Sweeter Than Wine Read Online Free PDF

fox-fur collar. Her narrow black hat brim was trimmed in the same
fox fur and bore an insouciant black ostrich plume.
    Alice returned Tati's wave, quickening her step. Then she noticed the tall man
standing next to Tati.
    An invisible hand closed painfully around her heart, and she came to a full
stop, gasping for breath.
    The early afternoon sunshine haloed the man's short blond hair. An old-
fashioned dark suit hung loosely from his wide shoulders, and his face was gaunt,
the cheekbones sharply defined.
    It was her husband, back from the dead.
    Why hadn't Tati told her? Why had the government lied, sending that damned
telegram?
    "Bill," she said, in a strangled whisper. Another deep breath, and her voice
returned. "Oh, my God--Bill!" Tears blurred her vision. Blinded, she ran the last few
yards separating them. "You're alive! How did you--?"
    Alice realized her terrible mistake the instant before she flung herself in his
arms. Not Bill!
    She tried to pull up short, but stumbled into him, causing them both to stagger
like drunkards. Against her breasts, for an instant, she felt his heart, beating
frantically fast. She pushed herself away in a startled recoil, but his steadying
hands on her shoulders held her near.
    "I'm so sorry!" Alice gulped, mortified. "I'm all right now. You can let go."
    He did, and Alice clasped her gloved hands together, unable to look into that
dear, familiar face, worn by a stranger. "You look so much like--"
    "Alice, this is my other grandson, Siegfried Rodernwiller." Tati
presented her lined cheek to Alice for a kiss.
    Alice obeyed, her own face flaming, then awkwardly offered her hand to
Siegfried. "I'm pleased to meet you. Mr. Ro-Rotenviller." As she stared at his
neatly knotted tie, she caught his unexpectedly sweet, slightly embarrassed smile
from the corner of her eye.
    "For your sake, I wish it had truly been my cousin here to meet you, Cousin
Alice," Siegfried said, in fluent but slightly accented English. His ears turned red.
He clicked his heels together, straightened sharply, and gave her a jerky nod.
"Please accept my condolences on your loss." His fingers closed around hers,
their warmth penetrating through her thin gloves, and he stared intently down at
her with eyes that were sapphire rather than Bill's sky-blue.
    Alice let him keep her shaking hand and he led her and Tati through the Ferry
Building and out onto the broad Embarcadero.
    He's not Bill .
    She had almost gotten over missing her young husband, his jolly laugh, and
the lightness of heart that carried him over every obstacle but the last.
    "May I?" Siegfried stood at the door of a waiting taxi, ready to hand her in. Tati
was already seated inside.
    Alice ducked into the car by herself. She could not bear it if he touched her
again.
    * * *
    Letting habit guide him, Siegfried opened the taxi door for his grandmother and
ushered her in while he stole glimpses of Alice's trim figure and slim ankles.
    Dazed, he remembered taking her hand, speaking to her, acting as if nothing
had happened, as if the ground had not teetered beneath his feet when she flung
herself into his arms. He had reeled at her touch, as if an earthquake had struck
that only he could feel.
    His chest still held the impression of Alice's bosom soft against him. He longed
to kiss that sweetly curved mouth, to trace her features, Celtic-fair with a sprinkling
of freckles, with his fingers and his lips.
    The incredulous joy in Alice's hazel eyes upon seeing him had been meant for
another man, but he wanted it for his own. Insanely and completely, he wanted her
as he had never wanted anyone else. At that moment Siegfried realized he was
going to agree to his grandmother's crazy scheme.
    * * *
    As the taxi crawled through the busy lunchtime traffic of vehicles and people
on Market Street, Grandmother Tati chattered brightly. Squeezed beside Siegfried,
Alice was morbidly aware of the texture of his wool suit where his arm and thigh
pressed against her. She responded