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"It wasn't how you treated me," she said, licking a smear of mustard from the corner of her lips. "It was how you and Mother treated each other. First of all, she's been a nervous wreck. She's never nervous. I'm the one who's high-strung and impatient. In my life, I've never seen her so tightly wound. At first, I thought it was because of the crisis situation. But then I became aware of how she was with you. She was never like that with Daddy."
Dodge's gut was tied in a knot. He craved a cigarette, but not as much as he craved to know how Caroline's behavior toward him was different from what it had been with Jim Malone. He hated himself for asking, but he did. "What was she like with him?"
"They had a very solid marriage. They loved each other. I'm convinced of that. But they were unfailingly reserved and polite. She and Daddy never fussed over each other the way the two of you do. They never fussed at each other the way you do. Their relationship ... well, it didn't spar
k. I never knew any differently, so I didn't think anything of it until I saw how the two of you are with each other. There's no polite formality."
"We spark?"
She laughed. "Yeah. You do." She was reflective for a moment, then said, "Looking back on Mother's relationship with Daddy, I think she was always trying to ensure his approval of her. She doesn't strive for yours."
"My standards aren't as high as his."
Berry smiled. "No. She knows she has your approval. Unconditionally."
Grace appeared at the end of the booth. "Something the matter with the burger, Dodge?"
"No. Guess I wasn't so hungry after all."
"I'm going on a smoke break in a minute. Want to join me?"
"Check back."
Looking disappointed, she removed their plates. Berry's eyes followed her. When they came back to Dodge, she said, "She likes you."
He shrugged and reached for his beer.
"All women do."
"That's an exaggeration if I ever heard one."
"I don't think so. Mother hinted as much."
"Did she?"
"Was that the problem?" Berry asked.
He looked across at her but said nothing.
"You're popular with the ladies, Dodge. Is that why you didn't marry my mother?"
CHAPTER
24
Houston, Texas, 1979
IF WORK HADN'T SUCKED SO BAD, DODGE'S LIFE WOULD HAVE been perfect.
Roger Campton's family had trundled him off to South America, ostensibly to oversee their oil interests in Venezuela. Good riddance to everyone except the Venezuelans, Dodge thought.
"I hope they know to lock up their daughters," he told Caroline when they read the notice in the business pages of the newspaper.
Her tummy had a bump that he thought was adorable. "I can see you in profile now."
He couldn't keep his hands off the slight protrusion, sometimes to her annoyance.
"Dodge, you're in my way."
