it into perspective. Maybe Rick’s life would be
ruined by this, but mine certainly didn’t have to be.

    We parted at the steps of the building, but the
mood persisted and I was smiling when I reached
the office. Carlos was already there.
    “Hi!” I called out cheerfully. “How’s it going?”
    He smiled back. “Very well. How are you this
morning?”
    “Ready for work!”
    Carlos nodded. Yesterday afternoon had apparently decided him that I was a colleague and we
plunged straight in. There was no problem today
of Carlos’s English disappearing. Nor did the
other men hesitate to join us when they came in.
    During a coffee break, we talked of more
personal matters. Two of the men were engaged,
and Carlos planned to be, soon. Somehow, I
found myself telling them about Rick. “He…he
was kind, attractive, secure,” I said. “The sort of
man I could always look up to. At least, I thought
he was. And I thought he wanted to marry me. But
I’m told he may be engaged to someone else.
Someone here.”
    Carlos nodded sympathetically. “Senor Kemmler, he changes faces easily, I think.”
    One of the other men muttered something, and
Carlos translated, “He says that you are to be
congratulated. That you have escaped marriage
with a man who would have been very bad for
you.”
    I turned away quickly and fumbled with some
papers on my desk, not trusting myself to speak. Had everyone (except me, of course) guessed what
Rick was like? For a brief moment, there was a
hand on my shoulder, then Carlos was saying, in
Spanish, to the men, “Time to get back to work!”

    The day was full of surprises. At noon, Mr.
Iveson appeared at the doorway to the office.
“Miss Steffee, would you consider joining me for
lunch?”
    “Certainly, sir,” I said a little uneasily. “Now?”
    “If it’s convenient.”
    “Just let me get my purse.”
    Carlos and I exchanged amazed glances and
then I Joined Mr. Iveson at the door. To my
surprise, as we walked through the building and
out to the street, Mr. Iveson didn’t ask a single
question. I ventured one or two optimistic
comments about the work, and he merely nodded
absently. It was only when we reached a small,
rather nice restaurant about half a block away that
he began to talk.
    “How do you like Mexico City?” he asked
abruptly as we were seated.
    “It’s beautiful!” I murmured. At his look of
surprise, I tried to explain, “I know about some of
the problems, and I’ve seen bits of poverty and
ugliness, here and there. I can’t say those things
don’t matter, because of course they do. But the
pyramids and museums and parks matter, too.
Especially to a tourist.”
    Mr. Iveson nodded. Then he began to talk about
his perceptions of Mexico, pausing only to give the
waiter our orders. The service was typically slow,
but the food well worth waiting for. And as we ate, Mr. Iveson even talked a little about his wife’s
hobby, archaeology. Apparently, there were some
current digs not too far from Mexico City.

    It was only over coffee that Mr. Iveson asked the
questions that mattered. “Tell me, Miss Steffee.
How did Mr. Whitford come to hire you?”
    I hesitated a moment. Charles had advised me to
tell Mr. Iveson nothing about Rick. But I found I
couldn’t lie to this man. “Well, you see, I really
came to Mexico City because of Rick Kemmler.
When we were both working in Chicago, we dated.
I had a vacation, so I came to see Rick.”
    I hesitated again, took a deep breath, and went
on. “I understand that Mr. Whitford came down
here to investigate problems with the new
computer setup. That meant checking on Rick.
Which meant that he ran into me. Especially since
I was staying at the same hotel he was at.