The Blue Bath Read Online Free

you have the capacity to do it. Because it is expected.” He sniffed loudly, accusingly. “Do you do everything you have the capacity to do? I think you do not.”
    As her companion leaned in closer, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she saw Christopher, smiling at her warmly from a suitable distance. He must have overheard the conversation, but he gave no indication.
    “Katherine? I thought that was you. Chris Hastings. We met at the Brewsters’ Fourth of July party last summer.”
    “Chris. Of course, I remember.”
    She did not have to struggle to recall the occasion. She had a very clear image of that particular evening. It had been one of those incandescent summer nights that seemed to go on forever, when the sun itself seemed to hesitate at the edge of the horizon, waiting to see what would happen next. She could hear the crickets and taste the sea air on her lips as she moved across the lawn, feeling the heels of her shoes sinking into the soft, damp grass. She had been wearing a long backless dress with ropes of pearls down her back that brushed against her skin as she moved. She remembered the way the men had looked at her as she crossed the lawn that night. She could feel their gazes on her skin just as surely as she had felt the pearls.
    As he inclined his face imperceptibly toward her, the other face melted back into the crowd. “I had no idea you were in Paris.”
    As they talked, she became aware of a decidedly different type of gaze. Several of the women at the party were stealing glances at them. Kat guessed that this time it had little to do with her. Chris was witty and charming and had the singular ability to make her believe this even more when he listened to her than when he spoke. He never once mentioned his uncle who was a senator. He never once mentioned his grandfather who had been secretary of state. And it was only when she looked away that he discreetly scanned the room.
    Kat listened to him talk, alternating between his English and the French that surrounded them, amused by the patchwork of conversation that her efforts yielded. She was bored. The ease with which they had slipped into conversation. The solicitous way he asked all the right questions. They discussed all the things they had in common. Life back home, life in Paris, college, acquaintances. Shared history and perspective. It was all so easy and so familiar that here in this most Parisian of Parisian places, within stone walls that had felt the breath of history for centuries, she felt Paris begin to fade. Leaving her sitting at a party, one foot halfway out of her shoe, talking about home with a companion who was half listening.
    “I head back to Boston in a few months. I have a position lined up with Poole and Poole in their corporate practice. I start in September.” He took a small sip of what she had first assumed to be white wine, but now realized was water; and smiled in a way that was warm and yet clearly signaled the end of the conversation.
    “But you are going to run for office?”
    “That’s the plan.” He stood up.
    Kat was suddenly curious and followed him up from the couch.
    “Why?”
    He laughed. He seemed amused and slightly surprised by the question. For the first time that evening, she felt she had his full attention.
    “I mean, is it because of your family? Or is it something you want to do?”
    Christopher didn’t need time to consider this. He answered immediately. “I believe in free will, so I don’t think the decision was beyond my control, but it is based on some things that are—the feeling that I can make a difference, the sense of responsibility to do so. I know that there are sacrifices.” Here his face clouded momentarily. “But it’s about having the courage of your convictions. Once you decide what it is you believe in, everything becomes very clear.”
    He fell into it without thinking, she thought. The reverent tone. The rhythm of persuasion. She considered this beautiful,