book and I remember them Vietnam pictures of Jake and her Uncle James was there because we was looking at ’em when that Whitley girl come to fetch her and Mary Pat made her stay and finish looking at ’em with us. And after they left, I put that album right back in the parlor table drawer and there it stayed till I fetched it out just now. So where the hell are they?” he demanded.
Kate’s attention snapped away from the clouds as she realized that Lacy was speaking directly to her for the first time since the interview began.
“You think I took them?” she asked. “Even if I’d wanted to, Lacy, when do you think I did it? I went straight to bed last night and you know perfectly well that I haven’t been near the parlor today.”
“Well, somebody took ’em, cause they’re sure not here now,” Lacy said truculently.
C HAPTER 6
Kate had been aware of the telephone’s distant rings for several minutes before she could pull herself up from dreamless depths and make her body move. Still groggy, she stumbled barefooted out to the hall where their single phone sat on a massive black walnut chest.
“Hello?”
“I was beginning to think you must be out plowing the back forty,” said Gina Melnick’s amused voice.
“No,” Kate said, fluffing her brown hair where the pillow had mashed it flat. Sunlight still brightened the west parlor, but she felt disoriented. “What time is it?”
“Ten after four. What’s the matter? Don’t they have clocks down there?” The agent’s voice became worried. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Honest. It’s the pregnant lady syndrome. You caught me in the middle of a nap and there’s only one phone here, that’s what took me so long to answer. How’s New York?”
“Just as it was when you left yesterday,” Gina said dryly. “Homesick for slush and sleet already?”
Gina had not approved of this move. “It’s the farm you should be selling, not your apartment,” she’d argued; and Kate soon realized that she had not given up the fight.
“Listen,” Gina said now. “I’ve found somebody who’ll rent your apartment for three hundred a month more than your mortgage payments. What do you say?”
“I don’t know, Gina.” The immediate money would be useful, but long-distance landlording might be a hassle.
“This guy’s as honest as Abe Lincoln,” said Gina, reading her mind. “Anyhow, I’ll have my lawyer draw up a no-loophole lease and we’ll put in that he has to vacate on a month’s notice if you change your mind about coming back.”
For a moment, Kate pictured the comfortable modern apartment overlooking the Hudson River. It seemed like days instead of only hours since she had left it for this quixotic adventure. Maybe she should forget about making a home for her baby here and go back to the city where she belonged. The moment passed as she remembered how devastated New York made her feel.
The farm might be Jake’s but curiously it did not cut at her heart the way the city did. Because it was his turf and not hers, it was now more neutral. Here were no landmarks to rise up and scald her with memories of places where she and Jake had met when they were courting: the theater dates, Sunday afternoons in the museums, or bookstores where she had glanced up from a table of bestsellers to find him waving lasciviously-titled book jackets.
The apartment was haunted by their lovemaking—Jake sleepy-eyed and tousled or lustily macho. For the last two months, she had slept on the couch, unable to lie in their bed alone night after desolate night.
“Kate? You still there?” asked Gina. “Look, it’s not just you I’m thinking about. My friend really does need a place to live. He’s desperate.”
“Okay,” said Kate, warmed by her concern. “I’ll call the managing company and tell them to give you the keys.”
They talked a few minutes longer. Kate did not mention the murder because she knew how it would upset Gina, who avoided
Kate’s attention snapped away from the clouds as she realized that Lacy was speaking directly to her for the first time since the interview began.
“You think I took them?” she asked. “Even if I’d wanted to, Lacy, when do you think I did it? I went straight to bed last night and you know perfectly well that I haven’t been near the parlor today.”
“Well, somebody took ’em, cause they’re sure not here now,” Lacy said truculently.
C HAPTER 6
Kate had been aware of the telephone’s distant rings for several minutes before she could pull herself up from dreamless depths and make her body move. Still groggy, she stumbled barefooted out to the hall where their single phone sat on a massive black walnut chest.
“Hello?”
“I was beginning to think you must be out plowing the back forty,” said Gina Melnick’s amused voice.
“No,” Kate said, fluffing her brown hair where the pillow had mashed it flat. Sunlight still brightened the west parlor, but she felt disoriented. “What time is it?”
“Ten after four. What’s the matter? Don’t they have clocks down there?” The agent’s voice became worried. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Honest. It’s the pregnant lady syndrome. You caught me in the middle of a nap and there’s only one phone here, that’s what took me so long to answer. How’s New York?”
“Just as it was when you left yesterday,” Gina said dryly. “Homesick for slush and sleet already?”
Gina had not approved of this move. “It’s the farm you should be selling, not your apartment,” she’d argued; and Kate soon realized that she had not given up the fight.
“Listen,” Gina said now. “I’ve found somebody who’ll rent your apartment for three hundred a month more than your mortgage payments. What do you say?”
“I don’t know, Gina.” The immediate money would be useful, but long-distance landlording might be a hassle.
“This guy’s as honest as Abe Lincoln,” said Gina, reading her mind. “Anyhow, I’ll have my lawyer draw up a no-loophole lease and we’ll put in that he has to vacate on a month’s notice if you change your mind about coming back.”
For a moment, Kate pictured the comfortable modern apartment overlooking the Hudson River. It seemed like days instead of only hours since she had left it for this quixotic adventure. Maybe she should forget about making a home for her baby here and go back to the city where she belonged. The moment passed as she remembered how devastated New York made her feel.
The farm might be Jake’s but curiously it did not cut at her heart the way the city did. Because it was his turf and not hers, it was now more neutral. Here were no landmarks to rise up and scald her with memories of places where she and Jake had met when they were courting: the theater dates, Sunday afternoons in the museums, or bookstores where she had glanced up from a table of bestsellers to find him waving lasciviously-titled book jackets.
The apartment was haunted by their lovemaking—Jake sleepy-eyed and tousled or lustily macho. For the last two months, she had slept on the couch, unable to lie in their bed alone night after desolate night.
“Kate? You still there?” asked Gina. “Look, it’s not just you I’m thinking about. My friend really does need a place to live. He’s desperate.”
“Okay,” said Kate, warmed by her concern. “I’ll call the managing company and tell them to give you the keys.”
They talked a few minutes longer. Kate did not mention the murder because she knew how it would upset Gina, who avoided
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