The whole story took only a few seconds to tell, but she felt as though she had been speaking for ages when finally she fell silent, waiting for some reaction from Tim. She did not have to wait long.

"NO!" he said rising and standing defensively over her, his entire body tensed. "No!"

Even though she had carefully omitted any mention of what had happened in the park, Tim had clearly gleaned the fact that Sam Dagon had a more than casual interest in his wife.

"Do you think I'm stupid enough to fall for something like that? That creep has hot pants for you… so he offers you a job… and I can tag along if I want… Do you think I'm crazy?"

"Oh, honey… come on… it's not like that… Oh, sure, I think he likes me… but I told him about you… and he knows he couldn't pull anything if we're both there. Think of all the time you'd have to write… and I wouldn't have to work so hard… I'd be doing something really interesting… meeting people…"

"Will you shut up…? Damn it! I don't want to hear about it!" Tim turned and stormed out the door. From the kitchen came the acrid odor of burning bacon, and then the sound of pots being slammed around. She heard him go into the living room and slam the door behind him.

Kate sat there for a moment, and then she got up. What a way to start the day, she thought… Each day had been getting progressively worse recently and this one was no exception!

She felt like crying again, but she realized that crying would do no good. She would have to go in and talk to Tim and try to get him calmed down. She slipped on a negligee, one of her many wedding presents that showed more of her than it hid, and, wrapping it around her voluptuous body, padded barefoot into the hallway to the door that led to the living room. She opened the door quickly. Tim was sitting at his desk in front of his typewriter pretending to be studying some papers, but she could tell that he was just sitting there furious.