any dates to me. Sure you haven’t got a little black book of telephone numbers that would give you the answer?”
“Not that I’ve discovered. Well, thanks anyway, Arch.”
“Hey, don’t hang up. Listen, I’ve got an appointment with Hennig in the morning—the executor of the estate. About probating the will, selling the house, all that kind of thing. You ought to be with me—you know, in case signatures are required on anything.”
“All right,” I said. “Where and when?”
“Meet me at nine-thirty at the Rexall drugstore at Fourth and Main. That’s in the same building as Hennig’s office. The appointment’s for ten; that’ll give us time to have a cup of coffee and talk a while first.”
I told him that sounded like a good idea.
I reached Robin’s at exactly seven and, miraculously, she was dressed and ready. She even had drinks made. Tinkling Tom Collinses. It was nice to sit there staring at her over the rim of a cool glass. Definitely, in a blue evening gown, she was worth staring at. She was beautiful.
“Any place special you’d like to go, Robin?”
“Anywhere you say.”
“Niagara Falls?” I shouldn’t have said it; I could tell by her face. I didn’t wait for her to answer. “Or maybe Ricci’s?”
“No, Rod. Anywhere but Ricci’s.”
Memories, maybe? Something in the way she said it made me think it could be that. Dangerous ground; I changed it quickly. I shrugged and said, “You name it, then. By the way, you didn’t happen to phone me this afternoon and leave a Spring exchange number, did you?”
She shook her head. “What made you think it was I?”
“Just that it could have been, if something had come up in connection with our date tonight. And I couldn’t think of anyone else it might have been. You couldn’t make a guess, could you?”
“I couldn’t make a guess. Why didn’t you simply call the number?”
I explained that, and then turned down a second drink unless she wanted one, and she didn’t. In the car, I remembered reading in the paper, a few days before, of the opening of a new dinner-and-night-club called The Big Wheel and suggested that we try it. We couldn’t ever have gone there. We went.
It wasn’t a bad place. The orchestra was strictly from Lombardo, but it was danceable-to and talkable-against. And ten dollars brought a good three-dollar dinner. The floor show was tolerable, but fortunately our table was far enough away that we didn’t have to tolerate it.
I found Robin still unwilling to discuss our marriage—at least in any more detail than she had told me about it Friday afternoon, so I took the safer tack of having her tell me about the friends we’d had, people we’d spent evenings with and what we’d liked and disliked about each. It wasn’t what I’d wanted to talk about, but it was information that would come in handy so I tried to remember as much of it as I could. Some of it duplicated, but added to, things Arch had already told me, but most of it was new. When and as I remet the people she was telling me about, it would be helpful to know how well I’d known and liked them, and a few facts about who they were and what they did.
So I tried to concentrate, but mostly I watched Robin. And wondered what, really, had gone wrong between us.
Something
had. And I had a strong hunch that it was something she hadn’t even hinted at, as yet. Something much stronger.
Coffee. I suggested a brandy to go with it, and Robin agreed. But she said, “After that, though, I’m going to ask you to take me home, Rod.”
“So soon?” I glanced at my watch. “Why, it’s only ten. The evening hasn’t started.”
“I know it’s early. But I want to be in bed and asleep by eleven. Tomorrow’s Monday and I want to get a bright and early start at job hunting, and with a good night’s sleep behind me.”
“Why the hurry? You don’t have to find a job right away.”
“No, I’ve got a few hundred in the bank. But I’d rather
“Not that I’ve discovered. Well, thanks anyway, Arch.”
“Hey, don’t hang up. Listen, I’ve got an appointment with Hennig in the morning—the executor of the estate. About probating the will, selling the house, all that kind of thing. You ought to be with me—you know, in case signatures are required on anything.”
“All right,” I said. “Where and when?”
“Meet me at nine-thirty at the Rexall drugstore at Fourth and Main. That’s in the same building as Hennig’s office. The appointment’s for ten; that’ll give us time to have a cup of coffee and talk a while first.”
I told him that sounded like a good idea.
I reached Robin’s at exactly seven and, miraculously, she was dressed and ready. She even had drinks made. Tinkling Tom Collinses. It was nice to sit there staring at her over the rim of a cool glass. Definitely, in a blue evening gown, she was worth staring at. She was beautiful.
“Any place special you’d like to go, Robin?”
“Anywhere you say.”
“Niagara Falls?” I shouldn’t have said it; I could tell by her face. I didn’t wait for her to answer. “Or maybe Ricci’s?”
“No, Rod. Anywhere but Ricci’s.”
Memories, maybe? Something in the way she said it made me think it could be that. Dangerous ground; I changed it quickly. I shrugged and said, “You name it, then. By the way, you didn’t happen to phone me this afternoon and leave a Spring exchange number, did you?”
She shook her head. “What made you think it was I?”
“Just that it could have been, if something had come up in connection with our date tonight. And I couldn’t think of anyone else it might have been. You couldn’t make a guess, could you?”
“I couldn’t make a guess. Why didn’t you simply call the number?”
I explained that, and then turned down a second drink unless she wanted one, and she didn’t. In the car, I remembered reading in the paper, a few days before, of the opening of a new dinner-and-night-club called The Big Wheel and suggested that we try it. We couldn’t ever have gone there. We went.
It wasn’t a bad place. The orchestra was strictly from Lombardo, but it was danceable-to and talkable-against. And ten dollars brought a good three-dollar dinner. The floor show was tolerable, but fortunately our table was far enough away that we didn’t have to tolerate it.
I found Robin still unwilling to discuss our marriage—at least in any more detail than she had told me about it Friday afternoon, so I took the safer tack of having her tell me about the friends we’d had, people we’d spent evenings with and what we’d liked and disliked about each. It wasn’t what I’d wanted to talk about, but it was information that would come in handy so I tried to remember as much of it as I could. Some of it duplicated, but added to, things Arch had already told me, but most of it was new. When and as I remet the people she was telling me about, it would be helpful to know how well I’d known and liked them, and a few facts about who they were and what they did.
So I tried to concentrate, but mostly I watched Robin. And wondered what, really, had gone wrong between us.
Something
had. And I had a strong hunch that it was something she hadn’t even hinted at, as yet. Something much stronger.
Coffee. I suggested a brandy to go with it, and Robin agreed. But she said, “After that, though, I’m going to ask you to take me home, Rod.”
“So soon?” I glanced at my watch. “Why, it’s only ten. The evening hasn’t started.”
“I know it’s early. But I want to be in bed and asleep by eleven. Tomorrow’s Monday and I want to get a bright and early start at job hunting, and with a good night’s sleep behind me.”
“Why the hurry? You don’t have to find a job right away.”
“No, I’ve got a few hundred in the bank. But I’d rather
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