A Hole in the Universe - Mary McGarry Morris [50]
“Lisa? No, she’s wonderful. She’s a wonderful woman.”
She opened the door and got out. They went quickly through the model condo, then Jilly drove to the next one, which was smaller and cheaper. Except for a few questions about Dennis, she had little to say on the way back. He felt deflated when she turned onto Clover Street.
“The house looks like it’s in good condition.” She peered over the wheel. “A lot better than any of the others here.”
“It is! Dennis took really good care of it.” He smiled out at the neat little house. “Even the roses are doing good now. See all the buds?”
“He’s a good brother, huh?”
“Yes. Very good.” He looked at her. “Would you like to come in?” he asked, then froze.
“I can’t,” she said too quickly. “But thank you.”
“I mean the house, to see what condition it’s in.”
“Oh, you mean an appraisal.”
He nodded. A second chance, that’s all he wanted.
“But first, you were telling me about your sister-in-law. What’s she like?”
He’d already told her. “She’s very kind and patient, and she’s got a really good sense of humor. She always made me feel . . . well, comfortable—I guess that’s the word.”
“She’s really religious, huh? Like really into the church.”
That was an odd thing to say. He wasn’t sure how to respond. But maybe this was how men and women got to know one another, after a certain amount of awkward probing. He’d have to think of a question about her family. “I don’t know much about that part of her life, but one thing’s always impressed me about Lisa. She’s one of those people who know what you’re trying to say before you can even get it out.” He saw her fidget with the key chain. Afraid she would turn the ignition, he amazed himself and continued talking. He was telling her how of all the women Dennis had brought on visits, Lisa had been the most natural. He said he still didn’t know if Dennis wanted his approval of the women or theirs of him.
“Probably both,” she said, smiling.
“Yes, but when I heard her last name, Harrington, I was really nervous. I kept thinking, Here’s this pretty young woman from one of the richest families around, and to hear her laughing and talking in the visitors’ room you’d’ve thought she was in my living room or something.”
“Sounds like someone’s got a real thing for their sister-in-law,” she said with raised eyebrows. “Well, anyway.” She reached into the console for a card. “Here. Hillman Appraisal. That’s who I use most of the time. Ask for Randy. He’s the owner.”
He kept looking at the card.
“Is that okay?” She started the car.
“Yes. Yes, Randy—I’ll remember that.” So maybe that’s all this was, a business relationship. A favor for Dennis, compelling her to go through the motions with his loser brother. But no, there was something more here. Her interest in him went deeper than that. He could feel it. He could see it in her uneasy eyes.
CHAPTER 8
Neil Dubbin had hired one of his brother-in-law’s carpenters to install the new vinyl shelving and display racks. After three outrageous painting estimates, he had assigned the job to Gordon. The work had gone slowly at first, with Gordon not only performing his routine store duties, but trying, when he found time to paint, to make each brush stroke perfect. Now that his pace was faster, most of the storage areas were finished.
He was back on the ladder, touching up some ceiling molding, when Leo said he was needed up front. He had been called down twice in the last half hour, to help unload truck deliveries, now this time to fix June’s register tape. Every few days the tape would snarl, jamming the register and locking the cash drawer shut. Neil was trying to remove the rolls from the cartridge, but he was so nervous that his hand shook. Gordon took his place and peered into the frozen cartridge, while behind him Neil launched into another litany of failure. He was still using thirty-year-old manual registers when every place else had been computerized. “I must be nuts. I’ve wasted how many years in this dump, and Jesus Christ, here I am, still trying to