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to
her lips.
    Elissa
gnawed her lip. "They're...they're into an cient history,"
she said truthfully. Wasn't the Bible a record of human history, after all?
    "How
interesting." Bess finished her drink, tossing back her hair as she
glanced at the diamond-studded watch on her slender wrist. "Bobby's
late," she mut tered.
"Another business meeting that ran overtime. Or so he swears," she added under her breath. "Too bad
I'm not a briefcase; I'd be swamped with affec tion these days."
    "It's a difficult time,
Bess. Subcontracting can be extremely
time-consuming," King reminded her. "Jamaica desperately needs
outside investments, and the hotel
Bobby's planning will employ a lot of people, help the economy. But it has to be properly built. These things take time."
    "It's
been months already," Bess muttered dispir itedly.
    "It
will be over soon," King said, "and you'll be back in Oklahoma
City."
    Bess
looked up. "Yes, I suppose I will. What a trip to look forward to.
Instead of staring at hotel walls, I can stare at my own for a change,"
she said dully.

48
    Diana
Palmer
    Fit for a
King
    49

Her eyes searched
King's. "You never visit us any more, Kingston. You spend most of your life here."
    King
swirled the Scotch in his glass and stuck his free hand into his pocket. "I like
Jamaica," he said. He glanced
deliberately at Elissa. "A lot."
    Bess took
an audible breath and drained her glass. "Pour me another, would you,
please?" she asked, handing it to King.
    "I
think you've had enough, Bess," he replied. He took the glass and
put it aside, gazing down at a chas- tened-looking Bess. She merely folded
her hands in her
lap and looked defeated.
    Elissa was
trying to decide what to do to cheer them all up when a car came up the
winding sandy drive from the main road. A horn sounded, and sec onds later, a car door slammed.
    "It's Bobby," Bess said dully.
    King strode to the door to meet
him, and Elissa found Bess staring after him
with quiet misery in her eyes.
    Elissa
watched Bess watching King. "What's your husband like?"
she asked, diverting her.
    Bess
blinked, looking startled. "Bobby? He's... he's a businessman.
He doesn't look much like King ston, even though they had the same mother.
King ston's father was Indian," she added.
    "Yes,
I know." Elissa smiled at her. "You're very pretty."
    Bess's eyes widened.
"You're very frank."
    "It
saves thinking up lies." She cocked her head at the other woman.
"How did you and Bobby meet?" she asked.
    Bess
laughed softly. "You're so unexpected! Bobby was our star
quarterback, and I was a cheer leader."
    "King
says you've been married about ten years, yet you never had children," Elissa
mused aloud. "Didn't you want any?"
    Bess
sighed, looking at her shoes. "When would Bobby ever have time?
He's always at the office or on the phone." She pushed back her hair
angrily. "I never thought it would be like this. I thought— Any way, who
wants kids?" she murmured, avoiding Elissa's eyes. She
shifted restlessly on the couch. "They just clutter up people's lives. I
would love to go back to studying piano again, though. But my
practicing would disturb Bobby when he's trying to work at home."
    "How sad," Elissa
said, and meant it. "I think a woman
needs fulfillment as a person, just as a man does."
    Bess
frowned. "It floored me when you asked if I did anything. You
know, I never realized that I might be able to do something with myself...."
    Elissa
heard male voices; King and Bobby were approaching, much to
her relief. She was finding this hard going. It shouldn't have bothered her
that King

50
    Diana
Palmer
    Fit for a
King
    51

was in danger of
falling in love with this bitter, con fused woman, but it did. It bothered
her a lot.
    "How
long have you and Kingston been...been to gether?" Bess
tried to sound casual, but there was pain in her voice.
    "Well..."
It was extremely difficult for her to fab ricate, and Elissa
was grateful that King and a shorter man suddenly appeared in the doorway.
    "There
you are.