To Tell the Truth Read Online Free PDF Page A

and end with no regrets."
    "That's the way it will be," Andrea whispered, choked by the lump in her throat.
    "Then why are you falling in love with him?" her reflection jeered. "And why haven't you told him the truth about yourself? What's his opinion of you going to be when he finds out? You're a fool, Andrea Grant!"
    Closing her eyes tightly in pain, she turned away from the mirror, knowing that when she opened them nothing would have changed. The truth would be still staring her in the face. What goes up, must come down, she laughed bitterly. And she had been riding high, foolishly thinking that she still had her feet on the ground.
    Tell the truth. Wait. Tell the truth. Wait. The two thoughts hammered in her mind, the pounding dilemma making her sleep fitful and plagued with nightmares. She was no nearer to a decision with the rising of the sun.
    Once in Tell's presence, the little courage she had mustered vanished over the breakfast table. She couldn't tell him. Andrea wanted another day of happiness in her grasp. It didn't do any good to tell herself that she was not only a fool but selfish as well. So she waited.
    "I've made reservations for one of the dinner shows at the casino tonight," Tell told her as they checked in their skis after an afternoon run. "I hope you brought along something halfway formal to wear. If not, we'll run into town and buy something."
    "No, I…I have a dress," Andrea assured him quickly. The prospect of Tell helping to pick out a gown was more painful than pleasing. "What time?"
    "Six?" He glanced inquiringly at her, a caressive light in his dark eyes as he reached around her to open the lodge door. "Can you be ready by then?"
    "Easily," she said smiling, as she walked with him to the desk to pick up her key.
    "You have a message, too, miss," the clerk said, handing her a slip of paper with the key. "He called about a haft an hour ago."
    Without looking at it, Andrea shoved the message in the pocket of her jacket. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the glistening of the overhead light on the raven sheen of Tell's black hair as he tilted his head inquiringly toward her.
    "Aren't you even going to see who it's from?" he asked curiously, a watchful glitter in his look.
    Self-consciously, she took it from her pocket and glanced at it. She had already guessed it was from John. She had thoughtlessly not called him as she had promised.
    "It's…it's just from John." She shrugged nervously, trying to indicate that it wasn't important.
    "And who is John? A boyfriend you have tucked away in Oregon? Is that it?" Tell inquired with false lightness.
    "He isn't a boyfriend." Andrea breathed in deeply. The message clutched in her hand could be the means to begin telling him the truth.
    A slow smile began to curve his mouth. "He's the writer you've been working for, isn't he?" At her faint nod, he reached out and took the paper from her fingers. "A message from an employer invariably is a call back to work."
    "Tell!" she gasped, recovering from her stunned surprise and reaching out to take back the message. But he easily eluded her attempt.
    "If you didn't receive the message, then you can't know he called. And you won't have received any summons to go back to work." Deliberately, he tore the paper into tiny bits and tossed it into a nearby wastebasket.
    "You shouldn't have done that," Andrea breathed, her gaze swinging from the metal basket to meet his glittering gaze. "But I'm glad you did."
    "If you're going to be ready by six," he glanced at his gold wristwatch, "you'd betterget started."
    "I'll be ready and waiting," she promised.
    Three times in her room, she picked up the telephone to call John, but each time she replaced the receiver. Andrea couldn't understand her own hesitancy. There was a vague premonition that the next time she heard John's voice, the walls would come crashing down around her. It was a crazy sensation, but she couldn't overcome it. And the knowledge that Tell would be