The Doctor and the War Widow by Viola Russell

rain began pelting the ground. New Orleans was about to experience one of the many summer showers that offered respite from the heat, but that drenched pedestrians and sometimes even flooded streets.
    Harley cursed her own rudeness. “Shit, I’m an idiot. Sure, come in. Nico will be really pleased to see you.” She stepped aside to let him pass into the hallway.
    “Will you ?” Pete knelt to rub Nico’s ears. The dog rolled onto his back to receive some more attention.
    “Will I what?”
    “Be pleased to see me.” Pete followed her into the kitchen.
    Harley nodded. She sensed the blood rushing to her face and took a deep breath. “Of course. Coffee?”
    Pete nodded, leaning against the doorframe. His gaze never left her. He was a handsome man with curly blond hair and a wiry frame. He’d always reminded Harley of a movie star from the 1960’s. The Beatle boots and black jeans suited him.
    “Are you here visiting your family?” Harley put two scoops of coffee in the machine and switched it on. She remembered that he came from a large extended family. His parents lived Uptown.
    “More than visiting.” Pete watched her as she poured the coffee into two mugs and spooned sugar into both.
    “Milk, right?” She retrieved the milk from the refrigerator and poured it into each cup. “What do you mean by more than a visit? And how’s Julie?” Harley forced herself to ask about Pete’s wife. The woman was mousy and always gloomy, even at a party on a St. Patrick’s Day.
    “Still in Vermont. That’s what I meant about more than visiting. Julie and I just aren’t making it.” He shrugged. “I guess it’s good we didn’t have kids.”
    “Oh, I’m sorry.” Harley placed a hand on his arm when she handed him his cup. “But . . .” She hesitated before adding, “You never seemed very happy.”
    “Well, you’re right about that. We never were. I thought I’d make her happy by moving to Vermont, but it didn’t work. Besides, I’m too much of a Southerner to be happy in twenty feet of snow.” Pete shrugged and moved with Harley to the kitchen table.
    “You also had a good job here. I was surprised you left it.”
    “No kidding. That’s what my dad said.” Pete took a sip of coffee. “I’m lucky the Tourism Commission is taking me back.”
    Harley gazed at him over her cup. “I can see Julie’s point. Lots of people were freaked out by what happed here during Katrina.”
    Pete put down his cup and looked at his hands. He was quiet for a long time. “It had nothing to do with Katrina, not really.”
    Dread crept up Harley’s spine like a murderer wielding a knife. Her heart raced. She evaded his stare and moved to the coffee pot for a refill. “Would you like another cup?”
    “Look at me, Harley.” Pete’s gaze bore into her.
    “Don’t.” She stirred the coffee, moved to the refrigerator, and poured the milk.
    “A few months back, Julie admitted that she knew what had happened.” He moved to her, took the jug of milk from her hand, and placed it back into the refrigerator.
    Harley winced as if struck. “ It only happened once. We were both so sad over John.” Her whole body grew warm with embarrassment as she remembered Pete crying with her one year after John’s death. He then took her in his arms and kissed her. Suddenly, she hadn’t possessed a mind at all. She was all body and raging emotion, responding with fire. After the encounter, they had parted, embarrassed. What had united them was only loss, not love, and not even genuine desire. The whole encounter was an embarrassment Harley wished had never happened.
    Pete nodded and closed the refrigerator. “I know you’ll never forget John. Hell, neither will I. Look, I thought we were discreet, too, but she said she knew. Called me a cheating SOB. I knew it was over between us when I didn’t give a damn.”
    “You really don’t care that the marriage is over?” Harley cast a wide stare in his direction. Her face was so hot