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The corner of Jackie’s mouth began to twitch, and although I hoped she was only remembering a really good knock-knock joke, I had the distinct and unpleasant feeling that she was trying very hard not to laugh at me.
“Do you have any idea how long?” Rita said. “And there are some heavy boxes here, stuff from the garage; I can’t carry them. But they have to go to— Oh. The power is on now? And the insurance company said the new house has a market value much higher than— Astor, I’m talking on the phone. Astor, please! Are you still there, Dexter?”
“I’m here,” I said. “How are the kids?”
“Lily Anne has a tooth coming in,” she said. “She’s very cranky, and I can’t even— What? No, you have to do your homework first. No. Because you have to,” she said. To Astor again? Or was it Cody this time? There was really no way to know, and I discovered that I didn’t care. I was beginning to find the whole conversation annoying, and the way Jackie was so clearly fighting off an attack of derisive laughter didn’t help at all. I turned away from her and lowered my voice.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call,” I said, trying to inject a note of finality into my voice. “But I’ll try to call again tomorrow, okay?”
“Tomorrow is the conference with Cody’s teacher,” she said. “At three o’clock, and you said— Damn it, Astor, just let me talk for a minute!”
I was fairly sure I’d said nothing of the kind, but I did remember saying I would be at Cody’s parent-teacher conference. “I’ll try to be there,” I said. “But I am pretty busy.”
“Well, you did promise,” Rita said. “And it’s important to him, so— Oh lord, the baby. I have to go.”
“All right,” I said. “Good-bye.”
I put my phone down and turned back toward Jackie. She was watching me with a very strange expression on her face, part amusement and part—what? Something else I couldn’t quite define. “What?” I asked her, but she just shook her head and took another sip of her drink.
“Nothing,” she said. “Just … nothing.” She looked at me over the rim of her glass, her eyes filled with liquid amusement, among other things. “Your wife seems like a very nice person.”
“Yes, she is,” I said.
“And a good cook, too …”
I just nodded.
She cocked her head to one side and stared at me very seriously. “So it’s worth it. The whole”—she waved a hand to indicate almost everything—“this marriage thing? It works for you?” she said.
It seemed like a strange question, which made it just right for the way this evening was going. “I guess so,” I said.
“You guess so,” she said, still staring, and I shrugged and nodded. “That’s not really an overwhelming endorsement.”
“Well, I mean,” I said, trying to think of an appropriate response, “it has its ups and downs.”
“Uh-huh,” she said. “What are the ups?”
“Oh, the, um … We’re moving into a new house,” I said. “It, ah … There’s a pool?” It sounded pretty lame, even to me, and Jackie let it hang there for a few seconds, the silence making it sound even lamer.
“Uh-huh,” she said at last. “The pool that needs a new cage.”
“That’s right—and it has a much bigger kitchen,” I just blurted out; I don’t know why, except I felt I had to say something.
“Right,” Jackie said. “So Rita can cook even more.”
“Yes, that’s right,” I said. I grabbed for my mojito, mostly because I was floundering through very boggy ground and really needed the security of having something to do with my hands.
“Uh-huh,” she said. She sipped her drink and studied me with one eyebrow raised. “So does marriage make you happy?”
“It’s … it’s, um,” I said with my usual eloquence. “I mean, you know.”
“No, I don’t,” she said. “Never had it.” She tilted her head and shrugged. “But it doesn’t sound like it’s exactly thrilling you.” And although I have to admit that I was starting to think so, too, it didn’t seem like something I should say out loud.
“You still haven’t said what Rita looks like,” Jackie said with a frown.
“Oh,” I said. “Well, um—I mean, she was very good-looking, when—”
“Was good-looking?” Jackie interrupted. She took a big slug from her glass. I watched her throat muscles glide as she swallowed. “Jesus, I’d cut your heart out if you said that about me.”
