266 A DATE ON THE BEACH

"Do you ever speak?" Henry asked her. "Oh," Shiva looked at him wide-eyed, twiddling her fingers again. She shifted closer to the car door, if that was possible. "I'm sorry," Shiva said. Henry's already grim face couldn't have gotten grimmer. "Why are you apologizing? You haven't done anything wrong." Shiva blinked and said, "I… I am sorry." Henry shook his head. That was exactly what he hated; he imagined Cecilia glaring at him with a ready-made retort at the tip of her tongue. Henry gave Shiva a taut smile before turning his attention to the window by his side. He had been happy when Cecilia kissed him, in spite of the initial shock and, well, his panic as to what might be going on with his mother. Then he got home only to find his mother trying to force a woman on him, quite the opposite of Cecilia. His mother didn't know, of course, how much he had risked to get close to her. The driver cleared his throat before asking Henry, "Sir, you haven't told me where